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June 18, 2013

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Artwork released for Westbrook’s canned Gose

Gose-tap-sticker

“Did you hear the rumor that Westbrook is canning Gose?”

Man, if I had a nickel for every time I’ve been asked that question in the past few months.

You may recall that back in April, I broke the news that the Lowcountry brewery was gearing up to can its 4% German sour wheat beer sometime this summer. That factual, verified piece of news somehow became a “rumor,” with fans of the beer breathlessly hoping it would come true.

It is true. It always was true. It was never a rumor in the first place.

Sorry, I had to vent there a bit. I digress. Below, you’ll find the new artwork for the canned version of Gose, which will take up permanent residence in my fridge when it’s released this summer. No word on when that’ll happen, though. It’s reportedly in distribution inventories for preorder, but with no release date.

Gose-can5

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June 14, 2013

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Westbrook dubs canned rye pale ale One Claw

One-Claw-Rye

The third canned beer from Westbrook Brewing Co. finally has a name and a design to go along with it.

One Claw, a variation of the Mt. Pleasant brewery’s Citra Rye Pale Ale, will soon be hitting shelves next to IPA and White Thai. The beer has been available on draft as “New Rye Pale Ale” while the brewery worked on a name and label design, which you can see below.

Earlier this year, Westbrook announced it would be adding the third, year-round canned offering to its growing slate of beers. You can also expect to see Gose released in cans soon as well.

One-Claw-Rye

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May 28, 2013

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River Dog plans to can beer

riverdogCanning beers is clearly the rage in the craft beer community these days, including breweries in South Carolina. Westbrook will be canning even more beers this year, and Quest and Brewery 85 plan to stick with only caning their offerings. And now, Ridgeland’s River Dog Brewing Co. has announced it too will soon begin producing canned beers.

In a story from The (Hilton Head) Island Packet, River Dog’s Josh Luman said the coastal brewery will start putting its beer in cans beginning later this year. No news on when cans will hit the market or which River Dog beers will make it to cans.

Luman also said the brewery is buoyed by the Pint Bill and wants to make their spot more of a destination location.

“Now, there is a far more compelling reason for people to come visit us,” he said. “In some cases, people have to travel a great distance to come visit our brewery. Now, we feel like we can truly have the opportunity to make this a special place for them and really make it worth their time. This bill will help legitimize S.C. beer in the world beer community.”

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April 11, 2013

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Westbrook to can Gose

Westbrook

Westbrook is reportedly preparing to add a fourth beer to its line of canned brews, making it only the second craft brewery in the country to can the style.

According to a reliable source, the Mt. Pleasant brewery will begin canning their Gose this summer as a seasonal offering. The brewery’s interpretation of the German sour wheat beer comes in at 4% ABV and is currently a seasonal beer available on draft and in 22 oz. bottles.

The beer will be the fourth canned offering from Westbrook, joining White Thai and their IPA, as well as the upcoming unnamed rye pale ale. All three of those beers will be offered year-round.

It’ll be the second time an American craft brewery has canned a beer in the style. A search of CraftCans.com yields only one other result for a canned gose in the U.S.: Mo’s Gose from Armstrong Brewing Co. in San Francisco.

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December 3, 2012

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21st Amendment Fireside Chat

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21st Amendment Brewery

San Francisco, CA

Fireside Chat Winter Spiced Ale

7.9% ABV

I’m sure I don’t need to reiterate my love for all things pumpkin beers – a quick glance through my archives does that well enough – but there comes a point in the season where either by sheer overload of pumpkin beers or desire for something new, my cravings for them wane.

But those cravings are quickly replaced by a love for spiced beers and winter warmers. Like pumpkin beers, they perfectly fit the hearty, spicy flavors that permeate everything else in the winter season.

21st Amendment makes one of my more preferable spiced beers, Fireside Chat. It’s an English-style brown brewed with a helping of spices and cocoa nibs to help balance everything out, giving it a smooth and subtly bitting nose and flavor. And at just south of 8%, it’s aimed at keeping your insides warm.

Plus, it’s got good ol’ FDR on the can, and you can’t not like that.

The pour is a very, very deep brown verging almost on a black, but there’s a little light getting through in areas, giving it an amberish tint in spots. There were about two fingers of head on top that linger for a while and leave a nice film along the sides of the glass. Both the lacing and the alcohol legs are mild at best.

The nose has a great mix of sweet dark fruit notes and spice. There’s a really big toffee note and a lot of raisins with a slight toasted caramel, raspberry and a cocoa sweetness on the back. As far as spices go, I get a little cinnamon and nutmeg. It’s really rich and delicious.

