Sierra Nevada Collaboration

Last week at the Craft Brewers Conference in San Francisco Sierra Nevada announced a new collaboration beer with Russian River Brewery, also from California.  It is said to be a Belgian Style Pale Ale with Brettanomyces (spore forming yeast) and will be released nation wide under Sierra's distribution network.  It will be available in 750ML bottles sometime in 2012.  This will give some areas their first beer available from Russian River since they are available on in limited states.  Its almost a guarantee that this brew will be amazing coming from these breweries.

Brew Masters Show Canceled??

There are a bunch of rumors going around that Brew Masters, the Discovery Channel television show featuring Dogfish Head's Sam Calagione, will be canceled.  Some are saying that "BIG" breweries are threatening to pull out advertising.  This is coming from Anthony Bourdain of Travel Channel's No Reservations through twitter messages.  This was Sam Calagione's smooth response:
“A number of folks have been reaching out to me today about this twitter stuff. I’d rather focus on positive stuff than negative at this point. So this is what I will say:  No comment. Other than I’m a big “No Reservations” fan.  And now more than ever – support your small, truly-indie breweries! Last night I had Two Prima Pils, and an Aprihop. Today I had cask-conditioned Thyme Pale Ale, Baladin Nora, Birra Del Borgo ReAle, and am enjoying an Indian Brown Ale as I type this. Focused on the goodness inside the bottle instead of the weirdness outside the bottle. Cheers.”
So who knows if the show will continue or not with a response like that but it will be interesting if it is canceled because of the big breweries big money.

Samuel Adams 2011 Beer Lovers Choice

More Samuel Adams news, this years Beer Lovers Choice brews have been announced.  It is between Sample A: Oak Ale and Sample B: Maple Wood Porter.  Both of these brews sound delicious.  Just like last year craft beer drinkers will be able to vote for their favorite of the two while sampling these beers at an event.  Last summer it was between American Rye Ale and Belgian IPA.  The Samuel Adams guys were taking votes and sampling those two brews at the www.NorthforkCraftBeerFestival.com on Long Island.  The winner of the Beer Lovers Choice was the American Rye Ale which was available on Draft as part of the Brewmasters Series and in the American Originals variety 12 packs.

Samuel Adams Rustic Saison

 The next and newest release of the Samuel Adams Brewmaster Series is  Rustic Saison.  It is currently available at better beer bars on draft on Long Island.  Canterbury Ales in Huntington is a sure bet to find this rare release.  This brew may also be found on a growler system or two at better beer distributors.  If you don't find this limited release on draft,  you can find it in bottle in this summers Summer Styles Variety 12 packs.
This brew pours a nice golden color with a nice foamy head.  A perfectly light hop aroma with slight notes of fruit makes your mouth water.  This brew tastes perfect for late spring and summer days.  It has a very smooth taste, a dry-ish mouth feel and defiantly tasted like a smooth farmhouse style ale.  This saison won't be available for long so do your best to get a pint or bottle of it.

New Site For Ovila Abbey Ales

This is a quick follow-up to the post below, www.ovila.com is up and running.  It is a beautiful website with great pictures showing the progress of the New Clairvaux Monastery as well as a bunch of other information regarding the Abbey Ales.  For more information on the Abbey of New Clairvaux visit http://www.newclairvaux.org/

Ovila Dubbel and Saison Labels

As reported a month or so earlier here on LICRAFTBEERBLOG.COM, Ovila Abbey Ales in cooperation with Sierra Nevada have released their labels for their first and second releases.  The first style to be released is an Abbey Dubbel and the next is an Abbey Saison.  Check the labels below:

 

 

Here are some EXCLUSIVE pics of the Monastery in California.  Thanks to Dave S. from Daves Bellport Beer who took these pics while visiting the Sierra Brewery for Beer Camp.

 

Sam Adams vs San Tan

We've all seen this glass or maybe even have used one to bring brew to your lips.  This glass was designed by none other than Jim Koch of Samuel Adams to enhance the taste, aroma, quality and overall drinking experience of Boston Lager.  Seems around the time that Mr. Koch was developing this glass, so was San Tan brewery, with a glass that looks very very similar.  This matter has moved to the courts, whether or not there are patents for this glass or not seems to be the issue.  Check out this video for more on the subject.

Tonight, Saturday and Monday

Tonight, Saturday and Monday there are some events you can't miss if you love rare craft brews.  Sorry for such short notice but Tonight, Thursday March 10, 2011 at 8pm at Effin Gruven in Bellmore will be an opportunity to try a few solid hard to find brews.  On tap there will be Hoptimum by Sierra Nevada, Blast by Brooklyn, Raison D'Etre by Dog Fish Head and a bunch of other great beer.  Be sure to get their early for the Hoptimum because there is only 5 gallons of this.

Saturday March 12, 2011 at 12-noon is a serious vertical event.  None other than Dave from Bellport Beer could pull this one off.  There will be verticals of the last six years of Sierra Nevada's Celebration Ale available in 12oz bottles for purchase.  There will also be the last 4 year's bottles of Sierra Nevada's Big Foot Ale, plus Big Foot from 2011, 2010 & 2009 on draft.  Not to mention Dave's own Stung Honey Rye PA on draft and ALL 4 of the Sierra Nevada 30th anniversary brews.  If that's not enough, there is also A barrel of Sierra Nevada's Southern Hemisphere Harvest.  This is a breath-taking event for a Sierra Nevada fan, thanks to Dave. 

And last but not least on  Monday March 14, 2011 at 7pm at Bobbique in Patchogue there will be another chance to try the Hoptimum from Sierra Nevada and Blast by Brooklyn Brewery.  Check out the website for the whole run-down of sweet brews.  www.bobbique.com  Plus of course some Guinness in time for St. Patrick's Day.  While you're there try some of the bbq food there.  Some of the best food and brew you can get.

Extreme Beer Fest Sam Adams Creations

If you are a member of Beer Advocate, the online beer community, you probably know about the Extreme Craft Beer Festival.  This is the beer fest of all beer fests.  One day is all barrel aged brews by nearly every notable craft brewery.  The other day is a bunch of awesome brews from some of the best craft brewers.  Although the Extreme Craft Beer Festival is this weekend March 12th and March 13th and it is sold out, we got a couple keg collars of some of the Samuel Adams selections expected to be there.  Check them out:

A Couple Popular Craft Brews... In Cans

If you are a craft beer drinker you may have noticed a lot of breweries canning good beer.  Traditionally good beer has been consumed out of a bottle and mass produced lower quality beers out of cans in addition to bottles.  This has been changing for the last few years with smaller craft breweries canning their liquid.  It hasn't been until recently that some of the larger craft breweries have decided to venture into the canning world.
A few months back Magic Hat announced they would release their first canned brew.  As you would expect they decided to put their #9 pale ale with apricot into 12 ounce cans.  These 12 ounce cans will be available late spring/early summer 2011.  The cans are going to be available in 2/12pack cases.

                          

Just the other day the number one selling craft pale ale in the country has also made the choice to start canning.  That's right, towards the last part of the year, Sierra Nevada will release their classic Pale Ale in 12 ounce cans.  Some one from the brewery had mentioned that they have wanted to do this for years because bringing bottles in a backpack hiking isn't always a great idea.  The brewery wasn't sure how cans would do in the market years ago, but now it seems like they would be welcomed by many craft drinkers.  For more information, or all the information on craft beer in cans go to: http://www.craftcans.com/