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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.
ISM Brewing is ready for their 1st year anniversary close-up in Long Beach next month and I can bet it will include some fun beer and food treats.
Here in sunny SoCal, there are not a lot of winter traditions that colder climes get to celebrate. But, when it does dip below 60 degrees, you can use this cool tool…
..which you heat up and then poke into your beer (carefully) to create a different profile on an imperial stout or barleywine.
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%.
For every sport, every season brings the coaching carousel. A coach gets fired and then by the next year is coaching somewhere else. In the National Football League both the Jets of New York and the Saints of New Orleans have parted way with head coaches and surprisingly the Premier League in England has only seen one high profile departure ( so far ), that being Erik Ten Hag being booted by Manchester United. It is too early for NBA firings but there are plenty of coaches whose hot seats are warm.
After the changes, the team may win a few games and the word leaks out that the coach had “lost” the locker room as if a character in The Importance of Being Earnest. It is more likely that any given sports team is a fragile state of being. It is why dynasties are so intriguing because they are not the natural state of affairs. United can rule Manchester and then can be usurped by City. Red replaced by light blue.
Coaches are integral but so is a dominant player or healthy players and luck. Lots of luck. A football in America can bounce so many ways and a football in Britain can ping just under or just over a crossbar. Which makes coaching changes such an object of discussion because the avid fan cannot really pinpoint why a coach will succeed or fail. If indeed they did either. A true bad coach is rare and may just be someone who is better as an assistant in truth.
Tying this into craft beer. Is there a brewery that you think could use a change in brewer. Not because one is bad per se, but just as a means of refreshing the current beers and dreaming up new ones? Maybe a brewery that has added a beer(s) to their line-up that are not in their wheelhouse while discontinuing others that were legend? Next time you are beer shopping, check out the beers that you think could use a new direction.
In a sea of mostly negative news when breweries are concerned, here is a bit of positivity. New Glarus Brewing will be adding space to their campus in Wisconsin. It will take a few years for this expansion to be completed so plan your midwest brewery vacation accordingly.
Does anyone truly need a Death Star liquor cabinet? No. But does everyone who grew up in the ’70’s truly want one? Yes.
Obviously, you would need the right space and vibe for such a large statement piece to work and no HGTV designer would ever sanction it but it sure is cool.