When I went to GABF last year, the one place that I visited twice was Great Divide. Now they have expanded and more new releases should be coming out in 2010 and 2011. Like this one…
“Rumble IPA is an American IPA with subtle nuance. Brewed with heavy-handed additions of Pacific Northwest hops, this beer is gently aged on French and American oak resulting in a wonderful balance of bitterness, caramel sweetness, vanilla, and undertones of pine and citrus.”
Rising Tide Brewery
For Oregon Craft Beer Month, I promised to not be too Portland-centric. Well, I am going back on that promise to talk about a Portland brewery. Portland, Maine.
Here’s the scoop from their Facebook page:
Rising Tide Brewing Company is a small-scale start-up brewery with a focus on handcrafted artisanal ales that draw on traditions from around the world. We will be brewing 90 gallons at a time and distributing locally to the southern Maine region in bottles and kegs.Mission:Bringing world-wide traditions together with a New England ethic to create beers that are uniquely Rising Tide. Beer First.
And here is the info on two of their beers:
Ishmael — Our copper ale borrowing from the traditions of German altbier, brewed with new-world hops and old-world yeast.
Spindrift — A crisp, pale, multi-grain beer brewed with barley, rye, and wheat.
King Tut drinks beer?
Clever, the Wynkoop’s are:
“Tut’s Royal Gold is an unfiltered “Imperial Egyptian Ale” of about 6% ABV made with pale malts, ancient fermentables (honey, wheat, teff) and a handful of spices including tamarind, coriander, grains of paradise, orange peel and rose petals.
The beer is fermented with a wheat beer yeast and is served unfiltered for extra, (very) old-school authenticity.
The beer will be released at 6:30 PM on June 30 at Wynkoop Brewing Company in a special tapping party in conjunction with the Denver Art Museum.”
Oregon Craft Beer Month – Bend Ale Trail
Eastern Oregon is a great area for beer and The Bend Ale Trail, a partnership between the Visit Bend program and eight of the region’s top craft breweries: 10 Barrel Brewing Co., Bend Brewing Company, Cascade Lakes Brewing Co, Deschutes Brewery, McMenamins Old St. Francis School, Silver Moon Brewing, Boneyard Beer and Three Creeks Brewing Co. The website has many fun and helpful features for beer travelers and locals alike, including:
Trail Map and Passport Program: The Bend Discovery Map will serve as the starting point of the Bend Ale Trail. Part navigational tool to each of the breweries, and part “Bend Ale Trail Passport” that visitors can have stamped at each of the breweries verifying their visit. Completed passports can be redeemed at the Visit Bend Welcome Center for a commemorative Silipint® a folding silicone pint glass for beer drinkers on the go. Beer geeks who also visit Three Creeks Brewery in Sisters, will receive an additional prize.
An app for that: In collaboration with Sidestreet Maps, Visit Bend is creating an iPhone and Android Phone compatible interpretive guide that provides an insider’s look at Bend’s beer culture. The Bend Ale Trail iBend Tour download will be available at no cost.
On the interwebs: The Bend Ale Trail website will serve as a portal for all things related to Bend’s beer culture. This site will include links and listings to all area businesses and resources related to Bend’s beer culture, and will include detailed information about the Bend Ale Trail. The website also offers a downloadable Bend Ale Trail Passport and a printable map. Up to date information and inside scoops can be found by following @BendAleTrail.
Guided Tours: For visitors who are looking for a guided tour of the Bend Ale Trail, The GETIT Shuttle will be offering guided tours using bicycle pedicabs, or for larger groups the GETIT Shuttle bus. For reservations with GETIT by Green Energy Transport, call (541) 610-6103.
Special Offers: Many of the Central Oregon breweries are offering a variety of special deals and discounts for those who mention The Bend Ale Trail when ordering.
Flagship
As I have mentioned before (and I will probably mention repeatedly), I cannot possibly keep up with the variety and opinions on the interwebs when it comes to beer writing.
So sometimes, I run across well written pieces that I think, “I have got to share this”. Then I see that it was posted three months ago.
Anyway, that is not going to stop me. This article on Flagship Beers was fascinating in early June and is fascinating now in late July.
Oregon Craft Beer Month – For the Love of Beer
For the Love of Beer is a new documentary about brewing in the NW. And, more importantly, it’s about women who are re-shaping a male dominated industry.
Here is a summary to pique your interest further…” “For the Love of Beer” is a documentary devoted to the stories and passion of the women at the forefront of the Pacific Northwest beer community. The craft beer industry is exploding; as of July 31, 2009, there are 1,482 craft breweries operating within the United States, and sales continue to rise upwards of 6% annually. While brewing is traditionally a woman’s job, the modern brewing industry is a heavily male dominated field.
However, in the Pacific NW, women are fighting their way to being some of the most influential people in the brewing industry. From the farm to consumption, Pacific NW women are setting new standards for brewing and changing the way the nation looks at women and beer.
