Beer Blotter

This week I went to a bottle shop. Yes, this is a big deal. During Christmas 2010,  I had just found out that I was pregnant. I also recieved a gift certificate to Full Throttle Bottles located in the Georgetown hood of Seattle.

That gift certificate has been posted on our refrigerator for 8 months. This was a reminder, that some day, I will have my pick of bottles to drink or age.

Since I am a mere two weeks away from my due date, I decided I was going to cash in this certificate to get ready for life after pregnancy. I wanted to share with the world my choices and why I made them.

Stone/Iishi/Baird’s Green Tea IPA: First this beer was brewed to provide relief to the disaster in Japan. Second, this beer includes many hops: American Warrior, Crystal hops and a New Zealand Pacifica hops for the flavoring addition. On to the first dry-hop addition which featured those same flavoring hops plus a brand spankin’ new hop variety from the Alsace region of France called Aramis. The second dry-hop addition features Sorachi Ace hops, which were originally developed in Japan. This beer is finished off with Sencha tea.

Reasoning: Hops, innovation, good cause, collaboration.

Great Divide Belgium Style Yeti: Chocolate Yeti, Espresso Yeti-yes and yes! Two amazing stouts. So you can only imagine my intrigue when seeing a Belgium Style Yeti. This Imperial Stout is limited/seasonal (only brewed onceonce a year). Great Divide describes their beer below:

Belgian Style Yeti is a delicious new blend of brewing traditions–all the malt-driven roastiness of our Yeti Imperial Stout with characteristic spice and fruit notes imparted by our special Belgian yeast strain.

Reasoning: I am interested to taste the roastyness of the stout with the funky flavor of a Belgium yeast. Also, my love for all things Yeti.

Stone Brewing Co. Russian Imperial Stout with Belgo Anise: I’m sure most of you have heard of Stone’s Russian Imperial Stout. I had this beer on tap last year and it blew my mind. Add some Anise and “BAM”:

This 2011 Odd Year release pours pitch black with a deep tan head, with aromatic notes of anise, coffee, and cocoa jumping from the glass. Coffee and dark roasted malt flavors dominate, with a robust complement of anise and oak, which leave a lingering blend of vanilla, licorice, and dark malt on the palate. This one will age nicely for several years

Reasoning: As mentioned above, the Russian Imperial Stout is one of my favorite Imperial Stouts. Also, I went for aging qualities and complexity with this one.

 Boulevard Smokestack Series Collaboration No. 2 White IPA: The second collaborative beer on the list is between Boulevard Brewing Co. and Deshutes Brewing. This beer will combine the best of these two breweries: the expertise of Boulevard’s Belgium Wit beers and Deshutes’ knowledge of how to make a damn good and hoppy IPA. A description from Boulevard’s website reveals all:

One of the most unique characteristics of Collaboration #2 is its aroma. Sage and lemongrass were added to the vessels post-fermentation, as well as three varieties of hops, all of which contribute solely to aromatics. The Belgian-style yeast strain adds hints of bubblegum and clove. The other main feature that should be specifically pointed out to consumers is the beer’s lingering hang. It is no more bitter than Single-Wide I.P.A., but something about the combination of herbs and hops creates an almost spicy, peppery quality in the finish.

 Reasoning: First and foremost, the two breweries involved. I want to know more about Boulevard and I already adore Deshutes’ special rotation beers. I presume this will be no exception.

Stillwater Cellar Door: I am intrigued. I have never had a beer from Stillwater but have heard only good things. Below is a description from Stillwater’s website:

Starting with a base of German wheat & pale malts this crisp slightly hazy foundation was then accented with a blend of Sterling & Citra hops providing a intricate blend of herbal grass & tangerine citrus flavors and aroma. to pull this all together and to complete the ‘cleansing’ aspect of my vision i gently finished the ale off with a touch of white sage, lending a mild earthy spice character to the blend. of course let’s not forget our house saison yeast that brought all the elements together leaving a dry yet intricate finish.

Reasoning: pure intrigue, awesome bottle/labeling, love me a farmhouse ale.

