Realbeer.com Beer Therapy

New Belgium Brewing, makers of Fat Tire Amber Ale and lovers of all things bicycle, has introduced new glassware that is guaranteed to stir the senses. Tapping into the world of physics, artistic bike-shaped etchings on the bottom of each glass create bubbly nucleation, resulting in rolling carbonation throughout the beer. The glass will help enhance beer’s flavor by delivering a greater olfactory experience through carbonation.

The new glassware is a traditional Belgian globe shape, crafted with thicker, more durable glass, a beaded lip and a narrow opening that enhances the beer’s bouquet. The reinforced stem keeps hands from warming the beer and also allows one to cradle the beer to the desired temperature.

“We’ve always had our own unique stemware that maximizes the sensory experience of drinking a beer,” said New Belgium’s Sales Co-Pilot Brian Krueger. “The opportunity to introduce nucleation really took it to the next level and we wanted to add a little heft for durability while we were at it. We worked stateside with Libbey Manufacturing, who helped us create a glass with great form and function, and we are more than ready to raise a new glass this holiday season.”

The new Belgium glassware, which holds 13.5 ounces, is available in certain New Belgium markets, in the brewery’s Liquid Center, and will soon be revealed at New Belgium’s website.

In the small town of Ipswich, Massachusetts, the new year will mark a milestone in the city’s history. In 2009, Ipswich will celebrate its 375th anniversary. Throughout the year, the town will hold a multitude of community events, educational programs, and outdoor activities to commemorate the past, present, and future of Ipswich, Massachusetts.

As part of the festivities, local brewery Mercury Brewing will be releasing, in limited quantity, 1.5 liter bottles of strong ales. The series will include an Imperial Stout, a Summer Barley Wine, a Double I.P.A, and a barrel aged Old Ale. The first strong ale to be released will be the Choate Bridge Imperial Stout.

Russian imperial stout was originally brewed to satisfy the Czarist courts. Because it was transported across the freezing Baltic from England, imperial stout was brewed with a high level of alcohol. Our Choate Bridge Imperial Stout may not be sailing over the Baltic Sea anytime soon, but the rich, flavorful, deep chocolate color and flavor will remain true to the style. The use of roasted barley gives this hearty ale its subtle coffee aroma and taste.

The first 20 cases, or 80 1.5L bottles of Imperial Stout will be sold right out of the brewery on a first come, first serve basis. Each of these bottles will also be numbered as they come off the bottling line.

SBS Imports of Seattle, Washington has announced that Bell’s Brewery has agreed to be the 2009 partner for the latest brew in the De Proef Brewmaster’s Collaboration Series. The yet to be designed beer will be brewed in March at De Proef in Lochristi, Belgium and released to the USA market in September 2009.

The initial beer in the series was Signature Ale - originally brewed in 2007 with Tomme Arthur of Port Brewing/Lost Abbey. Jason Perkins of Allagash collaborated in 2008 on Les Deux Brasseurs. Both beers have been exceptionally well-received by beer enthusiasts.

“Each year it is my pleasure to invite a noted American brewer to participate in this series,” noted SBS Founder Alan Shapiro. “I am thrilled that John Mallet & Bell’s have agreed to be the 2009 partner.”

“I am really looking forward to this project,” added Bell’s Production Manager, John Mallet. “I have several family ties to the area which makes this invite to brew with Dirk Naudts at De Proef even more special.”

North Coast Old Rasputin XI Available Friday, November 28th Only At the Brewery in Fort Bragg, California.

North Coast Brewing has been making exceptional beers for over 20 years now. The Brew Guide has called them, “very big, very complex and downright kick-ass.” And, one of the biggest and most kick-ass has been their Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout. With a string of 12 Gold Medals dating back to 1996, Old Rasputin has developed a cult following. So would it be possible to improve upon that huge, robust coffee and chocolate flavor profile?

Check it out! On Wednesday, November 26, North Coast will bottle the long-awaited Old Rasputin XI to celebrate the eleventh anniversary of the first bottling of Old Rasputin. This special batch of Old Rasputin has been aging for a year in oak bourbon barrels, and it is truly amazing — even more depth and complexity than we had hoped for. Old Rasputin XI will be available only at the Brewery retail store in Fort Bragg beginning on Friday, November 28 — the day after Thanksgiving. It will be packaged in a 500 ml bottle with commemorative label and a cork and cage finish at $12.95 per bottle. Limit is one case per customer. Some for now, some for cellaring. Sorry, they are unable to ship beer to consumers.

Pike Entire is a blend of three beers: Pike’s XXXXX Extra Stout, (7% abv); the same beer aged for more than half a year in oak Bourbon barrels; and an Imperial Stout (12% abv). The Entire blend contains 42.7% barrel aged beer and finishes at 9.5% alcohol by volume. The taste is complex with velvety malt tones, a coffee aroma, and a palate and finish of bitter chocolate. The biscuity character of pale and crystal malts, along with roasted barley, is balanced by a generous amount of Yakima Valley Willamette, Goldings and Columbus hops in the boil; finished with even more Willamette and Goldings. Adding complexity are the underlying wood tones perfumed by the caramel sweetness of wood-aged Kentucky Bourbon.

In order to brew a beer in keeping with the original style but still distinctly American, Pike acquired oak Bourbon barrels last year and filled them with Pike XXXXX Extra Stout in April 2008 to be blended back. Pike Head Brewer, Drew Cluley, describes the beer as “complex and chocolaty with a great vanilla wood overtone.”

On Monday, November 24, 2008, Pike Entire, in wax-dipped 22 oz. bottles, will be released. It will have very limited availabilty at the Pike Pub and in select bottle shops, primarily in the Seattle area. A few quarter-barrels will be released for sale on draft. The Pike Pub will tap its one and only quarter-barrel of Pike Entire on Friday, November 28.

Big O and Dukes, a radio show on 106.7 WJFK in Washington, DC interviewed Jim Koch, founder of Boston Beer Co., earlier today. You can listen to the interview clicking on the play arrow below.

Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant, the popular food and drink destination with seven area locations, has announced the release of four lambic-style beers in bottles: Kreik de Hill, Lambic de Hill, Framboise de Hill, and Cassis de Hill. Iron Hill will host two release parties, at the Wilmington and Media locations, to give beer enthusiasts an opportunity to sample the different styles, speak with the brewers who created them and purchase the award-winning beers.

“It takes 3 to 4 years to make one batch of lambic beer. In the past, we’ve only offered these beers at special events,” says Director of Brewing Operations Mark Edelson, “We are excited to now be able to make them available to everyone who appreciates these great beers.”

Iron Hill’s four lambic-style beers are their most awarded varieties. The Lambic has won two gold medals in 2008 and 2003 from the Great American Beer Festival (GABF), the Kreik one gold in 2005 and one bronze in 2007, the Cassis one bronze in 2008 and the Framboise a bronze in 2004 from the World Beer Cup (WBC).

Iron Hill Lambic is a traditional Belgian-style lambic beer made with wild yeast and bacteria and aged in oak barrels for at least two years. It is golden-yellow in color and unfiltered, with a complex aroma of bananas, oak and hay and a nutty flavor that gives way to intense sour notes.

Cassis is a lambic-style beer that is aged in oak barrels with black currants, which lend the beer a violet color and berry aroma.

Framboise ages in oak barrels with fresh raspberries; it is ruby red in color and balanced between lambic sourness and sweet raspberry notes.

Kreik is aged in oak barrels with sour cherries, light red in color and also delicately balanced between sour and fruity-sweet.