Follow Sean Inman to the best in craft beer
A new little micro trend in #independent beer is the blending and mixed beers. Now New Belgium has made it super easy with guided recipes to use.
This variety box has the usual fare plus a newbie. Fat Tire Belgian White, 1554, Citradelic Tangerine IPA, Abbey, Trippel, and the all-new Cellar Blender.
This may be hit or miss but it would be a fun holiday party activity.
The first 1/2 of the 2016 Beer Camp variety show was surprisingly good and now I move on to the darker, heartier side to see how they stack up and crown my “best of the box”.
Pat-Rye-Ot is an “old-meets-new” take on a pale ale by brewers all located in the original 13 colonies. It features rye and apples, which were among the first ingredients used by American brewers in the colonies, alongside bold American hops—hallmarks of our modern craft beer “revolution.”
The Rye Patriot pours a cloudy, light orange color. Very lip smacking juicy. Orange juice and tangerine peel come to my mind before the label promised apples but then again apple juice is used as the base for many juice blends so maybe my taste buds are used to “not” tasting it since it usually hides in the background. The Rye really works with the hops. It is such a great and easy pairing of ingredients. As the beer warms up, the apple juice character starts to come through.
Family Values showcases the cooperation and kinship of Midwestern brewers. It features largely Midwestern-grown ingredients: Minnesota wild rice, Indiana honey, Missouri oats, Michigan hops, and cocoa nibs from Illinois as well as Sierra Nevada’s estate-grown malt. This is our centrally located collaboration celebrating the best of the Midwest.
This is the biggest ABV of the bunch from the Midwest Division of the Beer Camp 2016. Pours a very dark brown with streaks of red and a tan head to it. Big smokey coffee-chocolate notes with a real sweet kick at the end. Very luxurious. Much like the Pat-Rye-Ot there is a lot of lip smacking going on here. bit of a fusel aroma that is a turn-off to me. In the end, too smokey and sweet for me. My least favorite of the six.
Stout of the Union hails from the land of sun, sand, and surf and proves that beach beer doesn’t have to be light colored and delicate. Stout of the Union is rich, roasty and full of deep malt flavor, creating a union of like-minded brewers together through beer.
Saved the SoCal beer for last. Kudos to Beachwood and Smog City for getting in on the Sierra Nevada action. The glass barely contains the big, billowy espresso head of this beer. Gonna be some cool lacing at the end here. Sorta hoppy on the nose but then that first sip is stout for sure. Very smooth. Getting some cigar like qualities off of the taste. Little bit of dried fruit too. Just a tiny touch though. A Christmas-y type of beer.
Now that I have sampled all six beers it is time to crown the winner. It is…..Pat-Rye-Ot! There was no wrong step on this one. Just a lovely beer with West Latitude, the Hibiscus beer coming in second followed by the Sunny South Table Beer.
Shmaltz Brewing Company has created a hop driven variety pack anchored by their Hop Manna IPA with the addition of two new Shmaltz IPAs for 2016, Hop Momma and Hop Mania which will start showing up in March/April of this year.
The MANNAge à trois variety pack beers are (starting with the newbies):
Hop Momma® (5.8% ABV): A session-ish IPA brewed with peach, apricot and Habanero peppers. Fruity hops accentuate the added flavors, making this Momma fresh and juicy with a subtle pepper kick.
Hop Mania Imperial IPA® (7.8% ABV): An Imperial IPA that’s dry-hopped with more Centennial, Cascade and Citra hops. Adding manic amounts of hops and playing up the malts throughout the brewing process gives Hop Mania Imperial IPA® a complex character and heady aroma. While the 7.8% ABV gives this beer strength, the mouth feel is deceptively smooth.
…and the returning IPA….
Hop MANNA® (65 IBUs, 6.8% ABV): Dry-hopped with Centennial, Cascade and Citra for a fruity aroma with lively floral and citrus flavors. Shmaltz’s first-ever single IPA, Hop MANNA® offers session after session of hop nourishment from the Shmaltz Tribe to yours.
I am left to wonder though, why the Jewishness is missing from the two new names. Hop Mania could be any Imperial IPA. I will endeavor to think of better mash-ups of hops and religion.
Sierra Nevada is known for hops. Their pale ale spawned a million (seemingly) imitators. So, when I saw a 4-Way IPA box with their logo. I knew that I would be reviewing it for the blog. I chose the two least known / seen beers from the group. And now I finish with their interpretation of a White IPA, Snow Wit….
In celebration of their new North Carolina brewery, Sierra Nevada is going all out. They are festing all over the country but more importantly they are bringing out a collaboration variety pack that beats all others. It is serious. And probably damn tasty.
This is a killer line-up. And it includes two cans as well!
Allagash Brewing Co, Portland, ME (Myron’s Walk Belgian-Style Pale Ale)
Asheville Brewers Alliance, Asheville, NC (Tater Ridge Scottish Ale)
Ballast Point Brewing Co, San Diego, CA (Electric Ray India Pale Lager)
Bell’s Brewery, Kalamazoo, MI (Maillard’s Odyssey Imperial Dark Ale)
Cigar City Brewing, Tampa, FL (Yonder Bock Tropical Maibock)
Firestone Walker Brewing Co, Paso Robles, CA (Torpedo Pilsner)
New Glarus Brewing Co, New Glarus, WI (There and Back English-Style Bitter)
Ninkasi Brewing Co, Eugene, OR (Double Latte Coffee milk Stout)
Oskar Blues Brewing Co, Longmont, CO & Brevard, NC (CANfusion Rye Bock)
Russian River Brewing Co, Santa Rosa, CA (Yvan the Great Belgian-Style Blonde)
Three Floyds Brewing, Munster, IN (Chico King Pale Ale)
Victory Brewing Co, Downingtown, PA (Alt Route Altbier)
And for a suggested retail of $24.99 no less. Be on the lookout this summer for this.