Author: Sean Inman

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Cocoa Beach Brewing

A new entrant in the fast growing Florida beer scene is Cocoa Beach Brewing Company.

Here is their beer list:
Cocoa Beach Pale Ale – A traditional American Pale Ale featuring two row malts, Nugget, Pearle, and Cascade Hops.

Cocoa Beach Key Lime Cerveza – Unique to Cocoa Beach Brewing Company, this Caribbean style beer is brewed with Pilsner Malt, Crystal Hops, and real Key West Lime.

Cocoa Beach Dirty Blonde – A refreshing, crisp, low(er) calorie beer brewed with Pilsner Malt and Crystal Hops.

“Just Some” Oatmeal Stout – Made with two-row pale malt, dark chocolate malt, black malt, and flaked oats – this rich stout is brewed with more than one ounce per gallon of Fuggle hops.

Sofa King Double IPA – Our take on the traditional India Pale Ale, our Double IPA is brewed with Pale and Crystal Malts. It is dry hopped with a generous amount of Simcoe hops.

Matt’s Special Bitter – Brewed with Maris Otter and Biscuit Malts, this complexly hopped British Ale is the brainchild of guest brewer Matt Backus.

Von Braun Ale – Our classic brown ale recipe, but with German Nobel hops. This unique beer with a Space Coast flair was a collaboration with guest brewer George Folmar.

Cocoa Beach Oktoberfest lager – Our version of the classic German beer, it is brewed with Vienna, Cara-Munich, and Victory Malts and traditional German Nobel hops.

The key lime cerveza sounds great. Much better than jamming a wedge of lime into a dirty Corona.

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Mikkeller – Educational beers

As is usual with me, I learn something new every day. Today’s nugget is that the nomadic Mikkeller is working on a third series of single ingredient beers.

I said to myself, “3?” Apparently, I completely missed the barrel series that showcased one beer in different barrels to see the effects from what was liquor was previously in that barrel. Hopefully, I can get a bottle of one of those and review it here.

Second, is the single hop series that I blather on about from time to time because it is such a great idea and each beer is fantastic in a non-educational setting. New single hop beers on the horizon include Summit, Apollo, Bravo, Citra and Sorachi Ace. I am especially geeked out about the last two.

Here is the list of single hop beers already out:
Amarillo
Cascade
Centennial
Chinook
East Kent Golding
Nelson Sauvin
Nugget
Simcoe
Tomahawk
Warrior

The third lesson is on yeast! Now this should be really fascinating. The same base beer is being used but with these different strains of yeast: lager, U.S. ale, Belgian Ale/Trappist, Weiss and Brettanomyces.
mikkeller

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New NW Beers – part 2

widmer-brothers-prickly-pear-braggot

Fruit seems to be the theme of the Reserve series so far. Of course, Widmer is only two beers into it. But first was Cherry Oak Dopplebock (which I still wish I could get a bottle of) and now comes the prickly pear paired with a malty mead. Sounds interesting.

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New NW Beers – part 1

red-hook-big-ballard

Ballard’s Bitter was one of the early craft brews back when I was a young lad. A lot of beer has been brewed since then and Redhook seems to be losing favor among the beer geeks.

But there appears to be signs of life this year. New releases are coming. I hope it portends better to come.

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Beer Geek Breakfast

Who can say no to French Toast and Danish beer? I can’t. Especially when it is at the beach on a beautiful, sunny day at the excellent Library Alehouse.

First a photo of the food…bgb2
now just the beer….
bgb1

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Down on the hop farm

rogue_logo
When you think of Rogue Ales, I want you to think lodging too.

That’s right. You can stay at their B&B in coastal Oregon or at their micro-hop farm in Independence, Oregon. And all for pretty cheap.

Here is the address:
Chatoe Rogue Micro Hopyard, 3590 Wigrich Road, Independence, Ore.; 503-347-8288
For more information follow this LINK to their website
Double rooms at the house on this hops farm start at $90 per night.

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Tall Boys

The can movement is picking up steam. How do I know? Tall boys are back.
“We’re pleased to announce that Half Acre will be installing a canning line at the end of this month. Craft beer and cans are a great combination and we’re eager to make this change. What does this mean for you? Once we’re rolling out cans from the brewery we will begin to transition from six-packs of 12oz bottles to four-packs of 16oz cans. That’s right, Tall Boys! We’ll begin by canning two beers, Daisy Cutter Pale Ale and Gossamer Golden Ale. That means Half Acre cans will be a reliable friend come late April.”
Now craft beer is pushing it’s way into another industrial beer stronghold.
half-acre-gossamer-golden-ale

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Gilgamesh Brewing

Another one of the reasons why I love the craft beer industry, (I think this is now reason #77) is that it is truly a labor of love for the entire family.
That is the case with Gilgamesh Brewing in Salem, Oregon. (remember-Salem is a growing beer town).
gilga
“Brothers Mike, Nick and Matt along with their father, Lee have loved brewing beer at home for years and decided to take a crack at making a business at it. The family has been in the Salem area for over 40 years, with most of the family members growing up here and graduating from Sprague High School.”

Here is the beer list:
BLACK MAMBA
Brewed with earl grey tea leaves in lieu of hops, plus a hint of tangerine zest. A high gravity HOPLESS beer that is extremely aromatic and complex without the fruity finish. INcredibly drinkable.

COPPER
Mild maltiness with the perfect combination of hoppiness. Similar to a mild amber ale.

IPA
Here come the hops! This is a 60 minute IPA. We add our 3 favorite hops (Zeus, Simcoe and Amarillo) every minute during the brewing process, and then another pound per barrel added during fermentation. Very citrusy and floral. A Hophead’s dream ale.

HOPSCOTCH ALE
Our most popular ale. It has a very traditional Scottish style malty body with an additional smattering of hops added during the fermentation which adds a complimentary floral finish.

SEASONALS —-

CRANBERRY SAISON
Another hopless beer, brewed and fermented with local cranberries. It has a pleasant tartness with clove and banana esters.

CHOCOLATE MINT STOUT
No Hops again. The perfect combination of cocoa, locally grown mint, and stout beer flavor -without being too sweet. International award-winning Amano Chocolate’s Madagascar cocoa nibs are used.

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Gose from Portland

Gose is a little known East German specific style that is one of my favorites. I had it in Leipzig and was hooked. Now there are two brewers in Portland re-creating this forgotten beer. Cascade and now Upright Brewing.
gose
Here are the specs:
Gose – Upright’s first German-style beer. It’s a neat style that dates back nearly 300 years and uses a unique ingredient – salt.
Malts: organic pale, wheat, organic caramel 15
Hops: hallertauer mittelfrüh
Also: coriander, salt
Yeast: French saison
5.2% abv