Founders Devil Dancer Has Arrived!

June 3, 2013Leave a comment

New to Eastern Iowa shelves is Founders Devil Dancer. Just the lastest great beer from Founders (www.foundersbrewing.com) to hit our shelves. Grab a 4 pack and enjoy! Here’s more about the beer:

Ratebeer: 99/100

Beeradvocate: 89/100

From the brewery: Founders most complex, most innovative, most feared and yet most revered ale produced. Massive in complexity the huge malt character balances the insane amount of alpha’s used to create this monster. More IBU’s than any brewery has documented, more than you would believe and dry-hopped for twenty-six days straight with a combination of 10 hop varieties. Dangerously drinkable and deliciously evil. We dare you to dance with the Devil. 112 IBUs

iabeerbaron's 10 Beers for Summer

May 29, 20133 Comments

The weather is getting warmer, the grass has just been mowed, and there are various meats sizzling on the grill. You’re conflicted as you reach into your beer fridge and try to decide what beer to go with. Do you go with a lighter pils, a higher ABV IPA, or a dark, thick, stout? The answer? All three are perfect for summer weather! Now I know that most people like to have sessionable beers for summer, but don’t think that a stout doesn’t go down smooth and refreshing on a nice summer evening, or that a big IPA can’t be enjoyed on your deck as you watch your kids play. I could go the route of listing a bunch of sessionable beers but let’s make it fun throw everyone in the pool. All styles are fair game this time of year, and here is my breakdown of what to enjoy this summer. (All available in Eastern Iowa). Sidenote: I know that I most likely left out some beers unintentionally so feel free to add your favorites.

10. Madhouse Hopburst
Brewery: Madhouse Brewing
City: Newton, IA
Style: American IPA
ABV: 7.2%
Website: www.madhousebeer.com
A wonderful American IPA brewed right here, in the great state of Iowa. A great balance of malt and hops make this an easy pick for a very enjoyable summer beer. Enjoy this beer with a bratwurst loaded with sauerkraut, spicy mustard, and onions or a thick ribeye cooked medium rare. Perfect!

9. Millstream Big Honey Hefeweisen
Brewery: Millstream Brewing
City: Amana, IA
Style: Weizen Bock
ABV: 9.2%
Website: www.millstreambrewing.com

Another Iowa brewed beer making the list and this is a big boy! A huge aroma and flavor of bananas, rounded out by cloves and tons of honey make this a fantastic beer for a crisp fall day/evening, but also makes for the perfect ending to a warm summer day as well. Enjoy this beer with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream to end the evening.

8. Bells Oberon
Brewery: Bells Brewery
City: Kalamazoo, MI
Style: Wheat Ale
ABV: 5.8%
Website: www.bellsbeer.com
Moving onto a more “sessionable” and distinct beer for the summer. Bells Oberon ale is usually on everyones’ summer list when it’s time to talk summer beers, and rightfully so. Citrus and spice flavor make this a very refreshing summer beer pick. Pair this with some grilled fish and a tomato avocado salad and all will be well with your day.

7. Lost Coast Tangerine Wheat
Brewery: Lost Coast Brewery
City: Eureka, CA
Style: Fruit Beer
ABV: 5%
Website: www.lostcoast.com

Summer can’t be complete without a trip out west to California. A staple in my fridge throughout the summer months is Lost Coast’s Tangerine Wheat. Not only do I enjoy one or two of these but it is the perfect beer to have on hand for the BMC drinkers to enjoy as well. It seems that most BMC loyalists will always welcome a fruit beer, not sure why, but anyway, this brew has a low ABV and a refreshing tangerine presence. Tough to pair fruit beers but a light salad with a tangerine wheat vinaigrette would do nicely or some shrimp tacos with spicy salsa.

6. Saison Dupont Farmhouse Ale
Brewery: Brasserie Dupont
City: Tourpes-Leuze, Belgium
Style Farmhouse/Saison
ABV: 6.5%
Website: brasserie-dupont.com/
I have really taking a liking to saison styles in the last 6-7 months and it’s all thanks to this beer. Saison Dupont has everything you need in a saison: barnyard qualities, grassiness, banana, black pepper spice, and citrus. Amazing beer for a summer day. This beer would go perfect with a herb seasoned beer can chicken stuffed with lemons and onions!

5. Founders All Day IPA
Brewery: Founders Brewing
City: Grand Rapids, MI
Style: IPA
ABV: 4.7%
Website: www.foundersbrewing.com

Association sessionable to IPA isn’t usually ones’ first thought. But Founders Brewing has created a beer that will appease both hopheads and also people who want to sit around at a camp out and drink a six-pack or two of really good beer. Take it on a picnic with a bucket of fried chicken and coleslaw!

