Follow Sean Inman to the best in craft beer
Beer stores are not just an American phenomenon. I have talked about Ojai Beverage, Sunset Beer and more recently The Beer Junction but you can get great foreign beer too.
Today’s example is Beer Shop ‘t Koelschip Oostende. Long name and it will take you longer to decide on what you want to buy. A selection of over 500 beers and growing.
Just be sure to leave extra room in your luggage to bring home some goodies.
If you had asked me to name a state that I would NEVER get during this challenge, South Dakota would have been near the top of the list. But now it is cleared, thanks to the Beer Bloggers Conference and Dale Miskimins who brought it to Boulder. Here is my review of Crow Peak and their IPA.
Are you ready for another Colorado beer tour? Let’s go to Upslope then!
Here are their specs and their signature beers…”Brewed with Patagonian hops, high quality Rahr malts, snowmelt and yeast, Upslope’s ales satisfy a wide range of beer drinkers. We have chosen to package our beer in cans because they are portable, light, crushable and the most recyclable container on the planet.”
Upslope Pale Ale
“This clear, crisp, dry pale ale is our signature beer. It’s refreshing characteristics, and signature dry finish, blends smooth malt flavors with a unique spicy hop bitterness. This will be the “go to” beer on any camping trip, fishing excursion or music festival.”
Upslope India Pale Ale
“Our IPA will appeal to the beer enthusiast who desires a bold, deep and bitter ale. With a coppery color indicative of a traditional IPA, Upslope India Pale Ale has a complex malty character and is more well-balanced than most IPA’s, but still offers that bitterness that IPA lovers seek.”
UPDATE:
I was lucky enough to sample the pale ale from Upslope in Boulder. The cans logo and design is striking and simple and that carries through to the beer. It is hoppy but it does not coat the mouth. A great beer for the beach on a summer day. I made room to bring two back home to LA if that tells you anything.
A brewery that I had not heard of before is making quite the interwebs buzz. Buzzards Bay from Massachussetts has created a serialized beer with a mystery on the label.
““The Case of the IPA” is a hard-boiled detective farce printed chapter by chapter on 12 bottles of a newly released India Pale Ale. Each 22 ounce bottle not only has 22 ounces of brilliantly deduced IPA, but also 1 of the 12 chapters of the story. Each case has 12 bottles, which makes for the entire tale told in a case. And so, the Case of the IPA is indeed a case of the IPA.
Brewer Harry Smith proposed the idea to author Paul Goodchild and they quickly agreed on a format: a noir-ish detective serial. Smith brewed up a batch of hoppy craft brew whilst Goodchild penned the story. It’s a mystery of zany brewers and their intrigues; sure to tickle the ribs and please the belly of any fan of craft beer.”
And here is the first installment (not the beer, the mystery):
Ardent followers of these posts will know that Mikkeller graces these pages at least once a month and that one of my favorite beers of the past couple years was the Mikkeller Single Hop Ale made from Nelson Sauvin hops.
To celebrate the last new year, Mikkeller brewed Nelson Sauvignon. Again using Nelson hops and aging the new creation in white wine barrels. It never made it stateside.
But here is the good news. The newest iteration Nelson Sauvin Brut will arrive in the US next year. It is the champagne inspired version.
Here are some photos from the Bruery Provisions in Old(e) Town(e) Orange.
The partially finished bottle cap sign
The O.C. Flight & the Fruit & Spice Flight
Bruery Provision beers and the new holiday seasonal.
a You Tube video!
Check it out and let me know what you think of this idea.
42!!
UPDATE: NOW I HAVE 43!
The inital goal of 40. Check. Now onto the next goal. 45!
Ambitious? Maybe, considering my only travel was to Oregon and Colorado this year.
I still have feelers out there that might garner me some local brews from Tennessee, Alabama and North Dakota. And thanks to the Beer Bloggers conference, I got Indiana and the incredibly hard South Dakota knocked off the list.
As usual, if you have access to these states:
Alabama
Arkansas
Kentucky – THANKS TO ALLTECH BREWING – OFF THE LIST
North Dakota
Oklahoma
Tennessee
Virginia
West Virginia
Send me an e-mail and I we can work out the details. Including a donation to a local food bank.
For the tryptophan crowd here are my suggestions for November…..
and as a bonus, I would suggest that you try the Pietra Corsa. A beer made with chestnuts. Will liven up the worst cranberry sauce and driest stuffing.
In my usual better late than never style, I ran across this interesting bit of news from the New School Beer Blog.
Portland already has Prost! which is a lovely German beer bar located right next to a food cart pod so this next evolution sounds promising. Maybe the LA area can try this too! Verdugo and Eagle Rock invite trucks in but if you don’t care for that particular truck that night then you are out of luck (plus the lines can get enormous). A group of carts would minimize both problems.
