Lots of stuff coming out in the near future (thanks for the info www.beernews.org), so let's not waste any time:

• One of, if not the most anticipated releases of the fall is the Goose Island Bourbon County Brand Vanilla Stout.  The coffee version blew people away and this one is getting similar chatter after an appearance at the Great Taste of the Midwest.  This version is the BCS everyone loves brewed with vanilla beans and comes in at 13% abv.  If that's not enough, Rare Bourbon County Brand Stout, aged two years in 23 Year Old Pappy Van Winkle barrels hits shelves this November.  And even more exciting, more variations could be coming in 2011, with rye barrel, dry-hopped, and brett enhanced versions all being rumored.  Gig-it-y.
• Sierra Nevada is pairing up with Trappist-Cistercian Abbey of New Clairvaux to create three traditional Belgian-style beers; a dubbel, a farmhouse ale, and a quad.  Don't see how that can turn out badly.
• Flying Dog is releasing another batch of the Wild Dog Barrel-Aged Gonzo Imperial Porter this year.  In addition to the 750s, this will be released in 12 oz bottle four packs for the first time.  Here's to hoping the Louisville area will see that pooch come around.
• Lost Abbey is releasing what will likely be an ISO favorite, Deliverance.  This is a blend of bourbon barrel-aged Serpents Stout and brandy barrel-aged Angel's Share.  I know I won't see it around here, but still exciting.
• HopSlam is coming to mini kegs.  I don't care if these will be limited, it's still exciting.  Very, very exciting.
• Speaking of Bell's, they are getting into the sour/wild ale craze with Wild One, a "Belgian-style sour ale aged in oak barrels for a year."  I really have no idea how good it will be as Bell's is a bit hit or miss with me, but I can guarantee that I will try it.
• Here's another one to look for in your favorite "ISO" section, Foothills will release a barrel-aged version of their popular Sexual Chocolate Imperial Stout.  Brewery is estimating only 650 or so are available.  That's limited, my friends.
• Sierra Nevada is FINALLY bottling an IIPA.  Hoptimum is a 10% abv imperial IPA and is expected to hit markets, on allocation (sounds like a fancy way to say "limited production") in 24 oz bottles in early 2011.  They haven't disappointed with much of anything so I will certainly seek this one out.  Now if they would only make Celebration year round...
• The Bruery is releasing Black Tuesday, their massive barrel-aged RIS coming in near 20% abv, on Oct 26th.  That's three days after my wedding, so if anyone is going to be in Orange County at that time and wants to give me a late wedding gift, that would be a mighty fine one right there.  
• If you are in the Chicago area, try and make it to Revolution Brewery or the Three Floyds brewpub as soon as you can as they have released Sodom, their 11% abv imperial stout co-brewed with the FFF folks.  Coming in at 11% abv, this one should be worth the adventure to seek out.  Even better, FFF has set some aside to age in bourbon barrels.  Yummy.
• And finally, Williamsburg Alewerks is releasing Coffee Royale, an 8% abv coffee stout aged in bourbon barrels.  Being that I got my first Williamsburg Alewerks brew last week (their bourbon barrel porter), I am going to try to seek this one out as well.

 

There you go folks.  Lots to look forward to on the brewing horizon, and those don't even include the standard fall releases such as the Oktoberfests/Marzens and some of the stouts/darker brews (Great Lakes Oktoberfest and Founders Breakfast Stout anyone).  Cheers everyone!

On Thursday Liquor Barn- Springhurst hosted a beer and cheese pairing with the Great Lakes Brewing Company.  The event featured six beers, each paired with a different food meant to compliment the beer, four of which were cheeses, one a salami, and one a chocolate truffle, as well as a Great Lakes brewpub exclusive, the Aloha Ale.  For many the thought of pairing beer with food is foreign and even taboo, but beer is easily as versatile in the kitchen as wine and in many instances I personally believe pairs better than wine does.  But on top of showcasing how food and beer can compliment each other, it also highlighted the standard of quality seen in the majority of the Great Lakes brewing staple of beers.  The Dortmunder Gold had always been a go-to session ale for me, but the other more "tame" beers in their line-up, the Burning River Pale Ale and the Elliot Ness Lager, both exceeded my memories of prior experiences with them.  The Burning River is a very floral Pale Ale with a lot of flavor and the Elliot Ness is a big malty brew that packs flavor not typically seen in lagers.  Their IPA, the Commodore Perry, is a great brew that can compete head-to-head with one of the Midwest's most beloved IPAs, Bell's Two Hearted Ale.  The Lake Eerie Monster, their IIPA, showcased how well blue cheese can pair with an imperial IPA, and the Blackout Stout, one of the better imperial stouts out there for the money, proved that beer can be a desert as well.  All-in-all it was a great event that hopefully opened peoples' eyes to the versatility of beer as well as how great of a brewery Great Lakes Brewing Company is.

