New Arrivals For Friday 11.09.07

Just when you think the flood of new beers is going to subside, the Shelton Brothers unleash another torrent of tasty treats. Throw in some new regional craft beers and gift packs and you've got one big pile of new beer. Without further ado:

New U.S. craft brews:

Stone - Double Bastard 3 liter bottles: Same bastard, bigger bottle...are you worthy?

Lazy Boy - Mistletoe Bliss: The second beer from Lazy Boy to arrive in Oregon is their winter offering, Mistletoe Bliss. It's described as a brown ale on steroids, kissed with hints of cinnamon, spice and oranges to warm those cold winter nights.

Hale's - Wee Heavy: Hale's current seasonal is malty and warming, with a lingering hint of lip-smacking stickyness. Caramel, wood, and a touch of peaty smoke round out the flavor profile. Great sipper for cold nights.

Dogfish Head - Olde School Barleywine: Leave it to Dogfish Head to take an already extreme style and crank it up a notch. At 15% abv, the Old School is pushing the limits of alcohol, even for a barleywine. If memory serves, it can be pretty hot when fresh, but let it age for a year or two and it melds nicely like a potent, alcoholic stew.


New Italian Beers:

Birrificio Italiano - Scires: Commercial Description: Brewed by way of single step infusion. Bottom fermenting yeast is added to induce fermentation at 10°C (48°F). When attenuation reaches 50 %, it is blended with a combination of old and young sour beer that were fermented with lactic acid bacteria, wild yeast and black sweet cherries. The fermentation continues and the natural sugars from the malt and cherries are converted to alcohol. At the end of primay fermentation, fresh beer wort and top fermenting Saccharomyces Cerevisiae yeast are added. The beer is then bottled and sent to refermentation in a cold room at around 7°C (42°F). The refermentation lasts about 4 months. Translation: Fruity, sour, and pretty limited with only 16 bottles available.


New Swedish Beers:

NOTE: There's very little information available on these beers except the stuff on their website. If anyone speaks Swedish and wants to fill us in on Nils Oscar or Oppigards please do, otherwise we'll make do with some tasting notes from ratebeer.com.

Nil Oscar - India Pale Ale: This quote from Ompher, one of the top reviewers at Ratebeer: Hazy pale amber. Fruity nose with notes of something that reminds me of juniper/smoke. Richly hoppy, grassy and orangey. Complex flavourwise with wonderfully soft mouthfeel. Firm, yet loght bodied with notes of bread and cookies. Lingering bitter finish. Well balanced and excellently crafted.

Nils Oscar - Barleywine: Another quote from Ompher: Red-brown. Thick. Big maltiness. Complex, with very nice hop profile. This beer need some time to mature. When sampled fresh it is overly sweet, but after a year or so it has dried out and becomes a well balanced hop dominated barley wine.

Nils Oscar - Imperial Stout: One more quote from Ompher: Black. Chewy, full bodied. Complex with salty licquorice aroma. Nice bitterness.

Oppigards - Winter Ale: No commercial description, so here's a quote from Josh Oakes, editor and cheif of Ratebeer: Bright dark chestnut colour. Aroma is toffeeish, slightly hazelnutty, with earthy & brown sugary accents. Rich, earthy, woody, nutty body with toffeeish overtones and a slight hint of diacetyl. Toasty, sweet, "peculier" finish."


New British Beers:

Ridgeway - Criminally Bad Elf: Dark toffee and caramel flavors do time with an oaky astringency and a good dose of alcohol burn. Be careful with this one. At 10.5% it might make you do something stupid and end up like the little guy on the label.

Ridgeway - Insanely Bad Elf: The newest, biggest, baddest elf on the block is certifiably insane! It comes in at 11.2%abv and is billed as an imperial red ale. I can't find anything online about this brew, even on the importer's website, so you'll have to stop in and try one for yourself.

Ridgeway - Reindeer's Revolt: This is another brand spankin new beer from the folks at Ridgeway, and another one that I can't find any info on, so come on in and try it for yourself!


New French Beer:

La Choulette - Noel: I have fond memories of this one, but the intricacies of the flavor are lost in the dusty corners of my mind, so we'll just see what the brewers have to say. Stronger, fuller flavored version of the classic bière de garde. The New York Times just anointed this beer the ultimate bière de garde, and rightly so. It’s a rich, rare treat from one of France’s old guard craft breweries. I'm not sure when this quote was written, and I can't find anything in the Times that mentions it, so you'll have to take their word for it.


New Belgian Beer:

Pater Lieven - Kerst Pater: Here's another quote from Ompher to tide you over until you can taste it for yourself: Dark ruby, no head. Aroma of black currant. Sweet and malty with a hint of balsamic acidity as well as black cherries and raspberries. Roasty with notes of licorice. Salty finish. Complex and very good!

St. Bernardus - Christmas Ale: From the brewers: St. Bernardus Christmas Ale is the youngest descendant in the illustrious family of delicious Abbey Ales by Brewery St. Bernardus. This speciality beer of 10% alc. vol. is characterized by its deep dark colour, with a creamy, thick head and a full, almost velvety taste with a fruity nose. It's a seasonal ale, brewed annualy for the holiday season. The long winter nights are perfect moments to savour this ale with or without friends and to enjoy its unique, complex taste and after-taste.

Val-Dieu - Winter Ale: Apparently this is an identical recipe to the Val-Dieu Grand Cru. I'm not sure why anyone would distribute the same beer (to the same region) under two different names, but the Grand Cru is excellent

Christmas in Belgium Gift Box: This gorgeous box includes one bottle each of: De Ranke Pere Noel, Zinnebir Xmas, Serafijn Christmas Angel, Kerkom Winterkoninske, and Slapmutske Christmas. Some of these beers (like the Serafijn) are only available in this package, so grab one or two while you can.

St. Bernardus Gift Box: This popular gift set includes one bottle each of St. Bernardus Pater 6, Prior 8, Abt 12, Tripel, and a St. Bernardus Chalice to enjoy them from. It's priced similarly to what a 4 pack of bottles would cost, so essentially you get the glass for free!

Whew! Now I have to figure out which one to drink first. Have a great weekend, and don't forget about the Hair of the Dog dock sale tomorrow.