Hi folks,
Greetings at the end of another wonderful week in VT. Spring is just around the corner - I had my first whiff of manure in the air the other day - so to celebrate, I took a road trip with a good friend over to visit Shaun Hill at Hill Farmstead where I had the great pleasure of bringing home some Biere de Norma and a growler filled with his new DIPA, Society & Solitude #6, which if you haven't tried is absolutely sublime.
On the way back, my friend and I picked up some Jasper Hill cheese to bring to our significant others. My lovely wife is pregnant with our first so I made sure to pick up something pasteurized, Harbison by Jasper Hill Farm, a bark-wrapped bloomy rind cheese, deliciously runny and ripe. I paired this pungent treat with some Oude Gueze Tilquin à L'Ancienne by Guezerie Tilquin, which is a must for those who love all things sour and funky. From BeerAdvocate - "Oude Gueuze Tilquin à l’Ancienne (6.0% alc/vol) is a spontaneous
fermentation beer, produced from the blending of 1, 2 and 3 years old
lambics. It is unfiltered and unpasteurized, and refermented in the
bottle for at least 6 months. The lambics used were fermented and oak
aged in our installations. These lambics are coming from worts brewed by
Boon, Lindemans, Girardin and Cantillon breweries." What this means is that Tilquin is a blender in the same way that scotches are made by master blenders. He creates blends of gueze wort from heavyweight lambic producers to create his own unique and brilliant product.
Tart, acidic, citrusy, grassy, earthy and funky, Tilquin was a fantastic pairing to the deep funk of Harbison by Jasper Hill Farm. The two worked together in a way that toned down some of the more aggressive gamey notes and highlighted the nuttiness of the cheese and the well balanced acidity and minerality of the gueze.
And while this is a departure from the world of beer, another great match with the cheese was M. Chapoutier Les Vignes de Bila-Haut 2009 Cotes du Roussillon Villages, a lovely and shockingly affordable blend of Grenache, Syrah, and old bush vine Carignan from one of the great Rhone producers. On its own, Bila-Haut was medium bodied and bright with punchy menthol and herbal flavors. With the cheese, the herbal notes were tamed and a subtle berry flavor emerged.
So grab a wheel of stinky cheese and some good beer and wine and go have yourself an adventure!
e
Sunday, March 10, 2013
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
featuring...
Hi folks!
It's been a little busy around the warehouse this week - what's new? - but I wanted to make sure and put down a solid blog post before the week gets away from me.
As most of you know, we got a pretty sick Shelton Brothers delivery last week. Most notably, a bunch of great Mikkellers, Prairie Artisan Ales from OK, and a trickle of Fantome Saison. A lot of other great beers came as well, so I wanted to feature one that might have gotten lost in the shuffle....
Beer Here is a Danish contract brewery started a few years ago by Christian Skovdal Andersen, distributed via Shelton Brothers, and currently well represented on the shelves at the Beverage Warehouse.
Kama Citra intrigued me for two reasons - 1) I love citra hops and 2) this seemed like a cool and unusual way to brew a beer with citra hops. This is basically a nut brown with a load of citra hops. My introduction to good beer was via English bitters and browns so a beer like this is always going to tickle my fancy. It also reminded me of Stone's TBA collaboration, a Texas Brown Ale, hoppy and nutty, but sadly not one that flew off the shelves. (Can't win 'em all.) I was quite the fan of TBA and I've enjoyed everything we've had from Beer Here so I was looking forward to Kama Citra.
Did not disappoint! As advertised, citrus-y, big punchy hop bitterness, and delicious almost creamy nutty malt but not too heavy in body. I could easily drink this with a shepherd's pie or after some good skiing.
So pick up a bottle of Beer Here's "Kama Citra" and don't forget to try "Lupulus" (chewy pale ale), "SOD" (rich Baltic porter), and "Dark Hops" (roasty black IPA).
Cheers!
e
It's been a little busy around the warehouse this week - what's new? - but I wanted to make sure and put down a solid blog post before the week gets away from me.
As most of you know, we got a pretty sick Shelton Brothers delivery last week. Most notably, a bunch of great Mikkellers, Prairie Artisan Ales from OK, and a trickle of Fantome Saison. A lot of other great beers came as well, so I wanted to feature one that might have gotten lost in the shuffle....
BEER HERE KAMA CITRA
 |
| hop enlightenment |
Kama Citra intrigued me for two reasons - 1) I love citra hops and 2) this seemed like a cool and unusual way to brew a beer with citra hops. This is basically a nut brown with a load of citra hops. My introduction to good beer was via English bitters and browns so a beer like this is always going to tickle my fancy. It also reminded me of Stone's TBA collaboration, a Texas Brown Ale, hoppy and nutty, but sadly not one that flew off the shelves. (Can't win 'em all.) I was quite the fan of TBA and I've enjoyed everything we've had from Beer Here so I was looking forward to Kama Citra.
