New Beer Friday, Perdomo Special Craft Edition (May 5)

Perdomo Special Craft Series

Preamble by Steve Siciliano

Warm weather will soon be here and I'm looking forward to evenings on the deck sipping beer, smoking cigars and watching my crazy dog chasing fireflies across the backyard. Those summer evenings on the deck will be even more enjoyable this year because I'll be pairing my premium, handcrafted beer with premium, handmade cigars blended specifically for the craft beer enthusiast.

Offered in three distinctly different blends, The Perdomo Special Craft Series is a premium line of cigars that Tabacalera Perdomo recently created to complement the aromas and flavors found in various styles of craft beer.

The Special Craft Series Connecticut features a creamy Connecticut wrapper, a sweet Nicaraguan binder from the Jalapa Valley and rich, aromatic Nicaraguan fillers from the Condega Valley. The mild to medium-bodied cigar pairs well with pilsners, wheat beer and cream ales.

The Special Craft Series Sun Grown is blended with a spicy-sweet Cuban-seed sun-grown wrapper from Jalapa, a rich Nicaraguan binder from Condega and robust Cuban-seed Nicaraguan fillers from the Esteli Valley. The medium to full-bodied cigar pairs well with amber ales, pale ales, IPAs and malty lagers.

The Special Craft Series Maduro features a dark, oily Cuban-seed Nicaraguan Maduro wrapper from the Jalapa Valley, an aromatic Nicaraguan binder from Condega and Cuban-seed Nicaraguan fillers from Esteli. The cigar is medium to full-bodied and pairs well with stouts, porters and brown ales.

Each blend of the Special Craft Series is offered in the following four sizes.

• Robusto 5 ½ x 54
• Epicure 6 ½ x 54
• Churchill 7 x 54
• Gordo 6 x 60

All four sizes of each blend will be in our walk-in humidor by early next week. They will also be available for purchase at the Homebrew Party on Saturday, May 20 at Johnson Park.

Just a reminder that if you're planning to attend the Homebrew Party and would like a commemorative t-shirt, you must purchase tickets by Tuesday, May 9. Tickets are $45.00 and can be purchased by phone (616-453-9674). Shirtless tickets may still be purchased after the May 9 deadline for $40.00.

New and Returning Beer

• Moonlight Meadery Sensual, $15.99/375ml - "This award winning recipe is a showcase of honey that is aromatic, flavorful, and deliciously sweet with a long lasting smooth finish" (source).
• Moonlight Meadery Red Dress, $15.99/375 - "This little number is sweet and sexy, just the right balance between the honey and the red currants. Enjoy this with a variety of complex dishes, like Durban curried chicken (a South African favorite), Moroccan lamb or Beef stew" (source).
• Against the Grain Kamen Knuddeln, $4.59/16oz - "Originally brewed as a conceptualization from our friends at the Nachbar....This historical anomaly is one of the only styles of beer indigenous to the USA and it was originally brewed right here in the Bluegrass!  Much like our more beloved and covet cousin sour mash bourbon, this ale is brewed in the manner of 'souring the mash'.  First we start with a blend of grains similar to your favorite spirit, barley, rye, and corn and we start the sour mash.  In that process, we are able to achieve a deliciously complex tart flavor that plays with the spiciness of rye, while finishing with a dry crispness from the corn.  Moderately hopped to balance the sweetness of this Kentucky Common, one will get notes of dry fruit, sweet tarts, and hints of tannin from a very small amount of barrel aged character" (source).
• Evil Twin A is for Apricot, $2.89/12oz - "Gose-style ale brewed with salt and apricot added" (source).
• Prairie Apricot Funk, $11.39/500ml - "The beer in question is Apricot Funk, a 7.5 percent ABV sour ale that was brewed late last year before conditioning on apricots for “quite some time.” This is the second time Prairie has bottled a fruit beer with the Funk moniker, after Cherry Funk (7.5 percent ABV) was released in 2013" (source).
• Stillwater On Fleek, $2.89/12oz - "Big, overhyped imperial stouts, amirite? This one on fleek tho. The most amazing collaboration ever with Casita Cerveceria" (source).
• Stillwater Extra Dry Saison, $2.59/16oz - "Brewed with rice and designed to mimic the subtle and drinkable flavors of sake, this low alcohol saison is the softer side of Stillwater" (source).
• Dark Horse Smells Like a Safety Meeting, $2.19/12oz - "S.L.A.S.M. is our most Aromatic IPA. This India Pale Ale is very reminiscent of the hop’s cousin in the Mulberry family. Lots of hop aroma with just the right amount of bitterness as we like to keep balance around here. Between the secret blend of the most DANK hops we can get our hands on and a "more than healthy" dose of double dry hopping, this beer can be announced to the nose from across the room that someone is definitely having a Safety Meeting" (source).
• North Peak Double Diabolical, $2.39/12oz - "North Peak Diabolical IPA has hops from nose to tail. This IPA is unfiltered and dry-hopped with Michigan grown Chinook and Cascade hops. It has a smooth malt character and citrus pine aroma" (source).
• Stone Enjoy by 5/29, $2..99/12oz - "Our all-important, hop-driven quest to deliver the most devastatingly fresh IPA on the planet facilitated a paradigm shift in 2012 with the launch of Stone Enjoy By IPA. Not only did we brew this beer with more than 10 different hops, we brewed it specifically NOT to last. Acclaimed for its groundbreakingly short shelf life, this intense double IPA brought forth a whole new concept of what constitutes “fresh” — guaranteeing fans the ultimate level of hoppiness" (source).
• Petoskey Cranium Crush, $2.39/16oz - "This unique ale has actual waffle cones added into the mash. Very slight hints of this ingredient can be picked up in the finished beer. More prevalent are the fruit notes from the addition of fresh raspberries added during fermentation. the low IBU makes this an easy drinking ale" (source).
• Weyerbacher Finally Legal, $4.29/12oz - "Finally Legal is a big stout brewed with Munich malts, smoked malts, cocoa nibs, cocoa powder and vanilla. Rolling in at 13.5% ABV, Finally Legal has rich chocolate flavor with hints of vanilla and a touch of smoky bacon. As if that’s not enough, we blended this tasty brew with its bourbon barrel aged counterpart before packaging it for your enjoyment. Available NOW at The Tap Room and throughout our distribution area" (source).
• Great Divide Claymore, $1.99/12oz - "Named for a medieval Scottish sword, CLAYMORE SCOTCH ALE is our tribute to the legendary “Wee Heavy” beers of Scotland. This malty, deep-ruby beauty features lots of caramel sweetness, a reserved hop profile, and a subtle warming character. Unlike its namesake, this beer only requires one hand, but it’ll still make you feel like nobility" (source).
• Great Divide Titan, $1.99/12oz - "A big, aggressively hopped India Pale Ale brewed for hop disciples. It starts out with piney hop aromas and citrus hop flavors, and finishes with a nice rich, malty sweetness that is balanced with crisp hop bitterness" (source).
• Great Divide Hercules, $3.49/12oz - "HERCULES DOUBLE IPA is not for the faint of heart. It is, however, fit for the gods. HERCULES delivers a huge amount of hops from start to finish. Its hefty backbone of nutty, malty sweetness balances its aggressive hop profile" (source).
• Great Divide Yeti, $3.49/12oz - "YETI IMPERIAL STOUT is an onslaught of the senses. It starts with big, roasty malt flavor that gives way to rich caramel and toffee notes. YETI gets its bold hop character from an enormous quantity of American hops. It weighs in at a hefty 75 IBUs" (source).

Video of the Week | Dark Horse

Now available at Siciliano's!

Cheers!