4. Summit Oatmeal Stout
Brewery: Summit Brewing
City: St. Paul, MN
Style: Sweet Stout
ABV: 4.7%
Website: www. summitbrewing.com

A popular summer destination for my family is supper at The General Store Pub in Stone City, IA. Why? Good bar food, a great locale, and Summit Brewing Oatmeal Stout on tap! A wonderfully, creamy stout, easy to drink and hard to put down your glass. Goes well with some fried foods or just on its own.

3. Boulevard Tank 7 Farmhouse Ale
Brewery: Boulevard Brewing
City: Kansas City, MO
Style: Farmhouse
ABV: 8.5%
Website: www.boulevard.com

A beer that is moving up my “favorites” list is Boulevard’s Tank 7 Farmhouse Ale. Boulevard hits an absolute home run with this brew, and coming in a 8.5%, a bomber of this, an all-beef hot dog with sauerkraut, jalapeños spicy, mustard, dill pickle relish, and an L.A. Dodger game will do just fine.

2. Green Flash Imperial IPA
Brewery: Green Flash Brewery
City: San Diego, CA
Style: Imperial IPA
ABV: 9.4%
Website: www.greenflashbrew.com

Man do I love this beer. The description of this beer says, “It’s all about the hops!” and there’s no doubt about it. An in-your-face Double IPA with amazing citrus flavor that is slightly balance by malts. My favorite Green Flash beer so far. Smokey, sticky, mouth-watering BBQ ribs and a bomber of this Imperial IPA make for quite an evening.

1. Toppling Goliath pseudoSue
Brewery: Toppling Goliath Brewery
City: Decorah, IA
Style: American Pale Ale
ABV: 5.8%
Website: www.tgbrews.com

Described as an American Pale Ale this beer has more hop presence than some IPAs on the market. If you are craft beer lover from Iowa I’m guessing you’ve had this beer, if not, you must try! All craft beer lovers for that matter! Toppling Goliath is starting to put their name on the craft beer map nationally and this is one of the beers responsible for that. Hard to come by in bottles for the time being but hopefully soon they will be cranking them out quick enough to meet or come close to the demand. Second to none and goes great with some spicy chicken wings, a medium cooked hamburger with grilled mushrooms and swish or just enjoy this work of art by itself.

**Once again, a fun list to come up with, a fun list to drink, but I know I left some beers out. Feel free to add comments and let me know what your favorite beers of summer are. Cheers! **

iabeerbaron’s 10 Beers for Summer

May 29, 20133 Comments

7. Lost Coast Tangerine Wheat
Brewery: Lost Coast Brewery
City: Eureka, CA
Style: Fruit Beer
ABV: 5%
Website: www.lostcoast.com

5. Founders All Day IPA
Brewery: Founders Brewing
City: Grand Rapids, MI
Style: IPA
ABV: 4.7%
Website: www.foundersbrewing.com

4. Summit Oatmeal Stout
Brewery: Summit Brewing
City: St. Paul, MN
Style: Sweet Stout
ABV: 4.7%
Website: www. summitbrewing.com

3. Boulevard Tank 7 Farmhouse Ale
Brewery: Boulevard Brewing
City: Kansas City, MO
Style: Farmhouse
ABV: 8.5%
Website: www.boulevard.com

2. Green Flash Imperial IPA
Brewery: Green Flash Brewery
City: San Diego, CA
Style: Imperial IPA
ABV: 9.4%
Website: www.greenflashbrew.com

1. Toppling Goliath pseudoSue
Brewery: Toppling Goliath Brewery
City: Decorah, IA
Style: American Pale Ale
ABV: 5.8%
Website: www.tgbrews.com

**Once again, a fun list to come up with, a fun list to drink, but I know I left some beers out. Feel free to add comments and let me know what your favorite beers of summer are. Cheers! **

Beer Review #104: Founders All Day IPA

May 23, 2013May 23, 2013Leave a comment

As the summer months approach and temperatures heat up, that means more time for outdoor activities. I’m a huge IPA fan but sitting outside on a hot summer day and drinking IPAs all day long would lead to a good amount of drunkenness. Thankfully, Founders Brewing (www.foundersbrewing.com) has saved the day! A few months back Iowans have been able to get their hands on one of their newer releases, a sessionable IPA named All Day IPA. For those unsure of what a sessionable beer is, they are essentially a low ABV beer that you can enjoy in multitudes.

