Tickets Going Fast for Sixpoint and Beer Advocate’s Beer for Beasts Benefit in Brooklyn

March 12, 2013
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Beer for Beasts is happening once again on April 6 at The Bell House in Brooklyn NY. This one of a kind event has Sixpoint brewing dozens of unique, ONE TIME ONLY batches of beers with a host of collaborates. Your ticket gets unlimited beer tastings plus food from a variety of different vendors. The early session is sold out but tickets are still available for the evening event.

My wife and I volunteered for this last year and are volunteering again this time around. It was a real rewarding experience, not only because we love both beer and beasts, but because the Sixpoint and Beer Advocate staffs treat the volunteers really well.

Link Flight: Rhizing Bines, State of NYC Beer Scene, Budweiser Lawsuits, Brooklyn invades France

March 1, 2013
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Dogfish Head Craft Brewery and Sierra Nevada Brewing Co., two family-owned craft breweries known for their unique hopping techniques, have deepened the bond they forged with the 2009 collaboration Life & Limb. Their new beer, an East-meets-West Imperial IPA called Rhizing Bines, clocks in at 8% ABV and 70 IBUs.

+ Chris O’Leary runs the excellent Brew York, New York website and recently put together a great panel of local experts and professionals to discuss the state of the NYC beer scene.

+ There is a class action lawsuit against Budweiser because people claim they are misrepresenting their alcohol content. My lawsuit against their claim of being the king of beers never made it to trial.

+ “How does beer get from the brewery to your glass? The bearers of your beer are distributors, the unsung heroes of the six-pack, the mysterious carriers of kegs, the transporters of tall-boys and twelve-packs alike.” Layman’s Guide to Beer answers this question.

+ France is known for wine (and cheese… and french people), but the Brooklyn Brewery is trying to gain a foothold into the countries alcohol consumption. From the New York Times:

Brooklyn’s marketing strategy is to start small, selling in carefully chosen outlets where experts behind the bar, or the counter, will match the right beer to the right drinker. That is the necessary strategy for France, industry experts say, where people are open to new tastes if the quality is high. (full story)

+ A new survey suggests that when it comes to the large beer brands, democrats prefer Corona and Republicans prefer Bud. “Democrats also prefer to drink beer made by “micro/regional breweries” (29%) while Republicans prefer “larger, national brands” (27%)”

Review: Great Lakes Alchemy Hour Double IPA

February 28, 2013
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GreatLakesAlchemyHour

When the announcement came down that a new Double IPA was going to hit distribution in my neck of the woods, I got excited. After all, like many of you reading this, I’m a hophead. I go through phases of wanting nothing but double IPAs and plenty of hops, but have been in more of a malty stage in the past couple of months. However, the hop cravings are coming back, and that means I start looking for great Double IPAs, which aren’t as common as you might think.

Of course, when I heard that it was Ohio’s own Great Lakes Brewing that would be pushing a new DIPA on the shelves of my local bottle shops, I knew it would be a must purchase. After all, they already make a pretty amazing DIPA seasonally called Lake Erie Monster that is fantastic in its own right.

So, I’ve had a few of these now and I’ve come to a conclusion, it’s a great great beer.

At first taste, I wasn’t impressed, and by that I don’t mean it wasn’t good, but I didn’t get the bitterness I like to experience from a big IPA. But then I remembered, this wasn’t supposed to be an IPA that is a palate jackhammer, no, it’s meant to fall more in line with the west coast style of DIPAs, and well, it does a pretty great job of that.

And the more I accepted this fact, the more I embraced the warmth of the alcohol (which at 9.4% is masked nicely), the peach tea color, the mango, citrus, grapefruit and pine oiliness and even the surfer on the label.

And the more it reminded me of another DIPA, one you might have heard of called HopSlam.

Yeah, it’s the closest comparison I could come up with, and I have to be honest with you, I’d drink this one over HopSlam on most days. Now keep in mind, HopSlam is fantastic, and I like it a lot, but I’m not the fanboy that I know lots and lots of others are either.

And you know why Alchemy Hour brings HopSlam to mind? It’s gotta be the honey. That’s right, the honey. Just like the DIPA from Bells that drives people wild once a year, Great Lakes brewed this bad boy with honey malt, and with Mosaic and Nugget hops as well.

But enough with the comparisons, you should just do your best to get your hands on some Alchemy Hour before it’s all gone because like most IPAs the fresher, the better.

Ohio continues to add to the list of amazing IPAs with Alchemy Hour.

Here is a Vine I did for the beer.

A Tale Of Three Gueuzes

February 18, 2013
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3foudegeuze

I had the opportunity to attend a great tasting here in the Cincinnati area recently based around Sours. This is increasingly one of my favorite styles and so I was excited to attend. I had tasted most of the beers already, but it’s always a nice reminder of how the beers stand up to each other.

