New Beer Friday - June 22 Edition

By Chris Siciliano

It's officially summer. Siciliano's recommends you celebrate the fact appropriately by following these simple steps. (1) Peruse the selection of new beers located on the list below. (2) Mark, check, highlight, or otherwise indicate the beer(s) from the list that you most want to try. Feel free to mark all of them. (3) Tell your boss you have a dentist appointment. (4) Stop by Siciliano's to purchase beer in the necessary quantities. (5) Play hooky for the rest of the afternoon. (6) Repeat steps 1-5 every Friday until September.

New (and Returning) Beer

• MacTarnahan's Spine Tingler Golden Belgian-Style Triple, $5.79/22oz - "A surprisingly sublime Belgian-style triple offering an electrifying blend of spicy aromatics balanced with a lively malt palate that is so good it's scary" (source).
• Victory Summer Love, $1.79/12oz - "With the sublime, earthy familiarity of noble, American and German hops backed up by fresh and clean German malts, Summer Love Ale® ends with a surprising burst of lemony refreshment from fistfuls of American whole flower hops. Love Summer, now" (source).
• Sprecher Black Bavarian Lager, $2.59/16oz - "This intensely dark Kulmbacher style lager has a superb malt complexity with the distinctive flavors and aromas of coffee, caramel and chocolate. A renowned smoothness and a creamy, tan head make it an all-time brewery favorite" (source).
• Sprecher Hefe Weiss, $2.29/16oz - "This coarse filtered wheat ale is fermented with a German yeast culture for a refreshingly light spiciness and hints of citrus fruit. A cloudy appearance and an immense creamy head are characteristic of this lightly hopped Bavarian brew" (source).
• New Holland Golden Cap Saison, $1.79/12oz - "Golden Cap Saison is a modern interpretation of a traditional farmhouse ale. A soft, pale beer, Golden Cap embodies the flavors and aromas of summer fields. Brewed with an ancestor of wheat called spelt, its straw-colored body, lively carbonation and a unique fermentation profile evoke fresh cut hay and cracked peppercorn" (source).
• Round Barn Summer Wheat, $1.79/12oz - "An unpretentious American pale wheat beer, our Summer Wheat pours a cloudy golden-orange, just like a sunset over Lake Michigan. Its assertive wheat flavor is complimented with hints of citrus zest. Garnish with a slice of orange or lemon" (source).
• Echt Kriekenbier, $4.19/11.2oz - "This refreshing ale is based on Vichtenaar and has the aroma of Kirsch cherry brandy, smooth, vanilla-like oaky palate and late surge of passion-fruit flavors with some acidity. Local sour cherries are added during the maturation process to the wooden casks containing Vichtenaar. The final product is a blend of 1, 2 and 3 years old beers" (source).
• Unibroue Taster Pack, $11.29/(4)12oz bottles - "Taste our Legends"
• Blanche De Chambly - "Subtle bouquet of spice, citrus notes, aromas of yeast breads, coriander, and cloves" (source).
• Ephemere - "Delicate balance of fruit and spice, hint of sweetness, hint of tartness, redolent of Granny Smith Apples" (source).
• Chambly Noire - "Smooth roasted grains, mildly smoky notes , and spices (cloves, green anis, mint) with a chocolaty finish" (source).
• Raftman - "Smoked malt whisky, low acidity masked by a caramelized apple flavor with a taste of fine yeast" (source).

Photo of the Week

Impromptu tasting at Pike 51 Brewing Co.
By the way, they now have about this many beers on tap,
give or take.