Fearless is in Estacada, Oregon (near where I grew up) and it is one of the breweries that I truly want to visit. Their newsletter just made this announcement…
“Scottish Ale in Cans? Some of you have been around the pub when we were battling with the ten thousand little details involved with this. I’m sorry if I inflicted some of the frustration upon you! Yes, it’s true. The Federal government has approved our label and allowed us to go ahead with our plans to sell our Scottish Ale in 16oz cans. This newsletter group is the first to get the official information about this. The canning line is in place and we are working on getting the cans manufactured right now. Hopefully we will have the cans here and ready to fill in February. You will be the first to know all the details as they become available.”
50 from 50 – Massachusetts
It is only fitting that Sam Adams is the beer for Massachusetts. I went for their latest creation on the market.
Linden Street Brewery
Linden Street is a fairly new place in an industrial park in Oakland. Not all beer is made in SF you know. They have a Burning Oak Black Lager, and ESB and the Urban People’s Common Lager. They will be hosting the first annual Brewing Network Winter Beer Festival. Check them out at Linden Beer.
Tactical Nuclear Penguin + Tokyo
First, big shout out to Josh at FoodGPS who purchased not only the famed Tokyo from BrewDog in Scotland but also TACTICAL NUCLEAR PENGUIN!!
That’s right. The highest alcohol beer on the entire PLANET! Alot of all caps, I know but this beer costs a good 37 pounds in England.
This was one hell of a beer. Big whiskey aromas almost assault your nose. A sip burns the tongue and anything else it comes into contact with warming alcohol. A big roasty, peat taste dominates. It comes in a 12 oz bottle but can easily be shared by six people. This is a sipper to slowly enjoy.
Help me reach my goal
The 50 Beers from 50 States challenge is now 1 month old. As you can see from the stats, the progress is good. But due to a combination of the arcane and sometimes bizarre liquor laws in some states and the limited distribution scope of some breweries, I forsee some states falling into the cracks. This is where YOU come into the picture.
If you have access to a beer from a state that I have not crossed off my list and you are willing to ship (1) bottle or can to California then I will make a donation of $15.00 to a food bank in your area of the country. You will also earn my gratitude and a shout-out on the website.
If you have a question or want to make sure that I don’t have something in my ‘fridge already then e-mail me at beersearchparty@gmail.com.
The Firkin for January 2010
At the end of each month, I will open up the firkin and pour out what I’m thinking about. It may be a rant, it may be a rave, it may be odds and ends. I hope you enjoy…..the First Firkin
2009 saw Alabama free the hops and raise the ABV limit on beers sold in that state. I say that is about time even more unrational beer distribution and retail laws get phased out if for no other reason than they are economically prohibitive. The City of Los Angeles has 1, that’s right, 1 brewery within city limits. It can’t be a conicidence that there are breweries ringing the outskirts of Los Angeles from El Monte to Torrance. Unfortunately, LA county is not alone in hindering craft beer. Here are some other egregious examples of laws restricting capitalism and our craft beer rights.
In Pennsylvania, no more than two packages of beer at a time may be purchased, unless you are buying from an official “beer distributor”. Great breweries abound in the Quaker state and yet they can’t truly fill a customer’s needs.
There are still some states that ban on off-premises sales of alcohol on Sundays. Tough luck if you want to tailgate and you didn’t buy your beer the day before.
In Kentucky it is illegal to send a bottle of beer, wine, or spirits as a gift to anyone in Kentucky – this can result in a 5-year term in prison. Really? Thanks for ruining Christmas Kentucky Grinch.
It is time to revisit these restrictive laws and find out the true reason they were enacted. What is to gain by restricting sales? or ABV? You are basically telling beer geeks, “nothing to see here, move along”. Is that the slogan you want on your Visit Us in ______
brochures?
HopCast
As you have noticed from my video reviews, I am not a big fan of the straight one shot pointing at a guy drinking beer. Hence, you can only hear me in my spontaneous reviews.
Every rule has exceptions and one I make is for HopCast. They mix it up with interviews, beers of the month and profiles of home brewers.
They have been duly added to my favored links.
Beer + Chocolate =
from Wisconsin (home of a great beer scene) comes two great tastes that taste great together…
“We’re sure you’ve heard of pairing wine and chocolate, but did you know that chocolate and beer work well together? Introducing Great Dane Beer Chocolates, handcrafted exclusively for The Great Dane Pub and Brewing Company by David Bacco Chocolats. These amazing creations are made with Great Dane brews and each chocolate complements the flavors of a distinctive Great Dane beer. Four chocolates are available including Black Earth Porter, Crop Circle Wheat, Stone of Scone Scotch Ale and Tri-Pepper Pilsner.
4-piece box (one of each flavor) $10
8-piece box (two of each flavor) $18
You can also experience these chocolates with the beers that inspired them! Great Dane Beer Chocolates are available in the bar or restaurant of the Great Dane Pub & Brewing Company’s locations in downtown Madison, Fitchburg and at the Hilldale shopping center. When you dine in, each chocolate is served with a four-ounce sample of the paired beer. Order individually – or as a delicious dessert flight of four chocolates and beers!”
Valentine’s Day is 2 weeks away. Order up!
Lost Abbey – Framboise de Amarosa
As opposed to quite a few beer geeks, I like fruit beers. When done well they are (heresy) better than high abv Stout bombs. So as I perused the Lost Abbey 2010 release schedule, this beer really stood out…
“Framboise de Amarosa. This is a barrel aged raspberry beer that has been aging in our distribution warehouse since last summer. In July, we had farm fresh raspberries delivered to our brewery and they went directly into all manners of barrels. And because it didn’t have enough Raspberry character, we added more fruit to the barrels in November.”
Minneapolis Town Hall
Craft beer in the midwest is really heating up and here is another place in Minnesota to try. The Town Hall Brewery in Minneapolis.
They have a nice Germanic take on beer styles. You can get a Dutch Enkle, a Trappist single or a Dortmunder Local. If you are feeling more exotic, try the seasonal Mango Mama which is their regular IPA with mangoes added.