Starr Hill Brewery Provides a Look at its 2018 Lineup

Posted on by mashingin

StarrHillpourStarr Hill Brewery (Charlottesville, Virginia) sent out a press release today to officially announce its 2018 Product Calendar.

Just as we do with all brewery release calendars, we have posted Starr Hill Brewery’s full 2018 Product Calendar below so that you can go over it at your own leisure.  That said, this calendar is absolutely loaded with interesting content and we would be remiss if we did not go over a few of the highlights:

  • Starr Hill will launch Front Row Golden Ale in early 2018 as the brewery’s newest Year-Round offering.  At 4.9% ABV, “this light and refreshing beer is the perfect balance of Honey malt and Cascade hops for a smooth body and clean finish.” Front Row will initially launch on draft, “followed by six-pack [of 12 oz.] bottles, this spring with a Golden Ticket Giveaway contest” – a promotion that gives fans a chance to “enter to win concert tickets and an exclusive Front Row Tour Pack of prizes.”
  • In March 2018, the brewery will introduce its new BoomBox 8-pack of 16 oz. cans.  This mixed pack will feature Front Row Golden Ale and Northern Lights IPA (four 16 oz. cans of each), “a link to free music content, and will be available year-round.”
  • Looking Glass IPA will arrive in February as the brewery’s new Spring Seasonal.  “Loaded with notes of juicy pineapple, mango and passion fruit, this IPA packs big hop aroma and flavor with minimal bitterness.”  Looking Glass IPA will replace Reviver Red IPA in the seasonal lineup, but The Hook Grapefruit Session IPA (summer), Last Leaf Maple Brown Ale (fall) and Snow Blind Doppelbock (winter) will all return in 2018.
  • The Heavy Rotation Series, “an ongoing playlist of new beer and music”, returns in 2018 “with something fresh available in 6-packs and on draft every three months.” Next year’s lineup will include 2-Tone Vanilla Porter (January), Amber Ale (March), Hibiscus Lager (June), Festie Oktoberfest Lager (September) and Dark Starr Dry Irish Stout (December).
  • Starr Hill’s All Access Series will go draft-only in 2018.  This series will feature “old favorites and new recipes developed at the Pilot Brewery & Side Stage in Roanoke.”  Releases include Denali Double IPA (January), Berliner Weisse (March), NE-Style IPA (May), a non-IPA style Roanoke Pilot Brew (July), an IPA style Roanoke Pilot Brew (September) and Little Red Roostarr (November).

Alright, that should be everything that we wanted to cover, but there is still plenty of goodness left for you to discover on the calendar below.  Give it a good look so that you are properly prepared for another great year of beer with Starr Hill in 2018.  Prost!

Starr-Hill-Products-Calendar_2018-PR

 

 

Great Divide Brewing Co. Introduces 2018 Edition of Hop Disciples IPA

Posted on by mashingin

GDBCHopDiscipleslogoGreat Divide Brewing Co. (Denver, Colorado) recently announced that it is getting a jump on the year ahead by releasing the 2018 installment of Hop Disciples India Pale Ale in mid-December 2017.

First introduced in 2017, Hop Disciples is Great Divide’s Rotating Hop Project series that “takes a bright, clean IPA and puts a different hop variety at the forefront of the sensory experience.”  The 2018 version of Hop Disciples IPA showcases Ekuanot hops, “a newer American varietal that features strong tropical fruit flavor with aromas of citrus and herbs.”  These gorgeous hops have been put against a simple malt bill to “[bring] forth notes of papaya, honeydew melon and tangerines, while a subtle earthy undertone lingers.”  The golden-hued Hop Disciples weighs in at an “approachable” 6.2% ABV.

“Hops embody the romantic side of brewing and symbolize both a brewer’s connection to the soil and the spirit of innovation,” said Brandon Jacobs, brewery manager of Great Divide Brewing Company. “Creating a beer that can highlight a single varietal provides an opportunity to showcase the unique character of that hop and expand our consumers’ taste buds.”

The 2018 Hop Disciples India Pale Ale will officially arrive in mid-December of this year and hang around through April of 2018.  You can expect to find this Tank Farm release available in 6-packs of 12 oz. cans and on draft at craft beer establishments located in Alabama, Florida, Colorado and throughout the rest of Great Divide Brewing’s nationwide distribution area.  Prost!

Vital Information for Hop Disciples (2018) from Great Divide Brewing Co.

