When a brewery closes, the beers and recipes can sometimes just fade away. Maybe to be done in new forms as brewers take their talents to other breweries.
Replicant Shell the now very well known bottle shop / foreign snacks / gas station in Pasadena is doing their part in bringing back some lost beers with their new Resurgence Series that starts with….
I think it is a great idea and I hope it is a lengthy series and I hope that we will be able to find out the mystery beers behind the resurgence as well.
I am known to be ambi-beverage-ous so I was happy to receive two mega meads from Nectar Creek. Both Super. Mure and Cyser.
Starting with the Super Cyser, which looks a bit like honey in my glencairn. The aroma is apple-y and not sweet. The honey comes on strong in the first sip. But the apple is not far behind at all. A bit slick on the tongue but not in a cloying way. For something that is 14%, it is not super bitey.
The SM with blackberry has a more pronounced aroma. Berry comes through for sure. This one tastes way sweeter to me. I get sugar, then blackberry, then a smidge of honey. I do like the berry, it tastes natural and fresh. But this is the one for the sweet tooths.
Which one the casual mead appreciator would like comes down to sweetness tolerance. If you prefer dry then the Super Cyser is the choice, if you are looking for a dessert partner, the Super Mure is the pick.
Behind the scenes, beer recipes get tweaked quite a bit. Might be due to supply issues or ingredient quality but sometimes it is because the brewer and brewery have a “could be better” attitude.
Such is the case for El Segundo Brewing who have been playing with their saison Aileron for a bit now and have come to a happy place with it now and to mark the occasion, have changed the name to ….
There was quite a bit of pissiness this year around one NFL playoff game on Wild Card Weekend. The reason for the eye rolls was that the NFL had sold one, just one, game to NBC who was putting it on their streaming service Peacock.
Now, no one knew that it would be an anticipated game between reigning champs, the Kansas City Chiefs and the high octane Miami Dolphins but now fans, bar owners and the like had to buy a month of Peacock for one game.
Peacock ain’t the only streamer with issues in my book. The Max (formerly HBO Max) has some NBA but not a lot and not every night. Paramount+ has a bit of stuff as does Hulu via ESPN but that here, here and over there nature means the fan has to mark their calendars diligently to follow their favorite teams. Or just buy and hold subscriptions to watch a bare minimum of games.
And with the pro leagues asking and getting bigger paydays each contract cycle, those streaming subscriptions are probably gonna rise.
Which means you will find me watching the highlights on YouTube instead.
For beer, look for the now not spoken of IBUs (international bittering units) and let your choice of high octane hops be the bitterness instead of you having it inside.
When word came that famed Oregon brewer John Harris (Dechutes, Full Sail) was selling his brewery to Great Frontier Holdings, Ecliptic and that most of the beers would be brewed elsewhere, it was a blow as Ecliptic anchored the bottom of trendy Mississippi Avenue in North East Portland.
But news dropped earlier this month (about the same time that we learned that Bagby Beer Co was making way for Green Cheek) that…..
“…Von Ebert Brewing announced it is moving into the formerly Ecliptic Brewing facility on N. Cook Street in Portland, which allows the brewery to expand production and distribution from 4,000 barrels per year to as much as 20,000 barrels per year.”
And, “John Harris is a beer institution who helped put Oregon on the map. By taking over the N. Cook. Street space, Von Ebert will be able to continue the legacy of brewing Oregon’s world-class craft beer.”
The best part of the news comes from Harris, who says, “Von Ebert Brewing makes awesome beers and I look forward to working with them to continue to produce small batch Ecliptic beers on the same equipment.”
The transition to Von Ebert Brewing should have the N. Cook Street taproom reopened this spring.
Previously on Beer Search Party, I reviewed issue # 01 of the beer ‘zine, Final Gravity. That memory made me pass on # 02 but the list of articles intrigued me for # 03 so I ordered it up and here are my thoughts.
Will I be back for # 04? The answer is yes. I found the stories in this issue landed with me better from the opener about Ola Brew and their ingredient buying, to going gluten free or Ayurvedic and especially the Spanish local beer from Cooperativa Cervesera Cadaques were all fun little peeks into locales that made me want to go there. I still don’t understand the art interludes all that much because they don’t tie into beer. A beer comic would fit in my opinion, a lot better. Strangely, the weakest piece was from one of the editors David Nilsen and the most emotional was from the other editor Melinda Guerra.
Keep on reading, as we peek into what Imbibe Magazine has selected for their “ones to watch” in 2024.
Of course my eyes were peeled for beer movers and shakers and by my count ten of the 75 were in that camp. And of those here are ones to keep on the craft beer radar to visit…
Heck Brewing – might this be the N/A beer that tastes like beer?
Keeping Together – a trip to New Mexico for an Averie Swanson creation is in order
Tin Roof Brewing – head brewer Maria Shirts is an MJJ Foundation winner, that is enough vetting for me
7 Clans Brewing – new crop of Asheville craft beer that you should read the backstory on
Shmaltz Brewing – will it return better than ever?
Borderlands Brewing – America meet Mexico and female brewers
Greater Good Imperial Brewing – bug ABV only? Interesting zag in this day
Offering up an alternative to Dry January for those who feel the need to monitor their drinks intake is an upcoming smartphone app from researchers from Lausanne University Hospital and University of Lausanne in Switzerland. The app is called Smaart. It uses a game template to reward users for reaching moderation and non-drinking goals.
Since it is still being trialed and not available you can also peek at Drinkaware and Drink Control, two other apps that help keep account of drinking.
Better to keep track all year than binge in December and February.
