New Beer Friday, New Year's Eve Edition (December 30)

Siciliano's Market: "A Community"

This being the last New Beer Friday Monday of 2013, the crew at Siciliano's Market would like wish all our friends and loyal customers a warm season's greetings and a happy new year.

We are fully aware of how good we have it, getting the chance to talk all day long about craft beer, wine, spirits and homebrew with incredible people like you, people who are just as enthusiastic about well-made libations—if not more so—than our own staff.

We hope the next year treats you all well, we hope the craft beer gods continue to smile upon GR, we hope that Siciliano's continues to be your go-to source for six packs of good craft beer, for quality homebrew ingredients and equipment, for that bottle of wine, for that bottle of whiskey, for that barrel of PBR or KBS (if only!), for that cigar, for that hop soda, for that pound of coffee or that half pound of tea.

That you would spend your hard-earned money and time in our little store means a great deal to us, and we resolve this year, like every year, to provide you the best shopping experience possible, which, in many ways, starts with the following list of new beers. Please enjoy.

New and Returning Beer

• Griffin Claw El Rojo, $2.19/16oz - "Caramel and roasted malts gives this ale its rich ruby red color. American aroma hops are added leaving this ale on the malty side. Bronze medal winner at the G.A.B.F." (source).
• Griffin Claw Grind Line Pale Ale, $2.19/16oz - "A well balanced American Ale brewed 2-row malt, caramel malt, Cascades and Centennial hops. Gold medal winner at the G.A.B.F. 5% abv. 35 IBU" (source).
• Blackrocks Coconut Brown, $1.79/12oz - "Life in the U.P. tends to move at a slower pace. A Marquette summer often feels like island living. Take a moment to relax with this American Brown Ale brewed with sweetened coconut. Aloha, EH!" (source).
• Blackrocks Flying Hippo, $8.99/22oz - "This beer ain't no old Jake! Belgian yeast lends a fruity and spicy aroma. Motueka hops deliver a tropical citrus flavor. This magical beauty only shows up once a year so step right up and enjoy this Blackrocks Brewery special release. The Flying Hippo is a Belgian style Imperial IPA. It promises to make every occasion a circus" (source).
• Victory Old Horizontal, $8.29/750ml - "Luxuriously rich in character, this warming winter ale delivers over 10% alcohol in an oh-so-seductive manner. Deliciously fruity flavors lie under a bracing hop nose" (source).
• Victory Oaked Horizontal, $16.49/750ml - "Old Horizontal aged for 3 months in bourbon barrels" (source).
• Dogfish Head Noble Rot, $14.39/22oz - "A sort of Saison, fermented with Botrytis-infected Viognier and Pinot Gris grapes. This beer is brewed with Pils malt, organic Hard Red Winter Wheat malt, Warrior hops, Willamette hops, Liberty hops, Saison yeast and Botrytis wine must" (source).
• Dogfish Head Hell Hound On My Ale, $14.39/22oz - "2011 marks the 100th birthday of Mississippi Delta bluesman Robert Johnson who, according to legend, sold his soul down at the crossroads in a midnight bargain and changed music forever. Working again with our friends at Sony Legacy (yup, the same folks we did our Miles Davis-inspired Bitches Brew with), Dogfish Head pays tribute to this blues legend by gettin the hellhounds off his trail and into this finely-crafted ale. Hellhound is a super-hoppy ale that hits 100 IBUs in the brewhouse, 10.0 ABV, 10.0 SRM in color, and dry-hopped with 100% centennial hops at a rate of 100 kilos per 100 barrel brew-length. Can you tell we at Dogfish are stoked for this mighty musical centennial? To accentuate and magnify the citrusy notes of the centennial hops (and as a shout out to Robert Johnsons mentor Blind Lemon Jefferson) we add dried lemon peel and flesh to the whirlpool" (source).
• Ommegang Chocolate Indulgence, $16.69/750ml - "Ommegang Chocolate Indulgence celebrates our first decade of brewing sinfully fine ales. Chocolate malts and real Belgian chocolate blend into this lushly decadent stout, certain to seduce your palate" (source).
• Ommegnag Hop House, $2.89/12oz - "Hop House pays homage to the historic hop farm that stood on the brewery grounds over 100 years ago. Hop House combines the delicious aromas and flavors of a Belgian-style ale with generous hopping, including dry-hopping. A well-balanced, yet ample, hop character defines this fine pale ale, bringing Belgian-style beer lovers and hop-heads together to enjoy our Belgian-American love child" (source).

Picture of the Week

Griffin Claw in Birmingham, Michigan,
is definitely worth a visit.

Happy New Year!