Founders Nemesis was one of the more hyped/sought-after new releases of 2009 and went quickly once it hit the store shelves.  The 2010 edition has had little mention, but that is changing as we speak as this year's version of the highly elusive beer is now starting to trickle out to shelves.  The new Nemesis is described as "a dark barley wine that pours black with a subtle mahogany hue. Brewed with 5 malts and no shortage of hops for a pleasantly bitter booming flavor. Roasty and toasty with a multitude of tastes that melts on your tongue.".  I've really started getting into the big American barleywines this year and after enjoying last year's Nemesis you can count me in the crowd who is desperately hoping they get their hands on this one. 

I was playing around on BA and someone noted that Great Lakes Oktoberfest is already on tap at the brewery.  This made me think about how seasonal beers seem to be showing up earlier and earlier each year.  I remember seeing some summerfests/wheats hit shelves in March and while the thoughts of an Oktoberefst in my hands does sound mighty appetizing, thinknig of drinking it in the middle of the hottest summer I can ever remember seems a bit premature.  When I think of Oktoberfests, I think of cool fall weather and football, not 98* and high humidity in July. 

I know seasonal releases are up to each brewery, but do you think this trend is getting a bit out of control?  While I could drink Great Lakes Oktoberfest year round (and would), I don't want it to get to the point where winter warmers are released before Labor Day.  Thoughts? 

A few new items on the way to various areas so lets get to it!

• Bell's 25th Anniversary Ale-  With their 25th anniversary just around the corner in September, Bell's decided to do something special to mark the occasion.  And what do brewer's do when they want to commemorate something?  They make a beer of course and in this case that beer is a "unique dry-hopped strong ale made with Michigan barley from their own farm".  While strong ale is a bit of a catch-all category in my eyes, I would certainly be interestd in trying this one if I could get my hands on it.  The bad news?  This is supposed to be very limited outside of the brewery.  Damn.
• Nogne-o #500 Imperial IPA-  The boys from Norway are celebrating their 500th brew by making a big ol' IIPA.  5 differnt hops, 10% abv, and 100 IBUs.  And yes, some will be making their way to the states, though only 180 cases are scheduled to make the voyage at this time. 
• Le Trappe Oak-Aged Quad-  Now this one excites me.  I've tried four quads from the actual Trappist breweries and none have disappointed me, so when I see that one is producing an oak-aged version of the beer that made the merry monks famous, well that get's my beer horomones pumping.  Straight from their website (via Beernews.com), “in 2009, we started with the maturing of our unique beer Quadrupel in barriques (oak barrels). This beer has now had a year’s time aging for a fantastic and unique flavor to undergo evolution. The amber Quadrupel itself has a warm and well balanced flavor. The beer, with an extra bearing of one year to undergo in wooden barrels, gets an even richer, unique and distinct taste".  Yep, color me excited. 
• Great Divide Rumble Oak-Aged IPA-  No, this is not the same beer as the wood-aged 15th and 16th anniversary IIPAs.  According to the brewery, "Rumble IPA is an American IPA with subtle nuance. Brewed with heavy-handed additions of Pacific Northwest hops, this beer is gently aged on French and American oak resulting in a wonderful balance of bitterness, caramel sweetness, vanilla, and undertones of pine and citrus".  This will also be in 12-oz bottles and not the 22 oz. bottles as the anniversary ales were.  I really hope we get this one in Louisville as I love the Great Divide IPAs/IIPAs. 
• Great Divide Smoked Baltic Porter-  Another new beer from Great Divide, this one will be in 22 oz bottles and is rumored to be released next month.  Here's a brief description: "Smoked Baltic Porter is the sultry sister of a storied style. Brewed with traditional German malts and hops, this dark lager gets its special twist from a hefty addition of Bamberg smoked malt. This smoldering, medium-bodied lager is sure to please.Smoked Baltic Porter is the sultry sister of a storied style. Brewed with traditional German malts and hops, this dark lager gets its special twist from a hefty addition of Bamberg smoked malt. This smoldering, medium-bodied lager is sure to please".  I've yet to be terribly let down by Great Divide so this is another I'll be sure to try.

On top of all of this is the upcoming Oktoberfest/Marzen season.  I know fall seems forever away but these start coming out mid/late August and I for one can't wait.  Perfect cool weather grilling beers and something I'll be sure to drink quite a bit of when available.  Cheers everyone.   

