Terrapin Brewing is releasing a very small batch kolsch, with the first kegs tapping today. The beer is Twilight Road Warrior Kolsch, brewed in honor of the Athen’s Twilight Criterium, a professional bike race held in downtown.
I have to say this before I get into this post. Put your beer geekiness aside for a minute. Bring it back by the end of the article. We are going to be talking about ciders here.
I got a minute this week to sit down with Joe Heron, President of Crispin Ciders. 2011 marks a year of big expansions for the cider company, in both distribution and production. Ciders don’t always get the beer geek people excited. What Crispin is doing is a bit different from your average cider. They are game changers. We are talking the use ale yeasts, unique adjucts, and barrel aging. Yes, barrel aging.
Something I learned from Joe is that the art of cider is both easy and hard. You need a lot of apples. Much like beer brewing, the better ingredients the better the product. Apple & pears used in Crispin’s ciders come from Washington state. They have the most sophisticated cold storage in the United States. (Why you can get apples year round.) 6,000 gallons of juice come to Colfax, California at a time, they first started with 50 gallons. Ideally, cider is made from cider apples for their fermenting qualities, unfortunately they are rare & expensive. Culinary apples (for eating) are used the cider these offerings. Lots of Granny Smith.
As previously mentioned, Dogfish Head Brewing is going “minty” with Black & Red. Raspberries & mint come together in a new one-off, draft only concoction. The brewery mentioned this is being kegged today.
Moylan’s Brewing is thrilled about the outcome of last year’s World Series. The San Francisco Giant’s won it all, and Brendan Moylan has a beer to commemorate the occasion – Orange & Black Ale. The congratulatory ale features California grown Continue Reading →
The first edition of Sierra Nevada Brewing’s newest series & collaboration “Ovila Dubbel” is hitting shelves nationwide. Keeping true to Sierra Nevada’s desire to explore new things in their 30th year, this series is a one of the first Trappist Continue Reading →
The 4th beer in Widmer’s “Brother Reserve Series” has arrived – Galaxy Hopped Barleywine. It preceeds Cherry Oak Dopplebock, Prickly Peak Braggot, & Barrel Aged Brrrbon. The Brother’s Reserve series are small batch beers that allow the brewing Continue Reading →