New Beers after Trattoria Delia

Feliz dia de los muertos! I'm just getting home from having a great dinner at Trattoria Delia with Giuseppe Mazzocolin, the General Manager of Fattoria di Felsina (named Winery of the Year 2008 by Gambero Rosso) - what a great time! Giuseppe's wines are beautifully crafted, and modestly priced. And if you've never been there, to Tratt that is, you absolutely must go. It's perhaps the best restaurant in the Greater Burlington area, bar none! Chef/Owner Tom Delia's menu is stellar and his staff is highly versed in both traditional Italian cuisine and their lengthy list of prized wines. I highly recommend having the wood-grilled fish of the day- perfectly cooked, every time! Their grill chef, who's name unfortunately escapes me at this moment, nails it. Salut!

And as I sip my Rogue Dead Guy Ale, a nod to the peaceful dead bottles we left empty at Tratt, here's a quick list of new beers:
+ Nørrebro Brynghus North Bridge Extreme IPA (Denmark) 600mL
+ Nørrebro Brynghus La Grangja Espresso Stout (Denmark) 600mL
+ Allagash Interlude 2008 750mL cork finish

Making their grand return this week:
+Jolly Pumpkin La Roja 750mL and Oro de Calabaza 750mL
+Sierra Nevada Celebration 2008

And have I mentioned the fact that on the Liquor Store side we still have inventory of Brooklyn Monster Barleywine Ale 2007!?! It's been gracefully ageing in our warehouse over the past year, and man is it drinking well! The VT DLC is selling it for $1.50/12oz! A steal! How often do you get offered a vintage beer for that cheap that is already on it's way to maturity?

New Rogue Beer List

Here's the skinny on the new Rogue's:
+ Santa's Private Reserve 220z and 6 packs
+ Yellow Snow IPA 22oz, GROWLER! (that's right!), and 5 liter mini-keg (really?! Yup, really!)
+ Dead Guy Ale Glow-in-the-Dark growlers! (5 cent deposit!)
+ XS Series swingtop ceramic 750mL additions: Imperial Stout (which I'm sampling right now! See BA for my review), Imperial Red Ale, and Imperial Porter
+ Morimoto Imperial Pilsner swingtop ceramic 750mL
+ Dry-Hopped St. Rogue Red 22oz

Good week for Pacific Northwest brews in VT!

Also, the Free Pint Glass Friday with Magic Hat/Orlio has been rescheduled for 11.14.08, 4pm-8pm. See previous posts for the low down or check out the Event Posting on BeerAdvocate.com

Cheers,
Jeff

From the Desk of Jen (Owner)

Hi-yo! I got an email today (my day off) from Co-Owner Jen regarding new beers:
"We got in new Rouge's today including more of the "XS" series and Dead Guy growlers...we also got in 5 liter cans! I already have them in the system. All hand marked and on the shelf. Phew!"

She also told me that the Magic Hat/Orlio tasting is going to have to be postponed due to complications getting a tasting license from the Vermont DLC. I'll let you know when we get a date.

Cheers,
Jeff

It's Harvest time! And beer tasting time!

So the hops have been picked, they've been overnighted to the breweries, the beer's been made, shipped out and Wet Hop/Harvest Ales are arriving at the Bevy! Sierra Nevada's much sought after 12th release of their Harvest Ale Wet Hop is now in stock, but flying out the door by the case. Don't miss out on this once a year (well, ok, they made a Southern Hemisphere one, so twice a year) brew! Harpoon's Glacier Harvest '08 Wet Hop Beer (100 Barrell series #24) arrive just today and is on the shelf for your purchasing pleasure. I'm actually sipping on one right now, and it's mighty fine. A little less hoppy than the Sierra one, but a great big bottle session beer.

Also in, for the first time in VT, is Smuttynose Wheat Wine (Style) Ale. At 11.4%, it's the strongest beer that Smutty puts out. Somewhat sweet and really rich, this bad boy should age gracefully and improve in the cellar. Stash a few bottles, but drink a couple this winter. This beer will take the chill out of your bones. I'd serve it at cellar temp. (65 degrees F) and in a snifter or wide wine glass.

Brasserie Dupont's "Avril" has arrive in 750mL bottles. Haven't gotten into it yet, but I plan to tomorrow.

