Notes from the Panel Archives - Page 20 of 25 - Craft Beer Blog from The Beer of the Month Club

TGIF: Shmaltz Brewing Co. – Funky Jewbelation (2014)

April 4, 2014 by Brett Olson

So today we cracked open the 2014 version of Shmaltz’s Funky Jewbelation, a blend of 7 different He’Brew beers aged in both bourbon (35%) and rye whiskey barrels (65%).

Let’s just start by saying upfront that this dark brown brew is not shy. Whiskey notes are obvious (particularly rye, to our palates) and there are real prominent sour black cherry and prune notes that offer their acidity in balance to a moderate sweetness that leans towards brown sugar. At 9.4%, there’s a bit of alcohol that comes through too – aided by the whiskey barrel influence. As with most sours, we prefered this beer closer to cellar temp than fridge temp.

Spicy, oaky, fruity, boozy, and whiskey-y, this one’s pretty tasty folks. And complex. And a little weird, in a good way. But it’s not for everyone, as one or two of the less experienced tasters in the office didn’t much care for the sourness. Oh well, they’ll learn to like it in time… in the meantime, it just means more for the rest of us.

L’Chaim Sucka!
Brett

20th Anniversary Beer Naming Contest!

March 31, 2014 by Kris Calef

As part of our 20 Year Anniversary celebration this year, we’re having 3 beers brewed exclusively for our members and we thought it would be fun to let you name them. If the name you submitted is used for any of the three beers, we’ll hook you up with a 6-month membership to the club that beer will be featured in.

Contest Details

Submit your responses by noon Monday, 4-7-14 at 2 pm PST. Three finalists for each beer will be announced on Tuesday April 8th at which time contest entrants, club members and the general public will be allowed to vote for their favorite choices. Contest winners will be announced on Monday April 14th. If your beer name is used for the any of the 3 final labels, we’ll hook you up with a 6-month membership to the club that the beer will be featured.

So be sure to submit a name for each beer. If you’re really good, you might win more than one 6 month membership! We’d suggest you check out current beer names for each brewery to note their current voice and naming conventions. Cigar City | The Bruery | Shmaltz

Here’s what you need to know about each beer:

Brewery: Cigar City Brewing Co.
Club Featured: The Rare Beer Club — July 2014
The Beer: This one’s going to be a big (9%+ abv) American IPA inspired from Cigar City’s Humidor Series Jai Alai IPA. It’ll be aged lightly on Spanish cedar and smaller amounts of spruce using an infusion method to reduce oxidation caused from barrel aging which is not optimal for hoppy beers. It’ll contain no less than 8 different hop varieties including Pacific Jade to tie the Spanish cedar as both have a white grapefruit expression, and Chinook to accent the spruce as both have a piney character.

Brewery: The Bruery
Club Featured: The Rare Beer Club — Q3 Special Offer
The Beer: It’s going to be a big barrel aged blended beer, north of 15% abv. It’ll be comprised of three of The Bruery’s prized beers, Bois, a bourbon barrel aged old ale, Black Tuesday, a massive bourbon barrel aged Imperial Stout, and Smokin’ Wood, an imperial smoked porter, brewed with beachwood and cherrywood smoked malt, and aged in rye whiskey barrels. Cacao nibs from one of our favorite featured chocolatiers, Mindo Chocolates, will be added to one of the three beers’ barrels as its aged.

Brewery: Shmaltz Brewing Co.
Club Featured: The Microbrewed Beer of the Month Club — July 2014
The Beer: Shmaltz is one of the more inventive breweries we’ve worked with over the years and after 17 years as a contract brewer, they’ve recently built their own playland of steel and concrete. They’re creating a new IPA for us that will combine amarillo, crystal, cascade, and other classics of the Pacific NW genre with an intended juicy citrus, passionfruit, and peachy hop profile. Shmaltz in fact means “chicken fat” in Yiddish – a classic indulgent comfort food – and also an irreverent yet nostalgic sense of humor so have fun with this one! L’Chaim!

Note: The Rare Beer Club = two 750ml bottles each month.

To receive the exclusive selections featured in each club, you’ll need to be an active member of either The Rare Beer Club™ or the Microbrewed Beer of the Month Club in July of 2014. The Bruery’s exclusive beer will be made available to members of either club in Q3 2014.

Visit the form below to submit your entry:

www.beermonthclub.com/beer-naming-contest-20-years/

Cheers,
Kris Calef

TGIF: New Belgium Lips of Faith Series: Pluot

March 28, 2014 by Brett Olson

Today, we’re closing out our week by enjoying an unusual 10% ABV pluot beer from Colorado’s New Belgium Brewing Co. I have to admit, I’d never heard of a pluot before picking up this beer, but according to the label, it’s a hybrid of a plum and an apricot. Interesting… so what’s it like?

