(Portland, OR) – Fresh hop beer season is almost here.
Not one, not two, but three fresh hop beers from super regional breweries were approved this week. Fresh hop beers are a welcome addition to what is a fall season already jam-packed with traditional seasonals like pumpkin ales and Oktoberfest beers. Expect to start seeing them roll out early-mid September as some brewers are reporting having harvested their hops already.
Beer descriptions…
Deschutes Fresh Hop Mirror Pond Pale Ale
This noble, fresh hop version of our classic American Pale Ale arose from a single plot of heirloom Cascade hops, revived by our brewers from the original rootstock developed at Oregon State University, grown by Goshie Farms in Oregon. This very limited release is just for you. (Bond Street Series / 22 oz).
New Belgium Fresh Hop IPA
Fresh picking for some lip lickings, this beauty of a beer boasts a fresh crop of Cascade, Centennial and Amarillo hops. We’re talking from vine to brew within 24 hours fresh. Citrusy, soft fruit tones. Fresh hop IPA. (Lips of Faith Series / 22 oz).
Sierra Nevada Homegrown Ale
Here in the sun-drenched fields of California’s North Valley, the black soil is rich with promise. In winter, rows of barley seed are laid in the freshly tilled dirt. In spring, trellises are set for hops. From our fields comes a remarkable homegrown ale, made with organic wet hops and barley grown at our brewery here in Chico and one of the few estate-made ales produced anywhere in the world!
This Estate Ale is rish with the flavors of the valley – featuring hops with earthy, grapefruit-like flavors and layered spicy aromas and barley with mild sweetness and smooth, toasted flavors. Together, these crops grow alongside the brewery to make a truly unique brew. (2011 edition / 750ml).
[Disclaimer: Beernews.org is a leader in craft beer news and is the original source of this article. If you would like to check out more, please visit the original site. Thanks!]
A collaboration between Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. and the monks at the Abbey of New Clairvaux, Ovila Abbey Quad brings the centuries-old monastery brewing tradition to America.
Ovila Abbey Quad is rich and complex with layers of flavor including notes of intense dark fruits, and caramel-like maltiness. Rich and complex, this ale should be shared among friends in the true spirit of the season.
A portion of proceeds from this ale goes toward the restoration of the historic Santa Maria de Ovila chapter house on the grounds of the Abbey of New Clairvaux. This medieval building stood for nearly eight centuries in Spain. William Randolph Hearst purchased the monastery in 1931 and planned to use the stones for a castle even grander than his famous San Simeon. Although Hearst’s plans crumbled, these historic stones will rise again in a California Cistercian abbey.
Others…
Laurelwood Stingy Pumpkin Ale
Steamworks Quince Anos Barleywine Ale (15th Anniversary) Shiner Holiday Cheer (24 oz) Cascade Lakes Slippery Slope Ale
Pismo Bolina Brown Ale
Pismo Roadster Red Ale
Pismo Pale Ale
Pismo Bootlegger Blonde Ale
Pismo India Pale Ale
[Disclaimer: Beernews.org is a leader in craft beer news and is the original source of this article. If you would like to check out more, please visit the original site. Thanks!]
The new beer labels for Wednesday…got a lot of ‘em to post tonight.
Ovila Quad by Sierra Nevada Brewing
DuClaw Retribution Bourbon Barrel Aged Imperial Stout (one last “-tion” beer that Vinnie Cilurzo can brew!)
Driftwood Crooked Coast Altbier
Wasatch Two Steps Bock
Sixpoint Dark Mild Ale
Fegley’s Brew Works Bagpiper’s Scotch Ale
Fegley’s Brew Works Double-O Seven
Crown Valley Oktoberfest
Yellowhammer Brown Bomber Uber Alt
Yellowhammer Lost Highway IPA
Loterbol Blonde
Loterbol Bruin
Carton Boat Beer
Four Horsemen IPA
Four Horsemen Black Lager
Four Horsemen Irish Red Ale
Four Horsemen Irish Stout
Four Horsemen Pale Ale
Four Horsemen Blonde Ale
Evil Genius Good ‘n Evil Golden Ale (brewed at Four Horsemen)
Evil Genius EYE PA India Pale Ale
Long Ireland Pumpkin Ale
Fix 1864
[Disclaimer: Beernews.org is a leader in craft beer news and is the original source of this article. If you would like to check out more, please visit the original site. Thanks!]
Round 3 of today’s beer notes update…special West Coast edition…
Sierra Nevada Brewing: Per Bill Manley on Beer Advocate, “We have about 60% of the canning line here at the brewery, but there has been a delay getting the filler here as originally planned (they’re now saying September). I would be surprised to see any cans on the market before January 2012. Once we get the line here and installed, we’ll need a few weeks/months of trials before going full-bore. After that I suspect we’ll do a soft release here in California and then move out to the rest of the country.
