I just received the following email with an upcoming beer event taking place at the Oakland Road Hy-Vee in Cedar Rapids, IA.
Tag: iabeerbaron
Barrel Aged Old Rasputin XVI coming soon!
Just received the following update from http://www.beerpulse.com on the release of North Coast brewing’s Old Rasputin XVI. Here’s the news:
After nine months of aging in oak bourbon barrels, North Coast Brewing’s award-winning Barrel Aged Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout was released on February 1. Old Rasputin is known as the gold standard for Russian Imperial Stouts. The barrel aging process imbues this rich, intense brew with an even more complex flavor profile.
Barrel Aged Old Rasputin XVI will be arriving at fine retail establishments, restaurants and bars throughout the month of February.
1st Round of Brews Available at Dubuque Beer Festival
The first round of beers that are going to be poured at the Dubuque Beer Festival Saturday, February 15th has been released. There should be more information on what else is being brought as the week goes on but so far here’s the list:
Grumpy Troll – Spetsnaz Stout, Fox and Badger Ale, Troll’s Gold Lager
Potosi Brewing – Potosi Tangerine IPA, Eclipse Black IPA, Potosi Barrel Aged Brandy Wine, Steamboat Shandy, Gandy Dancer Porter..
BLUE CAT
Blue cat brew pub will be sampling their abbey…..something and blue bastard Baltic porter
@CapBrew lineup for #DbqBrewfest – Jobu Rum Barrel Aged Brown Ale, Wisconsin Amber, Mutiny IPA, Maibock, and Dark Voyage IPA
Backpocket Brewing from Coralville, IA
Slingshot Dunkel, Penny Whistle Bavarian Wheat, Wooden Nickel Scottish Lager, Gold Coin Helles!Boulevard Brewing Company ‘s lineup: Boulevard Tank Series (Saison), Irish Ale (Spring Seasonal), Boulevard Unfiltered Wheat Beer, and Boulevard’s Single Wide IPA. #DbqBrewfest
Bent River Brewing Company
UnCommon Stout
Jalapeño Pepper AleBoston Beer Company :
Sam Adams Rebel IPA
Sam Adams Lager
Sam Adams Cold Snap
Angry Orchard Crisp Apple
Angry Orchard Cinnful AppleBreckenridge Brewery of Colorado
Breckenridge Ophelia
Breckenridge 471 IPA Small BatchExile Brewing Co.
Ruthie (Gold Lager)
Hannah (South German Style Hefeweizen)
Gigi (Dark Lager)
SeasonalFront Street Brewery
Simcoe IPA
Davenport Gold
Raging River Ale
Winter Warmer AleGalena Brewing Company
Grigori’s Russian Imperial Stout
Hoppy Wheat American Wheat Ale
MacDougals 90/- Scotch Ale
Wassailers Belgian WitbierGreen Flash Brewing Co.
West Coast IPA
Double Stout Black IPA
Saison Diego Farmhouse Ale
Palate Wrecker
Founders KBS release date announced!
Founders has announced the official release date for their highly anticipated Kentucky Breakfast stout beer. This comes Founders’ Facebook page:
KBS will be released starting April 1 across our distribution footprint this year. We’re doing something special for KBS here in Grand Rapids in March, but we aren’t quite ready to announce the details yet. Please stay tuned.
Stone Go To IPA, Founders Centennial Cans coming soon!
Stone will be the latest brewery coming out with a sessionable IPA as their Go To IPA is slated to hit markets in March this year. The advertisement below gives you an idea of what to expect from the this brew. Also coming in the next few months will be another can option coming from Founders. This time it’s their Centennial IPA hitting the canning line.
Got news? Drop me an email!
Hot 25 of ’13 Part 4!
Shout out to the folks at Coralville Brrr Fest this past weekend. Had another really good time and finally got to meet a few beer folks I’ve tweeted with frequently in the past. A lot of excitement for Eastern Iowa beer lovers again this week with the releases of Toppling Goliath XHOPS Orange and Zeelander. I have a couple of each in my fridge and will dig into them during the Iowa game tonight. Onto the list!
