New Beer Friday, Nobel Prize Edition (October 21)

Preamble by Steve Siciliano

Legions of Bob Dylan fans were ecstatic over the announcement last week that the 75-year-old music icon is the 2016 recipient of the Nobel Prize for literature.

Here at Siciliano’s, there’s no bigger Dylan fan than longtime staffer Sarah Derylo and over the years I’ve occasionally teased her about her unabashed adulation for the legendary singer songwriter. “Too bad Dylan can’t write a lyric,” I would occasionally quip when one of his songs was playing on the radio. The jibe never failed to elicit a volcanic, expletive-riddled reaction.

Sarah Derylo, consumate Bob Dylan fan

While I’m also a big Dylan fan, I’m among those who were more than a little surprised that the Swedish Academy honored him with this esteemed annual award “for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition.” It’s not that I feel that Dylan’s body of lyrical work isn’t deserving of high accolades — I’ve always considered his best lyrics to be fine poetry. Whether that poetry is deserving of literature’s highest accolade, however, is open to debate.

There are those who will argue the absurdity of elevating Mr. Dylan to the status of past Nobel laureates such a George Bernard Shaw, William Butler Yeats, William Faulkner and Ernest Hemingway. Others will maintain that a lyricist who possesses the keen insights and polished literary skills necessary to pen such classics as Blowin' in the Wind, Chimes of Freedom, My Back Pages and The Times they are A-Changin' deserves to be bestowed with this esteemed award.

I understand and can appreciate both points of view. Perhaps both of them are right.

