Tag: iabeerbaron

Left Hand Brewing Release Party Info!

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left hand

Pour Hard Iowa!
Left Hand Brewing returns to Iowa

LONGMONT, CO • July 21, 2014 – Left Hand Brewing Company is excited to announce their return to the Iowa market in early August!  Left Hand, in partnership with Johnson Brothers of Iowa, will officially re-enter the state and feature their award-winning portfolio of balanced and innovative brands including Milk Stout Nitro. “We’re thrilled to re-introduce Left Hand to the Iowa market and to offer our accounts and beer drinkers the full line of one of the most recognized breweries in the country,” comments Lyle Stutzman of Johnson Brothers.

Outpaced demand forced Left Hand to temporarily withdraw from the state in 2011, in order to maintain quality and service standards.  In recent years, Left Hand has undergone a significant production expansion, including a new bottling hall, 6K sq. ft. cooler, and the addition of eight-480 bbl fermenters. As a result, barrelage has increased 78% in volume since 2011, yielding 65,879 bbls in 2013 and on track for over 80K in 2014. The increased capacity has allowed for Left Hand’s expansion, including entry into upstate NY, MD, DC, Western PA, and Iowa in 2014. The nearly 21 year old brewery is now the 38th largest craft beer brewery in the country by volume and distributed in 28 states and the District of Columbia.

Fortunately, growth has not compromised quality. Left Hand won 3 Gold medals at the 2013 Great American Beer Festival, a 2013 Gold European Beer Star and most recently a Gold award at the 2014 World Beer Cup. “Left Hand has really pushed the envelope in the last couple of years by being the first craft brewery to bottle nitrogenated beer while continuing to produce beers that have consistently set the standard within multiple style categories,” notes Lyle Stutzman from Johnson Brothers. “Not only are we excited to have flagship favorites like Sawtooth Ale back, but also bring the Nitro series of beers to Iowa for the first time!”

Johnson Brothers will distribute Left Hand’s perennial line and Nitro series including: Milk Stout & Milk Stout Nitro, Sawtooth Ale & Sawtooth Nitro, 400 Pound Monkey IPA, Black Jack Porter, Polestar Pilsner, Stranger Pale Ale, Left Hand’s variety pack – Mountain Mixer as well as seasonals and limited editions. A series of launch events will be held in Iowa the first week of August including release parties at the Blue Ribbon Bacon Festival, el Bait Shop, Zombie Burger, and more!

For a full digital list of Left Hand’s Iowa Events to share, visit our blog!

8/5-8/7 Left Hand Tastings
17 tastings from Council Bluffs to Bettendorf! Check out our Google map and get your first taste!

8/5 BLT – Beer, Bacon and our Return to Iowa!
Left Hand and the Blue Ribbon Bacon Festival are teaming up to to re-introduce Left Hand Beers to Iowa. Join us at Brenton Skating Plaza on August 5 for three Iowa favorites: sweet corn, B.L.T.s and cold beer!

8/5 – Reds Alehouse Release Party – Iowa City
Red’s Ale House welcomes Left Hand Brewing back to Iowa with a comprehensive Tap Takeover including the rare Wake Up Dead Nitro, our Russian Imperial Stout!

8/5 Zombie Burger Late Night Release Party – Des Moines
Join Left Hand’s Iowa Beer Hero Joe Shea and Midwest Regional Manager Mike Walters at Zombie Burger in Des Moines for a Special Late Night Release Party featuring Wake Up Dead Nitro.

8/6 The Keg Stand Tap Invasion Launch Event
Left Hand is Invading The Keg Stand in Des Moines featuring our whole line-up of craft Beer for the Iowa Market. There is no better time to find your favorite Left Hand Beer.

8/7 – el Bait Shop Welcome Back Party
Join us as El Bait Shop welcomes Left Hand Brewing to the great State of Iowa with a Ten Line Tap Takeover, our largest of the Week including 4 special releases!