There were tons of great sours to choose from at the tasting, but I’m focusing on three for this post, because overall, they are the cream of the crop. I haven’t tried every gueuze out there, and I know there are several out there that are beyond amazing that I’ve never had access to. But before I dive into the beers, what is a gueuze?

Gueuze (or Geuze) is a type of lambic, a Belgian beer. It is made by blending young (1-year-old) and old (2- to 3-year-old) lambics, which is then bottled for a second fermentation. Because the young lambics are not fully fermented, the blended beer contains fermentable sugars, which allow a second fermentation to occur. Lambic that undergoes a second fermentation in the presence of sour cherries before bottling results in kriek lambic, a beer closely related to gueuze.

The three I’m highlighting are not readily available in all markets, but are certainly attainable and each is worthy of a spot in your fridge or beer cellar.

In order of what I think is the best, the three are…..

1.) Drie Fonteinen Oude Geuze

This is the best of the best in my opinion. It has just the right amount of tart, just the right amount of earthiness and the finish is clean enough that I don’t feel as if I’ve abused my toungue after taking down a 375ml bottle. It’s the most consistent in the bunch and I will always have some on hand at my house.

2.) Oude Gueuze Tilquin à L’Ancienne

The underrated gueuze in the bunch, Tilquin never disappoints. It doesn’t quite live up to the 3F but it is closer than you might guess. It’s incredibly well balanced, tart and finishes pretty clean as well.

3.) Cantillon Gueuze 100% Lambic (Classic Gueuze)

In my mind, I always put Cantillon on the top of the list, in part because they make some unreal sours. They are also, at least for us here in the midwest, the toughest sours to get your hands on. And it’s a fantastic beer, but among this trio, I rank it third. Getting the bronze medal in this contest is nothing to be ashamed of, but there is just something about classic that puts it a step behind the other two. I think, for me, it has to do with the finish. I feel like I’m tasting this longer than I want to, and the tartness at times is more than I want out of a full glass. Are those nit-picky things? Yes, they are, but consider these rankings a tiebreaker if you find yourself only able to pick one.

What are your favorites gueuzes?

Support Local Music, Support Local Beer

February 7, 2013
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drmshirts

Today here in Cincinnati is the beginning of Cincinnati Beer Week. There are plenty of great events scheduled here in town, here is a full listing of all the things you can check out. But even if you aren’t a Cincinnatian, you have an opportunity to grab a really great t-shirt here today.

One of our sister sites, Eachnotesecure.com has a feature called Drunk Music Reviews and they have a great new shirt now available that allows you to show your love for Local Beer and Local Music.

So wherever you hail from, you can wear this great shirt proudly!

BUY YOUR SHIRT NOW!

Birthday Brewery Adventure: River Horse, Sly Fox, Victory

February 7, 2013
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River Horse Brewing

River Horse Brewing

A few weeks ago I headed out with my wife, sister, and brother-in-law to go on a quick one day tour of some nearby breweries. We started our adventure at River Horse Brewing Company in Lambertville, NJ (a 90 minute drive from Brooklyn). This small, scrappy brewery has been producing some of my favorite beers lately, including Tripel Horse and Belgian Freeze, a dark ale that’s super easy to drink.

At River Horse, you can go on a free tour on weekends and do a tasting of four beers for $1. They are moving to a larger location soon, which will be good considering when we went there the tasting room was crazy packed. Growler fills, t-shirts, and bottles are available for sale.

Sly Fox Brewery

Sly Fox Brewery

From there, we drove 50 miles into Pennsylvania to Sly Fox Brewery. At this point we were pretty hungry so we had dinner there. Food selection is standard pub fare, from pizzas to pulled pork sandwiches. Everyone in our group loved dinner, and it was a fun place to hang out for awhile. We purchased a flight of beer, and ended up taking a 6-pack of my favorite, the Dunkel Lager. I normally don’t give lagers a second though but this one was special. Definitely check it out if its available in your area. They sell beer to go, growlers, and shirts.

Our trip ended at Victory Brewing, a 40 minute ride to Downington, PA. At this point it was about 8pm, and the place was packed. This combo brewery/restaurant seemed to have the entire town’s population hanging out that night. Good thing we ate at Sly Fox, because a wait for a table was close to two hours. Instead, we went to the super huge bar and bought pints for $5. They have a large merch room filled with beer, t-shirts, Victory ice cream, and everything else you can imagine. The place was crowded but we had a great time. We forgot to take photos of Victory, so you’ll just need to visit yourself and take your own.

Two hours later, we were home. If you live in NYC, it’s definitely worth going on this little adventure. You can see more of our photos here.