Small Craft Advisory

It’s been an absurdly hot summer in the area, but fortunately all of our favorite breweries have kept us cool and interested with some great seasonal offerings. Some old, some new, all worth a look. Here they are:

New Belgium: Skinny Dip

This one made it’s first splash in our territory last summer, but came back strong this summer. A refreshing beer best described as a blonde ale. “Cascade hops frolic with a hint of lime leaf, giving the beer complexity that’s surprisingly refreshing.” Really easy drinking, this one does everything you want a beer to do when it feels like an oven outside. Grab it while it’s hot, or wait until next summer!

Magic Hat: Wacko

A great, refreshing summer beer brewed with Pale Malt and Beet Sugar for the twist we can always expect from this ever off-beat and excellent brewery. Wacko makes a triumphant return to the area. A fantastic recipe for Wacko Marinated Grilled Salmon awaits your late summer appetites here.

Blue Moon: Honey Moon Summer Ale

Having just gone on a honeymoon myself (no applause, please), I have quite a connection with this beer. Unreasonably easy to drink, as a portion of its fermentable ingredients is provided by local honey from a farm near the brewery in Colorado, yielding a light bodied, crisp beer that proved popular across the board this summer.

Oskar Blues: GUBNA Imperial IPA

“And now for something a bit different.” Not everybody’s looking to drink a six pack of beer in a sitting. The GUBNA simply won’t let you. while not exactly a “summer seasonal,” I wanted to mention this one because it was new this season, though it will be around late into the fall, and because it is just so stinking excellent. An Imperial IPA, this is a high gravity, high IBU full on chewy, sticky mess of a good beer. For those who seek a beer they can savor, a beer that reminds them in a not-so-gentle and yet ever-satifying fashion that they are indeed alive. You just need to try this.

Oskar Blues: Mama’s Little YELLA Pils American Pilsner

Again, not a seasonal, not even a rotational. This one is available year-round. And that’s a very good thing in the Advisory’s opinion, as it’s our favorite pilsner. Chalky, smooth, golden, and delicious, this beer is great for many reasons, not the least of which being the fact that it is only available in a can and can therefore usually be consumed at the pool or a picnic or other public location and mistaken by the powers that be for soda. Not that we encourage such behavior…

RJ Rockers: Son Of A Peach

Some of you, like myself, may be hesitant when it comes to boldly fruity beers. When it comes to SOAP, we’re all wrong. This beer is fantastic, while being anything but balanced. Peaches do indeed explode throughout the experience of this wheat ale. Fresh peaches at that, steeped directly in the fermenting vessel. This is easily one of the most interesting and continuously rewarding brews of the summer by an excellent brewery out of Spartanburg, South Carolina.

Leinenkugels: Summer Shandy

One of the most unique beers in our repertoire. A shandy, for them what don’t know, is a beer flavored with lemonade. Because sometimes we don’t want to be “purists.” Sometimes it’s just damn hot, and we don’t want to have to work for our refreshment. This one is guaranteed to do all the work for you.

Next time: Introduction to the Fall Lineup, Tasting Notes on the GUBNA

Best,

The Small Craft Advisor

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On tap for the Advisor:

Fermenting: PBR clone beer for Belmontonia Day, “bALEmontonia.” I don’t have time to explain that.

Drinking: Mamaw’s Summer Tea

Listening: Bon Iver: For Emma, Forever Ago

Craving: Flank Steak, Potato Casserole

Pyramid BC and Magic Hat BC have a longstanding relationship that has finally resulted in some cross-coastal marketing. What does this mean for us? Well it means that in addition to the great selection of Magic Hat’s off-the-beaten-path creations, Pyramid’s flagship line will be setting up camp with them in the area!

Pyramid has a great website full of information regarding their brews, the various brew sites, and a bounty of additional knowledge to get you as familiar as you could possibly get with these beers short of actually imbibing.

For now, here’s a brief primer:

HAYWIRE Hefeweizen: Everything you expect from a classic Bavarian Wheat Ale – Cloudy with a medium body, notes of citrus, nugget and liberty hop varieties. Incredibly drinkable, especially in the heat (and boy, do we have heat here!)

AUDACIOUS Apricot Ale: Another wheat ale, this one made special with fresh apricots steeped in the fermenter.  Nugget and Summit hops balance the sweet/sour of the apricot while elaborating its the floral character.

THUNDERHEAD IPA: Everybody’s making them these days. Pyramid, as usual, figures out how to stand out in the sea of IPAs with a beer that delivers strong on the hop aroma while letting a strong biscuit malt backbone take some of the attention in the taste. Balanced rather than simply hop-loaded as is the trend.

Current Seasonal:

CURVE BALL Blonde Ale: Terrifyingly drinkable cold lagered blonde ale. Crisp, light-bodied, lightly hopped, and only around while the summer heat lasts!

Next time: Guide to summer styles

Best,

The Small Craft Advisor

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On tap for the Advisor:

Fermenting: PBR clone beer for Belmontonia Day, “bALEmontonia.” I don’t have time to explain that.

Drinking: Homebrewed IPA

Listening: Menomena – “Mines”

Craving: A “Hayes” from The Salty Caper