– See more at: http://lefthandbrewing.com/blog/2014/07/pour-hard-iowa/#sthash.SQrQLsLW.dpuf

Restaurant Review: Brix Cheese Shop and Wine Bar; Iowa City, IA

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brixI’ve told my wife if I could open up any type of restaurant or bar it would be a charcuterie, cheese and beer store. Food and beer go hand in hand and at Brix Cheese Shop and Wine Bar in Iowa City, (209 N. Linn St.) they have a huge selection of great cheese and meat pairings. Obviously, as the name of the restaurant implies, they have a massive selection of fine wines. Unfortunately, the Baron doesn’t really know a damn thing about wine, (I enjoy it, just don’t know much), but I did notice that they had 6 craft taps. After talking to the waiter, who was wonderfully patient with me and knowledgeable, he said they always carry a Toppling Goliath brew and are constantly rotating their taps. I went for a Destihl Brewing stout and on the recommendation of the waiter, ordered the Monger’s Choice which ended up being half a sheeps milk and half a goat’s milk halved with some sort of ash consistency that paired great with my beer. Along with some strips of pancetta and crunchy, chewy bread, I was in heaven.

brix1Along with the great meat and cheese selections they had a huge menu full of sandwiches as well. This is going to be a stop I make frequently when in that area of Iowa City. Very impressed with the staff and selection and even if you don’t know much about wine, they have some excellent beers on tap as well. I can’t wait to get back! Cheers!

Perennial and New Belgium Lips of Faith Collab: Salted Belgian Chocolate Stout

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salted stout

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I post this not knowing whether or not we will be getting this beer in Iowa, but I am assuming that we will since we have seen most of, if not all of, New Belgium’s Lips of Faith series beers. This one really has my attention as I have heard and read nothing but good things about Perennial and the name of the beer alone makes my mouth water. Here’s more on the beer courtesy of Feast Magazine written by Stacy McCann:

Perennial Artisan Ales has announced a collaboration with New Belgium Brewing out of Fort Collins, Colorado. The new edition, a Salted Belgian Chocolate Stout, will be a part of New Belgium’s Lips of Faith series to be released later this year.

The collaboration itself, as Emily Wymore of Perennial explains, is the result of friendship. Lauren Salazar is the Wood Cellar and specialty brand manager at New Belgium as well as a good friend of the Perennial crew. Wymore explains that Salazar approached Perennial last year about brewing together for their Lips of Faith series, and Perennial was quick to accept with what Wymore describes as both honor and excitement.

Considering Perennial’s previous success with stouts, Salazar suggested they work together on “a stout with a twist.” Together, the two breweries decided on a Salted Chocolate Belgian Stout. According to Wymore, both breweries then brewed a test batch and decided on a final recipe, which co-founder Phil Wymore and head brewer Cory King will brew alongside New Belgium staff this August in Fort Collins. In addition, Salazar will join Perennial in October to celebrate their third anniversary and brew the collaboration on Perennial’s own system.

Wymore and the Perennial crew see this opportunity as unlike many they’ve come across, especially considering the vast reach of the New Belgium audience.

“To give this project scale,” explains Wymore, “the volume produced by New Belgium of this beer alone will be more than Perennial produces in a year.”

Jubeck’s New World Brewery opening in Dubuque July 17th!

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jubeckJay Jubeck has announced that his brewery in Dubuque will be opening their doors on July 17th. They currently feature 5 beers on their website:

Golden Hybrid Beer

A light hybrid session beer of blondish gold hue with a slight honey-like sweetness and a mild herbal hop character.

Lavender Honey-Wheat

A delightfully refreshing light wheat ale with a subtle spicy herbal flavor.

Warrior Stout

A bold imperial stout with a full-bodied, roasty, malty flavor.

Dark IPA

Wonderfully dark and slightly roasty, but not too much roasted malt bitterness.