After my standard Thursday night at the Bluegrass Brewing Company, I have several updates to share and all are quite exciting. 

• Amber Waves of Pain, a big hoppy red from BBC, will be available starting July 4.  This beer will go fast and I'll be sure to have a couple growlers filled the day its released and likely visit several times the week it is released.  If you have read Gibby and I's reviews on the BBC half Alt, half APA, you know we adore that mix.  The Amber Waves of Pain is a bigger, hoppier version of that.  Yea, I'm pumped. 
• Sam, Jerry, and crew recently brewed a big Russian Imperial Stout and then added some Michigan cherries to the fermenter to add another level of complexity.  This beer will eventually be aged in bourbon barrels to make the first bourbon barrel-aged cherry Russian Imperial Stout I've heard of.  I tried this one after fermenting (before carbonation had formed) and it is going to be one HELL of a beer.  It's still several months away but I'm really excited about this one.
• Bourbon Barrel Heine Bros Coffee Stout will be bottled soon.   I'll be getting a case or so of it.  I'm happy about that.  It's like a mini version of KBS and that's a really good thing.  
• Thor's Knee, BBC's Belgian Imperial IPA is damn good.  That's all.

That's all I have for now.  Get down to BBC to enjoy Thor's Knee before it is gone and definitely make it down to check out Amber Waves of Pain when it's available, just make sure to leave plenty for yours truly.  Til' next time, take care and drink well. 

Last week I had an odd craving for a good traditional bock.  I browsed around Liquor Barn (great import and craft beer selection) and realized that there just aren't that many good traditional bocks available.  I settled for a sixer of Anchor Bock and a 4-pack of Ayinger Celebrator and went from there, but in the midst of this it just made me think that some beers are just not that easy to find around Louisville.  With that said, here's my list of beers I wish were more readily available in the area.

• Traditional Bocks-  As mentioned before, this is a beer I seem to crave in the summers as I find it to be the perfect grill beer.  It goes great with a burger.  It goes great with a brat.  Hell, it goes great just sitting on the patio (even though a crisp wheat is about as good as it gets right now in the 90+ heat and 90%+ humidity we have going on).  Sam Adams had a Traditional Bock in their 2009 Longshots six pack and that was one hell of a brew.  I wish more were available all the time, whether they be from the US or Germany.
• FRESH, hop-forward IIPAs-  I know, I know.  We have Three Floyds available now but outside of Dreadnaught (amazing when fresh) there aren't a ton of great, fresh, west-coast style IIPAs available year round.  We can always find Stone Ruination or Great Divide Hercules, but these beers are often old and not as hop-centric as I prefer.  I know not every brewery can make a Pliny the Elder type IIPA, but a good reliable draft version from one of the local breweries would be awesome.
• Hoppy Amber Ales-  I fell in love with Bear Republic's Hop Rod Rye and Three Floyd's Brian Boru over the past year and BBC's Amber Waves of Pain is one of my all-time favorites.  The problem is that there isn't a year-round good hoppy amber available here.  Brian Boru and AWoP are both great, but both are seasonal and one is draft only.  Give me my hoppy amber and you'll have a happier Beau.

Any one out there have any opinions on what they would love to see more readily available in their area?  Thoughts?

The Louisville Beer Store is already a Louisville staple amongst the craft beer community.  With a craft selection matched only by the friendliness and knowledge of the owners and employees, the Beer Store is a perfect mix of a quaint local establishment and a first-class brew shop.  There was no special event going on this evening (other than the weekly vinyl records playing through the Wednesday night air), but the Beer Store was alive with brew enthusiasm and joyous camaraderie.  And this atmosphere is nothing new or unique.  The combination of Tyler, Lori, and staff's willingness and enthusiasm to chat it up with the patrons (always with a smile) and the jolly atmosphere great beer tends to provide (more about the great beer in a bit) always seems to lead to a great time at the Market Street locale.  

This particular Weds started with a Founders Double Trouble on draft.  I had been in the midst of a big hop craving and the Double Trouble was just the fix.   During the 30 or so minutes I took to enjoy this beauty I met about six people standing around the bar and chatted it up with a particular couple for the vast majority of that time.  The two of them were enthralling to talk to (as many at the LBS are) and fit right in with the 15 or so people and two German short-haired pointers in attendance (yes, these two particular canines are considered locals there).  After the Double Trouble I had a glass of KBS and added a few cans of Caldera IPA (great canned IPA new to the Louisville market), a Cantillion Classic Gueuze, and an LBS tshirt to my tab. 

