Weyerbacher Brewing Set for Special Release of Daywrecker Extra American Ale

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DaywreckerCanWeyerbacher Brewing Company (Easton, Pennsylvania) has announced that it will officially begin the limited release of Daywrecker Extra American Ale on Friday, May 11.

Arriving as the newest offering from Weyerbacher’s Special Release portfolio, Daywrecker is an “Extra American Ale” that sees late additions of Citra and Wakatu hops. This approach “gives the beer a distinct brightness with . . . citrusy, floral notes while not overwhelming, rather beautifully balancing the malt sweetness.”  Weighing in at 10% ABV, this “heavy hitter” certainly has the size and ability to live up to its name.

Daywrecker will debut in The Tap Room at Weyerbacher on May 11 and enter distribution shortly thereafter.  You can expect to find this Special Release available in 16 oz. cans and on draft at select craft beer establishments located in Florida, Georgia, Pennsylvania and throughout the rest of the brewery’s distribution area. Prost!

Vital Information for Daywrecker Extra American Ale from Weyerbacher Brewing Company

Release – Limited/Special Release, May 2018
Style – American Golden Ale/Extra Pale Ale
ABV – 10%
Featured Hops – Citra & Wakatu
Availability – 16 oz. cans & draft

Avery Brewing Company Reveals New Look Packaging Artwork

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1_3tSaJyS5CXL7OakpSwKmhwAvery Brewing Company (Boulder, Colorado) has officially announced that it has partnered with nationally recognized artist Neil Shigley to redesign its packaging artwork.

To do something special to celebrate the brewery’s 25th anniversary in 2018, the folks at Avery Brewing Company decided to seize the “opportunity to refresh its package designs to match the quality of the liquid art inside.” They initiated a search for someone that could produce new artwork that tells “a cohesive and straight-forward brand story, which is all about beer”, and they found that in Neil Shigley, a San Diego based artist.  Shigley was able to provide Avery with “one-of-a-kind artwork that was modern and fresh, but still honored the heritage that past designs have left on the community and fans.”

“Our goal was to stay true to the artistry that each beer represents while also building a beacon of light in a sea of choices,” says Avery Brewing Co. Founder and CEO, Adam Avery. “We are driven to create inspiring beer experiences and the new artwork reflects the focus of our craft.”

 

“A project like this is rare,” says Shigley. “Great people, cool art direction, and a focus on great beer! I told Adam I would have done this project for free. They brought me to the brewery early on and I was blown away by how everyone was so passionate about the beer they were making, starting with the top, Adam. I’m lucky to be part of this great family.”

The new artwork will steadily roll out over 2018 and into 2019, and the changes will officially kick off in early June with Avery Brewing’s flagship beer, White Rascal Belgian-Style White Ale.  Although the packaging may look different on shelves, you can “expect . . .  the beer to remain the high quality and consistent liquid that fans have grown to love for over 25 years.”  Prost!

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Full Sail Brewing Co. Introduces Summa’ Time Lime Lager

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FS-SummaTimeLime-WebFull Sail Brewing Co. (Hood River, Oregon) has officially announced that Summa’ Time Lime Lager is rolling out now to act as the brewery’s new summer Seasonal.

Arriving as the latest offering to come out of Full Sail’s Pub Series, Summa’ Time Lime Lager is a “thirst-quenching, fresh and zesty, easy-drinking lager” that sees “Celeia and Northern Brewer hops, pilsner malt and flaked yellow corn, and a hint of lime work seamlessly together.”  Weighing in at a super light 4.5% ABV and 15 IBUs, Summa’ Time Lime Lager is here to bring “that on-the-beach attitude to you wherever your summer finds you.”

“I’m super happy with how this beer turned out,” says Full Sail Brewmaster Greg Doss. “We designed Summa’ Time Lime around the idea of adding a slice of lime to my favorite summer lager and the result is a light, refreshing, crushable lager with a hint of lime for enjoying at the beach or on the river.”

