Imperial IPA

Posted in Coming Soon, Dogfish Head, Sierra Nevada

Dogfish Head & Sierra Nevada Create Rhizing Bines

Built on the friendship they built with Life & Limb, Dogfish Head & Sierra Nevada are back at it again with Rhizing Bines. The beer is described at an East meets West IPA, incorporating the way each of the breweries hop their beer.

On the hot side, Rhizing Bines will go through Dogfish’s signature continual-hopping process with floral and citrusy Bravo hops. On the cold side, it will be dry-hopped with an experimental varietal so new it doesn’t yet have a name, just a number: Hop 644. A component of Sierra Nevada’s aroma-boosting Torpedo system will make a pit-stop in Delaware for dry-hopping duty before it heads to Sierra’s new North Carolina brewery.

In honor of Sierra Nevada headed to Ashville, Dogfish Head added Carolina heirloom red winter wheat grown at Anson Mills. Rhizing Bines is brewed at Dogfish Head in Milton, DE.

Style: Imperial IPA
Hops: Bravo, #644

Availability: 750 ml bottles. Dogfish Head’s 27 State Network
Arrival: February, 2013

8% ABV

[Press Release]

Read more: Sierra Nevada, Dogfish Head

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Stone Brewing Co.

Stone’s “Enjoy By” IPA Now In 3 Markets

Stone Brewing Co has officially announced the Enjoy By 09.21.12 freshness experiment. The brewery calls the IPA “devastatingly fresh.” The beer has to be consumed before the date very clearly marked on the bottle. We’re talking bottled, shipped, shelved, AND drank within 35 days or it’s gone.

There’s catch though. The beer is only available in just 3 U.S. markets – Chicago, New Jersey, and Southern California.

“At Stone we take freshness seriously, so much so that we laser-etch the Enjoy By date on each bottle,” Greg Koch, Stone Brewing Co. CEO and co-founder stated. “However, Stone Enjoy By IPA is a project that takes freshness to an entirely new level.”

Stone will evaluate Enjoy By’s success by media buzz on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and more. There is an Enjoy By IPA website, along with a series of hashtags

Southern California fans: #EnjoyBy #SoCal
Chicago fans: #EnjoyBy #Chi
New Jersey fans: #EnjoyBy #NJ

What? Did you think you were just going to DRINK this fresh IPA?

Style: Imperial IPA
Hops: Calypso, Super Galena, Simcoe, Delta, Target, Amarillo, Motueka, Citra, Cascade, New Zealand Nelson Sauvin, and Australian Galaxy
Availability: 22oz bombers, Draft. NJ, Chicago, SoCal

9.4% ABV, 88 IBUS

[PressRelease]

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in New Releases, Stone Brewing Co.

This Is Stone’s 35 Day Freshness Experiment

A couple of days ago BSJ mentioned Stone Brewing Co.’s new hoppy offering –Enjoy By 09.21.12 IPA. The beer has its freshness dating very (very) prominently displayed on the label.  I’m told by a local brewery rep that the beer will launch in three United States markets.  Chicago (Windy City Distributors), Southern California (close to Stone), and New Jersey through Hunterdon Distributors.

So how does this work?

Starting on August 17th, Stone will bottle, keg and ship this fresh hoppy offering, which will immediately pass through distributors arriving at on and off premise locations. From brewery to your mouth, it should take about 7 days. That gives the beer drinkers 4 weeks to enjoy this IPA. Any remaining “Enjoy By” in the market will be pulled from taps/shelves and returned to the distributors.

So that leaves us with why?  

Stone’s idea with the 35 day coordination of shipping, receiving, and drinking will reinforce the idea and importance of fresh beer.

Any other markets? 

In theory. Stone wants to see the successes and failures of this “fresh” experiment before moving to more markets.

Style: Imperial IPA
Availability: 22oz bombers, Draft.

8.5% ABV

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in New Releases, Stone Brewing Co.

Stone Brewing Co Releases 16th Anniversary IPA

Stone Brewing Co celebrates 16 years of craft brewing with Stone 16th Anniversary IPA. This new hoppy offering is brewed with lemon verbena, lemon oil, plus an eclectic mix of hops for the discerning hophead.