Release – Tank Farm Series, mid-December 2017 to April 2018
Style – American India Pale Ale
ABV – 6.2%
Featured Hops – Ekuanot 
Suggested Food Pairings – “Chicken curry with basil and cashews, warm Brie on French bread with balsamic reduction, white chocolate chip cookies”
Availability – 6-packs of 12 oz. cans & draft
Beer Finder – https://greatdivide.com/beer-finder/

 

Rogue Ales Spreads Holiday Cheer with Release of Santa’s Private Reserve

Posted on by mashingin

santas2017Overcome with holiday spirit, Rogue Ales (Newport, Oregon) has officially announced the limited release of Santa’s Private Reserve (2017).

To give Santa a bit of a break from the dairy this month, the brewers at Rogue Ales are supplying Saint Nick with a more adult option in the newly reformulated Santa’s Private Reserve.  Previously released as a “double-hopped” Amber Ale, this special holiday brew is now a “Belgian Strong Ale made with cherries, raspberries, Belgian Candi sugar and Imperial Gnome Yeast.” This ultimately yields an 7.8% ABV Santa’s Private Reserve that “delivers a delicious sweet and tart flavor.”

“I love what John and I came up with,” said Santa. “The Candi sugar enhances the sweet and tart characteristics of the raspberries and cherries, and the beer takes a little bit from both sides of the list: it will put a little color on your cheeks, but finishes on the sweet side.”

Santa’s Private Reserve (2017) is officially available now and will hang around through the holiday season.  You can expect to find this Limited Release available in 22 oz. bottles and on draft at craft beer establishments located in Alabama, Florida, Oregon and throughout the rest of Rogue’s nationwide distribution footprint.  Prost!

Vital Information for Santa’s Private Reserve from Rogue Ales

Release – Limited, Holiday Season 2017
Style – Belgian Strong Ale
ABV – 7.8% 
IBUs – 23
Malts – Premium 2 Row, Munich, Weyermann Carabelge, Weyermann Caramunich III, Weyermann Special W & Midnight Wheat
Hops – Willamette
Yeast – Imperial Gnome Yeast
Added Ingredients – Belgian Candi Sugar, Red Raspberries & Cherries
Availability – 22 oz. bottles & draft
Beer Finder – https://www.rogue.com/finder/

North Coast Brewing’s Barrel-Aged Old Rasputin XX Hits Distribution

Posted on by mashingin

Barrel-Aged-Old-Rasputin-XX-bottleNorth Coast Brewing Company (Fort Bragg, California) has announced that its annually-released Barrel-Aged Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout is officially back on shelves for a limited time.

Each year, the folks at North Coast Brewing Company honor their “infamous” Old Rasputin Imperial Stout – a Year-Round offering named after the Russian mystic Grigori Rasputin – by brewing a special batch and aging it in whiskey barrels.  This year’s release, Barrel-Aged Old Rasputin XX (11.9% ABV), was aged in Bourbon barrels to add an “an extra kick and flavor profile to an already impressively well-balanced and potent brew.”

Barrel-Aged Old Rasputin XX is available now in extremely limited quantities of 500ml cork and cage bottles.  You can expect to find this Limited Release at select craft beer establishments located in Alabama, Florida, California and throughout the rest of North Coast Brewing Company’s nationwide distribution area.  Prost!

Vital Information for Barrel-Aged Old Rasputin XX from North Coast Brewing Company

Release – Limited, late-November 2017
Style – Russian Imperial Stout
ABV – 11.9%
IBUs – 38
Treatment – Aged in Bourbon barrels
Availability – 500ml bottles with a cork & wire finish
Beer Finder – http://www.northcoastbrewing.com/beers/beer-locator/
Fun Fact – “Originally destined for limited release out of the brewery’s retail shop and Taproom in Fort Bragg, CA, [Barrel-Aged Old Rasputin] quickly grew in notoriety and beginning in 2010 North Coast put it into broader distribution. It’s still a limited – and coveted – release but can now be found in specialty stores around the country.”

Monday Night Brewing’s Bourbon Barrel Drafty Kilt Makes Limited Return

Posted on by mashingin

MondayNightBBADK4pack_editedMonday Night Brewing (Atlanta, Georgia) recently announced that its award-winning Bourbon Barrel Drafty Kilt is back for a limited release, and this time around it is available in 4-packs of 12 oz. cans.

To create this wildly popular Black Tie Series release, the brewers at Monday Night take their Drafty Kilt Scotch Ale and let it rest for an extended period of time in Kentucky Bourbon barrels.  It is here that the base beer’s “chocolate, caramel, and roasted malts” pick up the barrel’s complementary notes of “charred oak and vanilla.”  That time and attention eventually results in the 8.5% ABV Bourbon Barrel Drafty Kilt that won a gold medal in the Wood and Barrel-aged Beer category at the 2014 Great American Beer Festival.  Yeah . . . it’s that friggin’ good.

