Follow Sean Inman to the best in craft beer
Seems like the dynamic duo of Grossman and Calagione have more on their minds than just Life and Limb. They also want to build a better glass and just for IPA’s. They took time to taste Stone’s IPA as well as their own offerings in different glasses from the famed Riedel people. Sounded like a fun way to spend two hours.
Check out the story from The Philly Beer Scene HERE! Then look forward to a better way to celebrate the hop.
Coming soon (depending on your market’s thirst for beer), you might be seeing some beers you are used to seeing in bottles in canned versions.
1) “Kona Brewing Company has announced plans to offer its flagship Longboard Island Lager in 12-ounce cans, which are scheduled to hit shelves mid-March 2012. All Kona markets will receive Longboard cans, including the newest markets of Pennsylvania, Delaware and southern New Jersey.”
2) Sierra Nevada has been Facebooking it’s pale ale progress towards cans too.
3) Evil Twin Brewing will release its first beer in cans in 2012. Hipster Ale and Bikini Beer will be first up. Brewing will happen in South Carolina (North Carolina is probably too busy) It will be part of the Twelve Percent Import line.
I have seen this new Sierra Nevada beer advertised in all of the beer-y magazines that I subscribe to and I cannot wait to give it a whirl in a pint glass.
Apparently this will replace Glissade which never won me over. It should be in SoCal markets now. Pick it up along with Bigfoot barleywine. If I find one in time, I will attempt to do a video review this month.
Repoterroir is a mega-collaboration between:
Born out of a backroom conversation in a Boulder restaurant and blooming into a full-blown cornucopia of a collaboration, Repoterroir is a coming together of like-minded craft beer compatriots. Brewed at Sierra Nevadas brewery in Chico, CA this sessionable lager beer reclaims the earthbound mantle of terroir from the grape-soaked, buttoned-down world of wine and repurposes it in a new sudsy sense. Featuring natural ingredients contributed by each of the five breweries, this unique and earthy beer is complex and layered but ultimately drinkable. Using the full repertoire of skills from more than 86 combined years of brewing knowledge and skill, this lager combines traditional (and not so traditional) ingredients into an ideal summertime brew.”
As with the first post of the day, I like the idea but it seems two ingredients too much just for the sake of equal representation. I can do without the carrots and beets. Color is the least of my beer judging worries.
“Made in collaboration with fellow brew masters at Republic of Tea, Peach Pit ale is a truly unique beer. It is a light rosy-gold color and has a satiny malt background which works to display rich flavors and aromas of bright spices and fruit from the use of whole-leaf Ginger Peach tea in the brew. The natural sweetness of the malt and peach is balanced by a light dry spiciness from the ginger and black tea.”
For all of you session beer fans or flavored beer category judges this may be one of those beers that you will either have to determinedly seek out or luck into. And if you are one of the imperial porter crowd then this beer is probably not going to be for you. I have had a chamomille beer from Rogue (Many years ago) and was surprised by how well it worked. Tea and beer should work as well together as coffee and beer in my mind so let’s hope more examples head our way.
Expect to see it under the name Sierra Nevada Tea Ale and not Peach Pit.
Sierra Nevada is fast becoming the big IPA game in town and today (in limited release) comes a Beer Camp Brew sure to please the lovers of bitterness.
Here is what the brewery says about it …“A group of hop-heads and publicans challenegd our Beer Camp brewers to push the extremes of whole-cone hop brewing. The result is this: a 100 IBU, whole-cone hurrican of flavor. Simply put- Hoptimum: the biggest whole-cone IPA we have ever produced. Aggressively hopped, dry-hopped and torpedoed with our exclusive new hop varieties for ultra-intense flavors and aromas.”
Even though I am still a bit bitter about not winning the Beer Camp contest, it will not stop me from sampling the proposed variety pack of Beer Camp beers that Sierra Nevada may be distributing.
Expect really unexpected beers. The Beer Campers have not hesitated to be extremely creative. Maybe we will see Hop Secret 393, Juniper Black Ale, Biggar Beer and Knightro packaged together?
“On November 15, 1980 the first batch of Sierra Nevada beer made it through the brewhouse, helping to usher-in a new era of interesting, hand-crafted, and flavorful beer enjoyed around the world today.
Come and celebrate this American craft beer renaissance at the Sierra Nevada 30th Anniversary Party in our very own estate-hops field.
