After the complete failure and lack of response from the brewery that was Hi-Res, someone still decided to pick a Sixpoint beer. A recent change from 4 pack pounders to 6 pack Red Bull sized cans make this beer the perfect companion to sneak onto a beach, into a movie theater, or for tailgating. That's not what the website says, but it should be. Shockingly, The Crisp wasn't too bad. We've had a few Sixpoint beers at this point. The first ones were in CBE7 which seems like a lifetime ago. Because of the brief Hi-Res accompaniment I didn't really discuss the website that much. It's nice... Lots of news, lots of pictures, some videos, and a decent amount of social media stuff to keep you busy. It's set up like a Super-Blog and there is a ton of information there. If I didn't hate Hi-Res so much, and the fact that no one responded to me about how horrible it was, I would probably like it more. Side note, I'd recommend to stay away from Rad if you see it around. You're better off just getting Ocean Spray Ruby Red. Or maybe you're into that. Whatever. Here's the website thing:
The Crisp
...When the Mad Scientists emerged from underground, the quest for a new formulation went from obsession to reality.
What do you get when you fuse old world craftsmanship with new, clean, & bold flavors from right raw materials? The Crisp. It's Mad Science.
Every newsletter poses problems. SO, let's not talk about how difficult that was to do. Someone's bright idea owes me 99 cents. Note that I cannot be paid in bit coin. And alway we go.
The next stop on our CBE Sixteen adventure brings us to what may be a new segment in the CBE Newsletter. The Throwback. So I'll let me from #CBEX talk a little about a Lagunitas beer.
Without any other transition, I'll kind of be staying in the wheat category by jumping to new CBEer BG's selection of Lagunitas Little Sumpin' Sumpin'. This represents the 7th beer that we've had from Lagunitas. Their website is down while I am writing this newsletter, and that's a shame (don't worry, see below.) I enjoy going there to see the crazy videos of the beers, and all the old burnouts trying to spell things correctly. Double standard, when Two Brothers does it, I don't like it, but when Lagunitas does it, it's kitsch. I was really excited when I was introduced to the "White/Wheat IPA" genre. I like wheat beers, and I like IPAs, so why not. That excitement turned to old man bitterness and Friday the 13th type horror as they were all pretty terrible. Blue Point and Deschutes were some of the first ones I tried, and they didn't seem like a good mesh. This one for some reason, hits all the right marks. I think because it's not an overly hopped wheat, or a light IPA, there seems to be more thought put into it. It's something completely different from both of those things. As a matter of fact, 8 months ago, a guy called Stevey Jo on Untappd wrote "Others should note this for the hoppy/wheat style. This is the only one I've had that I would have again." That guys sounds pretty smart. Then some other people said...
I immediately sent a request to Linda L. so that I can follow more of her reviews. Unfortunately, I haven't heard back yet. Another quick note, which is also a short shout out to our new unofficial sponsor, Ambler Bev. I was curious how old this one was, and saw that they bottle date. It looks very Captain Kirk-y. The mark on the bottle is star date 095 2013. Turns out that is a Julian Date Code, or at least that's what some guy on Beer Advocate said it was. The 095 stands for the day of the year, which would be April 5th, which I think is pretty fresh. Depending on who you talk to in the fruit/vegetable argument, hoppy beers should be drank pretty quickly, and a lot of brewers put best by dates of 3-4 months.
Brian D. “Changed review of taste. A strong pale wheat, with IPA like hoppiness. Hoppy from the start with a light wheat undertone. Wheat finish.” 4.5 starsbrett o. “It’s kind of growing on me…” 3.5 starsLinda L. “ I like youuuuuuuuuu beeeer. J” 4 stars
So part of the reason I jumped into The Throwback, was because it took so long to write the first entry and I'm hoping to gain some momentum. I've learned a little bit from my errors on the first bottle collage, and Lagunitas always has cool stuff written all over their bottles. So, back to your regularly scheduled Newsletter and Diptic Picture Splicing...
That's a damn good beer. Now out of complete curiosity on how much information I can get on this brewery from the internets, we are going to visit Evil Genius. And I found what I was looking for, pretty much right out of the gate. Long story short, two guys from Villanova decide to start a brewery. With how much it costs to build/create an actual brewery, they contract brew. Some places are weird about it, some people look down on it, but contract brewing is just a fiscally smart way to get a product to market without having to spend a ton of money up front. They use Thomas Hooker Brewing in Connecticut, and advertise that on their website. I like it, own it. There are some other brands that have gone the contract brewing route, but were more marketing ideas than good beer, but with brewers focusing more on quality and product, it's becoming a more acceptable practice. Evil Genius make some pretty interesting beers, and are starting to come up with some pretty awesome names. Purple Monkey Dishwasher, Turtle Power, I Love Lamp. They are some pretty cool pop culture references that I actually get. This one is a White IPA, a style that it is well noted I'm not a huge fan of, but the returns are that everyone pretty much liked this one. The website notes:
The Siren is a sultry maiden, ready to lure and enchant the unsuspecting. Single hopped with a generous amount of Amarillo creates a beautiful bubblegum flavor, with sweet notes of grapefruit and orange.