Bourbon Barrel Drafty Kilt is available now and will hang around while supplies last.  You can find this Limited Release available in 4-packs of 12 oz. cans and on draft at select craft beer establishments located in Georgia and Alabama.  Prost!

Vital Information for Bourbon Barrel Drafty Kilt from Monday Night Brewing

Release – Limited/Black Tie Series, late-November 2017
Style – Scotch Ale
ABV – 8.5%
IBUs – 26
Malts – Roasted Barley, Chocolate Malt, Crystal Malt & Cherrywood-smoked Malt
Hops – Columbus & Willamette
Treatment – Aged in Kentucky Bourbon barrels
Suggested Food Pairings – “Grilled meats, chocolate, a big juicy steak, strong cheeses”
Availability – 4-packs of 12 oz. cans & draft
Distribution – Georgia & Alabama 

Tasting Notes: Rolling Thunder Imperial Stout from Rogue Ales

Posted on by mashingin

rogueRollingThunderPour1000In recognition of a week that is largely dedicated to big ol’, Barrel-aged Imperial Stouts, we do our part by taking down some Tasting Notes on Rolling Thunder Imperial Stout from Rogue Ales (Newport, Oregon).

We first let you know about Rolling Thunder Imperial Stout (2017) when it was released back in August, and this is certainly not your run-of-the-mill Barrel-aged Stout.  No, sir.  We are talking about an Imperial Stout that was brewed by Rogue Ales with ingredients grown at Rogue Farms, and then aged in barrels that once held Dead Guy Whiskey distilled by Rogue Spirits.  Oh . . . and those handmade Oregon Oak barrels were coopered at Rogue’s Rolling Thunder Barrel Works.  If your math is the same as ours, all of that amounts to nearly every aspect of this beer having been either handled, influenced, grown, or created by a member of the Rogue family.  That’s something truly special and definitely worth a look.

Rolling Thunder Imperial Stout (2017) officially released in August with availability on draft and in 1-liter swing-top bottles.  Quantities were extremely limited at the time of release, but we have heard reports of a few bottles and kegs still floating around out there.

Now that those details are out of the way, what do you say we activate this swing-top, pour a few glasses and get into some Tasting Notes?

Tasting Notes for Rolling Thunder Imperial Stout (2017) from Rogue Ales

Appearance:  Rolling Thunder presents itself as a glassy, obsidian black brew wearing a bubbly half finger of caramel-colored foam.  When held to direct light, the beer remains opaque but dark brown tones do push through at the extreme edges of the glass.  The appearance divulges zero hints at what the beer’s carbonation level will be.  As is often the case with higher ABV brews, head retention is weak and falters quickly to a pencil-thin ring.  This Stout is quite slick on the glass and makes it nearly impossible for any lacing to take hold.

Aroma:  The aromatics are surprisingly light in intensity but incredibly delightful.  The nose is first greeted by a waft of booze and sherry before the roasted malts settle in with gentle notes of chocolate, coffee and molasses.  The profile develops further and closes with some earthiness that is accompanied by clean oak and soft vanilla tones.

Taste:  Oh . . . this is nice.  A big pop of dark fruit and distinct wood character hits the tongue first.  This opens to expose notes of sherry and dark cherries that rounds out a robust and lovely dark fruit profile.  That fruit presence is then tempered by tones of coconut, vanilla, honey, dark chocolate and roasted grain.  Sweetness then gives way to earthiness as tobacco and coffee emerges.  The flavor profile finishes with a subtle grace of whiskey.

Mouthfeel:  Rolling Thunder is leaning toward the medium side of full bodied and has a moderate carbonation level.  Although it mostly translates as sweet on the palate, there is a nice balance here and it is not at all cloying.  Just as it should, this Imperial Stout’s 14% ABV brings the heat and constantly reminds you to slow down and sip.  Slick in texture, the beer’s flavors are allowed to linger just long enough.  Aftertaste is a bit of booze, tobacco and vanilla.