So, we have two innovative IPAs, two Imperial Stouts with a twist, two collaborations and a Farmhouse Ale. Cant wait…

Soon, I will unveil to the world my experience with my first beer after 9 months. Cheers!

Deshutes Brewery celebrates this week! Pic courtest of oregonlive.com

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

7:00-9:00PM @ 

Fiddler’s Hearth Public House

Goose Island Beer Co. reps will be present at Fiddlers Hearth on June 22 for a multi tap night with some Belgian Style ales. We will compliment these beers with some delicious courses.
The representatives will be on hand to answer any questions anyone might have.

On Deck:
Matilda- Belgian Style Pale Ale
Sofie- Belgian Style Saison
Fleur- Belgian Style Pale Ale

Thursday, June 23, 2011

This New York brewery is now distributing in Rhode Island so tonight welcome them and taste Sixpoint Brewing Co.‘s delicious beers. The brewers will be there at 9:00PM to hang, drink and be merry. On tap:

Sunday, June 26, 2011

10:00AM-6:00PM @ Stone Brewing Co.

A $45 Sour Pass includes:
• A commemorative glass
• Fifteen 3-oz taster tickets

Picture courtesy of atlantabeermaster.com.

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Meet the Brewer: Collaboration Day Wrap-Up: Escondido, California

4:00PM-6:00PM @ Stone Brewing Co.

John Trogner of Tröegs Brewing Co. is coming all the way from PA to team up with our head brewer, Mitch Steele, and the lucky winners of last month’s Homebrew Competition. Jason & Kevin’s Cherry Chocolate Stout wowed the judges at our AHA Rally, and they’ll be cooking up a giant batch on our own brewhouse. Join us at the outside bar to celebrate the brew day and congratulate them all on a job well done!

Feel free to bring a homebrew or two to share with everyone, and we’ll waive the corkage fees!

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Drink Hitachino, Save Japan: Atlanta, Georgia

6:00PM-12:00AM @ The Porter Beer Bar

People are still in need. So stop by The Porter Beer Bar and drink some Hitachino!  The Porter Beer Bar will donate all of the proceeds from a keg of Hitachino Japanese Classic Ale to the Japanese earthquake relief effort.

Thursday, April 28, 2011

Farmhouse Ale Night: Brooklyn, New York

7:00PM-11:00PM @ Bierkraft

Spring is here and what better way to celebrate it than with some of the best beers in the Franco-Belgio tradition.

Pretty Things Jack D’or
Saison Dupont
Sixpoint Harbinger Saison
Two Brother’s Domaine du Page
Barrier Cycle Saison
Greenport Harbor Spring Saison
Saison Cazeau

Friday, April 29, 2011

Brooklyn Brewery Beer Tasting: Chester, New York

5:00PM- 7:00PM @ Bargain Beverage

Chat about these beers from Brooklyn Brewery and taste a line up from the east coast!

Saturday, April 30, 2011

DARK LORD DAY: Munster, Indiana

6:00AM-6:00PM @ Three Floyds Brewing Co. / Brewery & Pub

I dream of tasting this rare beer one day…..

Dark Lord Day is the only day of the year to buy Three Floyds Dark Lord Russian Imperial stout. DLD is a festival where participants can meet other beer enthusiasts, sample beers from all over the world, buy Dark Lord, try Oak Aged Dark Lord Russian Imperial Stout, eat BBQ, listen to live music, and generally have a great time.

The catch is that in order to get a beer, you needed to enter your name in a drawing- as these puppies are limited. For those of you who are lucky enough to grab one, email me a review or a picture for our archives- jess@beerblotter.com!

Sunday, May 1, 2011

The 6th Annual Barleywine Festival: Tacoma, Washington

2:00PM-9:00PM @ Parkway Tavern

The South Sound’s biggest celebration of barleywine with 40 plus draft barleywines poured over two days.
Saturday April 30th will feature delicious roast pigs, prime rib, and maybe a goat. 2pm-2am.
Sunday will feature our ticket only barleywine brunch, and an opportunity to sample rare barleywines. Brunch 11am-2pm. General admission 2pm to close.

