Follow Sean Inman to the best in craft beer
Ninkasi will be coming out with another new 4-pack that should be hitting stores soon that include the above labeled beer. (I scored mine at the Glendale BevMo) I will be trying that stout for International Stout day!
I liked the summer pack (though not the music) and I am sure this one will be impressive one too even though I will have to hold onto Sleigh’r until after Thanksgiving because I believe in celebrating one holiday at a time.
Looks like Dogfish Head is heading into unconventional territory even for them…..
“What’s the No. 1 thing Dogfish lovers ask for at our pub, in our brewery and on our website? Gluten-free beer. But not just any gluten-free beer — they want gluten-free with gusto.
“It seems as if lots of folks who have gluten-tolerance issues are pining for an interesting beer,” says Dogfish founder and president Sam Calagione. “While there are a few well-made examples that mirror traditional beer styles, there aren’t any off-centered offerings.”
Enter Dogfish’s fruit-forward Tweason’ale.
For our first new 12-ounce 4-packs in nearly half a decade, we replaced the classic barley foundation of beer with a mild, high-maltose sorghum base. The hints of molasses and pit-fruit are balanced by vibrant strawberry notes and a unique complexity that comes with the addition of a malty buckwheat honey. We believe health-conscious beer drinkers and the millions of Americans who suffer from Celiac disease can cut back on gluten while relishing the distinction and drinkability of this very special brew.
Tweason’ale has been among the fastest-selling pub batches in our 16-year history. Thanks to the off-the-charts excitement, we are dedicating significant resources to the wide release of this beer. The 6 percent abv Tweason’ale will be distributed quarterly throughout our national network.”
This November will feature CanFest! Smack dab in the middle of the month, I will be in Reno and you will be able to follow along right here.
Also, again thanks to Charissa Santos, for the above logo. If you like the look of it, check out her site HERE. She does branding, print and web design and she is easy to work with and she really made me take a hard look at where I am going and what my design does to help me get there.
~ e-visits to three breweries that can their beer
~ video reviews of three beers from Escondido’s own, Stone Brewing
~ Three suggested beers to buy this month
~ I will tap the Firkin and give my opinion on the craft beer world
~ … and Session # 57 will converge bloggers onto a single topic
~ plus many more posts about new beers, beer products and breweries
Here are two events to get your November started in the Los Angeles craft beer world:
1) November 5th Homebrew Demonstration at Eagle Rock Brewery
2) November 11th – Four Points LAX Beer Appreciation Night
I was inspired by the home brew column of Beer Advocate (the magazine) written by Drew Beechum about keeping it simple in beer recipes and I have taken it a step further to the professional side of things.
(I apologize in advance if I sound like Andy Rooney in this post but the topic this month lends itself to that tone of voice.)
So what’s the deal with all these strange ingredients in craft beer? What happened to plain old malt, hops, yeast and water?
Hear me out. I am all for experimentation. Add lemongrass, put it into a wine barrel and use an heirloom hop. Cool. Let me have a glass. I certainly do not want to return to the days of monoculture beer. But recent Bruery beers have pushed past my level of disbelief. (Sorry to pick on you Bruery, if it is any consolation, Humulus Wet is one of the top three beers I have had this year)
I mentioned in an earlier post this month that Dogfish and The Bruery got together and added all level of new Japanese ingredients to their earthquake relief beer. Then the Bruery creates Birra Basta with roasted zucchini used in the mash, and fennel seeds, lemon peel, and Spanish cedar in the fermentor. This is on top of their Salt of the Earth gose(?) that had truffle oil in it.
I know that I don’t have to buy it if I don’t want to. And I know that by posting about it, I am bringing more attention to them. But…
There are three issues that arise for me when yet another oddball beer comes down the pike. And I will repeat, I do not want to discourage “goin’ crazy” but rather taking a deep breath before deciding to “go crazy” because which beer that I enjoy got pushed out of the schedule to make room for fenugreek or hatch peppers? Many craft breweries are running at maximum capacity so to produce these beers means another beer gets a smaller batch or brewed later.
Secondly, it stokes the obsessive collector disease that causes people to temporarily lose their sanity in pursuit of a rare beer. Need I say Founders and a certain stout?
Third, the unwashed heathens who still don’t drink craft beer are not gonna jump in at the deepest end. I appreciate that I am in a consumer minority and that I am reaping the benefit of some of these experimental beers but if we want to get more and more people excited about what we are excited about then we need more beers that allow entrance to our club and not scare them away.
