Founded in 2011, IPA Day is a global celebration of craft beer. It is a universal movement that was created to unite the voices of craft beer enthusiasts, bloggers and brewers worldwide. IPA Day was originally developed as a social media-based holiday, but has since expanded into a worldwide party, boasting hundreds of IPA-themed events and celebrations all over the globe.

IPA Day is not the brainchild of a corporate marketing machine, nor is it meant to serve any particular beer brand. IPA Day is an opportunity for all breweries, bloggers, businesses and beer lovers to connect and share their love of craft beer. It is an opportunity for the entire craft beer culture to combine forces and advocate craft beer through increased education and global awareness.

Why Celebrate the IPA?

This illustrious style represents the pinnacle of brewing innovation with its broad spectrum of diverse brands, subcategories and regional flavor variations, making it the perfect style to galvanize craft beer’s social voice.

At the 2015 Great American Beer Festival, the most-entered style category was the American-Style India Pale Ale with 336 entries; the Imperial India Pale Ale had the second highest amount of entries at 208. Its popularity and accessibility makes the IPA the most inclusive style for brewers, retailers and consumers to collectively celebrate.

The goal is to make this year’s IPA Day even more viral. Getting involved is easy! The only requirements are an appreciation for great craft beer and the willingness to spread the word. Anyone can participate by enjoying an IPA with friends, making some noise online with the #IPAday hashtag and showing the world that craft beer is more than a trend.

How to Participate in IPA Day

Organize an IPA Day event at your brewery, brewpub, restaurant, bar, bottle shop, home or office. Be sure to post your events on the CraftBeer.com Event Calendar so others in can join in. Here are some helpful tips on submitting an event.

On August 4, share your photos, videos, blog posts, tasting notes, recipes and thoughts on IPA with the world. Be sure to tag your posts on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, Google+ and other social media platforms with the #IPAday hashtag. Please note that this year we are using a lower case “d” in the hashtag to reduce confusion.

See what other people are saying on Twitter by searching #IPAday. Follow the conversation closely by adding an #IPAday search column on your Tweetdeck.

Become a craft beer steward in your community. Encourage non-craft beer drinkers to take a break from their normal beverage routine and join the collective toast on IPA Day. Set the goal of converting at least one person, if not the whole world of drinkers to IPA lovers.

For more information follow @TheBeerWench

The post How to Participate in #IPAday appeared first on CraftBeer.com.

Since its conception (how’s that for a play on words), alcohol has been celebrated for its euphoric properties. Beer is not only a social lubricant—it’s also a lust-enhancing aphrodisiac that was even worshiped by the Romans. But alcohol can do as much harm to the body as it can do good. Shakespeare alluded in Macbeth that alcohol “provokes the desire, but it takes away from the performance.” All things in moderation, my friends.

When it comes to lust-inducing beverages, craft beer is king. What makes this super sexy nectar of the gods more erotic than the rest is its ability to be infused with additional aphrodisiacs like chocolate, oysters and chili peppers. Although I doubt brewers intentionally spike their beers with libido-enhancing ingredients, one cannot deny the powerful effect craft beer has on the human anatomy, both physiologically and psychologically.

So skip the Champagne this Valentine’s Day and seduce the object of your affection with one of the following aphrodisiac-infused craft beers.

Oyster Stout

According to legend, Aphrodite, the goddess of sexuality and love, rose out of the sea in an oyster shell, forever associating oysters with sexual desire and fertility. Oysters are high in zinc, which has been known to increase sperm count, and recently, researchers have linked the amino acids found in oysters to an increased production of sex hormones.

It might come as a shock to those unfamiliar with the style, but a handful of craft brewers actually brew with theses sexy invertebrates. Some brew with only the shells, while others opt to brew with the entire oyster, shell and all. Oyster stouts are typically dark, roasty and dry with a mild brininess.

This Valentine’s Day, get it on with a dozen oysters and one of these equally arousing oyster stouts:

• Pearl Necklace | Flying Dog Brewery | Frederick, MD
• Oyster Point Stout | 21st Amendment Brewery | San Francisco, CA
• Oyster Stout | Upright Brewing | Portland, OR
• Oyster Stout | Stewart’s Brewing Co. | Bear, DE

Chili Pepper Beers

Fiery and potent, chili peppers are a powerful aphrodisiac. Chili peppers increase heart rate and levels of endorphins in the body, as well as raise the internal body temperature. This intense combo can lead to an energy rush so pleasurable that it triggers an addiction to spicy food.

Montezuma infamously spiked his desire-enhancing chocolate drink with chilies to kick up his libido before visiting his concubines.

