Imperial IPA

COMING SOON: SweetWater Border Hop-per Ale

.Remember when SweetWater Brewing tweeted about making a beer with citra hops??  The same awesome citra hops that got hop heads addicted to Terrapin’s “Hopzilla”?  Well we are weeks away from SweetWater’s latest Dank Tank release – “Border Hop-per Ale”

Style: Continue Reading →

NOW TAPPING: Brooklyn Detonation @ The Fred

First sighting I know of in Atlanta. Taps 5 pm at The Fred Bar . Detonation follows Dark Matter and more recently, Buzz Bomb Ale.

Beer Rundown:
Style: American Imperial IPA
Hops: Willamette, Amarillo, Palisade, Sorachi Ace, Simcoe, Cascade, East Kent Golding
Malts: British floor malted maris otter, German pilsner malt, British crystal malt
Sugars: First Pressing Demerara sugar, Mauritius

Availability: Draft only offerings, for 6-8 weeks.
9.2% ABV

Read on for the full story on Detonation Ale…

Southern Tier 2XIPA

More beer news from Southern Tier.  There has been some buzz about this imperial IPA arriving in the city. Athens got the first shipment.  Some accounts north of Atlanta got a few 6 packs, and now Atlanta finally has it Continue Reading →

Laughing Dog Brewing

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”!

NEW ARRIVAL: Southern Tier 2XIPA

This imperial IPA is a year round offering from Southern Tier that until now had yet to make it to the southeast.  As I have mentioned before, Southern Tier (Lakewood, NY) has gotten a warm welcome in Atlanta, prompting the Continue Reading →

Bell’s Hopslam Mini Kegs in 2010

Still working on verifying with Bell’s Brewing, but the talk on BeerAdvocate.com & Beernews.org is that Bell’s Brewing (Kalamazoo, MI) will be releasing Hopslam in the “Oberon Style” mini keg’s this year. Bell’s just completed a 5+ million dollar Continue Reading →

Terrapin SP#12 Hopzilla Arrives!

The bottles of the latest Side Project from Terrapin Brewing has arrived! This piney, grapefruity bottle of tasty made it’s Atlanta debut at Leon’s last week, and saw a tap handle last night at Cypress Street. Here’s a quick flyby Continue Reading →

Posted in Coming Soon, SweetWater Brewing

COMING SOON: SweetWater Border Hop-per Ale

.Remember when SweetWater Brewing tweeted about making a beer with citra hops??  The same awesome citra hops that got hop heads addicted to Terrapin’s “Hopzilla”?  Well we are weeks away from SweetWater’s latest Dank Tank release – “Border Hop-per Ale”

Style: Imperial IPA

Hops: Citra Hops from Yakima, Washington.

From the label:

“Buried under eight screaming babies, Sank CENSORED and his full-bodied wife Lupa’s constant nagging, CENSORED Dank CENSORED packed his CENSORED and headed CENSORED on his trusted CENSORED. Under the CENSORED and into CENSORED, they rode in search of the freshest hops in the world.

Seeing CENSORED Joe everywhere, CENSORED Dark CENSORED to the green hop fields of Yakima. As CENSORED Dank packed two CENSORED with fresh sticky Citra hops, the field was CENSORED. He fled to the barn, where he’s discovered farmer Ralph’s daughter tending to his smiling CENSORED. After a CENSORED, aiming to CENSORED, the CENSORED smoked him out. Quickly he and CENSORED giddied up with their score towards Atlanta and the promised lands of Buford Highway. Bone dry and bottomed out, he made it to SweetWater, hoping to deal his CENSORED for a CENSORED. Neither CENSORED nor his hop stash have been heard from since. Although, rumor has it that he has a job at a white house serving up his CENSORED, with full benefits, and a CENSORED allowance.”

Arrival: Mid – Late October, 2010.

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Brooklyn Brewing, Now Tapping

NOW TAPPING: Brooklyn Detonation @ The Fred

First sighting I know of in Atlanta. Taps 5 pm at The Fred Bar . Detonation follows Dark Matter and more recently, Buzz Bomb Ale.

Garrett Oliver writes in his blog about this release –
“For about eight years now, we’ve brewed a Brooklyn-style hop monster called BLAST! It’s a robust IPA using both British and Pacific Northwest hops. We haven’t had enough space to brew much of it, but we hear that people really enjoy BLAST! when it shows up. And it’s one of our favorite beers here at the brewery. Well, now we’d like more of you to see our hoppier side. Meet BLAST!’s big brother, Brooklyn Detonation Ale.

It’s a copper-colored pale ale with British malt character, American hop ebullience, Brooklyn attitude and disturbing drinkability. British caramel malts lend richness and depth, while a blend of American hops give the beer a minerally backbone and explosive aromatics (with a special guest appearance by our pal East Kent Golding as ‘The English Aristocrat’).

Brooklyn Detonation Ale is mighty tasty. It probably even gives you fresher breath And whiter teeth, but we can’t prove that part. Nor can we support the claim that it concentrates the mind on life’s better aspects. However, we can guarantee that it’s terrific with pork tacos, Thai food, Indian dishes, burgers, and sharp cheeses. So have yourself some Brooklyn Detonation Ale — after all, isn’t it about time you blew up?”

