Tag: 2012

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Up from the Cellar – Mission Street Anniversary 2012

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As mentioned with the 2011 review, this is a Firestone Walker beer and it is a blend of three different beers so it’s sort of a baby version and extremely baby version at that of the anniversary beers that they release each year. It is called an Imperial brown and  I don’t know how much longer Firestone will actually brew this particular brand but if you can get your hands on the 2014 it is out and you should get it.

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The ’12 pours a hazy red brown color. Very thin head that dissipates quickly. The aroma is bourbon on ice. And the initial taste is almost bourbon and coke. Light bourbon mixed with a sweetness that is just a touch too much for me. And at the back end the brown ale taste lurks around and then fades off. It still has some good carbonation to it as well that starts the whole thing off.

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The Verdict:  It certainly doesn’t taste bad but the residual sweetness gets a bit cloying the more you drink of it.  I don’t know if another year would do wonders or if a year earlier would have had other notes that have now dropped out but it seems off the mark so I have to rank this as a really minor failure considering that it is an under 10% beer and under $5 beer too.

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FoodGPS Teaser – Top 10 Beers of 2012

For every 10 Best List, there are a few honorable mentions. And in the craft beer world, many honorable mentions. But I have decided to tease tomorrow’s FoodGPS countdown list with the three that I agonized over not including. So here are beers 11-13 that I wish I could have cheated and snuck in….

13. Bear Republic – Dry Creek Home Grown
Our tribute to the annual hop harvest brewed with Cascade hopes grown in the Dry Creek Valley just 10 minutes from our pub & brewery. I said, ” The aroma alone is worth the price of the pint. Citrus and flowers spring up. Nice light bitterness that doesn’t interfere with the flavor and is distinct, not a muddle of hops. Makes me want to visit this Dry Creek.” Might be available on tap. Window may be closed on it though since it is a fresh hop beer.

12. 21st Amendment – Hop Crisis
A imperial IPA aged on oak using Columbus, Centennial and cascades as the bittering hops and dry hopping with Simcoe, Ahtanum, Amarillo, and Cascades. I said, “Big but not muddled DIPA that shows off the oak aging and finishes strong with a great pineapple, citrus fruit bitterness that really worked well together. Not super aromatic but just a great beer. Super smooth.” This one is canned and is available in San Francisco and via Let’s Pour at times.

11. The Bruery/Hangar 24 – Ichigo Highway
The base style is a sessionable sour red ale that we aged in oak barrels along with a whopping amount of strawberries, most of which were picked from the fields besides Hangar 24’s brewery. I said, “Nice whiff of strawberry. Initial taste is sourness followed by a jam taste. Tastes really fresh. Good sparkle to it. Some farmhouse notes as well. Excellent mix of flavors.” Head to Bruery Provisions for this fruit find.

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FoodGPS Teaser – BAM Fest 2012

I finally attended my first BAM Fest in Santa Monica and thoroughly enjoyed my drinking day. I will talk more about it tomorrow on FoodGPS but for now, here are some photos to whet your whistle….

18th Street filled up mighty quick as the event was all but sold out by opening time.

One of the many fine beers that I sampled on the afternoon.

I found another winner from the Smog City line-up.

I got to sample Abigaile beers for the first time without having to travel all the way to Hermosa.

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Beer Review – Longshot – A Dark Night in Munich

One of the yearly traditions that I stay on the look-out for is the release of the Sam Adams Longshot winners. And this year I will be reviewing all three and we start with….
A Dark Night in Munich
Created by Corey Martin
“Corey has been working on his Munich Dunkel for some time and the result is this amber, medium-bodied brew. With a nice malty backbone, this lager has roasty, slightly spicy notes and a traditional doughy character from the yeast. It is well worth the time he took to perfect it.”

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Canned Hawaiian collaborations

Maui Brewing has been busy. Canning collaborations with Jolly Pumpkin and Dogfish Head before going all Mayan at the end of the year.

“Maui Lillikoi and Michigan Cherries? Saccharo-fermented in Maui while Brett-fermented and barrel-aged in Michigan – and all to get released during Savor in our nation’s capital in June? What’s that crazy name they’re calling this by? The Sobrehumano Palena’ole? Superhuman and without limits? Sounds about right…

If you think that’s not super enough, we plan to really blow some socks off with the third installment our 2012 canned seasonal series. This time, Dogfish Head superstar – Sam Calagione, will be our fearless collaborator! The result – a beer-epiphany never before innovated called Liquid Breadfruit!

To celebrate the cornucopia of a Maui-grown harvest, we will ingeniously combine local breadfruit (or ulu) & toasted papaya seeds into the recipe of an imperial golden ale fermented using Dogfish Head’s DNA ( Delaware-Native-Ale) yeast. You won’t want to wait until October to try it, but oh it will be worth the wait!

The forth and final seasonal of 2012 will be inspired by an indigenous people not so different from those of the ancestral kingdoms in Hawaii. The Mayans of Central America were civilized hunters and gathers who used a long count calender that measures the increments of time according to celestial movements they observed in the sky – the longest period indicated by the passage of a B’ak’tun (or approximately 394 Gregorian years). On December 20th, 2012 – the 12th such B’ak’tun will end and on the 21st, the 13th will begin.

To honor such an enduring occasion, MBC will release a Brussels-style Stout brewed with Mayan chocolate, cinnamon, and cayenne – to be called the Aloha B’ak’tun, with aloha carrying both the meaning of farewell and greeting. It’ll be a beer that you’ll want at your side no matter what happens…”