New Arrivals For Friday August 21, 2009

It seems strange to be receiving "Oktoberfest" and pumpkin beers when the weather is pushing 90, but I guess it's just a continuation of the trend towards pushing seasonals out earlier and earlier. In any case they're nice and fresh right now, so you might as well drink them. We also got the first shipment of bottles from Upright Brewing, so if a light, refreshing farmhouse ale is more your speed we have you covered. On to the list:

• Boulevard - Bob's 47: (commercial description) Boulevard’s fall seasonal beer, Bob’s ’47 Oktoberfest is a medium-bodied, dark amber brew with a malty flavor and well-balanced hop character. With this Munich-style lager we solute our friend Bob Werkowitch, Master Brewer and 1947 graduate of the U.S. Brewer‘s Academy. Available from September through October in bottles and on draught.
• Bayern - Oktoberfest: Smooth, malty, clean, pretty much everything you want in a festival lager.
  
• Sam Adams - Oktoberfest: A dark amber lager with minimal hops and a smooth caramel/toffee malt flavor. One of the best in the Sam Adams line up.
  
• 3 Skulls - Hop the Plank IPA: 3 Skulls is an off-shoot of Baron Brewing in Seattle that gives them an opportunity to brew some NW-style ales without muddying up the German theme of their core lager brand. As a fairly new brewery there's very little in the way of reviews out there, but the distributor was kind enough to drop off samples, so we'll taste them on Sunday and I'll get back to you
  
• 3 Skulls - Black Bonney Porter: review coming soon...
  
• 3 Skulls - Pillagers Pale Ale: review coming soon...
  
• Buffalo Bill's - Pumpkin Ale: An amber ale with pumpkin spices. Not too shabby, but it can't hold a candle to the Elysian Night Owl.
  
• Upright - Four: A brilliantly balanced farmhouse wheat ale. Perfect for weather like this.
  

These aren't really "new", but Firestone Walker's products are pretty popular, so it's worth mentioning that their Pale 31, Double Barrel Ale, and Union Jack IPA are now available in 12oz singles and 6 packs for those times when a bomber just won't cut it.

That's it for now. Check back soon (or check the Twitter feed over there ----> ) for the latest on new tappings in the Biercafé and other info.

North Amberican Organic Beer Fest List

The NAOBF website has been updated with this year's beer list, and while many of the attendees are bring the same things as last year, there's some interesting new entries.

Assuming the weather holds out and I get to attend both days I'm sure I'll try just about everything, but here's the stuff I'm most looking forward to (in no particular order):

Elliot Bay Hop van Boorian - Belgian-style IPA: I've had several examples of this new hybrid style (how many commercial examples do you need to create a new category?), and while they've been hit or miss I appreciate the effort that goes into trying to create a harmonious whole out of two disparate elements.

Lakefront Organic Fuel Cafe Stout - We've had the Fuel Cafe in bottles for a while now, but I just received word from their distributor that they've teamed up with a local organic coffee roaster and reformulated the beer to make it organic, so I'm excited to try the new version.

Upright Brewing Reggae Junkie Gruit and Seven (aka #7) - I don't know if Alex and Gerritt want me to say anything about the gruit and ruin any potential surprises, so I'll just say that I'm really looking forward to this one. I'm also happy to see the #7 on the list; the first batch should be ready soon and popping up around town at the usual suspects, but for folks attending the fest from out of town this is likely to be their first taste of Upright. If the weather gets toasty Alex may regret bringing this instead of the ridiculously quaffable #4, but I'm sure it'll be a popular beer regardless.

Laurelwood is bringing the Green Mammoth, on of my all-time favorite local IIPAs, but I got a chuckle out of their second entry, simply labeled "something delicious." I'm sure that's just a fun way of saying TBD, but it would actually make a great name for a beer.

Lucky Lab Recession Session Lager - First of all, great name. Secondly, this looks like the pick of the fest when you need to tone it down for a while or simply quench your thirst and let your palate recover from all the hop bombs on the list.

Those are my picks so far; what's calling your name?