Dogfish Head + Will Oldhman = Sixty One

January 29, 2013
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Dogfish-Head-Sixty-One

Joe and I come from music blog roots, plus we both love Dogfish. Needless to say, this is going to be great:

The name Sixty-One is a reminder that this beer is Dogfish Head’s best-selling 60 Minute IPA plus one new ingredient: syrah grape must from California … To celebrate the launch of Sixty-One, Dogfish Head and Will Oldham, who performs as Bonnie “Prince” Billy, are releasing a limited-edition record. Bonnie “Prince” Billy has performed many times at Dogfish Head’s coastal Delaware brewpub and has become a good friend, the kind of friend you’d give a big ol’ man-hug to. He wrote an original song called Sixty-One that was inspired by this beer’s origins, and on the flip-side of the record is a rollicking Bonnie “Prince” Billy version of the innuendo-filled Dominoes classic “Sixty-Minute Man.” The record will be available only at Dogfish Head’s Delaware brewery and brewpub …

Sixty-One, which clocks in at 6.5% ABV, will debut in March. Four-packs will be available four times a year throughout Dogfish Head’s 27-state distribution network. Suggested price is $8.99-$9.99. (full story)

Three Floyds Dark Lord Day 2013

January 29, 2013
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It’s coming, hide the women and children, and maybe yourself. Three Floyds Dark Lord Day is back for 2013. Right now, the DLD website simply shows this image.

darklordday2013

Here is your link for tickets!!

Mark your calendars for April 27th and be prepared for a vicious online ticket sale in advance of that which will claim many craft beer fans as its victims.

Empty Growler did our first DLD last year in Munster, Indiana, and we plan to return again in 2013. Who else is going?

The Growler Bike

January 23, 2013
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I’ve never been a big fan of bike riding. I mean sure, when I was a kid riding a bike around the neighborhood and through the woods was the thing to do. But once I started to drive, it just didn’t make as much sense to me….until now.

Introducing the amazing growler bike!

growlerbike

Here is what the dudes that invented the bike have to say.

This “Growler” concept concept city commuter is a working sketch prototype in a series of thoughts on what we carry around with us and the importance of those items. We took a Growler from a local pub and set off to design a bike around it. With or without the beer, this changed how we view typical beach/ city “cruisers.”

I understand that this isn’t exactly a groundbreaking achievement but it still makes tons of sense. I can already picture myself biking to the local brewery or bottle shop with a great growler station and biking home with 64 ounces of liquid bliss in the growler bikes holster.

Plus, we here at EG are all about the growler, after all.

Review: Embree’s Northern Dark Baltic Porter

January 21, 2013
By

embreeslabel

To start this review, a full confession. I do not care for many Porters. I find very few that really make a positive impression on me. When I drink a Porter I often wonder why I didn’t just grab a nice stout instead, because it usually tastes like the Porter is a Stouts wingman, at best.

With that said, I really like Embree’s Northern Baltic Porter.

What makes a Porter a Baltic Porter you ask?

The style started in the Baltic states of Latvia, Finland, Estonia, Lithuania, Poland, and Russia in the 18th century. It was derived from English porters that were introduced to the Baltics in the 18th century. However the higher alcohol content and sweet malty character shares much in common with more robust Russian Imperial Stouts. Baltic Porters were largely forgotton in the West until the fall of the Iron Curtain in the late 1980′s when craft brewers reintroduced the style.

Last year, the Cincinnati craft brewers got together to brew a collaborative brew for Cincinnati Beer Week. They churned out a hopped up Barleywine that for me, was less than spectacular. And because of that, I had a healthy amount of skepticism before trying this years collaboration.

On to the beer. embrees

It looks like any porter you might have tried in terms of appearance, with just enough carbonation. But the sweet malty goodness of the drink really come out right away. This is truly a beer that I would consider pouring over ice cream because it already tastes like dessert. And the alcohol level, which I’m not totally certain of (between 9-10%??) is hidden really nicely. It isn’t hot at all and goes down smooth with little to no aftertaste.

