Notes from the Panel Archives - Page 20 of 21 - Craft Beer Blog from The Beer of the Month Club

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

Brett’s September Featured Beers Top Pick

September 25, 2013 by Brett Olson

Perhaps I’m just on a sour ale kick (I’ve recently enjoyed Sour in the Rye and Tart of Darkness from our recent Bruery special offer in The Rare Beer Club, plus a Rodenbach Grand Cru), but this month I’m selecting Bourgogne des Flandres as my top pick from among our 12 oz. products.

Bourgogne des Flanders is crafted in the Oud Bruin style, and is a blend of lambic (not the fruited kind) aged 2-3 years in oak casks and fresh brown ale. The blend is left to age for six more months in oak before bottling.

Now, a lot of sour beers punch you in the face with acidity as soon as they cross your lips. What I found so interesting about this particular beer was the way it opened with such a prominent sweetness – only to have the tartness immediately begin a process of building and building on the palate until achieving balance at the finish. Beautiful fruity esters, caramel, oaky hints, and notes of port wine and sherry help fill out the flavor profile. And at just 5% ABV, Bourgogne des Flandres is easily one of the more drinkable Flemish sours we’ve come across in a while.

So with tart and sour beers growing wildly popular within the last couple of years, what do you think of them? Are you fully on board, or perhaps slowly acquiring the taste? I’ve become a big fan, but it certainly wasn’t always this way…

Cheers!
Brett

Odell’s Woodcut #3 worth trading for…

September 24, 2013 by Kris Calef

One of the cool things about being in the brewing industry for as long as I have been is that you build up some pretty sweet relationships over 20 years. Every now and then I send Eric “Smitty” Smith, one of the founders over at Odell Brewing Company, a case of 750s from The Rare Beer Club™ past features and he uses the same box to send me some of Odell’s tasty cellar and woodcut series beers. Been sitting on Woodcut #3 for a few years now and finally cracked it open today. Wow. A big, boozy, crimson ale with huge American oak notes playing off of sweet cara malts and crystal malts. It was worth the wait.

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

The Bruery’s Six Geese a Layin’ Secured for the November Rare Beer Club Shipment!

September 9, 2013 by Kris Calef

We just got word from The Bruery that they’ll be able to give us part of their annual holiday vertical 12 Days of Christmas series this year. We’re pretty excited about it as we’ve run the series for the last four years and the response has been consistently nothing short of phenomenal.

Here’s what we know about it so far. This year’s release, Six Geese a Layin’, will be a Belgian dark strong ale brewed with golden berries (aka “CapeGooseberries”). They’re using a specialized yeast strain for primary fermentation and then finishing it with their house strain so it will have a different yeast character than year’s past; somewhat spicy and a bit more of fruity ester notes. You’ll want to stock up and cellar this one boys and girls!

Prost!
Kris

Brett’s July Featured Beers Top Pick

July 24, 2013 by Brett Olson

Okay folks, with the July shipments on their way to our members and some of them beginning to arrive, it’s time for me once again to provide a bit of a preview by selecting my top pick from among our US and imported 12-oz beer selections. In May I chose one of our American selections (Lost Coast’s 8-Ball Stout), while last month I chose an import (Morland’s Old Crafty Hen). What’ll it be this month?? Well, chalk up another one for the imports – Grieskirchner Weisse, a Bavarian-style Hefeweizen from Austria takes my top spot this month.

Honestly, there’s just something incredibly refreshing about coming home at the end of the day and popping open a top-notch hefe in 90°+ summer temperatures. The Grieskirchner Weisse (previously known as Grieskirchner Jörger Weisse) hits all the tasty and traditional weissbier notes: bubblegum, hints of banana, grass, hay, spicy yeast, and a bit of lemony acidity. Also, phenolic, herbaceous notes of clove combine with the robust carbonation that’s so typical of the style to offer a refreshing, prickly counter to the creamy core of malted wheat that manifests with its typical “twang.” Give me a deep supply of hefeweizen, and those hot summer days can keep on coming!

Prost!
Brett

My vacation just got a lot better!

July 16, 2013 by Kris Calef

I’m kicking it at our camp in Maine for a couple of weeks at a property that has been in our family since my mom was eight years old. It’s pretty cool to come back to a place that hasn’t changed since I was a toddler.

I’ve been dying to try some different beers from Founders as they’re pretty hard to come by in Southern California. I picked up a sixer of their Centennial IPA and I’m pretty impressed, solid hop profile from start to finish with plenty of caramel malt backbone and alcohol to back it up.

My daughters Audrey and Natalia turned four today, the sun is shining, the lake is warm, and the lobsters are in the fridge. Life is good!

Prost!
Kris