Troegs Brewery Expansion

Here's some local brew news about tries Brewery out in Pennsylvannia. 

Pennsylvania’s Troegs Brewing Co. is expanding with the addition of 24 fermentation tanks—each holding the equivalent of 10,000 (2.25-gallon) cases—to its brewery in Hershey. Pennlive reports that Troegs has also started production on its new cork-and-cage bottling line, which is being used for larger format bottles, and is testing a new canning line, with canned beers—including Troegs’ Perpetual IPA and Troegenator brews—expected to hit the market around Thanksgiving. The cork-and-cage line is rolling out beers like triple golden ale Lagrave in 375-ml. bottles and Master of Pumpkins in 750-ml. bottles, both due at retailers around the end of this month.

Sixpoint, Autumnation (2013)

A great shift in focus for this Autumn beer from Sixpoint Brewery out of New York. The 2011 and 2012 versions of this beer were billed as pumpkin beers. They were brewed with fresh pumpkin from NY state. The old beers were delicious because they were copper colored hop bombs. Needless to say they didn't sell very well in the store because hop heads avoided the pumpkin on the label and pumpkin beer fans were disappointed due to the lack of pumpkin flavor. Finally the brewery bit the bullet and changed their Autumnation from a pumpkin beer to a hoppy fall beer (same basic beer but with a new label).
While this is the same basic recipe for this beer, each year Sixpoint Brewery lets the hops be decided by its loyal fans. This year, they have choosen the new hop Mosaic. This newly culitvated hop is (HBC 369) is an aroma hop variety developed by Hop Breeding Company that was released in 2012. It offers a unique and complex blend of floral, tropical, fruity, and earthy characteristics that translate very favorably into
several styles of beer. Mosaic is the daughter of Simcoe and a Nugget derived male.
This brew is definitely more aromatic then its past counterparts. It has a warm bready, carmel malty aroma upfront with a piney, resiny citrus aroma that wafts up from behind. The aromas falsely set up this beer because they trick you into thinking this is more of a Fall brown ale. The rich copper color and bready/nuttyness of the aroma definately say Fall beer with a little hop background. However, the first sip shows you what this beer really is, a secret hop bomb. Its no DIPA, but for a Fall beer it is quite hoppy. This reminders me of the new beer that Sierra Nevada just launched for Fall called Flipside. It too is a red/brown ale with a big hop wallop. Both are solid beers with enough hops to please the hopheads but a richness that goes perfectly with the cool Fall weather that just hit here. Plus, with the 6.7% abv, this is just enough to keep you toasty in front of a roaring fire at night!
Overall, I would highly recommend this beer. It is local, tasty and the best part, it comes in 16oz cans! This is a highly seasonal beer, so grab it before we drink it all.

Personal Rating: 9.5 /10
Style Rating: 5/10 (not sure what style this really fits)

Wanna try it now? Order it online at: 
http://www.whitehorsewine.com/proddetail.php?prod=859093002169

Terrapin Brewing Company, RecreationAle Pale Ale

For all you Terrapin fans out there, here is the latest and greatest.... RecreationAle. This is the first Terrapin beer to be put into cans. The concept is that this is a beer you can bring camping, biking, hiking or any other outdoor sport. I was able to enjoy this after a long day of running around with the kids (kind of like a sport). It was very satisfying and refreshing but not devoid of flavor.

The brewers at Terrapin made an impressive Pale Ale here. They used Bravo, Centennial, Zythos and Amarillo hops with an addition of Galaxy hops for the dry hopping. It came out at 4.7% abv which is a nice "daytime" beer. The malts used to brew this beer give it a nice medium bodied mouthfeel without being heavy.

I was really impressed by this beer. As a canned craft beer advocate, it is great to see awesome breweries like Terrapin branch out and make a flavorful canned beer. The hops were nice and fragrant with a slight piney and light resiny quality. This is not an IPA, but it still packs a nice hop bitterness to make it a very flavorful Pale Ale.


Personal Rating: 9 / 10
Style Rating: 8 / 10

Wanna try it now? Order it online at: 
https://www.whitehorsewine.com/proddetail.php?prod=899539000090

Great Divide, Hoss Rye Lager

Here's a hidden Oktoberfest beer. We originally found this one in the variety pack that Great Divide sent us last year. This is the first year we have this beer in six packs. As you can see from the label on the right, the brewery is not billing this as a Oktoberfest beer however, according to the brewery, "Hoss is based on the Märzen lagers of Germany" which are what Oktoberfests are. 

This is a really interesting Märzen. With the addition of Rye to the traditional Vienna and Munich malt base this lager takes on spicy notes that complement the touch of richness from the malts. This brew is has layered sweet malt notes, with some hints of cherry and almond. The spiciness of the Rye definitely give this a more exciting feel then the run of the mill Oktoberfests. Even with the Rye, this beer still keeps the signature smooth finish of an Oktoberfest. 

I really enjoyed this beer from Great Divide. They took a traditional Fall beer and gave it a nice twist that makes it a little more crafty. If your in the mood for an smooth Oktoberfest beer but your tired of the same old selection, then you should definitely grab a six pack of this. Especially at $11.99 a six pack, it definitely delivers!