Leave the running and screaming for Halloween movies.
The last beer of the Halloween season is the Smashed Pumpkin from Shipyard Brewing.
Just when I think the craft beer world can’t come up with any more new ideas, someone comes along with another great one.
Odell’s of Colorado has used an ingredient from each of the states it sells in to create Footprint. Puts all the states and ingredients on the label too. And the sub-name is region-ale. Brilliant.
Coming to a mixed 6-pack near you next spring are the newly crowned winners of the Sam Adams LongShot competition.
Russian Imperial Stout by Joe Formanek of Bolingbrook, IL
Munich Dunkel by Corey Martin of Round Rock, TX
Derf’s Secret (Sticke) Alt by Fred Hessler (employee)
Personally, I am looking forward to the last two, especially the Sticke.
Close on the heels of L.A. Beer week comes the San Diego version.
From the press release, “The only official San Diego Brewers Guild sanctioned event, San Diego Beer Week will be held November 4-13, 2011. The ten-day festival celebrating local, craft beer will feature beer dinners, festivals, rare bottle tastings, cheese pairings, brewery tours, classes, and more. SDBW 2011 kicks off with the San Diego Brewers Guild Festival on Saturday November 5, 2011 at Liberty Station and concludes with the “Beer Garden” event at The Lodge at Torrey Pines on Sunday November 13, 2011.”
Events that caught my eye (out of the 178+ on the list) are the British Pub Day party at Sessions Public, the Cellar-bration at the Linkery, and the San Diego Beer Week intro held at Stone.
Just glancing through the list, there are a lot of places in San Diego that I need to visit.
L.A. Beer Week – Year # 3 is now safely in the books. I careened from one part of town to another in search of great beer and here are my impressions.
It is hard to top the Deconstructed event that Firestone-Walker put on with the Home Brew Chef, Sean Paxton. Damn good (and exclusive) beer, excellent food and gracious hosts in a cool Hollywood venue.
I thoroughly enjoyed the Beer Float Showdown as well. For some of the same reasons as I enjoyed Deconstructed. Great beer paired with creative food. I could see that the float makers were both working hard and having fun.
I also enjoyed the three year vertical of Ten Fidy that Boneyard Bistro provided. The array of stouts and big beers they had that night was amazing and I wish I had more nights to have tried out a few more.
The big, big plus of the last two weeks was the sheer volume and variety of events. There were huge pairing dinners and simple meet the brewer nights, there were new beer releases and celebrations of our local brewers. There was something for every beer geek across the area. But within that bounty were some missed chances.
I would love to see a “New to craft beer” event that roved from bar to bar. A welcome mat of an event that would encourage people to try a variety of beers to acclimate palates to the good beer of the world and be able to get questions answered.
I would also like to see more signage with the L.A. Beer Week logo that could catch the eye of the passersby, if you will excuse the rhyme. Maybe an official L.A. Beer Week stop sign to hang in a business window or a sandwich board outside. Having an Untappd badge and the other social media kicking are great but I would like to see outreach to the non “in-the know” folks. And if people see enough of them as they drive around L.A., they might get curious.
Lastly, as much as I liked the plethora of beer, two weeks was a bit much. I know America is the land of outsized ideas but by the end on Sunday, I had heard the lament of “ready for Monday” many times and not just from myself. I am a proponent of the 10 day week. Coming on the heels of the Great American Beer Festival and before the November San Diego Beer week, ten days allow some rest for the wicked. Not that everyone attended an event a day like me but I think that L.A. has enough of a craft beer culture where we can start having mini-festivals throughout the year to augment the many other events that are happening so that beer can gain a momentum that a once a year event cannot generate.
That being said, kudos to all the organizers for taking on the extra workload and less sleep and loads of driving to bring beer to me and to all of the people of L.A. The city is better for your efforts.
I saw these “earth friendly” cans in the Uncommon Goods catalog and it got me to thinking if these “cans” could be used to transport your bottled beer to the beach. That is if you really wanted a certain beer that wasn’t canned yet. Read the description and decide for yourself.
“Quench your thirst for sustainable goods and high design with this reusable, earth-friendly can made from corn-starch based polylactic acid. A convenient tab and twist-off cap with double walled construction securely totes and insulates your daily sips. Replace your water bottle or on-the-go coffee mug with this bright idea that’s ideal for everyday use.
BPA-free. Dishwasher and microwave safe. The double wall construction allows for temperatures from -20 to 110 degrees Celcius.”