beer

Editor’s Note: This sponsored column is written by Nick Anderson, beermonger at Arrowine (4508 Lee Highway).

There was an item I almost included in last week’s “Beer Geek Black Friday” list, but didn’t because it wasn’t obscenely expense and over-the-top the way the other “gifts” were. That item was the Randall Jr. by Dogfish Head, and mine just arrived this week. If you really are looking for a gift for the beer geek in your life, this is a great idea that won’t cost you a lot of money.

The Randall Jr. was inspired by a device Dogfish Head developed more than 10 years ago called Randall the Enamel Animal. Randall is a chamber that can be filled with hops, herbs, fruit — whatever you’d like — that is attached to a draft line. As beer passes through the Randall, it strips away essential oils and flavors, infusing the beer with the fresh aromas and flavors of whatever is in it.

For years, a great day at Rehoboth Beach was when you stopped by the Dogfish Brewpub and they’d have their 90 Minute IPA running through a Randall filled with fresh Cascade hops; the intensity and clarity of the fresh hops is, well, intoxicating.

Randall Jr. is made to bring the fun of experimenting with flavors home, in a package so basic that it almost seems daft: Randall Jr. is a double-walled plastic container that comes with a screwtop lid and a sieve that also screws on and off. You simply pour your beer into the Randall Jr., add whatever you want to infuse that beer with, replace the sieve and lid, and then wait a few minutes (the packaging recommends 20).

After the beer has a chance to “steep,” pour and enjoy. For the maiden voyage of my Randall Jr., I cracked a bottle of Port City’s excellent Optimal Wit and added some dried blueberries I’d picked up at work along with some thyme. The result was delicious, with the concentrated sweetness of the dried blueberries upfront and the thyme giving the beer some much needed “cut;” keeping it from feeling too sweet — though I think some fresh rather than dried thyme would have given the same effect with more restraint.

At $19.99, there’s just too much fun to be had with the Randall Jr. to pass it up. The only hitch may be that it never seems to last very long on Dogfish’s site when a batch arrives. Needless to say, it comes highly recommended from me.

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Editor’s Note: This sponsored column is written by Nick Anderson, beermonger at Arrowine (4508 Lee Highway).

The holiday season brings with it endless catalogs and gift guides, but my favorite has always been the Neiman Marcus Christmas Book.

Yes, the Christmas Book’s ‘fantasy gift’ selections are the apex of one-percenter tone deafness, but they go just so far beyond the pale that the catalog seems to be self-aware; a parody of itself. From special edition supercars to multi-million dollar entertainment systems to (I swear I’m not making this up) the “Bespoke Global Falconry Companion” — yours for only $150,000, by the by — the Neiman Marcus Christmas book never fails to entertain me.

In that spirit, I’ve found a list of some of the more absurdly priced beer gifts to give this year, with the biggest difference between my list and the Neiman Marcus one being that I’d actually want pretty much all of these:

Own a piece of BrewDog: When I was first introduced to Scotland’s BrewDog a few years ago, I thought one of the coolest aspects of the brewery was that you could invest in the brewery. BrewDog’s “Equity for Punks” program is an open call for craft beer fans to buy shares of the legendarily rebellious brewery; ‘of the beer geeks, by the beer geeks’ if you will. At 95 pounds (approximately $155) each, the shares of BrewDog can add up quickly, but ownership has its privilege — bragging rights, mostly, but “Hey, I’m a partial owner of BrewDog” is a pretty decent brag.

Sam Adams Utopias: 2013 sees another release of Utopias, the super high-gravity brew from Sam Adams. Made in extremely limited amounts with a blend of barrel-aged beers up to 19 years old, Utopias tips the scales at 28% ABV and drinks more like a rich port or brandy than it does any traditional beer. Utopias are very difficult to come by, and if you do find a bottle at retail expect to pay upwards of $200 per (admittedly very cool) copper brew kettle-shaped bottle.

