Beer Review #121: Funkwerks Tropic King

funkwerksIn Iowa we’ve gotten a lot of new breweries hitting our market and one that got me particularly excited was hearing Funkwerks was coming to our shelves. I’m a big fan of Saison style beers and Funkwerks is known for their Saisons. Saisons are a complex beer style because of the wide range of ingredients that are usually used in the brewing process. Usually pilsner malt is used and more hops are added compared to other German style beers to go along with many adjuncts, i.e. spices, honey, fruits, etc.

Tropic King is an Imperial Saison brewed with New Zealand Rakau hops, that give it the mango/citrus flavor, hence the name, and a house yeast strain that give it that peppery flavor. This beer should be served in a tulip glass to get the full aroma of the beer.

Here’s more on this brew:

Bursting with aromas of passion fruit, mango, and peach, our Imperial Saison is brewed using New Zealand Rakau hops. Combined with notes of pepper and ginger produced by our house yeast strain, Tropic King has a unique flavor that has gained it a loyal following.

I’m kind of in love with this beer. Between Saison Dupont, Tank 7 from Boulevard, and now Tropic King from Funkwerks, I have a fridge full of terrific saisons. I really enjoy them in the summer but with the high ABV of Tank 7 and Tropic King these brews should be good to age for a few months, maybe up to a year.

img_0517-620x465FOOD PAIRING
Saisons are also known as Farmhouse style beers so serving a saison should be easy to pair with any old school style dish. For example, I had mine with a beer butt roasted chicken and potatoes. The next night I served it with a wedge of Fromager d’Affinois double crème brie. (available at most Hy-Vees). It’s listed as a double crème but it’s creamier than most double and triple crèmes I’ve had. Addicted to this cheese. It was all terrific. Spicy foods should be a perfect companion as well.

STYLE: Saison/Farmhouse
ABV: 8%
PURCHASED AT: Mt. Vernon Road Hy-Vee
POUR: Golden orange color with a huge white head.
AROMA: Spicy, peppery from the yeast and tropical fruits.
TASTE:  I get a lot of the spice up front and the tropical fruit at the end. Delicious and thirst quenching stuff.
Ratebeer.com rating: 95/100
Beeradvocate rating: 88/100
Overall: A

My recommendation: Buy it. This beer will be a staple and it goes with any kind of temperature we get in Iowa. Great for grilling and will great on a snowy day. This is the type of beer I would recommend to wine drinkers who haven’t found a beer they like because of it’s complexity. Drink away!

New Lips of Faith Beer Announced by New Belgium, Anchorage Saison, Tallgrass Ginger Peach Saison

lipsanchorage*New Belgium – Continuing on with the Lips of Faith series New Belgium has announced a future release and it will be a blackberry barley-wine ale and it checks in at a hefty 12% ABV. No word on when this beer will be released but stay tuned for news on that.

*Anchorage – I hope we see this newer release from Anchorage Brewing hit Eastern Iowa shelves. If you do see it please drop a line and let us know where it can be purchased. Here’s more on Anchorage Brewings Mosaic Saison courtesy of beerstreetjournal.com:

Anchorage Mosaic Saison recently hit shelves. The Alaskan brewery actually released this new offering on Mother’s Day, but as you can imagine (and if you have a map of North America) it takes a little time for Anchorage beers to make it to other markets.

Anchorage Mosaic Saison uses just Mosaic hops, and is fermented with two saison yeast, and two strains of Brettanomyces. Fermented in oak tanks (seen in the background).

Available now in 750ml bottles.

Style: Saison (Oak Aged)
Hops: Mosaic

Availability: 750ml Bottles
Release: May/June, 2015

6.5% ABV

ginger*Tallgrass – another Saison that will hit markets will be in the form of tallboys. Tallgrass will introduce us to their new saison, Ginger Peach and hit should start popping up in stores and on draft this month. Here’s more on this brew courtesy of beerstreetjournal.com:

“We tried several different strains of yeast before arriving at a Belgian strain used in the final recipe,” Brandon Hoag, Tallgrass brewmaster said. “A lot of the flavor comes from the yeast, but it’s the way it interacts with the ginger and peach that makes it slam on the taste buds.”