Personal Rating: 9 /10
Style Rating: 9.5

Wanna try it now? Order it online at: 
http://www.whitehorsewine.com/proddetail.php?prod=790586006328

Great Lakes Brewing, Silver and Gold IPL

India Pale Lager, is this a new trend? I had never heard of any brewers doing a IPA in a lager style instead of the traditional ale style but recently Sam Adams released their Double Agent IPL and now Great Lakes is doing one for their 25th anniversary. This does seem like a good combo for Great Lakes because the beer that made them popular and started to win awards and accolades was their Dortmunder Gold Lager. Today, with IPAs being the hot beer category and Great Lakes producing a number of good IPAs, they have combined the past and present with an IPA brewed with their Dortmunder Gold Lager yeast. This makes for a very interesting combination with the hoppy aromatics but crisp lager finish.

When you pop open this beer the IPA lover in me is rewarded by a nice west coast style aroma. Citrus, pine and grapefruit waft from the glass giving this a good mark in my book for the IPA style aroma. This brew is clocking in at 7.5% ABV which seems to be a magic number with some of my favorite beers being right near this number (Lagunitas Little Sumpin Sumpin, Uinta Hop Notch and Troegs Perpetual IPA). When you take your first sip their is a slight hoppy bitterness up front but it is quickly replaced by light, crisp lager finish. This beer reminds me of Lagunitas Fractional IPA or Founders All Day IPA (both of which are below 5% ABV and taste like a hoppy Bud Light). I have to say that while I was not a fan of the two "daytime" IPA I just mentioned, it was more because the price point was too high. The beers were easy to drink but if your going to buy a case for a party it would set you back $40 or more. This IPL is very easy to drink and with the 7.5% ABV it at least gives you a bang for the $9.99 buck that you will shill out for this 4 pack.

Overall, I would recommend this beer for a nice warm Summer night where you want to session a few IPLs. Its refreshing enough that is will cool you down while a few brews will do the trick. Keep your eyes open as I have a good feeling you will be seeing more and more beers in this style.

Personal Rating: 9 /10
Style Rating: ??? for a new style

Wanna try it now? Order it online at: 
https://www.whitehorsewine.com/proddetail.php?prod=704361440245

Cape Ann Brewing Company, Sunrise Saison

A new Summer seasonal for us but one that stands out from the crowd. What caught our interest was the Saison brewed with fresh strawberry and rhubarb. This sounds like it could be the perfect combination of sweet and tart.

The brewery elaborates on the inventive style saying they took "... a cue from a home brew recipe from Mr. Jumpers Home Brew club, we gave it our own spin and came up with the Sunrise Saison. Our first foray into Belgian styles of beer, Saisons were pale ales originally brewed in the farmhouses of Wallonia, the French speaking region of Belgium. Giving it our own twist, we’ve added 150 lbs of rhubarb and 250 lbs of whole strawberries. The result is a light pink hue and flavors that wonderfully compliment the natural tartness of a traditional saison." We normally don't carry much in the way of this brewery other than their pumpkin stout, but they do seem to have some interesting seasonal beers.

This brew clocks in at 7% which is similar to my other farmhouse saison Colette by Great Divide. When you pour this beer out you get a nice whiff of fresh strawberries. I clarify that statement with "fresh", because you don't get a fake, syrupy strawberry flavor. You definitely get that super ripe, juicy and slightly tart natural strawberry flavor. The aroma also has the classic farmhouse spice of lemon, coriander, clove and slight farm funk. I'm not quite sure what rhubarb smells like, but with the complexity of aromas coming out of this beer are very enjoyable. The flavor in the mouth is very tart and refreshing with just a ghost of sweetness at the end. A perfect beer for Summer that is both flavorful and easy to drink. I would highly recommend picking up a 6 pack especially at the $9.99 price while it is still in stock. I highly enjoyed this beer so I gave it a 9.5 rating, but I took a half a percent off the style rating simply because of the liberal addition of strawberries and rhubarb which while delicious are not normally found in farmhouse saisons. Cheers!

Personal Rating: 9.5 /10
Style Rating: 9 /10

Wanna try it now? Order it online at: 
https://www.whitehorsewine.com/proddetail.php?prod=892480000072

Stone, RuinTen IPA

Its Back! Stone Ruination's Tenth Anniversary Release was so popular when it was released last year in 2012 that they decided to bring it back for a second go around. These crazy son of a guns took the already super ampped up Ruination IPA, which is brewed to killed your taste buds, and exposed it to Super Gamma Rays and more then five pounds of whole hops in each barrel to create this Hulk of a beer. As any of our blog readers know by now, we LOVE hops. The more the better and we have not met an IPA or DIPA we couldn't easily kickback with. However, I have to turn in my man card and admit that I struggled to get through this beast of a beer. I did finish it but it was so super bitter and hoppy that I nursed it like a fine Cognac.

When you first crack this brew, it is a rich golden amber color with a sticky lacing from the creamy white foam. The aromas really do jump from the glass and fill up the room. My wife could smell the hops from across the room. They really do a nice combo of the classic Centennial hops blended with the relatively new Citra hop (almost 50/50 according to their website). The aromas are of concentrated citrus (lemon, orange, lime), resin mixed with tropical fruit, with a light spicy quality. It smells like a great IPA but it is very intense. The first sip is spiked with an aggressive tang of bitter hop and hot alcohol. After it does a number on your taste buds, it calms down a little bit. It does a good job of coating your taste buds with a sticky resin after coating. 

Overall, I did like this beer. It is a very extreme version of Ruination, but what else would you expect from Stone Brewery. This beer won't be here for very long but luckily it will be a yearly release from the brewery. If you like extreme beer and you want to give your taste buds a run for their money, then give this one a shot.  Hey, for $7.99 a 22oz bottle you can't go to wrong.

Personal Rating: 8 /10
Style Rating: 9 /10

Wanna try it now? Order it online at: 
http://www.whitehorsewine.com/proddetail.php?prod=636251748004