Summer officially arrived in the environs of Beer City USA this past week and while a frosty craft beer can help beat the heat on a scorching summer day, my favorite cold beverage for cooling off on a sultry summer evening is a refreshing gin and tonic.
It wasn’t that long ago that gin lovers only had a handful of decent options to choose from. That began to change a few years ago with the widespread emergence of craft distilleries and today there is a wide array of both domestic and imported hand-crafted gins on the market.
Siciliano’s stocks a number of these unique, botanically infused spirits. There’s plenty of warm weather ahead of us so there’s plenty of time to try a few new gins if a cooling G & T is one of your go-to beverages for beating the summer heat.
New and Returning Beer
- Against the Grain Rico Sauvin, $3.89/16oz - "An India Pale Ale featuring Nelson Sauvin hops. Named after the Sauvignon Blanc grape, is a variety of hop developed and grown in New Zealand. It has a strong fruity flavor and aroma that is described as resembling white wine, or fresh crushed grapes or gooseberries. Some reviewers of this hop perceive the fruitiness as being very tropical with descriptions including passion fruit, tangerines, and grapefruit. These hops are organic and are about 4 times as expensive as our normal American varieties, hence the footed glass only" (source).
- Against the Grain Pile of Face, $3.389/16oz - "What's the first thing you need to do when you start a brewery? Develop your logo, of course. With any potentially decent brewery, your logo must be a skull, it has to be a skull, you'll be laughed out of the room if you don't have a skull. So we went hunting in the area where all the great skulls have come from and were shit out of luck. By those fateful dumpsters all we found was this deformed neanderthal type deal, or maybe it's from an ape, and a big ol' pile of face. To celebrate our lack of success in finding a really cool skull, we are embracing another required cliché by brewing this American IPA. A modicum of simple malts provide the mediocre backbone to the mountain of various hops that are utilized and rotated throughout the brewing process. Look for dank overtones supported by various citrus and heirloom fruits. It's the straight forward fuckin' IPA that you always wanted from us. You lucky bastard" (source).
- Against the Grain Brown Note, $3.09/16oz - "The brown ale to end all brown ales. Enjoy it, because there is no longer any reason to drink another. You’ve reached the pinnacle. A healthy blend of traditional British malts give this popular style a semi-sweet, biscuity, slightly roasted flavor. Oats thicken the mouthfeel, and a handful of specialty malts add complex chocolate, toffee, and caramel notes. The hops are mostly traditional, earthy British hops, but we cocked it up a bit with some Cascade late in the boil just to show those snooty Brits that we don’t approve of that Constitutional Monarchy crap" (source).
- Evil Twin Food and Beer, $10.29/22oz - "This all Brett pale ale is brewed with peaches and it is brewed to celebrate the release of the chef Daniel Burns / Jeppe Jarnit-Bjergso’s Phaidon book Food & Beer" (source).
- Prairie Flare, $2.89/12oz - "Gose Ale Brewed with Orange and Coriander" (source).
- Grimm Super Shine, $11.99/22oz - "Oak conditioned gose dry hopped with Mosaic & Azacca" (source).
- Grimm Rainbow Dome, $11.99/22oz - "Tart aromas of stone fruit and fruity hops (El Dorado, Columbus, Cascade). Intense apricot on the palate with soft, inviting acidity" (source).
- Anchorage Darkest Hour Whiskey Barrel Aged, $27.99/50ml (1 per) - "This years batch is totally new recipe using regular ale yeast and several high end whiskey barrels for aging" (source).
- Anchorage Darkest Hour Brandy Barrel Aged, $27.99/750ml (1 per) - "Spanish brandy barrel aged Darkest Hour" (source).
- Arbor Framboozled, $11.99/500ml - "The newest addition to the sour series is richly complex and reminiscent of brandy-soaked dark fruits, toasted nuts, and a sweet balsamic reduction. Framboozled features a hint of barnyard funk from extended barrel aging in the presence of friendly microbes" (source).
- Bells Q Falls, $1.89/12oz - "A dry-hopped lager that possesses a crisp, dry bitterness you would expect from a German pilsner, but the use of highly aromatic Simcoe hops from the Pacific Northwest, evoke the fragrant pine forests that inspired this beer" (source).
- Brewery Vivant Angelina, $11.99/500ml - "Sour Ale" (source).
- Dark Horse Tres Blueberry, $2.09/12oz - "Number three in our stout series, this stout is full-bodied and brewed with all malted barley and fresh blueberries added after fermentation. The nose is where you will begin to realize this stout is in a league of its own. Blueberry, chocolate and roasted aromas lead the way to a very pleasant drinking experience which leaves you wanting the next November to arrive sooner than last year" (source).