Founders really hits a home run with this beer. From the labeling on the bottle of a family car looking to go on a camping trip, to the great use of the hops, and finally the ability to make this IPA sessionable makes this a wonderful beer perfect for summer and will be even better when it gets released in cans just in time for college football tailgating season.The days of drinking any BMC (bud, miller, coors) products during the summer just because of their low ABV are gone. Welcome to the new revolution of beer drinking! 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.

I have had both Founders All Day IPA and Lagunitas Daytime, and I much prefer the Founders product. If you are going into this looking for the next blow your mind, in your face, biter hop dominance, then you are looking in the wrong spot. This beer gives you the wonderful citra hop flavor, but it doesn’t have the bitterness of some/most IPAs. It is smooth and creamy and all-around delicious. So grab a sixer, get the grill or smoker fired up, throw your favorite food on the grill, pull up a lawn chair, and enjoy as many as you’d like!

REVIEW

Style: IPA

ABV: 4.7%

Purchased at: John’s Grocery, Iowa City, IA

Pour: Dark gold pour with a medium-sized white head.

Aroma: Pine, citrus hops aroma dominate along with some dankness on the nose.

Flavor: Citrus hops dominate the flavor, maybe a tad of floral taste as well. The bitterness is missing but doesn’t take away from the brew.

Ratebeer.com rating: 96/100

Beeradvocate.com rating: 87/100

Overall: A-

My recommendation: A go to beer for the summer for sure. A great concept, and they come through by providing a very tasty sessionable beer.

Toppling Goliath Official Kentucky Brunch Release Details

May 22, 20131 Comment

The following comes from www.tgbrews.com. If it’s anything like the Mornin’ Delight release you are going to have a fantastic time with great people and wonderful beer. Hope to see you there!

Kentucky Brunch Release 2013
Saturday, June 1st
On sale @ 12:00PM
Doors open at 8AM
Line starts on back patio (not in the parking lot)

Toppling Goliath Taproom
310 College Dr.
Decorah, IA 52101

Availability: Between 250 – 300 waxed 12oz bottles
Limit: Between 1 and 2 per person (TBD depending on our yield after bottling)
Price: $12/ea CASH ONLY

Kentucky Brunch bottles will have a separate CASH ONLY line. When you show up, you will receive a number. This is your spot in line for when KBBS sales start at 12pm. You are welcome to leave, come inside, or drink on the patio after receiving your number- as long as you are back in line before 12pm.

For those of you who were unable to make it to our last bottle release, we will have a keg of Mornin’ Delight Imperial Stout on tap, a few Assassin bottles available for in-house consumption, and course a few surprises! Prepare to party.

It is illegal to consume beer anywhere on our premises other than inside the taproom and within the outdoor patio barrier. Don’t be a fool. Stay inside the patio.

Surly Brewing to Iowa Update

May 20, 2013May 20, 2013Leave a comment

Some possible evidence that Surly Brewing could land in Iowa from http://www.beerpulse.com as the brewery has signed with Johnson Brothers Distributing. Everything said in this article is a definite positive in terms of getting this wonderfully breweries beers on our Eastern Iowa shelves.

Brooklyn Center-based brewery chooses St. Paul-based distributor to help expand Surly’s future footprint in Minnesota

(Brooklyn Center, MN) – Surly Brewing Company today announced Johnson Brothers as its newest Minnesota beer distributor.

Surly Brewing has been distributing its own beer since its inception in January 2006. It now supplies beer to more than 500 bars, restaurants and liquor stores throughout the Twin Cities and at various locations across the state.

As consumer demand continues to grow, Surly will work with Johnson Brothers to expand its network of on and off-premise accounts, enhance its brand reach, and find a more efficient way to distribute its beer. Surly Brewing will maintain its relationships with beer distributors in the northwest Twin Cities suburbs, Duluth and Rochester.

Omar Ansari, Founder and President of Surly Brewing said: “We wanted to partner with someone who understood our company. Johnson Brothers was the ideal partner. We’re both growing, family-owned Minnesota companies and it was clear that they understood the Surly Way. Surly couldn’t take its next steps without a partnership like this.”

By late 2014, Surly Brewing will be significantly increasing annual beer production when it moves into its new destination brewery. Once the brewery is fully operational, Johnson Brothers, through its Artisan Beer Company, will help Surly distribute significantly more beer to bars, restaurants, and liquor stores across Minnesota and eventually to customers in other states. [BeerPulse note: Johnson Brothers has a presence in 16 states including all states adjacent to Minnesota.]

“We are extremely proud and excited to be partnering with Surly, one of this region’s truly great craft breweries,” said Todd Johnson, Chief Operating Officer of Johnson Brothers. “We look forward to working closely with Surly and helping make these fantastic beers available to even more beer lovers throughout Minnesota. They can’t build that new brewery soon enough.”

