Collaborations

Posted in Boulevard Brewing, Arizona Wilderness Brewing Co., Creature Comforts, New Releases

Boulevard Collaboration 7, created with Creature Comforts & Arizona Wilderness

Boulevard Collaboration 7 has officially debuted, a collaboration with Athens, Georgia based Creature Comforts and Gilbert, Arizona’s Arizona Wilderness.

This collaborator series has paired seen the likes of Deschutes Brewery, Pretty Things Beer & Ale Project, Firestone Walker, Cigar City, Ommegang, and Orval. Boulevard Collaboration 7 is the first time a two breweries have been a part of the project at the same time.

The trio is creating a “juicy” lager for this seventh iteration, aged briefly on virgin oak. Juicy is an understating term, thanks to peach puree, lemon zest and riesling chosen to compliment carefully selected Nelson Sauvin, Lemondrop and Hallertau Blanc hops. The malt bill is quite complex too, brewed with pale malt, Sonoran White Wheat, Missouri wheat, honey malt and corn grits.

The finished beer is bottle conditioned with champagne yeast, producing an effervescent golden lager perfect for the late summer heat. Last year, Arizona Wilderness and Creature Comforts partnered on “Transmission“, a citrus saison.

Boulevard Collaboration 7 is now available in 12 ounce bottles and draft for a limited time.

Style: Lager (w/ Riesling Juice, Peach Puree, Lemon Zest. Oak Aged.)
Hops: Nelson Sauvin, Lemondrop, Hallertau Blanc
Malts: Pale Malt, Sonoran White Wheat, Missouri Wheat, Honey Malt, Corn Grits

Availability: 12oz Bottles, Draft.
Debut: August, 2017

6% ABV

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in The Veil Brewing, Evil Twin Brewing, New Releases

Brewing with fried chicken is now a very real thing

The Veil Brewing Fried Fried Chicken Chicken debuts on July 25th. This new India pale ale is brewed with fried chicken. Yes… fried chicken.

Weeks ago, the brewing team from Richmond, Virginia’s The Veil Brewing collaborated with Evil Twin Brewing’s Jeppe Jarnit-Bjergsø. After overeating fried chicken at a nearby restaurant, the team decided to throw some fried chicken into the mash of this imperial IPA. NO, they weren’t the leftovers.

In the end, fried chicken only made it into one of the two brewing mashes for this release, making up less than .4% of the total weight. According to The Veil, the beer doesn’t taste anything like fried chicken. Dropping some chicken into the beer just seemed like a fun thing to do. (They already brew with cookies and candy.) Check out Jeppe throwing the chicken into the mash below.

Besides chicken, The Veil Brewing Fried Fried Chicken Chicken features Citra, Simcoe, and Enigma hops. Subtitled a “Double Dry Hopped Old Country Double IPA.”  You remember the “old country” right? Back when chickens were chickens, and hops were hops. A much simpler time.

Those wanting to drink some fried chicken will have to be at The Veil Brewing early on July 25th. 16-ounce cans will be available when the brewery opens at 4 pm.

Style: Imperial IPA (w/ Fried Chicken)
Hops: Enigma, Citra, Simcoe
Availability: 16oz Cans
Debut: 7/25/17

8% ABV

Images: The Veil Brewing

The Veil Brewing Chicken Mash

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Stone Brewing Co., Coming Soon, Headlines

Stone Brewing teams up with punk band NOFX, debuts festival

NOFX can easily considered one of the most successful independent bands of all time. Formed in 1983 by bassist Fat Mike and guitarist Eric Melvin, the band has never signed with a major label. That kind of independence is very familiar to California’s Stone Brewing. Perhaps that’s where Stone Punk in Drublic, a collaboration with NOFX rises from.

First, the name. Stone Punk in Drublic is named for NOFX’s 1994 release by the same name, considered the band’s most popular release, selling over a million copies.

This craft brewing meets punk music collaboration, is a hoppy lager perfect for “when you just need something to wash the noise down.” In conjunction with the release, Stone and NOFX have unveiled Punk In Drublic Craft Beer & Music Festival in five U.S. cities, with the band and 100+ craft beers headlining the party. Other muscial acts include Bad Religion, Flogging Molly, Less than Jake, and Goldfinger.

This beer was brewed as a collaboration between Stone Brewing and Fat Mike. Who showed up and mostly just got in the way.

Stone Punk in Drublic will be available in 12-ounce cans only in the festival markets found below starting in September. For full festival details, visit www.PunkInDrublicFest.com.

Style: Lager
Availability: 12oz Cans
Distribution: ID, WA, CA

Debut: September 2017

5.8% ABV

Festival Dates:

Saturday, September 16 – Tacoma, WA – America’s Car Museum (on sale Friday, July 28)
Saturday, September 16 – Tacoma, WA – America’s Car Museum (on sale Friday, July 28)
Sunday, September 17 – Boise, ID – Ford Idaho Center Amphitheater (on sale Friday, July 28)
Saturday, October 14 – Concord, CA – Concord Pavilion (on sale Friday, August 11)
Sunday, October 15 – Sacramento, CA – Bonney Field (on sale Friday, August 11)
Saturday, October 28 – Huntington Beach, CA – Bolsa Chica State Park (on sale Friday, September 1)

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Burial Beer Co, Don't Miss This, J Wakefield Brewing, New Releases

Caramel, chocolate & pecans make Burial The Cosmic and Divine

Asheville, North Carolina’s Burial Beer and Miami’s J. Wakefield are teaming up on a new dessert beer. Meet The Cosmic and Divine.

