New Beer Friday, Happy New Year Edition (December 28)

Preamble by Steve Siciliano

Well I’m happy to report that this old, semi-retired merchant still has the stamina to put in a full day’s work. Because most of our part-time employees traveled to locations across the state to spend time with their families over the Christmas holiday, the GM (Sarah) asked me to pinch hit on a couple of days last weekend. It took a while to shake off the rust but after ringing up a few transactions, I found my groove and it felt like old times again.

I’ve always enjoyed working during the busy holiday season and despite being exhausted after those three eight-hour shifts, I think I enjoyed this year even more. It felt good to be helping folks with beer, wine, liquor, cigars, coffee, tea, brewing ingredients and winemaking supplies again.

Barb and I were pleased Sarah was able to honor everyone’s request for time off. We realize that the continued success of Siciliano’s Market is directly related to the efforts of our great staff and we believe in treating them the same way we would treat our own children. We’re just a mom-and-pop operation after all and we have always referred to our employees as our kids, an apt description considering how long some of them have been with us.

Of course, it goes without saying that Siciliano’s wouldn’t be the store it is today without our loyal customers and Barb and I are deeply grateful for your continued patronage. On behalf of the staff we would like to wish everyone a happy and prosperous new year.

New and Returning Beer

Brewery Vivant Plein De Vie Sereis

• Brewery Vivant Plein De Vie Escoffier, $12.99/500ml - "Auguste Escoffier is considered the master chef of the 20th century. His ideas and methods left an indellible imprint on the culinary world, and are still in use to this very day. We named our beer ’Escoffier’ to celebrate the relationship between great food and excellent beer, and how they elevate each other when enjoyed together" (source).
• Brewery Vivant Plein De Vie Strawberry Rhubarb, $10.89/500ml - "A Belgian-weiss beer soured in a melange of barrels and aged with Strawberries and Rhubarb" (source).
• Brewery Viviant Plein De Vie Tower of Sour, $10.89/500ml - "The tower we refer to here is our 40-barrel French oak foeder. It’s a large wooden tank that holds beer, allowing it to ferment with the wild yeasts already present in the oak. This beer was first debuted at our Wood-Aged Beer Festival in September 2016. Aged for six months in oak, this malty-forward ale presents a subtle chocolate, coffee roastiness, but has taken on a distinctly sour character from the wild yeast" (source).
• Central State Nice Pair of Slacks, $4.09/16oz - "This sharp looking beer is brewed to be as dry and hop-forward as possible. From the effervescent carbonation to the low residual sugar, this beer is designed to showcase the copious amounts of Hallertauer Blanc & Mosaic hops used to produce it" (source).
• Central State Rose, $3.29/16oz - "To craft this light and refreshing pink drink we combine our Rustic Blonde Ale, Table, with a few hundred pounds of raspberries and referment them with our house yeast cultures" (source).
• City Built Anabatic Flow, $4.39/16oz - "Hazy IPA. Pine Resin, Pineapple & Peach Flavor" (source).
• New Belgium Brut, $1.79/12oz - "Bubbly, dry, crisp, and refreshing, Brut IPA is inspired by our favorite sparkling wines. With hints of tropical fruits and champagne, this effervescent brew is the perfect cheers to the New Year" (source).
• New Belgium Liquid Paradise, $1.99/12oz - "Using Mosaic Incognito, Azacca and Cascade hops, Liquid Paradise boasts a mélange of tropical notes to create a delicately bitter and extremely aromatic IPA" (source).
• Oskar Blues Barrel Aged Ten Fidy, $14.29/19.2oz (1 per) - "Aged through four seasons and from a blend of the top Bourbons around, this Ten Fidy has morphed into a monster of cranked up flavor. Espresso, burnt sugar, rich chocolate, caramel notes are now driving alongside the vanilla, oak, bourbon from the barrel and been smoothed out during maturation. Even at 12.9% (75 IBUs) it is cool and drinkable, letting each sip add more and more complexity" (source).
• Tilquin Gueuze, $13.99/375ml - "The Gueuze Tilquin à l’ancienne (6.4% alc / vol) is a spontaneous fermentation beer obtained from the blending of 1, 2 and 3 years old lambics" (source).
• Tilquin Pinot Noir Gueuzerie Pinot Noir Lambic, $35.69/750ml - "Oude Pinot Noir Tilquin à l'Ancienne is a blend of 1-, 2-, and 3-year old lambics with Pinot Noir grapes" (source).

Video of the Week | Plein De Vie Series

Limited selections from Vivant's Plain de Vie Series

are now available at Siciliano's.

Cheers!