Tag: iowa beer

This Week from Abu Nawas: Hoof Hearted and Abomination Launch in Iowa! +Stillwater and Omnipollo

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Two new breweries will be launching in Iowa in the coming week through Abu Nawas as Hoof Hearted Brewery out of Columbus and Abomination join the fray. Here’s more on these two new breweries courtesy of Abu Nawas:

ABOMINATIONis the brainchild of Josh Arno & Joe Feldman – two nomadic and extremely talented young brewers based out of eastern PA. What drew us to Abomination from the start is their exuberant, modern take on traditional beer styles. We think their approach to craft beer making is the perfect balance of educated skill, based on years of brewing experience with a strong background in chemistry, combined with a youthful irreverence for beer normalcy. Abomination are boundary pushers, and we think they are some of the guys who are most capably set to carry us to the next horizon of craft beer. To kick March Madness off in style, we have for you one brand new, superb (albeit VERY limited)

HOOF HEARTED. We could not be more thrilled to welcome these guys to the Abu Nawas Family. A cult-status, rockstar brewery from Columbus, Ohio, Hoof Hearted (in our humble opinion) is making some of the very best beer out there, and combines that with absolutely genius artwork. HH will be a big focus of ours for 2019, and as such we are beyond psyched to kick the March off with a couple of superb, new releases…

Along with those new breweries here’s what else is making the rounds this week:

Stillwater:
  • Action Bronson 7000 16oz CAN – Dry-Hopped Sour Ale brewed with Muscat Grapes. 4.5% ABV
  • Extra Dry 16oz CAN – A Saison brewed with sake rice and dry hopped with Citra, Hallertau Blanc, and Sterling. 4.2% ABV.
Off Color.:
  • Dino’smores 12oz Bottle — Imperial stout brewed w/ graham flour, marshmallow, molasses, cocoa nibs & vanilla bean. 10.5 ABV.

Omnipollo:

  • Beglo 12oz CAN — All-Simcoe Post-Skate IPA 6% ABV. #GlobeSkateboards
  • Maple Blueberry Pancake Bianca Lassi Gose, 16oz CAN — Blueberry Maple Pancake Lassi Gose ale brewed with blueberries, lactose sugar & maple syrup. 6% ABV
  • Noa Pecan Mudcake 12oz CAN — Legendary Omni’s Imperial Stout. 11% ABV.
Abomination:
  • Midnight Snack 16oz CAN — 10% Walnut Imperial Chocolate Milk Stout
Hoof Hearted:
  • Slø Turbø 16oz CAN — DIPA hopped exclusively w/ New Zealand varietals and a laser-focus on Nelson Sauvin. 8.5% ABV
  • Rosé Gosé 16oz CAN — Gose with Himalayan Pink Sea Salt, Coriander, Hibiscus, then soured with Lactobacillus and fermented with Saison yeast. 4.2% ABV

Abu Nawas Drops this week; Last ever call for Yellow Belly!

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If you haven’t heard or read yet, Omnipollo will be discontinuing their popular Yellow Belly beer over a trademark dispute which you can read more about here. With that being said, this spring will be the last time you will ever be able to get your hands as this will be the final release of this popular beer. Expect a late spring drop of bottles with the same pricing as last year.

Along with that here are more releases coming from Abu Nawas:

Evil Twin restocks
  • Evil Twin  Even More Pecan Jesus 16oz
  • Evil Twin  Imperial Biscotti Chili Hazelnut Break 16oz CAN and 1/6 barrel keg
  • Evil Twin  Imperial Doughnut Break 16oz CAN
  • I Don’t Know How to Put This but This IPA Is Kind of a Big Deal  16oz CAN and 1/6 barrel kegs.
  • Evil Twin  OFYMD 16oz CAN  (Westbrook collab Lactose/Muscavado/Pineapple Imperial Stout)
  • Evil Twin / Omnipollo Rainbownade 12oz CAN  (IPA with grapefruit, passionfruit, mango, raspberry and blueberry)
  • Evil Twin / Omnipollo  Coffenade 12oz CAN (Coffee IPA with a twist)
  • Evil Twin / Omnipollo  Shploing 12oz CAN   (Mango smores IPA)
  • A is for Apricot 12oz CAN  (Fruit Berliner series!)
  • B is for Blueberry 16oz CAN (same)
  • G is for Grapefruit 16oz CAN    (Yup)
  • F is for Fruit Salad16oz CAN (FRUIT SALAD!!!!)
A couple new ones from Evil Twin this week, 
  • Evil Twin Consumed 15 Today, Diane 16oz CAN and 1/6 barrel kegs-  7% Double Dry-Hopped All Galaxy IPA
  • Evil Twin Banana Immune to Good Advice 16oz CAN and 1/6 barrel kegs – 10.7% Banana Imperial Maple Stout 

