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Cider Review – Cidre Bouché from 2 Towns Ciderhouse

I received the GABF winning ciders pack from 2 Towns Ciderhouse and the first one to catch my eye was the Cidre Bouché because I learned a new word, keeving. You can read what 2 Towns says about the process HERE but in summary it is grinding the bittersweet apples and letting them sit in contact with the skins for enough time to fully extract of the juice and proper tannins.

With process out of the way, let’s talk taste of this very orange hued cider. Oak and apple swirl in the aroma. After that initial hit, the first sip is a bit one dimensional. But then a real big apple taste takes over. There is also a slight touch of vanilla to close out the flavor before your next sip.

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Brewery + Airport Tour # 1 – Nashville

We start our holiday travel journey at BNA, he awkward acronym for Nashville’s airport where you have a lot of choices from Fat Bottom Brewing, Little Harpeth Brewing, TailGate Brewery, Tennessee Brew Works and Yazoo Brewing Company.

Let’s pick a beer from each to help after making it past security…

From Fat Bottom, we will get their Ruby American Red Ale with a malt forward taste and a restrained hop presence then move on to Little Harpeth for their Chicken Scratch pilsner made from malted barley and locally grown corn. Next is TailGate where we will taste their Lager Projekt: Vienna Lager with layers of toasty malt with a slight sweetness and nuttiness.

At TBW we will check out Dubbelneck “a full-bodied Abbey ale that showcases complex flavors derived from the malted barley and Belgian yeast including caramel, toffee, dark cherry, and subtle notes of nutmeg.” Lastly we reach Yazoo for a bit of Tennessee brewing history and their Gerst Amber “with mostly German malts and a hint of flaked maize, remaining as true as possible to the original Gerst recipe.”

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By Any Other Name

In a world where an Italian phrase Che Vuoi? has been used for multiple beers, may I suggest using some of the new slang, taken from the mouths of babes (aka Gen Z) like from below….

FYI – Delulu apparently stands for delusional which is probably what this idea is.

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New Chouffe, Who Dis

I should get punished for that headline but I just want to say that I think the Belgian design of modern art styled glassware and label design is just bright and fun in a way that American design seems to just lean into appropriating other brands IP.

This La Chouffe bottle would really look good on a Thanksgiving table.

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Beer Book Review – A Pub for All Seasons by Adrian Tierney-Jones

Since we are talking pubs, let’s get into the latest book from beer writer Adrian Tierney-Jones, A Pub for All Seasons.

I would say that the sub-title of this book is misleading. It is not a book of rankings or whether Fall is better than Winter. Winter obviously wins. But more a trio of interlocking themes. Memoir meets existential thoughts and the people who run and frequent the pubs.

And for some readers, that second thread of musings on life is the one that I found hardest to latch onto. Yes, you can wax poetic about the first sun of summer but I want to know more about why a pilsner on a pub patio works so well or give me a tip as to beers that you might not know work really well on a rainy day in April. There is some of that in the book but it is a little more inner when I was hoping for a little more travel guide.

Which leads to my next nitpick. I really would have loved to see a map or three in this book. I was trying to follow the winding train tracks but kept having to press pause on the book to do so.

Those two improvements aside, I did really enjoy the book and how the publicans and brewers are piloting their ways through ownership in this day and age. The beers described made me thirsty throughout the book and it was overall a relaxing read through all four seasons.

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Where There is Smoke….

…there is rauchbier merchandise.  Not a phrase I would ever think to type before seeing the hat, shirt and cups in the All About Beer webstore celebrating the smokey beer treat.  I especially like the camp cup even though I do not camp.

Check it out HERE.

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Celebrity Day – Welcome to Welsh Lager

Wrexham Lager has some new co-owners in Red Dragon Ventures.  News like that might strike craft beer fans as an “oh no” moment but RDV is actually Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney + the Allyn family — which very recently became a minority investor in Wrexham’s soccer teams. 

Wrexham Lager was founded in 1882 and now is on the verge ( as I previously posted about ) being sold in America as well as in countries across the world.

The Roberts family, which revived Wrexham Lager in 2011, eleven years after production had halted, will remain a co-owner of the brewery alongside Reynolds and McElhenney.  Both of whom have past experience in the drinks sector in spirits with gin and Irish whiskey.

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Celebrity Day – Spider Beer

Looks like another celebrity is entering the beer game but with an N/A twist.  Tom Holland is founding a company with the un-Marvel name of Bero and will have three non-alcoholic beers initially.  Kingston Golden Pils, Edge Hill Hazy IPA and Noon Wheat.  Nary a spider pun to be found but certainly some British influence.

It will be direct to consumer via their website with plans to launch in Target next year. Holland has discussed his sobriety which makes a venture into near beer a good call.