Craft Beer | Mashing In

Cigar City Brewing Provides a Peek at Its 2018 Distribution Calendar

Posted on November 28, 2017November 28, 2017 by mashingin

Freshly 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:

Guayabera Citra Pale Ale will be added to the Year-Round lineup in 2018. It will join Jai Alai IPA, Florida Cracker Belgian-style White Ale, Invasion Tropical Pale Ale, Lager, and Maduro Brown Ale to comprise the brewery’s full Year-Round portfolio.
Special Releases will continue to include such long-standing favorites as White Oak Jai Alai IPA (January – March & July – September), Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Brown Ale (April – June), Marshal Zhukov’s Imperial Stout (November) and several more.
The draft-only Nitro Series will continue in 2018. Keep an eye out for Minaret English Pub Ale (March – April), Xenu Cream Ale (July – August), Cafe con Leche Sweet Stout (November – December) and others to hit draft lines throughout the year.
If you are freaking out a bit because you cannot locate one of your favorite Cigar City brews on the calendar, please keep in mind that this distribution calendar only lists beers that are hitting the brewery’s full distribution footprint. Rest assured knowing that there will still be countless other special and limited release offerings hitting shelves and taps throughout the year.

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!

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

Posted on November 28, 2017November 28, 2017 by mashingin

Hi-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 November 27, 2017 by mashingin

Dogfish 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!

Catawba Brewing Co. Releases Peanut Butter Chocolate Stout

Posted on November 27, 2017 by mashingin

Catawba 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

LOKO Cuisine Takes Upcoming Eggs & Kegs Brunch to the Campfire

Posted on November 22, 2017November 22, 2017 by mashingin

On Sunday, December 17 at 11 a.m., LOKO Cuisine will partner with iTREKKERS to host a “Campfire” edition of Eggs & Kegs at Cigar City Brewing (Tampa, Florida).

For this installment of Eggs & Kegs, LOKO Cuisine has teamed up with iTREKKERS to provide attendees with an elevated, camping-inspired dining experience that they will enjoy while “learning about guided hassle-free outdoor activities in Tampa Bay.” This brunch will feature the following four-course spread of “campfire classics from the land and sea”:

All attendees will receive one beer ticket “good for any pint or snifter of equal value” during the meal. Cigar City Brewing will be showcasing their Cafe con Leche Sweet Stout during the brunch, and that does sound like a mighty fine pairing for the menu above.

Tickets for Eggs & Kegs: Campfire are available now for $32.10 each, and you can purchase yours by clicking here. Ticket cost includes the four-course brunch and one pour of beer (pint or snifter of equal value). Physical tickets will not be issued, but your name will be added to a paid list once the purchase process is completed. FYI: Everyone in your party will have to check in under the purchaser’s name at the door.

Please be aware that seating is limited and nearly all Eggs & Kegs events sell out rather quickly. With that in mind, go ahead and secure your tickets now so that you and yours are able to experience Eggs & Kegs: Campfire on December 17. Prost!

Second Self Beer Company to Begin Olde Oyl Release on Black Friday

Posted on November 21, 2017 by mashingin

Second Self Beer Company (Atlanta, Georgia) has announced that the 2017 batch of Olde Oyl will officially debut at the brewery on Black Friday, November 24.

Arriving just in time to take on those colder temperatures, Olde Oyl is a Russian Imperial Oatmeal Coffee Stout that is “brewed seasonally with malt and oats for a rich body and robust aroma.” To achieve just the right amount of coffee presence, the brewers at Second Self “[incorporate] custom-roasted coffee from East Pole Coffee Co., a specialty coffee roaster based in Atlanta’s Armour Yards development between Buckhead and Midtown.” Hearty and hefty, the 11% ABV Olde Oyl comes together to provide a warming experience that boasts “a nice roasty taste with a smooth coffee finish.”

Olde Oyl will make its first appearance of the year at Second Self’s Black Friday Extravaganza event on Nov. 24th from 1 p.m. to 9 p.m. Olde Oyl will be available in 16 oz. cans exclusively in the brewery’s taproom, but this Limited Seasonal Release will see distribution as a draft-only offering to select beer establishments located in Alabama and Georgia. You can expect Olde Oyl to pour through January 2018. Prost!

Vital Information for Olde Oyl from Second Self Beer Company

Release – Limited/Seasonal, late-November 2017 through January 2018
Style – Russian Imperial Stout/Oatmeal Stout
ABV – 11%
IBUs – 65
Added Ingredients – Custom-roasted coffee from East Pole Coffee Co.
Availability – 16 oz. cans (brewery only) & draft
Distribution – Georgia & Alabama

Ballast Point Brewing Set for Black Friday Release of High West Barrel-Aged Victory At Sea

Posted on November 21, 2017November 21, 2017 by mashingin

Ballast Point Brewing Co. (San Diego, California) has announced that it will officially begin the limited release of High West Barrel-Aged Victory at Sea Imperial Porter on Black Friday, November 24.

