I found this beer at a wondrous shop in Healdsburg, California by the name of The Shed. They had two other bottles on the shelf but this large format bottle caught my eye. As did the style. Sparkling ales are a rare species and one with local Starthistle honey are even more rare. Cali-Craft is in the Bay Area and has a former Honest Tea employee, Blaine Landberg at the helm. This beer pours a light yellow. The first aroma is beer but then you sniff again and you come up with wine notes. The taste is similarly split. There is a light golden ale that blends into champagne notes and then back. The honey is prevalent without being super sweet or cloying. It is indeed light and zesty. I now wish that I had bought two!
Black Ops
from the fine folks at Beer America TV…
For a beer that “does not exist”, Brooklyn Black Ops is one for the books. This rich, but very smooth Russian Imperial Stout was aged for 4 months in bourbon barrels and re- fermented with champagne yeast. If it did exist, only 950 to a 1000 cases were produced, so if you see it, grab yourself a couple and cellar it, because it’s a tough one to get.