Monday, May 2, 2011

Ommegang Beer Dinner: Glastonbury, Conneticut

6:30PM-9:30PM @ Plan B Burger Bar

Belgium beers by Ommegang plus amazing food. My kind of night. Here is the line up!

$45 per ticket (not including tax and gratuity)
5 Course Menu:
Appetizers: Assorted Ommegang Cheeses, Goat Cheese Bruschetta, Smoked Salmon Lollipop, Tuna & Cucumber Boats
Soup: Vischyssoise
Salad: Fresh Kale and Meatball Arancini
Entree: Venison Rack paired with Sweet Potato wrapped Mahi Mahi served over roasted Golden Beets and caramelized baby Vidalia Onions
Dessert: Nuegados and Chilate

Ommegang Beers:
Hennepin
Witte
BPA
Rare VOS
Abbey
Three Philosophers

If you go to an event, want us to post about an event or just want to say “hi” then please email me at jess@beerblotter.com! Cheers!

New and...improved?

There have been quite a few stories in the beer press lately that have really got me thinking about beer artwork.  There’s the new look of Red Hook (check out this post on Washington Beer blog), a new label design for one of my favorite beers of all time – Stone Imperial Russian Stout (see this post at beernews.org), the North Coast Brewing logo upgrade (the old logo has always been a favorite of mine) and most notably the new Upright Brewing Four Play label that has been subject to much controversy (please check out this article on Beervana).

When I first started thinking about it I was leaning toward the fact that there really aren’t that many labels/logos out there that are especially noteworthy.  There’s a few that really jumped out at me right way, but for the most part…far too many exist that fail to catch my attention.  But, the more I thought about it, the more I discussed it with friends, the more epiphanies I had and the more I realized just how wrong I was.

The Classic. Is is better?

There’s actually a lot of breweries out there that are putting serious attention toward their image.  Clearly, this isn’t surprising.  Anyone possessing even the slightest bit of entrepreneurial savvy knows how important branding can be to creating a successful business.  Here, in my Visual Art of Craft Beer Series, I plan to discuss some of my favorites.  Hopefully, in doing so, I will open up the floor for debate.  I’m sure there are a bunch out there that I either don’t know about or have simply overlooked.  Unfortunately, I won’t be able to present them all in this initial article, so the debate just may have to wait.  Start thinking about your choices now and see if I end up agreeing with you.

The following is my top 5.  This is not limited to logo alone.  I feel that if it were, the scope of this exercise would be drastically diminished.  This includes not only the straight forward logo of a brewery but the labels of all, most, or some of their bottles/cans/mini-kegs/what-have-you.

5) Three Floyds Brewing – FFF does not mess around.  They make some of the most unique beers in the country and their labels follow suit.  In may ways, they remind me of Garbage Pail Kids.  All have a comic book/cartoon like quality.  Some are lighthearted and humorous, others are dark and disturbing, all are well designed and fun to look at.  I’m not sure whether I like the Clockwork Orange themed Moloko Stout, Zombie Dust, or the Dark Lord (above) the best.  No matter how you look at it, they are all undeniably bad ass.

4) Southern Tier Brewing – The logo above isn’t very glamorous, and it by no means is the sole reason why I have put STB in the number 4 position, but I must say that I’m a very big fan of it.  I find it to be very slick, clean and simple, yet highly effective.  The tools of the trade encircled by the ingredients of the trade.  Classic.  I’ve often thought of having a variation of that logo tattooed on myself.  Good logo aside, the continuity and simplicity of all of STB’s label designs is so well done that I wouldn’t be the slightest bit surprised to find them being celebrated in HOW Magazine (or something similar).

3) New Belgium Brewing Lips of Faith Series – Take a minute to gaze upon the above image.  Tell me you wouldn’t want a full size print of that framed and mounted in your living room.  It’s beautiful…and it’s just a beer label.  I could have posted a picture of almost any LoF label and it would be equally stunning.  Whomever is behind this is really doing fabulous work.  Give them a raise.