Think of the “Turtle” candy when approaching this beer. The brand was developed by the DeMet’s Candy Company in 1918. Filled with caramel and pecans and dipped in chocolate, the finished product looks a bit like a turtle.

This beer might not look like a turtle, but it certainly incorporates similar flavors. The base is an imperial stout that has been fermented with lactose for added creaminess, plus salted caramel, chocolate, and toasted pecans.

Upon the backs of behemoths, we hatch the most worthy of ideas. Made with our dear friends at J. Wakefield Brewing, this Imperial Stout was fermented with lactose and salted caramel from Asheville’s Postre Caramels, and then aged with chocolate and toasted pecans.

Burial The Cosmic and Divine will be available in 12 ounce cans when the brewery opens on July 12th. Distribution will be limited.

Style: Imperial Stout (w/ Salted Caramel. Chocolate. Toasted Pecans. Lactose.)
Availability: 16oz Cans.
Debut: 7/12/17

10% ABV

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Sierra Nevada, Don't Miss This, Surly Brewing

Sierra Nevada Beer Camp Ginger Lager, with Surly Brewing

In 2017, Sierra Nevada’s Beer Camp is going international. One of America’s best breweries is pushing beyond their home borders, collaborating with folks across the world. As far as U.S. based collaborations, Minnesota’s Surly Brewing has been chosen to for 2017. Sierra Nevada Beer Camp Ginger Lager is the result.

If you haven’t had the pleasure of trying Beer Camp creations in the past, they truly are some very unique beers, brewed by some of the best brewers out there. A collaboration between Sierra Nevada and Surly conjures up images of outdoorsy types and metal enthusiasts in one room, with impossible to predict results.  What they came up with is a lager, which might not thrill everyone. That is, until the team adds spicy ginger, cayenne, and oak. You can forget forgettable lagers.

Absolute Beer Camp Highlight. 

This is far and away one of the best beers in the 2017 Beer Camp box. A crisp lager that leads with ginger, and finishes with a touch of cayenne and oak. If you thought lagers were boring, this one will have you rethinking it. Consider this an official nomination for this beer to go into full production. One lonely can is far from enough of this unique beer.

The abrasive attitude of Minnesota’s Surly Brewing Co. brings an aggressive yet refined approach to creating recipes. We came together to create this easy-drinking but complex ginger-infused lager. It’s brewed with hot ginger and a pinch of cayenne to spice up the heat and then dry hopped with an inclusion of oak for a touch of woody vanilla to round out the flavor.

Sierra Nevada Beer Camp Ginger Lager will be a 16 ounce can release, a part of the Beer Camp Across the World collection, debuting later this year.

Style: Lager (w/ Ginger, Cayenne. Oak Aged.)
Availability: 16oz Cans, Draft.
Debut: June, 2017

6.2% ABV

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Sierra Nevada, Don't Miss This, The Bruery

Sierra Nevada Raspberry Sundae Ale, with The Bruery

Sierra Nevada Raspberry Sundae Ale can be found in the new Beer Camp Around the World mixed pack – a collaboration with The Bruery.

The Bruery’s Andrew Bell calls this an oddball beer. The ice cream inspired Raspberry Sundae Ale is standout in Sierra Nevada’s Beer Camp Across the World box. To the point where you’re not sure whether you want to drink it first or last.

Raspberry Sundae Ale is brewed with raspberries, cacao nibs, and vanilla plus a touch of lactose for a bit of creaminess. You’ll every one of those flavors, but nicely retrained. A beer like this is supposed to bring a raspberry sundae to mind while drinking, even compliment the actual dessert. Not be a substitute for it.

Sierra Nevada and The Bruery’s Raspberry Sundae Ale creation is just one of 12 tasting adventures you’ll find in the Beer Camp Around the World box. Hitting shelves now.

Style: Herb/Spice Ale (w/ Raspberry, Vanilla Beans, Cocoa. Lactose.)
Availability: 12oz Bottles. Mixed Pack only.
Debut: Late May/June, 2017

8% ABV

Image: Beer Street Journal

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in The Veil Brewing, New Releases

The Veil Brewing Chubbles, a collaboration with Cloudwater Brew

The Veil Brewing Chubbles, a new collaboration with England based Cloudwater Brew Co., debuts on May 30th.

RELATED: The Veil Brewing Chubbles

The Richmond, Virginia based brewery calls this a “proper English triple IPA”. By proper, they mean an intensely imperial IPA with Galaxy, Citra, and El Dorado hops, plus English malt and yeast.

The Veil Brewing Chubbles will be available in 16 ounce cans when the brewery opens on May 30th.

Style: Imperial IPA
Hops: El Dorado, Citra, Galaxy
Malts: English, Flaked Oats
Yeast: English Ale

Availability: 16oz Cans
Debut: 5/30/17

10.9% ABV

by Reid Ramsay