The point is that the Louisville Beer Store is a true treasure in the Louisville Beer community.  Lori and Tyler have a first-class establishment that caters perfectly to the craft beer fan. The staff is great, the set-up is cozy and inviting, the patrons are friendly, and the selection is first-class and always changing (thanks to the constantly rotating 8 tap set-up).  While there are bigger tap walls and larger beer stores, the Louisville Beer Store is as good a time as a true beer fan could ask for.   Whether that be a Friday night out on the town, a Sunday afternoon tasting event, or a random Wednesday night, just like this one, the Louisville Beer Store gets the craft beer scene right.  Keep up the good work folks.    

Last Saturday I was lucky enough to partake in one of the most talked about beer events of the calendar year, Three Floyd's Dark Lord Day.  Not only is this the annual release party for Three Floyd's Dark Lord Imperial Stout, one of the most highly sought after beers in existence, but also an all-around beer festival. The event is a great time with mostly good, some bad, and a lot of the stuff we all love, good beer.  What follows are some of my random thoughts from one of the most fun and at the same time frustrating beer events I've ever attended

• Bring beer to share.  While everyone is here to get their hands on Dark Lord, the event itself is a setting for the single most generous beer sharing spectacle I have ever seen.  I got to try tons of great beer from absolute strangers expecting nothing in return.  Abyss 07, Czar Jack, and Masala Mama are just a few of the beers I was lucky enough to try.  There's no set law on how the sharing thing works, but if you want to be a great advocate of the craft beer world, bring some of your favorite locals and share the wealth.  I did that and loved seeing how everyone else enjoyed the BBC Bourbon Barrel Heine Bros Stout I passed around. 
• This is the PERFECT setting to acquire some brews you have been looking to get.  In about 30 minutes on Beer Advocate I set up three different trades for Dark Lord Day.  And because of this not only did I come home with my full allotment of Dark Lord, but also with DORIS the Destroyer, Coffee Bourbon County Stout, Abrasive, and Darkness.  And it was EASY.  Hell, even if you don't have anything set up before hand, bring a few semi-rare brews you don't mind to part with and start chatting with people you see.  No telling what you may come home with. 
• The justdrinkbeeer.com crowd was in full force at the event.  Gibby, Ashley, Kelley, Mike, Andrew, Patrick, Rob, and Athena all showed up and enjoyed the events of the day.  Local beer heavyweights Lori and Tyler from the Louisville Beer Store also hung out with our crew as well.  Much thanks for everyone making the trip to Munster.  It was well worth it. 
• I unfortunately did not get to try any of the guest tap lists though I certainly hope to next year.  It was an impressive thing to see. 
• And even more of a bummer, I didn't get to try the Vanilla Bean Dark Lord or the Oak-Aged Dark Lord.  I will certainly do this next year, assuming they don't float before I make my way to the front of the line.  This leads to my next point...
• The lines.  I know Three Floyds put a ton of thought into this event, expecting (and getting) upwards of 8,000 guests for this single day.  I know their operation is relatively small (the brewpub MAY be able to sit 75, at most), but the cutting and overall lack of organization for the three lines that formed is almost inexcusable.  There was a line for the guest taps, a line for the brewpub (and the special versions of DL), and a line for the Dark Lord bottles themselves, all over an hour wait.  My actual wait in the bottle line was over four hours long (thanks to the group from Chicago directly in line behind me for trooping it out and sharing lots of great beer with me as I waited).  Countless people cut in line near the front and the 3F crew did nothing to stop the practice.  I know funds and space are limited, both adding to the problem, but something needs to be done in the future.  Because of this massive line I was unable to partake in the tasting tables, the guest taps, and the brewpub specials like I had hoped.  It took away some of the best parts of Dark Lord Day.
• Another big issue I had was the change in bottle allocation half-way through the day.  Three Floyds' policy is to determine the number of bottles allotted to each ticket after the total yield is known.  After this year's yield was counted, a four bottle count was announced for each ticket held.  But something happened after a few hours and the allotment was dropped from four to three.  The actual reason was not announced, but word spread fast that a number of tickets had been counterfitted (which I can easily see after viewing my tickets), causing the bottles to be depleted faster than expected. Very unfortunate considering how long people in the back half of the line waited to get their bottles.  Three Floyds needs to ensure something like this doesn't happen again.  Not the best of situations here. 
• I want to give a special thanks to my future Mrs, Kelley, for joining me.  She got up at 2:30 am and patiently waited all day with our stuff as I ran around like a kid on a shopping spree in Toys-R-Us.  She's the best. 
• I do plan on going back next year though I'll be booking a room at the Hampton and taking part of what sounded like quite the beer event on Dark Lord Eve.  That in itself seemed to be worth the drive. 
• It was great to meet Andrew (translucent) and his wife.  They are great folks and I can't tell you how gracious he was to share both Czar Jack and Masala Mama.  Knowing he can readily get both Surly and Minneapolis Town Hall Brewing beers makes me green with envy (though extremely glad I get to trade with him). 