These days, craft brewers have been experimenting with all types of hot peppers in beers—even the palate-scorching ghost pepper. Here are some beers sure to spark your fire this Valentine’s Day:

• Ghost Face Killah | Twisted Pine Brewery | Boulder, CO
• Chocolate Heat | Hardywood Park Craft Brewery | Richmond, VA
• Chili Pepper Ale | Six River Brewery | McKinleyville, CA
• 5 Vulture | 5 Rabbit Cerveceria | Chicago, IL

Chocolate Beers

One cannot deny the wonderful powers of chocolate. Personally, I think chocolate has the ability to solve and cure just about any problem in the world. The Mayans worshiped the cacao tree because they believed it was divine in origin.

Outside of its intoxicating aroma and taste, chocolate is a natural mood enhancer and brain stimulator.

Stouts are by far the most common style to feature chocolate but isn’t unheard of to find it in other styles. Heighten the mood this Valentine’s Day with one of these cocoa-tastic elixirs:

• Lugene Chocolate Milk Stout | Odell Brewing Co. | Fort Collins, CO
• Choklat | Southern Tier Brewing Co. | Lakewood, NY
• Sexual Chocolate | Foothills Brewing | Winston-Salem, NC
• Theobroma | Dogfish Head Craft Brewed Ales | Milton, DE
• Shake Chocolate Porter | Boulder Beer | Boulder, CO

Honey Beers

Interesting fact: Honeymoon got its name from an old Viking tradition involving mead, an alcohol beverage made from honey, that the groom and bride were encouraged to imbibe.

Honey is rich in the chemical chrysin, a testosterone booster, and B vitamins, also good for testosterone.

Although honey is almost entirely fermentable, beers brewed with honey still have an exhilarating essence of je ne sais quoi. Turn your Valentine’s Day into a mini-honeymoon escape with one of these mead-esque brews:

• Honey Basil Ale | Bison Brewing Co. | Berkeley, CA
• Honey Saison | Almanac Beer Co. | San Francisco, CA
• HYVE Honey Ale | Uinta Brewing | Salt Lake City Utah
• Southern Gold | Lazy Magnolia Brewing Co. | Kiln, MS

Fruit Beers

Because of their association with fertility (think seeds), many fruits are considered to be aphrodisiacs.

Figs, bananas, avocados, strawberries, watermelons and pomegranates are just a few sensual fruits known to possess erotic powers.

Induce lust this Valentine’s Day with one of these fruit-infused brews:

• Bitch’ Berry | Great Basin Brewing Co. | Reno, NV
• Wisconsin Belgian Red | New Glarus Brewing Co. | New Glarus, WI
• Fig Saison | Ponysaurus Brewing | Durham, NC

Whether aphrodisiacs have true medicinal powers outside of myth and folklore remains a debate. Not debatable, though, is the magical effects of craft beer. What craft beer will you be sharing with your loved one this Valentine’s Day?

The post Find Love with Craft Beer Aphrodisiacs appeared first on CraftBeer.com.

Founded in 2011, IPA Day is a universal movement created to unite the voices of craft beer enthusiasts, bloggers and brewers worldwide, using social media as the common arena for connecting the conversation.

IPA Day is not the brainchild of a corporate marketing machine, nor is it meant to serve any particular beer brand. IPA Day is opportunity for all breweries, bloggers, businesses and consumers to connect and share their love of craft beer. It is an opportunity for the entire craft beer culture to combine forces and advocate craft beer through increased education and global awareness.

Why Celebrate the IPA?

This illustrious style represents the pinnacle of brewing innovation with its broad spectrum of diverse brands, subcategories and regional flavor variations—making it the perfect style to galvanize craft beer’s social voice.

At the 2014 Great American Beer Festival, the most entered style category was the American-Style India Pale Ale with 279 entries. The second most entered category was its little cousin, the American-Style Pale Ale (145 entries). Its popularity and accessibility makes the IPA the most inclusive style for brewers, retailers and consumers to collectively celebrate.

The goal is to make this year’s IPA Day even more viral. Getting involved is easy! The only requirements are an appreciation for great craft beer and the willingness to spread the word. Anyone can participate by enjoying an IPA with friends, making some noise online with the #IPAday hashtag and showing the world that craft beer is more than a trend.

How to Participate in IPA Day

Organize an IPA Day event at your brewery, brewpub, restaurant, bar, bottle shop, home or office. Be sure to post your events on the CraftBeer.com Event Calendar so others in can join in. Here are some helpful tips on submitting an event.

On August 6, share your photos, videos, blog posts, tasting notes, recipes and thoughts on IPA with the world. Be sure to tag your posts on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, Google+ and other social media platforms with the #IPAday hashtag. Please note that this year we are using a lower case “d” in the hashtag to reduce confusion.

See what other people are saying on Twitter by searching #IPAday. Follow the conversation closely by adding an #IPAday search column on your Tweetdeck.

Become a craft beer steward in your community. Encourage non-craft beer drinkers to take a break from their normal beverage routine and join the collective toast on IPA Day. Set the goal of converting at least one person, if not the whole world of drinkers to IPA lovers!

For more information follow: @TheBeerWench

What’s your favorite IPA? Share in a comment below.

