The second gift of beer box is from the midwest and The Wine and Cheese Place.
Sean’s March beer suggestions
Here are the suggestions for March!
Sean suggests March 2010
As usual, they will be archived on the “join the Search Party” tab along with February and January.
Beer in the Mail – Part 1
The first beer package is from Malt and Vine in the state of Washington.
Some of these are for cellaring, some for the 50 Beers from 50 States and some for special occasions.
Review -Hopf Weisser Bock
Coastal Extreme Brewing
My trip around the country highlighting breweries from the comfort of the internet continues on to Rhode Island and Coastal Extreme.
What drew me to their brewery is their Cyclone series. This is what they say about “Cyclones are powerful, unique, and pass through quickly. We consider these beers “extreme”, because each one is either aggressively hopped, unusually flavorful, or high in alcohol, or has some combination of these characteristics. Each Cyclone is brewed with an original recipe for a less common beer style making them incredibly unique. They are then packaged into bottles only and shipped out in six packs. Since we are only making 1300 cases of each Cyclone, they do not last long. Also, just like the real storms that prowl the Atlantic each year, these beers are named with human names, starting with Alyssa, and continuing alphabetically from there.”
Yet another cool twist that you only find at smaller craft brewers who care!
HOPS!
Harpoon Brewing is releasing a new single hop ESB using a brand new hop, here-to-for unseen, named Delta. Delta is the latest in the line that also includes Teamaster and Nelson Sauvin hops that will be seen and tasted more as they become more widely available.
When I saw this posted on the wonderful BeerNews website, I knew I had to re-iterate something that I think every beer geek should do.
I highly suggest sampling any single hop offering that you can find. Then take notes on the aroma and the flavors you get. Once you have done that. Go online and either Google or Bing your way to a description of the hop you sampled and compare and contrast.
These new varieties stem in part from boundary pushing that American brewers are pursuing as well as from the scare of a hop shortage a few years back. I am continuing my interwebs search for a comprehensive and graphically cool listing of hops that isn’t all agriculture words. No luck yet, but once I do, I will post it here.
This way, you can grow your hop knowledge. (Pun intended)
50 from 50 – New Jersey & Illinois
Two new beers from two heretofore unknown (to me) breweries.
First up is the selection for the Garden State from Cricket Hill Brewing.
Then we head to one of the midwest’s hot hop spots, Illinois for a taste of weiss from Two Brothers Brewing.
Tweet that Brew
I am not a Twitter sort of guy. I am not a long winded writer to begin with so condensing further would probably not help me improve my style or grammar.
That being said, people really dig it. For every luddite there seems to be 10 Tweeters. Since, it is my self-appointed job to get everyone to drink better beer, I will not leave the tweeters out.
Go to Twit A Brew and you can instantly review (in 140 characters or less) your thoughts on the beer in front of you.
According to the creators, “My real hope for this site is to help people explore and share all the wonderful beers that are out there.”
Free State Brewing
In conjunction with my 50 Beers from 50 States challenge, I will highlight little known breweries from across the country. Here is some information from….KANSAS!
“The Free State Brewing Co. opened in 1989 as the first legal brewery in Kansas in over 100 years. Located in a renovated inter-urban trolly station in historic downtown Lawrence, the Brewery was an early participant in the rejuvenation of the north end of the downtown business district. Led by the renovation and refurbishment of neighboring Liberty Hall and the Eldridge Hotel, the result has been a rebirth of the 600 block of Massachusetts Street”
And this is the brew that most caught might eye…OLD STORMY!
“A distinctive quality of Old Ales is that they undergo an aging process (often for years) on their yeast, contributing to a rich and often sweet oxidation character. Back in August of 2009 we aged a batch of Stormwatch Ale without it’s usual dry-hop addition and without carbonation. We then transferred the beer to various oak barrels, some originally used for wine, some for bourbon. Rather than blend the barrel-aged beer back together, we’ve chosen to keep each keg of old ale separate and allow the full expression of each individual barrel to shine through. The resulting beer is unique and complex, with notes of caramel, cherries, plums, coffee, vanilla, bourbon, and wine. Medium bodied and deep mahogany in color, Old Stormy has matured into a beer that only hints at its previous incarnation, Stormwatch; with decidedly less hop character and a greater emphasis on sweet, malty flavors. Old Stormy is a great ale to weather the winter storm season. Served at cellar temperature on the back bar. Bottom Line: A slightly sweet, malty, medium bodied, deep mahogany ale aged for no less than three months on a variety of barrels.”
Vintage Estate Wine & Beer
Ohio, Michigan and Wisconsin have great beer scenes. One way to gauge that is by how many wine stores are adding more and more beers or in the case of Vintage in Ohio, adding a whole new tasting room.
Check out their tap list HERE