New and Returning Beer

• Rockford Butternut Spiced Ale, $6.99/22oz - "This fall specialty was brewed with 100 pounds of fresh locally grown butternut squash. It has a toasty, rich and malty body with layered flavors of toffee, caramel and dark fruit. We also used a unique blend of fresh spices to give this specialty a warm, fall personality" (source).
• Pigeon Hill Walter Gets Buzzed, $1.79/12oz - "Blonde ale with snicker doodle coffee" (source).
• Crankers Wandering Wizard Wheat Wine, $10.69/22oz - No commercial description.
• Brewery Vivant Plien de Vie Stone Fruit Sour, $9.99/500ml - "Foeder-Age sour aged with peaches, plums, apricots, and cherries" (source).
• Detroit Brewing Evo Pils, $1.99/12oz - "Time, technique, hops, malt and yeast are the only ingredients that make a great pilsner, and Detroit Brewing Company, puts the best of all of them in Original Pils. The extra step of dry hopping with Bavarian Mandarina hops lets this old Northern German recipe speak with an original American voice, Our goal is to stay rooted in tradition and to perfect every beer we make; we think you’ll enjoy our work" (source).
• Jolly Pumpkin Bam di Castagna, $5.39/12oz (1 per) - "Sour ale brewed with chestnuts" (source).
• Arbor Fig Jam, $2.89/12oz - "Bourbon Barrel Aged Fig Jam" (source).
• Bell's Cherry Stout, $2.89/12oz - "This unique ale begins its life as a powerful and richly sweet stout to which Michigan tart cherries are added. The resulting black brew is complex, sweet and tart with a distinct cherry finish. It will improve with cellaring" (source).
• Bell's Java Stout, $2.89/12oz - "The satisfying elements of both stout and coffee come together in this full-bodied treat. A marriage of Sumatra's best with rich chocolate and roasted malt provides for a truly enlightening beer" (source).
• Wolverine Gulo Gulo, $1.99/12oz - "This ground-breaking style combines the essential ingredients and hopping methods used to create a world-class I.P.A. with our expert lagering techniques and house lager yeast. As soon as this beer hit the shelves, we created an instant favorite among the existing and steadily growing number of “hop-heads” and craft “lager-heads” in the beer world today. Gulo Gulo India Pale Lager (I.P.L.) is hopped with Cascade, Chinook, Columbus, Warrior and Pilgrim hops. It is dry-hopped once in the fermenter and then a second time with whole-cone Cascade hops before packaging" (source).
• Wolverine District 16, $1.79/12oz - "This Vienna-style Amber Lager is a complex, smooth, malt-forward, and balanced lager. Formerly known as Wolverine Amber Lager, this brew pays homage to the Viennese brewers who pioneered this style" (source).
• Wolverine Lager, $1.99/12oz - "Our flagship beer. This classic brew is easy-drinking and thirst-quenching, but still draws complexity from its grain bill, which features all American ingredients: Premium North American Pilsner malt, American brown rice, and Northern Brewer hops. Looking for local flavor? The water used to make this crisp and refreshing lager is sourced right from the Huron River in Washtenaw County, Michigan. Premium is enhanced by its brilliant golden color, which in turn magnifies its true malt flavor and crisp finish. Its complexity, crispness, and freshness mean this beer is as perfect for everyday drinking as the Huron River is perfect for floating on a summer day" (source).
• Wolverine Massacre, $4.49/12oz - "If you have never called a lager “ferocious” then you haven’t tried Massacre. We start with an imperial dark lager and age it in heavy-toast Kentucky bourbon barrels until it’s ready to package, at which point we dip each precious bottle in red wax to seal in the deliciousness. Very limited production, sold only in October. Make sure to get yours while it lasts" (source).
• New Belgium Accumulation, $1.69/12oz - "Accumulation White IPA was inspired by the white beauty that falls each winter from our Colorado sky. Flurries of Mosaic and Amarillo hops bring soft fruit and citrus flavor, followed by a layer of bitter. Piled high in IBUs, Accumulation will make your winter brighter" (source).
• New Belgium Terroir, $15.39/22oz - "Le Terroir is a French term meaning ‘Of the Earth.’ Used to reference the environmental conditional that affect the brew, we like to think about the terroir of our foeders. These wooden barrels age our sour beer in varying temperatures, humidity and vibrations. The terroir of New Belgium, so to speak. Add in another variable by dry-hopping with peachy, mango-like Amarillo hops, and we created a beer that changes every time we brew it" (source).
• New Belgium Lips of Faith De Koninck, $3.29/12oz - "A beautiful summer day in Antwerp; the sun pours past the belfry and rooftops and floods into the market center. A ballet of brightly colored shoppers twists and twirls through the commotion, pinwheels of color against the cobblestone square. You find two seats on the café’s patio, ordering beers to pair with the bustling view: De Koninck Flowering Citrus Ale. This Lips of Faith collaboration with Antwerp’s historic De Koninck Brewery is a delightful burst of citrus and flowers, keeping pace with the color and commotion of summer. Sit back and enjoy the pop of key lime and whole lemons; breath in the fragrance of hibiscus, rose petals and strawberry-tinged Mistral hops; toast to life’s pleasant surprises. Soak in the summer scene with a Flowering Citrus Ale" (source).
• Lagunitas NightTime, $4.79/22oz - "Kinda like Daytime's big, dark and scary sidekick, this ale is packed full of highly roasted malts then bitterly balanced with fistfuls of the dankest hops. Not for the lunch crowd or the faint of heart" (source).
• Central Waters Headless Heron, $7.69/22oz - "Generously spiced with nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger and cloves, this barrel-aged pumpkin spice ale overflows with dark fruit, dried fruit, and hints of bourbon. Perfect for settling in to watch a few leaves fall to the ground" (source).
• Central Waters Bourbon Barrel Scotch Ale, $4.09/12oz - "" (source).
• Boulder Shake, $1.79/12oz - "Our twist on the traditional robust American Porter, Shake Chocolate Porter is dark black in color with rich, sweet aromatics and flavors of dark chocolate, coffee and caramel. This unique brew blends five different grains, including Chocolate Wheat, that along with cacao nibs create a devilishly delicious chocolate finish with a velvety mouthfeel" (source).
• Alaskan 2016 Smoked Porter, $8.99/22oz - "Known as “rauchbier” in Germany, smoke-flavored beers were virtually unknown in the U.S. until Alaskan Smoked Porter was developed in 1988" (source).
• Boulevard Cranberry Orange, $1.69/12oz - "Beautifully hazy and slightly pink in color, Cranberry Orange Radler will open with an aroma of sweet blood oranges and just a hint of cranberry. The blood orange character boldly manifests in the flavor giving way to cranberry tartness. The base beer, Unfiltered Wheat Beer, contributes a slightly sweet bready flavor to the malt profile of the beer that shines with bright citrus flavor and a touch of acidity" (source).

Video of the Week | I Shall Be Released

Congrats to Bob Dylan, Nobel Laureate.

Cheers!