Omnipollo reloads
Omnipollo Oaxaca 16oz CAN (Mango margarita slush IPA, 16oz cans)
Omnipollo Nebuchadnezzar 16oz CAN (Double IPA, 16oz cans)
Omnipollo Fatamorgana 12oz CAN (Double IPA, scaled up hombrew recipe with an according disdain for economics)
Omnipollo Lustro 12oz CAN (IIPA that straddles that east coast/west coast debate)
Omnipollo MAZ 12oz CAN (Super hopped pale ale w/oats, 16oz cans)
Omnipollo draft:
Omnipollo MAZ 1/6 ( Super hopped pale ale w/oats)
Omnipollo Oaxaca 1/6 (Mango margarita slush IPA)
Omnipollo Shoutao 1/2 (peach/lactose IPA)

Omnipollo NEW:  
  • Omnipollo Lila 16oz CAN and 1/6 barrel kegs – 8% Whipped Lemon Cream Almond Frosted Cinnamon Roll Imperial IPA
  • Omnipollo PB&J Bianca 16oz CAN and 1/6 barrel kegs   –   6% Fruited Lactose Gose brewed with Peanut Butter

SingleSpeed Releasing Cocoa Mint Milk Stout on Friday Nov. 23rd!

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Iowa breweries keep the great beers coming! Add SingleSpeed to your holiday shopping on Black Friday as they are releasing their Cocoa Mint Milk Stout! It will be available on draft and in cans at both locations! More below:

Get ready, folks.
BOTH LOCATIONS will be launching CMMS’18 at 3:00pm on Black Friday.
No fear, we made more than last year!
Draft available for on-premise consumption only – No Growler fills, please.
Cans available for retail/to-go purchase.

The utilization of Cacao Nibs, Sidecar Coffee Roasters’ Espresso, and organically grown mint leaf make this Milk Stout a true original. Milk Stouts begin more sweet than the standard American Stout and this one is no exception. A full bodied, creamy beer carrying with it wave upon wave of joyous flavor.

Drink This! Big Grove Color TV Double IPA

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color tv

Stout weather is surely upon us but IPA season never ends. Here in Eastern Iowa we sure have been spoiled with a bunch of releases from our local breweries as they continue to provide us with delicious beer. 

Yesterday, Big Grove Brewery released a new double IPA called Color TV. Here are the specs on this beer:
7.8% ABV
-Double dry hopped with galaxy hops

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I definitely dig me some galaxy hops and this beer was packed full of. Terrific aroma of citrus fruit and the the first sip is instant orange and mandarin flavor. My untappd Rated R description was that his beer is like a bunch of oranges banged it out with your favorite IPA on a bed of clouds. The thing with me and hazy IPAs are sometimes the flavor doesn’t flow from first sip to last drink, Color TV however, does just that. I could have sat at BG in Solon all day yesterday and sipped on this beer. Following Easy Eddy, Big Ed, and with Richard the Whale release on the horizon, it’s hard not to get stoked for anything Big Grove pushes out. 

Eastern Iowa beer lovers rejoice, our local breweries continue to roll and quench our thirst with some of the best beers around and hopefully I’ll see some of you at the Richard the Whale release on December 1st! Drink This! while you can! 

Drink This! Lion Bridge Tidbits Pale Ale

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lion bridgeWarmer days bring out patio drinking beers and Lion Bridge Brewery definitely has one of those on tap right now! Tidbits is the brewery’s version of a pineapple pale ale that is made with simcoe, comet, and eukanot hops and a whole bunch of pineapple.

The nose on this beer is purely tropical. The pineapple shines but there is some grapefruit and other citrus in the nose. Mouth watering to start and then the pineapple really shines on the tongue. Definitely not overly sweet at all, fresh pineapple taste and not candied or “jolly rancher” sweetness that some beers present. This is one that would be perfect on the Lion Bridge patio while enjoying some brisket tacos. Here’s more on this brew from Lion Bridge:

We made a Pale Ale with healthy doses of Comet, Eukanot & Simcoe hops, then added an even healthier dose of unfermented Pineapple! The result is a true tropical treat!

*KEEP COLD AT ALL TIMES! CONTAINS UNFERMENTED FRUIT.

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Like I said, this beer sings lawn mower beer/warm weather beer/patio beer/driveway beer/ etc. I’m not sure how long this tropical beauty will be around so make sure you get down to Lion Bridge and have a pint or two! Warm days approach so Drink This! brew!

