New Beer Friday, Reminders & Updates Edition (March 3)

Preamble by Steve Siciliano

Spring is coming and with it a number of exciting homebrew events here at Siciliano's. See below for a list of dates, updates, details and reminders.

FOURTEENTH ANNUAL SICILIANO’S HOMEBREW COMPETITION: Online registration for entries will be accepted from Monday, March 20 through Sunday, April 9 or until 200 entries are submitted, whichever occurs first. This year’s Best of Show winner will again have the opportunity to brew his or her winning recipe at Trail Point Brewing Company in addition to winning a $500.00 gift card to Siciliano’s Market and, per tradition, having his or her name engraved on the prestigious Siciliano’s Cup. Go here for complete details.

CALL FOR JUDGES & STEWARDS: Information on how to register as a judge or a steward for the 2017 Competition can be found here.

THE FOURTEENTH ANNUAL SICILIANO’S HOMEBREW PARTY: Saturday, May 20, at Johnson Park on Butterworth.

HOP PLANT PREORDERS: We are taking hop plant pre-orders through the end of business on Thursday, March 16th. Go here for complete details.

Entries in last year's homebrew competition.

New and Returning Beers

• Short's Cat Pajama's, $2.69/12oz - "Cat’s Pajamas is a Double IPA brewed with Blood Orange and guava. This India Pale Ale is pale orange in color with big aromas of sweet, tropical fruit. Cat’s Pajamas is balanced with flavors of sweet fruit and bitter hops and has a resinous, mouth coating feel. High in ABV, this beer finishes dry with a bit of warmth" (source).
• Avery Vanilla Bean Stout, $13.79/22oz - "A double dose of vanilla derived from both fresh Bourbon barrels and the trio of Tongan, Ugandan, and Mexican whole vanilla beans is complemented by essences of chocolate, caramel and molasses to round out this luxuriously silky stout" (source).
• Southern Tier Nu Skool, $1.69/12oz - "We spent over a year prototyping R&D versions of Nu Skool. This final version is one special beer. It is an IPA with a slight malty sweetness, but overall balanced & brimming with tropical, fruity, spicy, piney & citrus character. To contrast our IPA, which most closely resembles a traditional English IPA in malt & hop bills, we wanted to brew an India Pale Ale in a new way. West Coast brewers have been brewing lighter, more “Americanized,” yet still full of hop character & our brewers wanted to try their hand by brewing their take" (source).
• Lagunitas Davey Murray's Best, $2.19/12oz (2 per) - "This Scotch Ale is sweet, but not cloying. It's strong, but not brash. It's smooth and smokey, like a good dram among friends" (source).
• Greenbush 400 Divine Rabbits, $1.99/12oz  - "This heavenly brew is sure to satisfy all you offer to it. And by all, we mean ALL. Two or twenty, be sure to keep enough of this agave wheat ale on hand lest you anger the gods" (source).
• Ballast Point Red Velvet Nitro, $2.59/12oz - "Impossibly reddish in color (due to the beets) with nitro cascade fading into a pink cap of stable foam, great clarity. Seeing the beer in the glass shows the obvious resemblance to a slice of red velvet cake (red cake on the bottom topped with a layer of creamy white frosting). But the similarities don’t end there. The aroma is dominated by chocolate with earthy notes of beets and subtle wafts of roast coco. The flavor is similar to the aroma but with faint roast and hop bitterness coming in at the end balance it out, not cloying or overly sweet. The mouthfeel is medium and the finish is luxuriously smooth" (source).
• Ballast Point Sea Rose, $1.89/12oz - "American Wheat Ale with Cherries & Pomegranate" (source).
• Alpine Windows Up, $2.39/12oz - "This IPA is extra dank and resinous. Enjoy its piney aromas and tropical notes from a blend of Citra and Mosaic hops" (source).
• Arbor Phat Abbot Tripel, $2.89/12oz - "This traditional Belgian-style triple is strong, fruity, and slightly sour. It starts with a big malt presence, followed up by a pronounced candy sugar sweetness, and balanced with a spicy hop finish. A must-try" (source).
• Brewery Vivant Contemplation, $3.49/16oz - "Clover honey added during the boil contributes color and complexity but adds no sweetness to the beer as the sugars are broken down during fermentation. Look for whispers of apricot and nectarine on the palate, mixed with the floral aroma of the hops grown in northern Michigan" (source).
• Burnt City Balloon Boy, $1.79/12oz - "Easy to drink, but hard to pin down, Balloon Boy is a refreshing Belgian-style wheat that is fun for the whole family.* Subtle tart citrus up front gives way to a beautifully complex fruitiness. A wheat ale that sits well with every kind of beer drinker" (source).
• Burnt City Dick the Butcher, $1.79/12oz - "Our take on the American Pale Ale is balanced and refreshing. Classic American hops lend prominent grapefruit notes and just a little bitterness" (source).
• Burnt City Face Melter, $1.79/12oz - "A righteous dose of hops and hibiscus give this IPA a powerful aroma of citrus and tropical fruit. Citra, Centennial, and Cascade hops team up to provide a strong, yet smooth bitterness. Intense flavor without a harsh aftertaste" (source).
• Burnt City Freight Handler, $1.79/12oz - "Our milk stout is full-bodied and smooth, with rich chocolate flavors and complex maltiness along with a touch of subtle lactose sweetness" (source).
• Dark Horse Toonilla, $2.09/12oz - "Cream stout brewed with coffee from Dark Street Roasting Company and vanilla beans" (source).
• Arcadia Whitsun, $1.79/12oz - "Brewed in the style of a mid-19th century English Festival Ale, this unfiltered wheat beer displays a translucent orange color topped with a creamy, white head. Wheat enhances the mouthfeel of the beer and produces pleasant bread-like notes while Michigan honey provides a caramelized sweetness in the flavor profile. This beer is spiced with orange peel and coriander and small amounts of three hop varieties pleasantly counterbalances the sweetness" (source).
• Arcadia Apollyon, $2.29/12oz - "Belgium strong ale with hints of fruits and spice" (source).
• Arcadia Mango Surprise, $1.99/12oz - "Tropical aromas of mango, pineapple, papaya and citrus gently play off a bright hop profile with a slight malt nose" (source).
• Blakes Grizzly Pear, $2.09/12oz - "Blake's first pear hard cider, Grizzly melds soft notes of pear & prickly pear cactus balanced with a sharp apple finish with a hint of elderflower. No bears were harmed in the making of this product" (source).
• Right Brain Broken Nose Double Black India Pale Ale, $6.49/22oz - "A malty American style black IPA with mild citrus and melon notes, a roasty body, and all around soft hop presence" (source).
• Right Brain Peanut Butter CEO, $8.39/22oz - "Our flagship CEO Stout brewed with house-made peaunt butter" (source).
• ROAK Blow Your Face Off, $3.29/12oz - "ROAK’s Blow Your Face Out Double IPA was crafted to maximize the dark characters of hops with piney, tropical and stone fruit aromas and flavors. With over 100 IBUs, these hops are ready to explode right out of the bottle. So grab a glass, this beer is going to blow your face out" (source).

Video of the Week | Spent-Grain Mushrooms

Someone needs to bring this to Grand Rapids.

Cheers!