IPA

Posted in 3 Sheeps Brewing, Beer News, Headlines, New Releases

Piggly Wiggly Beer Is Real, Brewed by 3 Sheeps

Piggly Wiggly officially has their own house craft beer brand with the help of 3 Sheeps Brewing. The beers started hitting stores over the past few weeks.

Grant Pauly, founder of 3 Sheeps in Sheboygan, Wisconsin first started going Piggly Wiggly as a kind in nearby Manitowoc. Family shopping trips to the “Hoggly Woggly” aka “The Pig” left an impression all the way through adulthood. Piggly Wiggly might at one point be synonymous with The South hailing from Arkansas, The Pig brand is strong in the Badger State.

Piggly Wiggly already sells Pauly’s 3 Sheeps brands all over Wisconsin. Now, 3 Sheeps Brewing and The Pig have a new partnershp, Piggly Wiggly beer.

Three house-branded beers are available exclusively at Piggly Wiggly stores across Wisconsin. And unlike the typical grocery store beer play—slap a new label on an existing product and call it a day—3 Sheeps actually created each of these beers from scratch. No rebranding some beer sku here. 3 Sheeps is all in on some Pig originals.

The lineup includes a Midwest IPA, German Pilsner, and Amber Lager— three styles that are refrigerator staples. Triple dry-hopped gummy bear lactose imported vanilla bean rare coffee quadruple barrel-aged beers with a Saturday morning cartoon trademark infringed label need not apply.

Shop the Pig

If you think about it, the partnership makes perfect sense. Especially for Wisconsin. The land where their Kwik Trip gas stations are 30% beer cooler. Bars open early for knitting circles so grandma can have a beer before noon. The Midwest loves beer. So does Piggly Wiggly.

The first look at these beers, the branding is on point, but the expectations were low. Until you turn the can and see the 3 Sheeps Brewing branding on the side, dispelling any fears that this is a marketing stunt. The pilsner is crisp with a touch of bitterness, the Midwest IPA leans hard on the (Mid)West Coast, and our personal favorite – the Amber Lager is everything the style is supposed to be.

For now, the Piggly Wiggly beers are only available across Wisconsin. While the demand might be tempting to expand beyond the state, Pauly and Piggly Wiggly are happier than a pig in… beer to keep in local for now.

Next time a Wisconsinites are at The Pig grabbing a milk and some donuts, you can toss in Piggly Wiggly beer too. It’s probably the most Wisconsin thing you can do in the morning short of drinking it in the parking lot before you drive home.

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Headlines, New Releases, Oskar Blues Brewing

Oskar Blues Expands Dale’s Lineup with Dale’s American IPA

Oskar Blues and the “Dale’s” beers are synonmous with each other. Dale’s Pale Ale launched 2002 is easily one of the best known pale ales in craft beer. This month, the Dale’s lineup is expanding, with the launch of Dale’s American IPA.

Dale’s American IPA is a 7% ABV West Coast-style IPA designed to bridge classic hop-forward brewing with modern drinkability (a stark contrast the chunky haze bombs of the past few years.) The new offering features a citrus, pine, and herbal profile built on a contemporary malt foundation, to create a more both hoppy and straight forward while still being familiar.

PA is the most iconic style in American craft beer…and the roots of the Dale’s lineup are in hop-forward, aggressive but approachable beers. With American IPA, we found the classic balance of hop flavor between familiar and fearless – an American quality of pushing boundaries but staying grounded.” – Aaron Baker, Brand Director, Oskar Blues

Dale’s American IPA joins an expanding portfolio that includes Dale’s Pale Ale, Dale’s Light Lager, Double Dales IPA, Easy IPA, and most recently – Designated Dales NA Pils. T

The beer is currently available on tap at Oskar Blues’ Brevard, North Carolina and Longmont, Colorado taprooms, with select state distribution beginning this month and national availability in 6-packs of 12-ounce cans and on draft expected by fall 2025.