Iowa Beer Week in Review: Big Grove, Lion Bridge, Thew, TG, 3rd Base, BP, Millstream

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Quite a few new releases making their ways to our local Iowa breweries with the big news of Big Grove brewery beers hitting our local liquor stores. Here’s more:

**Big Grove**– with a successful release of Easy Eddy cans last Saturday (I would like more of this please!) Big Grove followed that up with the release of 4 packs of First Launch Double Dry Hopped IPA. These cans hit select spots (see poster) and will be followed with the release of Big Grove’s core lineup. Exciting stuff coming from Solon and Iowa City. Also, that cask of Easy Eddy w/pineapple and mango was absolutely terrific. But yes, more Easy Eddy cans please!

first launch

**Lion Bridge Brewery** – swinging over to Cedar Rapids where Lion Bridge has been consistently busy supplying us with new and awesome beers. Zack Morris Cell Phone IPA release was a hit and delicious and they have followed that up with Tidbits Pineapple Pale Ale which was tapped yesterday (4/26). I’m looking forward to sucking a few of those down this weekend. Along with Tidbits, Lion Bridge is getting back to getting some of their amazing Saisons on the lines. This past week Plum Saison was tapped and prior they had their Apricot Saison on the lines. And last but not least for Lion Bridge was the release of one of my favorites…Coffee Kolsch! They even got that on the lines of my local watering hole in Mount Vernon, Chameleon’s Pub and Grub. Guessing Quinton, Rob and Alec did that just for me, thanks fellas!

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thew**Thew Brewing** – the new kid on the block continues to impress with some excellent offerings even though they are less than a month old! This week they released I-380 pale ale which checks in at 6.7% and Kingston Kolsch made its way to their lines. Thew brews have also found homes in a few other establishments in CR and the surrounding area so keep an eye out. Food Trucks and Friday $2 off pours make this your perfect post work pit stop today!

third base**Third Base Brewery** – some excellent beers brewed and consumed on Blair’s Ferry Road this past week as 3rd Base released their version of a hazy New England style IPA, Crooked Monkey. Along with the Monkey they also released a delicious double pils called Intergalactic Pilsner.

backpocket**Backpocket Brewing** – starting this week Backpocket offers 16 oz crowlers to be filled of your favorite Backpocket brew. They also released an Australian sparkling ale and two other beers. SOKOL juicy IPA and a variation of their Australian Sparkling ale made with tangerine purée, vanilla, lactose sugar, cinnamon and clove. Those all tap today (4/27)!

millstream**Millstream Brewing** – Iowa’s oldest brewery has been testing some brews on their pilot system and yesterday tapped a Session IPA. Brewery only for this one so get there and grab a taste.

**Barn Town Brewing** – heading over to the Des Moines area we have Barn Town continuing to pump out some very tasty ales. The addition of their beers to tap lines at 30hop, Marquee, and Tin Roost has been welcomed with open arms. Pulp non-Fiction is back on the lines at the brewery which hopefully means we will see it back on the lines near us. Along with that, they released Appaloosa, a New England style IPA that checks in at 7.3% and is currently available at Marquee Pizza in Coralville! They also announced that Sticky Juice will be their next bottle release. Stay tuned for more news on that!

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**Toppling Goliath** – the big news out of TG this week is the return of the popular Scorpius Morchella, a double IPA. This beer has been brewed and distro has started so keep your eyes peeled for this bad boy!

scorpius

**That’s all I have for this week. If I missed something or you have news or brews to share drop me a line! benmed15@yahoo.com Cheers!

Big Grove releasing Easy Eddy cans and new Hazy Pale Ale called “Starla” Saturday April 21st!

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big grove

OOOHHHHHHH YEAH!!!!!! Big Grove brewery will be releasing a small amount of their Easy Eddy in cans on Saturday the 21st of April . It will be a very limited amount of cans available but it will be at both Big Grove locations. These will be flying out so if you’re in the area get there quick and you might as well stay for a release of a brand new hazy pale ale called Starla. Here’s more on Eddy:

Flaked wheat and oats make for a brilliant golden haze in this Unfiltered IPA. Brewed with low bitterness and hopped with Citra, Mosaic, and Simcoe. Easy Eddy showcases juicy tropical aromatics of pineapple and mango.

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Big Grove is in the midst of releasing core of their brews to cans and the Easy Eddy release comes as a nice surprise. More news on the canning line will be coming from this brewery in the future as well as more release news… DIG IT!

Big Grove Brewery Cans Coming in April!

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big grove

Big Grove Brewery will be putting their first cans into market this coming April with the release of First Launch, a double dry hopped IPA and then May will see the release of 4 of Big Groves core brews to cans; Boomtown, Arms Race, IPA, and West Main Wheat. Here’s the link to a great Press Citizen article with some great video on the release.

https://www.press-citizen.com/story/entertainment/2018/03/29/big-grove-brewery-can-their-beers-sell-iowa-city-cedar-rapids-stores-beyond/462300002/

Big things happening at Big Grove; can’t wait!