Follow Sean Inman to the best in craft beer
Portland has not blazed out of the NBA gates to start the season but a brewery that has gotten a lot of buzz is Ruse Brewing. Founded by Shaun Kallis and Devin Benware they are deep into the yeast having “custom Brett strains called Stargazer and Suburban Brett”
Here are the beers that I would put into a first taster tray…
Evertide Helles Lager, Phantom Shore Citra Extra Pale Ale, Dreamscape Blended Saison, Dream Language Vienna Lager and Stages of Sundown Imperial Stout.
Alighting in Richmond, Kentucky, we find Dreaming Creek Brewery. Founded by co-owners — Michael Bradley, Taryn Edington, Charley Hamilton and Darrin Wilson who started with a bar first and then branched into brewing.
And here are the beers that I would sample first…
1792 – Kentucky Common
Wilderness Road– Amber Ale
Play for Souls – Belgian Pale Ale
London Fog – Strong Bitter
Natural Bridge – IPA
It seemed kind of a given that given the name of this brewery and the fact that the brewery tour them is Hillbilly Elegy that I would start with Somewhere in Particular Brewing Company. Also, love the fact that the name is super cool and also an acronym for what you do inside.
Here are the Ohio brewed beers that I would try first…
Liquid Weekend Table Beer – sessionable lager
Peppin the Short – West Coast IPA
Very Berry Bity City – blackberry sour
Harry Porter – the original SIP flagship beer
Yeah, everyone knows about this Old Guard brewery but the crew from Healdsburg have some “challenge”ing beers that they have released of late that should have you taking a second (or third) look at Bear Republic Brewing.
11 DBL Brut – ” This is an 8% Double Brut IPA. Late hop additions of over 4 pounds per barrel of Citra and Galaxy hops set the pace of this beer. The juicy start of this beer ends bone dry.”
06 Smells – ” The malt character is led by the 2-row, Pilsner and wheat malt bill. The malt base is turbocharged by a citrus blast of orange and tangerine flavors. The hop aroma will trade paint with juicy flavor thanks to a late hop addition of Amarillo, Mandarina Bavaria, Citra and Cascade hops. Barbarian yeast completes this fact paced lap with it’s stone fruit esters and added hop aromatic enhancement.”
58 Uber Dank – “the fourth release of the Challenge Series. This Uber Dank IPA is aggressive in its aromatic pleasure as Simcoe, Ella, Vic Secret, Sabro and Columbus hops contribute a piney, grape fruity, tropical and diesel dank aroma.”
We head to Grayling, Michigan for our second “bear” themed beer spot. The Dead Bear Brewing Company. This member of the Michigan Brewers Guild serves up both beer and food and here is what I would order in a first taster tray…
El Simado Galaxy Session IPA – ” Nice body, low ABV, and a great hop flavor makes this ale very drinkable. Includes Simcoe, El Doarado and Galaxy hops.”
Burly Bear Dry Stout – “Roasted and dry, full bodied and smooth. Just a few words to sum up this delicious addition to our draft selection.”
Ulfhednar barleywine – “Like the warriors of old, this beer kicks ass! Contains michigan hops and local honey.”
Sugga Bear – ” Brewed with marshmellows, brown sugar, Northern Bee Michigan honey, maple syrup, and raisins.”
The theme for this month’s brewery tours is “Bear” and we head to Delaware, to the town of Bear to visit Stewart’s Brewing Company which has been around since 1995. Making it quite the veteran in the beer world.
And here is what I would put into an initial taster tray…
Governor’s Golden Ale – ” A golden-colored ale with a low bitterness level, a moderate hop flavor provided by Styrian Golding hops from Czechoslovakia. This beer is very approachable and serves as a great session beer. “
12 O’Clock Rye – ” Fermented with a Saison Dupont yeast blend and moderately hopped with Citra and Cascade with a subtle backend dry finish from the rye and acidulated malts.
Porchville IPA – ” Easy drinking American IPA featuring Nugget and CTZ hops providing a mild herbal and resinous aroma.”
McBride’s Strong Ale – ” A strong ale with a deep amber color that has a pronounced malt flavor and aroma complimented by a slight smooth sweetness.”
