Kris Calef, Author at Craft Beer Blog from The Beer of the Month Club

The Gift of Chernyy Medved is Sure to Warm Their Bones this December!

December 8, 2015 by Kris Calef

valiant-kelly-and-kris — Kris with Valiant Brewing’s Kelly Schoepfer

It seems like forever since I first sat down with Brian Schroepfer, one of the owners and Head Brewer at Valiant Brewing, to talk about potentially slotting his big, bad Russian Imperial Stout in The Rare Beer Club®. Since that time, we’ve all been eagerly awaiting the batch that he’s made just for us, and this week, Brian dropped off the goods. My team and I wasted no time busting open a couple of bottles after work on Friday and I have to say, it is outstanding!

It’s big. It’s viscus. It’s smoky. It’s delicious! Like the sample we rated back in August, we all found it surprisingly approachable for such a big beer. Huge mouthfeel. Big roasted notes, as you’d expect, with smoky chocolate malt flavors intermingled with vanilla and hints of cherries, all of which integrated perfectly.

Don’t take my word for it; read the Chernyy Medved tasting notes written by Ken Weaver, our newsletter writer and the editor at All About Beer Magazine. But be warned, it’s going to cost you if you do, because you won’t be able to resist giving it to the beer geek in your life… or picking up a few bottles for yourself! This one will be one of our two Rare Beer Club® featured December beers, so be sure to order by 12-20-15.

If you do order a bottle or two, be sure to save some money by using our rare craft beer club coupons on every order.

You’re going to thank me. This is a really special beer. You’ll want to toss one back now because you won’t be able to wait, and lay a couple down, as it will age nicely.

Prost!
Kris

Beer and Hot Sauce in My Christmas Stocking?
Oh hell yeah…

November 24, 2015 by Kris Calef

So I’m always looking for some cool smaller gifts to drop in holiday stockings and to give our mailman, the Arrowhead water delivery dude, our gardener, and most of my neighbors (there are one or two that remain on the “No Gift For You!” list). Normally this time of year, I’m heavily focused on promoting what we sell as you might expect. We’re a pretty good last-minute beer gift and it’s a big time of year for us. But today I want to tell you about a buddy of mine, John Kessler, who launched Infinity Sauces a little over a year ago.

Now I dig me some hot sauce, but wouldn’t call myself a heavy user. Typically a small bottle lasts me half a year or longer. I wanted to support John’s new venture last year so I bought an assortment of 18 bottles, intending on giving away 17 of ‘em. That’s not quite what happened. I ended up keeping 6. He focuses more on flavor than the heat in his line and his Chipotle and Double Chipotle sauces are nothing short of amazing. Literally, every single person that I’ve shared them with has asked me how they can get more. He’s got quite a few ass-kickers as well made with ghost chilies for those more partial to the heat, but want killer flavor with it. His most recent seasonal release, The Hatch-Qautch, was recently quoted as being the Pliny the Elder of hot sauces based on quality, demand, and availability. His next seasonal is a variation of his Chipotle that will more than likely be made with Left Coast’s Voodoo Stout, a big, roasted, 8.5% American Stout. And he’s going to be exploring barrel aged sauces next year. You could say that I’m excited for him…and for me as I can’t wait to get my mitts on a sauce that’s been aged in an old bourbon barrel used to age an imperial stout (or whatever he ends up doing!).

His stuff is already a bargain, but John was cool enough to give me a coupon to share with our members. Use coupon code: “monthlyclubs” at checkout and you’ll get 20% off your order. He’ll keep the coupon live until Dec 31st. You can find him at www.infinitysauces.com. I wouldn’t pimp his stuff if it weren’t really, really good. You’ll dig it.

Prost!
Kris

Good Gourd Almighty Indeed…
Thank you Cigar City!

October 17, 2015 by Kris Calef

A little less than 2 years ago, I flew out to Tampa to meet Cigar City’s brewmaster, Wayne Wambles, and owner, Joey Redner, to discuss a beer they were creating exclusively for The Rare Beer ClubÂ® to commemorate our company’s 20 year anniversary. What a couple of cool cats. They were both very generous with their time (and their beer) and Wayne hooked me up with a bottle of Rum Barrel aged Good Gourd Almighty as I was heading out the door. I didn’t really realize what he’d given me at the time, but figured if this was the one bottle that he wanted me to take back with me, it was going to be pretty amazing.