As part of Oskar Blues’ partnership with USA Curling, the new IPA will be featured at curling clubs and events nationwide through the 2026 Winter Olympic Games season.

Style: IPA (West-Coast Style)
Availability: 12oz Cans, Draft. Year-Round

Debut: October 2025

7% ABV

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Sierra Nevada, New Releases

Sierra Nevada Celebration IPA returns in cans this month

It’s always nice to see a venerable beer like Sierra Nevada Celebration IPA still able to stir up some excitement. The brewery posted a picture of Celebration cans ready waiting to be filled, and fans re-professed their love for this seasonal beer all over again. Celebration IPA is an absolute seasonal classic, akin to Bell’s Two Hearted, or Russian River’s Pliny the Elder. Only, you can only get it as the year wind’s down. 

Celebration Ale has hit shelves once again.  

Sierra Nevada has been brewing this fresh-hopped India pale ale since 1981, just one year after opening in 1980. While craft beer’s #1 selling style [IPA] has seen a lot of trends, Celebration Ale has remained steadfast in simply staying as-is. Perhaps that mix of quality and reliability is what makes it so popular – a fact proven by the overwhelming reactions from Celebration fans after the brewery posted the above photo this week. 

Celebration Ale follows Oktoberfest in the brewery’s seasonal series of releases. 

Style: IPA
Availability: 12oz Cans, Draft. 
First Release: 1981

Latest Return: November 2023

6.8% ABV

PIC: Beer Street Journal

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Sierra Nevada, New Releases

Sierra Nevada adds Crisp & Tropical Little Thing

Sierra Nevada’s “Little Things” Series expands with the addition of Crisp Little Thing a summer approaches.

The series started with Hazy Little Thing, which is the first nationally distributed hazy IPA in the U.S. For summer 2023, the brewery is releasing a lager- Crisp Little Thing, as well as Tropical Little Thing, the second in their limited rotating IPA series.

Crisp Little Thing is described as “crushable” as most lagers tend to be, 4.7% alcohol by volume and a smooth 18 IBUs. Only found the the “Little Things Party Pack” – 12 pack variety pack.

Tropical Hazy Little Thing is available in 12oz/6 packs, now through August 2023. The IPA features Cascade, Sabro, Sultana, El Dorado, and Amarillo hops, built on the back of oats, Two-Row malt and wheat.

Crisp Little Thing (4.7% ABV)
Style: Lager
Availability: 12oz Cans, Mixed Pack Exclusive

Tropical Little Thing (7% ABV)
Style: IPA
Hops: Sabro, Sultana, El Dorado, Cascade, Amarillo

Availability: 12oz Cans, Draft. May-August.

Debut: Summer 2023

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Don't Miss This, New Realm Brewing, New Releases

New Realm Psychedelic Rabbit jumps in on the thiol craze

Let’s talk about thiols. If you crave tropical flavors in your beer or IPA, listen up. This bit of fermentation science is for you.

Thiols are aroma compounds and they come in two forms – free form and precursor. The free form are volatile and pungent thiols found in tropical fruits, grapes, and hops. Those thoils boast flavors of passion fruit and guava and fresh grapefruit. When a beer is more “thiol expressive” it is far bolder and big-time tropical.

Sounds good right? Eventually, but some fermentation science has to happen first.

Chicago-based Omega Yeast Labs introduced “Cosmic Punch,” a thiolized version of their British Ale yeast in 2021. This engineered yeast strain biotransforms the massive amount of thiol precursors in malt and hops to free form (expressive) thiols. Ultimately, the thiol output is far greater using this yeast than found in the traditional brewing process.

How? Omega’s goal was to make freeing these thiols more efficient. It’s about the IRC7, a gene in yeast that creates an enzyme that frees thiols from their precursor form. The challenge was that many brewing strains have mutations in the IRC7 gene that disable the enzyme, resulting in low thoil output.

Extremely simplified – Omega developed a yeast that keeps the gene active, and thus the enzyme. The final beer – which so many are IPAs or hoppy lagers are bright, snappy, and quite expressive.