- Dark Horse Bourbon Barrel Aged Tres, $3.29/12oz - "This stout is full-bodied and brewed with all malted barley, fresh blueberries added after fermentation and then aged in bourbon barrels. The nose is where you will begin to realize this stout is in a league of its own. Blueberry, chocolate and roasted aromas lead the way to a very pleasant drinking experience which leaves you wanting the next December to arrive sooner than last year" (source).
- Innis and Gunn Original, $3.29/12oz - "For 30 days this honey-hued beer sleeps in hand selected oak barrels, locked inside a bonded warehouse, gradually assimilating the subtle flavours that reside in the wood. Barrels are then emptied and maturation continues for a further 47 days in a marrying tun where these natural flavours infuse and fall into perfect balance. This 77-day process is unique and produces a delicious, refreshing beer: Aromas of vanilla and toffee, hints of citrus, with a malty, lightly oaked,palate. Deftly balanced and light in texture, soothing and warming in the finish" (source).
- Innis and Gunn Rum Cask, $3.59/12oz - "We are delighted to present this unique limited bottling of Innis & Gunn finished in oak barrels which previously contained navy rum. Maturation in special oak barrels imparts Navy rums with the sweet, spicy character for which they are renowned. We have long wondered what flavours might be imparted to our beer by finishing it in these same barrels and earlier this year we decided to find out. We brewed a special batch of Innis & Gunn beer and matured it in oak for 60 days. Every single drop spent half of that time in American oak barrels before being refilled into selected navy rum barrels to finish the lengthy maturation. Once the beer had absorbed the unique character the barrels were emptied, the beer blended and then maturation continued for a further 47 days until all of the flavours had married together and mellowed. We think the result is absolutely delicious" (source).
- Innis and Gunn Bourbon Dark, $3.69/12oz - "This very special dark ale has been brewed in small batches and then matured in hand-selected, first-fill bourbon casks to give it its rich, rounded character. Notes of brown sugar, orange oil and coconut are complemented by an earthy freshness from the hops, and the 30 days the beer’s spent in oak have ensured a satisfyingly smooth finish. We spend a lot of time at Innis & Gunn finding the perfect casks to home the new beers that we make. So many factors can influence the reaction between the wood and the beer, that we like to give the casks the best possible chance of success, by considering things like their age, their previous occupants, their finish, their char level... We’ve selected relatively new bourbon casks for this recipe in order to complement the rich, heady flavours of the beer with a light touch of vanilla and spice from the wood. The casks have also helped to smooth the finish of the beer, making it velvety and very long" (source).
- Victory Old Horizontal, $9.99/22oz - "Massive amounts of barley malts, combined with fresh harvest American hops make it aromatic and spicy on the nose. Floral, fruity aromas slide into honeyed malt depth with lingering sensations of candied and citrus fruit. Late warming alcohol brings all of these flavors into wonderful harmony to finish" (source).
- Odd Side mango IPA, $2.19/12oz - No commercial description.
- Jolly Pumpkin Olas Espaciales, $14.39/750ml - "Bottle conditioned sour ale with cherries, salt and lime added" (source).
- Boulevard Love Child, $17.99/750ml (1 per) - "Boulevard's Love Child Series of "wild" ales are barrel-aged with such boisterous cultures as Lactobacillus and Brettanomyces. These wayward offspring can prove so complex that we employ gauges on the label to convey the intensity of three key personality traits, Funk, Sour and Fruit, presenting a picture of the ale at the time it was released. It will change as it ages, but don't we all? A blend of wood-aged sour beer, Love Child No. 8 is composed of multiple vintages of a Flanders-style sour red ale and a sour Belgian-style golden. This release features soft lactic acidity punctuated with slight acetic notes and a tart, fruity flavor remiscent of sour cherries and green strawberries" (source).
- Lagunitas 12th of Never, $1.99/19.2oz - "The magical, mystical 12th of Never is a blend of Old and New School hops that play bright citrus, rich coconut, and papaya-esque flavors, all on a solid stage of English puffed wheat. Tropically hoppy. Light, yet full-bodied. Bright and citrusy. The 12th of Never Ale is everything we’ve learned about making hop-forward beer expressed in a moderate voice. Pale, cold, slightly alcoholic and bitter" (source).
Video of the Week | Tres Blueberry
Now available at Siciliano's.
Cheers!
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