Summa’ Time Lime Lager is out now and has plans to stick around through August.  You can expect to find this new Seasonal offering available in 6-packs of 12 oz. bottles and on draft at craft beer-friendly retailers, bars and restaurants located in Florida, Oregon and throughout the rest of Full Sail’s distribution area.  Prost!

Vital Information for Summa’ Time Lime Lager from Full Sail Brewing Co.

Release – Seasonal/Pub Series, May – August 2018
Style – American Lager
ABV – 4.5%
IBUs – 15
Malts – Pilsner Malt & Flaked Yellow Corn
Hops – Celeia & Northern Brewer
Added Ingredients – Lime
Availability – 6-packs of 12 oz. cans, draft, and in the Trophy Case mixed 12-pack of 12 oz. bottles
Beer Finder – https://fullsailbrewing.com/where-to-buy/

Tasting Notes: Stone Scorpion Bowl IPA from Stone Brewing

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StoneSBIPAPour1000For this week’s installment of Tasting Notes, we track down some tropical fruit refreshment in a tall pour of Scorpion Bowl IPA from Stone Brewing (Escondido, California).

Released as the newest Year-Round offering to join the brewery’s respected lineup of IPAs, Stone Scorpion Bowl IPA is Stone Brewing’s take on those trendy, fruit-forward beers that are so popular right now but “with absolutely no addition of fruit.” Relying solely on Mosaic, Loral and Mandarina Bavaria hops, Stone Scorpion Bowl IPA (7.5% ABV, 76 IBUs) offers a tiki-like experience that possesses “hints of passion fruit, pineapple, tangerine, guava and mango . . . as well as strawberry, blueberry and subtle herbal notes.”

Stone Scorpion Bowl IPA is out now and available in 22 oz. bottles and on draft.  You can expect to find this new Year-Round at craft beer establishments located in Alabama, Florida, California, Virginia, and throughout the rest of Stone Brewing’s nationwide distribution area.

With all that background information now out of the way, let’s stretch the weekend out into this Monday and get into some Tasting Notes!

Tasting Notes for Stone Scorpion Bowl IPA from Stone Brewing

Appearance: This IPA pours a deep golden in color and is capped with almost two fingers of chunky, white foam.  Held to direct light, its appearance brightens and radiates with light orange and brilliant yellow hues.  The beer is impeccably clear and alive with a steady carbonation presence.  Head retention is decent, but the foam does end up reducing down to a thin ring that draws intricate lines of lace across the glass.

Aroma: Tropical notes abound as mango, cantaloupe, papaya, guava, and pineapple are all eager to greet the nose.  In addition to those fruity tones, the hops also offer a subtle musty and earthy quality that hangs out in the background.  This dynamic hop character dominates the profile, but there is just a hint of lightly sweet, bready malt that works its way in to lend some support.

Taste:  Just like the nose, this brew’s flavor is all about that tropical hop goodness.  It starts with a sweet tangerine/orange character (almost candied orange at times) that opens up to welcome notes of pineapple, passionfruit and mango.  Mixed berries then surface and bring with them some subtle floral and herbal tones.  The malts supply some nondescript but balancing sweetness, but this beer is pretty much just straight hoppy fruit punch.

Mouthfeel: On the light side of medium in body with a lighter carbonation, this beer comes across as smooth and slightly creamy.  Although it is more on the hoppy than bitter side, this IPA is still allowed to retain some West Coast bite that lingers a bit in the finish.  The ABV is well hidden and does not influence the experience really at all.  The aftertaste is a satisfying mix of various tropical fruits.

Final Thoughts: From the first sip to the last drop of this bomber, Stone Scorpion Bowl IPA definitely lives up to its name by conjuring up memories of tiki-themed, fruity drink-fueled good times.  The amount of fruit flavor that Stone Brewing coaxed out of these hops is absolutely staggering and impressive.  With that said, it was refreshing to see that the brewers did buck the low IBU trend by keeping this IPA both hoppy and bitter.  This results in a ridiculously enjoyable combination of fruitiness and hoppiness that is innovative, playful and in your face. In other words, it’s everything that an IPA from Stone Brewing should be.  Prost!