Laurelwood Brewery: Per their newsletter, “Due to the high demand for a few key hops we use in the Workhorse recipe, we will soon be producing some of our last batches until late Fall. Hops are an agricultural product. Due to the popularity of Workhorse, we have limited supplies of the hops we need to produce our wildly successful IPA. We also do not want to modify the recipe, compromising the quality that we have all come to love.”
Ohana Brewing: “The U.S. Department of the Treasury Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB for short) has approved our Brewer’s Notice – moving us one big step closer to commencing brewery operations. We still need state brewery approval and to complete construction.”
Stone Brewing: As of sometime yesterday, they had already sold 3,400 tickets for these bottles.
Deschutes Brewery: The Stoic will be released at the pub on 8/16.
Block 15 Brewing: Per Facebook, “Ferme de la Ville Release Info: Saturday August 6th, 11am. $13.95/bottle. Limit of 4 per person. Buy three or more bottles and get a custom re-usable bottle bag! Also, on tap we will have the 2010 & 2011.”
Drake’s Brewing: Per Facebook, “Aroma Coma IPA Special Draft Release Party at Drake’s Barrel House next Wednesday, August 10th, 5pm.” Also of note, the brewery has created a Facebook page for most of its flagship and seasonal offerings. Interesting.
Russian River Brewing: Vinnie Cilurzo reminds us that Framboise for a Cure will return in October. To boot, he provided a Sanctification clone recipe to the Embrace the Funk blog.
Anchorage Brewing: The Shelton Brothers report via newsletter that Bitter Monk and Love Buzz Saison will be available soon.
Bonus I: Opening tasting rooms just got easier in CA breweries just got easier.
Bonus II: Meet COTU Brewing (Center of the Universe). Mariners Pitcher, Chris Ray, hopes to turn this into an actual brewery with his brother some day. He recently appeared on ESPN, giving ten funky beer names with a baseball twist.
[Disclaimer: Beernews.org is a leader in craft beer news and is the original source of this article. If you would like to check out more, please visit the original site. Thanks!]
Sierra Nevada Bad Luck Blonde (ale brewed with coriander) Perennial Saison de Lis
Perennial Strawberry Rhubarb Tart
Bayhawk Claim Jumper Seasonal Ale
El Rey Mexican Style Ale
Snake River Vienna Style Lager
Last Cast Black IPA
Manzanita Lazy Saison
Manzanita Chaotic Double IPA
Frankenmuth Hefeweizen
Frankenmuth Dunkel
[Disclaimer: Beernews.org is a leader in craft beer news and is the original source of this article. If you would like to check out more, please visit the original site. Thanks!]
Sierra Nevada Brewing: Metro Pulse hints that Virginia has either evened the score with Tennessee or charged into the lead in Sierra Nevada’s East Coast HQ hunt. “But we hear the sneaky Virginians have come back to the company with an offer to sweeten the pot and Tennessee may have to call, raise, or throw in the cards. The brewery, which the new legislation authorizes for the first time, would be able to have an attached restaurant and pub and allow sampling of its craft beers on the premises—all activities previously forbidden in Tennessee.”
Port Brewing: Three upcoming releases…Fri, 8/5 – Port Summer Pale Ale. Fri, 8/17 – Port Panzer Pils. Fri, 8/19 – “Two time Alpha King winner Hop 15 makes its first return since it went seasonal last winter. Expect to see it in bottles and on draft in the tasting room and throughout our distribution network.”
BrewDog: Just blogged about why supporting ‘craft beer’ is a more worthy mission than supporting ‘real ale.’ “Real Ale is exclusively focussed on beer re-fermented in cask or bottle regardless of quality or flavour. Craft beer focuses on being fucking awesome regardless of arbitrary rules and out-dated distinctions.”
Surly Brewing: Working on a beer called Surlyfist which is a variant of Surlyfest Lager
Epic Brewing: Per today’s newsletter, “Head brew master Kevin Crompton is experimenting again! (It’s why we love him.) He’s filling cabernet wine barrels with Brainless on Cherries. It is fermenting and ageing now for an October release. This is sure to be an exciting change for this Exponential beer and the first time we’ve done beer in a red wine French oak barrel.”
Rochester Brewing: Just approved by the TTB is Bromigo, a Smoked Maple Amber Ale.
Stillwater Brewing: First we had Stillwater Artisanal Ales; now we have Stillwater Brewing. This Minnesota-based nanobrewery was just featured in the St. Croix Valley Press.
Bonus I: Ever gone to a brewery tour, been befriended by a fellow beer drinking stranger and then had your wallet stolen at knife point by that person? That’s exactly what happened to someone at Lagunitas Brewing on Tuesday.
Bonus II: Beer continues to plummet in the latest Gallup poll in which Americans are asked what alcoholic beverage they prefer.
[Disclaimer: Beernews.org is a leader in craft beer news and is the original source of this article. If you would like to check out more, please visit the original site. Thanks!]
[Disclaimer: Beernews.org is a leader in craft beer news and is the original source of this article. If you would like to check out more, please visit the original site. Thanks!]
