Coffee

Posted in Second Self Brewing Company, Coming Soon, Headlines

It’s more than just beer. It’s art. Second Self Manic Pixie Dream

It’s hard not to judge a book by it’s cover. The same goes for beer. As beer gets infinitely more creative, so has the artwork that goes along with it. Atlanta’s Second Self Beer didn’t just brew a great beer and slap a label on it. Manic Pixie Dream is a “next level” kind of collaboration.

This story starts a bit before the beer was brewed. Brewery co-founder Jason Santamaria has been a fan of Keith P. Rein’s artwork for a while. The guy is best known for the Slaughterhouse Starlets Series. Basically, he takes famous females like Winona Ryder or Taylor Swift and juxtaposes them into a murdery, Dexter-like composition. When Santamaria married his wife Liz, he noticed Keith P. Rein to be the dominant in each other’s art collection.

All Santamaria needed was a good reason to reach out to is favorite artist. As it turns out, Rein has always wanted to do a piece for a beer can. Manic Pixie Dream was born.

The Second Self team went big when it comes to the beer. The base is an 11% alcohol by volume Russian imperial stout, that has been aged in Blis barrels. The mere mention of Blis will make a beer fan salivate. Blis Gourment is a Michigan based company that ages maple syrup in bourbon barrels. After the maple syrup is drained, what you have left is a playground for one hell of an awesome beer. As an added bonus, Second Self infused locally roasted Batdorf & Bronson coffee.

Santamaria and Rein weren’t satisfied with just creating one label. Especially with a beer as complex as this one. Blis barrels are hard to come by, and recipes like this one are expensive. Ultimately, this beer is in short supply. Created simply for your own happiness. A bit like the Manic Pixie Dream Girl movie trope.

Coined in 2005 by film critic Nathan Rabin after watching Kirsten Dunst’s character in Elizabethtown, MPDG is a  “bubbly, shallow cinematic creature that exists solely in the fevered imaginations of sensitive writer-directors to teach broodingly soulful young men to embrace life and its infinite mysteries and adventures.” Other examples include Kate Hudson’s character in Almost Famous, Natalie Portman in Garden State, or Marilyn Monroe in Some Like it Hot.

With Manic Pixie Dream in mind, Rein drew four different iterations of Pixie. Each label breaks out a component of the beer – Coffee, Maple Syrup, Bourbon, and Grains. Besides the incredible artwork, the beer is fantastic. Truly a sipper, where the each of the components starts to pop as the beer warms. After the barrel-aging, you’re drinking at near 14% alcohol by volume beer.

Second Self is holding a special release event on February 26th where attendees can purchase all four cans. The brewery is planning on making Manic Pixie Dream a series going forward, with an evolving list of styles (including a sour/wild ale).

This is one of the few times we have found ourselves torn between the beer or the artwork that’s more exciting. A few more sips and we might just decide.

Style: Imperial Stout (w/ Coffee. Barrel Aged. Maple Syrup Bourbon.)
Availability: 16oz Cans. Brewery Only.
Debut: 2/26/17

13.9% ABV

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

Easily one of the brewery’s best. Monday Night Tears of My Enemies

Monday Night Tears of My Enemies debuts this month, part of the fanciest lineup in the Atlanta brewery’s arsenal – the Black Tie Series.

The Black Tie Series is home to beers like Mom Jeans, Georgian Imperial Stout, and the well-known Bourbon Barrel Drafty Kilt. The week of Valentine’s Day, it will be home to one more -Monday Night Tears of My Enemies.

RELATED: Monday Night’s New Sour Facility [PICS]

Does a scotch barrel milk stout do it for you? This “vindictive” milk stout picks up hints of smoke from the 18 year old scotch whisky barrels, and is finished with a touch of both vanilla and locally roasted Batdorf & Bronson coffee. Despite being a fantastic beer, it almost wasn’t even brewed.

Monday Night’s head brewer Peter Kiley saw a beautiful fusion of milk stout and the Macallan 18 year barrels the brewery recently acquired. A milk stout in coffee can be quite good. Throwing that beer into those sexy, hard-to-get scotch barrels? Fan-freaking-tastic. Unfortunately, Kiley found his vision didn’t have some of the powers that be salivating like he was. These barrels don’t show up at your doorstep everyday.

Perhaps even the best idea is met with a little resistance. Kiley pressed forward, and with good reason. Tears of My Enemies is an triumph for the budding brewer. Enemies starts with a burst of coffee and chocolate, and finishes silky, with smokey hints of the sexiness that is Maccallan 18. A bottle of that scotch will set you back nearly $250 dollars. Lucky for you, this creation is less than $20. If you ask us, it’s the best barrel-aged beer Monday Night has ever released. In the end, the name is pretty fitting for Kiley. Nothing worth doing is easy. You won’t find him gloating. You can taste it in ever sip.