It’s that bit of science behind New Realm Brewing’s new Psychedelic Rabbit Transcendent IPA. While the brewing team had created a few test batches of an IPA with Cosmic Punch, Kane Wille, brewer at New Realm says it was Omega’s Star Party yeast that really made a difference. “We did a 20-barrel batch in Atlanta and loved it, so it became Psyche Rabbit,” Wille says.

Azacca, Cashmere, Citra, and Mosaic hops headline this beer, and with the help of Star Party, you really find out what thiols are all about. The result is truly a burst of passionfruit, pineapple, and citrus flavors, in a beer that looks so much more of a west coast IPA, with a lighter mouthfeel, without having to be overly dry-hopped. “We wanted to bring something innovative to the market this year, and have been overwhemed by the success of this IPA already,” Jeff Chassner, Chief Sales Officer tells Beer Street Journal. “We are very fortunate to have such a talented brewmaster in Mitch Steele and an amazing team of brewers”

The India pale ale has always dominated craft beer, always going through a plethora of identities as the years pass. By the taste of it, the days of quadruple dry-hopping an IPA might be fading, with the rise of these yeasts.

Style: IPA
Hops: Azacca, Cashmere, Citra, Mosaic

Availability: 12oz Cans, Draft. Year-Round.

6.5%

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Wild Heaven Craft Beers, Don't Miss This

Wild Heaven Sunburst IPA is a juicy year-round addition

Wild Heaven Sunburst IPA launches this, marking just the third year-round IPA the brewery has released in 12 years. 

More than a decade ago, Wild Heaven launched with just two beers – Ode to Mercy (Imperial Brown Ale with coffee) and Invocation (Belgian Golden Strong Ale). An IPA release by the brewery was years away from being brewed, even with strong consumer demand. According to co-founder Eric Johnson at the time, “we’ll make one when I think there is a recipe good enough.” 

Finally, in 2016, Wise Blood IPA hit the lineup year-round. A year later, and 100 test batches and water chemistry adjustments, their first imperial IPA – Good Vice hit taps. Wild Heaven initially intended it to be year-round, but the brewery’s passion for that recipe faded fast. Then came Altair IPA in 2018.  Each beer was a stop on a hoppy journey to now.

Wise Blood and Altair are now ghosts.

Here at the brewery, the canning line is busy filling cans of Sunburst IPA – a new and now only year-round IPA the brewery will have for the foreseeable future. It’s aptly named. Sunburst is every bit bright and juicy as it’s billed. A big flavor departure from the brewery’s IPA predecessors, it’s looking to be one of the premier southern IPAs.

That spawned a debate with Josh Franks, head brewer at Wild Heaven. Could Southern IPA be a thing? India pale ale is undoubtedly the style juggernaut of the craft beer world. Going back about 15 years ago you’d find popularity with the English IPA. Soon to be taken over by West Coast IPA. Then a steady sequence of hoppy variants- the Belgian IPA, the Black IPA (aka the Cascadian Dark Ale), the New England IPA, and lactose heavy milkshake IPA. Should The South have its own? 

Maybe they already do. 

It’s not an official style but perhaps it should be. Think of an IPA that’s hoppy and bright. Juicy like a hazy IPA but still fairly clear, still holding on to some West Coast IPA bitterness. A subtle hybrid of two dominant styles. Creature Comforts Tropicalia and Scofflaw Basement IPA would be great examples. A (highly theoretical) southern IPA would be bright and sunny. Just like the sun-soaked, pollen heavy, 3 weeks of cold weather region they were born into. 

Wild Heaven Sunburst IPA hits retailers this week year-round in 12-ounce cans and draft.  

Style: IPA 
Hops: Citra, Talus, Galaxy, Mosaic, Cascade, Chinook, Amarillo

Availability: 12oz Cans, Draft. 
Debut: 3/24/22

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Wild Heaven Craft Beers, New Beers

Wild Heaven Beyond the Stars

by Reid Ramsay