Easy there Don Juan. I got a lot of bubble gum in this one. It meshed up a little weird with the strong hops, but it definitely wasn't Hi-Res. I liked it enough to make a little collage of all of the bottles that I drank. Yes, I still have one left.
There have now been 137 documented CBE Official Beers. And this is the first time we've selected an Allagash. Which is both shameful and pathetic. I've been wanting to try this one since it was released. It's from someplace called Maine. I didn't really stare at Google Maps too long to figure out where it was, but I've heard it's #thewaylifeshouldbe. Yes, I know that's not how a hashtag is supposed to work, it's "fixed" because of a book that has nothing to do with beer, but probably something to do with Maine or Instagram. Anyway, super spicy, fruity, yeasty, delicious. We should go back to the Allagash well soon.
Allagash Saison is our interpretation of a classic Belgian farmhouse style. It is a golden hued beer, brewed with a 2-Row blend, malted rye, oats and dark Belgian candi sugar. Saison is hopped with Tettnang, Bravo and Cascade hops. Fermented with a traditional saison yeast strain, Saison exhibits notes of spice and tropical fruit in the aroma. Citrus and a peppery spice dominate the flavor and make way for a pleasant malt character. Saison is full bodied with a remarkably dry finish. 6.1% ABV
Allagash probably has one of Philly's most famous beer reps, Suzy Woods. They usually do a good amount of local events, and you can find out more about them on her Twitter. Twitter is a thing, it's not like that fad Facebook. The Allagash website is extremely nice, has lots of good info on their beer, and a lot of information about their company and its philanthropy. Next time you have a few extra dollars in your pocket, skip the six packs and pick up one of Allagash's big bottles. I'm a big fan of Curieux, which is aged in Jim Beam barrels and tastes nothing like what you remember Jim Beam tasting like. Someone needs to take this app away from me...
This is a pretty obnoxious side note, but if you see a 12 pack or case of the Sierra Nevada Beercamp, you should get it. And if I were you, I wouldn't tell anyone about it. I just had the Double Latte (Milk/Coffee Stout Collaboration with Ninkasi,) and it may be one of the best beers I've ever had.
Back to the show. This time, the show is Great Lakes Burning River. This was one of the last beers I had from this CBE, and I was very impressed. It's a malt forward pale ale, that tastes somewhere in between Cinnamon Toast Crunch and actual toast, with a citrusy hop finish. That's far more description than you will get from the website:
An assertively hopped American pale ale with citrusy and piney Cascade hops
Although I have discussed how awesome the stat sheets are that Great Lakes has on their site. It doesn't say anything about Cinnamon Toast Crunch, but if you want to learn about what your tasting, and how the beer gets those characteristics, these sheets are fantastic. If anyone was counting, this is our 4th Great Lakes beer. Also, there are awards. More than they can possibly list on the bottle, so they are just conceding to WORLD CHAMPS. Probably a LeBron thing.
Since at this rate, it will probably be out in a couple of weeks, beware of Great Lakes' Christmas Ale. It's delicious, but it will sneak up on you at 7.5%, and shorten a Holiday outing by several hours.
Ithaca Green Trail. I've seen this beer around over the past couple months, and mistakingly thought it was Ithaca's shot at a Session IPA. I've had enough of those, so I never actually read past, "Easy Drinking India Pale Ale." So it gets selected in #CBE16, and after I saw that it was 6%, I thought it might be Flower Power's cousin, and that got me excited. Then I opened one, and it was Flower Power's cousin. But the weird cousin that no one in the family talks about. It's a solid, English Style IPA, just not what I was hoping for. I have at least one more of these, and am looking to diving in a little more now that I know what to expect. I did see on their website that they have a "Box of Hops" variety pack, and that has something called The Creeker in it. That's a Double IPA, and probably the cousin I was looking forward to hanging out with. Also, check out Ithaca's "Box of Belgians." For some reason, I can't find any information about it on their website, but I've seen it. I've bought it. And it's three of the best beers I have ever had, as well as a solid Tripel. I cut this out of the press release for you...
