Being certified beer freaks and geeks over here, we’re always excited about our Rare Beer Club featured beers, but for July we’re so excited (almost giddy, to be honest) that we’re offering this little preview of July’s upcoming selections, a glorious celebration of farmhouse ale from the best of the old world and the best of the new.

Beer #1: Dupont La Bière de Beloeil

Brasserie Dupont is practically synonymous with the very best farmhouse ales of Belgium, with their Saison Dupont being the benchmark of the style for many folks around the world. But, Dupont makes a slew of other top-end beers across the rather wide spectrum of farmhouse ales. We’re thrilled to be able to bring our members the least distributed beer of their lineup in the U.S., La Bière de Beloeil, a beer that more than lives up to the Dupont name, and made a huge impact at one of our recent tasting panels.

Beer #2: Grassroots Arctic Saison

Hill Farmstead and Anchorage are two of America’s most respected brewers, representing the cutting edge of American craft beer. In fact, our friends at RateBeer named Anchorage the “Top New Brewer in the World” for 2012, and Hill Farmstead the “Best Brewer in the World” for 2013. Needless to say, we’re very excited to bring our Rare Beer Club members a collaboration between these talented brewers under Hill Farmstead’s “Grassroots” label: Arctic Saison, crafted by brewmasters Shaun Hill and Gabe Fletcher at Fletcher’s Anchorage Brewing Co. in Alaska.

Personalized Shipment Update

Members will be able to read more about these brews tomorrow when we send our monthly Personalized Shipment Update email. You’ll have the opportunity to stock up and add more of these beers to your normal shipment so you can cellar a few bottles and watch them evolve, or you can swap them out for other recent selections – or skip the shipment altogether (but why would you want to do that?!). If you’re a Rare Beer Club member but have not been receiving the monthly PSP email, contact us at 800-625-8238 so we can get you on the list.

If you’re not yet a Rare Beer Club member and would like to join in order to get your hands on these great brews, please call our Customer Service folks at 800-625-8238 and let them know that you want to make sure you get these specific beers in your first shipment. We’ll hook you up!

Cheers!

With the June beer shipments just beginning to arrive in our members’ hands, it’s time again for me to highlight my top pick from among our US and imported 12-oz beer selections (which I have the tough job of sampling each month in order to bring you the write-ups in the newsletter). I hope this preview whets your appetite for this really great brew. (Or would it be whets your thirst? – or perhaps it should be wets your thirst, ‘cause, you know, it’s a beverage we’re talking about here.)

So let’s get to it. My top pick this month is Old Crafty Hen, a special version of one of England’s more iconic beers, Old Speckled Hen. The key difference is the inclusion of a very strong Old Ale from parent brewery Greene King called “Old 5X” which weighs in at 12% ABV and is the culmination of 2-5 years of age in giant oak barrels. That’s right, this is a blended beer – with wood aging – pretty unusual for English ales in this day and age.

So how well does it all come together? Really well for my palate, let me tell you. A short description of a complex beer just won’t do it justice, so here’s the full monty:

On the pour this Hen presents an attractive amber color with a head that drops plenty of lace. Richly malty on the nose, there’s also a distinct fruity quality that only a fine ale can deliver. There’s a sweet impression along with a distinct raisiny note, prominent caramel and some bread dough. Look for a touch of butter to lend a bit of a toffee character, while hops and oak age add some floral, mildly spicy notes with hints of citrus and wood. Complex as hell on the palate, expect a prominent dark fruit character composed of cherry, raisin, and currants, all surrounded by robust, satisfying caramel malts which deliver some honey notes as well.

We found this crafty brew fairly sweet, but there’s a moderate hop bitterness and a hint of tartness (thanks to the aged 5X) to balance, along with just a hint of spicy, drying alcohol. A touch of buttery diacetyl is a hallmark of many English ales, and we get some here, as well as mild oak notes and slight hints of oxidation from the prolonged barrel aging, which provide a sherry-like component. Enjoy this fine brew on its own, or pair with a plate of complex cheeses. Cheers!