There’s a good bite of spice on the front of the tongue followed by a medium body mouthfeel with some mild carbonation across the palate. Toward the middle are these really big flavors of caramel, cocoa and plums that give it a very rich and robust flavor. Those sweeter toffee and raisin notes are strong on the finish, topped off with a bit of a dryness from the cocoa. The spices are a bit subdued, but again, those cinnamon and nutmeg notes are pretty prevalent.

With Fireside Chat being an “early winter seasonal” – sold October through December – it’s not as strong and spicy as other winter warmers, but instead is leveled with a great, rich sweetness that nicely compliments the spices.

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October 31, 2012

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21st Amendment Hell or High Watermelon

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21st Amendment Brewing

San Francisco, CA

Hell or High Watermelon Wheat Beer

4.9% ABV

I’m a man. A real man, damnit. I like steak and sports and alcohol that makes me grimace when I drink it. I like the heavy stuff – REAL beer for a REAL man – so I don’t give in to some frou-frou fruit-flavored wheat beer.

Except this one. This one’s pretty good.

21st Amendment‘s Hell or High Watermelon is a sessionable 4.9% wheat beer the brewery puts out every summer. After brewing a classic American-style wheat beer, they put the beer through secondary fermentation with fresh watermelon. Then they top it off with a bit more watermelon juice.

Like a wheat beer, it pours a very hazy straw yellow/sunrise/blonde color. There’s maybe half a finger of head but it’s gone before you know it. No lacing and very weak alcohol legs. All expected for a light beer of the style.

The nose has the standard big rich wheat notes and a really strong watermelon smell. While a lot of fruit beers go for overpowering fruit, the watermelon is very subtle and not overly sweet smelling. It’s not artificial at all. Just a very slight hoppiness to it.

There’s a very nice tartness on the tip of the tongue. There’s effervescent and bubbly carbonation throughout the mouth. The watermelon flavor is immediately present in the middle of the mouth and again on the back. Again, it’s not overpowering or artificial, which is something they pride themselves on. It’s the right balance of sweet and tart. On the back you get that smooth wheat and a clean sweet finish. It’s perfect for summer sipping.

The fact they use real watermelon is a big plus. The beer is just the right amount of sweet, a little tart and extremely smooth and drinkable. I could easily see myself going through a six-pack poolside. It takes a real man to say that.

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October 29, 2012

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21st Amendment Hop Crisis

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21st Amendment Brewing

San Francisco, CA

Hop Crisis Imperial IPA

9.7% ABV

While 21st Amendment doesn’t distribute to South Carolina – can we fix that soon? Please? – I’ve managed to try all but one of their regularly released beers, and they’ve all been stellar. My wife buys a six-pack of Hell or High Watermelon any time she comes across one, and I’ve been wowed by Monk’s Blood, thought Allies Win the War was unique and impressive and find Fireside Chat (review coming soon) to be one of the best winter warmers I’ve had.

Until now, only one of the brewery’s beers has eluded me: Hop Crisis, their oak-aged imperial IPA. It’s not that it was hard to get; it was more like I was never in the right place at the right time. But fortunately, my birthday weekend in Atlanta yielded a four pack, and the beer lived up to the hype I’d heard surrounding it.

Side note: When a brewery sends press samples of a beer in a box of hops, it’s a good way of making a hophead like myself extremely jealous.

The beer pours a slightly hazy sunset orange topped with a fluffy three-finger head that sticks around for a while. The lacing is really nice and holds fast to the side of the glass, but I was surprised to not see a lot of alcohol legs.

On the nose is a really vibrant citrus note and a bright pine scent. There’s a bit of an orange scent to it as well with a big overtone of tanginess. It’s all sort of subdued and soft with nothing popping really strongly.

The bitterness on the front of the tongue is pretty mild but it does grow a but more across the palate. In the middle of the mouth, you get that lemon and citrus note very strongly. The oak notes are really big on the back and impart a sort of caramel sweetness and maybe even a little cherry tartness. But as it settles, the incredible hop flavor takes over. It’s bright but resinous and really, really piney. Major hop mouth on this one.

I was worried this one wouldn’t live up to the hype for me. The nose was a bit underwhelming, but the flavor was awesome. It’s dank as hell and incredibly oak-forward. As you drink, it all blends together into this piney, oaky penetrating flavor that clings to your mouth. It’s great stuff, but I’d expect nothing less from 21st Amendment.