Coppertail Brewing Co. (Tampa, Florida) recently introduced Winston Sheffield India Pale Ale as the third installment in its Alpha Hunt Series.
Also known as “The Big Game Hunter”, Winston Sheffield IPA has officially arrived as the newest and biggest member of Coppertail Brewing’s Alpha Hunt Series, a line of Limited Release “India Pale Ales dedicated to discovery of new hops and the constant hunt for innovative IPAs.” Characterized as an exploration of Cashmere, Ekuanot and Calista hops, Winston Sheffield (8% ABV) is an American India Pale Ale that supplies its drinker with notes of lemon, melon and papaya.
Each Alpha Hunt has a story to tell, and the following is the account of Winston Sheffield’s expedition:
SHEFFIELD DISPATCHES DESCEND INTO LUNACY
Coppertail Sighting? Malaria to blame?
The latest dispatches arriving from Sir Winston Sheffield’s Congo expedition may be the work of a fevered brain. In shaky handwriting on smudged and blackened pages Sheffield claims to have finally sighted the infamous cryptid, Coppertail – on dry land no less – only to suffer some strange misfortune as he raised his Willougby Mark 11 into firing position.
“Snakes! My firearm was infested with them. Elephants, zebras, Hyenas – every manner of wild beast swarmed upon me each time I took aim at my quarry. I squeezed off a shot – a tremendous flash of light, and I awoke on the ground, hair smoldering, face singed, weapon in pieces. There were snakes, I tell you.”
Winston Sheffield IPA is available now and has plans to hang around through June 2018. You can expect to find this Limited Release available in 6-packs of 12 oz. bottles and on draft at select craft beer establishments located within Coppertail Brewing Co.’s distribution area in Florida. Prost!
Vital Information for Winston Sheffield IPA from Coppertail Brewing Co.
Release – Limited/Alpha Hunt Series, April – June 2018 Style – American India Pale Ale ABV – 8% Featured Hops – Cashmere, Calista & Ekuanot Availability – 6-packs of 12 oz. bottles & draft Distribution – Florida
New Realm Brewing Company (Atlanta, Georgia) has officially announced that it will open a second brewery and taproom in the facility that formerly served as the Virginia Beach location of Green Flash Brewing Co.
“As we looked at ways to serve our growing base of New Realm fans, it was important to us that we remain a local brewer in the Southeast, expand capacity, increase innovation and stay true to our core values,” said Carey Falcone, CEO and co-founder of New Realm Brewing. “When the opportunity came up to partner with The Miller Group to lease the Virginia Beach facility, purchase newer, high-quality brewing equipment at a great value and create jobs in Virginia Beach, we knew we needed to seize it.”
“New Realm is proud to become part of the Virginia Beach community as we continue to serve our fans in Atlanta. We could not ask for better local partners than Jerry Miller and The Miller Group. We look forward to benefiting from their experience, support and advocacy as we serve the Virginia Beach community for many years to come.”
Jerry Miller, CEO and founder of The Miller Group, said, “We are thrilled to welcome New Realm to Virginia Beach. With the backing of a strong management team, world-class facility and premier location, New Realm’s brewery and taproom will support job creation and draw visitors to Virginia Beach year-round.”
New Realm plans to open its Virginia Beach brewery and taproom – located at 1209 Craft Lane, Virginia Beach, Virginia – just as soon as “it receives all applicable licenses and permits required for operation.” Once this facility is operational and staffed, craft beer fans can expect an experience that features “a tasting room with a wide variety of beers on tap, an outdoor beer garden, and private event space.”
Since this situation is still developing, we will be sure to provide you with opening dates and any other updates just as soon as they surface. Stay tuned. Prost!
Second Self Beer Company (Atlanta, Georgia) has announced that it is going old school on hop heads with the upcoming Limited Release of Make IPA Great Again.
