Category: Guide to better beer

how to discover new beer to try

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The Big Board

One of my must stops during the trip to Portland for the Beer Bloggers Conference was Bailey’s Taproom.

Not necessarily for the beer or ambience (which it has both of!) but for this……

….an up to the minute beer list!

As someone who helps put together a weekly tap list of what’s pouring in Los Angeles (see FoodGPS if you are not already signed up). This is a godsend. Easy to read. It has all the pertinent information, from price to style to glassware and most importantly, the keg level!

To make life even easier, near the cashier is a computerized list of nearby bus lines with the times.

I am no technology apologist but this is something that I wish every bar had on the wall.

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Nebraska Brewery # 4 – Upstream Brewing Company


Our final Nebraskan beer stop is in Omaha which the Upstream Brewing Company website explains is “Derived from the Native American meaning of Omaha,“upstream” or “against the current”..”,

They have been around since 1996 and now have two locations in Omaha to serve their year-round beers and these two seasonals, both with rye that caught my eye. (I apologize for the awful rhyming.)

Rye Lemonade
“Available only at our Legacy location. Upstream Brewing Company’s Rye Lemonade Lager has a distinctive, refreshing flavor; rye’s main contribution as an ingredient is its enhancement of the overall complexity of the beer’s flavor. Although the crisp, slightly spicy rye flavor does emerge somewhat distinctly (usually at the finish), and makes this beer a well balanced rye lager with a nice refreshing flavor that holds a nice lemon zest flavor and aroma due to the addition of lemon and orange zest in at the end of the boil in the brew kettle. This is a great beer on the patio after a long hot day.”

Gianduja Imperial Rye Brown Ale
“Pronunciation: zhahn-DOO-yuh. Gianduja is the name given to a European style of chocolate made from milk chocolate and hazelnut paste. This unique rye beer was created with this fantastic European chocolate in mind that starts with a delicately dark malty background that includes four different types of malted rye for an in depth layered rye backbone to start things off. Look for flavors of milk chocolate from the additions of lactose (milk sugar), coco nibs and hazelnut paste added to the brew.”

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Crooked Stave

Thanks to the Beer Wench for sending the info on this pair of new beers…..

“Crooked Stave Artisan Beer Project announced they will release their first two bottled beers, Pure Guava Petite Sour and Wild Wild Brett “Rouge” on Thursday August 11th.

Here’s the run down…

750 ml bottles of Pure Guava Petite Sour and Wild Wild Brett “Rouge” will make their debut at the bottle release party held at funkwerks brewery tap room in Ft. Collins CO. starting at 6PM on Thursday, August 11th. This is the first of many bottle releases from Crooked Stave as we look to roll out with plenty more barrel-aged sour, specialty release and funky Brettanomyces beers. Also available on draft for the releases will be a single keg of Crooked Stave’s Good Glory, a beer brewed exclusively for Euclid Hall Bar and Kitchen in Denver, CO. as well as Wild Wild Brett and Petite Sour.

The bottles of Pure Guava Petite Sour have been quietly conditioning since May 23rd awaiting their release. This refreshingly tart, spontaneously soured, rustic wheat beer, brewed with the addition of oats and spiced with coriander and sumac, was fermented entirely in our distinct oak foeder. Pure Guava is an unfiltered, golden wild ale with tropical fruit aromas and bright citrus flavors created by a proprietary Brettanomyces strain. This will be the only time Pure Guava is released, as each Petite Sour will change to reflect the seasons it is brewed and the mischievous minds of our brewers.

The anxiously awaited first release from the Wild Wild Brett R&D series is over! Historically considered ”wild yeast”, Brett is responsible for 100% of the fermentation in each installment of the series, which looks to play off the colors of the color wheel for ingredients to match with the different strains of Brett. This first installment of the series, dubbed “Rouge”, incorporates hawthorn berry, rose hips and whole hibiscus flowers in an unfiltered, slightly tart wild ale. Rouge pours a reddish hue delivering soft floral aromas and tropical fruit flavors with a tart earthy finish.

With only a little over 100 cases of each bottled, we expect bottles won’t last too long. Not able to make it to the release? Never fear we have made sure to save away some cases for a few of our favorite liquor stores throughout the Denver metro and Colorado front range areas.”

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Point the Way

The brewery that I can walk to in 20 minutes, Golden Road, has been making fast progress.

A name and a keg collar ready and soon the first beer will be too.

And speaking of ahead of schedule, what I consider the “backlash” articles are showing up. Just one now, and it is fairly tame but I do not like even an inkling of this sort of thing in an industry that I believe to be super collaborative.

Personally, I don’t care how or when you got involved in craft beer or how big or small your participation level is. All are welcome in my book.

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Kick

Elysian is really branching out pumpkin wise. First collaborating with Stone and The Bruery and now this…..

Here is what New Belgium has to say about it, “Harvesting the creativity of Kim Jordan of New Belgium and Dick Cantwell of Elysian produced this ruby-hued, slightly sour, pumpkin, cranberry ale. It’s a treat that does the trick.”

I have started to see Kick in bottles (Portland) and on tap (Los Angeles)

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Beer Brittle

I saw these at the fabulous Bruery Provisions store in Old Town Orange and I hadn’t spent all of my money on beer, I might have picked up these to try.

Here is the description….“Joy Lyn’s introduced their newest product in early 2009 and it has quickly become a popular snack and gift item. The Beer Brittle is a peanut brittle made with Sierra Nevada’s Pale Ale. Each small batch is cooked the old-fashion way….in a large copper kettle, then poured and spread by hand on a warming table. It is packaged in resealable bags displaying the Sierra Nevada Pale Ale Logo.

The beer brittle has a subtle hint of hops and malt and is a delicious taste of sweet and salty. The buttery brittle is a rich golden brown color and has a delightful crunch.”

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Without You….

Evil Twin and Mikkeller have some serious creativity. Though the label is boring the name of this new sour ale is pretty cool.

I am hoping that 12%, the importer can bring the beers over here in good condition. And then I hope they can make it to LA.

Would be cool to have a Mikkeller. Evil Twin taste off.