So I was digging through my beer fridge Saturday night, not really knowing what the hell I was looking for when Good Gourd jumped out at me and said, “It’s time, Kris. It’s time.” It took little to convince me that the voice in my head was right and I cracked it open. So a bit of background on this one via the brewery’s description: An Imperial Pumpkin Ale brewed with copious amounts of pumpkin with Ceylon cinnamon, Jamaican all-spice, Zanzibar cloves and nutmeg added, and then aged in rum barrels.

I have to say, I dig me a pumpkin beer from time to time as long as it’s not some kind of pumpkin pie extract deal. It’s got to be done right and Wayne knocked it out of the park with this seasonal sweet nectar. This one hits you with spiced rum right up front, in the middle and on the finish, integrating those notes beautifully with the pumpkin, nutmeg, cloves and allspice. There’s a bit of vanilla from the barrels, mouthfeel is big and chewy. In short, I coveted every sip. Either they didn’t print the ABV on the label or I simply forgot it as I was quite comfortably numb and feeling a bit like a gourd myself after I polished it off. Had to be 10% or better, but was surprisingly accessible given how big and complex it was.

Thank you Wayne. You made my October. Now I have to figure out how the hell to get another bottle.

Prost!
Kris

Adelbert’s Brewery, The Rare Beer Club® and Pints for Prostates Partner to Reach Men Through the Universal Language of Beer

September 1, 2015 by Kris Calef

Charlotte, N.C. – Adelbert’s Brewery of Austin, Texas, and The Rare Beer Club®, which ships unique craft beers nationwide, are teaming up to benefit the Pints for Prostates campaign.

Adelbert’s is releasing specially labeled bottles of Scratchin’ Hippo to create awareness and support the mission of Pints for Prostates, which uses the universal language of beer to reach men with an important health message. This award winning Bière de Garde will feature a limited edition label with the Pints for Prostates logo exclusively available through The Rare Beer Club.

Scratchin’ Hippo is a 6.9 percent alcohol by volume traditional, rustic artisanal French-style farmhouse ale. Its complex malt-driven flavor elicits notes of toasted caramel, roasted malts and cocoa, complimented by a mild sweetness.

“Scratchin’ Hippo is one of our most popular and unique beers. It is named for a massive hippo in Kenya that decided one night to scratch itself by rubbing up against the house where my brother Del, the namesake of the brewery, was living. He thought it was an earthquake,” said Scott Hovey, Founder and Brewmaster of Adelbert’s Brewery. “We are happy to partner with Pints for Prostates and the Rare Beer of the Month Club on this project to help raise awareness about prostate cancer.”

The limited edition label features the Pints for Prostates logo, which includes the blue ribbon to remind people of the ongoing search for a cure to prostate cancer, a leading cause of death among American men. A donation for every 750 milliliter bottle of Adelbert’s Scratchin’ Hippo sold through The Rare Beer Club will be made to Pints for Prostates.

“The annual release of a special beer through The Rare Beer of the Month Club helps us to connect with guys and urge them to take charge of their health by getting screened for prostate cancer,” said Rick Lyke, a prostate cancer survivor who founded Pints for Prostates after successful prostate cancer surgery in April 2008. “We are extremely grateful to Adelbert’s and The Rare Beer of the Month Club for helping us to achieve our mission.”

“This is the sixth year The Rare Beer Club® has partnered with Pints for Prostates on this project and we’re always pleased to do so as it’s a great cause and our members really look forward to a unique beer each year. Adelbert’s is a great craft brewery that we’ve only worked with one other time in 20 years, so we’re really excited to be working with them again,” said President Kris Calef. “Together with the brewery, we’ll donate $1.00 for every bottle sold and include a Pints for Prostates information card in each shipment to remind our members to get tested. A little education and early detection goes a long way to save lives.”