Harkening back to the days before the IPA haze craze consumed the craft beer community, Make IPA Great Again is a “throwback double IPA” created by Second Self’s Co-founders Jason Santamaria and Chris Doyle “as an homage to the bitter and clear IPAs that inspired them to start brewing over a decade ago.” With a “YUGE” hop bill jam-packed with Cascade, Centennial, Chinook and Simcoe hops, this ‘Murican Double IPA “has tremendous notes of pine, resin, covfefe and citrus with a bitter finish.” For a more eloquent, stately explanation of what you can expect from this beer, here’s the brewery’s full description for Make IPA Great Again (9% ABV, 111 IBUs):
“Many people are saying we have the best hops. Believe me, we have all the best hops. Billions and billions of hops. Believe me, folks! Other beers are a YUGE problem! Beers today do not remember what it was like when this country made the best beers, the biggest beer, the most bitterest beers!!
Your milkshake pasty stout IPAs are FAKE NEWS!!. This bitter beer is DANK, PINEY, RESINY, and clear; just like the RETRO forgotten beers of this country. We make sure it has a tremendous flavor in a bigly tariffed aluminum tall boy! I have to thank our employees for their great jerb Putin in hard hours to make this magnificent beer.”
Make IPA Great Again will debut on April 28 in Second Self’s Westside taproom and distribution will follow shortly after that release. You can expect to find this Limited Release available in 16 oz. cans and on draft at select craft beer establishments located within Second Self’s distribution footprint in Alabama and Georgia. Prost!
Vital Information for Make IPA Great Again from Second Self Beer Company
Release – Limited; April 28, 2018 Style – Double India Pale Ale ABV – 9% IBUs – 111 Featured Hops – Cascade, Centennial, Chinook & Simcoe Suggested Food Pairings – “Suggested pairings for the beer include well-done steak with ketchup, taco bowls, Russian dressing, and anything off the Dollar Menu.” Fun Fact – On the name and packaging for Make IPA Great Again: “Label artwork was designed by Tex Grubbs, and the yuge 16 oz. cans will fit comfortably even in small hands. The beer’s name was devised by Eddie Holly, Owner of Ale Yeah! in Decatur.” Availability – 16 oz. cans & draft Distribution – Alabama & Georgia
Lord Hobo Brewing Co. (Woburn, Massachusetts) has officially announced that Angelica New England Wheat Beer will begin hitting shelves and taps this week as the brewery’s newest Year-Round offering.
Developed as means of applying “New England-style” characteristics to beers found outside the realm of Pale Ales, India Pale Ales and Double IPAs, Angelica has arrived as a Wheat Beer that employs the use of the incredibly popular “brewing techniques and ingredients used in ‘New England-Style’ or ‘Hazy IPAs’.” By uniting “the sought-after haze and juice-like qualities [with] the more traditional characteristics of wheat beer”, Angelica New England Wheat Beer (5.5% ABV) comes together to be “a highly quaffable beer that showcases the bready, tangy, and elegant sweetness of a wheat beer with the juicy, tropical fruit characteristics attributed from the highly acclaimed Mosaic hop varietal.”
“Angelica is our first new beer release in over a year,” says Daniel Lanigan, CEO and Founder of Lord Hobo Brewing Co. “We’ve been working hard at building our brand and business around a small core of offerings in order to better assess what products to add. With a growing, raving fan base comes a demand for a wide variety of products, and we’re extremely excited to be adding a wheat beer to the mix.”
Angelica New England Wheat Beer is rolling out now with availability in 6-packs of 12 oz. cans and on draft. You can expect to find this new Year-Round at craft beer establishments located in Florida, Massachusetts and throughout the rest of Lord Hobo’s distribution footprint. Prost!
Vital Information for Angelica New England Wheat Beer from Lord Hobo Brewing Co.
Release – Year-Round, launching late April/early May 2018 Style – American Wheat Beer ABV – 5.5% Featured Hops – Mosaic
Fun Fact – On Angelica’s packaging: “Similar to the beer, Angelica’s packaging is a shift from [Lord Hobo Brewing Co’s] current offerings. Dressed in white, Angelica boldly contrasts Lord Hobo’s hoppy offerings. A well-known Boston-based tattoo artist, Brian Hemmings (of The Ghost in the Machine tattoo shop) was commissioned to sketch Angelica’s hop and wheat-encircled wings.” Availability – 6-packs of 12 oz. cans & draft Beer Finder – https://lordhobobrewing.com/get-some/
Great Divide Brewing Company (Denver, Colorado) has announced that it will officially begin the Limited Release of Vanilla Oak Aged Yeti Imperial Stout in May 2018.