Overall this was a great event.  Gibby and I got to meet lots of wonderful folks, try some damn good brews, and spread the word about our little site.  Next year I will do some things differently (get in line for my bottles right off the bat, take them to my car, and then enjoy everything DLD has to share).  I also want to set up a few more trades than I did this year as well as bring a bit more of my local stuff to share.  But no matter how annoying the lines were or how unorganized things appeared at times, Dark Lord Day was a load of fun and a great success.  Oh, the beer is mighty tasty as well.  Keep it up 3F.  It's chaotic organization at its finest. 

I was browsing around on BA (yes, I know it’s the evil empire of our little operation here, but it’s a damn quality site and one I frequent) and there’s an interesting debate going on about rebottling draft-only brewpub special releases, in this case the Vanilla Bean Dark Lord and Oak-Aged Dark Lord that is annually released during DLD.  The original poster was trying to set up a trade where he would send rebottled versions of both beers for some mix of uber-rare brews in return. 

First off, by rebottling the fellow simply means purchasing the brews and pouring/siphoning the brews from the glass (they are not bottled and won’t do growler fills) into a bottle and capping the bottles by hand.  Now I’m not enough of a scientist/home brewer to know how much oxidization or infection this will involve (many say at least some of the former and possibly some of the latter) so I won’t speak to that.  But I do have other issues with this practice.  First and foremost; Vanilla Bean DL and Oak-Aged DL are brewpub only releases, released once a year, for the patrons of Dark Lord Day.  They are not bottled and are meant to be enjoyed directly from the tap.  I look at these beers as a “thank you” to the people who took the time and spent the money to participate in DLD, sort of a “you take care of us, we will reward you” kind of thing.  Rebottling and sending it out goes against this line of thought. 

Second, the brewery has chosen not to bottle this beer nor do they fill growlers.  Because of this it is fairly safe to assume that they mean for this beer to be enjoyed directly from the tap.  I mentioned I can’t speak to oxidization and such but I do suspect that rebottling and shipping off will affect the flavor profile/carbonation of the beer and that is not what the brewery intends.  And by doing so it goes against the brewery’s wishes, thus not respecting the beer or the brewery for creating such a highly-sought beer.  I understand that rare beers will drive the geeks out there to go to extreme measures to try it, but I do not agree with going directly against a brewery’s wishes in order to do so.  That is not respecting the brewery or the craft beer world. 

This goes directly into a real problem that was addressed in that BA thread mentioned way back at the beginning of this quasi-rant…. Entitlement.  One of the reasons I enjoy BA is because it affords me a chance to trade beers with people across the country in order to not only try things I can’t get around me, but also to share things I do have access to.  But something like rebottling takes the concept of beer trading to an extreme, making it seem that people have this sense of entitlement to this beer.  They didn’t pay the money or make the trip to DLD but it is their right to try this beer.  That’s not right.  No one is entitled to try a beer.  The brewery created it for a reason (likely to thank the folks who participated in their event) and if you choose not to go then you are in NO WAY entitled to trying this beer.  I want to try Pliny the Younger worse than anything, but I didn’t go to the release so I am not entitled to trying it.  This beer is a treat.  You have to earn treats.  They aren’t just given because you want it.  Rebottling against a brewery’s wishes and trading is only fueling this feeling of entitlement and I personally believe it needs to stop.   The craft beer community is a great group of people (for the most part).  Let’s not f*ck that up (I’m looking at you too eBay rare beer sellers and rare beer hoarders). 

I’m sorry if this comes off as a bit harsh, but the thread got me a bit riled up and I thought I would share.  I’m super excited that I get to attend DLD this year but if I didn’t I certainly wouldn’t run to some black-market type of transaction to try them.  I’d simply hope I could attend next year.  The craft beer world is my passion.  I want it to succeed and thrive as much as anyone out there.   Things like rebottling against a brewery’s wishes just seems to be a slap in the face of that same community I love and I hope practices like that will simply go away, however unlikely (100%) that is.  The craft beer world is in a great place right now.  Let’s enjoy the fruits of that labor the right way.