The Bruery Reserve Society: This is one I’ve personally wanted to do for years. Southern California’s The Bruery is one of my favorite craft breweries out there; their combination of fearless stylistic exploration and obvious skill as brewers produces some of the most interesting and exciting beers available today. Not all of The Bruery’s beers are readily available, however, and that’s where the Reserve Society comes in. For $295, you can sign up to receive bottles of The Bruery’s limited-run offerings, provided that you can get to Placentia, California to pick them up or have a friend who lives nearby who can pick them up for you.

The Dreamcade Kegerator 60: It is perhaps the greatest invention in recent history. Dream Arcades has built a custom arcade cabinet that features a 60-inch screen, potentially unlimited numbers of games, and a built-in fridge so you can load up kegs for the three taps attached to it. There are even cup holders built onto the sides of the machine for convenience during multi-hour Street Fighter II sessions (which comes with the Dreamcade Kegerator 60, by the way). Even if I could justify the reported $5,000 price tag — which I can’t, not in a million years — I don’t think I could excuse the sheer space the Kegerator 60 would take up in my house, but I still covet it. Oh my, do I covet it.

Enjoy your leftover food and beverage this weekend, everyone. Until next time.

Nick Anderson maintains a blog at www.beermonger.net, and can be found on Twitter at @The_Beermonger. Sign up for Arrowine’s money saving email offers and free wine and beer tastings at www.arrowine.com/mailing-list-signup.aspx. The views and opinions expressed in the column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ARLnow.com.

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Editor’s Note: This sponsored column is written by Nick Anderson, beermonger at Arrowine (4508 Lee Highway).

I can’t pinpoint exactly when the “holiday season” starts for me as a retailer — especially considering that my “busy season” this year started back in August with the early arrival of pumpkin ales. The holiday season always seems to creep up on me a bit; I never notice it starting, but always have a sudden moment of realization that it’s happening.

My moment for this year happened about a week ago, during a busy afternoon of stocking new beers that had just been delivered. In my peripheral vision, I almost accidentally caught a glance of my Belgian beer shelves and it hit me — “Wow, I have a lot of really cool Belgian Christmas Ales in stock right now!”

The spectrum of Belgian Christmas Ales is every bit as wide as that of Belgian beer itself, but there is something approaching a “standard” for the style. Generally maltier, with medicinal notes from herb and spice additions and often candi sugar, the classic Belgian Christmas Ale live on through beers like Delirium Noel, Gouden Carolus Noel, and the recently arrived Vicaris Noel.

For some, these beers can come across too sweet or spicy, while for others they may have to be in the right mood to enjoy them. My personal experience — especially with Gouden Carolus Noel — is that if you’re so inclined, setting a few bottles aside for a year goes a long way toward making the sometimes scattered flavors of the Noel beers come together and find balance.

Other Belgian holiday releases take wildly divergent paths. Scaldis releases a traditional Noel each year, along with a Noel Premium that clocks in at 13 percent ABV and feels more like a Barleywine than a Belgian Ale (I’m a particularly big fan of Scaldis Noel Premium). This year, we received two other variants from Scaldis: the Premium Prestige spends its last six months of aging in oak casks, while the Prestige de Nuits spends those six months in French oak barrels from the Hospice Cotes de Nuits winery in Burgundy. These beers are powerful, complex, elegant, very rare, and pricey — you’ve been warned.

Two of my other favorites take more of an everyday approach. Brasserie DuPont’s Avec Les Bons Voeux was originally brewed at the end of the year to give to importers, distributors, restaurateurs, and retailers as a “thank you for your support” gift.  Its legend grew enough that it became DuPont’s holiday seasonal release. If you’ve ever had the standard-of-its-breed Saison DuPont, imagine a version that is stronger (at 9 percent ABV) with richer, rounder flavors, and you’re pretty much there.

A beer with a loyal fanbase that is still somehow “under the radar” is the St. Bernardus Christmas Ale. A 10 percent ABV Quadrupel, Bernardus Christmas is surprisingly mild on the palate with hints of molasses, mint, and spice.