Monday Night Brewing Adds Rucksack Hefeweizen to Seasonal Lineup

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rucksack-squareMonday Night Brewing (Atlanta, Georgia) has officially released Rucksack Hefeweizen as its newest summer Seasonal.

Meant to serve as “a well-earned respite after a long day on the trail or in the hammock”, Rucksack is hazy and unfiltered traditional Hefeweizen – a.k.a. German-style Wheat Beer –  that brewed with bready Wheat malt “that screams citrus fruit when combined with Mandarina Bavaria hops.”  To take the refreshment level up another notch, the brewers at Monday Night then “[steeped] this beer with orange peel post-fermentation . . . [to accentuate] this fruitiness.” Rucksack weighs in at an easy-drinking 4.9% ABV.

Rucksack is available now and will be hanging around throughout the early months of summer.  You can expect to find this new Seasonal available in 6-packs of 12 oz. cans and on draft at craft beer establishments located within Monday Night’s distribution area in Alabama and Georgia.  Prost!

Vital Information for Rucksack from Monday Night Brewing

Release – Seasonal, May through early summer 2018
Style – Hefeweizen 
ABV – 4.9%
Malts – Wheat
Hops – Mandarina Bavaria
Added Ingredients – Orange peel
Suggested Food Pairings – “Pair Rucksack with roast pork, fried chicken and even lobster rolls.”
Availability – 6-packs of 12 oz. cans & draft
Distribution – Georgia & Alabama

 

 

Iron Hill Brewery Opens 13th Location in Greenville, South Carolina

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IronHillLogoIron Hill Brewery and Restaurant (Wilmington, Delaware) has officially announced that it has expanded its reach once again by opening its newest location in Greenville, South Carolina.

Established as the latest step forward in the company’s aggressive ‘20 by ‘20’ initiative, Iron Hill Brewery’s Greenville, South Carolina location – located at 741 Haywood Road in the Haywood Mall area – “marks the first location in a new market for the group” and its 13th location overall. Housed within a 7,500 sq. ft facility designed by Boulder-based Bray Architecture, the Greenville brewery and restaurant “has a seating capacity of 250, which includes an on-site brewery, cocktail area, and an outdoor patio.”

The on-site brewery – set to “produce between 800 to 900 barrels of their award-wining craft beer annually” – will offer “the same craft beer freshness with the new Upstate Kolsch, an homage to the brand’s 13th location, and favorites such as the award-winning signature Vienna Red™ Lager, Iron Hill Light Lager and White Iron® Wit, as well as deliciously wholesome fare including the Brewski Burger ($13.50), Gold Medal Baby Back Ribs ($17.00/$25.00), Char-Grilled Ribeye Steak ($29.00), Baked Chesapeake-Style Crab Cakes ($27.00) and Pan Roasted Organic Chicken ($21.00).”

The Greenville, South Carolina location of Iron Hill Brewery and Restaurant is open now.  Operating hours are Monday from 11:30 a.m. to 11 p.m., Tuesday through Thursday from 11:30 a.m. to 12:00 a.m., Friday from 11:30 a.m. to 1 a.m., Saturday from 11 a.m. to 1 a.m. and Sunday from 11:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m.  Prost!

 

Stone Brewing Brings White Geist Berliner Weisse Stateside for a Limited Time

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StoneBerlinerWeisse_GermanCANStone Brewing (Escondido, California) has officially announced that Stone White Geist Berliner Weisse will venture over from Germany to make its debut in the U.S. beginning this week.

Available in Europe as a Year-Round offering from Stone Brewing – Berlin, Stone White Geist is an authentic take on the Berliner Weisse-style that “gains its orthodox lightly sour and acidic character from a specially selected historic Lactobacillus strain sourced from Berlin’s cultures.”  Well . . . mostly authentic because you know Stone Brewing had to put its own twist on the style by raising the ABV a bit to 4.7%. Rounded off with newer German hop varieties (Calista and Hüll Melon), Stone White Geist Berliner Weisse’s “aroma leads with lemon, peach and melon and the unexpectedly bold and pleasantly refreshing tart flavor punches above its ABV weight.”

