Grapes

Avery Recolte Sauvage: Barrel Aged #11

Avery Brewing Re´colte Sauvage (Wild Harvest) is another addition to the brewery’s expanding Barrel-Aged Series.  This 11th edition is a wild ale made with grape must (squished grapes with the juice/skins etc) like #10 Muscat d’Amour.

Ah, the wonders of nature! Continue Reading →

Dogfish Head Noble Rot Uses Grape Fungus

Dogfish Head Brewing has plans on bottling Noble Rot, a beer they have been developing over the last year.  Rot uses a few wine making techniques.  Those that are winos, here’s the breakdown.  Grape Must.  Must is fresh pressed grape Continue Reading →

Crushing on Napa Smith

Just hitting shelves is Napa Smith Brewing’s Crush, an amber lager brewed with grapes.  A combination that was waiting to happen honestly, considering the brewery is nestled in Napa Valley, California – known for it’s wine.   This brew Continue Reading →

Blue Moon Echos Craft

Blue Moon is adding a new brew to their Brewmaster’s Reserve Collection – Vintage Blonde Ale.  It’s more than a blonde ale, Vintage Blonde is brewed with Chardonnay grape juice.  It won a gold medal in the fruit beer category Continue Reading →

Posted in Avery Brewing, Coming Soon

Avery Recolte Sauvage: Barrel Aged #11

Avery Recolte SavageAvery Brewing Re´colte Sauvage (Wild Harvest) is another addition to the brewery’s expanding Barrel-Aged Series.  This 11th edition is a wild ale made with grape must (squished grapes with the juice/skins etc) like #10 Muscat d’Amour.

Ah, the wonders of nature! Wild yeast spontaneously flourishing upon the freshly harvested Cabernet Sauvignon grape skins begat this sanguine and abstruse beauty.  Aged for 14 months in Cabernet Sauvignon barrels.  

Style: American Wild Ale
Yeast: Brettanomyces
Availability: 12oz bottles.  Bottled: November, 2011. Total Production 128 cases

Arrival: TBA

8.58% ABV

 

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Coming Soon, Dogfish Head

Dogfish Head Noble Rot Uses Grape Fungus

Dogfish Head Brewing has plans on bottling Noble Rot, a beer they have been developing over the last year.  Rot uses a few wine making techniques.  Those that are winos, here’s the breakdown.  Grape Must.  Must is fresh pressed grape juice, that contains the skin, juice, seeds, etc.  Noble Rot- where the beer gets it’s name, come from a fungus called  Botrytis cinerea.  Botrytis is a good fungus, that will infect or grow on the grapes when they are ripe.  (If they stay moist, grey fungus can destroy the crops.) Botrytis on dry ripe grapes that start to raisin (reduces water content) are hand picked to make very sweet wine.   To make Noble Rot Ale, DFH took Botrytis infected Viognier grape must from Alexandria Nicole Cellars in Prosser, Washington.   The fermentable sugars for the beer comes from the must.   The brewpub edition of Noble Rot included red winter wheat, grown and malted near Sam Calagione’s home in Massachusetts.

We brew this unique, sorta-saison with a little help from our friends at Alexandria  Nicole Cellars using botrytis-infected Viognier grape must.  This “noble rot” magnifies its complexity and long finish.

Style: Saison
Availability: Soon to be 750ml bottles.  Has been on draft at the pub.
Flavors?  Yeasty. Funky, with grape flavors. Tart. Slight fruit.
Bottle Arrival: TBA

9% ABV

 

 

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in New Releases

Crushing on Napa Smith

Just hitting shelves is Napa Smith Brewing’s Crush, an amber lager brewed with grapes.  A combination that was waiting to happen honestly, considering the brewery is nestled in Napa Valley, California – known for it’s wine.   This brew is significant, as it coincides with the grape harvest.  Crush marries a fall oktoberfest, and various local grapes.  Napa Smith also runs a winery.

Style: Amber Lager
Taste Expectations: A malt forward beer with grape flavors throughout.  Very low bitterness.  Lager meets wine.
Availability: 12 oz bottles

6% ABV

pic: @aleyeahbeer

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Coming Soon, Widmer Brothers Brewing

Widmer’s Lemongrass Heads For Reserve

Rob Lucente Of Peak Brewing Company said to me a while back – “You know who is going to have a great year? – Widmer Brothers”  Upon asking why, he said they have been buying a lot of great ingredients.  Word gets around.   Judging by not only Widmer’s spiffy new website, and the taste of their beers, they’ve definitely got their eye on the ball.

Lemongrass Wheat Ale will be joining The Brother’s Reserve as #5 just behind Galaxy Hopped Barleywine. A wheat ale brewed with lemongrass & muscat grapes.  It  just wreaks of summer flavors.

Availability: 22oz bombers, typically boxed.

Arrival: TBA

9% ABV

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Blue Moon Brewing, Coming Soon

Blue Moon Echos Craft

Blue Moon is adding a new brew to their Brewmaster’s Reserve Collection – Vintage Blonde Ale.  It’s more than a blonde ale, Vintage Blonde is brewed with Chardonnay grape juice.  It won a gold medal in the fruit beer category at GABF last year under the name “C Blonde”

Label:
A Blue Moon Brewing Company, everything we do flows from out brewmaster’s artistic approach to brewing. Vintage Blonde Ale, part of our Brewmaster’s Reserve Collection is his latest work of art. This limited edition wheat ale is brewed with Chardonnay grape juice p for crisp, dry taste.  Gather your friends and share this gold medial winner fromt he 2010 Great American Beer Festival.

Availability: 750ml bombers.

8.5% ABV

by Reid Ramsay