Final Thoughts:  With each sip of this beer, it is clear that Rolling Thunder Imperial Stout is more about how the barrel interacts with the beer rather than being just another beer dominated by barrel character.   The fact that this offering was made by “the first brewery-distillery-barrel maker in the country” can be read easily in each pour.  You can distinctly taste and smell the beer’s grain bill and added ingredients, and that oak barrel and the Dead Guy Whiskey ingrained within is here to only support, complement, elevate and contribute to those notes.  Everything here has equal billing.  Everything used has been showcased. This beer’s complexity is deep, and it goes far beyond what one has come to typically expect from a Barrel-aged Stout these days.  Rogue Ales promised that Rolling Thunder would be special, and they absolutely delivered with one hell of an experience.  Prost!

Cigar City Brewing Provides a Peek at Its 2018 Distribution Calendar

Posted on by mashingin

CCBKoozieFreshly adorned with some sweet new branding, Cigar City Brewing (Tampa, Florida) has come forward to give fans a look at the year ahead with the publication of the brewery’s 2018 Distribution Calendar.

As is the case with all brewery calendars around here, we have posted Cigar City Brewing’s full 2018 Distribution Calendar below so that you can look it over at your own pace.  We do have a few points to mention first, so let’s quickly get those out of the way:

That’s all we have for you on this one, but there are still plenty of beers that we did not go over remaining on the calendar below.  Be sure to give it a good once over so that you can start getting excited for another fantastic year of beers ahead from Cigar City Brewing.  Prost!

Print

 

Hi-Wire Brewing to Release 10W-40 Imperial Stout

Posted on by mashingin

HiWire_10W-40_HiRes-2-402x1030Hi-Wire Brewing (Asheville, North Carolina) has announced that it will officially begin the limited release of its coveted 10W-40 Imperial Stout on Friday, December 22.

Back for the second year in a row, 10W-40 is a full-bodied Imperial Stout that has been brewed with fresh cocoa nibs from Asheville’s French Broad Chocolates and then “rounded out by milk sugar and Madagascar vanilla beans.”  This decadent dessert beer is then finished with coffee from Dynamite Roasting Co. to “[accentuate] the cocoa and [add] slight roast to balance out the vanilla.”

10W-40 Imperial Stout will have availability in 4-packs of 16 oz. cans beginning on December 22.  This Specialty Series offering will see limited distribution to select craft beer establishments found within Hi-Wire Brewing’s distribution area that includes North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, and Ohio.  If you wish to get your hands on some 10W-40 Imperial Stout this holiday season, go ahead and mark those calendars now because this highly-anticipated release is sure to disappear just as soon as it hits shelves. Prost!

Vital Information for 10W-40 Imperial Stout from Hi-Wire Brewing

Release – Limited/Specialty, launching December 22, 2017
Style – Imperial Stout
ABV – 8%
Added Ingredients – Cocoa nibs, milk sugar, Madagascar vanilla beans & coffee
Availability – 4-packs of 16 oz. cans
Distribution – Limited distribution to select establishments in North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia & Ohio

Dogfish Head Unveils 2018 Beer Calendar, Announces Collaboration with The Flaming Lips

Posted on by mashingin

DFHglassDogfish Head Craft Brewery (Milton, Delaware) released its 2018 Beer Calendar today, and with that comes the exciting news that the brewery’s next band collaboration will be Dragons & YumYums with The Flaming Lips.

Alright, we all know the drill by now.  Dogfish Head’s full 2018 Beer Calendar is posted below for you to go over at your leisure, but you best believe that we are going to first give you some details on that new collaboration with The Flaming Lips and a few other releases headed your way next year.  Let’s get to it:

  • To continue “their decades-long tradition of banding together with the uniquely epic and imaginative”, Dogfish Head has teamed up with The Flaming Lips to bring you Dragons & YumYums in Spring 2018.  This “intensely tropical yet subtlety bitter” Pale Ale is “brewed with a combination of dragonfruit, yumberry, passionfruit, pear juice and black carrot juice providing an explosion of fruit in every sip.”  Clocking at 6.5% ABV, Dragons & YumYums will be available in 6-packs of 12 oz. bottles and on draft from April to August.

“The Flaming Lips are one of the most innovative and collaborative bands of all time and Dogfish shares a similarly playful and adventurous point of view,” says Sam Calagione, CEO and founder of Dogfish Head Craft Brewery. “Their art is a full-on otherworldly sensory experience and we strive to create that same intense sensational experience for craft beer drinkers in the development of our liquid art.” Good tunes and great beer are at the heart of Dogfish as the brewery composed a musically inspired series of brews with artists like Miles Davis, Deltron 3030, The Grateful Dead, Pearl Jam and Guided by Voices. “Our brewery has been obsessed with music since the day we opened,” says Calagione. “And we have enjoyed every opportunity to weave together the art of brewing with our love of music, as often and meaningfully as we can.”