**Boulevard Saison-Brett**
If I remember correctly I enjoyed this for the 1st time during the warm month of August. I had just finished doing some random yardwork around the house and poured this brew. It was almost a goose bump moment when I took a nice long drink, I then immediately drove to a few Hy-Vees around the area and bought a bunch more bottles. Boulevard says it’s okay to cellar this beer if you want more of the “brett” to show through, and that’s what I’ve been doing but the temptation to bust out a few more is always there. More from the brewery:
Saison-Brett, based on our very popular Tank 7, is assertively dry hopped, then bottle conditioned with various yeasts, including Brettanomyces, a wild strain that imparts a distinctive earthy quality. Though this farmhouse ale was given three months of bottle age prior to release, further cellaring will continue to enhance the “Brett” character, if that’s what you’re after.
RATEBEER: 100/100
BEERADVOCATE: 96/100
**Schlafly American IPA**
Schlafly had been a hit and miss brewery with me until I tried their Tasmanian IPA and then their American IPA; both fantastic brews. American IPA barely beat out the Taz as I thought the Taz got a tad to sweet the longer it sit. Both are great, but Taz is nearing the end of its market time for the year and now we get to enjoy the American IPA. One great brew to another. From the brewery:
Exploding with hop flavor and aroma, this citrus/piney/floral ale has enough of a malt backbone to stand up to the intense bitterness.
RATEBEER: 98/100
BEERADVOCATE: 92/100
**Founders All Day IPA**
Session IPAs are getting more and more pub as more and more breweries start to make them. However, no one has hit the nail on the head as Founders did with their All Day IPA. Cans and bottles, this IPA comes in at 4.7% and you consume quite a few of these without the normal result that an IPA brings such as puking all over a nice white carpet, waking up on a cold basement floor, pissing your pants (Mr. Haywood) …. you get where I’m going. This has become so popular we can expect the first (I believe) 15 pack of beer available coming this spring/summer. My go-to tailgate for Iowa Hawkeye football games. From the brewery:
The beer you’ve been waiting for. Keeps your taste satisfied while keeping your senses sharp. An all-day IPA naturally brewed with a complex array of malts, grains and hops. Balanced for optimal aromatic and a clean finish. The perfect reward for an honest day’s work and the ultimate companion to celebrate life’s simple pleasures.
RATEBEER: 96/100
BEERADVOCATE: 86/100
**Toppling Goliath Kentucky Brunch**
I’m not sure there will be any sense of normalcy when it comes to crowds when Toppling Goliath does a special release, but at the 2013 Kentucky Brunch release times were still relatively normal. A huge crowd, yes, busy bar, but for the most part, containable. And even though I didn’t get to try it on tap (ticket #117), I was able secure 2 bottles. Saved for my wedding anniversary and shared with my wife (who loved it more than I was hoping), this brew met all the hype and I can’t wait to go to Decorah the next TG does a release. (Can I put up a tent in the parking lot?) From the brewery:
Beer Aged in Whiskey Barrels with Coffee.
RATEBEER: 100/100
BEERADVOCATE: 100/100
**Founders Breakfast Stout**
A silky, creamy, stroke of genius. The “big” stout that got me to appreciate what a higher ABV stout can bring. Chocolate, coffee, roasted malts and the fact that Founders pretty much says I can enjoy this for breakfast, = great beer. Founders might be one of the best things to happen to Eastern Iowa beer shelves because of the amount of great stuff they supply. More from the brewery:
You’ve got to love coffee to truly appreciate this phenomenal brew. Brewed with an abundance of flaked oats, bitter and sweetened imported chocolates, Sumatra and Kona coffee. We’re actually not sure if this is some type of coffee cake or a beer. Either way you can drink this ale with a fork. Breakfast Stout has an intense fresh roasted coffee nose toped with a cinnamon colored frothy head that seems to never fade and makes you wish breakfast could last forever.
RATEBEER: 100/100
BEERADVOCATE: 100/100
One more list of 5 to go! Do my first 20 come anywhere close to yours? What have I missed or did I come pretty close to yours? Would love to hear your thoughts.