Did not disappoint! As advertised, citrus-y, big punchy hop bitterness, and delicious almost creamy nutty malt but not too heavy in body. I could easily drink this with a shepherd's pie or after some good skiing.
So pick up a bottle of Beer Here's "Kama Citra" and don't forget to try "Lupulus" (chewy pale ale), "SOD" (rich Baltic porter), and "Dark Hops" (roasty black IPA).
Cheers!
e
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
To Heady...or not to heady...or Super Bowl happy fun time!
Hi folks!
*FYI, I started this February 3rd. Published it today. Aaaaaaaand all of the updates I made did not publish and were deleted. Which SUCKS! So I'm trying to quickly put together a lot of information that got lost. ARGH!!!!**
I started this post on February 3rd, aka Super Bowl Sunday (do they air the Super Bowl in Canada?), a day...FOR BEER!
And wouldn't you know it - our little state of Vermont has the #1 beer in the world (Heady Topper) and the #1 brewery in the world (Hill Farmstead) according to Beer Advocate and RateBeer respectively. (Keep in mind, Vermont has the second smallest population of all fifty states....seriously...)
So, a day for beer in Vermont is usually a good day:)
Speaking of Heady Topper...
As many of you know, the Alchemist is in the final stages of expansion. (There is an awesome short film of the installation of the new tanks here. www.alchemistbeer.com/hoppy-holidays/) The expansion will mean more Heady Topper for everyone. Let's all think about this for a minute. There are thousands of beers brewed across the world and on the major beer aggregate rating website, Heady Topper is #1. Ranking .05 points (as of 2/3) higher than Westy XII and Pliny the Elder. And in that stratosphere, .05 points is miles. And they, The Alchemist, are not only going to brew more, but they are committed to servicing their current accounts, ourselves and others, in the great state of Vermont - not brew more to send out to other states, but to keep here in VT.
So, to the many folks who are understandably frustrated that Heady sells out quickly - sometimes in minutes - take into account everything above...and BE PATIENT! Good things will come:)
In the interim, I wanted to put together a list of IPAs to try in the event that Heady's sold out. Which happens more than not. (This list leaves out Hill Farmstead and Lawson's Finest Liquids which are equally as difficult to get.) Swing by the Beverage Warehouse today and pick one of these up!
Ballast Point Sculpin - currently #37 on BA's top beers and the highest rated American IPA in the world. All grapefruit and citrus.
Lagunitas Sucks - the long-awaited follow up to 2011's Brown Shugga substitute, Sucks is biscuity lemon deliciousness at an extremely affordable price. A limited seasonal.
Bear Republic Racer 5 IPA - #180 on BA's top beers. Maltier and a little more full-bodied than Sculpin.
10 Barrel Apocalypse IPA - fruity and piney with some pretty bitter hop flavors
Sixpoint Resin - a powerfully bitter 12 oz 4 pack of slim cans from this Brooklyn-based brewery.
Southern Tier 2xIPA - solid all-around, citrusy and malty sweetness.
Beer Here Lupulus - a chewy sessionable pale ale that packs a huge amount of bitterness in under 5%.
***OK, here's where the rest of the post was lost. Which SUCKS! So due to time constraints, I'll just post a list of all the new cool Shelton Bros stuff that's coming in tomorrow. These are beers that haven't been in the store recently or at all.***
Mikkeller 19 - 19 different hops.
Mikkeller Frelser - an homage to the original doppelbock, Salvator. Frelser means "savior."
Mikkeller Monk's Brew - a Belgian strong dark ale in homage of his travels through Belgium.
Mikkeller Yeast Series 2.0 - same pale ale, different yeast strains. The two we're carrying are Brettanomyces Brux and Lambicus. We're definitely going to age some of those bad boys.
Mikkeller Single Hop Citra
Fantome Saison - soooo excited.
Epic Epicurean - imperial oatmeal stout with fig and coffee
Epic Hop Zombie DIPA - it looks like they had to go heavy on US hops this go around because of an NZ hop shortage per their website.
Prairie Artisan Ales - new brewery out of Oklahoma! First Oklahoma brewery in VT if I'm not mistaken. Unfiltered, bottle conditioned. Prairie Standard 6pks, sessionable saison, Prairie Ale, Brett-conditioned saison, and Prairie Hop, dry-hopped saison.
Whew.
*FYI, I started this February 3rd. Published it today. Aaaaaaaand all of the updates I made did not publish and were deleted. Which SUCKS! So I'm trying to quickly put together a lot of information that got lost. ARGH!!!!**
I started this post on February 3rd, aka Super Bowl Sunday (do they air the Super Bowl in Canada?), a day...FOR BEER!