When it comes to widely-available Imperial Stouts and Porters, you are going to be hard-pressed to find a beer that can go toe-to-toe with Victory at Sea Imperial Porter with Coffee & Vanilla in a blind tasting. This beer is a true standout in its original form, but Ballast Point has decided to step things up a bit this year by creating an incredibly special, barrel-aged version that has been simply named High West Barrel-Aged Victory at Sea.

To craft this Limited Release offering, the brewers at Ballast Point took their classic Victory at Sea Imperial Porter – already infused with cold-steeped coffee and vanilla – and aged it carefully in Bourbon and Rye Whiskey oak casks sourced from High West Distillery. Once the aging process was completed, the various barrels that housed the beer were then blended “to create new layers of complexity” and impart “notes of soft caramel and smokey oak over a rich dark chocolate and roasted almond body.” The finished High West Barrel-Aged Victory at Sea weighs in at 12% ABV.

High West Barrel-Aged Victory at Sea will officially release in 4-packs of 12 oz. bottles at Ballast Point Tasting Room locations on Friday, November 24. Distribution will begin shortly after the initial launch. Once fully available, beer lovers can look for this Limited Release offering at select beer establishments in Alabama, Florida, California, Virginia, and throughout the rest of Ballast Point Brewing Co.’s nationwide distribution area. Exact dates and details for distribution have not yet been made available, but we will update this post with that information just as soon as we have it. Stay tuned. Prost!

Vital Information for High West Barrel-Aged Victory at Sea Imperial Porter (2017) from Ballast Point Brewing Co.

Release – Limited; launching November 24, 2017 (Black Friday)
Style – Imperial Porter
ABV – 12%
Added Ingredients – Vanilla & cold-steeped coffee
Treatment – Aged in High West Distillery Bourbon & Rye Whiskey oak casks
Availability – 4-packs of 12 oz. bottles
Distribution – Nationwide (select retailers)

New Holland Brewing Announces 2018 Beer Lineup

Posted on November 20, 2017November 20, 2017 by mashingin

New Holland Brewing Co. (Holland, Michigan) recently came forward to release the schedule for its 2018 Beer Lineup and officially announce the January launch of Tangerine Space Machine New England Style IPA.

As we tend to do with most brewery calendars, we have New Holland Brewing Co.’s full 2018 Beer Release Calendar available below so that you can look it over at your own pace. Even with that being the case, we do have to quickly provide some details on the launch of Tangerine Space Machine New England Style IPA and few other exciting brews headed your way in 2018. Let’s go ahead and knock that out so we can turn you loose on the calendar:

Tangerine Space Machine New England Style IPA will arrive in January as New Holland’s first new beer of 2018 and latest addition to the brewery’s Core Lineup. Brewed with Galaxy and Citra hops, Tangerine Space Machine (6.8% ABV, 40 IBUs) is “a fruit forward, hazy” New England-style India Pale Ale that will be available year-round in “limited quantities” of 6-packs of 12 oz. cans and on draft at craft beer establishments located “mainly in Michigan and Midwest states.” Launch events for Tangerine Space Machine will occur at both New Holland pubs, Pub on 8th (Holland, MI) and Knickerbocker (Grand Rapids, MI), in December 2017 and throughout the first three months of 2018.
March 2018 will see two new releases: Xtra Time and Passion Blaster. Xtra Time (4.4% ABV, 11 IBUs) is listed as an “American Session Beer” and will enter the lineup as new a year-round Core offering. Arriving as a fresh Spring Seasonal, Passion Blaster (6% ABV, 15 IBUs) is a rosy Wheat Ale that showcases refreshing flavors of passion fruit, raspberry and apple. Both of these brands will be available in 12 oz. cans and on draft.
Many New Holland beers will transition to can packaging in 2018. These offerings will include Hoptronix Double IPA, Tangerine Space Machine, Xtra Time, Lost Dune, and Taz IPA. Mad Hatter Midwest India Pale Ale will be offered in both can and bottle options.
The Dragon’s Milk Reserves Series will continue in 2018 with three releases. Dragon’s Milk Reserve: Salted Caramel will be the first to hit in January 2018, and the other two, yet-to-be-named offerings are scheduled to follow in May and September.
New Holland’s Sour Program will also return next year. Not only will the fan-favorite Blue Sunday and Incorrigible Reserve be back, but there will also be two new sours – one being an unnamed cherry sour slated for release in October – arriving later in 2018.
Although the beers listed in the calendar are locked in for 2018, New Holland Brewing Co. “expects to maintain some flexibility in its lineup throughout the year, and consumers can expect a few surprises in 2018 that have yet to be announced.”