Tallgrass Ginger Peach Saison is available in 16oz cans as a summer seasonal.

Style: Saison (w/ Ginger, Peaches)
Availability: 16oz Cans, Draft. Summer seasonal
Launch: June, 2015

?? ABV

Stone 24 Carrot Golden Ale hitting shelves in September

24 carrotAnother very unique beer coming from Stone Brewing in collab with Monkey Paw. Here’s the write-up on this unique Carrot Cake inspired beer courtesy of Stone Brewing’s blog:

It seems hard to believe anyone could accomplish this, much less do so in a manner so impressive that the resulting beer would be good enough to beat out hop-heavy IPAs, strong ales, robust stouts and other more mainstream, universally adored styles. Yet, that’s just what Goldenberg did. To the extent where our judging panel was eager to find out just how she did it; concoct an ale that brings in the vegetal, spicy, confectionery essence of such a classic dessert. She started with two key ingredients—20 pounds of whole, grated carrots and golden raisins. The latter were puréed with the wort and both were added to the boil. Though a less obvious specialty additive, beet juice was also included in the recipe to help bolster the eventual orange color of the finished beer. Cinnamon was also added, post-fermentation, to round out the cake flavors, but Goldenberg didn’t stop there. She also wanted to tackle carrot cake’s iconic cream cheese icing. To do that, she incorporated milk sugar (lactose) in the boil and vanilla beans post-fermentation, resulting in a semi-creamy mouthfeel with a flavor reminiscent of fluffy, decadent frosting. When the beer is brewed for real here at Stone, there’s one other special ingredient she’ll draw on, which wasn’t a part of her original recipe—the brewing knowledge and might of downtown San Diego’s Monkey Paw Pub & Brewery, the brewpub she selected as the third collaborator for this strange but sultry beer.

Look for Juli Goldenberg/Monkey Paw/Stone 24 Carrot Golden Ale (see what we did there?) to start hitting shelves across the country in places Stone beer is sold in September. Until then, enjoy a sneak peek at the conceptual artwork for this award-winner and maybe let it inspire you to explore uncharted territory on the homebrewing front from the comfort of your abode.

Rock Bottom Brewer headed to Exile; Update on Need Pizzeria in Cedar Rapids

exileA few bits of news this morning.

It looks like Eric Sorensen, brewer at Rock Bottom, is moving on to brew at Exile Brewery in Des Moines. Huge news as Eric has a fantastic reputation as a terrific brewer as Exile has just gained someone with a great following and knowledge. Congrats to Eric and to Exile! Looking forward to seeing what he can dish out at Exile.

The Second bit of news this morning deals with a new pizza place opening up in downtownNeed Cedar Rapids at 207 2nd Ave. I had some correspondence with Bob Wagner just to get a feel for what they will be offering beer related and also what style of pizza we will be getting. A shuffleboard will be there which sells me already? I challenge any takers to a game! Thanks to Bob for taking the time to get back to me and here’s what he had to say:

Thanks for reaching out! We will have 30 lines going. We would like to have some local stuff on, like Crimson Sunset Peach and Hopped Cider, Lion Bridge, Turner Alley, Backpocket, Big Grove. We plan to do most all of our tap beer as craft and then some cans and bottles of other product as well. It will be a full bar to back up the craft focus. Pizza will be New Haven Style hand crafted thin crust. We will have Ping Pong Tables and shuffle board. Bar area, dining area, private and large party area. Kid friendly and friendly to kid inside the grown up.

Cheers!

Bob Wagner

Reds Alehouse Announces Funkwerks will be on Tap Tuesday, June 9th!

redsI received the following notification from Reds Alehouse in North Liberty, IA. Funkwerks is coming at last! Great news! Cheers beer folks!