And wouldn't you know it - our little state of Vermont has the #1 beer in the world (Heady Topper) and the #1 brewery in the world (Hill Farmstead) according to Beer Advocate and RateBeer respectively. (Keep in mind, Vermont has the second smallest population of all fifty states....seriously...)
So, a day for beer in Vermont is usually a good day:)
Speaking of Heady Topper...
As many of you know, the Alchemist is in the final stages of expansion. (There is an awesome short film of the installation of the new tanks here. www.alchemistbeer.com/hoppy-holidays/) The expansion will mean more Heady Topper for everyone. Let's all think about this for a minute. There are thousands of beers brewed across the world and on the major beer aggregate rating website, Heady Topper is #1. Ranking .05 points (as of 2/3) higher than Westy XII and Pliny the Elder. And in that stratosphere, .05 points is miles. And they, The Alchemist, are not only going to brew more, but they are committed to servicing their current accounts, ourselves and others, in the great state of Vermont - not brew more to send out to other states, but to keep here in VT.
So, to the many folks who are understandably frustrated that Heady sells out quickly - sometimes in minutes - take into account everything above...and BE PATIENT! Good things will come:)
In the interim, I wanted to put together a list of IPAs to try in the event that Heady's sold out. Which happens more than not. (This list leaves out Hill Farmstead and Lawson's Finest Liquids which are equally as difficult to get.) Swing by the Beverage Warehouse today and pick one of these up!
Ballast Point Sculpin - currently #37 on BA's top beers and the highest rated American IPA in the world. All grapefruit and citrus.
Lagunitas Sucks - the long-awaited follow up to 2011's Brown Shugga substitute, Sucks is biscuity lemon deliciousness at an extremely affordable price. A limited seasonal.
Bear Republic Racer 5 IPA - #180 on BA's top beers. Maltier and a little more full-bodied than Sculpin.
10 Barrel Apocalypse IPA - fruity and piney with some pretty bitter hop flavors
Sixpoint Resin - a powerfully bitter 12 oz 4 pack of slim cans from this Brooklyn-based brewery.
Southern Tier 2xIPA - solid all-around, citrusy and malty sweetness.
Beer Here Lupulus - a chewy sessionable pale ale that packs a huge amount of bitterness in under 5%.
***OK, here's where the rest of the post was lost. Which SUCKS! So due to time constraints, I'll just post a list of all the new cool Shelton Bros stuff that's coming in tomorrow. These are beers that haven't been in the store recently or at all.***
Mikkeller 19 - 19 different hops.
Mikkeller Frelser - an homage to the original doppelbock, Salvator. Frelser means "savior."
Mikkeller Monk's Brew - a Belgian strong dark ale in homage of his travels through Belgium.
Mikkeller Yeast Series 2.0 - same pale ale, different yeast strains. The two we're carrying are Brettanomyces Brux and Lambicus. We're definitely going to age some of those bad boys.
Mikkeller Single Hop Citra
Fantome Saison - soooo excited.
Epic Epicurean - imperial oatmeal stout with fig and coffee
Epic Hop Zombie DIPA - it looks like they had to go heavy on US hops this go around because of an NZ hop shortage per their website.
Prairie Artisan Ales - new brewery out of Oklahoma! First Oklahoma brewery in VT if I'm not mistaken. Unfiltered, bottle conditioned. Prairie Standard 6pks, sessionable saison, Prairie Ale, Brett-conditioned saison, and Prairie Hop, dry-hopped saison.
Whew.
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
2012 in a nutshell
Hi Folks!
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!
It's been VERY busy at the Bevie...let's take a moment to reflect -
1) of the many limited beer releases, two took the cake. Switchback finally released bottles for retail, and Westvleteren released a limited amount of their coveted XII. The latter - we've received dozens (if not hundreds) of phone calls since the release on 12.12.12 with many different takes on the name Westvleteren. (Westy; Westletrn; the Saint Sixtus beer; that monk beer; the Belgian beer you can't get.) We opted to take reservations via Facebook and the response was overwhelmingly positive. The former - we sold over 500 cases on the first day Switchback was available and continue to sell out within minutes of every delivery, and while it remains a limited and hard-to-get item, it's still a wonderful thing to see such a high demand for a local brewery. Speaking of which...
2) the demand for The Alchemist's Heady Topper knows no limit. As with Switchback, we continue to sell out sometimes within thirty minutes of our delivery. (Many regular customers remember when our HT supply would last through the weekend. Now it doesn't even last a day.) That said, it is only a matter of time until they finish their expansion and are able to deliver more beer. Keep your fingers crossed.
