Tag: iowa craft beer

New Iowa Beers Coming! Confluence, Millstream, Peace Tree

Leave a comment

downloadA lot of news on social media regarding some Iowa breweries and they all sound terrific! While roaming on twitter today I noticed a conversation with Confluence Brewing (www.confluencebrewing.com) announcing they will be brewing and releasing an IPA brewed with Mosaic hops! Not sure if this will make it out of the brewery to be sold elsewhere or not, but if it’s as good as their Des Moines IPA then we can expect a pretty delicious brew. Also, check out their new blog here: http://confluencebrewingblog.wordpress.com/

millstreamNext up, some exciting news from Millstream Brewing out of Amana. A barrel aging program sounds absolutely wonderful this time of year as nothing tastes better on a chilly Iowa evening than a barrel-aged brew. Three of their beers have been again in bourbon barrels and they will have special releases for each (see picture below). You will get barrel-aged versions of their Schokalade Bock, Shild Brau Amber, Back Road Stout.

Last but not least is an update from Peace Tree. They will be releasing 22 oz. bombers for the first time with their Templeton Red and their Imperial Stout! Can’t wait to get my hands on these, loved the red last time I had it!

Exciting times for some great Iowa breweries!

Stone Enjoy By 11.12.13 hits Eastern Iowa Shelves

Leave a comment

stoneThe state of Iowa is lucky enough once again to be receiving Stone Brewing’s incredibly delicious Enjoy By IPA. We are one of 19 markets getting this shipment, so get it while you can and enjoy it (no pun intended). Arrival is today (Wednesday). More from Stone:

You have in your hands a devastatingly fresh double IPA. While freshness is a key component of many beers – especially big, citrusy, floral IPAs – we’ve taken it further, a lot further, in this IPA. You see, we specifically brewed it NOT to last. We’ve not only gone to extensive lengths to ensure that you’re getting this beer in your hands within an extraordinarily short window, we made sure that the Enjoy By date isn’t randomly etched in tiny text somewhere on the label, to be overlooked by all but the most attentive of retailers and consumers. Instead, we’ve sent a clear message with the name of the beer itself that there is no better time than right now to enjoy this IPA.

 

Southampton Publick House Beers hitting Eastern Iowa shelves?

Leave a comment

southamptonWhile visiting the Hy-Vee on Oakland Road in Cedar Rapids this past weekend, I noticed a six pack of Southampton Publick House beer sitting on the shelf in the walk-in cooler. I hadn’t heard of them coming to Iowa and so I asked the store manager and he confirmed that their beers will be making their way to Eastern Iowa shelves in the next few weeks. Here’s more info on Southampton Publick House beers (www.publick.com).

  • One of the most award-winning breweries in America— ranked in the top 20 for GABF medals won by a brewery in the last 10 years.
  • Excluding the big 4 breweries and chain brewpubs, Southampton is in the top 10 in medals won at the GABF in the last 10 years.
  • Awarded Top Brewpub in 2003 by Beer Advocate Magazine.
  • Ranked #8 Specialty Brewery in the World and 3 Top 50 Specialty Brews in America by RateBeer.com in 2004.

2013 Bells Expedition Stout on Eastern Iowa Shelves

Leave a comment

BellsAccording to Benz Beverage Depots’ facebook site, the 2013 Bells Expedition Stout is out and on Eastern Iowa Shelves. At Benz, it is selling at $16.99. I still think you can find the 2012 in select Hy-Vees throughout Eastern Iowa as well. Here’s more about Expedition Stout from Bells website:

The darkest beer we make; this Imperial stout contains double the malt and five times the hops of our Kalamazoo stout and is perfect for cellaring as its complex character will evolve over time. Available October-March.

Founders Backstage Series Brew for Winter: Sweet Repute

Leave a comment

sweetSweet Repute is the name of the new beer that Founders Brewing Company will be releasing this winter. It is a wheat wine aged in maple syrup bourbon barrels. The following is courtesy of http://www.beerpulse.com:

Grand Rapids, MI) – Founders Brewing Co. will introduce Sweet Repute, a wheat wine aged in maple syrup bourbon barrels, this December to mark the eighth installment in the brewery’s popular Backstage Series. Like all Founders Backstage Series beers, Sweet Repute will be sold in 750mL bottles. It has a suggested retail price of $17.99–$19.99 per bottle.

The Founders brewing team painstakingly choreographed each layer of this beer’s characteristics, starting with a healthy wheat and roasted malt base and adding clean, fragrant hops. It’s one hundred percent barrel-aged in maple syrup bourbon barrels and bourbon barrels over the course of sixteen months, then blended using carefully calculated ratios for the ultimate final product. The resulting 13% ABV liquid pours a bright warm russet with a stubborn ivory head and an intoxicatingly sweet nutty aroma. Founders put Sweet Repute in a larger bottle with sharing in mind.