To get the specially labeled version of Scratchin’ Hippo join The Rare Beer Club online or call 800-625-8238 and be sure to start your membership in September. .

According to the National Cancer Institute, prostate cancer will claim the lives of nearly 30,000 men in the U.S. during 2015. Prostates cancer is 33 percent more common in men than breast cancer is in women, yet few men know they should get a prostate health screening at age 40. The release is part of the Pints for Prostates Oktoberfest for a Cure observance that is taking place from August through October.

About Adelbert’s Brewing

Based in Austin, Texas, Adelbert’s Brewery is committed to brewing Belgian-style, bottle-conditioned ales for people to seek, savor, and share with others. Adelbert’s uses Bohemian old-world floor malted barley, low alpha Noble Czech hops, fresh yeast propagated at the brewery, and a multi-temperature decoction mash technique. The brewery believes quality beers require quality ingredients and a painstaking attention to detail throughout the brewing process. Learn more at www.adelbertsbeer.com.

About The Rare Beer Club®

The Microbrewed Beer of the Month Club™ offers four different options for consumers. From the very inception of our original domestic beer of the month club in 1994, we’ve focused on consistently providing three primary product characteristics: Quality, Variety & Freshness. And in that spirit, we now offer you four outstanding beer club options, each dedicated to those same principles. Our owner’s favorite club features the finest the world of beer has to offer in limited-release, celebratory, artisanal beers from some of Michael Jackson’s favorite breweries. Two different selections are presented each month in 750 ml bottles, often cork finished, and some individually tissue wrapped. Members experience bold U.S. and imported interpretations of Farmhouse Ales, Russian Imperial Stouts, Barley Wines, Belgian Abbey Ales, varied Imperial, Extreme, Strong Ale and Grand Cru offerings, oak-aged ales imparting bourbon and vanilla notes, and much more. Many selections are pushing the envelope of creativity, are not yet distributed in the U.S., and brewed such that they can be cellared and aged.

About Pints for Prostates

Pints for Prostates reaches men through the universal language of beer to encourage them to take charge of their health. The group was founded by prostate cancer survivor and beer writer Rick Lyke in 2008. The grassroots effort raises awareness among men about the importance of regular men’s health screenings by making appearances at beer festivals, social networking and pro bono advertising. According to the National Cancer Institute, approximately 233,000 new prostate cancer cases are diagnosed annually in the U.S. More information is available at www.pintsforprostates.org. Pints for Prostates also has a presence on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram (@pints4prostates).

Hoping to Slot Prairie Artisan Ales in Q4

August 25, 2015 by Kris Calef

Literally the same day that I had met with the owner of Valiant Brewing company and locked down on running their 13% oaked Russian Imperial Stout, Chernyy Medved, I received and email from Chase Healey, the owner of Prairie Artisan Ales, asking what styles I was interested in running in The Rare Beer Club® in Q4. We featured Prairie Noir, an Imperial Stout Aged in Oak Whiskey Barrels, more than two years ago and after meeting Chase last October at The Festival, I was really eager to run them again. Really cool guy making outstanding beer. And Prairie Noir doesn’t have a 99 rating on RateBeer by chance. It’s world class stuff. Chase suggested we consider a tequila barrel aged version and I’ve been emailing him monthly ever since!

It’s not a done deal yet, but I’ll be doing my best to lock down something dark and delicious, more than likely something that’s spent some time on wood, for October, November or December. I kinda like the idea of running a Russian Imperial Stout from Prairie and Valiant within a 3 month span and am quite confident we wouldn’t get too many complaints from our members as that style always goes over well. That said, Okie, a 10% Imperial Brown Ale Aged in Oak Whiskey Barrels and The Beer that Saved Christmas, a 10% Old Ale Aged in Oak Barrels, both sound pretty tasty. So much beer, so little time.

Wish me luck and stay tuned!

Prost!
Kris

Valiant Brewing Company’s Chernyy Medved Coming in December!

