Oak Aged

Karl Strauss 24th: Flan-Diddly-Anders

Karl Strauss will celebrate 24 years of brewing with their version of a Flanders-Style Ale. Aptly named 24th Anniversary Flanders-Style Ale, this has been aging in oak barrels since last year’s anniversary party and is part of Karl Strauss’s ever-expanding barrel Continue Reading →

New Holland Blue Sunday 2013 Hits Shelves

New Holland Brewing (New Holland, MI) incredible sour beer – Blue Sunday Sour 2013 has hit shelves.  One of two beers in the brewery’s cellar series, Blue Sunday is an American Wild Ale aged in oak.

Continue Reading →

Jester King Debuts “El Cedro”

On December 20th Jester King will debut its latest creation, El Cedro, at during the Austin Beer Guide Winter Release party. At 8.0% ABV this farmhouse ale is dry-hopped with Citra hops, aged with Spanish Cedar spirals and bottle conditioned Continue Reading →

Posted in Coming Soon, Karl Strauss Brewing

Karl Strauss 24th: Flan-Diddly-Anders

Karl Strauss will celebrate 24 years of brewing with their version of a Flanders-Style Ale. Aptly named 24th Anniversary Flanders-Style Ale, this has been aging in oak barrels since last year’s anniversary party and is part of Karl Strauss’s ever-expanding barrel program. If you get the chance to try this beer, Karl Strauss invites you to tweet them your sour face @Karl_Struass with the hashtag #sourface.

“We’ve been experimenting with sour beers for a while and we thought it would be fun to barrel age a bigger version of our Flan-diddly-anders. The Flanders style is tart enough to make sour fans happy but still accessible enough for people who might not have tried a sour beer before.  It was a fun beer to make.”

The 24th Anniversary will be available at their brewery for their 24th Anniversary Changing of the Barrels Party on February 2nd to the 100 few with tickets. During this intimate event, guests will also be able to taste a sample of next year’s doppelbock before it hibernates in barrels until next year.

Style: Flander’s Red
Availability: on tap, bottles
Arrival: coming soon

7.5% ABV

If you go:
Karl Strauss Brewing Company, San Diego CA
February 2nd 2013, 6-9PM
$50/person includes beer, food, entertainment, chance to taste 25th anniv. beer, and a souvenir glass

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in B. Nektar Meadery, Cigar City Brewing, Videos
Posted in B. Nektar Meadery, Cigar City Brewing, Coming Soon

Cigar City & B. Nektar Create “Camp Braggot Ghost Stories”

Cigar City Brewing (Tampa, FL) recently opened a Cider & Mead division of the brewery. Meet the first collaboration – Camp Braggot Ghost Stories. teaming up with B. Nektar Meadery (Ferndale, MI) the team has created a lager/mead hybrid, with a host of ingredients, including coconut, cacao nibs, tea, and oak chips.

Scary things live in the dark. Full of unknown ghosts and ghouls. Surprises behind every tree. It might scare you, or it might make you laugh, but it’ll break eery preconceived notion you may have. 

Style: Lager (Mead) w/ Coconut, Honey, Tea, Oak Chips, Cacao Nibs
Availability: 750 ml bottles. In Cigar City distro only.
Arrival: TBA

?? ABV 

Read more: Cigar City Brewing, Collaborations

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in New Holland Brewing

New Holland Blue Sunday 2013 Hits Shelves

New Holland Brewing (New Holland, MI) incredible sour beer – Blue Sunday Sour 2013 has hit shelves.  One of two beers in the brewery’s cellar series, Blue Sunday is an American Wild Ale aged in oak.

This unique anniversary libation, heritage-blended from our library of barrel-soured beers, exhibits deeply layered flavors of malt and oak, with a tart finish.

This coming Sunday (January 13th) is “Blue Sunday”. The brewery holds a release party with various vintages on tap.

Style: American Wild Ale (Oak Aged)
Availability: 22oz bombers, limited draft

8.4% ABV

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Jester King Brewery, New Releases

Jester King Debuts “El Cedro”

jester king el cedro

On December 20th Jester King will debut its latest creation, El Cedro, at during the Austin Beer Guide Winter Release party. At 8.0% ABV this farmhouse ale is dry-hopped with Citra hops, aged with Spanish Cedar spirals and bottle conditioned with Brettanomyces yeast.

“It combines tropical, fruity hop flavor and aroma with funky, barnyard yeast character and the unique flavor and aromatics of Spanish Cedar. El Cedro is brewed with Texas Hill Country well water, 100% organic malt (Two Row, Carapils and Wheat), Millenium, Cascade, Columbus and Citra hops, farmhouse and Brettanomyces yeasts, and Spanish Cedar spirals. After primary fermentation with farmhouse yeast, El Cedro is dry hopped with Citra hops and aged for weeks with Spanish Cedar spirals. It is unfiltered, unpasteurized and naturally carbonated through re-fermentation with Brettanomyces yeast.”

Following the release party, a small number of kegs will be released to the Texas area followed by bottles in 2013.