(Chico, CA) – Some follow-up to late June’s post about the Life and Limb 2 collaboration.
Here is some solid info from Sierra Nevada Brewing Communications Coordinator, Bill Manley:
Life & Limb 2 has been bottled and packed and is now aging and bottle conditioning in our cellars. The photos attached show the finished beer going into the bottle and moving into the warehouses. We expect the first shipments to be released around August 15. We brewed about 4 times as much as the last time. It will be bottled in 750mL cage-and-cork bottles.
As for Limb & Life, this year’s edition has a twist. It was aged on wood from both Sam Calagione [of Dogfish Head] and Ken Grossman’s property. Sam sent maple from Delaware, and Ken used Bay from his property here in California. That beer will be EXTREMELY limited draught only.
[Disclaimer: Beernews.org is a leader in craft beer news and is the original source of this article. If you would like to check out more, please visit the original site. Thanks!]
Right before getting ready to publish, I saw the following posting from DBA East Village’s Facebook page. Some may have seen the brief mention here the other day that the owner, Ray Deter, was struck by a car while on a bike. He was listed as in critical condition at the hospital at the time…
“Thanks so much for everyone’s kind words and support for me and the boys….Ray will no longer be with us after this weekend, but we hope our loss will give life to others. Please celebrate Ray as he passes on. Love to you all, Catherine, Jake & Maxwell xxxx”
With Ray in mind, please enjoy a safe holiday weekend with friends and family and don’t take those moments for granted.
Here are the original beer notes as prepared this afternoon…
Sierra Nevada Brewing: There was a brief update in Metropulse this week on the East Coast search. The Grossman family visited the long-rumored Alcoa, TN, site this week. A location outside of Roanoke, Virginia, is still in the hunt and a location in North Carolina is no longer in the running. It sounds like there is a chance we could get an announcement as early as this month.
Lagunitas Brewing: Director of Marketing, Ron Lindenbusch, mentions in a clip with Brewbound that the brewery is up 50% year-over-year. Truly remarkable for a brewery producing over 100,000 barrels annually…
Schlafly Beer: Per the brewery blog, “We’re now very excited to announce that beginning on August 1st of this year, Schlafly Beer will travel the Avenue of the Saints and Pale Ale, Kolsch, Dry Hopped APA and other year around and seasonal favorites will be available to Schlafly fans in Dubuque, Waterloo, Cedar Rapids, Iowa City, Davenport (Go River Bandits!), Burlington and the surrounding areas.”
Anheuser-Busch: Making a Stella Artois play in China…”Anheuser-Busch InBev has lined up a push for Stella Artois in China as it looks to up the presence of its global beer brands in the country. Stella Artois, which has had “a small presence” in China “for some time now”, has been rolled out recently in the cities of Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, the company has confirmed to just-drinks. Stella Artois follows its sister brand, Budweiser, into the market as A-B InBev focuses on super-premium opportunities in China.”
Bonus I: I got written up by 15-year reporting columnist, Joe Six Pack, himself today. I quipped on Twitter, “Technically, I was fired though that’s one inaccuracy that I can live with.”
Bonus III: Bad news for beer science geeks. A 170 year-old bottle of beer found at the bottom of the ocean did not contain live yeast cells so it “cannot be replicated using a reverse-engineering process.” Apparently, there was a sour element to it as well. Damn.
[Disclaimer: Beernews.org is a leader in craft beer news and is the original source of this article. If you would like to check out more, please visit the original site. Thanks!]
Limb and Life 2: Sierra Nevada and Dogfish Head collaborated again Here is yesterday’s post on Life and Limb in case you missed it. The primary question that remains now is will there be any bottles of Limb and Life this time around? It was draft-only last year (and this is obviously just a keg collar being approved).
Perennial Hommel Bier: Label copy…”In the hop capital of Belgium, Hommel is the word for humulus, the plant genus where hops reside. Our Hommel Bier defies tradition by combining North American malts, Pacific Northwest hops, and a Belgian yeast strain. The result is a beer that combines earthy and spicy tones from the yeast with a slight orange note contributed by the hops.” More info on this brewery.
Red Hare Stowaway IPA: While I wish this new Georgia brewery lots of success, I don’t understand why new breweries don’t do a simple web searchbefore selecting beer names. Registered trademark for Stowaway IPA. (In full disclosure, I personally know Baxter Brewing’s President though I’m guessing he doesn’t know about this…until now). Anyway, it looks like Red Hare is also coming out with Long Day Lager and Whabbit Wheat.
Page 24 Biere Ambree and Page 24 Biere Blonde: Brewed by Brasserie St. Germain in France. Imported by The Shelton Brothers. More info on the series here.
Peak Organic Hop Noir: Originally released in 22 oz. bottles, now has approval for 12 oz. bottles
Neil House Double Rye PA: Double Pale Ale brewed with rye malt, 22 oz. bottles
[Disclaimer: Beernews.org is a leader in craft beer news and is the original source of this article. If you would like to check out more, please visit the original site. Thanks!]