There are dozens of Belgian holiday beers that will be available to us in the area this year. Share some of your favorites in the comments, and have fun finding new ones this year. Until next time.

Cheers!

Nick Anderson maintains a blog at www.beermonger.net, and can be found on Twitter at @The_Beermonger. Sign up for Arrowine’s money saving email offers and free wine and beer tastings at www.arrowine.com/mailing-list-signup.aspx. The views and opinions expressed in the column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ARLnow.com. (more…)

Editor’s Note: This sponsored column is written by Nick Anderson, beermonger at Arrowine (4508 Lee Highway).

Like many pursuits and interests, being a fan of craft beer for a long time — especially one who works in the business of craft beer — can lead one to lose their enthusiasm for the hobby. I’ve done my best over the years to focus on learning about and discovering new things, but I’d be lying if I said there weren’t weeks where it just seems like nothing exciting is happening.

There are still some beer releases I anticipate like a child on Christmas Eve, however: the first run of Founders Breakfast Stout for the year; anything coming off the boat from LoverBeer; the rare once-per-year delivery of Brooklyn Black Ops. This week is one of those weeks for me, as this week is the yearly release of Stone Double Bastard Ale.

Stone’s legendary Arrogant Bastard Ale is a longtime favorite of mine. In fact, it’s the beer that solidified my love of craft beer and sent me down the long, torrid path toward becoming the beer ‘professional’ I am today. For all that Arrogant Bastard means to me, it’s the once-per-year Double Bastard version that holds a spot in my heart.

Where Arrogant Bastard is unapologetically bitter, albeit with enough malt that you can’t qualify it as ‘just another IPA’, Double Bastard is full-on, over-the-top, unflinching San Diego-style hop worship. First made in 1998 to celebrate Arrogant Bastard’s first anniversary, Double Bastard cranks the ABV up from 7.2% to 11.2% and pours a foreboding red/orange hue.

Double Bastard attacks the palate with a rich mouthfeel from the high ABV and a sweet malt character that is almost Barleywine-like, supporting an intense bitterness that lingers in the finish with resiny notes of grapefruit and melon.

It’s not for everyone, and in the years since its debut we’ve seen hoppier beers hit the market, but I’ll be damned if I don’t find myself smiling every time I hear that a shipment is arriving. I still buy a handful of 22oz bomber bottles as soon as they come off the delivery truck, and crack one open as soon as I get home. It’s a ritual that never seems to get old with me: an affirmation of my enjoyment of what I think is one of the best beers in America.

This is all by way of saying that Double Bastard is hitting the market this week. If you enjoy big crazy hoppy stuff, you’ll probably get a kick out of it. If not — well, there’s a lot of great beer out right now. Ask your local bartender or beer guy about some of the great seasonal releases we’re seeing arrive. The rest of us will be reveling in the hoppy madness. Until next time.

Cheers! 

Nick Anderson maintains a blog at www.beermonger.net, and can be found on Twitter at @The_Beermonger. Sign up for Arrowine’s money saving email offers and free wine and beer tastings at www.arrowine.com/mailing-list-signup.aspx. The views and opinions expressed in the column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ARLnow.com.

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Editor’s Note: This sponsored column is written by Nick Anderson, beermonger at Arrowine (4508 Lee Highway).

We all have moments in our lives where a heretofore unrecognized pattern suddenly reveals itself; a blurry vision becoming clear, or a tiny voice screaming at the back of your head stepping forward and calmly explaining itself. A number of news items recently appearing on various beer-centric websites knocked something loose in my head, and when I managed to put it back in place I had to stop and ask myself, “what exactly is happening here?”

What’s happening are deals like the recently announced partnership between Brooklyn Brewery and Carlsberg to open New Carnegie in Stockholm, Sweden early next year; Duvel-Moortgat’s purchase of Boulevard Brewing Company; and the announcement of America’s first officially-sanctioned Trappist brewery — Spencer Brewing Company based out of St. Joseph’s Abbey in Spencer, Mass.

