Firestone Boulevard

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It was really only a matter of time before Boulevard Brewing added Firestone Walker to their collaboration series of beers. Them being cousins and all.

Collaboration No. 6 will build on the blending know-how of Firestone Walker with a brewing dream team of Matt and Boulevard Brewmaster Steven Pauwels will be pulling beer from Boulevard’s stockpile and then will “brew, ferment and age Firestone Walker beers at Boulevard in Kansas City using recipes created by Matt and his team in Paso Robles to complete the final blend.”

More concrete information on the beers included in the blend will come later.

The beer is slated for a July release, will be available on draft and in 750ml bottles throughout Boulevard’s distribution network.

Review – Anchor Zymaster No. 6

The subtitle for this San Francisco treat is Saaremaa Island Ale and thanks to a fortuitous vacation by Anchor brewmaster Mark Carpenter we get to try an Estonian inflected ale.

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Carpenter got some of the Estonian yeast back from the island and melded it to a pale ale to create this hybrid beer. It has some tripel notes to it such as vanilla as well as hefe notes with a clove spice character and it also really sticks to the palate and becomes a bit viscous.

It pours a very bright and clear orange. And frankly, I am of two minds about this beer. I like the complexity here. I believe two different beer fans would pick out different flavor and aroma notes. But the end taste of stickiness with a dose of toasty malt notes doesn’t quite tie this beer up with a bow. I have had a few beers like this lately that start out great but then turn in a direction that I am not fond of.

As an FYI, the top selling beers are from Saku (a local owned by larger interests) and A. Le Coq a Finnish brewery. Certainly a place due for some craft infusions.

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