Don’t let the “easy-drinking” part of it’s name mislead you. Green Trail still delivers a mighty hop punch, but also has a smooth malt body that masterfully balances that famous Ithaca Beer hop intensity. Green Trail has “instant hit” potential with die-hard hop heads and new craft drinkers alike. Weighing in at 6.0% ABV, Green Trail neither overwhelms taste buds nor underwhelm palates as sessionable and approachable IPAs often can. Ithaca Beer’s lead brewer, Bill Ballweber put it best, “Green Trail is just a perfect everyday, go-to, instant-crowd-pleaser IPA.”
“What is Green Trail?” one might ask. For founder, Dan Mitchell, Green Trail is a mindset. “It’s about blazing a path that sets you apart from the norm, or that way of thinking out of the ordinary. It’s on that green trail, you often, grow, discover, experience and hopefully improve your surroundings just a little bit…we’re on the Green Trail around here (at Ithaca Beer), are you?”
Well. ok. I also cut this together for you. Yes, you.
This next brewery was a little less open about where the beer may or may not be brewed. I was able to find the weather forecast for Hawaii on their site. Also information about visiting their pubs on two different islands. And tons of information about sustainability. I also found information about the "Now on the Mainland (ed note: that's where we are) Castaway IPA." Kona Brewing really just makes me jealous. It's only 3:41 in the afternoon on any Hawaiian Island. And probably sunny. And filled with frozen drinks. Here it's like 91 degrees in the room we have the computer. It's humid for at least another three weeks. And I'm further from a body of water than anyone that lives in Hawaii anywhere. Ahhh, there it is...
Under strict guidance, Kona Brewing Company also produces its bottled beer and mainland draft beer in Portland, Oregon, Woodinville, Washington, and Portsmouth, New Hampshire, as part of its partnership with Craft Brew Alliance Inc.Also says this about the actual beer...
Take a sip of this copper-colored India Pale Ale and you’ll taste bold, citrusy hops with a touch of tropical mango and passion fruit, balanced by the rich caramel malts. Castaway IPA has a clean, crisp finish that’s as refreshing as the wind in your face when you set sale for adventure.
So not only does the weather and lifestyle pale in comparison to Hawaii, the Hawaiian beer I'm drinking was probably made in New Hampshire. Serves me right. Outside of my poor jokes, this was really good. I forget the other breweries in the Craft Beer Alliance, *Googles* but Red Hook sure does do a really great job with this beer. It is a mighty coincidence that we had two contracted brewed beers in this CBE. I never remember even mentioning it before. Very solid IPA, really great bottles. Love how it says Liquid Aloha with a map of the Islands on it. Even thought it's brewed in New Hampshire. Sorry, I couldn't help myself. I really liked it, swearzies.
Like a Phoenix from the ashes, the Hi-Res bandit really crushed it this time with Stone Go To. I keep trying to hate Session IPAs. There's something innately wrong with them. It's like gluten free pretzels. Low carb bread. Soy milk. (I was going to use a Tempeh joke there, but thought the Soy milk would go over better.) There's no body. They have the consistency of water. Even the best of them. They are all WAY over carbonated. But as much as I try to hate them, I just can't. They smell fantastic and taste just as good. And the Stone Go To may be the best of the batch. Really over the top hops, tastes like Hop Bursting you might say.
Since Day One, we've been abundantly forthright and fully transparent about our lust for hops. It's led us to craft many an IPA, most of them imperial—some intense for their time and all timeless in their intensity. For Stone Go To IPA, we are embracing our hop obsession in a new way, funneling an abundance of lupulin-borne bitterness into a "session" IPA delivering all the fruity, piney character of a much bigger IPA. To accomplish this, we employed "hop bursting," a new technique wherein an irrational amount of hops is added during the final phase of the brewing process to coax out extreme flavors and aromas while also imparting a burst of desirably pleasant bitterness. The result is an Alpha-acid-rich beer that fans can enjoy more of without missing out on the assertive hop character you, like us, crave. So, sit back and go two with your new everyday go-to IPA and bask along with us in the glory of the almighty hop.
Or they might say, whatever. It's really solid. If it came in cans, I'd probably be drinking more of this than All Day from Founders. But please. For the love. Remember that there are actual IPAs out there. Don't neglect them.
Something, something, something. Stone is building a brewery in Germany. For 30 bucks, you can purchase a really big bottle of beer that you can pick up in three years at a yet to be determined location to help them out. I'm still trying to convince myself that this might be a good idea, but I don't know if I can do it.
That's it. I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as it was aggravating learning how to use a picture app. For those of you that are reading this in protest similar to my feelings about losing Scott Hartnell, I am working on something for the next CBE so that we can either expand or get the entirety of our 10 members involved. It may actually be two separate exchanges, one for fall/pumpkin beers and a more standard CBE. Let me know what you would be more interested in. Good night, don't watch Snow Piercer no matter what Rotten Tomatoes tells you to do.
Whoever posted the pictures to this blog entry is an idiot...
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