Stone Brewing’s 2011 Japanese Green Tea IPA, aged in Red wine barrels.
Style: Imperial IPA (Green Tea, Barrel Aged)
Availability: Draft only, as of 2/9/12
Tapping: TBA (Drop a message if you know)
10.6% ABV
Great to see better news for The Alchemist (Waterbury, VT) after losing their brewpub in the wake of Hurricane Irene. Heady Topper, a hoppy imperial IPA that hit cans shortly after the destruction will be available in Continue Reading →
Napa Smith Brewing (Napa, CA) has seen great success with Hopageddon, a barrel aged imperial IPA. The name suits the beer, as this imperial IPA not only wet-hopped, but aged in Chardonnay & Cabernet barrels. Tentatively, the brewery will Continue Reading →
The Samuel Adams Small Batch series is very active and constantly evolving. In 2011, 4 beers were released in the new series – Tasman Red, Griffin’s Bow, The Vixen, and Third Voyage. We here at BSJ think we’ve got the 2012 Continue Reading →
Sixpoint Brewery is debuting Resin today, in a unique can. The 12oz package is as tall as a 16oz tallboy, but much slimmer. It’s one for hop lovers. I took a few liberties with the press release:
Often enjoyed on draft Continue Reading →
One of the worlds top 10 most highly rated beers makes it’s seasonal return on 2/3/12. Straight from Russian River Brewing:
Pliny the Younger is still scheduled for release at our brewpub on Friday, February 3rd! Here is the scoop: the Continue Reading →
SweetWater Brewing’s latest Dank Tank Series release 420 IPA has arrived. This most recent release is built off the famed 420 Pale Ale, but bigger. Hoppier. Boozier.
Tingling with excitement, el dank hopped the fur bus and rolled to the panic Continue Reading →
Stone Brewing’s 2011 Japanese Green Tea IPA, aged in Red wine barrels.
Style: Imperial IPA (Green Tea, Barrel Aged)
Availability: Draft only, as of 2/9/12
Tapping: TBA (Drop a message if you know)
10.6% ABV
Great to see better news for The Alchemist (Waterbury, VT) after losing their brewpub in the wake of Hurricane Irene. Heady Topper, a hoppy imperial IPA that hit cans shortly after the destruction will be available in Massachusetts the second week of February (about right now.) The brewery was finalizing the work on a cannery a few miles away from the brewpub last year. It was undamaged allowing the beer to ship out as planned. Since then, it has rocketed to the top of the beer geek want lists. It’s damn good too. Congrats to The Alchemist and the thirsty people of Massachusetts. This IPA is bitter, like the Patriots are feeling right now. [Boston.com]
Napa Smith Brewing (Napa, CA) has seen great success with Hopageddon, a barrel aged imperial IPA. The name suits the beer, as this imperial IPA not only wet-hopped, but aged in Chardonnay & Cabernet barrels. Tentatively, the brewery will be putting the complex hop bomb (that combines both beer, and the wine country in which they reside) into bombers.
Hopageddon is an end-of-the-world imperial IPA that defies expectations and induces an intense hop-stupor that will leave you wondering what just happened. At 144 IBUs, Hopageddon glows with a gorgeous fiery orange color and showcases a distinct, full white head. The added character given by the Chardonnay and Cabernet barrels accentuates explosive papaya and lychee flavors along with herbaceous aromas. Chewy, grassy, wet-hop flavors, hints of dried apricot, and impressions of barrel tannins are evident in mutiple layers. The distinct Barrel-hopped flavors and shockwave of bitterness lingers on the palate and leaves hopheads with a Post-ahopalyptic yearning for more.
Style: Imperial IPA (Barrel Aged)
Hops: Chinook, Cascade, Warrior, Columbus, Mt. Hood, Centennial
Availability: Draft. 22oz bombers soon.
Bottle Arrival: TBA
9.2% ABV, 144 IBUs
The Samuel Adams Small Batch series is very active and constantly evolving. In 2011, 4 beers were released in the new series – Tasman Red, Griffin’s Bow, The Vixen, and Third Voyage. We here at BSJ think we’ve got the 2012 lineup figured out too – Dark Depths, Cinder Bock, Verloren, & Norse Legend. Each of these beers are both interesting and complex, on top of being a far departure from the brewery’s usual lineup.
New twist: 3 of these beers look to headed for 12 bottles. Tasman Red – 1 of the 3, released last year in 750s but also first to hit tap handles. Third Voyage – released in 2011, imperial IPA. Dark Depths – A hoppy baltic porter/IPA that is still awaiting release.
Sixpoint Brewery is debuting Resin today, in a unique can. The 12oz package is as tall as a 16oz tallboy, but much slimmer. It’s one for hop lovers. I took a few liberties with the press release:
Often enjoyed on draft and served in smaller glasses, double IPA beers are naturally strong and strikingly hoppy. They are brewed with roughly twice the amount of hops in the average IPA, and have a considerably higher alcohol content. The hops’ essence is produced within hop cones at peak maturity, when their cores swell up with a sticky golden secretion – or resin. This bounty of natural fresh flavor is the simple inspiration for Resin. To conjure the green petals of the cones, Resin cans are designed with a lush green background and golden-bronze accents to symbolize the precious resin inside each cone.