  • Speaking of musically-inspired brews, Wood-Aged Bitches Brew will return in February with Year-Round availability in 6-packs of 12 oz. bottles and on draft.  “Brewed as an homage to Miles Davis’ 1970 landmark jazz-rock fusion record”, Wood-Aged Bitches Brew is a “bold, honey-enhanced, imperial stout” that will be boasting “a new, wood-centric spin as this version is aged and blended in giant oak and Palo Santo wood tanks resulting in a vanilla, chocolatey-licorice wood aroma with a sweet, roasty, coffee flavor finish.”
  • Lupu Luau IPA and Namaste White will both be available in cans as Year-Round offerings in 2018.  They will join Wood-Aged Bitches Brew, 60 Minute IPA, 90 Minute IPA, SeaQuench Ale, Flesh & Blood IPA, Indian Brown, Palo Santo Marron, Burton Baton and Midas Touch to round off the full Year-Round lineup.
  • Mixed Media – “a rustic Saison and Farmhouse blend with a crisp and quenching finish” – will arrive in May 2018 as a new Limited Release offering.  Created to be “the ultimate beer-wine hybrid”, Mixed Media is “brewed with 51% of the fermentables coming from pils malt, malted wheat and flaked oats, and 49% coming from late harvest Viognier grape must harvested for Dogfish by friends at Alexandria Nicole Cellars in Washington.” Mixed Media will have availability in 6-packs of 12 oz. bottles and on draft (May to September).
  • Fruit-Full Fort will also debut in 2018 as a new Limited Release.  Brewed with Pils malt, Munich malt and Malted Wheat, this special offering is then fermented “with a big ol’ bundle of fresh berry juices including boysenberry, blackberry, raspberry and elderberry.”  This results in an “ageable” Belgian-style Ale that “leaves the taste buds warm with jammy dark fruit notes and deeply complex flavors.”  Fruit-Full Fort will have availability in 4-packs of 12 oz. bottles and on draft from July to September.
  • Dogfish Head will also celebrate its Off-Centered Art Series in 2018.  For this series, the brewery has “partnered with highly acclaimed artist, Marq Spusta, to create custom pieces of art for beers that brings their unique stories to life through visuals.”  Art Series Beers include Romantic Chemistry (February – May), Dragons & YumYums (April – August), Punkin Ale (August – November) and Liquid Truth Serum (November – February).  All beers in this series will have availability in 6-packs of 12 oz. bottles and on draft.

That should cover just about everything we wanted to go over, but there are still plenty of amazing beers left to discover on the calendar below.  Give it a good look and get ready for another ridiculously good year of craft beer from Dogfish Head Craft Brewery.  Prost!

DFH2018BeerCalendar

Catawba Brewing Co. Releases Peanut Butter Chocolate Stout

Posted on by mashingin

catawbaPBCSCatawba Brewing Co. (Morganton, North Carolina) recently announced that Peanut Butter Chocolate Stout has officially arrived as the latest release in the brewery’s Specialty Series.

With inspiration sourced from their “chocolate & beer pairings on the Asheville South Slope”, the folks at Catawba Brewing crafted Peanut Butter Chocolate Stout to be a “silky smooth stout . . . brewed with Chocolate Malts and Midnight Wheat, and conditioned on cacao nibs from a local boutique chocolate factory, whole roasted North Carolina peanuts, and Madagascar vanilla beans.”  Clocking in at an agreeable 5.4% ABV, the finished Peanut Butter Chocolate Stout comes together to be “a decadent liquid dessert that’s like a peanut butter cup in a glass.”

Having made its debut on Black Friday, November 24 at all Catawba Brewing Co. locations, Peanut Butter Chocolate Stout is now slated for distribution in 6-packs of 12 oz. cans and on draft.  Once fully released, you can expect to find this Specialty Series offering at craft beer establishments in Alabama, North Carolina and throughout the rest of Catawba Brewing’s distribution area.  Prost!

Vital Information for Peanut Butter Chocolate Stout from Catawba Brewing Co.

Release – Limited/Specialty, launches late-November 2017
Style – American Stout
ABV – 5.4%
IBUs – 52
Malts – Maris Otter Pale, Victory, Crystal, Chocolate, Midnight Wheat & Flaked Wheat
Hops – Magnum & East Kent Goldings
Added Ingredients – Locally-sourced cacao nibs, whole roasted North Carolina peanuts & Madagascar vanilla beans
Availability – 6-packs of 12 oz. cans & draft
Distribution – North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama & Georgia