New Beer Friday - October 21 Edition

Cascades

This week we dedicate New Beer Friday to Michigan's emerging hop industry and to the Michigan Hop Alliance in particular. Because of all their hard work this fall, enthusiasts across the Mighty Mitten can enjoy their state in its purest, most aromatic form: wet-hopped harvest ales.

Doubtless many of you have have already sipped and supped on one or two of these fine brews, Founders Harvest Ale for example (which came and went in bottle form far too quickly). Today we're pleased to bring you two more in the category, Short's Kind Ale and New Holland Hopivore, write-ups for which you'll find below, alongside descriptions of the several other beers returning this week to Siciliano's shelves.

PS. For a wood time call Vivant. Better yet, just stop by the brewery this Saturday, Oct 22, for their first-ever wood-aged beer celebration.

New (and Returning) Beer

• Dark Horse One Oatmeal Stout, $1.99/12oz - "Number one in a series of five stouts produced to help ease you through the cold and grey midwestern winters. This beer is full bodied with hints of chocolate, roasted barley, coffee flavors and a nice creamy head" (source).
• Dark Horse Perkulator Coffee Doppelbock, $1.99/12oz - "This is a true dopplebock and Dark Horse Brewing's only publicly distributed lager;" brewed with "fare trade organic coffee from...The Ugly Mug Cafe in Ypsilanti, MI" (source).
• New Holland Hopivore Michigan Wet-Hopped Harvest Ale, $2.39/12oz - "Michigan-grown hops are the story in this seasonal harvest ale. Hopivore is wet-hopped, with hops added to the brew just hours after harvest, creating rare, fresh flavors" (source).
• Short's Kind Ale, $1.99/12oz - "A seasonal beer made each fall to celebrate a successful growing season. True to tradition, [Short's] commemorates the earth’s agricultural environment by using freshly picked hops to 'wet hop' this brew. Straight from the fields on Old Mission Peninsula to the kettle, local hops impart a mellow earthiness to this ale that lead to moderate bitter tones and a subtle sweetness in the finish" (source).
• Victory Headwaters Pale Ale, $1.79/12oz - The Citra harvest is in and that means Victory is brewing Headwaters again, a beer the brewers call "crisp and aromatically arousing" (source).
• Unity Vibration Raspberry or Ginger Kombucha Beer, $3.59/12oz - Ya'll know what Kombucha is, right? Well, Unity Vibration takes it to the next level: "Our Kombucha Beer is something we never imagined we would be making--a wonderful evolution of our traditional Kombucha. 'Triple Goddess' is a marriage of our 30-day brewed Kombucha, organic dried hops and either organic raw ginger root or organic fresh Raspberries aged and open-air-fermented in oak barrels and then bottle conditioned. The combination creates exquisite flavors that have depth and complexity. Like our organic Kombucha, it is raw, all organic, gluten free, vegan and bottle conditioned and lends itself to healthy and beneficial bacteria" (source).

Picture of the Week

Nine gallons of Petite Syrah

Na zdravi!