Founders All Day IPA 15 Packs hitting the market
That’s right, 15 packs. Here’s more from the brewery:
We’re excited to announce 15-pack cans of All Day IPA will begin shipping to our distributor partners in March, replacing All Day IPA 12-pack cans without raising the suggested retail price.
This is the first time a major craft brewery has put out a 15-pack.
“We are able to offer 15-pack cans due to production efficiencies from packaging cost savings,” said Co-Founder Mike Stevens. “We’re excited to pass the savings on to our customers as a way of saying thank you for their reception of All Day IPA.”
Developing the All Day IPA recipe was no easy task. “We recognized the need for a full-flavored IPA with a lower ABV,” said Co-Founder Dave Engbers. “The challenge was creating a beer that had intense hop aromatics balanced with the malts without packing a big ABV punch.”
Following a limited release in 2012 due to hop shortages, we were able to send All Day IPA to all of our markets in February 2013, and it quickly became our leading seller. We moved the beer from our seasonal to our year-round lineup in July of last year. All Day IPA was the first Founders product to be released in cans; 12-pack cans of the beer hit the market in August 2013.
All Day IPA is a 4.7% ABV session ale, brewed with Simcoe and Amarillo hops and measuring out at 42 IBUs. We set our minds to brewing this beer because we wanted an American IPA that worked with an active lifestyle. It has won numerous awards, including a silver medal in the session beer category at the GABF in 2010 under a working name and, most recently, a 2014 Good Food Award.
We’re calling this new All Day IPA 15-pack a “Brewer’s Dozen”.
Centennial IPA, the newest addition to our canned offerings, will remain in 12-packs. All Day IPA will still be available in the traditional six-pack bottles in addition to 15-pack cans. Other beers from our portfolio may be canned, as well, but those brands have yet to be determined.
Hot 25 of ’13 Part 3
Huge week in Eastern Iowa for beer lovers as Bells Hopslam, Stone Enjoy By, and TG Sue, Zeelander, and more Xhops were announced! Tough to beat week! We are also a few months for some KBS which will cause great excitement as well. Here we go with Part 3:
**Toppling Goliath Sosus**
A huge year to say the least for the folks brewing in Decorah. Bottling line finally up and going and releases of Kentucky Brunch, Mornin’ Delight, XHops, and Sosus have them one of the most talked about breweries in the country. Early in ’13, Sue and Sosus were released simultaneously and people went crazy for it, and still do. This Imperial IPA focuses on the mosaic hop bringing out citrus and tropical fruit notes along with some dankness that make this an easy pick for the Hot 25 in Eastern Iowa! More please! From the brewery:
In his most notable mosaic work, Sosus of Pergamon depicts doves sunning atop a golden chalice. The image was said to be so enticing that real birds flew into it while trying to reach their stone companions. This single-hop showcase is inspired by the beauty of divinity of the Sosus mosaics. Just as the doves discovered their golden nectar, discover the irresistible nature of the Mosaic hop.
RATEBEER: 100/100
BEERADVOCATE: 98/100
**Deschutes Fresh Squeezed**
One of the newer breweries to hit the market this year was Deschutes. With offerings such as their Black Butte Porter, Mirror Pond Pale Ale, and Obsidian Stout, they were a welcome to the shelves of Eastern Iowa. But my favorite, (haven’t tried Abyss yet) has been their Fresh Squeezed release. And the best news is, this will become a new year round offering from them. Here’s more from the brewery:
This mouthwateringly delicious IPA gets its flavor from a heavy helping of citra and mosaic hops. Don’t worry, no fruit was harmed in the making of this beer.
Ratebeer: 98/100
Beeradvocate: 92/100
**Founders Double Trouble**
This list is looking a little IPA heavy, but there have been some great ones coming our way. Founders has been really good to us and I think at times, it is taken for granted. Their porter is easily one of my favorite standard porters and All Day IPA has become a mainstay in my fridge. Double Trouble comes packing the hops and it delivers! A lot of grapefruit comes from this one balanced nicely by just the right amount of malt. Excellent brew! More from the brewery:
An imperial IPA that was brewed to turn your world upside down. Hops have got you coming and going. Pungent aromatics up front paired with a malt balanced backbone and a smooth bitter finish. 86 IBUs.