“New Holland is a brand that listens to its fans and is committed to pushing creativity within craft styles while also growing long time favorites,” says New Holland President and Founder, Brett VanderKamp. “Each brew is thoughtfully crafted and inspired by the stories around us. I think our 2018 lineup is exciting for both new and existing fans alike. We continue to build around Dragon’s Milk as our top brand while letting our brewers unleash their creativity.”

Alright, that should take care of everything that we needed to cover. There are still a few more beers left to discover on the calendar below, so be sure to check it out so that you are fully prepared for another great year of beer from New Holland Brewing Co. Prost!

Wynwood Brewing Plans Black Friday Release of Coqui-To Barrel-Aged Milk Stout

Posted on November 17, 2017 by mashingin

Wynwood Brewing Company (Miami, Florida) will officially kick off the holiday season by hosting a special, limited release event for Coqui-To Barrel-Aged Milk Stout beginning at noon on November 24 – Black Friday.

The folks at Wynwood Brewing created Coqui-To Barrel-Aged Milk Stout to mimic the flavors of “Coquito”, a traditional Puerto Rican holiday beverage “known as Puerto Rico’s eggnog, made with rum, coconut milk, sweetened condensed milk, vanilla, cinnamon, and cloves.” Their brewers pulled this off by crafting a Rum Barrel-aged Imperial Milk Stout that was then finished off with toasted coconut, cinnamon, clove and vanilla beans. The resulting Coqui-To Barrel-Aged Milk Stout comes together as a unique treat that is meant to serve as the perfect beer to share with friends and family this holiday season.

“We’ve been wanting to make this beer for a long time,” said Wynwood Brewing Founder Luis Brignoni. “Coquito is something my family always enjoyed during the holidays. Now that we have more production space to brew and barrel-age, we can offer a taste of this Puerto Rican tradition to our fans.”

Coqui-To Barrel-Aged Milk Stout will officially release in Wynwood Brewing’s Tap Room at noon on Friday, November 24. Those who attend this Limited Release Event will have the option to enjoy Coqui-To Barrel-Aged Milk Stout on draft or purchase 750ml crowler “shorty” cans for $20 each. In addition to the beer release, this event “will also feature a special brewery tour of Miami’s first craft production brewery showcasing the barrel-aging process for Coqui-To.” If you happen to be in the area on Black Friday, make sure you swing by the brewery and get into the holiday spirit by raising a glass of Coqui-To Barrel-Aged Milk Stout with the crew at Wynwood Brewing. Prost!

Dogfish Head Releases IPAs for the Holidays Variety Pack

Posted on November 16, 2017November 16, 2017 by mashingin

Dogfish Head Craft Brewery (Milton, Delaware) recently announced the limited release of IPAs for the Holidays, a variety 12-pack that exclusively includes Sixty One.

It is well known that the holidays are a time of celebration and togetherness. Fully committed to that spirit, Dogfish Head Craft Brewery is celebrating its “commitment to continual hopping” this year by bringing four beers that feature this innovation together in one limited-edition, mixed 12-pack known simply as IPAs for the Holidays. This Variety Pack includes the following “exclusive beer-wine hybrid” and three old favorites (3 bottles of each beer in each pack):

Sixty One – 12-pack EXCLUSIVE! A marriage of two Dogfish Head innovations: beer-wine hybrids and continually hopped IPAs. Dogfish took its best-selling 60 Minute and added Syrah grape must to create an IPA with equal parts fruity complexity and pungent hoppiness.
60 Minute IPA – A continually hopped super-fantastic East Coast IPA brewed with a slew of great Northwest hops for a powerful, but balanced, citrusy hop character.
90 Minute IPA – A continually hopped Imperial IPA whose powerful malt backbone stands up to the extreme hopping rate for a pungent, not crushing flavor.
Indian Brown Dark IPA – A boisterous brown ale meets well-hopped IPA is brewed with aromatic dark malt, organic brown sugar and dry-hopped liberally for your holiday-drinking pleasure.

“Our journey with IPAs and continual hopping began twenty-two years ago at our brewpub in Rehoboth, where we angled a vibrating football game over a 5-barrel kettle with a bucket of pelletized hops hanging over it,” says Sam Calagione, founder and CEO of Dogfish Head Craft Brewery. “This super unique method allowed us to control the rate of hops entering the boil – with one hop dose each minute – paving the way for classic Dogfish beers like 60 Minute and 90 Minute IPA and opening the door for more adventurous IPA hybrid creations like Sixty One. IPAs for the Holidays is our gift to indie craft beer friends that rally behind pushing the boundaries of traditional brewing and enjoy drinking delicious, inventive IPAs – cheers!”

IPA for Holidays is hitting shelves now and will be available as long as supplies last. You can track this limited-edition 12-pack down at craft beer-focused retailers located in Alabama, Florida, Delaware, and throughout the rest of Dogfish Head’s distribution footprint. Prost!