Back in the day when bottles were the craft rage, I bought reusable bottlecaps made out of a soft plastic-y material. After many years of cans, maybe I need to buy full can bottletops. Just not from Amazon.
Sealed
Spinning into Cans
Coming this year, well it started last year, is a historical beer but canned from Dogfish Head, Midas Touch.
Taking big creative ingredient risks is a Dogfish trait that many breweries have now in their DNA from the start.
Needed or Not – The Lift
Apparently the initial version of the Draft Top wasn’t up to customer snuff.
“The LIFT now lifts and removes the lid from the can. No more pushing down on the lid or removing it with your fingers like their previous versions.”
Problem? solved. I mean, you have other options. You can either drink out of the little opening in the can or pour it into a glass or other drinking vessel. I just do not see how even an improved tool is really worth it. Plus, you will probably just forget it in the dark recesses of a drawer when you might actually use it.
Verdict – Not Needed
Santa’s Pint Glass – Day 21
I am accustomed to the big Belgian bottle of St. Bernardus Christmas Ale so it took some getting used to it being in a twelve ounce can.
Here is how the brewery describes this Quad, “St.Bernardus Christmas Ale is an intensely dark beer with a full, yet slightly fruity flavour, overflowing with the tastes of winter and zesty seasonal aromas. Aniseed notes are complemented by hints of creamy caramel and fire-roasted chestnuts. This zestiness shows no signes of abating, pushing through to a magnificent finish of dried fruits and chocolate.”
Will the can compare to that? And will my comparison bottle taste similar, let’s get to the results…
A little toffee, a little fruit. Bang on fruitcake with this. There is a nice bite to it as well. It is too light for chocolate and roasted nuts aren’t there for me but has a zest and a malt backbone to it that means it could easily pair with practically any food course from salad to turkey to dessert. Just lovely.
Not the Green Room
Burnin’ Daylight has a added a new can to their roster and it is a scenic California view. A West Coast IPA to take to the beach, when it I see times to go back to the beach and not because you are tired of being in your house.
Lagervilla
If you can’t make it to the Figueroa Mountain Lagerville event this year, well you can take a little piece home with this 5-way collaboration on an Italian Style Pilsner. Central Coasters love the Tipopils and this looks to be an homage to that style.
N/A Day – Athletic Brewing Review
I have been long fascinated by the Non-Alcoholic sector of craft beer. It seems so wide open. Then I taste an N/A beer and realize that it must be harder than thought ’cause they always taste off in one small way or another.
In one of my bursts of podcast binging, I heard about Athletic Brewing and for Christmas, I bought the IPA and Stout. Will my bad run continue?
Starting with the IPA, Run Wild, there is a pronounced orange and grapefruit aroma as you pop the can. This is quite hoppy with a bracing bitter finish. It has a watery quenching mouthfeel like a session IPA. As the beer warms up I get pine and grapefruit pith tastes.
All Out Stout starts off with a big pillowy espresso hued head. A bit like a cold brew coffee taste. It is a little thin with a mixture of tastes like licorice and cocoa beans. It is more a porter to me and a touch too sweet.
Overall though, these taste like beer. None of my quibbles are do to the usual N/A complaints of tasting like wort or having a weird secondary flavor. I would drink the hell out of the IPA, especially on a hot day. I guess the best recommendation is that I want to try more. Their Saison really intrigues me.
2018 Holiday Beer # 28 – Hop Jesus from Bravery Brewing
We head north of Los Angeles to http://braverybrewing.com/ for their savior-tastic winter DIPA…
“Introducing HOP JESUS! This flavor savior is all about the hops. This Double IPA receives a triple dry-hopping of Amarillo, Cascade, Citra, Mosaic, and Simcoe hops giving it bright notes of grapefruit, passion fruit, and tangerines.”
Can-bic?
Are there beers that just can’t or shouldn’t be in cans? Apparently the British
Chorlton Brewing Co. started to go down the canned lambic track but then reversed course saying, “popping the cork on a bottle of lambic is part of the experience and justifies the high value of the product.”
I understand that a style may either not be able to hit the needed carbonation level or wouldn’t be able to condition correctly if put into a can but as someone who has both won and lost battles with corked beer bottles, I would not think twice about popping a can of lambic. The defining factor for me is the beer inside.
I would however love to see a Brut IPA in a champagne style bottle. Preferably green.
The Magic Number
Another non-hazy comes to cans as Angel City is putting their Number of the Yeast into the above suitably scary 16oz cans. Though maybe it should be a 666 can.