August 18, 2015 by Kris Calef

One might think that running the country’s best beer of the month club would be a glamorous gig, sitting back quaffing high gravity malted nectar all day, rubbing elbows with some of the coolest entrepreneurs you’ll ever meet, and turning your customers on to really, really good craft beers. Truth be told, heading up the sourcing of the beers we feature is in fact the most important thing I do around here, but I don’t get to meet the men behind these beers face to face more than a dozen times a year and quite a bit takes place via email and over the phone as with most businesses these days.

So it was a sincere pleasure to sit down with one of the owners and Head Brewer of Valiant Brewing, Brian Schroepfer, last Friday, to get to know each other a bit and talk about working together. Thirty minutes into the conversation he busted out a 2014 bottle of Chernyy Medved, a 13% Russian Imperial Stout brewed with cherries, vanilla and oak and said something like, “I think this is about the right temperature to open Kris. Do you have an opener?” It was Friday afternoon about 3 pm or so and after considering it for a nanosecond, I quickly produced some fine glassware and an opener. Wow. What an amazing beer. It mattered not that this beer was brewed in tribute to the OC Brew Ho Ho Holiday Ale Festival and that the average temp last week was approaching 90 degrees. It was surprisingly approachable for such a big beer, had a big full, viscous and round mouthfeel, and poured like motor oil that hadn’t been changed in quite some time. Smokey, roasted, and chocolate malt flavors intermingled with vanilla and hints of cherries in perfect harmony. Suffice to say, I was sold instantly.

Brian waited until the end of the meeting to let me know that he was confident that they could fit us into their production schedule so that we could run it this December. Further, we may just be able to pull off a Valiant Special Offer in The Rare Beer Club in February 2016, giving members a chance to try four other gems from this rising star of a brewery that only three years in and distributed largely only in Orange County, CA. What a way to end the week. Days like that remind me how lucky I am not to be moving big iron for IBM any more.

Prost!
Kris

July 2015 Rare Beer Club® Special Offer

July 20, 2015 by Kris Calef

Today it’s our pleasure to announce another Rare Beer Club^® Special Offer! You can read a summary below or visit the special offer page for full tasting notes and access to the order form.

If you’re new to the club: welcome! One of the best things about being a member is that, in addition to our normal monthly selections, you can take advantage of our periodic special offers on additional exciting and hard-to-find beers.

We’re very excited to offer four delicious beers from Colorado’s Odell Brewing Company – specifically from their Cellar Series, which are very limited production beers usually available only from their tap room. And, like our June feature from Odell, Barrel Thief, three of the beers below have aged on wood. Cheers!

Jaunt – Incorporating the juice of Riesling grapes from the Western Slope of Colorado, Jaunt is also aged with light and medium oak staves during secondary fermentation. Additions of wheat and Pilsner malt serve to keep this smooth and crackling. 7.6% ABV.
Trellis – This very unusual strong ale is brewed with locally grown herbs and spices including cilantro, coriander, lavender, rose petals, and pineapple mint. Along with being an expressive (and wholly unique) offering, every bottle sold raises one dollar to support The Gardens on Spring Creek. 8.7% ABV.
Fernet Aged Porter – A blend of 50% porter and 50% aged porter matured in Fernet barrels via Leopold Bros. Distillery. Inspired by the framework of dark, minty liqueurs, Odell combined the core elements of minty licorice barrel notes with the base of a chocolate-malt-forward porter. 9.4% ABV.
180 Shilling – An upsized riff on the flagship beer they opened their doors with back in 1989: the also-delicious 90 Shilling. We, unabashedly, were totally into this one. An undercurrent of roast meets huge, glorious levels of caramel and dried dark fruits and sherry, with a perfect impact from the oak. 9.6% ABV.

Flexible ordering allows you to order 2, 4, 6, 8, or 12 total bottles, combining any of the 4 featured beers in any way to get there so that you can easily try all four. Orders ship after our July 31 cut off date.

Order online or at 800-625-8238 Mon-Fri 7 am – 5 pm Pacific. If your Rare Beer Club^®membership was a gift, you will be contacted by one of our team members for payment information if you submit your order online.

Click the “Learn More” button for full tasting notes, and to access the order form.

If you wish to get any of these limited selections, please respond to this special offer by 12:00 PM Pacific on Friday, July 31, 2015.

Cheers!