Follow Sean Inman to the best in craft beer
It has been a bit since I have mentioned Firestone Walker and Buellton but a new beer is coming out that changes that trend and it is a unique one, Saffron Saison a wild saison ale with (take a guees) saffron, sweet orange peel and Indian coriander. It is a Batch No 1 release.
I do enjoy when a brewery crowdsources a beer name. I know it might be a headache to go through the weeding out process but I think it can yield an out of the box name.
And for their 30 Year Anniversary celebration this year, Beer of the Month Club is joining up with “The Lost Abbey and Offshoot Beer Co., to craft four exclusive beers that will be made available only to members of The Rare Beer Club® and The Microbrewed Beer of the Month Club™.”
More info: “Members and non-members alike will be invited to enter the contest beginning on March 21st with an entry deadline of Friday March 29th. Participants will be able to submit up to three names for each of the four beers to be named in the contest and the winners will be awarded a $150 MonthlyClubs.com Gift Card.”
Click HERE to enter.
When I travel, either solo or with wife, once the travel is booked the second thing that I do is start looking for breweries to visit.
But getting current and smart recommendations which should be easy in this internet age, only sporadically is. Usually, hours of operation are out of date, can’t find taplists or food menus. I tend to now have plans B and C in my pocket wherever I go. Because I expect that location A may be closed.
Bit of a preamble to very exciting news from the Beervana Blog and esteemed drinks writer Jeff Alworth about a new (and large) project that will help beer travelers plan trips to Oregon.
Read the announcement HERE.
Once up and running, it could be an invaluable travel resource and a clearinghouse of Oregon craft beer information.
We head to Louisville and the home of Racing Louisville and their team headed by Taylor Flint and Savannah DeMelo.
The brewery we are visiting is Milewide Beer Co. Let’s check into some beers…
Gish – “Black IPA w/ Simcoe, Centennial, Chinook, & Zeus hops.”
7 Sour – “American Sour Ale w/ Raspberry, Blackberry, Blueberry, Moysenberry, Marionberry, Cranberry, Plum, & Vanilla”
Phenomenon – “Hazy IPA w/ Eclipse hops”
Uncle D – “Southern Pecan Coffee Stout”
Beachwood Brewing released a pair of IPAs this month that you should look for on shelves….
First released was Pizza Corgi, “A double dry-hopped West Coast IPA packed with enough dankness to make and hop-head drool featuring Nectaron Cryo, Nelson Sauvin, and Nectaron hops.”
Second was Animatronic Friends, “This modern West Coast IPA boasts a futuristic blend of innovative hops and electric aromas.” With Mosaic, Ekuanot Cryo, Columbus, Centennial, HBC-586 hops.
The Short Lived Series from MadeWest Brewing has thankfully not been short lived and the latest has arrived with a gator on it and the latest partner, Firestone Walker.
It is a Cold IPA hopped with Mosaic, HBC 1019 and Nelson and the description is “bright hop character full of citrus and tropical fruit with notes of orange, honeydew and peach.”
File this under, why didn’t I think of it. Country Malt Group, with Canada Malting Co. and Great Western Malting have introduced the new Pink Boots Malt.
It is “In celebration of International Women’s Day and in support of women’s craft beer advocacy organization Pink Boots Society, Similar to the annually released Pink Boots Society Hop Blend by Yakima Chief Hops, the Pink Boots product is a seasonal craft base malt that supports the Pink Boots Society scholarship fund for women.”
Here is more info about it, “Each year, the Pink Boots Malt will highlight a different barley variety and growing region, with characteristics that are versatile enough for every beer or whiskey style, but unique enough to inspire a new Pink Boots beverage each year. This year, the Pink Boots Malt is a well-balanced, low color, Pilsen-style malt, featuring the Odyssey barley variety grown throughout the Pacific Northwest. Crafted with both brewers and distillers in mind, it is also a high extract, low-GN malt product.”
Alright yeast retailers, your turn.
Stone Brewing is getting into the science of Zumology with their new “monstrously refreshing” IPA with Zumo hops from Segal Ranch as the lead. Their will be some Mosaic in there as well if you want an extra bitter boost. Per Stone protocol, this will be a higher ABV beer hitting 7.5%.
Despite being married to a half Irish lass, I have not ever tasted a proper poitín aka Mountain Dew. That changed this year, when I bought a bottle from Mad March Hare.
I did smile at the “quietly distilled” wording on the label as well as the triple distilled declaration because I have learned a bit about the number of distillations and how each cleans up impurities but also strip away flavor, generally, of course.
Enough wordplay, what does this poteen taste like? Drinking from the logo’d mug that came with the bottle, the aroma was strong. Alcohol and minty. The eyes do sting a bit bringing mug to lips but the taste is brisk and botanical. Mint and herbs for me with a burn down the pipe.
One of the recipes on the website was for an Irish Mule with ginger beer and lime and bitters which after tasting the poitín neat makes me wonder who would win that powerful flavor battle royale. I would instead go the martini route. Have the botanicals from the Vermouth work with the mint.
I like this neat but could see it working as a cocktail minor player more.
On my latest visit to Portland, I went to the Freeland Distillery and quite liked their gins. I missed out on trying their latest though, an Old Tom. It is their Dry Gin barrel-aged “for 6 months in hand-selected whiskey barrels from women-owned Uncle Nearest Premium Whiskey.” I do like their whiskey and story as well.
Also, “This exclusive release marries the art of distillation with a cause—supporting women entrepreneurs. AND $5 of each bottle supports Re:Her.”
That is a win, win and win.