Mad River Brewing is releasing/shipping a new beer dubbed “Sunrise E.S.B.”. The beer joins the Jamaican line of beers by the Blue Lake, California brewery. Looks like the distribution is fairly limited. Here’s the press release rundown:
Finally getting the feeling like it’s fall? Halloween is a week away, but the beers of winter are arriving daily. New Belgium Brewing (Fort Collins, CO) brings back a beer meant for the cold. The brewing process 2° undergoes Continue Reading →
Heavy Seas has done some great things this year. The mutiny fleet as been impressive, they’re marzen has won it’s 5th consecutive medal in5 years at GABF. Winter Storm is the late fall/early winter beer that is part of the Continue Reading →
Theres a new brewery hitting shelves in Atlanta. To be perfectly honest, they have been here a few weeks. These bottles have been on shelves for a bit at Total Wine. Long story short, Total Wine had some exclusivity with the distribution. In the State of Georgia, it’s illegal to have that exclusivity. So with that said, more places can pick up Laughing Dog Brewing from Ponderay, Idaho.
History:
At Laughing Dog Brewing, what began with a dream for brews with more hops has turned into an insatiable desire to craft beers of all flavors, with a focus on quality, purity, and fun. Today, Laughing Dog brews has brewed over 15 distinct beers, including seasonals like our Huckleberry Ale and Winter Ale, and our award-winning IPA’s and Stouts. But despite our success and growth, our motto remains the same as the day we started, to create… “Fetchingly Good Beer”!
Sweetwater’s Motorboat, part of the breweries seasonal “Catch & Release” series is back. Motorboat is an ESB or Extra Special Bitter. An ESB is a fairly broad English term for a hoppy pale ale. A pale ale with variations. Hops Continue Reading →
Style: Extra Special Bitter Availability: Semi-annual, draft only. ABV: 5.8% IBU: 43
Although Fuller’s owns a copyright for the appellation in the United Kingdom, ESB has become a popular style among American pub brewers.
Britons have historically referred to hoppy pale ales as ‘bitters,’ applying different designations depending on the alcohol volume. Ordinary bitters feature the least alcohol by volume, best bitters offer slightly more booze, and strong or extra special bitters have the highest ABV. ESB’s are well-balanced beers that offer a lot of hop flavor without the aggressive hoppiness of IPAs or American Pale Ales. ESBs are typically golden to amber in color and despite their name, are no more bitter than pale ales.
An Americanized ESB, Bitter Druid has a rich malt start followed by a crisp hop finish. When pairing it with food, Eric Fear suggests that you “keep it English and go with your finest Shephard’s Pie. The cheese and mashed potato portions will work really well with the rich malt profile while the refined hoppy bitterness works really well with the peas and gamey meat found at the bottom.”
Mad River Brewing is releasing/shipping a new beer dubbed “Sunrise E.S.B.”. The beer joins the Jamaican line of beers by the Blue Lake, California brewery. Looks like the distribution is fairly limited. Here’s the press release rundown:
Mad River Brewing Company Releases Jamaica Sunrise E.S.B.
Our third installment to our popular Jamaica line of ales (Jamaica Red and Jamaica Sunset IPA), Jamaica Sunrise E.S.B. is a tribute to the classic English style. Light and crisp, this refreshing session ale is brewed with majority Pale and Aromatic malts and a dash of Carastan.
Full malty flavor and mouth feel are balanced by a continental hop profile provided by Fuggle and Golding hops. 5.4% ABV and 46.3 IBU’s. Available March 1st for limited draft distribution in California, Oregon and Washington.
Finally getting the feeling like it’s fall? Halloween is a week away, but the beers of winter are arriving daily. New Belgium Brewing (Fort Collins, CO) brings back a beer meant for the cold. The brewing process 2° undergoes is interesting. It’s dry hopped of course, but also is pushed to nearly freezing to give the beer a beautiful clarity.
Commercial Description: Pull on your wool socks and crack open a 2° Below Ale. This tasty winter warmer started life as a small batch beer brewed for the Al Johnson Uphill Downhill a telemark ski race in Crested Butte, Colorado. The Uphill Downhill celebrates the exploits of Al Johnson, letter carrier extraordinaire, who delivered mail by ski in the late 1800 s. Dry hopping during fermentation creates a floral nose with a hint of pepper and spicy, subtle undertones. 2° Below provides a bright, hoppy palate and a cheery warm afterglow.
