Sean Suggests for January 2024

Time for my first beer shopping list for 2024.  It is doubly toasted and very serious and all California brewed.

Highland Park Brewery Toast Points Czech Style Lager – 5.9% – “brewed with our pals Moonlight Brewing. The crew at Moonlight are one of our favorite American lager producers & we couldn’t be more stoked to create a lager with them. This is also the first time we’ve done a decoction mash on our system in Chinatown. Decoction is a process that involves taking part of the mash, boiling it separately, then mixing it back into the main mash to raise its overall temp. It can darken a beer’s color, impart richer malt flavors, give it a smoother mouthfeel, & even result in more stable foam.”

Paperback Brewing Siri-ous Problems Hazy IPA – 6.8% – “anything but a problem to your taste buds, with an overload of juicy hop aroma snd flavor.  Zamba, Citra, and Azzaca hops lend themselves to creating juicy tropical fruit notes, such as pineapple, mango, stone fruits, candy, and orange tangerine.”

21st Amendment Find Your Fortune – 7.5% – “our newest Imperial Toasted Golden Ale is embellished with a QR code directly on the can so drinkers nationwide can scan the code and open their own virtual fortune cookie! Who needs horoscopes when you have a beer like this?! 

With toasted sesame, vanilla, and lactose, Find Your Fortune is a complex beer that offers a delightful blend of flavors and aromas. The toasted sesame adds a nutty and slightly savory note, balanced perfectly with a sweet aroma and flavor of vanilla, followed by a silky smooth, creamy finish.”

Holiday Cheers – Day 6 – Fireside Chat from 21st Amendment

I gotta say that I much preferred the old label for 21st Amendment’s Fireside Chat. Roosevelt and a fire just seemed right for the season, now reindeer are drinking with their hooves. The bow label on cans and some of the packaging is just boring as well.

“We begin with a rich, deep, toffee-colored winter warmer ale and then we hand-select spices and cocoa nibs until we know we have a beer worth sharing.”

Too Close

21st Amendment Brewing is always near hops especially with their new, Close Encounters of a Hop Kind.

The Bay Area brewery describes it as an “8.5% ABV Double IPA transports beer drinkers far beyond typical Double IPAs with CLS Farms’ extraterrestrial proprietary hop varieties: El Dorado®, Zappa®, and the brand new, never before used CLS X-14. Handcrafted out of a love for experimental hops.”

21x 2

There are anniversaries that people look forward to. Milestones like 10 and 20 but when your brewery is named after the amendment repealing prohibition, then that number has to be 21. And since 21st Amendment is a California brewery, it had to be an IPA.

To the Moon

There are not a lot of strawberry beets out there and I can’t imagine that there are many strawberry IPA’s out there that are actually IPA but come April you will have Moon Boots IPA.

This is a partnership between 21st Amendment Brewing with the Pink Boots Society.

With this spring release, the brewery will be sponsoring 4 Pink Boots scholarships:

(1) Women in Leadership Certificate scholarship with eCornell University at $3,800
(3) Level Two Cicerone Course + Exam scholarships for Pink Boots members at $400 per recipient.

Keep Talking

BlahBlahBlahIPA-12oz-TTBChanges
I might have named it Palate Fatigue but Blah, Blah, Blah also gets the point across about the ubiquity of IPA’s on the market as well. And since the trend seems to have long, long legs, it makes sense that 21st Amendment would call their new (variety pack only) Imperial IPA that. I also like that they are poking at the IBU and Wetness measurements on the can as well.

All kidding aside, Blah, Blah, Blah features malts that 21A has not used before, plus late additions of Mosaic, Citra, and Idaho 7 hops.

Who Said?

He_said_label

Another wacky collaboration from 21st Amendment and this time they have teamed with the Pumpkin King, Dick Cantwell of Elysian Brewing for a unique 2-pack of seasonal treats.

“He Said let’s brew a dark beer with pumpkin and spices and put it in a light colored can. He Said let’s brew a light beer with pumpkin and spices and put it in a dark colored can. So they did both and produced a pumpkin beer collaboration like no other: two black pumpkin beers and two white pumpkin beers, together in one box.

He Said is a white Belgian-Style Tripel ale brewed with pumpkin, tarragon and galangal.  He Said is also a black Baltic-Style Porter lager brewed with pumpkin, Vietnamese cinnamon and ground caraway. Both beers have an ABV of 8.2%.”

21st-Amendment-He-Said-Belgian-Pumpkin-Tripel

XMAS BEER – 21st Amendment Winter Warmer

I talked about Craft Cans now here is a can filled with a winter warmer.

Here is what the fine folks at 21st Amendment have to say about their winter seasonal…”Fireside Chat is a subtle twist on the traditional seasonal brew. We begin with a rich, dark ruby brown, English-style ale and then improvise with spices until we know we have a beer worth sharing with the nation. During Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s, Fireside Chat will brighten the faces of those who enjoy it, near the hearth or at the table. Its subtle blend of spices balances the malty ale and will make this a foodie’s favorite, as it pairs perfectly with holiday meals.”