“We’re excited about this one,” said Co-Founder and Vice President of Brand & Education Dave Engbers. “Every sample we’ve pulled from the barrels down in the caves has been incredible.”

Sweet Repute will join the ranks of Founders’ world-class barrel-aged beers, such as Kentucky Breakfast Stout (KBS), Canadian Breakfast Stout (CBS), Backwoods Bastard, Curmudgeon’s Better Half and many, many more taproom-only ales.

Founders’ Backstage Series is made up of boundary-pushing, experimental beers. The intent of the series is to take the diehard Founders fan experience to a wider audience—though all of the beers are still released in limited batches. Since its introduction in the summer of 2011, Founders’ Backstage Series beers have quickly become some of the most sought-after releases in the industry.

Sweet Repute will be released in limited quantities across Founders’ distribution footprint beginning on Monday, December 2, and will be available at the brewery’s taproom the same week. This will be the brewery’s last Backstage Series release in 2013, with more releases to come in 2014.

 

Beer Review #112: Crooked Stave Hop Savant

Leave a comment

staveI was really excited to see Crooked Stave beers make their way into Iowa since I’ve been really digging saisons lately. I hope everyone was able to get a few bottles from this brewery. I grabbed mine at Hy-Vee in Marion and noticed they only had the Hop Savant.

This is a 100% brettanomyces, oak fermented, dry-hopped pale ale. The brewery used citra, mosaic, and Simcoe. It’s great to see breweries using more brett as I’m starting to become a brett junky. With the addition of these hops I had high hopes.

A beautiful orange pour with heavy thick white head. Tons of lacing on my glass that sticks throughout the whole drinking of the brew. A lot coming off the nose. Lemon really sticks out followed by citrus of grapefruit and bit of sweet pineapple along with the funk that great farmhouse ales bring. Flavor is much in the same! Not as creamy as I would have thought initially but wonderfully refreshing! Really enjoying this brew!

I really wish I could get my hands on more their products and hope they continue to bring their beer to the great state of Iowa for us to enjoy.

REVIEW

STYLE: Sour/Wild Ale

ABV: 6.7%

PURCHASED AT: Hy-Vee Marion, IA

POUR: Murky Orange with a huge white head.

AROMA: A lot of lemon with some funk.

TASTE: Citrus, brett, funk.

Ratebeer.com rating: 99

Beeradvocate raing: 91

Overall: B+

My recommendation: It you are into farmhouse/saison/wild ales you want to try this brew. Very good stuff from Crooked Stave!

Beer and Food Pairing: Stone Enjoy By 9-13-13 and Shrimp Ceviche

Leave a comment

photo (1)Thanks to the recommendation from Marc Morehouse I have now found the perfect mexican restaurant. El Perico in Marion, IA serves some great homemade mexican food. My favorite thing on the menu, their shrimp ceviche. Now, I understand ceviche is relatively easy to make. Just chop up a bunch of seafood or fish and let it soak in citrus juices for a few hours to cook it. But El Perico does it better than I can, and better than anywhere else I’ve ever had it.

My wife and I decided to grab El Perico for some takeout food, you know it’s good when you make a 20 minute drive for takeout, and I thought it would be great to pair the ceviche with a brew.

I bought a shit load of Enjoy By from Stone so I went with it knowing that IPAs usually pair well with spicier foods. This ceviche had lime and orange juice as well as jalapeno, which went perfectly with the IPA. The malts come out from the IPA and the citrus from the hops really shines through. If you are in the CR/Iowa City area, El Perico does ceviche right, and an IPA goes excellent with it! If you want a great homemade IPA recipe, I’m a big fan of the Beeroness and her blog, check it out here: http://thebeeroness.com/2012/08/21/ipa-ceviche/

New Deschutes Beers Coming in October

Leave a comment

deschutesMore Deschutes coming our way! Hop Trip and Chasin’ Freshies coming in October!

Breakdown of the these two beers:
Hop Trip – American Pale Ale – 5.5%

Chasin’ Freshies – IPA – 7.4%
Ratebeer: 81

The following is courtesy of beerpulse.com:

(Bend, OR) – Deschutes Brewery is taking full advantage of its close proximity to some of the world’s leading whole flower hops this season, releasing two fresh hop beers later this month. Hop Trip, now in its ninth year of bottling, is full of freshly harvested Crystal hops that travel from the fields at Oregon’s Sodbuster Farms and into the brew kettle – all in a matter of hours. Chasin’ Freshies, in its second year in the Bond Street Series, uses Gamache Farms’ famed fresh Amarillo hops for this year’s vintage.

