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 KAMA CITRA

hop enlightenment

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!
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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.