Follow Sean Inman to the best in craft beer
These are the beers that I wish I could taste for the first time.
Each year Smog City Brewing releases Buzzworthy a “bourbon barrel-aged honey stout brewed with over 600 pounds of raw buckwheat honey…”
Two things have changed this year. First it’s in cans and there is a special red wine barrel-aged variant for 2024. And you know that Smog City does barrel-aged variants quite well.
I do like a good pun and Dogfish Head Brewery has made some clever word replacements for their new IPA, Sage Against the Myrcene. This beer “marries the boldness of a traditional India Pale Ale with the earthy, aromatic qualities of white sage.” Look for it in their winter variety pack.
On the list of breweries that I do not often talk about, BJ’s Restaurants but the number 25 got me hooked. The chain has that many years of brewing its Grand Cru which started along with the new millennium.
Grand Cru is a “Belgian-style pale strong ale gets its fruity, spicy kick from a unique Belgian ale yeast, plus a blend of bitter orange peel and coriander for a flavor that’s perfect for the season.”
Readers of the blog know that I am a sucker for collaborations and also for cocktail styled ales. Creature Comforts Brewing has added a garnish to that by teaming up with Tip Top, makers of RTD cocktails for Jungle Bird.
I cannot recall having this cocktail so I will not be able to compare and contrast but maybe I can have the inspired ale first and then compare later.
It is always heartening to see something other than an IPA variant being canned for the first time, 8One8 Brewing is bringing their Gravity Hill Belgian Tripel to to-go out in cans now for the winter season.
There is a new limited edition beer from the Huyghe folks at Delirium a Barrel Aged Sour Blond matured for 9 months in oak barrels in a snazzy bottle clocking in at 10.8%.
Amburana is used quite frequently to finish bourbon but The Bruery is taking their Black Tuesday base to create Amburana Noir, a double barrel-aged imperial stout aged in both Buffalo Trace Bourbon barrels and Amburana wood barrels. The beer will register at a super high 20.7%.
We gotta super strong collaboration IPA today from Green Cheek Beer Co. and Beachwood Brewing. It has Nectaron, Mosaic and Mosaic Cryo but the most interesting ingredient in Adventures of Lucky and Cheeky is that it uses Canadian Pilsner malt.
Part of the NBA pre-season for me is seeing who The Portland Trail Blazers have teamed up with for a Blazer beer. This time it is Rogue Ales & Spirits bringing out the Rip City IPA.
Gonna have to send my mom to one of the Rogue pubs to get me a can so that I can root on our youngsters as they hopefully take the first steps towards a future NBA title.
Institution Ales Fall Seasonal is back with a Black IPA. It is “brewed with Citra, Simcoe and Amarillo hops. Deceptively dark in appearance, this beer drinks similarly to a piney, citrusy West Coast IPA with only small hints of toasty and chocolate malts.”