For an industry whose devotees cling tenaciously to identities — be they brand, local, style, etc. — this sudden embrace of the values of globalization presents as many opportunities to alienate craft beer drinkers, and in turn the general public, as it does to offer great new beers.

The biggest concern with a world of “beer without borders” is the cheapening of what makes certain names and styles special. This is a phenomenon that we’ve seen grow in the wine industry over the past ten years or so: you can go to your nearest specialty supermarket and buy a bottle labeled Barolo or Barbaresco, for less than $15, that is made to the letter of the law, but in a factory winery rather than an estate or cooperative.

There’s nothing “wrong” with that wine, and it may fulfill the legal requirements necessary to label it as being from a particular place, but it ignores the meticulous attention to detail, the craft, of the family-owned and operated vineyards and wineries that made these regions great in the first place.

It’s a classic debate: if Stone Brewing ever goes through with its desire to open a facility in Europe, does that not make them just another international corporation, turning out the same product in multiple countries like the makers of the “fizzy yellow beer” Stone CEO Greg Koch has railed against over the years? What does “Trappist” mean if you can just build a brewery onto any existing monastery of the Catholic Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance and bring in a local craft brewer to get the suds flowing? (more…)

Editor’s Note: This sponsored column is written by Nick Anderson, beermonger at Arrowine (4508 Lee Highway).

Before I get to this week’s topic, a quick aside: the biggest story in beer over the past week has been the purchase of Boulevard Brewing Company by Duvel Moortgat. My feelings on the matter are reflected in this previous column I wrote about the relationship between Duvel and its other American holding, Brewery Ommegang in New York. In short: I’m excited to see what great beers Boulevard produces within the hands-off style of ownership that Duvel has provided to Ommegang over the past decade.

What I really wanted to write about this week was some of the breweries who we’ll be seeing in our area over the next few months. It’s always a treat when new distribution deals are announced and our choices expand, but the ones coming in now and through the beginning of 2014 include some long-awaited and exciting arrivals.

Hitting retail shelves and bar taps this week is Sly Fox Brewing Company, which has grown from a brewpub opened in 1995 in Phoenixville, Pa., to include a full production brewery in Pottstown that came online early in 2012. While you’re likely to see a lot of Sly Fox’s year-round beers in cans here (especially the great Route 113 IPA), don’t overlook the cork-and-cage Belgian offerings they’re sending down — especially the Saison Vos and Ichor Quadrupel. Sly Fox’s Belgian yeast strain is distinctly spicy and earthy; making for very interesting takes on the classic Belgian styles.

Also making a Virginia debut this week was Mother Earth Brewing of Kinston, N.C. Availability was limited mostly to three special events this week, but some of Mother Earth’s core line is hitting shelves now; look for their Endless River Kolsch, Weeping Willow Wit, Dark Cloud Dunkel, Sisters of the Moon IPA, and Old Neighborhood Oatmeal Porter. I’m hoping with time, we’ll see some of Mother Earth’s amazing limited-run beers here as well — beers like the Windowpane Series Ales and their bourbon barrel-aged Tripel Overhead.

It seems odd to be trumpeting the arrival of a Virginia brewery up here, but when that brewery is the long-requested Hardywood Park Craft Brewery of Richmond, it’s worth announcing. As things stand currently, the plan is for Hardywood to being distributing beers to Northern Virginia for the first time during the second week of November. I’ve been lucky enough to try Hardywood’s Bourbon Cru and was very impressed; there will be a clamor for beers like it and their famous Gingerbread Stout, but look for their Belgian-style Singel along with cans of their Cream Ale and The Great Return IPA to hit the NoVA market first.

Late 2013 should also see Atlanta’s Sweetwater Brewing Company finally making its Virginia debut after years of asking and waiting. Look for Sweetwater’s 420 Extra Pale Ale to flood retail shelves upon its arrival, as it’s the most requested beer of their lineup here. With any luck, though, we’ll soon see an expanded selection of Sweetwater brews, including their one-off Dank Tank experimental series.