The can is as tall as a tallboy, but skinny:
For such a distinct beer, Sixpoint Brewery has chosen to offer them in unique 12-ounce can four-packs as well as on draft. The cans are identical in height to the rest of the year-round canned offerings from the brewery (Sweet Action, Bengali Tiger, Righteous Ale and The Crisp) as well as seasonal releases (Diesel and Autumnation thus far). However, their “sleek” shape contributes to smaller four-can packages. Resin will be sold at the same retail price as its other canned offerings, delivering value for fans of specialty craft beers.
Shane Welch, Founder & Prez:
“Sixpoint Resin was one of the most exciting projects we’ve undertaken recently, and I’m thrilled to share it with our customers,” r. “People are quickly waking up to the wonders of IPA and the pleasant taste sensation of bitterness. We wanted to deliver a story about the organic chemical responsible for these flavor sensations everyone is enjoying. This was a very extensive project where we anatomically analyzed the various features of the hop cone, and explored the botanical feature that makes it all happen – sticky resin oozing from the interior!”
Don’t forget Jan, he was in on Resin too:
Sixpoint Braumeister Jan Matysiak, who joined the brewery as of late last year, was instrumental in the recipe and brewing procedures for Resin. “Brewing a ‘big beer’ is always a lot of fun, and an opportunity to push one’s own creativity to the next level,” said Jan. “I am very happy with the outcome of Resin and look forward to sharing this extraordinary beer with Sixpoint fans and all beer connoisseurs.”
Style: Imperial IPA
Availability: 12oz slim cans, Draft. All Sixpoint markets
9.1% ABV, 103 IBUs
One of the worlds top 10 most highly rated beers makes it’s seasonal return on 2/3/12. Straight from Russian River Brewing:
Pliny the Younger is still scheduled for release at our brewpub on Friday, February 3rd! Here is the scoop: the pub opens at 11am at which time we will be seating everyone in an orderly and civilized fashion. We are reserving the dining room and board room for folks who are eating, but there is plenty of space at the bar for those interested in just imbibing. Younger will be served in a 10 ounce glass for the same price as last year and the year before- still a good deal! As you probably already know, there will be no growlers or bottles, as usual. We want you to enjoy Younger from the source at its absolute best! Like all fresh food products, this beer has a very short “shelf” life and is meant to be consumed only when in season (February, early March)! There will be a certain number of kegs allotted each day for 14 days, wrapping up 2 weeks of Younger on February 16th. We will begin distribution to our local (Bay Area) accounts on February 6th. Our distributors (all 7 of them) will begin picking up their allocation that week and the following week. If you live in one of the few markets where we distribute, they should be getting their Younger within that time frame. One note- we do not dictate where our distributors choose to send Pliny the Younger. That is completely up to them and we trust their decisions!
What can you expect if you come to our brewpub? Last year we had a line out front everyday for 2 solid weeks, rain or shine! On the weekends (particularly the first weekend) the wait was up to 3 hours. And sometimes you could walk right in. We will be queing up at the 4th Street entrance so we can count bodies as they enter. This city is rather strict about occupancy and I’m sure they will be visiting us a few times during those 2 weeks. There are 2 notable differences this year: 1. SF Beer Week launches on the 10th, one week after we release Younger (it was the same day we released Younger last year). 2. We were able to make a little more for the pub, meaning we hope to run out later each day. Last year there were a couple of days we did not run out at all! You can also expect to have about 17 other beers on tap, most of which are available by the bottle or in growlers to go. And it’s quite the line-up of some of the old standards and new and exciting brews!
We are looking forward to your visit to our newly and beautifully remodeled pub! If you can’t make it to the pub, we do hope you can at least enjoy our new website.
Cheers!
Natalie, Vinnie, and the Crew
SweetWater Brewing’s latest Dank Tank Series release 420 IPA has arrived. This most recent release is built off the famed 420 Pale Ale, but bigger. Hoppier. Boozier.
Tingling with excitement, el dank hopped the fur bus and rolled to the panic show at The Fox. Boogieing down to Chilly Water, he noodled into a cute little wookie that blew his mind and yanked him from some post show get down at the Clermont lounge. Stumbling and bumbling with blondie, he got booted, and went home for some shut eye. Dreaming of the wet wookie, he awoke to his dog licking his tongue, realizing he was late for his night shift at SweetWater.
Fumbling through his brew and dry hopping duties, el danko hit the wall, and passed out mid-shift. Waking up to Nick Nock screaming WTF, he frantically ran around putting out fires. As the haze cleared he realized he had left the mill running, jacking up the OG and dry hopping the wrong tank. Fuddied up after the most insane 36 hours, el Danko pondered his delirious creation, a chubby 420 India Pale Ale! Huh??? Ducking trouble, he quickly swept the abominable snowman under the rug, as he sent the 420 IPA to the bottling line boys in an effort to hide his momentoustus F- up.
Style: Imperial IPA
Taste Expecations:
Availability: 22oz bombers, Draft
8.5% ABV