Our last stop in June is at A&H, Anspach & Hobday. They have three beer categories on their website so let’s pick one from each for this virtual taster tray.
from the Classics
The Cream Ale – “Landing somewhere between a pale ale and a lager, The Cream Ale is brewed using Sorachi Ace hops. It’s flavour profile ranges from dill to coconut to pineapple. In fact, a throwback to Prohibition America, it’s so full of flavour, it won’t fit in the fridge.”
from the Experimentals
The Brother Sean – “Bold, rich and complex, this continental twist on our classic Stout Porter is fermented using a Belgian strain of yeast. Brewed only once a year, Brother Sean rests in the bottle for 12 months before its release. The result is well worth the wait.”
from the Collaborations
The Sacc. Trois IPA – “We used a blend of Mosaic and El Dorado in the boil, and Ekuanot and Ella in the dry hop, along with a small amount of CaraAroma malt in the grist. This recipe was designed to give us plenty of fruit from the hops, and just a touch of sweetness from the malt (Sacc. Troi is a high-attenuating yeast, so we wanted to make sure we had some body left in the beer once it was done).
As for the yeast, its certainly had an impact. The nose is full of fruit, specifically ripe fruit, very ripe fruit for that matter. Ripe mango and juicy tropical fruit dominate, along with some dank and herbal notes from the hops. The body is smooth, with light touch of bitterness to balance, and a dry finish.”
The second English stop is at Boxcar of London. A somewhat trippy destination if their motto is any indication, ” Transporting you to a place of rainbows and hops, dreams of barley and oats, ideas about yeast and water, hallucinations of colour and light.”
Now on to the beers that I would sample first…
starting hoppy with PAL-019 BRU-1 DDH Pale then moving on to a Belgian BIG-001 Mosaic & Vanilla Tripel then to a Dark Mild, DRK-004 Dark Mild and then finishing with an IPA, IPA-005 Ekuanot IPA.
This brewery has a cool design look, very color filled outer space plus the bottles are odd shaped for my eyes. And you can get more Boxcar info from this article in Pellicle
Our first brewery in London to visit is called Affinity Brew Co. and one of the reasons that I selected them is this statement on their website, “We do not filter or pasteurise our beer, allowing the yeast to produce a natural carbonation within the can.”
Now lets get to what I would try first…
Breeze – “A sparkling golden Saison brewed with Lime Zest and crushed Coriander Seed.”
Social Seduction – “A big, bold, west coast I.P.A brewed with a rotating selection of U.S hops.”
Toowoomba – “A Lamington inspired, coconut and raspberry stout. Toowoomba’s complex malt bill produces a rich, dark, chocolatey Stout. It is fermented on fresh Raspberries and conditioned with toasted Coconut.”
I’m sorta hoping that they bring the pizza to FWIBF19 too but here is a sample tray of beers from Austin’s Pinthouse Pizza…
Beluga Amber – ” Our director of brewing, like so many other brewers, started his journey into craft beer as a homebrewer over 10 years ago, and one of the first beers he ever brewed on his stove was an Extra Special Bitter inspired by some of England’s finest examples. In constructing the recipe for our Old Beluga Amber Ale he looked back on his notes from that first ESB he ever brewed, realized it probably wasn’t as great of a beer as he thought it was at the time, and worked on a recipe that blended elements of the English-Style ESB with those of an American Amber. The result is a delightfully complex, malt-forward Amber Ale filled with aromas and flavors of cherry, nuttiness, and an earthy-herbal hop profile to balance it all out.”
Sw’Elsinore – ” A craft Canadian Lager, Sw’Elsinore pairs well with the start of hockey season, Fall afternoons on the patio with a growler, and sharing a hand tossed pepperoni pie with friends at Pinthouse Pizza. Features: brewed with a mix of North American 6-row and 2-row barley along with rice to keep the body light and refreshing.”
Nitro Seal – ” Everything you read about our Gold Medal-winning Bearded Seal in the paragraph right above this one is true for this beer as well… Our Brewmaster isn’t Irish… at all, stouts are good in all weather, and jet black pints with creamy white heads are sexy… and Dry Irish Stouts on nitro taste really really good. So, we offer up a version of our Bearded Seal on Nitro as well! All the delicious flavors of roasted coffee and dark chocolate remain the same while the nitrogenation adds a smooth creamy mouthfeel to this stout.”
Fully Adrift – ” 2018 Alpha King Challenge winner, 2014 Alpha King runner up and Silver Medal at the 2015 LA International Beer Competition for the Double IPA Category! This is a dangerously drinkable combination of Dank, tropical, and resinous hops… and more hops.”