There are now so many variants of the Sierra Nevada favorite IPA with two more coming….
…with the rye being my preference of the two.
Damn the Torpedos!
Stone’s Hoppy 2026
And also 2025 as Stone Brewing will be releasing three new IPA’s starting this month and continuing into 2026.
The “three-part series includes Stone Green Buds IPA, Stone Live Current IPA (May) and Stone Chill Villain IPA (September). Each represents their own track in an album of West Coast IPAs.”
Ease Into 2026
Personally, the best choice for ringing in the New Year is Avec Les Bon Voeux from Saison Dupont but before you crack that gem open, might be best to pre-game with an N/A beer that also could sparkle….
Athletic Brewing is going the Brut IPA route for their Round of Cheers for a better 2026.
Not that Abba
Malibu Brewing has a great Christmas gift for beer lovers, A.B.B.A. a 12.9% ABV barrel-aged barleywine.
Here is he info from the brewery about the making of the beer, “Two years ago, we filled a pair of 53-gallon barrels that once held Baird’s Apple Brandy, and let time do the work. After a long rest, the beer inside had developed incredible character that only time could create.”
Beachwood is Everywhere
Sorry, some AI Slop did the headline. Seriously though, this is a yet another cool California collaboration between Beachwood Brewing and Everywhere Beer. And it is glowing.
Would Love to Taste – High King from Lough Gill
Getting a big, heavy beast of a beer is a bit rare these days but I found one that looks real good from the Lough Gill Brewery in Ireland, it is the High King barleywine.
20% is what you are seeing and per the brewery, “This “beer” smells like an “Imperial Stout”, looks like a “whiskey” and tastes like a “sherry”.”
Expedite
Remember when craft beer had extra limited releases and people would line-up or hire people to wait in line for them? Well Innis & Gunn from Scotland have a beer that is only available through and online lottery for a re-creation of a 150 years beer that Samuel Allsopp & Sons brewed, called Arctic Ale for a British expedition to frozen climes. It is a “legendary 1875 beer, brewed using the original 19th-century recipe and even a preserved bottle of the original itself.”
SD Steam
Harland Brewing is keeping the uniquely American steam beer with their new release Barbary Steam. It is a modern take, “Dry-hopped with Mosaic hops, this historic style originally brewed in San Francisco has fruity esters that beam with pungent notes of fresh diced mango, soaked blueberries and a hint of muddled mint. Balanced out with caramel malts for a toffe-like and toasty finish with a crisp bitterness.”
181 is Next
On this blog you see A LOT of anniversary posts. Four years here, ten years here and every twice-in-awhile something over twenty. But Fuller’s Brewery in England has reached a milestone of a much higher number.
180 years and it comes “with a special limited-edition cask ale. Brewed beside the Thames in Chiswick, this celebratory beer brings together smooth malt character with notes of biscuit, toffee, and a gentle spice. Traditional English hops add a lift of bright citrus and grassy, fruity aroma – the perfect balance of heritage and flavour.”
It is cask only / pub only offering so get thee to England now or wait for year 181.
German – Belgian – Japanese
When a brewery says that one of their favorites inside and outside the brewhouse, that means something. And when that beer is a smoke beer with both a Belgian and Japanese twist, that also means something.
So you might want to give Okinawa Smoke from Nova Brewing a shot. Here is the information from the brewery that will get the inner beer geek happy…
“Our brewer loves Okinawa (Southern island in Japan), Belgian beers and Rauchbier (smoked beer originating from Germany) so he made this recipe about 4 years ago using Belgian dark strong grain bill, Kokuto (Okinawan sugar that has rich, complex molasses taste with slight smokiness from the slow cooking process.) and cherrywood smoked malt. Even though this beer had almost a cult following, strong dark beers don’t sell as well as light beers so we haven’t brewed it for a couple years.”