Some new beers should be hitting shelves this week at your liquor store (John’s Grocery). This week there will be brews in from Mendocino Brewing, Stillwater, and Evil Twin, which has been on shelves for a few weeks now.

MENDOCINO – Mendocino brewery is located in Mendocino, CA and has a huge lineup of beers. From their website:
“We take great pride in being pioneers in the American Craft Brewing Renaissance and even greater pride in our range of ales that beer lovers all over the country have made Legends. We hope that the pages on this site will let you know some more about how we started and about our passion for brewing the best.”

I believe their Eye of the Hawk has been on shelves in Eastern Iowa before. They have a different collection of beers, led by their Red Tail Ale which is an old world amber. To check out their complete lineup of beers go to (http://www.mendobrew.com/home.html).

Next up is Stillwater Premium. Description from Beer Advocate:  “A  Post Prohibition’ style ale brewed with Pilsner malt, corn, and rice. Hopped at 2lbs per BBL with Cluster, Northern Brewer, and Saaz and fermented with a farmhouse ale yeast and 2 strains of brettanomyces to weigh in at 4.5% ABV.”

Evil Twin has a bunch of beers available at John’s Grocery. Here is the complete list from the grocers’ website:
(http://www.johnsgrocery.com/Departments/Beer/browse.cfm?action=browse&method=prodname&arg=E)
More info about Evil Twin from Beer Advocate: “A phantom brewery run by Jeppe Jarnit-Bjergsø, brother of Mikkel Borg Bergsø of Mikkeller fame. Beers are brewed at / by another brewery.”

Drop me a line if you get to try any of these brews and let me know what you think!

Sierra Nevada gives us another opportunity to try a wonderful brew. This week their Southern Hemisphere hits the shelves around Eastern Iowa. Southern Hemisphere is a fresh hop IPA which means the hops that were used in this beer where used rather quickly after they were harvested. Expect flavor of wood, floral hops with a nice bready malt finish. Here is the description from the brewer:
“This ale marks our journey to the only place on the planet where fresh hops are harvested in our spring, the Southern Hemisphere. Our task was daunting-we needed to get the hops picked, dried, flown halfway across the world and into our brew kettle in a little over a week’s time. The result is a North-by-South fusion of fresh New Zealand hops blended with the finest North American malts. Its robust hop character presents an intriguing floral-citrus aroma leading to layers of fresh-hop spiciness. Enjoy!”

Over at Bracketeers there is any online poll trying to find what the best beer brewed in Iowa is. I think I I know where my vote is going; how about you? Check it out here! http://public.bracketeers.com/matchup.php?id=1435

Lots of tough First round matchups. I’m thinking Toppling Goliath Golden Nugget wins it all, but Millstream and Peace Tree might surprise.

Over at Bracketeers there is any online poll trying to find what the best beer brewed in Iowa is. I think I I know where my vote is going; how about you? Check it out here! http://public.bracketeers.com/matchup.php?id=1435

Lots of tough First round matchups. I’m thinking Toppling Goliath Golden Nugget wins it all, but Millstream and Peace Tree might surprise.

Two new beers along with Tallgrass hitting the shelves. Jolly Pumpkin’s Bier De Mars has hit the shelves; here’s a little more about the beer from ratebeer.com.
“A sustaining beer that is brewed to comfort in the gusty ides of March and welcome in a wealth of warmer weather.”

Madhouse Brewing out of Newton, IA has released Madhouse Maibock. From the brewery:
“A Maibock is a traditional Bavarian lager brewed in the spring to transition between malty beers of winter and lighter summer brews.  Maibocks (May-Bock) combine the strength of a dark winter Bock with the refreshing hoppiness of a light summer sipper.  Our version features the German Saphir hop, a relatively new hop variety noted for its bright citrus and tangerine-like flavors. 

 This is the second of our Venture Series– A series of one-time release, seasonally brewed beers that allow craft beer enthusiasts to explore the diverse flavors and styles of their favorite beverage.” 

Toppling Goliath has announced that Old Chicago in Coralville, IA is now serving their pseudoSue pale ale.
From the website:
“Pale Ale – 5.8% ABV, 50 IBUs
This single hop ale showcases the Citra hop. Named for the largest T-rex fossil ever
discovered, she roars with ferocious aromas of grapefruit, citrus, mango and evergreen. Delicate in body with a mild bite in the finish.”