RATEBEER: 100/100
BEERADVOCATE: 94/100
**Braissere Dupont Avec Les Bons Voeux**
As I continue to make my through the saison styles (just had my first Hill Farmstead which was amazing!) I keep coming back to Tank 7 and this brew from Braissere Dupont. The beer guy at John’s Grocery in Iowa City recommended it to me one day and I keep going back to it since then. Everything you want in a saison comes in this beer; lemony, pepper, grassy, barnyard, and refreshing. It’s all here, give this a try! More from the brewery:
Bons Vœux (Good Wishes) is a blond high fermentation beer , re-fermented in the bottle. Founded in 1970 , this beer was offered earlier this year to the most loyal customers of our brewery ( hence the name “With the best wishes of the brewery Dupont “). The success this beer earned lead to it being made commercially, while retaining its original name. Although very popular, it was brewed in limited quantities, the bottles reserved many months in advance. A coppery blond beer with aromas of hops for the Bon Voeux is a beer tasting combining mellow bitterness and fruity. Our selection of yeasts and a long maturation phase with hopping gives it flavor and a characteristic and complex taste. The true fermentation in the bottle , which can be extended very long in your cellar, resulting in a balanced and harmonious beer, surprising and complex aromas.
Ratebeer: 99/100
Beeradvocate: 93/100
**Madhouse Barrel Aged Stout**
Introduced to me at last years Brr Fest in Coralville, IA this is the perfect introductory beer to the barrel-aged styles. So smooth and creamy, Madhouse used Templeton Rye barrels to age their stout and pulled off an excellent roasted, smoky, a bit boozy barrel aged imperial stout. Madhouse was originally located in Newton, IA but will be opening up shop in Des Moines, IA soon.
Ratebeer: 76/100
Beeradvocate: 88/100
Dubuque Brewfest Set for Saturday, February 15th
I just received the following correspondence regarding the 2nd annual Dubuque Brewfest set for Saturday, February 15th.
2014 Dubuque On Ice Brewfest
Saturday, February 15
Mystique Community Ice CenterDubuque On Ice Brewfest is sure to satisfy your palate. Guests are welcome to come sample a variety of unique craft beer, wine, craft liquor, local coffee, specialty cheeses, sausage and chocolates at the Mystique Community Ice Center. Meet one-on-one with brewmasters while sampling a craft beverages, tasty treats, and enjoying live music. FEATURED BREWERIES
Testimonials From
Last Year’s Brewfest
“Dubuque was a fun time for my family and I had a great time at the festival,”Russ Klisch, Owner/Brewer
Lake Front Brewery-Milwaukee“Congratulations on a terrific Brewfest, we had a blast…..It looked like it was very well managed and received
by the community and I
know it will continue to grow”,
Terry Mozena, Premier Bank“The beer selection was great, and it was well organized. I’ll be back
next year.”
MK-DubuqueSaturday February 15
Mystique Community Ice Center
1800 Admiral Sheehy Drive Dubuque, IowaNoon to 1:00 pm
VIP Early Entrance1:00-5:00pm
Vendors OpenNoon-4:30 pm
Music: The Lonely GoatsTickets:
$35 General Admission
$50 VIP Ticket Noon EntranceThe list of breweries this year include the following with more possibly to be named later:
Potosi Brewing
Galena Brewing
Grumpy Troll Brewing
Jubeck New World Brewing
Bent River Brewing
One Barrel Brewing
Backpocket Brewing
Capital Brewing
Blue Cat Brewpub
Schlafly
Millstream Brewing
Great River Brewing
Tallgrass
Goose Island
Hot 25 of ’13: Part 2!