FUNKWERKS BREWERY IOWA RELEASE
Fort Collins, CO brewery Funkwerks is joining the growing Iowa craft beer community!  Noted for their saisons and Belgian Ales, Funkwerks beers will be on our tap lines next Tuesday June 9th starting at 11am!  While the beers we are getting are unknown, what is known is how good anything Funkwerks makes, is!  It’s gonna be a good time, so come grab some of the first funkwerksFunkwerks beers tapped in Iowa!

Dubuque River Festival Brewfest Beer List

tshirtThis is just the first release on what will be available Saturday, June 13th in Dubuque. More updates will follow! The t-shirt pictured will be for sale as well. Hope to see everyone there!

*Backpocket-

-NewBo

-Jack knife

-Sling Shot

-Cane Blade

 

*Goose Island-

-IPA

-312

-Summer Ale

-Sofie

-Bourbon Co.

*Potosi-

-Rye Saison

-Tangerine IPA

-Potosi Light

-Steamboat Shandy

*Schlafly-

-Pale Ale APA

*Summit-

-Saga

-Pilsner

-Hopvale Organic

-Great Northern Porter

*Tallgrass-

-16 Bit

-Halcyon

-8 Bit

-Buffalo Sweat

-Fruit Saison

Green Flash Natura Morta Plum Releasing in July and Bells Uranus Ready to Ship

cellar 3The 3rd beer released in the Cellar Series from Green Flash. The question is, will Iowa see this beer? We did get Silva Stout and Flander’s Red should be hitting shelves June 7th, so hopefully we see both new beers from the Cellar 3 series. This beer sounds delicious as it’s a saison that has been fermented in oak foudres and then aged in red wine barrels with plum puree. Here’s more courtesy of beerstreejournal.com:

Green Flash Natura Morta Plum will the third entry into the brewery’s new “Cellar 3″ program. Recently, the brewery opened a new barrel aged location/warehouse/tap room dubbed ‘Cellar 3′, from which beers like Flanders Drive and Silva Stout are a part.

Style: Saison (w/ Plums. Barrel Aged. Wine Aged.)
Availability: 750ml Bottles, Corked & Caged. Limited release.
Arrival: July, 2015

5.5% ABV

bellsBells 6th installment of their Planetary Series, Uranus the Magician, is bottled and ready to ship. Uranus is a black double IPA coming in at 9.5%. Here’s more from beerstreetjournal.com on this release:

Starting last year, Bell’s kicked off a new series based on composer Gustav Holst’s “The Planets” orchestral suite. The beer series, like the suite contains seven movements (beers). Bell’s Mars, The Bringer of War arrived in late summer, 2014.

Bell’s Uranus, The Magician, is an black imperial IPA, in an attempted to capture the essence of the dark planet that is almost 32, 000 miles from Earth.

The hop profile is enormous and complex with help from Citra, Galaxy, Polaris and other hard to find hops. The use of de-bittered or de-husked black malt lends color without the overly astringent or roasty flavors normally associated with stouts and porters.

Bell’s Uranus is available in June in 12oz bottles for a limited time.

Style: Imperial IPA
Hops: Citra, Galaxy, Polaris
Availability: 12oz Bottles. One-time Release

Boulevard Collab #5 to be released in September

boulevardBoulevard Brewing Company will be releasing their Collab #5 this fall and it is set to be a tropical pale ale using citra, mosaic, lemondrop, azacca. Here’s more from Boulevard’s press release:

Our collaboration series of beers has allowed us to work (and drink) with some of our favorite people in the beer industry who brew fantastic beers. We’ve been lucky enough to brew with Jean-Marie Rock from Orval, Larry Sidor and Deschutes Brewing Company, Dann and Martha of Pretty Things Beer & Ale Project and our sister brewery, Phil Leinhart and Brewery Ommegang. During a new market rollout in Florida, a brewery we have tremendous respect for was kind enough to open their tasting room to us to host a Boulevard tap takeover to celebrate our entrance into the state. Not only did they put our beers on tap in their brewery, but they went above and beyond by showing Game 7 of the World Series on their tasting room televisions which had never displayed anything but their beer list and a live video feed of their brewhouse and fermentation cellars. We were so taken by the hospitality and kindness displayed by the great people of Cigar City Brewing, and the amazing quality of their beers, that we just knew we wanted to brew our next collaboration beer with them. Over plates of BBQ, a few rounds of beers and a couple of conference calls, it was decided that Boulevard Brewing Company and Cigar City Brewing would team up to bring you Collaboration No. 5.

Combining CCB’s expertise with tropical fruit flavors and Boulevard’s love of pale ales, Collaboration No. 5 – Tropical Pale Ale begins with a base of soft pilsner malt layered with Maris Otter, Munich and caramel malts. Huge late hopping with a blend of Mosaic, Citra, Lemondrop and Azacca lends bright flavors of mango, pear, blueberry and citrus to a pale ale featuring slightly toasted biscuit and caramel/toffee notes. Infused with freshly sliced grapefruit at the conclusion of the boil, our tropical pale ale is briefly aged on passion fruit and grapefruit at the end of fermentation resulting in a refreshing acidity and tropical fruit flavor and aroma. At 7.3 ABV and 55 IBUs, Collaboration No. 5 – Tropical Pale Ale finishes slightly tart with bright citrus character from dry-hopping with Lemondrop, Azacca and Pacific Jade hops.

As of this minute, we’re targeting a release date in September. Collaboration No. 5 – Tropical Pale Ale will be exclusively brewed and packaged at Boulevard Brewing Company in Kansas City, Missouri. For the first time in our collaboration series, we’ll package the beer in 4 packs of 12 ounce bottles moving away from our 750 ml bottle. As with past releases, we’ll also release 1/6 bbl kegs. Collaboration No. 5 – Tropical Pale Ale will distributed through the Boulevard distribution network and will be available throughout our footprint of 31 states and Washington DC.

Please stay tuned as we finalize more details.

Coming Soon: Stone Enjoy By 7-4-15, Xocoveza, Funkwerks

enjoy byA good bit of news for Eastern Iowa beer lovers as Stone will be releasing two very popular products in the future and we will hopefully start seeing some Funkwerks hitting shelves soon.

*Stone Enjoy By 7-4-15 will be hitting Eastern Iowa shelves in the next few weeks and will once again be available in 6 packs and also in bombers.

*Stone Xocoveza – the popular stout from last year will once again be released this year but with a few changesStone-Xocoveza-Extra-Anejo- to the recipe. According to beerstreetjournal.com this version of Xocoveza will be aged in red wine barrels and tequila bareels. More from beerstreetjournal.com:

Stone Xocoveza Extra Anejo will grace the brewery’s coveted Quingente Millilitre Series, a souped-up version of the original release. In addition to the cocoa, coffee, peppers, vanilla, cinnamon, and nutmeg that was added to Xocoveza Mocha Stout, Stone has aged this edition in both red wine barrels and tequila barrels.

funkwerksFunkwerks – And last but not least a brewery we’ve been hearing for sometime to be hitting Iowa but for whatever reason keeps getting delayed is Funkwerks. According to a very reputable beeradvocate source, Bottlecaps80, Funkwerks bottles should be hitting shelves in next few weeks in the Des Moines area, haven’t heard on Eastern Iowa yet but it shouldn’t be too far behind Des Moines.

*If you have any news tidbits please pass them my way! Cheers!

Great Divide going to cans this Summer!

great divideThe following comes from the Great Divide Brewing Newsletter. Cans coming this summer!

It’s been a long journey, but our canning line has been assembled, our cans have been printed, and we are gearing up to start filling them with beer! Titan, Colette, Lasso, and Whitewater (a hoppy wheat ale and the newest addition to our seasonal line-up) will be available this summer!

cans