Posts Tagged ‘Sierra Nevada’
This Week’s Greatest Hits on Young & Hungry
OK, that’s it. I’m tired of including Select 55, that piss-water of a beer, in our weekly count-down feature. Starting this week, I’m officially omitting the perpetually clicked-upon item and noting, with an asterisk (*), where it would have fallen in the Top 5, assuming it would.
With that said, here are your most-read blog posts from the week:
Dogfish Head & Sierra Nevada’s Collaboration Ale, Life & Limb, Coming Soon
If you read our posts you know we have a soft spot in our livers for a handful of things, and Dogfish Head Brewery founder Sam Calagione and collaboration beers are two of them. Now that Dogfish Head and Sierra Nevada are producing what will be each brewery’s the latter’s first collaborative effort, Life & Limb (and companion beer Limb & Life), we seem to have hit the blog jackpot.
The supportive atmosphere and camaraderie among American craft brewers is often commented on, so it should be no surprise that brewery founders Sam Calagione and Ken Grossman decided to make a beer together over a couple of cold ones at last year’s Craft Brewer’s Conference in Boston. In early September, just months after Grossman initiated the idea, the two met to brew at Sierra Nevada’s pristine facilities in Chico, California.
The beers were designed to show the personalities of each brewery and the men behind them. We think they have done just that. According to the Life & Limb website:
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Join the Homebrewing Horde
Think you have it in you to make great beer? Here’s your chance. This Saturday, November 7, is the sixth annual Learn to Homebrew Day, sponsored by the American Homebrewer’s Association (AHA). We got into the game a couple of years ago when our friend Jeff agreed to show us the ropes and, since then, have made three batches of delicious beer. Not exactly a commercial pace of production, but a welcome addition to our refrigerator.
Our experience reflects a national trend. It’s been legal to brew your own beer since 1978, and that change in U.S. law has been responsible for the “Craft Beer Revolution” we’ve seen in this country over the last 30 years. These first homebrewers in the late 70’s moved from their garages to starting the first wave of microbreweries in the early 80’s, and then many like Sierra Nevada founder Ken Grossman developed their operations into today’s craft beer giants.
Imbibe Vs. Beerspotter: Seasonal Beers
In the September/October issue of Imbibe, the editors selected their 99 favorite beers in different categories, such as seasonals or beers to drink with a burger. In “Imbibe Vs. Beerspotter,” Y&H’s Beerspotter takes each list to task.
Offer a beer for a limited time, and beer lovers will chase it, as was the case last spring when Troegs Nugget Nectar and Bell’s Hopslam lit up Beerspotter’s Twitter feed like someone caught the Real World-ers sipping it. I look forward to them every year, as well as the nominated Anchor Christmas Ale and Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale.
But Imbibe left out at least two important seasonal styles: doppelbocks and barleywines. Brewed by German monks for sustenance during Lent, doppelbocks are as central to spring as March Madness (and for NFL fans, February’s postpartum depression). Ayinger Celebrator is the standard-bearer for the style, while the Lager Heads have their eye on the rarer Weltenburger Asam Bock. Both, though, will fill your belly with raisiny and chocolate-cake malts while you’re holding out for penitence.
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Early Warning: Brew at the Zoo
Like beer? How about animals? Yes? Well, you’re in luck. The annual “Brew at the Zoo” event at the National Zoo is scheduled for Thursday, August 20. Sponsored by Friends of the National Zoo (FONZ), the event will raise funds for the Zoo’s education, sustainability, and conservation programs. Tickets are $35 for FONZ members; $50 for non-members. For that you’ll be able to sample beers from more than 35 microbreweries, stuff you face with food from three local restaurants (Armand’s Pizza, Hard Times Restaurant, and Rocklands BBQ), all of it to the familiar tunes of Eighties cover band, Gonzo’s Nose. For those of you with more coin to spend, you can also purchase VIP tickets, which grant access to a reserved section with a separate bar and an expanded range of local restaurants, including Brasserie Beck, CommonWealth Gastropub, EatBar, Eatonville, and Urbana. You’ll also get a free t-shirt and special animal demonstrations from Zoo staff. For that, members will pay $70; non-members $85.
Hopped Up on Beer: Notes From the IPA Tasting
Last week’s Beerspotter column about Smuttynose IPA mentioned that the beer shined in a blind tasting against old standbys, such as Bell’s Two-Hearted Ale, and was mistaken across the board for Stone IPA. It’s exactly discoveries like this that make beer tastings so much fun — sometimes you’ll find a new favorite and, in any case, you get to drink good beer with friends.
So here are the notes from my recent IPA tasting, in chronological order. We tasted the beers blind and informally, with no scoring system, and the bottles ere based on availability, not necessarily my top choices. Taste is opinion, and as with sports or politics or music, arguing is half the fun. So sound off in the comments section or yell at me directly on Twitter.
- Stone. Poured golden with a frothy, laced head. A strong grapefruit aroma wafted over the sweetness of golden raisins and dessert wine. My notes say “Stone?”, but as this was the first taste of the night, I wasn’t convinced.
Your Last Beer on Earth: What Do the Pros Say?
As a follow up to our very own Beerspotter’s conversation about top five desert island beers, we offer this account of what some craft-beer stars consider to be the finest beers on the planet. During this year’s Lupulin Reunulin at RFD, a glorious night of drinking and mayhem where a handful of the most innovative American brewers bring out their best, the panelists were asked what they would choose as their last beer on Earth. Here’s what they said.
Vinnie Cilurzo of Russian River in California was the first to respond. Emphatically, he said his last beer would be an Orval, on draft at the brewery in Belgium.
Tomme Arthur of Port / Lost Abbey in California, after confirming that he would have a whole ten minutes left to live to enjoy the beer, said that he would choose one from Alpine Beer Company. He settled on Alpine’s Pure Hoppiness.
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On July 4th Weekend, Buy American Beer
When I was little I once saw a Family Circus cartoon in which the father, on Independence Day, thanked China for their fireworks, Germany for their picnic of sausages and coleslaw, and so on. It was about as funny as, well, Family Circus — but the message stuck with me.
So on that note, I remind those of you stuck in the imports section of your beer store that America is home to the world’s most diverse beer selection, including many of the finest and certainly the freshest. This Independence Day weekend (I’m starting mine today), buy American beer. If you have a friend who thinks Stella Artois is the gods’ gift to Belgium, send ‘em this way for a list of proper American substitutes.
- Heineken (or Stella Artois) — Of the imports on this list, Heiney’s the one I’m least offended to get for free at a party. But it’s still just the Budweiser of Europe. If crisp, clean lagers are your thing (and in July, they’re certainly mine), try Stoudt’s Gold Lager or Sierra Nevada Summerfest.