“Each year we strive to create a uniquely tasty and hoppy beer that allows us to use an assortment of ingredients, and the Stone 16th Anniversary IPA is certainly a testament to our brewing team’s goals,” says Brewmaster Mitch Steele. “We used a variety of malts, hops and botanicals to create an intense, bitter and refreshing IPA perfect for long summer nights.”

The beer will be celebrated at Stone’s anniversary party (weekend) August 17 & 18 at California State College. Start looking for it to pop up in the states below any day.

Style: Imperial IPA (w/ Lemon Verbena, Lemon Oil)
Hops: Magnum for bittering, Delta and Target in the whirlpool, and Calypso and Amarillo in the dry hop
Malt: Pale, Rye, Vienna, Light Munich and Dark Munich

Availability: 22oz bombers, Draft
Distribution: AZ, CA, CO, CT, DE, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, KY, LA, MA, MD, ME, MI, MN, MO, MT, NC, NJ, NM, NV, NY, OH, OR, PA, RI, SC, TN, TX, VA, VT, WA

10% ABV, 85 IBUs

[PressRelease]

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in 21st Amendment Brewing, Seasonal Return

21A’s Hop Bomb, Hop Crisis Returns

21st Amendment (San Francisco, CA) announced the return of Hop Crisis today. Those who love hops, you’ll be glad this one is back. Hop Crisis is an oak aged imperial IPA, available on draft and in 4 pack cans.

“A few years ago, when hop prices shot through the roof, making it more difficult to brew bitter beers, we decided there was only one thing to do. Make the biggest, hoppiest beer we could imagine. And we really wanted to celebrate the Imperial IPA style by doing something a little more original. Aside from the higher alcohol and intense hop bitterness, we felt aging the beer on oak would add some additional layers of flavor. Because oak can overwhelm the hops, we chose a light, subtle oak character to accentuate the dry hop bitterness and add a unique character to the beer.” 

Style: Imperial IPA (Oak Aged)
Availability: 12oz cans, Draft. Limited release.
Area:  CA, OR, WA, AK, ID, MN, OH, MA, NY, NJ, DC, MD, DE, PA, VA, GA and NC.

9.7% ABV

 

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

Stone Enjoy By 09.21.12 Arrives August 17

Stone Brewing Co loves hops and fresh beer.  The above is a great indication. Enjoy By 09.21.12 is an imperial IPA with no subtle drink by date. It’s makes it’s debut at Stone’s 16th Anniversary party.

You have in your hands a devastatingly fresh double IPA. While freshness is a key component of many beers–especially big, citrusy, floral IPAs–we’ve taken it further, a lot further, in this IPA. You see, we specifically brewed it NOT to last. We’ve not only gone to extensive lengths to ensure that you’re getting this beer in your hands within an extraordinarily short windowwe made sure that the Enjoy By date isn’t randomly etched in tiny text somewhere on the bottle, to be  overlooked by all but the most attentive of retailers and beer fans. Instead, we’ve sent a clear message with the name of the beer itself that there is no better time than right now to enjoy this IPA. 

Enjoy By has it’s own website for it too. [EnjoyBy]

Style: Imperial IPA 
Availability: 22 oz bottles, Draft
Arrival: Debuts August 17th

8.5% ABV 

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Alpine Beer Company, New Belgium, New Releases

New Belgium & Alpine’s Super India Pale Ale Arrives This Month

Coming this month – New Belgium & Alpine Beer Company team up to bring you  Super India Pale Ale.  This two part collaboration finds one brewed at Alpine in San Diego, and another that is brewed at New Belgium.   In February, Peter Bouckaert from NB travelled to San Diego County to create installment #1, that will arrive first.  (And only where you can find Alpine, which is very close to the brewery.) For most of you, this is the first time an Alpine Beer Company brew has been in your market.

Style: Imperial IPA
Hops: Amarillo, Columbus, Simcoe, Centennial
Malts: Pale, C-80, Carapils
Availability: 22oz bombers, Draft

9% ABV

 

 

by Reid Ramsay