Follow Sean Inman to the best in craft beer
…to stay? Looks like the debate as to where a Cold IPA lands in beer style taxonomy hasn’t hurt or stopped breweries from producing more, and here is another from Firestone Walker (a blog favorite brewery)…
..though still not a fan of the artwork palette or style, I do like the Escher touch tied to the name which is a nod to the what is it really talk.
Would you like to know more about Cream Ales? Maybe you want a refresher on the refreshing wheat beer style? Either way, Sense of Beer Style could be the beer educator you need. Hosted by not one but two Advanced Cicerones in Julia Herz and Jeremy Storton, there a few lessons up now that you just may want to listen to.
It can be easy to fall into a beer buying rut. Whether you are chasing the latest releases or even just supporting your local brewery in trying times. But in this time of transition from one president to the next, from one season to the next, from one holiday to the next, this marks a good time to pause and consider the beer selection you have made in the last eleven months and how you can change in the final month.
It would be better to keep everything mixed up year round but especially this year, without taster trays or travel, 16oz IPA cans have taken over. Right now there is one bottle in my beer fridge. ONE. I am as guilty as the next person.
What have you not had a lot of this year? Use December as your testing ground. For me, barrel-ages beers have been in shorter supply. For you, it might be sours or Belgian beers. Whatever style has been missed, rectify that situation. Maybe, ask for that style of beer for a Christmas present.
Peel the Label is an infrequent series with no photos or links. Just opinion.
Yes, I have a serious glassware problem. Way too many little tasters from various anniversaries and events and to many branded shaker glasses. I thought I was clumsy but not enough to break enough to keep the collection at bay.
Still, I almost bought this glass. I love the diagram design and color choice. Plus it could put a spin on beer glass photography by allowing you to find and center the beer style that you are currently drinking into the frame.
You can get yours from Pop Chart Lab.
The Brewers Association (BA) website now boasts a new Beer Styles Guide on CraftBeer.com.
Two years in the making this style guide covers 77 styles in 15 groups and lets the beer geek sort by color, bitterness, alcohol level and flavor with the Beer Style Finder. Each style has the following information: “overview of color, appearance, aroma and sensations, along with recommended food pairings, proper glassware, suggested serving temperature and commercial brand examples.”
American Brett or Cream Ale? IPA or Stout? You get a one page visual with handy information in summary form. It is a good blend of words, photos and graphics and easy to navigate through. It is a great place to start to gather information from a reliable source.
Beer is becoming ingrained into many aspects of life. So it is no surprise to see it in the card realm too.
Beer Cards……
….is a new way to have a card game while learning about beer styles and how competitive your beer buddies are.
I have now rated 1,000+ beers on RateBeer. and so I have been falling down the rabbit hole into some real statistical geekery.
Last week I covered the top and bottom 10 this week I give you my top beer in each style. These are the top beer in each style that I have had at least 10 different beers to judge against. So Zwickel will have to wait until I sample 8 more.
New Belgium Lips of Faith – Fall Wild Ale-Abbey Dubbel
Sawyers Triple-Abbey Tripel
The Bruery Loakal Red-Amber Ale
Drakes Alpha Session Ale-American Pale Ale
Hair of the Dog Matt-American Strong Ale
The Bruery Provisions Series: Old Richland-Barley Wine
The Bruery Humulus Blonde-Belgian Ale
Brooklyn Cuvee de Cardoz-Belgian Strong Ale
Brùton Bianca-Belgian White (Witbier)
Widmer Brothers W’10 Pitch Black IPA-Black IPA
Rogue John John Hazelnut Ale –Brown Ale
Magic Hat #9-Fruit Beer
Firestone Walker Hefeweizen-German Hefeweizen
New Belgium Hoptober Golden Ale-Golden Ale/Blond Ale
The Bruery Humulus Cornballer-Imperial Pils/Strong Pale Lager
The Bruery Chocolate Rain-Imperial Stout
Kern River Citra DIPA-Imperial/Double IPA
BrewDog Punk IPA (5.6%)-IPA
Angel City Che-Pale Lager
Great Lakes Edmund Fitzgerald Porter-Porter
Rubicon ESB-Premium Bitter/ESB
Sierra Nevada Summerfest-Premium Lager
Pelican Saison du Pelican-Saison
Ommegang Cup o Kyndness-Scotch Ale
The Bruery Melange #1-Sour Ale/Wild Ale
Upright Six (#6)-Specialty Grain
Hair of the Dog Greg-Spice/Herb/Vegetable
Youngs Double Chocolate Stout-Stout
Hair of the Dog Cherry Adam from the Wood-Traditional Ale
Speakeasy White Lightning American Wheat Beer-Wheat Ale
What pops out at me is how many Bruery and Hair of the Dog beers there are on this list. When I think of favorite breweries those two don’t immediately come to mind. And yet, here they are in a wide variety of styles.
Also the style that I have reviewed the most? IPA’s by a large margin with 107. Not including 60 DIPA’s or 15 Black IPA’s.