3) Vermont breweries continue to impress! We've discussed Switchback and HT already. Hill Farmstead, Lawson's Finest Liquids, and Bobcat Cafe & Brewery continue to send us amazing and innovative beers ranging from raw wildflower honey saisons to double IPAs with new NZ hops to a barrel-aged sour stout. New breweries continue to pop up, including our friends at Foley Brothers Brewing in Rutland County and the in-works Burlington Beer Co. Old standbys keep pushing forward with new offerings, including Otter Creek's Russian Imperial Stout, Long Trail's Imperial Pumpkin, Harpoon's Rich & Dan's now in 6 packs, and more. It's a reminder of how lucky we beer lovers are to live in a state where the bounty of good beer is endless.
4) beyond Vermont, our tiny little store (ha!) is buckling under the weight of the MANY breweries that have started distributing in Vermont! Ballast Point; Alesmith; Goose Island; Breckenridge; Boulder; Three Heads; Element; Mystic; Jester King; and more! We've also been fortunate to receive a wider variety of breweries from the Shelton Bros and 12% Imports. Beer Here; 8 Wired; Nils Oscar; Nogne O; Haanbrygerreit; Evil Twin; etc, and a larger supply of Anchorage, Mikkeller, Jolly Pumpkin, and more.
What does this mean for 2013? Looks like more of everything, breweries, beer, limited releases, and the such. For now, keep your eye out for Lagunitas Sucks and Green Flash Palate Wrecker, coming very soon to a warehouse near you.
Lastly, one of our esteemed beer representatives asked me what breweries I would like to see distributed in Vermont. Good question, esteemed beer representative! I have my wish list but I'm curious what you guys want. What breweries would you like to see distributed here in 2013?? Maybe...if you keep your fingers crossed...it'll happen:)
Until next time (and hopefully sooner),
e
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!
It's been VERY busy at the Bevie...let's take a moment to reflect -
1) of the many limited beer releases, two took the cake. Switchback finally released bottles for retail, and Westvleteren released a limited amount of their coveted XII. The latter - we've received dozens (if not hundreds) of phone calls since the release on 12.12.12 with many different takes on the name Westvleteren. (Westy; Westletrn; the Saint Sixtus beer; that monk beer; the Belgian beer you can't get.) We opted to take reservations via Facebook and the response was overwhelmingly positive. The former - we sold over 500 cases on the first day Switchback was available and continue to sell out within minutes of every delivery, and while it remains a limited and hard-to-get item, it's still a wonderful thing to see such a high demand for a local brewery. Speaking of which...
2) the demand for The Alchemist's Heady Topper knows no limit. As with Switchback, we continue to sell out sometimes within thirty minutes of our delivery. (Many regular customers remember when our HT supply would last through the weekend. Now it doesn't even last a day.) That said, it is only a matter of time until they finish their expansion and are able to deliver more beer. Keep your fingers crossed.
3) Vermont breweries continue to impress! We've discussed Switchback and HT already. Hill Farmstead, Lawson's Finest Liquids, and Bobcat Cafe & Brewery continue to send us amazing and innovative beers ranging from raw wildflower honey saisons to double IPAs with new NZ hops to a barrel-aged sour stout. New breweries continue to pop up, including our friends at Foley Brothers Brewing in Rutland County and the in-works Burlington Beer Co. Old standbys keep pushing forward with new offerings, including Otter Creek's Russian Imperial Stout, Long Trail's Imperial Pumpkin, Harpoon's Rich & Dan's now in 6 packs, and more. It's a reminder of how lucky we beer lovers are to live in a state where the bounty of good beer is endless.
4) beyond Vermont, our tiny little store (ha!) is buckling under the weight of the MANY breweries that have started distributing in Vermont! Ballast Point; Alesmith; Goose Island; Breckenridge; Boulder; Three Heads; Element; Mystic; Jester King; and more! We've also been fortunate to receive a wider variety of breweries from the Shelton Bros and 12% Imports. Beer Here; 8 Wired; Nils Oscar; Nogne O; Haanbrygerreit; Evil Twin; etc, and a larger supply of Anchorage, Mikkeller, Jolly Pumpkin, and more.
What does this mean for 2013? Looks like more of everything, breweries, beer, limited releases, and the such. For now, keep your eye out for Lagunitas Sucks and Green Flash Palate Wrecker, coming very soon to a warehouse near you.
Lastly, one of our esteemed beer representatives asked me what breweries I would like to see distributed in Vermont. Good question, esteemed beer representative! I have my wish list but I'm curious what you guys want. What breweries would you like to see distributed here in 2013?? Maybe...if you keep your fingers crossed...it'll happen:)
Until next time (and hopefully sooner),
e
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