Surfacing as “the next flavor evolution” in Great Divide’sYeti Clan, Vanilla Oak Aged Yeti is an Imperial Stout that expresses itself by allowing “sweet vanilla tones [to meld] into the oak characteristics” that it picked up while aging. Acting as effortless complements to one another, the vanilla and oak notes go on to be “uplifted by the bold and roasty character we all know and love from Yeti.” With Vanilla Oak Aged Yeti weighing in at a sizable 9.5% ABV, Great Divide promises that “this elusive beast will comfort you by the campfire all summer long, if you can find it.”
Vanilla Oak Aged Yeti will officially release at the start of May and has plans to hang around through August 2018. You can expect to find this new Limited Release Yeti available in 22 oz. bottles and on draft at select craft beer establishments located in Alabama, Florida, Colorado and throughout the rest of Great Divide’s distribution network. Prost!
Vital Information for Vanilla Oak Aged Yeti from Great Divide Brewing Co.
Release – Limited, May – August 2018 Style – Imperial Stout ABV – 9.5% Added Ingredients – Vanilla Availability – 22 oz. bottles & draft Beer Finder – https://greatdivide.com/beer-finder/
Written and compiled to act as “the ultimate listening party guide”, Booze and Vinyl was born from André and Tenaya Darlington’s memories of time spent “[flipping] records on their father’s Thorens turntable, surrounded by jovial guests and the warm glow of the amp.” The siblings – now food and drinks journalists – have recreated those feelings and experiences in this book by using eye-catching colors, striking photography, and gorgeous graphic design to showcase 70 iconic albums from the 1930’s through 2000’s alongside delicious cocktail recipes that properly convey the mood of the music.
The chapters of Booze and Vinyl are broken down into four genres/moods: “Rock”, “Dance”, “Chill” and “Seduce”. Each album then goes on to serve as its own mini-chapter with informative areas such as “Liner Notes”, trivia-laden background info on each artist/album (did you know Led Zeppelin’s IV “was recorded in a Victorian mansion where the band took breaks to roam the grounds with cups of tea in hand”?), and the “When to Spin” and “Before You Drop the Needle” sections that help you plan the perfect get-together.
Each album is then matched with two cocktail recipes, cleverly dubbed Side A and Side B. These cocktail pairings range from the more-than-obvious – such as Gin and Juice with Snoop Doggy Dogg’s Doggystyle or a Brass Monkey with the Beastie Boys’ License to Ill – to the imaginative yet wildly appropriate – think a lavender-colored Fallen Angel with Prince’s Purple Rain or a Long Happiness to pair with Björk’s “Violently Happy” from Debut. Whether it was a band member’s favorite drink, references or originated in the band’s hometown, or just speaks to the overall soul of the band/album/song, it is quite clear that each cocktail pairing was laboriously thought out to ensure that it would enhance the drinker’s experience while enjoying the featured album.
Once you get beyond the beautifully arranged album and cocktail pairings that make up the bulk of the book, you begin to notice some subtly placed how-to and instructional sections meant to help you hone your skills as a host and at-home bartender. The authors throw in a handful of food recipes to enhance a few of the featured albums and corresponding cocktails – like Punk Rock Tea Party Sandwiches that you can put together while listening to Blondie’s Parallel Lines. Readers can also find a separate index that helps them easily track down two and three ingredient drinks, tips on “How to Host a Boozy Listening Party”, advice on “How to Host a Whiskey Tasting”, and a short final chapter that helps novice bartenders better understand things like working with eggs in cocktails, making simple syrup, and creating large batches of cocktails for a crowd. To put it simply, if a reader is left confused or has a question about a recipe in Booze and Vinyl, the book is set up so that he or she can find the needed answers somewhere in those pages. Every consideration has been made and there is no googling required.
All of that is well and good, but you do not really know much about a book of this sort until you put it to the test. Since everyone in this office tends to be in the mood for “Rock”, we thumbed over to that chapter, broke out our copy of Appetite for Destruction by Guns N’ Roses, mixed up some Rattle Skulls and held an impromptu listening party to do just that (recipe below is quoted directly from Booze and Vinyl):
Rattle Skull
A popular colonial drink that packs a wallop, this cocktail comes straight at you from revolutionary times to help woo that sweet child. Why chase your beer with a shot when you can just have them together? That’s the early-American logic of this drink that is hard to refute. Try it over ice or without — the taste is similar to a Cuba Libre (rum and Coke).