2) Stone Brewing Co. – This logo is absolutely unmistakable.  It may not be number one on my list but it’s very possibly the number one most recognizable beer logo in craft brewing.  It’s bold, like Stone beers and the attitude of the owners/brewers.  If you’ve ever taken the time to read the lengthy, screen printed text on any of Stone’s 22oz bottles, you know just what I mean.  Stone is hard fucking core and their dark, devious mascot exemplifies that to the t.

1)  Flying Dog Brewery – Can someone please explain to me how FDB got Ralph Steadman to illustrate all of their imagery?!?!  Whether you like his style or not, this has to be the most lauded, continual collaborative effort between a brewery and a world-famous artist of all time.

Yeah, I guess I do sort of get how FDB pulled this off.  Supposedly the owners of the brewery were friends with Hunter S. Thompson.  It’s quite clear that his influence is felt throughout much of FDB’s advertising and marketing campaign.  Since Ralph Steadman is most famous for his work with Hunter S. Thompson, in lies the connection.  God knows how much money they must dish out for his work, but I for one thing it’s worth every penny.

EVENTS!!!!

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Smuttynose Beer Dinner: Milton, Massachusetts

6:30PM-9:00PM @ Abby Park

Smuttynose is one of my favorite breweries- their IPA, Wheat Wine and Barleywine are all amazing and hopefully on the menu tonight! Enjoy a 5 course specialty dinner paired with 5 Smuttynose beers for $55.00. Call 617-696-8700 or email Aja (aja@abbypark.com) for reservations.

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Grand Teton Thursday Beer Tasting: Greenville, South Carolina

5:00PM-7:00PM @ The Greenville Beer Exchange

Grand Teton Brewing Company hails from Victor, Idaho and brews some extremely delicious beers! This week we will be tasting their Bitch Creek ESB, Sweetgrass American Pale Ale, Pesephone Pils, and Black Cauldron Imperial Stout. Drop in anytime between 5pm and 7pm this Thursday to experience four Idahoan beers (and how many of those can you say you’ve had?) completely FREE!

Friday, March 25, 2011

Stone Brewing Co. Tasting: Boston, Massachusetts

5:30PM-7:30PM @ Wine Emporium

Stop by tonight to sample Stone Brewing Co. beers all the way from Escondido, California (sounds warm and sunny): Featured beers will include:

Stone IPA
Stone Smoked Porter
Arrogant Bastard Ale
Sublimely Self-Righteous Ale
Ruination IPA
2010 Old Guardian
2011 Old Guardian

Saturday, March 26, 2011

Dogfish Fest: Dallas, Texas

11:00AM-5:00PM @ The Common Table

The Common Table is tapping 12 Dogfish Head beers all on one day, Saturday March 26th- starts @ 11AM.

Here’s the lineup: HOT DAMN!

Bitches Brew
Burton Baton
90 Minute
Indian Brown
60 Minute
Raison d’Etre
Palo Santo Morrin
Chateau Jiahu
Red & White
Aprihop
90 Minute dry-hopped through a Randall
Midas Touch
Namaste (yet to be confirmed but likely will be available)

Sunday, March 27, 2011

Meet the Brewer, Cantillon: Escondido, California

3:00PM-5:00PM @ Stone Brewing Co.

Spend two hours in the presence of beer holiness- Jean Van Roy, the head brewer of one of Belgium’s finest, Cantillon. Cantillon is known for brewing traditional lambics for over 100 years. We have been there, its amazing as are the beers.

Monday, March 28, 2011

Brown Bag Night “Stouts”: Los Angeles, California

6:00PM-9:00PM @ Blue Palms BrewHouse

The idea is that this is a way to strip away any pretensions and preconceptions about specific beers you are drinking, and to challenge and educate your palate about the flavors and aromas you experience.Price of admission? Just a bottle or two of beers that you bring in for the occasion. If you’re bringing a 22 oz. or 750 mL bottle, one should be enough. If it’s a 12-ounce bottle or can, please bring two (if possible– if you only have one, just bring the one).

If you want us to post about an event, go to an event or want to just drink good beer- email me at jess@beerblotter.com or leave a comment!