The beer strikes us as a tweaked Belgian strong golden ale, with the pluot infusion adding a pretty neat fruity overtone. Notes of plum, white grape juice, and apple juice come through, but not in any kind of dense, cloying kind of way, and there’s a touch of funk from a light dose of wild brettanomyces yeast. The malts are pale but fairly robust – there’s some heft and texture here. A lightly acidic tartness combines with the fruit character, robust malts, and a hint of alcohol, to create an impression of a robust white wine.

Ultimately it’s unusual in a good way, easy to drink, and everyone in our office who tried it enjoyed it. So give it a shot if you see it around. It’s unlike most other beers you’ll ever find.

Happy Friday!
Brett

TGIF: Coronado/Cigar City – Jurata Baltic Porter

March 21, 2014 by Brett Olson

Today to celebrate the end of the week we cracked open this beauty from Coronado Brewing Company and Cigar City Brewing. This collaboration between the Californian and Floridian brewers is named after a mythical Baltic sea goddess – appropriate for this Baltic Porter.

What a nice beer this was. It’s not over-the-top like some renditions of the style; instead, it’s moderate in many dimensions and greater than the sum of its parts. There’s a good level of roast, but not to the point of bitterness. Chocolate and caramel are prominent, but not dominating. There are hints of dark fruit, coffee, a bit of woodiness, and a wisp of alcohol – but it’s not a boozy brew. The whole beer delivers a superb balance between mild sweet malt and bitter hop notes. We all wished we had another bottle, so check it out if you get a chance.

Happy Friday everyone! Cheers!
Brett

Mar 21, 2014 - Jurata (9)-cropped

The Abyss Delivers the Goods!

March 19, 2014 by Kris Calef

Have you tried Deschutes’ The Abyss yet? ‘Cause if you haven’t and you dig barrel aged imperial stouts, you’ve got to get your hands on a bottle. I busted into a bottle from their 2012 batch that I had been sitting on the other day and forgot how much I loved this beer. It’s complex as hell, offering notes of anise, big molasses flavors paired with a complex roasted malt profile all kissed with just enough bourbon and wood to make it all come together in an extremely well-integrated, flavorful beer.

What’s your favorite Imperial Stout? This one’s on my top 10.

Prost!
Kris

20 Year Anniversary Beer Planning with Cigar City

March 11, 2014 by Kris Calef

I had the pleasure of sitting down with Cigar City’s head brewer, Wayne Wambles and owner Joey Redner last month to discuss the beer they’re crafting for us to celebrate our 20 year anniversary this year. First off, what cool couple of cats to spend a couple hours out of their day with me. They’re one of the hottest breweries in the country, growing like wildfire, in the midst of a major website update and brewery expansion, and they gave me all the time I wanted, never rushing me along.

I got even more excited about the Spanish Cedar aged Imperial IPA they’re making for us after Wayne walked me through the recipe and where he was going with this beer. He promised to make me a video that we can share with you all taking you through the recipe creation process. Suffice to say, it’s gonna rock your world.

Stay tuned for a contest to name the beer where you’ll have a chance to win a 3 month membership to The Rare Beer Club.

Prost!
Kris

Kris Calef on site in Cigar City's tasting room...And taste we did. — Kris Calef on site in Cigar City’s tasting room…And taste we did.

Wayne unveiling his new canning line set to go live later this year.

TGIF: Stochasticity Project – Grapefruit Slam IPA

March 7, 2014 by Brett Olson

Stochasticity Project (try saying that 3 times fast – or even just once) is a new side project/brand of Stone Brewing apparently devoted to experimental beers, and Grapefruit Slam IPA is their first release.

Basically, it’s a double IPA brewed with fresh grapefruit peel. It’s a simple concept, but effective. What’s fun here is trying to discern where the citric hops end and the actual grapefruit flavor begins – you really can’t, which makes this one of the more unique fruit-influenced beers we’ve tasted. Instead of the fruit standing apart like a forced additive, which happens so often, the grapefruit here just amplifies and merges with the big citrus flavors already there from the massive dose of hops (Centennial plays a big role). It’s vividly fruity, very fresh, and super tasty.

After popping this baby open this afternoon, Grapefruit Slam proved really popular here at our office tasting. We’re looking forward to seeing what other brews come rolling out of the Stochasticity Project.

Cheers,
Brett