1 1/2 ounces rum or brandy (We went with some Dogfish Head Brown Honey Rum)
3/4 ounce fresh lime juice
1/2 ounce brown sugar syrup (1:1 sugar to water)
Add ingredients to a chilled beer mug and stir.
The often shunned combination of beer and liquor nicely parallels the reckless reputation that Guns N’ Roses earned in the late ’80s, but the Rattle Skull comes together to produce a cohesive, nuanced experience that has stood the test of time . . . just like Appetite for Destruction. The added lime juice brings out Night Swim Porter’s citrusy hops while the Brown Honey Rum accentuates the beer’s more malty and roasty notes. Just as the recipe mentioned, the Rattle Skull comes across as a more balanced and dynamic Cuba Libre. This cocktail makes for the perfect drink to enjoy as you scream the lyrics to “My Michelle” (Track 7) or groove along to “You’re Crazy” (Track 10).
With that incredibly fun experience under our belts, we can now confidently declare that Booze and Vinyl is a cocktail guide that goes well beyond any previous experiences you may have had with cocktail recipe books. It takes the sometimes intimidating art of bartending and makes it incredibly accessible by relating it to something we all love: music. If a recipe proves challenging, the music – because you know it will be playing in the background – is always there to either draw out that calming, centering breath or pump you up with the confidence needed to totally crush one hell of a cocktail party. This unique attribute makes Booze and Vinyl much more than just another coffee table book. It can be read cover to cover or used as a quick reference guide for bartenders of varying experience levels. Beyond that, this book arms its reader with a wealth of cocktail/listening party ideas that can be employed during a casual Friday night in with friends or in planning full-blown theme parties. Just pick a genre or artist, stock the bar and fridge, fire up the turntable, and you are set. Above all, this book mirrors the joy that music provides by putting a smile on your face, conjuring up memories of the past, and offering you the fuel to make some new ones. It doesn’t get much better than that. Prost!
Boulevard Brewing Co. (Kansas City, Missouri) has officially announced that it will begin the Limited Release of its iconic Saison Brett on Monday, April 30.
Annually brewed since 2008 and one of the “most coveted beers” to come out of Boulevard’s Smokestack Series, Saison Brett starts life as an “assertively dry-hopped” version of the brewery’s Tank 7 Farmhouse Ale. To set it apart from its cousin, the brewers then inoculate Saison Brett with Champagne yeast and “brettanomyces bruxellensis in a bottling tank designated to holding funky/sour beers.” After it is bottled and spends “12+ weeks in the bottle conditioning area”, the finished Saison Brett (8.5% ABV) emerges to treat its drinker to “suggestions of forest floor, earthy funk and tropical fruit that mingle with fruity Belgian yeast esters, peppery phenolic notes and citrusy hops.” Saison Brett can be enjoyed fresh or it can be cellared to “allow the brettanomyces character to develop and intensify.”
This year’s batch of Saison Brett will officially debut in the Greater Kansas City Area on April 30 and expanded distribution will follow “in the coming weeks.” You can expect to find this Limited Release available in 750ml bottles and on draft at select craft beer establishments located in Alabama, Florida, Missouri and other areas in Boulevard Brewing Co.’s distribution footprint “that typically see Smokestack Series Limited Release beers like Rye on Rye on Rye and Love Child blends.” Prost!
Vital Information for Saison Brett from Boulevard Brewing Co.
Release – Limited; April 30, 2018 Style – Saison ABV – 8.5% IBUs – 38 Malts – Pale Malt & Malted Wheat Hops – Magnum, Cascade, Amarillo, Calypso & Citra Yeast – Primary fermentation with a house Belgian yeast strain; later inoculated with Brettanomyces Bruxellensis & Champagne yeast in a bottling tank Suggested Food Pairings – “Washed rind cheeses; pasta with creamy mushroom sauce; spicy crab cakes with mango puree; saison steamed mussels with fennel, saffron & lemon; ginger lemon sorbet” Availability – 750ml bottles & draft Beer Finder – https://www.boulevard.com/beer/beer-finder/
Sixpoint Brewery (Brooklyn, New York) recently announced that it is tackling the summer heat with two Seasonal releases this year: Jammer Gose and Citrus Jammer Gose.
