New Beer Friday - September 30 Edition

Jacob at Vivant

This week, Vivant's head brewer Jacob Derylo wrote his first blog post and had it published over on the brewery's website. While it's not at all surprising to hear that professional brewers embody the same passion as their homebrewing counterparts, it is rare to hear one of the pros describe it so eloquently, as is the case in the excerpt below. (To read the complete post click here.)

"There is no greater satisfaction than nurturing a beer from grain to pint glass. This is probably why craft brewers are a tight knit community. We all get that same feeling when we see someone out drinking our beer, that all the headaches and heartaches, the stuck fermentations and stuck mashes, it's all worth it. We are in the business of giving you, the craft beer drinker, something a little more. We take this trust in us very seriously. Every beer we make is a reflection of who we are and what we believe. The belief that the local, little guy can carve out their niche in an industry mainly dominated by just a handful of large breweries and make a difference. There's a reason I do what I do. I love making beer, it's almost as much fun as drinking it." Well said, Jacob. Keep the good writing coming!

New (and Returning) Beers

• Short's Bloody Beer, $2.19/12oz - "A lighter bodied beer with an appealing ruby red glow and aromas of spicy tomato juice. Fermented with Roma tomatoes and spiced with dill, horseradish, peppercorns, and celery seed lead to an astounding initial tomato flavor, followed by a lingering finish that allows each additional ingredient a chance to resonate on the palate" (source).
• Great Lakes Nosferatu, $3.29/12oz - "Highly hopped imperial red ale rich with flavor, yet remarkably balanced. 8% ABV." (source).
• Bardic Wells Clurichaun Bru Clu, $10.39/22oz - A coffee-flavored, hopped & carbonated mead. How awesome does that sound? To learn more about the Clurichaun series, see the August 12 edition of NBF.
• Lagunitas Doppel Weizen, $4.79/22oz - Take a "virtual taste" of this Bavarian-inspired double wheat beer with a video from Lagunitas. 
• Breckenridge Autumn Ale, $1.79/12oz - "Breckenridge Brewery's fall seasonal combines the malty goodness of a German lager with the clean crispness of an American ale. Brewed with Munich malts and a delicate blend of Bavarian hops, Autumn Ale is a full-bodied treat with a nutty-sweet middle, a warming alcohol level and notes of toasted grains. A pre-winter winner" (source).
• Big Sky Slow Elk Oatmeal Stout, $1.69/12oz - The folks at Big Sky want you to "enjoy the creamy texture, great malt complexity and the unequaled smoothness of this Northern Rockies Oatmeal Stout" (source).
• Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout, $2.19/12oz - Brooklyn uses "three mashes to brew each batch of this beer, achieving a luscious deep dark chocolate flavor through a blend of specially roasted malts. [They] brew it every year for the winter season. It is delicious when newly bottled, but also ages beautifully for years" (source).
• Arcadia Hop Rocket, $3.89/12oz - "At 111 IBUs, this huge ale rockets off the charts with a massive nose of sticky resinous hops and flavors of grapefruit, lemon peel, spruce, earthy mushrooms and dew-covered grass" (source).
• St. Peter's Grapefruit, $4.79/16.9oz - An award-winning (source) grapefruit-flavored beer from the chaps who use those great old-timey oval bottles.

Fictional Acronym of the Week

GRAPE

Grand Rapids Association of Pinot Enthusiasts

Meetings start every day at five...and sometimes earlier.

Picture of the Week

Versluis Orchards Farm Stand

Lake Michigan Drive - Just west of Siciliano's