New Beer Friday, Great American Beer Edition (Oct 14)

Preamble by Steve Siciliano

Ten Michigan breweries garnered awards last week at the Great American Beer Festival in Denver, Colorado.

A total of 286 gold, silver and bronze medals were presented at the festival’s commercial beer competition which drew a record 7,227 entries from 1,752 breweries located in all fifty states and the District of Columbia.

Congratulations to the following Mitten State breweries that received medals in this year’s competition.

GOLD

• Dirty Frank Stout, River’s Edge Brewing, Milford (Export Stout)
• Raucher, Wolverine State Brewing Co., Ann Arbor (Smoke Beer)

SILVER

• Expedition Stout, Bell’s Brewing Co., Galesburg (Aged Beer)*
• reDANKulous, Backstage Series, Founders Brewing Company, Grand Rapids (American Imperial Red)

BRONZE 

• Angelina, Brewery Vivant, Grand Rapids (Wood- and Barrel-Aged Sour Beer)*
• Kusterer Original Weissbier, Cedar Springs Brewing Co, Cedar Springs (German-Style Wheat Ale)
• Broadway Light, Detroit Brewing Company, Detroit (American Style Cream Ale)
• Bangin The Mash, Latitude 42 Brewing Co., Portage (Classic Irish-Style Dry Stout)
• Good Mooed Milk Stout, Railtown Brewing Co, Dutton (Sweet Stout or Cream Stout)
• Live Wire, Roak Brewing, Royal Oak  (English IPA)*