May 20, 20132 Comments

New Craft Beer Magazine for IPAD Review

May 20, 2013Leave a comment

A new craft beer magazine, appropriately titled Craft Beer Magazine, has been launched as an app for IPAD users! It is completely free to download and anyone who downloads it will be a one month free subscription. I was able to get a first hand look of the new magazine and I was pretty impressed with the content.

The magazine’s opening pages give you a brief tutorial on how to navigate through using your IPAD. It then delves into a brief history of craft beer in America which gave some great insight on how and when the craft beer boom started. I really enjoyed the visuals involved after reading through the article and thought it was perfect way to wrap up a great piece of writing.

Articles varied throughout, picking up stories from other countries, recipes, new innovations in craft beer (peel top cans from Madtree Brewing), and beer reviews. (A nice write-up on Rhizing Bines).

What also makes this a great and unique app is the interaction you can have with video, polls, and links throughout the magazine, making it perfect for the tech savvy craft beer lover. So if you are interested in some craft beer related readings check out Craft Beer Magazine on iTunes here: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/craft-beer-magazine/id643848007

New to Eastern Iowa Shelves: Summit, Goose Island, Tallgrass

May 15, 2013May 22, 20132 Comments

Some new brews will be hitting Eastern Iowa shelves or already available now. Summit has a new beer in their Union Series called Meridian Session ale, Goose Island has their 25th anniversary ale, and Tallgrass now has an IPA called Ethos. Here’s a little more info for each of these beers:

*Summit Union Series #1: Meridian Session Ale – Belgian Ale – 4.5% – Summit kicks off the new limited-release Union Series with Meridian Session Ale. Inspired by Belgian Enkel (single) style ales. Drinkable yet distinctive. Simple in design yet complex in character. Brewed with a single malt, Concerto Pale, that’s a rising star in the UK and a new hop variety called Meridian that was actually discovered by accident in Oregon (more on that story below). Of course, we called it Meridian Session Ale for a reason. So don’t let the whole single-minded thing keep you from ordering another round.

*Goose Island 25th Anniversary -ESB – 6.1% – Brewed as a collaboration between Goose Island Brewmaster Brett Porter, Senior Brewer Keith Gabbett, Pub Brewmaster Nick Barron and Alumni Brewmaster Greg Hall. Deep mahogany color, rich fruit aroma with notes of lilac, big malt body with touches of roast and a dry, crisp finish.

*Tallgrass Ethos – 6.8% – IPA – This beer was known as Area 51 IPA during development. Ethos is our new West Coast style IPA…double dry-hopped using 6 different hop varietals. Juicy, citrusy, dank.

New Belgium adds 2 new beers to Lips of Faith Series

May 13, 2013Leave a comment

New Belgium Brewing (www.newbelgium.com) is releasing 2 new beers into the Lips of Faith series. Would love to hear thoughts on these two beers and where you can find them. The following is courtesy of beerpulse.com.

(Fort Collins, CO) – New Belgium Brewing, maker of Fat Tire Amber Ale and a wide variety of award-winning beers, has two new quarterly Lips of Faith offerings now available:Paardebloem, which is the newest collaboration with Red Rock Brewing in Salt Lake City, and Pluot.

Paardebloem is the sixth collaboration beer with Red Rock Brewing. The beer brings together a diverse set of ingredients ranging from peach juice to dandelion greens. It blends funky brettanomyces with New Belgium’s house Belgian ale yeast, and includes a touch of wood-aged sour beer and Grains of Paradise. Paardebloem pours a light, hazy gold and is 9 percent ABV.

Pluot is a subtly sweet ale made from pluot juice, which is a hybrid of a plum and an apricot. Pluot is light golden, delivering fruity aromas and distinct esters. It is also created with house Belgian ale yeast and brettanomyces, bringing a hint of spice and a malty backbone. ABV is 10 percent. Both of these Lips of Faith selections will be available through July or until supplies run out.

“All three of these selections are bold statements of Belgian tradition, offering imagination in every pour,” said New Belgium Assistant Brewmaster Grady Hull. “The Lips of Faith series was created for those wanting to push their palate.”

As you begin your annual festival and beer-tasting planning, don’t forget to see if either New Belgium’s Tour de Fat (https://www.facebook.com/TourDeFat/events) or Clips Beer and Film Tour (https://www.facebook.com/ClipsBeerAndFilmTour/events) is coming to your area.

To find New Belgium beers near you, use the New Belgium Libation Location tool: http://www.newbelgium.com/beer.aspx. Pricing varies by location. You can also follow New Belgium on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/newbelgium and Twitter @NewBelgium.