First brewed back in 2011, Jammer is a Gose-style ale that has seen its sea salt and coriander additions constantly tweaked by Sixpoint’s brewers ever since so that they could get the “pH level, the salinity, and that coriander aroma just right.” The goal is to make Jammer “tart enough to tingle the tastebuds, but not so sour that you can’t throw a few back.” Mission accomplished, and Jammer is back for another year to act as the brewery’s “refreshing, spritzy, tangy” summer formulation.
Well . . . we should probably say half of Sixpoint’s “refreshing, spritzy, tangy” summer lineup because Jammer has some company this year. Citrus Jammer takes that OG Jammer and hits it with a twist of “just the right amount of lemon and lime juice.” Rockin’ a “little more tang” than the original, Citrus Jammer is here to ensure that you get your recommended dose of Vitamin J this summer.
Jammer and Citrus Jammer are both available now and are scheduled to hang around through the summer months. You can expect to find these Seasonal brews available in 6-packs of 12 oz. cans and on draft at select craft beer establishments located in Alabama, Florida, New York and throughout the rest of Sixpoint’s distribution area. Prost!
Vital Information for Jammer Gose from Sixpoint Brewery
Release – Seasonal (Summer), arriving late April 2018 Style – Gose ABV – 4% IBUs – 16 Added Ingredients – Coriander & sea salt Availability – 6-packs of 12 oz. cans & draft
Vital Information for Citrus Jammer Gose from Sixpoint Brewery
Release – Seasonal (Summer), debuting late April 2018 Style – Gose ABV – 4% IBUs – N/A Added Ingredients – Coriander, sea salt, lemon & lime juice Availability – 6-packs of 12 oz. cans & draft
Einstök Ölgerð (Akureyri, Iceland) has officially announced the limited release of its wildly popular Summer Seasonal: Arctic Berry Ale.
Developed as a summer-themed take on Einstök’s award-winning Icelandic White Ale, Arctic Berry Ale (5% ABV) uses that beer as a base and then ups the refreshment level with the addition of “Icelandic bilberries hand-picked just 40 miles south of the Arctic Circle.” This combination yields “a unique small-batch witbier” that proves to be “the perfect complement for summer outdoor events such as cookouts and beach/pool parties.”
“In Iceland, Sumardagurinn fyrsti is a phrase we use to signal the arrival of summer and warmer temperatures,” says Einstök’s Managing Director Gudjon Gudmundsson. “And the Arctic Berry Ale is one way locals like to relax and enjoy the fleeting warm outdoors with friends and family. We encourage all beer-lovers to try the unique Arctic Berry Ale before, like the warm weather in Iceland, it disappears until next summer.”
Arctic Berry Ale is rolling out now and will be available for a limited time in 6-packs of 11.2 oz. cans and on draft. This Seasonal release will see limited distribution in the following 11 states located within Einstök’s U.S. distribution footprint: Alabama, Florida, California, Colorado, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas and Wisconsin. Prost!
Vital Information for Arctic Berry Ale from Einstök Ölgerð
Release – Seasonal (Summer), arriving late April 2018 Style – Witbier ABV – 5% Malts – Wheat, Pilsner & Oats Hops – Bavarian hops Added Ingredients – Icelandic bilberries Suggested Food Pairings – “Warm weather fare, cookouts, fish and poultry, sushi, spicy food, Asian food, Latin food, Greek food, citrus salads and desserts.” Availability – 6-packs of 11.2 oz. cans & draft Distribution – Alabama, Florida, California, Colorado, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas & Wisconsin Beer Finder – https://einstokbeer.com/ale-locator/
As soon as you make it through the entrance gate at Brews With Attitude, you walk into an expansive circle drive that is absolutely packed with a substantial selection of food trucks, a random spread of merchandise vendors, and a plethora of beer stations that are pouring from brewery branded trucks, under tents and in elaborate trailers. As you work through the crowd, the event has the feel of a pretty standard beer festival . . . well, that is until you make it to the massive, fire-adorned fountain and step foot into Tpepin’s Hospitality Centre.