“As global participants in the craft beer community, Stone has the unique opportunity to share beers across locations, highlighting the different local and regional influences along the way,” stated Greg Koch, Stone Brewing executive chairman & co-founder. “Stone White Geist Berliner Weisse features the work of our talented team at Stone Berlin, and we’re truly honored to be among Berlin’s craft brewers taking charge as the revivalists to help return this style to its former glory.”

Stone White Geist Berliner Weisse will debut in California beginning this week and a “broad national launch” will follow in the fall of this year.  Once fully released, you can expect to find this Limited Release available in 6-packs of 0.33l cans and on draft at select craft beer-friendly retailers, bars and restaurants in Alabama, Florida, California, Virginia and throughout the rest of Stone Brewing’s nationwide distribution footprint.  Prost!

Vital Information for Stone White Geist Berliner Weisse from Stone Brewing

Release – Limited; California in May 2018, national this fall 
Style – Berliner Weisse
ABV – 4.7%
IBUs – 12
Featured Hops – Calista & Hüll Melon
Fun Fact – On the style’s history: “The Berliner Weisse is a style dating back to at least the 16th century, and to this day, European appellation labeling standards require that a beer must be brewed within the city of Berlin to call the beer a ‘Berliner Weisse.’ A complex sour beer, the style was once honored by Napoleon as the ‘Champagne of the North.’ It’s now enjoying a resurgence by small brewers in the US and elsewhere in the world, many of whom are creating amazing variations with fruit and other creative additives. As Stone deepens its roots in the city of Berlin, it seems only fitting that the team would take an interest in exploring the style in its purest and most authentic form.”
Availability – 6-packs of 0.33l cans & draft
Beer Finder – https://find.stonebrewing.com/#ready

American Homebrewers Association To Celebrate 40 Years with AHA Big Brew

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AHAThe American Homebrewers Association (AHA) will recognize National Homebrew Day and its 40th Anniversary on Saturday, May 5 with the AHA Big Brew, a national, same-day homebrewing session and worldwide, simultaneous toast to homebrewing.

To recognize 40 amazing years of homebrew advocacy and the hobby itself, the American Homebrewers Association has organized the AHA Big Brew as an event that will see “hundreds of bars, breweries, shops and homebrew clubs nationwide . . . host their local communities to brew on-site for a national, same-day homebrewing session.”  You can get in on the Big Brew action by brewing whatever you want, but the AHA has provided Rocky Raccoon’s Honey Lager and Dusty Mud Irish-style Stout as this year’s official Big Brew recipes.  These recipes have been handpicked by Charlie Papazian, a.k.a. the “godfather of homebrewing” and founder of the AHA.

In addition to the nationwide homebrewing session, the AHA is also encouraging all homebrewers and beer lovers to participate in a worldwide, simultaneous toast to homebrewing at noon CDT on May 5.

For more details on the AHA Big Brew, here’s how the American Homebrewers Association breaks down the day’s festivities:

WHEN: All day long! Saturday, May 5.  The simultaneous toast occurs at 12:00 p.m. CDT

WHERE: Everywhere! From homebrewers’ homes and backyards, to the shops that provide the ingredients and supplies, to local breweries and craft beer bars worldwide.  View an interactive map of AHA Big Brew event locations across the country. Register your local AHA Big Brew event and join the conversation on Twitter with #BigBrew18.

WHO: Everyone! As long as they’re 21 and over, of course.

WHY: There over 1.1 million homebrewers in the United States, 40 percent of which started homebrewing only within the last four years. AHA Big Brew is a toast to the nation’s homebrewers and their shared love and appreciation for homebrewed beer, mead and cider. In 1988, May 7 was announced before Congress as National Homebrew Day, and so the AHA created AHA Big Brew, held each year on the first Saturday in May, to celebrate National Homebrew Day across the U.S. and globe.

Our nation’s current craft beer culture would not have become a reality without the dedication and dreams of homebrewers, and these folks deserve our encouragement and appreciation.  If you are free on Saturday and looking to avoid the Cinco de Mayo and Derby crowds, swing into a local AHA Big Brew event to experience a brew day and raise a glass to the art of homebrewing.  Prost!

