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Time to get your pre-order on as Em Sauter’s latest illustrations will be ready in March in the new book Pairing Beer with Everything.
This is no what beer goes with borscht or deviled eggs. This is pairing beers with spirts teams, movie characters and cities. It is a lot of fun and a great spur for debate.
This very blog has monthly pairing posts of podcasts, books and sports. One that I do not do is music, but Firestone Walker has you covered the next time you reach for their hazy, Mind Haze.
Click HERE to read more.
Radiant Beer Co. down in Anaheim will start off February with a bang three years in the making as the go all anniversary with the usual trappings for such parties.
Every twice in awhile, I will kvetch about high ABV beers in large format packaging. Stone Brewing is helping my cause by putting their Double Bastard Ale a 10.5% ale into 12ounce cans in 2024.
Thanks!
Our second Beaumont suggested Canadian brewery is in Edmonton, Blind Enthusiasm Brewing.
Breezy – “We’ve dug deep into our brewing repertoire to create Breezy, a beer inspired by delicate English summer ales. Breezy is light and refreshing with a shockingly low ABV considering its bold doughy malt, floral and orange-pulp aromas and flavours. Low ABV doesn’t mean you have to compromise on great flavor.”
OKT – “This bright copper lager combines bold stone-fruit notes with complex herbal hopping and balanced bitterness. It finishes dry with lingering herbal and fruit flavors.”
Extra Special Monk Ale – “Light, pale malt showcases this freshly dry-hopped ale. Extra Special Monk displays a robust tropical hop profile amplified by a crisp, dry finish and surprisingly low bitterness. Enjoy this blast from the past while we make a few extra ales for summer.”
The Business – “10 Month Brandy Barrel-Aged Dark Lager — The Business is a brandy barrel-aged dark amber lager inspired by our prior release, Working Overtime. The Business is aged in barrels for 10 months. Where Working Overtime was boldly effervescent, The Business is dark, smooth, and supported by a dark fruit foundation. It has a light alcohol warming and a clean, smooth finish.”
Starting the year with a Gin book that I heard about on the Food Programme podcast, The Gin Tasting Course by Anthony Gladman.
Two big reasons why I liked this book. One – it was British and world-centric. The U.S. gets a couple mentions but this book took me around Europe to Australia and South America too. Second – the book is centered on flavors. So instead of a section on Scottish gins or Spanish gins, you got classic gins, umami gins, citrus gins. Much easier way into the spirit in my opinion.
I also like the illustrations used. Bright and colorful without losing helpfulness in the mix. The cocktail list was tightly curated and actually seem doable for a gin enthusiast. On the downside, some font size choices made the book a little hard to read.
Gladman also accomplishes the feat of being opinionated while not being off putting about it or pedantic. To borrow the I would like to have a drink with him construct, I would like to have a G&T with him.
Books like these invariably rise or fall on the featured gins chosen. Here is where Gladman shines. His descriptions have repetition but it is due to the main required ingredients and less to adjectives used. I came away with a goodly long list of gins to be on the lookout for.
Readers of the blog will know that I have attempted to enjoy many a Non-Alcoholic beverage. Was quite the fan of both Shirley Temples when out for a fancy dinner with my parents and Lime Rickeys at the now lost to time, Frederick & Nelson department store in Portland.
Preamble over, what would to RTD mocktails from Craftwell Cocktails taste like?
Starting with the Peach Mojito: peachy on the nose, like juice which is a good sign. The mint comes through right after the stonefruit. Has a really tart sparkle to it. A little puckery which I was not expecting. It is very tasty and I would say could be a good mixer start if you wanted to rum it up.
The Margarita has a pineapple chunks from a can taste. Glad it was not candy pineapple. Past that though, there is not much else going on. This one is way more of a mixer candidate. The other flavor notes are too far in the background and the lack of agave is really noticeable here.
Neither are unworthy of drinking as is but both seem more a starting point than an end one. That being said, I would pick the Peach Mojito first.
North Hollywood bottle shop and bar, Hop Merchants unveiled their customer best of list for 2023 and it’s an interesting mix of hip breweries and locals…
Good to see HPB come out on top and a little weird to see North Park so low but an interesting snapshot in time and I hope they do it again in years to come so the lists can be compared.
One way for the kinda struggling festival format is to niche it out. Institution Ale Co. has done that with their upcoming festival devoted to the pale ale.
