Friday Wrap Up: New Beer, Sales, Etc...

It's a busy day and I don't have time for the verbose reviews you may have come to expect, but there's a bunch of incredible beer and some sweet sales I've got to let everyone know about. Ready? Here goes...

NEW BEERS:

Achel Trappist Extra Bruin : The cream of the crop from the tiny Trappist Achel brewery in Belgium.

Jenlain St. Druon : A farmhouse blonde with a healthy 6%abv. One ratebeerian says, "After sampling almost 500 different beers I'’ve never tried anything like this...Both interesting, and different." Take that for what's it's worth, but at less than $2.50 per bottle it's worth trying at least once.

Cantillon Lou Pepe Kriek Vintage 2003 : The "Lou Pepe" series is made using double the fruit of their "normal" kriek and aged for 3 years before release. It's not cheap, but it's worth it. We also received another case of the Lou Pepe Framboise that first came in around Christmas.

De Ranke Pere Noel : Beautifully balanced winter beer from De Ranke. Top notch stuff worthy of aging until next Christmas, or the one after that, or....you get the idea.

Fantome de Noel : We had some of this around the holidays, but it's so good (especially after 2-3 years) that I had to buy more when they offered it to me. It's reminiscent of lavender and milk chocolate with a complexity that will confound and delight you.

Fantome Bris-BonBons : Dany, the brewer at Fantome, set out to make a beer "so bitter that no one could drink it." Problem is, everyone loves it. In case you're wondering, the name is a Flemish slang term roughly meaning "ball-breaker." That pretty much says it all.

Geant's Saison Voisin : Brought to you by the same brewery that produces the Goliath Tripel, this light saison should be perfect for a summer afternoon.

Isle Of Skye Wee Beast : Clocking in at 7% abv, this tasty Scottish ale will sneak up on you if you aren't careful.

Salopian Entire Butt Porter : The name refers to the old British usage of "butt" which defines a particular size barrel, not the part of your anatomy that you rest on while drinking. Made using 14 different malts [yes, 14!], it has very little hop flavor and derives almost all it's flavor and bitterness from the the blend and amount of malts.

Thiriez XXtra : A dry-hopped farmhouse ale. I'm not sure what to make of that, but judging by the picture on the label it's all about the hops. I'd bet there's a pleasant fruity yeastiness lurking in there too. I'll have one when I get home from work and get back to you.

Kulmbacher Kapuziner Weisse : From the brewery that brings us the always incredible EKU 28, here's "the world's most refreshing beer." [Their words, not mine] Bold statement, but unless you come in and try one you'll never know if they're right...

SALE BEERS:

The obvious choices for sale beer this week are Mexican, so in the spirit of celebrating other cultures by drinking their cheap beer we have Corona, Negra Modelo, and Pacifico Clara on sale for $1.20 per bottle or $13.70/12pk

Not in the mood for Mexican? We've got some other tasty sale beers as well.

Konig Ludwig Weissbier : The official state brewery of Bavaria puts out one of the most under-rated Hefes on the market. You could argue that it lacks the depth of character of something like Wiehenstephaner or Schneider, but it's less than half the price so I think it's a great value. Right now it's an even better value on sale for only $7.20/6pk.

Fish Blonde : A light refreshing blonde ale brewed with a bit of rye to give it a gentle spicy character that blends beautifully with the pleasantly understated hops.

Butte Creek Winter Ale : Our Butte Creek distributor bought a bit too much of this over the winter. Their loss is your gain because we have this easy-drinking American brown ale on sale for a ridiculous price. How ridiculous? How's $3.95 per 6pack sound? That's right, only $15.80 per case! You can't get much cheaper than that without dipping into macrobrew territory so get some while it lasts.

RANDOM NOTES:

Same Amazing Beer, New Smaller Bottle: Great Divide's Hercules and Yeti, two of our best selling "bombers" [22oz bottles] are now available in an easier to hold 12oz size. Priced at $2.95 each they're basically the same price per ounce as the large ones, but now you won't feel compelled to drink 22oz of 10% beer in one sitting. Unless, of course, you want to.

Cider Sales Growing: Now that it's warm and sunny again people's thoughts turn to things other than beer. Shocking but true. If beer isn't your thing [if beer isn't your thing you're probably not reading this anyway] or if you just want a change of pace, stop in and grab a bottle of cider produced right here in Oregon. We have bottles from Blue Mountain in Milton-Freewater, Wandering Aengus down near Salem, and Ford Farms Cider from an orchard on Sauvie Island. If your experience with cider begins and ends with Wyders you really owe it to yourself to try some of the "craft brewed" kind.

I think that's it for today. If you have any questions about any of these beers feel free to post a comment or call us here at the shop. Have a great Cinco de Mayo, and as always: Drink better, not more!