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Craft Beer Blog from The Beer of the Month Club

A craft beer blog written by the experts of The Microbrewed Beer of the Month Club

Beyond the Bottle: One Long-Ass Year

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Typing this in late October, I have no clue where anyone’s headspace will be when the club newsletter actually goes out. I’ll assume it’s been a really long year for everyone reading this. We’re still gonna be a long ways off from a widespread functional COVID vaccine (fingers crossed for 2021…), and most of our friends and fam—myself included—have been relying on our normal coping mechanisms way more than usual to get through 2020. Our kegerator has been getting a workout. We’ve been playing video games, or brewing, or working out, or doing chores, or doomscrolling way more than we normally might. What a friggin year.

I’ve definitely become more aware of my limits. After we hit a recent peak in wildfire season, I finally reached out to a therapist here in Sonoma County—something I’d been meaning to do back in February before this all started. Energy-wise, I’ve been scraping bottom, and that seems a pretty common vibe around here. We rely on the people around us for support, and when everybody’s going through months and months of shit together, it helps to try and be aware of when we’re hitting an unsustainable gear. Personally: my coping mechanisms were no match for 2020. Wherever you’re at, just remember you deserve a strong support system helping you through whatever the world’s throwing this week. Here’s to a better year ahead.

The Lost Abbey Special Offer Rare Beer Club

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It’s hard to believe that it’s been two years since we asked Tomme Arthur at The Lost Abbey to part with some of his coveted limited run vintage offerings from the brewery’s cellar. You all responded so well to that offer that we figured it was time to see what else we could try and secure from Tomme. We couldn’t be more happy with the collection of beers they were willing to share with us. Some really special stuff. All limited run, all big gravity bombs. Four vintage beers from 2016-2019 and two 2020 offerings, two of which are barrel aged beers previously only offered to the brewery’s Sinners and Saints club. You’ll want to try all six, trust us.

A list of the beers appears below, but we encourage you to visit the special offer page for full tasting notes and access to the order form.

additional exciting and hard-to-find beers. Cheers!

  1. Lost Abbey Gnoel de Abbey (2019) – Holiday Brown Ale. 8.5% ABV.
  2. Lost Abbey Serpent’s Stout – Imperial Stout. 11% ABV.
  3. Lost Abbey Judgment Day – Abbey Quadrupel w/ raisins. 10.2% ABV.
  4. Lost Abbey Ten Commandments (2016) – Belgian Strong Dark Farmhouse Ale w/ blackened raisins and rosemary. 11% ABV.
  5. Lost Abbey Sinner’s Blend (2019) – Bourbon Barrel Imperial Stout w/ Ecuadorian Coffee, Cacao & Mexican spices. 13.7% ABV.
  6. Lost Abbey Cuvee de Tomme (2017) – Blended Bourbon- and Wine-Barrel-Aged Dark Wild Ale w/ Sour Cherries. 11% ABV.

Flexible ordering allows you to order 4, 6, 8, 12, 18, 24, or 48 total bottles, combining any of the six featured beers in any way to get there so that you can easily try them all.

ORDER ONLINE or at 800-625-8238 Mon – Fri, 7am – 4 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.

Learn More for full tasting notes, and to access the order form.

The order cut-off for this Special Offer is 12:00 PM Pacific on Thursday, September 24th. Orders will begin shipping out about a week later.

Cheers!

 

 

Kris Calef
President, The Rare Beer Club®

Our Owner’s Top 10 Picks Available in our Beer Store Now

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We asked our owner Kris Calef which 10 beers he’d pick from our inventory to get him through the quarantine. Here’s what we got back:

  1. Westvleteren XII (Only 10 bottles left! Call to order)
  2. Lost Abbey – Righteous Son Barrel Aged Old Ale
  3. West Sixth – Snake Eyes Imperial Stout
  4. West Sixth – Hop Static IPA
  5. Jopen & De Molen – Sin & Remorse Russian Imperial Stout
  6. Brouwerij De Molen – Bommen & Granaten Barley Wine
  7. The Bruery – Poterie Bourbon Barrel blended English-Style Old Ale
  8. Harpoon – Camp Wannamango Pale Ale with Mango
  9. Amager & Mikkeller – Frederiksen Vaesel Brunch Whiskey Barrel Imperial Oatmeal Stout w/ Vietnamese coffee
  10. Bruery Terreux – 2017 Mélange No. 9 Bourbon Barrel Sour Blended Ale w/ Ginger & Coconut

Order Online or put together your own dream-team-quarantine mixed case by emailing or calling us at 800-625-8238. Note: You may only purchase one bottle of Westvleteren XII and there’s not too much left, so you might want to act quickly if that one’s on your bucket list.

