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

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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….
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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)
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“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.”

New 21st Amendment can

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The first Cascadian dark in cans comes from 21st Amendment. Beer history being made yet again. Now you can do an canned San Francisco IPA taste comparison. Pick up Brew Free or Die and Back in Black and invite the beer gang.

And if you are in San Francisco and it is still available, you can try another iteration of 21st Amendment IPA with Bitter American.

Northwoods Brewing

Thanks to the wonderful (on my list of beer places to visit) Four Firkins in Minnesota, I heard about Northwoods Brewery and Pub from Wisconsin.

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All of their beer labels are outdoorsy themed especially this beer that caught my eye…
FLOPPIN’ CRAPPIE – A Biker Beer!
Light caramel colored ale with the sweetness of honey and a mild bitterness. Voted best beer at Sturgis Brewfest 2004.

Rogue 21

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A BEER PREMIERE TODAY!
A 21 ale salute, a special event will be held at the Horse Brass Pub in Portland on July 21st (of course) for the new Rogue Oregon Beer Festival offering.

Here are the old ale beer details:
“21 Ale is dedicated to Art Larrance and Teddy Peetz, the founders of the Oregon Brewers Festival.

21 Ale is brewed with 14 ingredients: 2 Row, Briess Amber, C-40, Wyermann Carafa & Rogue Farms RiskTM Malt; Willamette, US Goldings & Rogue Farms Revolution Hops; Simpsons Golden Naked Oats; Franco-Belges Carawheat; Molasses, Brewer’s Licorice, Wyeast Old Ale Blend Yeast & Free Range Coastal Water.”