Canned Craft Beer

Posted in Firestone Walker Brewing, Don't Miss This, New Releases

Firestone Walker Mind Haze IPA may be the best hazy IPA we’ve had yet

In the wild west of hazy India pale ales, one of the best breweries out there is about to release one of their own after a year of experimentation. Firestone Walker Mind Haze IPA debuts this month.

Firestone’s brewmaster Matt Brynildson recognizes this hazy IPA trend got its start on America’s East Coast, but according to him, he also sees it starting with Bavarian hefeweizens. This may help explain the flavor profile in Firestone Walker Mind Haze IPA.

This can of hop-haze boasts a creamy mouthfeel and tropical-banana aroma according to the brewery. (Where the Bavarian influence comes into play.) The brewing team amplified the esters from the yeast and paired it with fruity hops.

Firestone Walker killed it. In the world of hazy IPAs, Mind Haze is immediately one of the best we have ever had. This beer hits all the high notes of a hazy IPA; it’s a tropical juicy hop explosion, that finishes soft and almost creamy. No weird vegetal or underfermented flavors that some poorly made hazys possess. Brynildson and the brewing team took their time perfecting this beer before releasing it and you can truly taste it. This is a hazy slammer of a year-round release that raises the bar for the style.

 “We’re not relying on residual yeasts or starches for turbidity. The haziness and mouthfeel of Mind Haze are cultivated by more stable means, namely using 40 percent wheat and oats in the grain bill while nailing the timing and interplay of our hop additions,” says Brynildson.

It’s this hazy IPA meets Bavaria flavor that Firestone Walker hopes really puts their own “stamp” on the style.

Firestone Walker Mind Haze IPA hits the brewery’s entire distribution footprint this week in 12-ounce cans and draft.

Style: Hazy IPA
Availability: 12oz Cans, Draft.
Debut: January 2019

6.2% ABV

Image: Beer Street Journal

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Anderson Valley Brewing Company, New Releases

“Very dry” Anderson Valley Extra Dry Brut IPA debuts

Anderson Valley Extra Dry Brut IPA joins the brewery’s lineup year-round this month.

India pale ales have dominated craft beer sales for years. Every few years, a new trend surfaces within the India pale ale category. There’s been Black IPAs, and Belgian IPAs, but lately, it’s the hazy IPA/milkshake IPA fad and the quickly rising “brut IPA”.

The style is inspired by champagne and is loosely intended to be dry and effervescent like it’s namesake beverage. Anderson Valley’s Brut IPA is first and foremost dry, brewed and fermented with almost no residual sugars. The brewery used Chinook, Amarillo, and Simcoe hops to impart clean citrus flavors with low bitterness.

Anderson Valley Extra Dry Brut IPA is hitting shelves nationally in 12-ounce cans over the next few weeks, year-round.

Style: IPA (Brut IPA)
Hops: Chinook, Simcoe, Amarillo

Availability: 12oz Cans, Draft.
Debut: Late January 2019

6.8% ABV, 28 IBUS

Image: Anderson Valley Brewing

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Boulevard Brewing, New Releases

Boulevard Space Camper Cosmic IPA joins lineup year-round

Boulevard Space Camper Cosmic IPA is the newest year-round release by the Kansas City, Missouri based brewery.

The brewery’s year-round hoppy offerings include Heavy Lifting and Single Wide IPA, but nothing as juicy as Space Camper. Expect some of the usual “dank” suspects in this IPA, like Eukanot, El Dorado, and Galaxy.

…aromas of juicy mango, peach and pineapple, plus flavors of fresh citrus, stone fruit and watermelon.

Besides the reward of a tasty IPA, Boulevard has made a web-based Space Camper video game to celebrate the launch. Beat level 8 and you can enter a contest to win beer prize packs and possibly a Nintendo Switch.

Boulevard Space Camper Cosmic IPA is available in 12-ounce can and draft, year-round starting in late January 2019.

Style: IPA
Hops: Eukanot, Galaxy, El Dorado

Availability: 12oz Cans, Draft. Year-round.
Debut: Late January 2019

5.9% ABV, 50 IBUs

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Scofflaw Brewing Co., Aslin Beer Company, Coming Soon

Scofflaw Brewing debuts collaboration with Virginia’s Aslin Beer Company

Scofflaw Brewing debuts their hoppy collaboration with Herndon, Virginia’s Aslin Beer Company on Friday, January 25th.

The brewing teams created an India pale ale (yeah, of course, it’s hazy) brewed with “obnoxious amounts” of Mosaic and Strata hops.

Juicy… with a huge aroma/flavor of pineapple, mango, stone fruit and berries with low perceived bitterness.

RELATED: BEER COLLABORATIONS

The Scofflaw/Aslin collaboration is apart of the brewery’s taproom only canned releases. Available while supplies last when the brewery opens Friday. $14 per 4-pack.

