Interesting Beer Info Archives - Page 13 of 14 - Craft Beer Blog from The Beer of the Month Club

National Lager Day

December 10, 2013 by Brett Olson

What are You Drinking for National Lager Day?

I think it’s fair to say that the craft beer world in the U.S. is dominated by ales. But, being that today is National Lager Day, we’re raising our glasses in celebration of craft-brewed lagers and the brewers who are dedicated to making them.

Today at lunch I celebrated National Lager Day with a Sprecher Special Amber (yes, there are perks to working for a beer club). First time I had one of their beers, I thought they were a German brewery. Between the brewery name, label design, and my impression of the beer itself, I could have sworn it was fresh off a boat from Bavaria. But no – it was from Milwaukee. Wow, if only the “macro” brewers in Milwaukee made beers like these!

We’re always excited to find a good craft lager, as they’re just not that common. Rarer still are brewers like Sprecher, whose focus is on lagers and whose beer portfolios are stacked with a multitude of different lager styles. Sprecher is an old favorite of mine for this very reason. (Keep a lookout for their beer in an upcoming Microbrewed Beer of the Month Club shipment.)

So what are YOU drinking on this National Lager Day?

Cheers,
Brett

Odell’s Footprint is a sweet concept well executed

October 16, 2013 by Kris Calef

I love the concept of this beer almost as much as I enjoyed the beer itself. Odell’s “distribution footprint” is comprised of 10 states and each one of those states made a unique contribution to to the beer resulting in a crafty collective of regional flavors:

Colorado – Hops & Barley
Arizona – Prickly Pear
Idaho – Barley & Hops
Kansas – Wheat
Minnesota – Wild Rice
Missouri – Oak Barrels
Nebraska – Corn
New Mexico – Green Chilis
S. Dakota – Barley & Honey
Wyoming – Wheat

Worth trying if you can get your hands on it.

Prost!
Kris

Cigar City Spanish Cedar Barrel Aged Imperial IPA for 2nd MonthlyClubs.com 20 Year Anniversary Beer

October 9, 2013 by Kris Calef

Since we’re doing two 20 year Anniversary beers for The Rare Beer Club™ next year, I figured it would be cool to have two completely different offerings. We’ve got a big ABV, multiple barrel aged blended old ale covered with The Bruery so I figured it would be fun to focus on hops with Cigar City.

Still in the early stages of crafting the vision on this one, but out of the gate we know it will be something with a fairly hefty ABV, aggressively hopped and more than likely aged in several barrels including Spanish Cedar and perhaps spruce. Starting with a base of something akin to Cigar City’s Humidor Series IPA seems like a good idea. Love, love, love that beer.

This one will be featured in The Rare Beer Club™ in September of 2014. More updates after we connect with brewmaster, Wayne Wambles. Should be a fun process.

Prost!
Kris

MonthlyClubs.com 20 Year Anniversary Beer locked with The Bruery

October 4, 2013 by Kris Calef

So I sent out two emails to two of my favorite breweries asking each if they’d be interested in working with us to create an exclusive commemorative beer to celebrate our 20 year company anniversary next July. I’m here to tell you that both The Bruery and Cigar City are on board! More on Cigar City later.

So Brett and I sat down with Patrick, Tyler and Jonas last friday afternoon in The Bruery’s tasting room to kick around some ideas. Work, work, work. I know. I know.

We hammered out the broad strokes. It’s going to be big, 15%+ and a blend of 2 or 3 barrel aged beers, more than likely one of which will be Bois, a Bourbon Barrel Aged Solera-Blended Old Ale that was crafted to celebrate The Bruery’s 5th anniversary. Seemed appropriate.

We kicked around ideas on how we could incorporate our 5 other clubs (wine, cigars, cheese, chocolate and flowers) into the beer. One thought was to have Smokin’ Wood be one of the beers blended. As an imperial smoked porter brewed with beachwood and cherrywood smoked malt, and aged in rye whiskey barrels, we all felt that might incorporate our cigar club nicely. We also kicked around the idea of purchasing cacao nibs from one of our featured chocoatiers, Mindo Chocolates, a true “Tree to Bar” chocolate maker whose cocoa beans are single origin organic cocoa beans from Ecuador.

Suffice to say, it’s going to be special. It’ll be offered as a Special Offer only to The Rare Beer Club™ and The Bruery Reserve Society members only in roughly a year. We’ll be sitting down with the boys to taste different barrel blends in a few months so stay tuned as this one develops.

Prost!
Kris

Two Rare Beer Club Exclusives in one Month? NoDa Brewing Company’s Tart Attack is coming your way!

October 3, 2013 by Kris Calef

This is our fourth year partnering with Pints for Prostates, a non profit organization founded by Rick Lyke that raising awareness about the disease and encouraging males to pursue regular health screenings. Each year we work with Rick and a different brewery to create a unique beer that’s available only through the club and at a rare beer tasting Rick hosts annually at The Great American Beer Festival. For this year’s beer, we managed to finagle our way onto the brew schedule of NoDa Brewing Co. in Charlotte, North Carolina, which just opened in late 2011.

NoDa is bringing to fruition one of the preceding themes of their NoDable Series: beers based on the traditional German Berliner Weisse style—one of the most refreshing drinks in existence—each with an atypical twist. Tart Attack takes the refreshing aspects of the Berliner Weisse style—lively carbonation, medium-light body, plus a core lactic tartness—and carries them on a different path than usual, with the addition of blackberries.

If you’re into sour beers, you’re going to want to try this one.

Prost!
Kris

Los Vivos y Los Muertos – An October Exclusive Jolly Pumpkin Rare Beer Club Feature

September 30, 2013 by Kris Calef

Okay, so if you’re sitting around saying to yourself, “Self, give me one good reason why I should join The Rare Beer Club™?”, I’ve got one for you. Jolly Pumpkin’s Los Vivos y Los Muertos was brewed exclusively for our members and the only way you’re gonna to get to try it is by checking out the club. There are only a handful of breweries that, when we think back over the many offerings we’ve had from them over the years, have been basically perfect. This is one of them.

We were sold at the nose. A few excerpts from our newsletter: “Even that first whiff of the aroma suggests this is more than a simple rustic saison: there are deep stone-fruit notes (of peach and plum), the vigorous citrus of a lime wedge, all mingled within an expansive Brettiness and yeast character: light tropical fruits, pepper, sourdough bread, a hint of cheese.”

You’re going to love this beer. I guarantee it. Does that sound like an ad from a men’s clothing store or The Hair Club for men?

Prost!
Kris

Shmaltz’s Jewbelation Delivers the Goods!

September 20, 2013 by Kris Calef

I popped open this baby when I was packing to head back for my 30 yr HS reunion back in Chicago last week. Jewbelation is made with 16 malts, 16 hops and weighs in at a whopping 16%! Suffice to say, it’s an assault on your senses… in a really GOOD sort of way! Very boozy with an extremely complex flavor profile as you might expect. Definitely worth trying. I’m lucky I made it to the plane the next day.

Prost!
Kris