There is nothing more sumptuous than the misfortune of your enemies. That dark, smoky taste of revenge takes over as it hits your lips, marching upon your tongue like an army towards certain victory…

Monday Night Tears of My Enemies will be a 22 ounce bottle release, the week of Valentine’s Day 2017. We suggest you track one of these down.

Style: Imperial Milk Stout (w/ Vanilla Beans, Coffee. Barrel Aged. Scotch Whisky.)
Availability: 22oz Bottles
Debut: Week of Valentine’s Day 2017

9.3% ABV

Above: Monday Night’s head brewer Peter Kiley and his creation, Tears of My Enemies. Photo: Beer Street Journal

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Terrapin Beer Company, Don't Miss This, New Releases

Coffee & beer fans, don’t miss the Terrapin Single Origin Coffee Brown Series

Athens, Georgia based Terrapin Beer Company  has rebooted their Single Origin Coffee Series, a collaboration with coffee roaster Jittery Joes. Terrapin Single Origin Coffee Brown Ale is on shelves now.

In 2016, Terrapin launched the first Single Origin Coffee lineup. The brew team created a simple base stout that would show off the flavor of the coffee. Jittery Joe’s roasters is less than a mile from the brewery, who hand selected and roasted the beans.

For this round, Terrapin chose a brown ale to accentuate the flavors of thecoffee. The base brown ale has been specifically created with very muted hop flavor in order boost the new coffee varietals.

Coffee vs. Beer. Beer vs. Coffee.

The first round taught us a lot about coffee’s impact on the beer. The base beer recipe truly was perfect to show off the contrast in the coffee beans that Jittery Joe’s brought into the fold. This edition is no different. The four coffees featured are fantastic, and really pop thanks to the muted brown ale base. A real treat for the coffee snobs in your life. Our only suggestion – drink a bit closer to cellar temperature – 45-55 degrees for full flavor.

Terrapin Single Origin Coffee Brown Ale brings with it four different coffees:

  • Costa Rica Tarrazu – Milk Chocolate, Cherries
  • Ecuador Zamora-Chinchipe – Sweet, Citrus
  • Indonesia Bali-Kintamni – Dark Fruit, Black Pepper
  • Kenya Ndaroini – Marzipan, Slightly tart

Terrapin Single Origin Coffee Brown is available in 12 ounce bottles, in a mix 4-pack release (one of each bottle).

Style: Brown Ale (w/ Coffee.)
Availability: 12oz Bottles, Draft.
Debut: January, 2017

?? ABV

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Stone Brewing Co., Don't Miss This

Stone Enjoy By Chocolate & Coffee IPA debuts in “fresh” series

Stone Enjoy By Chocolate & Coffee IPA is officially the next in a line of “Enjoy By” beers.

Fresh and hoppy is the core of Stone Brewing’s Enjoy By Series, giving distributors and drinkers alike a time frame to ship, purchase and drink the “Devastatingly Fresh” India pale ale.

Since the beer’s inception, various iterations of the beer have been released, including Enjoy By Tangerine IPA, and Enjoy By Unfiltered IPA. Headed to shelves now – Stone Enjoy By Coffee & Chocolate IPA.

The brewing team tested several batches of fruit and chocolate beers before finding the right blend of hops, chocolate and and coffee. The coffee is San Diego Sunrise, a blonde roast by Ryan Bros. Coffee. This particular roast is less on the roast and more on the chocolate flavor. The cocoa beans were carefully sourced from Belize, and shelled roasted and shelled by the team.

It’s not unusual to see pronouncements of “I Heart Hops,” “I Heart Chocolate” or “I Heart Coffee” throughout #socialmedia, printed on T-shirts and, notch, emblazoned on coffee cups. Over the past couple of decades we have helped add “I Freaking Heart IPAs” to that lexicon. Today, passionate people can’t imagine a world without all of the above. For this special edition, we added chocolate and coffe to make this devastatingly fresh IPA even more seductive to the palate. We humbly suggest that you use this libation to proclaim your love for someone…and we suggest that someone be you. Loving yourself is exactly what this libation is all about.

Stone Enjoy By Coffee & Chocolate IPA will be a draft, 12 and 22 ounce bottle and draft release.