Styles: Farmhouse Ale (Cedar Aged)
Availability: 750ml bottles, Draft
Arrival: December 20, 2012

8% ABV

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Coming Soon, Jester King Brewery

Jester King RU-55, A Robotic Sour Red

Some sour Jester King – RU-55 Barrel Aged Sour Red Ale. A red ale soured in oak barrels. RU has been showing up a festivals, and special brewery tastings.

For generations, the farms of West Flanders have been tended to by large, anthropomorphic automations. In recent years, many of these farms have been taken over by large, multinational corporations, and their automations replaced by shiny new electronic robots. Scattered about the countryside, however, there are still a few intrepid farmers who insist on doing things the old-fashioned way.

Style: Flanders Red Ale (Oak Barrel Aged)
Hops: Czech Saaz, East Kent Goldings
Malts: Organic Munich, Two-Row, Pilsner. Non-Organic CaraRed, Crystal, Melandoidin, Roasted Barley)
Availability: 750 ml bottles

Arrival: Distribution – Late Dec/Jan 2013

 7.3% ABV, 16 IBUs

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

Odd Year Release: Stone “Old Guardian Oak Smoked”

2013 marks another odd year, and that means another Odd Year Release for Stone Brewing Co. A few years ago, the brewery decided to release a special take on a couple of tried and true favorites for odd years. That resulted in Belgo Anise Imperial Russian Stout, and Old Guardian Belgo Barleywine. The newest treatment for the coming odd year is Old Guardian Oak Smoked Barleywine, featuring German smoked wheat malt. Greg Koch (Founder) writes you a letter on the bottle.

It’s the Friday after Turkey Day. In the US anyhow. Not here in Belize, but I had turkey yesterday all the same. Raised in the Belize countryside by German Mennonites no less. It was delicious. Gotta respect those who are focused on doing things the right way, which more and more in this world often means with less technology rather than more. The bananas are better here, too. Mostly because they’re picked ripe and ready for local consumption, ratherthan pre-ripe and green to ship off to the US and other far-flung countries only to be ethylene-gassed once they arrive to finish off the ripening process. Sudden flashback of when we visited our friends James & Martin @Brewdog in Scotland for our collaboration beer a few years ago called bashah (don’t think I ever spilled the beans formally before that the name is an acronym for black as sin, hoppy as hell). We had dinner at a great little restaurant in Aberdeen that historically was a banana-hanging warehouse. Later, they ended up buying the place. We actually shot a really cool video: [link) Back to the moment and Belize.Just finished a Crime. Great way to start the last night here. Now, as tradition dictates for the OG label, I’m having some 2012 Stone Old Guardian Barley Wine. Sitting at a beach bar & sharing w/John & Barbara Cheek from Oakhurst (Decatur, GA). They regularly enjoy Stone IPA at their local haunts, Steinbeck’s and The Marlay. Got to know them a little today as we were on the same little boat going out to snorkel with the sea turtles. Yes, a bit ‘touristy’ for me, as I typically head a little more off the beaten path, but hell, it was kinda cool swimming with them all the same. Swimming in the ocean made my hair quite scraggly lit’s still rather mucked up from the whole red-hair fundraiser we did back in August), and with the headband I picked up two days ago at a local shop, I’ve gotta admit that I’m looking a bit laughably trustafarian. It’s like I became an overnight pseudo-beach bum. Heh, if only. Not really my thing though, honestly. I’m a bit higher strung than that. The driven/agenda type. Gotta change the world, rather than watch it float by. But then you knew that. Save now. It’s been a ‘float’ week. Nice to visit the float lifestyle every once in a while, but I wouldn’t want to live there. Cracked a Stone Enjoy By 12.21.12 IPA just now. That’s a beer to encourage the ‘watch the world float by” if there ever was one.The aroma is certainly suggestive of that lifestyle, now isn’t it? I’ll leave it at that. Loving it. Brought two cases of assorted 22oz & 500m1 bottles on the trip. The 12.21.12 is the next-to-last, w/Stone Sublimely Self-Righteous Ale bringing up the rear. So to speak. It’s actually not legal to bring in beer to this country as their beer laws are rather protectionist. That serves no one, except a few. Nonetheless, I swallowed my bubbling outrage as I learned this at Customs on my way in and politely asked to speak with a supervisor. I said “Hi, I’m Greg and I own a small brewery in the US, and) like to travel w/beer to share w/people I meet. I certainly don’t mind paying a duty.” He surveyed me, then the beer, then me again and decided that my two cases “didn’t represent a commercial threat” and calc’ed out a modest duty for me to pay. I did so gladly. Now I’m at the end of the visit, and reflecting on the fact that all went quite nicely thank-you- C. very-much. Thankful for the brief respite. Time to get back to it next week. Lots to do. Lots to do.

Style: Barleywine (Smoked, Oak Aged)
Availability: 22oz bottles, Draft.
Arrival: TBA

12% ABV

 

by Reid Ramsay