With outer corridors that display countless pieces of antique breweriana and house lavish billiards and trophy rooms, the core of this gorgeous space is comprised of a grand ballroom that is lined on one side by a stunning bar. Once the grandiose nature of the space has been fully realized and appreciated, it becomes quite clear that this event is just as much a trade show as it is a beer festival. The tables occupying the ballroom are all fully stocked with literature on their respective breweries, point of sale items and swag, newsletter sign-up sheets, detailed descriptions of each beer being poured, and various other informative items. If all that were somehow not impressive enough, almost every brewery – whether from down the street or across the world – had at least one representative in attendance to answer questions and mingle with the crowd. It is an incredibly professional display that was set up so that each brewery could easily engage its audience and establish long-lasting relationships with its customers.
With that said, we do not want you to think this was just a stodgy affair only meant for the exchange of business cards because that is not at all the case. The attendees and brewery representatives seamlessly shifted from establishing contacts to doling out high-fives and “WOO” moments. The overall focus was the beer, but the experience was more choose your own adventure. If you were there to learn more about your favorite breweries and beers, there were dozens of people there ready to share that information with you over a brew. If you were just after a night out with friends, you could engage full-on beer fest mode and sample a vast array of tasty beers from open to close. You had the option to fully immerse yourself in one extreme or the other . . . or a healthy mix of the two. Because of this level of versatility, Brews With Attitude firmly establishes itself as a unique event and one hell of a good time.
Want further proof? Well, just go ahead and check out the photos below and hopefully they will inspire you to join us at next year’s installment of Brews With Attitude. Prost!
The Brews With Attitude truck greets guests at the entrance with an inventive menu of beer cocktails.
The Funky Buddha crew serving the thirsty masses.
TPepin’s Hospitality Centre’s massive, fire adorned fountain serves as the perfect centerpiece to one extravagant setting for a beer festival.
Founders Brewing Co. brought the perfect beer for a warm day, Rubaeus Raspberry Ale.
Highland Brewing is in attendance and showing off their beautiful new branding.
Plenty of tasty beers on ice over at Motorworks Brewing.
Escape Brewing Company was proudly reppin’ The Other West Coast IPA at their tent.
One of a handful of international breweries in attendance, Stiegl was well represented and pouring their always refreshing Radler.
With this truck prominently displayed, attendees had no problem tracking down a beer from Big Storm Brewing Co.
The hallways of TPepin’s Hospitality Center are absolutely covered with countless pieces of breweriana like this gorgeous Anheuser-Busch beer tray.
The bottles come out and Angry Chair draws a line.
Many award-winning beers were pouring at Brews With Attitude. An example: this Mischievous Black from Six Ten Brewing.
Jason dishes out the knowledge on the beers of Darwin Brewing Co.
Due South Brewing Co. introduced attendees to their new 16 oz. cans.
Barrel of Monks Brewing brought their own flavor to the event.
Hidden Springs Ale Works used the event to tease an upcoming can release.
The friendly crew at Big Top Brewing Company was excited to discuss their brews with guests.
The lineup over at Swamp Head Brewery was sneaky good.
Duvel and Brewery Ommegang hit attendees with a stellar lineup of Belgian brews and classic styles.
From barrel-aged Porters to refreshing IPAs, Goose Island was pouring a little something for everyone at Brews With Attitude.
Narragansett was filling glasses with some refreshing classics.
Kona Brewing Co. greeted guests with IPAs and leis.
A happy crowd works its way through the trade show floor.
Islamorda Beer Company offering samples with a smile.
Spiked Seltzer offered some variety to those seeking a break from the beers.
Proof Brewing Co. ventured down from Tallahassee to pour up some tasty goodness.
Innis & Gunn broke out a vast selection of its barrel-aged beers for the event.
The beautiful people at Vice Cream helped us close out the night in proper fashion with some Afternoon Delight ice cream.
**Click on any image above to enlarge and launch a slide show**
Coppertail Brewing Co. (Tampa, Florida) recently introduced Winston Sheffield India Pale Ale as the third installment in its Alpha Hunt Series.
Mashing In 