I’m not saying this beer is something to go nuts over, but it is an incredibly solid offering in my opinion. Especially after how mixed I felt about last years collab, and how, as I mentioned, don’t care too much for the style in general.

So if you are in the Cincinnati area, grab some Embree’s Dark Northern Baltic Porter and enjoy all winter long.

IPA freshness and bottle dating

January 9, 2013
By

enjoybyipakoch

The demand for more and more hops has caused the IPA market to grow by leaps and bounds in recent years. We not only need regular IPA’s, Double IPA’s and even Triple IPA’s but we also now require our Pale Ales to come hopped up and even some of our stouts and barleywines as well. But I’m not writing today because I have a problem with this, no, I actually love hops and have even identified the specific hop strains that I gravitate to the most (citra and simcoe).

No, I’m writing today about a serious problem I have. The ability to taste how fresh or not fresh an IPA is. I blame it on getting certain fantastic IPA’s incredibly fresh or trying them on tap for this problem. After all, when you have Heady Topper less than a week since it was canned, you are spoiled for life. And of course, a good majority of the best IPA’s on the planet, or even the best hopped up beers of other varieties don’t seem to care much for bottle dating. And yes, I’ve written a little about this before.

The biggest violator of this is of course one of the best when it comes to hoppy beers, Three Floyds. I mean, Zombie Dust, Arctic Panzer Wolf, Dreadnaught and even Gumballhead and Alpha King are known for their citrusy, amazing hop smells and flavors. But have you ever had a Gumballhead that is two months old? Yeah, it tastes like glue. And since Three Floyds refuses to bottle date, you really don’t know what you might be getting.

It’s the classic….”something about this is off” taste that is utterly disappointing and downright sad. IPAs are meant to be consumed as fresh as possible, and even though an old IPA certainly won’t kill you and at times is even pretty damn good, it’s not what the brewer intended it to be.

Of course this is why I’m such a fan of the approach Stone takes to their IPAs. Their Ruination 10th Anniversary last summer was so great that I snatched up four bottles as soon as I could. I drank one within the first week of purchase and it was fantastic, the second one was just as good a week later. Then two weeks passed and then bottle #3 was opened I started to notice the subtle changes. The hops were fading, I was starting to get some mild oxidation already from the bottle and it just wasn’t the same. Because of this, I dove into bottle #4 the next night, because you know, I had to. Of course Stone upped the anti even more with its Enjoy By series last year as well.

I realize that this might make me sound incredibly dorky, or even worse, like a total jerk, but I’ve been spoiled. So here are some simple tips to avoid drinking IPAs that are nowhere near their peak.

1. Look at the bottle date! I think if you are within a month, you are in the sweet spot for most IPAs. But after a month it can get tricky. Avoid that sixer of 60 Minute that was bottled 8-10 weeks ago, it’s not as good as you think.

2. But what about the breweries that refuse to bottle date? This makes it tricky of course, so take some things into account. First off, does the beer location you are buying from have plenty of hop heads and craft beer fans frequenting the store? If so, don’t worry. Is the beer actually in season? Don’t get all happy if you find a bottle of a summer IPA on ‘sale’ and snatch it up. And of course, I’m not above just asking someone how long the beer has been sitting around if I need to.

3. Watch out for beer (IPA and others) that come in green or clear bottles. Light is the enemy of fresh beer so if you can avoid these, please do. The consistency is bound to be lacking from pack to pack.

Finally, I think I’ve linked to this site before, but it gives you a nice list of breweries that bottle date and ones that don’t. It also gives a nice list of the breweries that bottle date and how to decode their markings.

Thanks for letting me rant….

I Can Already Taste Sixpoint’s 3 Beans.. in my mind

January 2, 2013
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3beans

It’s not even out yet, but the combination of Stumptown, Mast Brothers, and Sixpoint has me already planning on drinking many many cans.

Details:

Introducing the “3Beans” – a Sixpoint & Friends jam session one-off. Made with Mast Brothers Chocolate cacao husks and infused with fresh Stumptown Coffee Roasters cold brew, and then aged on oak. 10% ABV and 77 IBU. Arriving late January in 12 oz sleek cans, and on draft….Its 2013, and the Mad Scientists have struck again.