Craft Beer Blog from The Beer of the Month Club

20 Year Anniversary Beer Naming Contest Finalists Update

April 9, 2014 by Kris Calef

Hi Everyone,

Just a quick update on the contest. We intended to have the finalists posted and begin the voting process yesterday, but we’re waiting to hear back from one of the 3 breweries on our final name selections. Naturally, the Craft Brewer’s Conference started today so the timing is not optimal for a group of folks that are already pretty busy!

Rest assured, we’ll notify anyone that entered the contest directly via the email submitted upon entry as soon as the voting page has been updated with the finalists so you won’t miss out on the chance to vote. Hopefully we’ll hear back from the 3rd brewery today and have the finalists posted later today. Voting will take place on the same page that original submissions to the contest so feel free to check back on that page over the next couple of days just in case the email notification hits your spam filter: http://www.beermonthclub.com/beer-naming-contest-20-years

Thanks for your patience.

Cheers,
Kris

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

Rotini with Chicken, Asparagus, and Tomatoes

March 25, 2014 by Kristina Manning

Reminiscent of a pasta salad, this spring recipe coats rotini and colorful vegetables with a basil-flecked balsamic vinaigrette.

Ingredients

8 ounces uncooked rotini (corkscrew pasta)
Cooking spray
1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast, cut into 1/4-inch strips
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 cup (1-inch) slices asparagus
2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup (1 ounce) crumbled goat cheese

Preparation

Cook pasta according to package directions, omitting salt and fat.

Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper. Add chicken and asparagus to pan; sauté 5 minutes. Add tomatoes and garlic to pan; sauté 1 minute. Remove from heat. Stir in pasta, basil, vinegar, and oil. Arrange 2 cups pasta mixture on each of 4 plates; top each serving with 1 tablespoon cheese.

Recipe and photo from: www.MyRecipes.com

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

Goats, Spring, and Bock Beer

March 20, 2014 by Microbrewed Beer of the Month Club

Today is special my friends. One of significance, with deep historical roots, and one that will bring some sense of relief to many I’m sure. Today is National Bock Day, and it also happens to be the 1st day of spring. Bocks come in many different styles and variations, but they were typically brewed to welcome in the spring season and bid adieu to winter.

This past winter was pretty brutal to many due to some extreme weather sweeping across most of the nation. There were even some uncommon appearances of the season in some of the southern states. Remember all those people in Atlanta caught off guard by the winter storm and forced to succumb to its fury, abandoning their cars on the freeway just to get back home? Well it’s time to put that all behind us now and welcome in this magical time of year. Flowers bloom, picnics are be planned, the birds start to sing again, bears awake from their hibernation, and Bocks are in their prime.

Bock, what a funny word. But it’s more than just a funny sounding noun, it actually has some meaning. To be exact, it’s German for “Billy Goat”. Thank goodness that has nothing to do with the listed ingredients, but more to do with old world influence. During medieval times, old German monasteries would brew a strong bock as a source of nutrition during their Lenten fasts. Others believe it was made with more of a pagan connotation, only being brewed during the sign of the Capricorn goat, hence the name “Bock”.

So whatever your cause, there’s surely a reason to be found to enjoy a nice Bock this spring. What’s yours?

Cheers!
Shelton