Beer Rundown:
Style: American Imperial IPA
Hops: Willamette, Amarillo, Palisade, Sorachi Ace, Simcoe, Cascade, East Kent Golding
Malts: British floor malted maris otter, German pilsner malt, British crystal malt
Sugars: First Pressing Demerara sugar, Mauritius

Availability: Draft only offerings, for 6-8 weeks.
9.2% ABV

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in New Releases, Southern Tier Brewing

Southern Tier 2XIPA

More beer news from Southern Tier.  There has been some buzz about this imperial IPA arriving in the city. Athens got the first shipment.  Some accounts north of Atlanta got a few 6 packs, and now Atlanta finally has it on shelves.  2xIPA is a year round offering from Southern Tier.

Commercial Description:
2xipa is a Double India Pale Ale, brewed with 4 varieties of hops and 3 types of malts. Not quite an imperial, but certainly not a standard India pale ale. Our double IPA is a hop lovers dream. Citrusy and clean with an incredible finish.

Taste Expectations: Lots of citrus hops in this beer.  Caramel malt brings balance to this beer, but not before some hop bitterness.  In character imperial/double IPA.

Availability: 12oz/6pks, Draft.  Year round offering from Southern Tier

8.2% ABV

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Laughing Dog Brewing, New Launches

Laughing Dog Brewing

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.

Beers now available in Georgia:

Dogzilla Black IPA – 6.9% ABV.  Floral & Citrus hops.  Caramel, toasted malts.  Bready, black, hoppy.

Alpha Dog – Imperial IPA, 8.7% ABV.  Hops are grapefruit & pine.  Malty backbone.  Walks the line on balance.

Devil Dog – Imperial IPA, 10% ABV.  DIPA that is hoppy, bitter, but balanced.  Pine and sweet caramel malts.

CSB – ESB, 5.4% ABV.  Light citrus hops. Roasted malts.  Some bready malt.

Pale Ale – ?? ABV.  Hoppy pale ale.  Citrus hops.  Light pale malts.

Availability: Most are year round offerings, 22oz Bottles.  No draft in Georgia currently.

Looking for these? Hop City and Total Wine

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in New Releases, Southern Tier Brewing

NEW ARRIVAL: Southern Tier 2XIPA

This imperial IPA is a year round offering from Southern Tier that until now had yet to make it to the southeast.  As I have mentioned before, Southern Tier (Lakewood, NY) has gotten a warm welcome in Atlanta, prompting the brewery to continue to release it’s tasty goodness one by one.  2XIPA follows the recent release of Creme Brulee.

Commercial Description:

2xipa is a Double India Pale Ale, brewed with 4 varieties of hops and 3 types of malts. Not quite an imperial, but certainly not a standard India pale ale. Our double IPA is a hop lovers dream. Citrusy and clean with an incredible finish.

Taste Expectations: Lots of citrus hops in this beer.  Caramel malt brings balance to this beer, but not before some hop bitterness.  In character imperial/double IPA.

Availability: 12oz/6pks, Draft.  Year round offering from Southern Tier

8.2% ABV

NOTES:

Taps tomorrow ( 8/20) at The Porter Beer Bar, part of their Southern Tier tap takeover.

UPDATE: Shipping delayed this arrival in Atlanta until Week of August 31st…

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Bell's Brewing, Coming Soon

Bell’s Hopslam Mini Kegs in 2010

Still working on verifying with Bell’s Brewing, but the talk on BeerAdvocate.com & Beernews.org is that Bell’s Brewing (Kalamazoo, MI) will be releasing Hopslam in the “Oberon Style” mini keg’s this year. Bell’s just completed a 5+ million dollar expansion, adding extra tanks & capacity. Hopslam made it’s first debut in Atlanta last winter. I get weekly questions asking when it will return. Looks like this year it will be returning not only on draft and in bottle, but also in mini-kegs.

More info to follow. I have multiple calls and emails into the proper Bell’s authorities.

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in New Releases, Terrapin Beer Company

Terrapin SP#12 Hopzilla Arrives!

The bottles of the latest Side Project from Terrapin Brewing has arrived! This piney, grapefruity bottle of tasty made it’s Atlanta debut at Leon’s last week, and saw a tap handle last night at Cypress Street. Here’s a quick flyby –
Style: Imperial IPA
Hops: Bravo, Chinook, Centennial and Citra (dry)
Malts: Maris Otter
10.7% ABV
130 IBU’s

Spikes Description:
Terrapin “Side Project” number 12 is none other than the fearless “Hopzilla” Double I.P.A.This Hoptastic creature clocks in at 110 IBU’s and has all the hop explosion of a B-Rate monster movie.
Made with 100% Maris Otter malt to back up the barrage of hop bitterness, flavor and aroma, this beast knows no boundaries. With all of this hoppy goodness packed into one beer, we wouldn’t have called it by any other name.

Thanks @jbyce for the beer pic!

by Reid Ramsay