Stone has teamed with two brewers from around the country. AGAIN!
This time Victory from Pennsylvania and the esteemed Dogfish Head from Delaware to create a saison. A Buff saison. Each back label has a different spin from each of the three different brewers. Collect them all!
Review – Kern River Brewing Annivesary Ale
50 from 50 – Nevada
Canned beer on the list from Reno’s Buckbean…
Defense against Dark Beer – Smoke Jumper
From time to time, I have a guest review of dark beers. Here is the summation of Left Hand’s Smokejumper.
“Dark, good head, nice lacing for a dark beer. Smoke hits you on first taste, top and back of palate, but it quickly changes to a molasses-y smoothness, before finishing with a light bitter, also akin to molasses. Sweetness grows as you drink.
I think for the second half of the beer, i’m going to barbecue some salmon in meyer lemon/molasses(just a little)/lemon basil marinade and see how that flies.”
Zipp’s Liquors
Beer store day goes from sunny SoCal to the wintry climes of Minnesota to highlight Zipp’s Liquors.
They have a very spot on mission, “Zipp’s strives not only to keep you content and happy, but also to help you exlpore the ever expanding and changing world of craft beer.”
Need Surly Smoke or Goose Island Night Stalker? They are the place to try.
2618 East Franklin Avenue
Minneapolis, MN 55406-1188
(612) 333-8686
Hi-Time
Today (for no particular reason) is beer shop day. Since my dream job would be running a small craft beer store, I love highlighting places that sell a great assortment of beer.
First up is Hi-Time in Orange County, California.
Be sure to enter in the beer area or you might get lost amongst the wine and spirits. They have a large selection of nicely chilled craft brews. Nice amount of Sierra Nevada, foreign beers and even more than just the Just Outstanding IPA from Kern River!
250 Ogle Street
Costa Mesa, CA 92627-3808
(949) 650-8463
new from the HUB
Hopworks Ace of Spades (Gold Medal winner in the Imperial IPA category at the 2009 Great American Beer Festival) was released in bottles on April 13th at the awesome Belmont Station.
The label says, “This hopped out beast had Amarillo, Cascade and Centennial hops, added at every point; mash tun, first wort, kettle, and dry hop. All the green goodness results in a beer with a huge citrus hop aroma, flavor and deep clean bitterness.”
AS if that wasn’t enough for organic beer lovers, Hopworks is releasing another IPA called Google Gigabit as a pitch for the company to choose Portland as its destination for new high-speed fiber optics lines. Check out The New School blog for the complete story.
Sean says..drink these beers..
Here are the suggestions for April!
Whip Ale
Saw this tidbit in NW Brewing News and thought, interesting new trend?
“Lazy Boy Brewing has partnered with Michael Wilton (aka Whip) from the band Queensryche to develop a beer called Whip Ale”
It will be a NW style pale ale. The rocker apparently helped create the recipe.
Whose next?
Tony’s Darts Away interview
As threatened, here are the reasons why you should be beer geeked about Tony Yanow and the newly opened Tony’s Darts Away (TDA)…
REASON # 1
The hospitality at TDA will be strong from day one. Why? Because Tony has been doing beer tastings for awhile. Thanks to his “problem” of collecting great beer, he has had to occasionally purge which leads to people “helping” him winnow the size back to manageable. By doing this, Tony has not only exposed Los Angeles to great beer, he has learned how to find the right beer for people. And that is a gift in a beer world that some people are just discovering. Hence the TDA motto of “Bringing the fine beer of California to the fine people of Los Angeles.”
REASON # 2
The magical word NITRO. Tony is originally from Canada which is not afraid of the nitro. And I have had my share growing up in Portland. But is has been conspicuous in it’s absence from the burgeoning Los Angeles scene. Not now. And it won’t be confined to just porters and stouts. Nitro La Merle anyone?
REASON # 3
The staff at TDA will be educated. Tony has traveled up and down the state of California to familiarize himself with what beer the state has to offer. The staff has been assigned reading, has tasted the beers and has even brewed! Plus Tony has two aces in Paige Reilly and Dave Watrous. Fun and smart beer people.