Thanks so much for supporting our small, family-owned business during these unprecedented times. It means so much to us.

Rare Beer Club Naming Contest with Pints for Prostates and Rowley Farmhouse Ales Finalists!

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The Rare Beer Club® thanks all who participated in the naming contest for our upcoming exclusive beer from Rowley Farmhouse Ales. We enjoyed reviewing the 220+ entries which were as fun and clever as in past contests. Thank you for that.

It’s always a challenge to whittle down a sizable list of great beer names to just three finalists, but John, Rick and I spent a couple hours laboring over our favorites and now you and your friends get to pick the winner!

As a reminder, here is how the upcoming beer was described for the entrants:

“It’s our homage to Scandinavian farmhouse ales, which are lesser known, but have been brewed longer than the classic Belgian and French versions. Our take on this historic style contains a portion of birch smoked malt and was mashed and lautered over a false bottom of locally foraged juniper.”

Without further ado, here are the finalists:

Smoldering Fjord
The Smoking Swede
Mäns Hälsa (“men’s health” in Swedish)

To vote for your favorite, visit our contest page!

Beer Popsicles: Lemon Pale Ale

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Beer PopsThis is not only a great recipe for summer barbecues this super fun frozen treat is perfect for any warm summer day! Try different combinations of beer and fruit to make them your own!

Ingredients:

  • ⅓ cups Fresh Squeezed Lemon Juice (approx. 4 large Lemons)
  • ¼ cups Sugar
  • 1 cup Pale Ale Beer

Preparation:

Mix all ingredients together in a pitcher or measuring cup with a spout. Stir until sugar has dissolved. Pour into popsicle molds and freeze for at least 6 hours.

When ready to serve, run the molds under hot water until the popsicles release.

Depending on the beer you use, the level of sugar and lemon juice can to be adjusted to fit your taste.

Recipe and photo from: www.TastyKitchen.com

Super Bowl Foods & Craft Beer

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When preparing for Super Bowl Sunday, it’s important to make sure you don’t forget the craft beer! If your house is anything like most of ours, there’s going to be plenty of food around – so what craft beers make the best pairings?

When choosing a craft beer to accompany a certain dish, it’s often best to aim for a complementary flavor, but a contrasting one can work too. For instance, hot & spicy foods usually go great with IPAs, whose big, spicy hops match the heat and intensity of the food. But, a sweeter, maltier craft beer like a bock can help tame the heat while refreshing the palate.

Just like with food and wine pairings, you want to make sure you don’t have one member of your pairing dominating the other, so try to match the intensity levels of the craft beer and the food. For example, a barleywine will stomp all over a celery stick, and a bowl of 5 alarm chili will kick the butt of a pale lager – so keep the character of each of the components in mind.

Here’s a little guide we made with some of our suggestions for popular game day foods:

Beer-Pairings

Chips & Dips: Pale Ale, Kölsch, Blonde Ale, & Helles Lager
Veggie & Fruit Trays: Witbier, Hefeweizen, Pale Ale, Gose
Pizza: Vienna Lager, Pilsner, Saison, Schwarzbier
Chili: Amber Ale, Märzen/Oktoberfest, Porter, Sweet Stout
Buffalo Wings: IPA, Pilsner, Bock, Belgian Pale Ale
Burgers & Hot Dogs: Brown Ale, Dunkel Lager, Dry Stout, Scotch Ale
Chocolate Desserts: Imperial Stout, Fruit Lambic, Barleywine, Belgian Dubbel

Beer Caramelized Onions

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Beer caramelized onions are perfect to add to dishes like burgers, pastas, hotdogs, mac & cheese, or anything you can think of! Try them at your next barbecue and it is sure to be a hit!

Beer Caramelized OnionsIngredients

  • 4 yellow onions, sliced ¼ inch thick
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • 1 teaspoon brown sugar
  • ¼ cup plus 1 tablespoon lager beer
  • 1 teaspoon salt

Instructions

  1. Melt butter and onions in a large skillet over medium high heat.
  2. Stir in brown sugar, ¼ cup of beer and salt; add onions and stir for 5 minutes.
  3. Turn heat down to medium-low and cook onions for 40 minutes.
  4. Remove from heat and stir in remaining tablespoon of beer.

Recipe and photo from: www.itisakeeper.com

The Microbrewed Beer of the Month Club

The Microbrewed Beer of the Month Club | 1-800-625-8238 (Outside USA call: 949-206-1904) | P.O. Box 1627, Lake Forest, CA 92609