*Currently available at Siciliano’s

New and Returning Beer

• Pike 51 Cherry Sour, $10.79/22oz - "Wild Golden Ale w/ MI Balaton Cherry" (source).
• Anchor Brotherhood Steam, $2.39/12oz - "Our friends of Chris Robinson Brotherhood released their new album “Phosphorescent Harvest” and kicked off their U.S. tour in the SF Bay Area earlier this spring. To celebrate, we tapped the first keg of our Brotherhood Steam Beer, a Golden State Collaboration of handcrafted California tunes and handcrafted California brews. Inspired by the brewing tradition of our flagship, Anchor Steam® Beer, Brotherhood Steam Beer is brewed with its own unique recipe. A distinct malt bill gives the beer its copper color, and dry-hopping with Citra and Nelson Sauvin hops adds aromatic hints of citrus and mint. The result is a smooth, full-bodied malt flavor with a lingering, fresh hop finish" (source).
• Left Hand Fade to Black Vol. 1, $2.19/12oz - "That time of year when the day seems to fade away. Drifting further into the darkness with each passing day. Volume 1 – Foreign Stout – Pours black with licorice, espresso bean, molasses, and black cardamom notes that give way to a feeling of self loathing, burnt opportunities and smoked relationships" (source).
• Anderson Valley Fall Horn'n, $2.19/12oz - "With a brilliant, deep copper hue and creamy beige-colored head, our Fall Hornin’ Pumpkin Ale has inviting aromas of caramelized malt and baking bread with highlights of cinnamon, nutmeg, pumpkin and seasonal spices. The pleasantly creamy mouthfeel and silky body embrace the sweet caramel flavors and tang of spices (with just hint of hops) that ends in a smooth, round finish" (source).
• Lagunitas Tuberfest, $2.19/12oz - "The TuberFest is a smooth and malty lager that is counterbalanced with some delicious Pacific NorthWestern Idaho #7 hops, giving it a cedary, herbal zing… Brewed to jumpstart your salubrious slide into late-Summer" (source).
• Oddside Black Citra, $1.99/12oz - "Just like our Citra Pale Ale with just a slight variation in flavor and of course color" (source).
• Short's Black Cherry Porter, $2.69/12oz - "Black Cherry Porter is made using sweet black cherries and eight different malts. The combination of ingredients provides the deep radiant flavor profile and creates a dark opaque color. The beer leaves a slight purple lace from the fruit puree and finishes with flavors of roasted chocolate and pleasurable black cherry" (source).
• Ommegang Valar Dohaeris, $10.09/750ml - "After an exciting season that saw the Starks reclaim the North and Cersei take the Iron Throne as the first queen of Westeros, Brewery Ommegang and HBO Global Licensing are introducing a new beer and bringing back a previous brew to steady the nerves of fans as they anxiously endure the show’s off-season break. Valar Dohaeris Tripel Ale is the latest beer in the series and pays homage to Arya’s season-long struggles within and around the House of Black and White. Valar Dohaeris Tripel Ale is, much like a “faceless man,” not what it first appears to be; it shares the complexity of its sister-brew, Valar Morghulis Dubbel, and a strength masked and belied by its lighter color" (source).
• Petoskey Cosmati Mosaic, $10.99/22oz - "Mosaic hops are the star of this single-hopped composition. Diverse citrus, mango & papaya mingle with mysteriously pleasing bitterness balancing by the large grain bill. A few sips of this unique Double IPA will have you mouth watering and your mind wanderin" (source).
• Founders Harvest Ale, $3.49/12oz - "This liquid dream pours a hazy golden straw color with a white, two-finger head. Your first sip rewards you with a super juicy hop presence bursting with fresh citrus, then finishes to introduce toasted malt undertones" (source).
• New Holland Dragons Milk Reserve Vanilla Chai, $4.29/12oz - "New Holland Brewing Co. has taken its top-selling, year-round, bourbon barrel stout – Dragon’s Milk – and infused it with flavors of Vanilla Chai. The Michigan-based brewery is releasing its first 2016 “reserve” batch of Dragon’s Milk to markets around the country with Dragon’s Milk Reserve Vanilla Chai shipping from New Holland’s production facility by the end of January and hitting stores and local watering holes soon after. This reserve blend is aged in bourbon barrels for three months, with the nuanced flavor of Vanilla Chai for a portion of that time" (source).
• Trooper Red and Black Porter, $5.89/500ml - "The limited edition beer, designed once again by Iron Maiden vocalist and ale aficionado Bruce Dickinson together with Robinsons’ Head Brewer Martyn Weeks, is a modern take on a recipe that dates back to the 1850’s; a time when porter style beer was becoming increasingly popular in Britain" (source).
• Anchorage / Jolly Pumpkin Calabaza Boreal, $15.49/750ml - "Saison brewed with mosaic and galaxy hops. Fermented and aged in oak tanks with fresh grapefruit peel, peppercorns, and fresh grapefruit juice" (source).
• Dieu du Ciel Solstice d’Été aux Framboises, $5.09/12oz - "This beer is an adaptation of a wheat beer brewed in Berlin known as a Berliner weiss. This is a cloudy blond coloured beer lightly tinted by the fruits which are steeped in it: either strawberry, raspberry or blueberry depending on the time of year. It is a highly acidic beer due to the lactic fermentation which takes place. Its aromas are acid, tart, and fruity.A light tasting beer, its acidity is quickly felt on each side of the tongue before leaving all the room for the wonderful fruity taste. 5.9% ABV on bottled version" (source).
• Freigeist Berliner Scheisse, $6.79/330ml - "For the last 70 years or so German had almost nothing to do with sour, funky beer — until our friends at Freigeist changed all that in a big way. These specialists in reviving and updating freaky old Deutsch styles have now come up with a version of a dark, historic Berlin Braunbier, hilariously named Berliner Scheisse Wild Strawberry. (If you don’t know the translation of scheisse, look it up immediately — and never offer the beer to a German grandmother.) This 5% specialty is, as per usual with Freigeist, very drinkable, in the way a shit-brown, roasted, lactic, mildly acidic and sour beer with lots of sweet strawberry can be" (source).
• Jopen/Cigar City Wayne's World, $5.09/12oz - "This American Blonde is brewed with Wayne Wambles from Cigar City Brewing. It is brewed with loads of fruity aroma hops to give the beer a fruity resiny flavour. Then we added spicy juniper berries and fresh sliced grapefruit and to top it off , we aged it on cedarwood. So many flavours in one glass" (source).
• Panil Barriquee Sour Red, $18.99/750ml - "This masterpiece is ‘œtriple-fermented.’ Primary fermentation is in stainless steel. The deep earthy, sour character results from three months of maturation in cognac barrels from Bordeaux, followed by re-fermentation and further aging in the bottle. Barriquée is not pasteurized or filtered, and no sweeteners are added, so it is uncompromisingly dry and complex, and endlessly interesting" (source).
• Prairie Ales Ace, $11.39/500ml - "Prairie Ace is a candy sugar saison that has been dry hopped with Sorachi Ace" (source).
• To Øl Mr. Pink, $6.49/16oz - "Berliner style weisse beer with lychee and pink guava" (source).

Video of the Week | Plain de Vie

A video in honor of Brewery Vivant's GABF bronze medal. Please enjoy.

Cheers!