 

Highland Brewing and Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats Collaborate on Half Yüszch

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HalfYuszchHighland Brewing (Asheville, North Carolina) has officially teamed up with Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats to create a special collaboration beer, Half Yüszch Pilsner, that will be featured at the band’s sold out May 11 tour stop at the iconic Asheville brewery.

Brewed as an homage to Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats’ yüszch – or usual – tradition where they drink a beer and take a shot, Half Yüszch (a.k.a. the beer half) is a Limited Release Czech-style Pilsner that has Weyermann Pilsner malt supplying “a clean and elegant mouthfeel, while Saaz hops contribute mild earthy, floral, and herbaceous aromas.” Clocking in at a “crisp and crushable” 4.5% ABV, Half Yüszch promises to be the perfect pairing for “an evening of restless and soulful music.”

Half Yüszch is a brewery-only release that will be available in 12 oz. cans and on draft during the sold-out Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats show at Highland Brewing on May 11, and also on draft at the band’s sold-out shows in Charlotte, N.C. (May 8) and Raleigh, N.C (May 9).  If you were unable to land tickets for those concerts, Highland Brewing has also scheduled a listening party of Tearing at the Seams, Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats’ newly released album, on Thursday, May 10. Half Yüszch will be available in 6-packs of 12 oz. cans and on draft at the listening party as well.

More than just an awesome collaboration, Half Yüszch also has a charitable cause as “$1 from each beer sold will support The Marigold Project, a foundation established by Nathaniel Rateliff to address issues of economic and social justice.”

For those keeping score at home, Half Yüszch basically serves as a junction that unites damn good beer and music with a great cause . . . and you simply cannot go wrong with that combo.  Be sure to check out this Limited Release if you have the chance.  Prost!

Vital Information for Half Yüszch from Highland Brewing and Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats

Release – Limited; May 10 & May 11, 2018 at Highland Brewing
Style – Czech-style Pilsner
ABV – 4.5%
Featured Malts – Weyermann Pilsner
Featured Hops – Saaz
Fun Fact – On the label artwork: Highland Brewing “worked with local poster artist Drew Findley with Subject Matter Studio for the can graphics.”
Availability – 6-packs of 12 oz. cans & draft 
Distribution – None, brewery-only release

 

Monday Night Brewing Offers ‘Don’t Call It Hotlanta’ as Both a Warning & Limited Release

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MNBDCIHpour_editedMonday Night Brewing (Atlanta, Georgia) has officially released Don’t Call It Hotlanta Quadruple Dry-Hopped IPA as the newest offering to come out of its Black Tie Series.

With a name inspired by the ire that so many Atlanta natives have for their city’s unfortunate nickname, Don’t Call It Hotlanta is a quadruple dry-hopped (Columbus, Citra and Galaxy hops), cloudy Double India Pale Ale “that pops with tropical notes on the nose, drinks dank, and finishes with a bit of bitterness—much like an Atlanta sports fan.”  Since this beer weighs in at a “bridge-collapsing” 8.5% ABV, the brewery claims that Don’t Call It Hotlanta is best enjoyed “after your hour-long evening commute.”

Don’t Call It Hotlanta officially debuted in Monday Night’s West Midtown location on April 29 and will begin hitting distribution this week.  You can expect to find this Limited Release available in 4-packs of 12 oz. cans and on draft at select craft beer establishments located within the brewery’s distribution area in Alabama and Georgia.  Prost!

Vital Information for Don’t Call It Hotlanta from Monday Night Brewing

Release – Limited/Black Tie Series, late April/early May 2018
Style – Double India Pale Ale
ABV – 8.5%
IBUs – 55
Featured Hops – Columbus, Citra & Galaxy
Malts – Pilsner, 2-Row & Flaked Oats
Suggested Food Pairings – “This beer pairs well with grilled meats, chicken wings, an afternoon in Piedmont Park, and your couch after an hour-long commute.”
Availability – 4-packs of 12 oz. cans & draft
Distribution – Georgia & Alabama