Apricot Pale Ale

American pale ale style beer finished with a healthy dose of citra hops and dried apricots, added late in the boil, for a subtle fruity flavor.
Jubeck recently interviewed with KCRG to discuss the upcoming opening. Here’s the link to that interview:
http://www.kcrg.com/dubuques-jubeck-new-world-brewery-to-open-july-17th-20140708

Stone Enjoy By 8.16.14 hits Shelves July 12

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stone enjoy byLooks like we will be getting another nationwide release on the newest batch of Stone’s popular Enjoy By IPA. You have 2 days to finish off the last batch and then on the 12th there should be more to come! Here’s more:

(Escondido,CA) – Stone Enjoy By 07.04.14 is set to turn back into a pumpkin in two days, but not to fret, a new batch is in the tanks and ready to hit the streets July 12th. This will be called Stone Enjoy By 08.16.14 IPA.

From our preliminary info, this will have the same hop blend as the past few batches:Ahtanum, Super Galena, Simcoe, Amarillo, Delta, Target, Calypso, Cascade, Citra, Galaxy, Nelson Sauvin, Motueka and Helga.

While a few batches have been limited to a few markets, we believe this to be another national release like the 07.14.14 batch.

Founders Dark Penance Imperial Black IPA coming in October

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The following press release comes from Founders Brewing website at http://www.foundersbrewing.com:

We announced today that we’ll be releasing Dark Penance, an Imperial Black IPA, as a specialty release this October 2014 with availability through the end of the year. It’s replacing the TBA in ouravailability calendar that many of you noticed when we published it late in 2013. Dark Penance will be available throughout our distribution footprint both on draft and in 12 oz. bottles with a suggested retail price of $11.99 per 4-pack.

Founders Brewing Co. Dark Penance Imperial Black IPA

Dark Penance is the newest addition to our lineup of world class IPAs, which includes Centennial IPA, Red’s Rye IPA, Double Trouble, Devil Dancer and All Day IPA, a session IPA.

“We don’t just add beers to our lineup to have something new on the shelves,” said Dave Engbers, co-founder and vice president of brand and education at Founders Brewing Co. “OurBackstage Series is for experimentation and keeping things fresh, and we still only put those out a few times a year. Dark Penance, on the other hand, went through many recipe iterations before we were willing to put it up there with the other beers that we release again and again, year after year.”

The recipe for Dark Penance took about a year to develop, time that was mostly spent perfecting the beer’s balance and hop profile. It’s the first new beer to be added to our lineup since All Day IPA, which was released in spring 2012 following three years of development.

Dark Penance starts with a heavy malt foundation of Crystal malt for sweetness and just enough Midnight Wheat to push the color to black. The bitterness is huge (100 IBUs huge), but balanced by malt sweetness and alcohol burn. The hop flavors and aromas range from citrus to floral to pine—most everything that hops can be—thanks to a delicious blend of hand-selected Chinook and Centennial hops. The Imperial Black IPA is 8.9% ABV.

“Black IPAs are becoming more common, but Imperial Black IPAs aren’t, and imperializing things is what we do,” said Brewmaster Jeremy Kosmicki. “Plus, we thought this beer would fit in well with our specialty lineup alongside Imperial Stout, Curmudgeon Old Ale and Double Trouble.” Dark Penance will be available as the follow up to Double Trouble in our specialty calendar, from roughly October to December, dependent on distributor shipments. It will be released in our taproom on draft and in bottles as of October 2014.

Distribution News: Surly, Left Hand, and Lagunitas

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surlyIf the following news comes to fruition, Iowa craft beer lovers will be swimming in a bunch more great craft beer! Here’s the latest rumblings from the craft beer forum world:

**For Eastern Iowa Fleck Sales will start distribution Lagunitas in July.**

**Left Hand Brewing will follow Lagunitas and will become available in August.**

**And finally…….Surly brewing should be going to statewide distribution in January.**

Lot of great things on the horizon to go along with the great things we already have. Cheers to a great weekend!