And finally: FREE BEER TASTING! (POSTPONED * See Next Blog for explanation)
Friday, November 7th, from 4pm to 8 pm, clear your calendar because Magic Hat & Orlio Organic Ales are going to be in house pouring samples of their tasty local brews. And not only that, but they'll be pouring into full-sized pint glasses, glasses which you'll get to keep if you step in and taste. Oh yeh! Free beer and a free (not stolen) pint glass! What could be better?

A couple new ones

Just in:
+ Metolius Dolly Varden IPA 6 packs & Golden Stone Amber Ale 6 packs
+ Smuttynose IPA & Old Brown Dog bombers (22oz)
+ Tooheys New Beer 6 packs (Australia) will be available this weekend
+ Gouden Carolus Grand Cru of the Emporer magnums (1.5L) will be available this weekend

Also, beer tastings are being planned!

Cheers,
Jeff

Tell 'em what you think!

Aloha gang! I just wanted to take a moment to encourage you to start sharing your thoughts about beer with others on sites like BeerAdvocate.com and RateBeer.com. I know this might sound like a commercial at first glance, but here's my reasoning: The craft beer market has been growing by leaps and bounds since the 80's, and the reason for this is that there were consumers who cared, consumers who spoke up and said what they thought about the new beers being fermented by both local micros and by the big boys. The Macro producers started to take note of all the chatter going on about these newbie Microbrews, and they too have decided to start making more robust beverages. The market has grown, and more beer has started to flow into pockets of the country that were thought to be beer-ignorant because people who lived there that appreciated fine beverages started demanding them. The internet has been a powerful tool for beer consumers expressing their opinions and connecting with other beer lovers both locally and abroad. So the long and short of it is that I'd like you to step up your beer game, and start posting your personal reviews of beers, places and events on websites like BA and RB. Writing a review of a beer also gets you thinking more critically about beers, and you might start trying things that you wouldn't normally because you stumbled across a highly rated beer on one of those sites.

So get out there and tell 'em what you think about the new beers we're getting in VT! Also, giving Beverage Warehouse a review wouldn't hurt either (We have an A- on BA and a 64% on RB! Yikes!).

As always,
Cheers,
Jeff

Stone Brewing @ American Flatbread

Holy West Coast, Batman! American Flatbread in Burlington this Wednesday (10-15) from about 5pm until 10pm will be overrun by Stone Brewing and a bunch of their tasty hop-headed, arrogant and otherwise bad-ass brews. I'll be there from about 7:30pm on, so find me at the bar and say hi! This is an event not to be missed. Michael Saklad, the Stone Rep. always has tricks up his sleeves, and always aims to please! Wherever he goes, vintage or rare Stone goodies usually follow.

From the BeerAdvocate.com Event posting:
"Every available tap line.
Selections from the brewery's "library."
Food pairings.
Michael Saklad.

These kegs are confirmed:
11th Anniversary Ale, 07.07.07 Vertical Epic, 08.08.08 Vertical Epic, 2006 Double Bastard, 2007 Old Guardian, 2008 Imperial Russian Stout, Arrogant bastard, Ruination"

Cheers,
Jeff

Beer Blowouts

Hey gang, just some heads-up on some beer blowouts that arrived today:

+ Narragansett Bock 6 packs $3.99+dep. (Regularly $6.99)
+ Narragansett Light 6 packs $2.99+dep. (Reg. $4.99)
+ Leinenkugel's Honey Weiss 6 packs $3.99+dep. (Reg. $7.99)
+ Leinenkugel's Summer Shandy (Weiss beer w/ Lemonade) 6 packs $3.99+dep. (Reg. $7.99)
+ Labatt's Summer Blond 6 packs $2.99+dep. (Reg. ~$6.99)
+ Mike's Hard "Light" Tea 6 packs $1.99+dep. (Reg. ~$6.99)

Keg blowouts:
Leffe Blond 1/4 barrel $59 + dep. (Reg. $105+)
Moretti 1/4 barrel $59 + dep. (Reg. $94+)

Enjoy while they last!

Collectible Heads-Up

Hey beer followers. Just wanted to give you the pre-release heads-up on a classic cellar item: Gouden Carolus Cuvee van de Keizer Blauw (Grand Cru of the Emperor Blue) 2008 magnums (1.5L)! They're going to retail for over $40 each, but there's less than 20 bottles available in the whole state of VT, so please call in your requests, and we'll do our best to allocate them and get you a more firmed up price soon.

BeerAdvocate.com scores it an "A" and RateBeer.com has it at "99 pts."

802-655-2620 is the number...