New Beer Friday, Jeff Carlson Edition (June 17)

Jeff Carlson

Preamble by Steve Siciliano

Our good friend Jeff Carlson continues to garner awards for his homemade ciders. The longtime member of the Primetime Brewers homebrew club was once again named Cidermaker of the Year at the National Homebrewers Conference last week in Baltimore, marking the fifth time he has taken top honors in the home cidermaking category. Jeff’s entry in the national competition was awarded the gold medal in the Specialty Cider & Perry category and was judged to be the best out of the gold-medal-winning entries in the cider categories.

I have been fortunate enough to sample many of Jeff’s beers and ciders over the years and can personally attest to his skills both as a homebrewer and cidermaker. Winning Cidermaker of the Year once is a remarkable accomplishment. Winning the prestigious award five times is nothing less than amazing. Congratulations, Jeff!

New and Returning Beer

• Long Road Wheat Whisky, $39.99/750ml - "The third release in our Wayfarer’s Whisky Series! Batch #1 of Long Road Wheat Whisky is now available! Each bottle of this limited-release Whisky is individually numbered by one of our distillers and is released at 93 proof. It was carefully distilled on our Vendome Copper & Brass Pot Still and created with West Michigan Wheat from Heffron Farms in Belding, Michigan" (source).
• Pike 51 Heavy Soul, $18.89/22oz - "An Imperial Milk Porter aged in Woodford Reserve Bourbon barrels" (source).
• New Belgium Fat Tire and Friends, $18.39/12pk - "New Belgium Brewing celebrates its 25th anniversary with the release of five collaboration beers reinterpreting the brewer’s flagship, Fat Tire Amber Ale. Fat Tire was first conceived on a bike ride through Belgium and came to life as a homebrew in the late 1980’s. Spurred on by accolades from friends and a grip of homebrewing awards, New Belgium co-founders Kim Jordan and Jeff Lebesch took the beer commercial in 1991. Since then, the 100% employee-owned company has become the nation’s 4th-largest craft brewery with distribution in 41 states and a second brewery just opening in Asheville, NC. New Belgium brewers teamed up with brewing friends at Allagash Brewing Company (Portland, ME), Avery Brewing (Boulder, Colo.), Firestone Walker (Paso Robles, CA), Hopworks Urban Brewery (Portland, OR) and Rhinegeist Brewery  (Cincinnati, OH) for the project" (source).
• Smuttynose Blueberry Short Weisse, $2.19/12oz - "Berliner-style wheat ale brewed with blueberries" (source).
• Roak Melonfest, $1.69/12oz - "American Wheat Ale infused with Cantaloupe" (source).
• Perrin Big Griz, $11.49/22oz (1 per) - "This bourbon barrel imperial brown ale was crafted with specialty malts and unique hops from all over the world. Undertones of fresh American oak and vanilla carry through with not-so-subtle hints of warm maple syrup and melted caramel sweetness that book end this uncommon monstrosity of a beer. Be careful when our Big Griz gets ahold of you" (source).
• Alaskan SMaSH Galaxy Double IPA, $8.99/22oz  (1 per) - "SMaSH stands for Single Malt and Single Hop — and in this beer we have exclusively used Australian Galaxy hops" (source).
• Founders reDANKulous, $3.09/12oz - "reDANKulous Imperial Red IPA is a no frills, bold 9.5% ABV India Pale Ale. It pours a pleasing burnt amber with some sweetness due to the Caramalt and roasted barley used in the malt bill. But hops are the true headliner in this elaborate sensory experience. The spicy, piney, tropical complexities of Chinook, Mosaic and Simcoe hops hit you right away with their dank aroma—and they stick around. Take a sip to have your palate simultaneously walloped and caressed in all the right places. Combined, the hops take the beer to 90 IBUs. It’s not just ridiculous. It’s reDANKulous" (source).
• Anchorage Anadromous Belgian Black Bier, $16.09/750ml - "Ale brewed with summit hops. Triple fermented. First in French Oak Foudres, second in pinot noir and whiskey barrels with brett and other critters. Finally in the bottle for natural carbonation" (source).
• Jopen Koyt Gruit, $4.29/330ml - "Koyt is a dark beer with 8,5% alcohol and a warming herbal taste. The reddish-brown Koyt is the strong version of the old gruit beer" (source).
• Unity Vibrations Citra Blood Orange Kombucha, $10.19/22oz - "Blood orange. Light and sparkly tart. Almost like grapefruit. Really good option for gluten free folks" (source).
• Victory Anniversary XX Imperial Pilsner, $10.79/750ml (1 per) - "In celebration of twenty years of Victory, it is only fitting that we offer you a brew that truly embodies European tradition and American ingenuity. This bold pilsner, complete with fragrant noble German hops, delivers rich earthiness and light citrus flavors, creating a deliciously drinkable beer" (source).
• Victory Tart Ten, $10.79/750ml 10.79 (1 per) - "Belgium’s vast history of brewing and beer styles has inspired us at Victory for decades. Settling in on the comfort a dubbel ale provides, we sparked that style up a bit with brettanomyces fermentation. The result is rich in flavor but light in body—sharp in impression but smooth in finish" (source).
• Odd Side Nihilist, $4.89/12oz - "El Dankerino aged in bourbon barrels" (source).
• Odd Side Implication, $4.49/12oz - "Imperial/Double IPA" (source).
• Jolly Pumpkin La Vida Improvisacion, $15.29/750ml - "Dry Hopped Sour Saison brewed with Liliko’l, Papaya, Mango & Apricot" (source).
• Lagunitas  DownLow, $4.79/22oz - "This dry and hoppy copper ale is packed full of some of our favorite Northwestern Hops from Perrault Farms (over 2 lbs. per barrel!), and copper-fied with some dark crystal malts to make this tropical, earthy, and stoooopidly slammable ale" (source).
• Arcadia Cereal Killer, $4.19/12oz - "Brewed in tradition of Englishstyle barley wines, Cereal Killer offers an explosion of full-bodied, liquid goodness. Robust malty flavors converge with caramel, toffee, molasses and dark fruit notes to produce a remarkably complex yet palate-pleasing beer. Its intense malt character is complemented by a subtle citrus finish from the hops. With cellar-aging Cereal Killer’s flavor evolves further, developing a sherry-like aroma and flavor similar to a cask-aged port. Winner of the Gold Medal for Wood and Barrel-Aged Strong Beers at 2009 GABF" (source).
• Arcadia Imperial Stout, $4.19/12oz - "Our extraordinary Imperial Stout is black as midnight with a rich, palate warming mouth feel. It offers an alluring aroma of dark roasted malts and blackstrap molasses with a hint of smoke. The flavor features notes of coffee, bittersweet cocoa, black licorice and hints of prune. A generous addition of hops contributes to the complexity and balance, and gives the liquid a pleasantly astringent finish. With proper aging, our Imperial Stout matures for up to fours years" (source).

Video of the Week | Long Road

We've shared this before, but in honor of their new whiskey, here again

is a very cool video from Long Road Distillery.

Cheers!