Today I thank Belmont Station in Portland for stocking beer from Nebraska. Nebraska Brewing’s Melange a Trois…
50 from 50 – Minnesota
New from Ommegang
That Belgian outpost in New York has a new Scottish inspired beer coming our way…
Pretty cool label outside. What’s inside, you ask? “This fine Ommegang ale uses heather tips and a wee bit of smoked malt to bring the taste and aroma of Scotland to the forefront.”
The name comes from a Scottish poem by Robert Burns, “An wil tak a cup o kyndnes yet, fir ald land syn.”
from PDX with beer
TSA approved beer!
Twice now I have ferried beer via airline from Portland to Los Angeles. This is the second part. A new red ale from the organic folks at Hopworks, a special release from Redhook and a Full Sail specialty Belgian with the awesome name of Sanctuary.
Can’t wait to try these goodies.
Oh and here is my official grainy video of the opening of OBF 2010. The Year of the Superbrewer!
San Diego Beer Week – press release
Here is the official scoop on this year’s San Diego festivities:
“Building off the success of the first San Diego Beer Week, the San Diego Brewers Guild is preparing for San Diego Beer Week 2010 (SDBW), November 5-14, 2010. San Diego Beer Week is a ten-day celebration inspiring people to drink local, craft beer and promoting San Diego’s thriving brewing culture with more than 500 events happening across the county. San Diego Beer Week will kick off with the Brewers Guild Festival and conclude with the Chef Celebration of San Diego Beer, a gourmet beer and food-pairing event.
San Diego is home to more than 35 brew houses and has gained an international reputation for brewing inspired beers. The city recently brought home more medals at the 2010 World Beer Cup than the traditional beer countries of England, Germany, and Belgium combined. With the popularity of craft beer on the rise, San Diego is poised to be the capital of beer tourism in the United States.
SDBW’s inaugural year included more than 300 events spread across San Diego County with an estimated attendance of 20,000 people. Events ranged from specialty beer dinners to beer and cheese pairings to meet and greets with local brewers. “Our goal is to create a variety of events to engage all levels of craft beer drinkers,” says Adam Carbonell, president, San Diego Brewers Guild. “If you’re new to craft beer you can check out a local pint night or take a brewery tour, and if you’re more seasoned you might enjoy a sour ales night or beer and chocolate tasting.”
“San Diego Beer Week is a great opportunity for our city to position itself as the number one beer tourism destination,” says Carbonell. San Diego Beer Week has partnered with several San Diego hotels to work out special room rates and Beer Week travel packages. “San Diego is a great place to visit and in November we’ve still got beautiful weather. Add Beer Week on top of that and there’s no reason not to visit!”
San Diego Beer Week is taking place Friday November 5th through Sunday November 14th, 2010 throughout the county, with new events posted frequently on the official website. For general information about San Diego Beer Week including complete event listings, sponsors, public transportation, and accommodations, visit www.SDBW.org
About San Diego Beer Week
San Diego Beer Week promotes San Diego’s thriving craft beer culture by sponsoring a ten-day countywide festival that attracts beer tourism, fosters knowledge of our regional brewing heritage, and serves as a showcase for San Diego’s breweries, restaurants, pubs, and other businesses with ties to the craft beer community. For more information and a current list of events visit SDBW.org, www.twitter.com/sdbeerweek or www.facebook.com/san.diego.beer.week. Cheers.”
Start making your plans!
Ireland or Germany? – Brauhaus am Waldschlossen
On to Germany and a Brauhaus. The vibe and beer are completely different from Ireland but the classic quality is the same.
At the Waldschlossen, you can have their Zwickelbier which “is a pale, full-bodied beer. It is brewed on the basis of an original Waldschlösschen Brewery recipe. The special feature of this beer is the fact that it is left unfiltered. It is a bottom-fermented beer with an alcohol content of approx. 5.5%”
Also check out the links on the history of brewing and their brewing process. You will learn something fun for sure.
Shandy – American Style
Not a big fan of the frog on the label, but I thoroughly enjoyed the B.O.R.I.S. that I had from this great Ohio brewery. Now this summer news via their Facebook page, “We are preparing for the release of our Turbo Shandy Citrus Ale around mid June. Alcohol 7% by volume. – Born from European tradition, our Shandy is a refreshing combination of lemon and light malt flavors. Unlike traditional shandys, Turbo Shandy, revs it up a couple of notches with a high test, full flavored approach as only Hoppin’ Frog can do.”
With the addition of another shandy from Leinenkugel, you can have a mini shandy fest!
I know fruit ales get a bad rap but when done right it brings a whole new flavor palette to the game.
East Coast Brews!
Local beer is great if you are the local. But if you want to get a full rounded palate and not become one dimensional in your beer love, then you have to look for some beer outside the box of your normal life. (Very new-agey, don’t ya think?)
That is all preamble to the great box of beer that arrived while I was in Portland….
Now this is a great selection for many reasons. One, you have a variety of styles. Two, a good representation of different breweries with vastly different approaches and third, a nice specialty, hard-to-find beer.
You will probably be seeing reviews of at least the Sorachi Ace.
Review – Caldera Ginger Beer
This special series eschews the tradtional bigger beers theory and goes light and subtle. Like this Ginger Beer…
Velvet Merk- check that, Merlin
When Solace runs its course over the summer, it will be replaced by a sixer of Velvet Merlin. No, this isn’t an offshoot of the Velvet Merkin. It is he same thing just changed to avoid any “imperial entanglements” so to speak.
Either way, I am looking forward to it.