Beer alert

A few new beers to look for before the holiday favorites return:

– Saint Arnold Brewing in Texas has released the third beer in its Saint Arnold Divine Reserve series, shipping approximately 600 cases of Saint Arnold Divine Reserve No. 3. It’s an Imperial or Double IPA (India Pale Ale). “Some call it the radical beer movement, but I prefer to think of it as an effort to explore bigger, stronger, more intense beers,” said Sinta Rnold founder Brock Wagner. “This Double IPA has more hops, higher alcohol and is a bit lighter in color than a typical IPA because we want the hops to punch through and too much malt tends to mask the powerful bitterness.”

– Odell Brewing in Colorado will ship Extra Special Red – the third release in the 2006 Single Batch Series – at the end of this month. “There is a lot of history behind this beer style. Red beers can be traced back to ancient Egypt. It is one of the oldest beer recipes” said brewer Greg Wiggall. According to Egyptian mythology, beer colored with red ochre was used to pacify an angry goddess and save the world from destruction. A company press release adds, “But according to (founder) Doug Odell, it needed some hops.” It’s a beer of some heft at 8% abv.

– Anheuaser-Busch has put two new beers in its Michelob Specialty Sampler Collection, Michelob Bavarian-Style Wheat and Michelob Porter. The hefeweizen (5.2% abv) is a true Bavarian version, unfiltered and long on banana and clove. The porter (5.9%) is rich (chocolate, caramel, hints of coffee) but understated enough to work well with food. The sample pack also includes Michelob Marzen, Michelob Pale Ale and Michelob AmberBock. It comes in 12- and 20-packs. The 20-pack includes four bottles of each style, while the 12-pack includes the Michelob Marzen, Michelob Pale Ale, Michelob Porter and Michelob Bavarian-Style Wheat.