In a year that saw a drop in overall U.S. beer sales, craft breweries rose to the challenge and saw a booming year. Beer sales dropped in the United States by about 5 million barrels in 2009. According to the Brewers Association however, Craft Brewers saw a 7.2 percent growth in volume, equaling almost 614,000 barrels.
“Beer lovers continue to find great value and enjoyment in fuller flavored craft beers,” said Paul Gatza, director of the Brewers Association. “Americans have an increasing appreciation of craft beers, and the growing number of brewers behind them. They’re eager to try the latest seasonal release and to sample a variety of beers from different breweries.”
There is a nice article over at Beer Advocate with some more statistics about craft beer and beer in general. Check it out!
Sitting down to watch the United States vs. Canada hockey finals for the Olympics, we were left with a quandary: what beer to drink? We wanted something special, but also something we could drink during the game and not end up too drunk to pay attention to the third period. Turns out the best way to do that is to drink a smattering of different beers, which is exactly what we did. We started off with a real treat of an ale: the Bolshoi Imperial Stout from Sixpoint Craft Ales. We weren’t exactly sure what it was at the time. It was in a waxed dipped bottle without a label, but after some twittering with the folks over at Sixpoint, we discovered it was a four year aged bottle of the Bolshoi Imperial Stout! What a great surprise this was. I’m guessing it is pretty hard to get your hands on a bottle of this, but man, if the opportunity comes up, do it!
So at some point (I apparently missed the memo), Deschutes Brewery changed its Red Chair IPA to its Red Chair NWPA. I believe it is the same brew simply under a new name. I saw a bottle of it the other day I picked it up, figuring it would make for a good review, especially since we are starting to see the first glimpses of spring/summer here. Later I discovered it was in fact the same beer, and our first review ever was the Red Chair IPA. I decided to go ahead and give it a re-review since it has a new name, and well I technically haven’t reviewed it before. I was pretty giddy about drinking and reviewing this beer because it has been a while since I’ve delved into some new IPA’s or at least anything outside the regulars: Blackfoot and whatever is on tap at the Red Atlas.
So Miles has been all over the war between Brew Dog and Schorschbräu over which brewery makes the world’s strongest beer. Well, another brewery has decided to enter the ring. Het Koelschip from the Netherlands now holds the title with a beer called Obilix. From Het Koelschip’s website:
Koelschip OBILIX is een speciaal bier van 45% vol alc verkregen door een bier van t koelschip op een speciale manier te bewerken te de verkregen alc. percentage
lees binnen kort meer
I could not have put it better myself. We’ll have to wait and see whether Brew Dog and Schorschbräu respond to such scathing accusations. Or whatever the hell they said about their 45% ABV brew.
I’ve seen these two maps floating around for the past week, but I haven’t gotten around to posting them until now. Moral of the story: way to drink, Midwest America!
Alright guys, its Firkin Thursday and we all know what that means. Today Blackfoot River Brewing will be putting a firkin of cask-conditioned North Fork Organic Porter on the beer engine down at the taproom. Get there early to make sure you get some!
Brewing beer uses a lot of grain, and after that grain has been used in make the wort, it has to go somewhere. I know some homebrewers who use it to make bread, and a lot of the microbreweries I have gone to send it off to a local farm. This may just be that I am in Montana we have plenty of farms to go around. Many breweries located in large cities probably don’t have this option available to them, but what if they could use their spent grains to produce energy?
A stout in a can. Raise your hand if you’ve ever had a stout in a can. No, Guinness does not count. Now raise your hand if you’ve ever had a rich, fulfilling, imperial stout in a can. Right, I didn’t think so. When I came across a four-pack of cans of some wicked-sounding imperial stout in a can (we’re talking 10.5% ABV here) called Ten FIDY Imperial Stout from the Oskar Blues Brewery in Colorado, I was slightly intrigued, but more a little worried and discouraged by the can. My only really good beer memories with cans hearken back to long Friday nights in college with tasteless and watered-down American domestics. I obviously don’t remember those experiences because of the beer, but the stigma attached can resonates with hangovers, beer pong, and bad decisions. Luckily, my temporary roommate decided to take the plunge and pick up the mini-pack of cans after hearing good things about the beer. Well, for any doubters about beers not named Natty Light in cans, take note–this beer is legit. Read the rest of this entry »
In a year that saw a drop in overall U.S. beer sales, craft breweries rose to the challenge and saw a booming year. Beer sales dropped in the United States by about 5 million barrels in 2009. According to the Brewers Association however, Craft Brewers saw a 7.2 percent growth in volume, equaling almost 614,000 barrels.
Sixpoint Craft Ales in Brooklyn, New York
Deschutes Brewery Company in Bend, Oregon
So Miles has been all over the 
Alright guys, its Firkin Thursday and we all know what that means. Today 
Brewing beer uses a lot of grain, and after that grain has been used in make the wort, it has to go somewhere. I know some homebrewers who use it to make bread, and a lot of the microbreweries I have gone to send it off to a local farm. This may just be that I am in Montana we have plenty of farms to go around. Many breweries located in large cities probably don’t have this option available to them, but what if they could use their spent grains to produce energy?
Oskar Blues Brewery in Lyons, CO
