New Beer Friday - February 3 Edition

By Chris Siciliano

We all know it's Super Bowl weekend. Rather than inundate you further with football cliches and pigskin puns, we here at The Buzz have decided to go a different route. We're not going to mention the Super Bowl at all in this week's New Beer Friday.

Not once.

Forget the fact that the Super Bowl is to beer what Thanksgiving is to turkey, we refuse to point out that your Super Bowl party is the supremely fitting arena for enjoying a selection of great new beers. We won't remind you either that Siciliano's opens at 10am on Sunday, at which time the coolers will be brimming over with sweet, delicious beer, each a perfect candidate for your pre-, during- and post-game quaffing. We will maintain our integrity while everybody else trots out endless Super Bowl promotions, all designed to take advantage of the hoopla and hysteria.

If it sounds like we're bitter it's because we are. Patriots quarterback Tom Brady has refused to appear in our Super Bowl commercial, never mind the fact we don't have the $3 mil to get it on air. Hey Tom, if we throw in a case of Hamm's Light, will that sweeten the deal?

New (and Returning) Beer

• New Holland Envious, $14.39/22oz - "Michigan pears fuel a second fermentation, providing subtle nuance between grain & fruit. A slumber on oak and local raspberries adds depth and tartness" (source).
• New Holland Blue Sunday Sour, $14.39/22oz - "This unique anniversary libation, heritage-blended from our library of barrel-soured beers, exhibits deeply layered flavors of malt and oak, with a tart finish" (source).
• Brewery Vivant Kludde, $3.39/16oz - "Belgian folklore’s water spirit who roams the Flemish countryside in the form of a monstrous black dog. This monstrous ale is made with green raisins, star anise and dark Belgian candi sugar. Notes of dried plum, fig and chocolate mingle with the complexity of our two house yeast strains" (source).
• Acoustic Draft Mead - Michigan-made Acoustic Draft Meads are "hand-crafted from pure water, natural honey, fruit, herbs and spices. Unlike many meads that are produced as still wines of 10 – 14% abv, Acoustic Draft Meads are unique because they are lightly carbonated with tiny bubbles and drink more like ale (at an average of 6% abv.) than wine. All Acoustic Draft Meads are naturally gluten free" (source). Flavors include:
• Apple BzZz, $3.39/12oz - "Traditionally called a “Cyser”, Apple Bzzz is crafted with 100% MI Apples (Ida Reds, Romes, Golden Delicious) and is a more complex alternative to traditional hard ciders. It has seasonal notes of juicy apples dipped in honey with a delicate middle spiciness and a dry pear-like finish" (source).
• Honey BzZz, $3.39/12oz - "half the residual sugar of either Cherry BzZz or Apple BzZz makes ‘honey BzZz more like a baby champagne, that is, smaller alcohol and tinier bubbles than regular Champagne" (source).
• CherryBzZz, $3.39/12oz - "MI Tart Cherries and Star Thistle honey are balanced with herbs and spices for a refreshing beverage that has no earthly comparison" (source).
• Blueberry BzZz, $3.39/12oz - Description unavailable.
• JazZz Beri BzZz, $3.39.12oz - Description unavailable.
• Harmonic BzZz, $3.39/12oz - "This delicious blend of Cherry BzZz, Apple BzZz, and Honey BzZz evokes fruit flavors of pear and plum even tho it only has apple and cherry singing along with the honey" (source).
• Gray's 56 Oatmeal Stout, $1.69/12oz - "Generous amounts of fresh-rolled oats, paired with aromatic hops and richly roasted barely lead to the unique coffee-like flavor" (source).
• Gray's Busted Knuckle Irish Ale, $1.69/12oz - "This ale is characterized by its sweet malty flavor and refreshing light sent. The rich red color is very distinctive to the origins of this kind of ale" (source).
• Angus Brewing Company, Chicago, IL - Established on South Front Street in 2009 (source).
• Angus Holsteiner Lager, $1.99/12oz - "A copper colored lager beer that is malt accented, very smooth and gently hopped with the finest German Noble hop varieties. Traditionally brewed in Spring and served in Fall at festivals, it is a fine accompaniment to all Germanic styles of food" (source).
• Motorino, $1.99/12oz - "An Italian-style pale ale" (source).
• McCaffrey's Irish Cream, $1.99/12oz - "An Irish-style cream ale" (source).
• Country House Red, $1.99/12oz - "An Irish-style red cream ale" (source).
• O'Fallon Black Hemp, $1.69/12oz - "his beer was designed to fit the season instead of conforming to the rules of any style category. The unique blend of seemingly enless [sic] ingredients include: toasted hemp seeds, oats, malted rye, wheat, Amarillo and Citrahops and a Belgian yeast strain. Don’t be afraid of the myriad of flavors in the balanced black ale as it is deceivingly soft and sessionable especially during the dark days of winter" (source).
• Big Sky Bobo's Robust Porter, $1.69/12oz - "Brewed with 6 different malts & generously hopped. Robust doesn’t really begin to describe this beer. Smooth chocolate flavors with hints of coffee, caramel, and vanilla. Hop presence is copious and is matched by rich malt flavors" (source).
• Great Lakes Conway's Irish Ale, $1.79/12oz - "A malty Irish ale with a notable toasty flavor derived from lightly roasted malt" (source).
• Atwater Decadent Dark Chocolate, $1.79/12oz - "Slight chocolate notes (duh!) come through this fantastic voyage into Atwater's take on the chocolate craft beer/ale trend" (source).
• Abita Andygator Helles Doppelbock, $5.79/22oz - "Andygator, a creature of the swamp, is a unique high-gravity brew made with pale malt, German lager yeast, and German Perle hops. Unlike other high-gravity brews, Andygator is fermented to a dry finish with a slightly sweet flavor and subtle fruit aroma" (source).
• Abita Abbey Ale, $5.79/22oz - "Dark amber in color, the aroma of caramel, fruits and cloves invites you to contemplate the creamy head of this "Dubbel" or double ale. Abita Abbey Ale is a malty brew, top-fermented and bottle aged to rapturous perfection" (source).

Picture of the Week

Steve with Carl Scheidel, the man who makes our maple syrup.
FYI, we just took delivery on the last of it until the sap starts running again in Spring.
If you're low, you might want to stock up.