Get to Old Chicago; check it out and drink some fresh Iowa brew.  

Toppling Goliath has announced that Old Chicago in Coralville, IA is now serving their pseudoSue pale ale.
From the website:
“Pale Ale – 5.8% ABV, 50 IBUs
This single hop ale showcases the Citra hop. Named for the largest T-rex fossil ever
discovered, she roars with ferocious aromas of grapefruit, citrus, mango and evergreen. Delicate in body with a mild bite in the finish.”

Get to Old Chicago; check it out and drink some fresh Iowa brew.  

Received this email from the Iowa Brewer’s Guild:

There aren’t too many beers you remember having for the first time in your life; you drink many, you like many, you tolerate many, you despise many, and there are very few that can actually bring a tear of joy to your eyes. Behold! Three Floyds Zombie Dust!! This was my first beer purchase from ebay and I was very hesitant to do so. Not only are you worried about the condition of the item but the shipping of beer is unbelievably expensive. When I received them I immediately put them in the fridge. 4 hours later the first bottle was cracked and poured.
I’ll be honest, I had huge expectations for this beer because anything you get from Three Floyds (http://www.3floyds.com/) is insanely good; usually above and beyond any other brewery. Too toot their horn even more, I would say to anyone starting a brewery, find out what Three Floyds did and use that as your blueprint to success.
Anyway…… the beer was everything I hoped for. Resinous hops, citrus, (they used the citra hop), and just enough malt to balance it out.  Unfortunately, Three Floyds is very hard to get in Eastern Iowa. You either have to drive to Chicago or Madison to pick it up and even those markets have a hard time keeping it on the shelves. However, if you can get some, it’s worth the trip to either destination. You owe it to yourself as a prominent beer drinker to do. After writing this, I am desperately yearning for more and I can’t….. Madison is only three hours away though.

Commercial Description:
“This intensely hopped and gushing undead pale ale will be ones only respite after the zombie apocalypse. Created with our marvelous friends in the comic industry.”

This is the best pale ale I’ve ever had.

REVIEW

STYLE: American Pale Ale

ABV: 6.2%

Purchased at: http://www.ebay.com

Pour: Dark yellow to gold with a medium sized white head.
Aroma: Citrus hops  with a little breadiness.
Taste: Unbelievably good, citrusy hops, maybe some tropical fruit and a little malt.
Overall: A

Recommendation: If you ever come across this beer buy everything they have on the shelves and stocked in back, it’s that damn good.

With spring being here it is time for some very good beers to start becoming available. Here’s quick look at my favorite spring seasonal beers. Hopefully you can find these on your shelves somewhere and give them a try.

#1 Dogfish Head Apriohop
Dogfish Head Brewery

Even though this beer is not available in Iowa, come spring, and actually all throughout the year I find myself craving this fantastic beer. Dogfish is always trying new and exciting things with their beers, there are big time hits and sometimes there are misses. With this beer though, I think they hit it right on top of the head. The perfect balance of an IPA with just a tad bit of apricot added makes this the perfect spring brew.

#2 Samuel Adams Noble Pils
Boston Beer Company

I know this available year round but up until this year it was only available from March-June. Talk about a fantastic lawn-mowing beer, this is yet. It is hard to find a great pilsner that impresses me, but this one sure does and it is very sessionable. Great brew, glad it is now available all year as it will now be in my fridge all year.

#3 New Belgium Dig
New Belgium Brewery

Their latest releases replaces Mighty Arrow, which I was really fond of. But after trying Dig, I can rest easy as this is a suitable replacement. A very tasty pale ale with the perfect blend of malts to balance out the bitterness of the hops. Good stuff from New Belgium.

#4 Ale Asylum Bedlam!
Ale Asylum; Madison, WI

This a Belgian style IPA so it won’t be as hop forward as some of your west coast IPA’s are. But Ale Asylum does a great job adding the malts to balance out the hops. This beer is a sweeter IPA, think of an orange marmalade type flavor and that is what I get from Bedlam!

#5 Three Floyds Rabid Rabbit
Three Floyds Brewing

I had my first bottle of this beer last week and was blown away by it. A fantastically refreshing farmhouse style ale that would go perfect on a mild spring day. Malty and spicy, it goes down easy, but be careful, 7.4% ABV can sneak up to you.

**I know I’m missing some beers but please feel free to add to this list or let me know your thoughts on the ones that I have posted.**