Continuing on with my picks for the best beers in Eastern Iowa in the year 2013, I will start with another offering from Toppling Goliath. Now be warned, this won’t be their last entry either. They are one of the hottest and most sought after breweries right now and rightfully so. Back to the list………..
**Toppling Goliath pseudoSue**
A no-brainer really. I’ve talked this beer to death and I think that the 
only thing I can say is that I can’t wait for the day that I can get this anytime, any day, I want. This is one of my favorite all-time beers. The comparisons between this and Zombie Dust continue with beer geeks that have had both. I can honestly say, that I would much rather has Sue than Zombie, and I’m not being homer. I think this is the better beer overall. Here’s more from brewery:
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.
Ratebeer: 100/100
Beeradvocate: 100/100
**515 Brewery O.J. IPA**
Ok, ok, I know that Clive, IA isn’t exactly Eastern Iowa, but piss on it, this is my blog and it’s close enough. I was lucky enough to stop by 515 Brewery in Clive (www.515brewing.com) on a trip back from Kansas City. I got a flight of brews and enjoyed them very much, but the O.J. was the one that shined for me. This beer is scary drinkable. Refreshing, crisp, clean, with the perfect amount of hops. An awesome beer! Hopefully 515 will soon have growler fills (fingers crossed) or even start bottling (down the road???) so more people can enjoy their brews. But if the Des Moines area, this place is definitely worth the trip!
Ratebeer: N/A
Beeradvocate: N/A
**Evil Twin Barrel-Aged Biscotti Break**
This brew definitely came with a hefty price tag. I wasn’t able to secure one in Iowa but found the last bottle at a Steve’s in Madison, WI. I balked a bit at the $25 price tag, but went ahead with purchase, after my wife told me to just do it so I wouldn’t talk about not getting to try it. Great wife. Anyway, I’ve seen this on a lot of “Best Of 2013” lists. If you enjoyed the regular Biscotti then this is your next step. If you could get two, then lucky you, one now and one in a year or two. From the brewery:
Imperial Biscotti Break aged on Bourbon barrels for 9 months.
RATEBEER: 99/100
BEERADVOCATE: 99/100
**Boulevard Tank 7**
This beer has been on our shelves for so long, and saison/farmhouse ales aren’t as glamorous as Imperial IPAs or barrel aged beers, but man, I love a great saison, and this is a great saison. This is a brew that is good anytime of the year. If you are looking to get into a new style of beer, try saisons. There are so many good ones that we have on our shelves (2 more will appear on my list:) that there is no excuse not to try them. More from the brewery:
Most breweries have at least one piece of equipment that’s just a bit persnickity. Here at Boulevard it’s fermenter number seven, the black sheep of our cellar family. Ironically, when our brewers were developing variations on a traditional Belgian-style farmhouse ale, the perfect combination of elements came together in that very vessel. You could call it fate, but they called it Tank 7, and so it is. Beginning with a flavorful surge of fruity aromatics and hoppy, grapefruit notes (Amarillo hops), this complex, straw-colored ale finishes long, dry and spicy.
RATEBEER: 99/100
BEERADVOCATE: 93/100
**Bells Two Hearted Ale**
It’s been around a while. It’s still one of the best beers we have available year round on our shelves. This beer gets overlooked a lot of the time with all the anticipation of limited releases or seasonals, but when in doubt, you can always go to Two Hearted Ale. I used to pass this beer up, way back in the day, not taking the fish on the cover serious as a possible good-tasting brew. Don’t make the mistake of judging a beer by its cover because this is one tasty brew. I have since grown to love that fish. More from the brewery:
India Pale Ale style well suited for Hemingway-esque trips to the Upper Peninsula. American malts and enormous hop additions give this beer a crisp finish and incredible floral hop aroma.
RATEBEER: 100/100
BEERADVOCATE: 95/100
So there’s the next ten. I am on my way tonight to Big Grove Brewery in Solon to try their new Citra hopped pale ale. I’ve heard nothing but great things and some have even said that it is better than……GASP……PSEUDOSUE!! DOUBLE GASP!! If that’s the case then they might have kick me out of the joint because I’m not leaving! CHEERS!!