Which beers are you most looking forward to seeing in Virginia? Which would you most like to see sold here? Let me know in the comments—maybe we can get the attention of some of these brewers and get them here. Until next time.

Cheers!

Nick Anderson maintains a blog at www.beermonger.net, and can be found on Twitter at @The_Beermonger. Sign up for Arrowine’s money saving email offers and free wine and beer tastings at www.arrowine.com/mailing-list-signup.aspx. The views and opinions expressed in the column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ARLnow.com.

Community discussion guidelines: Our sponsored columns are written by members of the local business community. While we encourage a robust and open discussion, we ask that all reviews of the businesses — good or bad — be directed to another venue, like Yelp. The comments section is intended for a conversation about the topic of the article.

Editor’s Note: This sponsored column is written by Nick Anderson, beermonger at Arrowine (4508 Lee Highway).

Last week saw this year’s Great American Beer Festival take place in Denver. Building off of momentum from last year’s GABF, local breweries performed extremely well again this year, with favorites like Devils Backbone, Port City, Flying Dog, Lost Rhino, and Three Brothers taking home honors. A full listing of local GABF winners can be found here thanks to the great Barley Blog, but let’s take a closer look and see what stands out.

Much like last year, the big take-away from this year’s GABF is that Devils Backbone is rapidly becoming a brewery to watch on the national scene. After taking home nine medals last year, the Lexington, Va., brewery won seven this year. Among those medals, Devils Backbone followed a win for Small Brewpub and Small Brewpub Brewer of the Year with a win for Small Brewing Company and Small Brewing Company Brewer of the Year  (yes, I just wanted to type all of that).

Harrisonburg’s Three Brothers Brewing Company impressively won its first medal in the first year of the brewery’s existence, taking a bronze in the Wood- and Barrel-Aged Beer category with their Rum Barrel Belgian Dubbel Style Ale. Port City Brewing Company of Alexandria won a total of four medals this year, with its flagship Optimal Wit winning the gold medal for best Belgian-Style Witbier. Two of Port City’s medals were won by special versions of its two Anniversary Ales, named One and Two. The Colossal One took the bronze for Aged Beer, while Colossal Two garnered a bronze in the Smoke Beer category.

There’s been a bit of consternation about breweries creating special versions of beers specifically to enter into GABF competition—that is, beers that aren’t available to consumers and are made only to try to win medals. I understand not liking the practice, but my personal opinion is that it isn’t the ‘Great American Beer Available at Your Local Restaurant/Bar/Retailer Festival’, so live and let live.

For regions like ours that are only now starting to make some noise on a national level, those extra GABF wins can be the difference between breweries expanding next year and five years from now, if at all. Not to mention that often times a GABF win can send a “one-off” recipe into wider production: rumor already has it that three of the Devils Backbone winners that are currently draft-only will be packaged for retail in 2014.

In any case, the 2013 GABF once again demonstrates just how great an era we’re entering for craft beer in Virginia, Maryland, and the District. Whether you spend this weekend at a retailer like Arrowine, or at festivals like this weekend’s NoVA Brewfest or Snallygaster in DC, make sure to grab some of our great local craft beers and toast to their success.

For a full list of 2013 GABF winners, click here. Until next time.

Cheers!

Nick Anderson maintains a blog at www.beermonger.net, and can be found on Twitter at @The_Beermonger. Sign up for Arrowine’s money saving email offers and free wine and beer tastings at www.arrowine.com/mailing-list-signup.aspx. The views and opinions expressed in the column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ARLnow.com.

Community discussion guidelines: Our sponsored columns are written by members of the local business community. While we encourage a robust and open discussion, we ask that all reviews of the businesses — good or bad — be directed to another venue, like Yelp. The comments section is intended for a conversation about the topic of the article.