The party kicks off at 4 pm with sampling of 30 beers including some of your favorites from the last 30 years, plus a few unique finds from the cellar. Many of these beers never have been, and never will be, released to the public – this may be your only chance to sample them! They are available in limited quantities, so arrive early to ensure that you get to taste the ones you are most looking forward to. We will be posting the full beer list in the coming weeks.
The evening will also feature the musical stylings of Roy Rogers & The Delta Rhythm Kings featuring two very special guests! The Joe Craven Trio will kick off the evening’s festivities, followed by Houston Jones.
The Sierra Nevada Taproom is catering dinner from 5-8 pm, which costs $15. You can purchase dinner tickets onsite at the event.”
MENU
Fresh Baked Breads – Straight From the Sierra Nevada Ovens
Sierra Nevada Salad – Mixed Organic Greens Tossed In Balsamic Dressing with Cherry Tomatoes, Crumbled Gorgonzola and Candied Chico Pecans
Fall Vegetables -Tossed In an Estate Garden Herb Butter
Garlic Mashed Potatoes – With Sweet Creamery Butter and Roasted Garlic
Estate Herb Rubbed Tri Tip – Pale Ale Bbq Sauce
Sweet Pepper Polenta – With Roasted Estate Tomatoes And Peppers, Onions Carrots And Chives
Date: Monday, November 15th
Time: 4:00 – 9:00 pm
Place: Sierra Nevada Brewery, 1075 E. 20th St, Chico CA, 95928 – The party will take place in the Sierra Nevada Hop Field.
Even though Sierra Nevada did not choose my award winning short film for the Beer Camp contest. I will continue to both drink and pimp out their beers and projects because I believe in the beer they make even though their taste in humor is obviously skewed. (My poor acting had nothing to do with not making the top 20 of course.)
So here is the slightly abridged (juicy bits) from the latest Sierra Nevada press release.
“For nearly 1000 years, monks have been brewing ales behind monastery walls. Their closely guarded traditions and techniques produced styles of beer unlike anything else in the world. These unique Trappist-style Abbey ales are known for their uncompromising quality and compelling flavor. In 2011, Sierra Nevada and the Trappist-Cistercian Abbey of New Clairvaux are working to bring this centuries-old tradition to America with Ovila—the nation’s only authentic Trappist-style Abbey Ale.
This series of three Belgian -style Abbey ales is made in accordance with the centuries-old tradition of the monks. Each beer will be only be available for a limited time and will rotate through the seasons. The first beer in the series, scheduled for release in March, will be a Belgian-style Dubbel brewed with authentic Trappist yeast. The second beer in the series, scheduled for release in July, will be a Saison, the traditional Belgian-style farmhouse ale made in honor of the Monk’s dedication to labor in the fields surrounding their abbey. The third will be released in time for the holidays. It will be a Trappist-style Quadrupel rich with dark fruit flavors and the unique wine-like characters of these strong Abbey ales.
Proceeds from this project will benefit the monks of the Abbey of New Clairvaux in their efforts to rebuild an architectural marvel—a 12th century, early-gothic Cistercian chapter house—on their grounds in Vina, California a few miles north of Sierra Nevada’s home in Chico. The medieval chapterhouse—Santa Maria de Ovila—was begun in 1190, near the village of Trillo, Spain.
Cistercian monks lived, prayed, and worked there for nearly 800 years. In 1931, California newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst purchased the abbey and shipped it to Northern California. Hearst’s plans were never realized, and the stones fell into disrepair. In 1994, the Trappist-Cistercian monks of the Abbey of New Clairvaux, gained possession of the ruins, and began the painstaking stone-by-stone reconstruction of the historic abbey.
Located in Vina, California, the Abbey of New Clairvaux is a Cistercian Abbey of Strict Observance (Trappist). The abbey was founded in 1955 on 590 acres of Leland Stanford’s famed Vina Ranch. The monks follow the Rule of St. Benedict—Ora est Labora (Prayer and Work) and spend their days in prayer, meditation, and tending to the labor of the working farm located at the abbey.”
Sierra Nevada Brewing has sidelined Anniversary Ale and instead will use the fall release slot for Tumbler Autumn Brown Ale later this year when the leaves are turning brown.
It appears to be part of the strategy that heralded Glissade in spring to bookend the tremendous 30th Anniversary brews. The second of which, the Imperial Helles, should be on finer beer store shelves now.