Style: IPA
Hops: Strata, Mosaic

Availability: 12oz Cans. Brewery only.
Debut: 1/25/19

7.1% ABV

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in New Realm Brewing, Coming Soon

New Realm Rye Barrel Aged Doomsday Hound Russian Imperial Stout coming this weekend

New Realm Rye Barrel Aged Doomsday Hound Russian Imperial Stout is the 4th barrel-aged release by the Atlanta-based brewery.

The base beer is a Russian imperial stout, aged for 8 months in Sazerac Rye Whiskey barrels. Per New Realm, Doomsday Hound is “a beast with a roasted coffee and cocoa malt character”. The Sazerac barrel-aging adds rye spiciness with hints of vanilla and coconut.

New Realm Rye Barrel Aged Doomsday Hound Russian Imperial Stout is available in 16-ounce cans at the brewery on January 26th. Limited to just 12 cases.

Style: Imperial Stout (Barrel Aged. Rye Whiskey.)
Availability: 16oz Cans, Draft. 12 Cases Produced.
Debut: 1/26/19

11.9% ABV

Image: New Realm Brewing

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Beer History, Cool Stuff

The first beer can was sold on this day in 1935

Today is a big day in beer history. January 24th marks the anniversary of the first canned beer sold in the U.S. thanks to the American Can Company. It was their innovation that ultimately led to the Gottfried Krueger Brewing Company releasing “Krueger’s Finest Beer & “Cream Ale” in a new steel can format (we were still years away from traditional aluminum). The New Jersey brewery test marketed 2,000 cans in Richmond, Virginia for the first time 83 years ago.

Interestingly, the American Can Company started this whole process back in 1909. Unfortunately, the 80 pounds of pressure per square inch needed to maintain carbonation caused the first cans to explode. Despite American Prohibition, the company continued their research in hopes of the day beer was legal once again.

As crazy as it sounds now, the sale of beer in cans wasn’t easy. Adoption took time. Gottfried Krueger was founded in 1858 and was pretty set in their brewing ways and pretty much dismissed the idea of canning when American Can approached them in 1935. That was, until the canning equipment was offered for free.

As it turned out, Krueger’s Finest Beer and Cream Ale sales swelled thanks to the steel can sales, prompting Pabst, Schlitz, Stroh’s and Anheuser Busch to adopt canning just to regain market share.

Beer canning in the United States was put on hold for a few years due to a resource strain during World War II. The heavy steel can only had a few years left in use when canning resumed in 1947, as the more modern aluminum can was ultimately introduced in 1958.

Here in 2019, the United States has swelled to a record-breaking 7,000+ breweries. According to 2016 IRI Worldwide Data, canned beer accounts for more than 50% of beer (all beer) sold in the United States. 

In the craft beer segment, Brewers Association economist Bart Watson has found a continued increase in market share by cans, seeing more craft breweries adopting at least a mix of cans and bottles.

To think Krueger turned down the idea. Within three months of the first release, Krueger’s newly adopted can format was in the hands of over 80 distributors (which was a lot back then).

Sadly, two years after Krueger’s 100th birthday, the company was sold and the Newark, New Jersey plant was closed. While the brand may be gone, their aluminum efforts have set off a canned revolution that is only growing in American beer today.  Of the Top 25 largest breweries in the U.S., from Anheuser-Busch, Pabst, and MillerCoors to Boston Beer, Sierra Nevada, Founders, Bell’s Stone and Brooklyn Brewing – all can at least some of their lineup.

That number just keeps growing every year.

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in New Holland Brewing, Don't Miss This, New Releases

New Holland Dragon’s Milk White, a “lighter” barrel-aged stout debuts in cans

New Holland Dragon’s Milk White debuts year-round in the coming weeks. 

The Holland, Michigan based brewery had Dragon’s Milk, a barrel-aged imperial stout, for many years now. It is will one of the most popular year-round barrel-aged stouts in America. Over the past few years, we’ve seen variants of Dragon’s Milk – Chocolate Orange, Banana Coconut, S’mores & more.

After a few days of social media teasing, we now know there is a second Dragon’s Milk to be found year-round – Dragon’s Milk White.

We equate a “white stout” to something like Crystal Pepsi. If you close your eyes, it kind of tastes like Pepsi, or in this case, a stout, but looks nothing like it in color. This stout pours a golden color instead of something resembling motor oil. New Holland states Dragon’s Milk White is “smooth and creamy”, with “flavors of oak, vanilla, cocoa and a hint of bourbon”.

If this wasn’t something completely new, this is the first time you’ve seen any Dragon’s Milk in a 12-ounce can.

Expect to see New Holland Dragon’s Milk White in 12-ounce cans and draft year-round this year.

Style: Stout (White Stout) Barrel Aged. Bourbon.
Availability: 12oz Cans, Draft. Year-Round
Debut: Late January 2019

6% ABV

by Reid Ramsay