Heavy Seas has done some great things this year. The mutiny fleet as been impressive, they’re marzen has won it’s 5th consecutive medal in5 years at GABF. Winter Storm is the late fall/early winter beer that is part of the 12oz Pyrate Fleet.
Commercial Description: Our winter ale brewed with copious helpings of English malts and both U.S. and English hops making it a ruddy hued Imperial ESB in style. Full malty flavors dancing with powerful hop aromas and a lingering yet firm hop bitterness.
Style: ESB. Although you will see it classed as an American Strong Ale
Taste Expectations: Subtle touch of raisins, dark fruits, & caramel. Hops are grassy, and herbal.
Point of clarification – Harvest is a seasonal by Southern Tier, however it has never reached the Atlanta market until now.
Commercial Description: Harvest Ale is our celebration of the changing weather and the sowing of hops and barley that will be used in our upcoming brews. We usher in the fall with a classic English style Extra Special Bitter of the highest order. Deep ruby in color with an even deeper hop flavor… in fact, we throw fresh English hops into every brewing vessel, then dry hop after fermentation to impart a zesty kick. This beer has real hop character that mingles with fresh malted barley for an experience that will make you wish it were fall year ‘round.
Style: English Special Bitter
4 Varieties of Hops. 2 Malts.
Taste Expectations: Hoppy nose. Hoppy flavor – citrus. Sweet malts. Caramel etc. Nice malty fall flavor.
Theres a new brewery hitting shelves in Atlanta. To be perfectly honest, they have been here a few weeks. These bottles have been on shelves for a bit at Total Wine. Long story short, Total Wine had some exclusivity with the distribution. In the State of Georgia, it’s illegal to have that exclusivity. So with that said, more places can pick up Laughing Dog Brewing from Ponderay, Idaho.
History:
At Laughing Dog Brewing, what began with a dream for brews with more hops has turned into an insatiable desire to craft beers of all flavors, with a focus on quality, purity, and fun. Today, Laughing Dog brews has brewed over 15 distinct beers, including seasonals like our Huckleberry Ale and Winter Ale, and our award-winning IPA’s and Stouts. But despite our success and growth, our motto remains the same as the day we started, to create… “Fetchingly Good Beer”!
The laughing Yellow Lab that appears on all of our brews, our logo, and other items is Ben our family dog. His loyal and relaxed attitude, appetite for quality food, and constant desire for walks to complete his healthy lifestyle has served as the perfect inspiration for all our brews at Laughing Dog Brewing.
But of course, Ben can’t write or run the business of a brewery or due to health and safety regulations even be in the clean areas of the brewery, so his “owners” Fred Colby and Michelle Douglass are really the ones behind the curtain making it all happen. The three often discuss their new ideas for brews and flavors, and Ben gives his OK by one bark, or a NO by two barks.
At some point, Ben plans to retire from brewing, and he will pass the torch onto his son Ruger to make the day-to-day barks of approval. But be warned, Ruger is already the inspiration for Devil Dog, a fiesty brew with a full bite, so there may be a few more “exotic” brews in the future at Laughing Dog Brewing.
Laughing Dog Brewing Owners Ben (the dog), Michelle Douglass and Fred Colby hope that you enjoy drinking our beers as much as we enjoy making them.
Sweetwater’s Motorboat, part of the breweries seasonal “Catch & Release” series is back. Motorboat is an ESB or Extra Special Bitter. An ESB is a fairly broad English term for a hoppy pale ale. A pale ale with variations. Hops give beer a bitter flavor. (Depending on how high the hop’s alpha acids are, and when they were added to the boil.) Bitters are broken down into 3 general classes – Session Bitter, Best Bitter, and Extra Special Bitter. Their differences? Alcohol strengths. Bitters have evolved with an alcohol strength of 3% – 8% ABV. Session bitters fall on the 3% end of the range. ESB’s the other end. According to some, 8% is too high for the style.
Bitter is a bit of a misnomer. They aren’t really bitter. The key to a good ESB is hop vs. malt balance. You’ll find ESB’s to be golden to deep copper in color, and pretty clear. (Not cloudy.)
Back to Sweetwater’s Motorboat. This seasonal release arrives annually around late July and sticks around through October. It’s dry hopped with cascade. It’s won back to back medals at The Great American Beer Festival. It’s not overwheming. It’s not underwheming.
Taste Expectations – Bread and caramel malts. Notable grapefruit hops. Sweet flavor. Look for hop/malt balance.
Known Ingredients –
Hops – Cascade
Availability – 12oz/6pks. Draft. Late July through October. Annual release from the “Catch & Release” Series