Deschutes Black Butte XXVI hitting shelves

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black butteI haven’t seen or heard anyone picking up or seeing bottles of this on the shelves, but according to a Ratebeer email this brew hit shelves the 27th. Still waiting on confirmation from a few beer retailers but it should be here soon. Here’s the press release:

26th Birthday Reserve
Unavailable
Porter
Limited Quantities
Alc. 10.8%
22 oz serving
Our 26th anniversary Imperial Porter was aged in bourbon barrels and dry spiced with Theo Chocolate’s cocoa nibs, revealing hints of vanilla and chocolate. Pomegranate molasses and Oregon cranberries complement the robust flavor with a hint of fruit and just enough tart to make you smile. 

Malt: Pale, Wheat, Midnight Wheat, Chocolate, Crystal
Hops: Millennium, Cascade, US Tettnang
Other: Theo Chocolate Cocoa Nibs, Pomegranate Molasses, Cranberries
Barrel-Aging: 6 Months in Bourbon (50%)

Released June 27th, 2014
Pairings
Toasted Walnut Buttermilk Pancakes with Cranberry Maple Syrup 
Black-Pepper Crusted New York Steaks with Black Truffle Vinaigrette
Goat Cheese Stuffed Dates with Prosciutto

Guest Review: sLim Reviews Eatery A; Des Moines, IA

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eatery AThanks for the review sLim!
Been too long since my last guest review. Time to shake off the cobwebs and get back at it! I’ll start it off by getting the word out on a fairly new dining venue in the Ingersoll corridor of Des Moines, located at 2932 Ingersoll Ave . The restaurant goes by the name “Eatery A”. Initially I thought I was going to be dining at an Italian Restaurant. But upon reading the menu, it appears they’re labeled as a Mediterranean. The first of which sLim has ever been to (I mean, would you ever expect a guy who goes by the name of sLim to eat at a place that didn’t have chicken-fried steak on the menu?).
The inner and outer décor suit the place very well. Very modern and artistic, their large, elevated patio overlooks quaint Ingersoll Avenue. The inside was upscale and welcoming at the same time. Think along the lines of a slightly more casual Cheesecake Factory.
Happy Hour-This establishment is really pushing their happy hour specials to bring in customers. It runs from 3-6, EVERY day of the week. At this time, you can get half-price pizzas and half-price wine and draft beers. The pizzas are roughly 12’’ which can easily feed one person or two people with moderate appetites. I was impressed by how many people were there at 5 on a Tuesday. While the restaurant was booming, it still gave off a relaxed atmosphere. I would highly recommend taking advantage of these specials the first time you go there, and with it being offered 7 days a week they are accommodating to nearly anyone’s schedule.
Beer-Their selection is respectable. Their wine selection is a bit more extensive but there are enough beer offerings to satisfy your typical craft brew junkie. It was good to see mostly Iowa breweries featured in their limited tap offerings (Confluence, Millstream, and Backpocket). The more notable beers are offered in bottles (Ommegang Abbey, Stillwater Statewide Saison, and Green Flash Double Stout). They did a good job of making sure all styles were covered so that virtually any food item on their menu would have a corresponding drink that would pair well.
Food-As I stated earlier, the pizza is what I came to try. While they have 14 different offerings, all priced at $13, they are not the types of pizzas you would see offered at Godfather’s. If you’re like me, you wouldn’t know what you were getting yourself into based off of the unfamiliar names of the ingredients.  Rest assured, your server can clear things up for you and help you select one that would like. I went with the #5 which was somewhat of a gyro turned pizza conglomeration. I was impressed; the gyro meat combined with the white sauce is what stood out to me the most. Many of their other menu offerings look very worthwhile in addition to their well established wood-fired pizza.
All in all, this is a fine new restaurant to the Des Moines area, perfect for nearly any occasion. They are doing a lot of things right and I believe it’ll translate to success in the long run. There are several other places nearby so that you could make quite the experience out of a trip to this area. You could grab a post meal dessert/drink at Crème cupcake or a drink on the patio at the original Wellman’s. No shortage of options in this area but whatever the case, be sure to include Eatery A in on your next visit to the Ingersoll corridor.