These inspiring women are not afraid to fight discrimination and make sacrifices for the sake of their craft. While these women acknowledge that their struggles are opening doors for females everywhere, they’re not doing it for feminism or equality…they’re doing it for the love of beer.”
Brewed on Discovery Channel
This sounds interesting. No Reservations is done well by this production company, so I am cautiously optimistic.
“EXPERIENCING THE WORLD ONE PINT AT A TIME DISCOVERY CHANNEL RAISES A GLASS FOR BREWED, NEW SERIES ON THE WORLD OF BEER ANNOUNCED FOR FALL 2010
(Silver Spring, Md.) Beer is the drink of the masses. If you look into a glass of beer you can see the past, present and future of mankind. Cicero lauded it, Genghis Khan fought for it and now Discovery Channel celebrates it with a world premiere series, BREWED, exploring the culture, history and variety of beer.
Meet Sam Calagione: maverick entrepreneur, family man and owner of Dogfish Head Brewery in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. As an ambassador to the world of craft beer, Sam travels the world to experience what every culture brings to its own special brew.
In BREWED, Sam shows viewers the other side of the bottle, sharing the stories of beer sub-cultures as well as exploring life inside The Dogfish Head Brewery. BREWED goes behind the scenes at Dogfish Head as Sam’s merry band of creative brewmasters concoct new taste varieties.
“BREWED taps more than just kegs and barrels, it unlocks a fascinating history of beer making, showcasing the ingenuity and passion behind our love affair with those alluring suds and how it played a role in building civilizations,” said Clark Bunting, President and General Manager of Discovery Channel.
Running a successful business also requires inspiration, so BREWED hits the road for the ultimate beer tasting road trip. Along with archeologist and beer expert Pat McGovern, Sam sets out to recreate “ancient ales” that have been discovered at sites around the world from Egypt to Peru. He travels to Rome to research old world Italian beers as inspiration for a new site in New York with Mario Batali. A visit to New Zealand introduces the idea of making the “first tomato based beer.” And back home, Sam is tasked to come up with a commemorative beer called “Bitches Brew” to celebrate the 40th anniversary release of Miles Davis’ famous recording.
“Beer has always been my passion. It is so much more than what you see in the glass. I’m excited to share the diligence, daring and creativity that we pour into our work,” said Calagione.
BREWED is produced for Discovery Channel by Zero Point Zero Productions. Chris Collins and Lydia Tenaglia are executive producers. Tim Pastore is executive producer for Discovery Channel. “
UPDATE!!!
This won’t be airing until next year and the format has changed though it appears the focus on world class craft beer remains. More as the details become clear. Still remaining cautiously optimistic.
Sahti from Colorado
Lips of Faith soldiers on with a variant of the Finland drink Sahti. I have had the Nogne O and thought it wasn’t bad. Gin qualities and pretty light without losing complexity.
Here is what New Belgium says, “a traditional rye ale brewed with juniper, Trip IV is a hazy amber ale with a sturdy mouthfeel and a crisp and lively ‘finnish.’ Brewed with Pale, Crystal, rye malts and whole oats, Trip IV is bittered with Cascade and finished with Cascade and Amarillo hops. Juniper boughs are added to the mash and juniper berries, orange & lemon peel are pitched in the whirlpool creating a festive olfactory of citrus and juniper notes.”
Maiden the Shade
If you haven’t tried Ninkasi, then you are missing out. You could start with their July release….
Maiden hits 72 on the IBU scale with the help of seven hops: Summit, Centennial, Simcoe, Columbus, Crystal, Palisade and Amarillo. So expect some bitterness. The ABV is 7.8%.
According to the brewery it should be available in early July and will probably be gone before August finishes up. It will be the brewery’s entry at Portland’s upcoming Oregon Brewer’s Festival.
Revelation Cat…
…is a brewery that I have heard mentioned frequently. And when I saw this post from the great Wine and Cheese Place website, I thought that I had to pass it on. (mostly because I am a huge Nelson Sauvin fan)
“The Woodwork series is our first release from Revelation Cat. The “base” beer is an 110 IBU Imperial IPA made from 100% Munich Malt and hopped with Nelsin Sauvin Hops. There are 4 versions available: “base” beer with out any oak aging, then the same “base” beer treated in 3 different oaks. The beer was aged for 7 days in the oak barrels. 11% ABV
“This experimental ale is brewed to highlight the different effects that various woods give while aging the same batch. The ale we chose to brew as a base for this experiment is a very dry Heavy IPA brewed using only one malt, a neutral yeast and a one hop variety, grown in New Zealand. The barrels used for aging have been assembled in Sicily and are all fresh, used for the first time. This may sound discouraging, however our intention is to make you really taste the wood and all the differences between the barriques we used, which have been made with French oak, American oak, and Acasia. These ales have been bottled exclusively in 375ml gueuze bottles to aid you in parallel tasting and sampling without which this experiment would not have sense. Brewed in one of the most fascinating breweries in the world, by one of the most experienced brewers of the modern brewing scene, this is the first release of the Revelation Cat Craft Brewing project and we hope you will understand our goals and ideas.”