Cam O’Connor, brewmaster at Deschutes Brewery, said, “Fresh hop season is one of my favorite times of the year. The number of different beers that are made with fresh hops gives people an unlimited selection to choose from. All the amazing flavors and aromas that permeate from fresh hop beers are really exciting for me. I feel like a kid in a candy store sometimes during this season.”

The highly celebrated Hop Trip has been enjoyed by Deschutes Brewery fans for nearly a decade and is once again offered in 12-ounce bottle 6-packs as part of the Bond Street Series lineup. Why the longevity for this particular brew? Not only does it taste fantastic, but there’s a great story. The brewery team rushes over to the Willamette Valley each year to pick, bag and load up fresh whole flower hops. They quickly return to Bend, Oregon and dump these freshly harvested jewels into the brew kettle. The result? A perfect pale ale with a uniquely citrus punch and fall spice flavor. 5.5% Alcohol by Volume (ABV); 38 IBUs

Chasin’ Freshies, dubbed after the ski town pastime of chasing fresh powder on the slopes, hit the scene last year with some well-carved turns. Rather than the heirloom Cascade hops of the 2012 version, the brewers changed things up for 2013 and feature the fresh and bold Amarillo hops in this IPA. Fresh hop beer lovers will appreciate the bold, juicy aroma and flavor that comes but once a year. 7.2% Alcohol by Volume (ABV); 65 IBUs

Both beers will be available in most of the 22 states where Deschutes Brewery beers are sold, starting in October.

 

New to Shelves: Boulder returns, Wasatch, Squatters

2 Comments

boulderI just saw this update from John’s Grocery’s Facebook page:

2.5 tons of new beer just showed up on our doorstep (we did the math). From Boulder we now have Mojo, Hazed and Infused (bottles and cans), Sweaty Better, Hoopla Pale Ale (in cans!) and Flashback. Traveling all the way from Park City, Utah we have Wasatch Ghost Rider, Apricot Weizen, and pumpkin Ale. Finally we have Squatters from Salt Lake City bringing Chasing Tail, Full Suspension, and Hop Rising. 

 

Here’s a quick breakdown of these beers and what to expect from each:

BOULDER
Mojo -IPA – 7.2%
Ratebeer: 94

Hazed and Infused – American Pale Ale – 4.85%
Ratebeer: 87

Sweaty Betty – Wheat Ale – 5.9%
Ratebeer: 40

Hoopla – American Pale Ale – 5.7%
Ratebeer: 57

Flashback – Brown Ale – 6.8%
Ratebeer: 93

Wasatch

Ghostrider – White IPA – 6%
Ratebeer – 87

Apricot Weizen – Fruit Beer – 4%
Ratebeer: 33

Pumpkin Ale – Spice/Vegetable Beer – 4%
Ratebeer: 90

Squatters

Chasing Tail – Golden Ale – 4%
Ratebeer: 29

Full Suspension – American Pale Ale – 4%
Ratebeer: 72

Hop Rising – American Pale Ale – 4%
Ratebeer: 87

**Lots of new beer to try. If you try one of these brews I would love to hear your thoughts.**

Beer Review #111: Mikkeller Sort Gul Black IPA

Leave a comment

mikkellerMikkeller beers are usually a very adventurous brewery to buy from. Very cool artwork on the labels that usually don’t tell you much about the beer but for some reason I always go for it. Their beer usually costs a bit more but I have yet to be absolutely disappointed in any that I’ve tried.

My most recent Mikkeller purchase was their black IPA, Sort Gul. I was drawn by the awesome artwork on the label and then seeing black IPA made it a no-brainer.

Dark mahogany pour with a nice thick tan head. Toasted malt aroma with dark chocolate and then the hoppy pine aroma as well. Huge lacing on the glass. On the first sip you get the roasted malt flavor and then the citrus from the hops comes through. Not overpowering, great mix with the roasted malts. Very drinkable beer.

I get that the price tag on Mikkeller beers can be a bit hefty, but they sure a fun brewery to try. This was a very good black IPA. I would go back to this one without any hesitation.

REVIEW

STYLE: Black IPA

ABV: 7.3%

PURCHASED AT: John’s Grocery; Iowa City, IA

POUR: Medium sized tan head, dark black pour.

AROMA: Roasted malts, piney hops.

TASTE: Roasted malt flavor balance nicely by the hops.

Ratebeer.com rating: 98

Beeradvocate raing: 88

Overall: B+

My recommendation: Give it a shot. If you’ve had Black Top from New Glarus you will definitely enjoy this brew.