Style: Imperial IPA (w/ Coffee, Chocolate)
Hops: Nugget, Super Galena, Simcoe, Amarillo, Delta, Target, Cascade, Citra, Galaxy, Nelson Sauvin, Motueka, Helga
Availability: 12oz Bottles, 22oz Bottles, Draft.

Distribution: AK ,AL, AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, DE, FL, GA, IL, IN, KS, LA, MA, MD, ME, MI, MN, MT, NC, NE, NH, NM, NV, NY, OH, PA, RI, SC, TN, UT, VA, VT, WA, WI
International Distribution: Japan, Korea, Singapore
Debut: January, 2017

9.4% ABV

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in New Releases, Flat 12 Bierwerks

Coffee Collab: Flat 12 Downtown Tinker Brown

Buzz beer might be the perfect term for Flat 12 Downtown Tinker Brown. The Indianapolis, Indiana based brewery has a coffee laden seasonal headed to shelves.

It may be too early to think about spring seasonals, but you’ll be able to enjoy this one until it feels warmer. Sean Lewis, Flat 12’s head brewer, created a brown ale brewed with milk sugar, and single-origin Colombian coffee beans roasted to by the experts at Tinker Coffee.

“We met the guys at Tinker Coffee through mutual friends around their opening November 2014. We really liked their coffee so we paid them a visit and proposed trading for beer. That led to talks about creating some beers together. It’s cool to be able to work with friends in different local industries and we’re really looking forward to our first can release.” – Head Brewer Sean Lewis

This is the first time the duo have created a full scale collaboration. Last year, Tinker Coffee provided beans for a variant of Flat 12’s Pinko Russian Imperial Stout.

Flat 12 Downtown Tinker Brown is now available in 12 ounce cans and draft, as a spring 2017 seasonal.

Style: Brown Ale (w/ Coffee. Lactose.)
Availability: 12oz Cans, Draft. Spring Seasonal.
Debut: 1/6/17

6% ABV, 28 IBUs

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Modern Times Beer, New Releases

Nitro coconut, coffee & chocolate for Modern Times

Kicking off 2017 in smooth fashion – Modern Times Nitro Black House with Coffee, Coconut, & Cocoa.

The base beer is Black House, the brewery’s year-round oatmeal coffee stout, brewed with Ethiopian Hambela and Sumatran coffee. This special January 2017 release is not only nice and creamy thanks to the nitrogen, but also features coconut and cocoa.

This beer turned out absolutely outstanding, with a decadent mélange of chocolaty, coffee-laden radness laced with delicious notes of coconut, all wrapped up in a package so smooth and velvety, you’ll say, “Damn…that is extremely smooth and velvety.

Modern Times Nitro Black House with Coffee, Coconut, & Cocoa will be available across the brewery’s entire distribution area in early January.

Style: Oatmeal Stout (w/ Cocoa, Coconut, Coffee) Nitro Pour
Hops:
Malts: 2 Row, Oats, Crystal 60, Munich, Roasted Barley, Chocolate, Midnight Wheat, Carapils

Availability: 16oz Cans, Draft. Limited Release.
Debut: January, 2017

?? ABV

Image: Beer Street Journal 

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Spoetzl Brewery, Don't Miss This, New Releases

Get wired. Shiner Cold Brew Coffee Ale celebrates 108 years of brewing

Hope you didn’t forget about Spoetzl Brewery. Those fine folks have something new for you. Meet Shiner Cold Brew Coffee Ale.

Spoetzl didn’t have to go far from his coffee meets beer collaboration. Chameleon Cold Brew, now sold nationally, is just up the road. Chameleon hand picked coffee beans that pair well with the beer’s roasty dark malt and Mt. Hood hops.

By now you’ve had cold brew coffee. Even coffee served nitro taps. Gradually emerging in the coffee scene is coffee that features the same key ingredient in brewing – hops. Lightly hopped cold brew coffee has become popular over the past year or so.

in our mind, Shiner Cold Brew Coffee Ale follows that same path. It drinks like a beer, as well as a hopped cold brew. Minus the astringency and bitterness that either can bring to your palate on their own. A clean finishing, lager-like coffee beer. Except it’s an ale..

Beer brewing is nothing new to Spoetzel. This release celebrates their 108th birthday. Shiner Cold Brew Coffee Ale can be found now in 12 ounce bottles, cans, 24 ounce bottles, and draft for a limited time.

Style: Pale Ale (w/ Coffee)
Availability: 12oz Cans, Bottles. 24oz Bottles, Draft. Limited Release.
Debut: December, 2016

5% ABV

Image: Beer Street Journal

by Reid Ramsay