The post IPA Day Returns Thursday, August 6 appeared first on CraftBeer.com.

Now, some people might argue that the vessel in which the taco is served—hard corn shell, soft corn tortilla, flour tortilla, fried tortillas, etc.—also plays an important role in the overall pairing experience. This may be true, but my rule of thumb is to choose the shell you like best and focus on pairing your beer with the ingredients inside.

Here in central California, I have no less than ten authentic taquerias and taco trucks within a three-mile radius of my house (tough life, I know). But for those of you looking for a new recipe for your Cinco de Mayo festivities, here are two of my favorite super yummy, super easy and super quick taco recipes and the beers I like to wash them down with.

Tacos de Chorizo con Papas

Tacos with spiced Mexican sausage and potatoes—a great dish that I discovered at a nearby taqueria. Super easy to make at home!

Ingredients

• 8-10 oz. Mexican (or vegetarian) chorizo, casing removed
• Beer for deglazing
• 1 yellow onion, diced
• 1 lb red potatoes, skinned and diced
• 1 jalapeño, minced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• Soft flour tortillas
• Chopped onion and cilantro garnish

Instructions

Boil the potatoes for a few minutes until soft enough to stab, but still crunchy. Drain and set aside. Heat oil in a large skillet, add onions, garlic and jalapeños. Sautee until onions are translucent. Add potatoes and continue to sauté for 3-5 minutes, stirring frequently. Add chorizo, breaking up clumps as needed. Season with salt and pepper, cook for roughly five minutes and then deglaze the pan with a splash of the beer you are going to drink with the dish. Serve in soft flour tortillas and top with the traditional mix of freshly diced onion and cilantro.

Pairing

Chorizo is almost always made with pork, and I’m a big fan of pairing pig products—especially roasted pork loin, ham and pulled pork—with amber ales and lagers.

Pork has a certain sweetness that works really nicely with the caramel malt sweetness of amber-hued beers. Pair a crisp amber lager with the recipe above or make a kicked up, extra spicy version of it and pair with an American amber ale!

Recommended Craft Beers

• Old Scratch Amber Lager | Flying Dog Brewery | Frederick, MD
• Lashes Hopbock Lager | Jack’s Abbey Brewing | Framingham, MA
• Boont Amber Ale | Anderson Valley Brewing Co. | Boonville, CA
• Prohibition Ale | Speakeasy Ales & Lagers | San Francisco, CA

Baja-style Fish Tacos

Beer-battered fish lightly fried and topped with a zesty coleslaw and refreshing fruit salsa. This recipe is equally delicious with grilled fish.

Ingredients

Beer-Battered Mahi Mahi

• 1 lb Mahi Mahi (or tofu), cut into 1 inch strips
• Oil for frying
• Soft corn tortillas
• Beer batter: ¾ cup beer (pilsener or Belgian wit), ¾ cup flour, ¾ tsp salt

Coleslaw

• 1 Tbsp lemon juice
• 1 tsp lemon zest
• ¼ cup mayo
• 1 cup shredded cabbage

Fruit Salsa

• 1 cup fresh tomatoes, diced
• 1 cup pineapple, diced
• 1 cup red onion, diced
• 1 serrano chile pepper, minced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• ¼ cup cilantro, roughly chopped
• Juice of 1 lime

Instructions

Mix salsa ingredients together until blended, set aside. Mix lemon juice and zest with mayo, toss with cabbage until evenly covered, set aside. Stir batter ingredients together until smooth. Add fish pieces to beer batter and coat thoroughly. Heat canola oil in a tall pot over medium-high heat. Slowly add battered fish to oil and fry 3-6 minutes total. Remove from oil and drain on a paper towel. Sprinkle with sea salt. Assemble tacos fish first, followed by slaw and finally the fruit salsa.

Beer Pairings

This recipe can go several ways, which is what makes it so exciting. My top three choices include pilsner (a classic pairing for tacos), Belgian wit and American IPA.

Fruity, refreshing and slightly zesty, the Belgian wit is a good match for the sweet pineapple salsa and lemony flavors in the slaw.

American hops also love citrus flavors, spicy foods and anything fried—making the American IPA a solid choice. Any way you go, you can’t go wrong.

Recommended Craft Beers

• The Crisp (pilsener) | Sixpoint Brewery | Brooklyn, NY
• Pivo Hoppy Pils | Firestone Walker Brewing Co. | Paso Robles, CA
• Allagash White | Allagash Brewing Co. | Portland, ME
• Alaskan White | Alaskan Brewing Co. | Juneau, AK
• Sculpin IPA | Ballast Point Brewing Co. | San Diego, CA
• Head Hunter IPA | Fat Head’s Brewery & Saloon | North Olmsted, OH

What is your favorite beer and taco pairing? Share your favorites in the comment section below!

Photo © Jackie Dodd, TheBeeroness.com

The post Taco and Beer Pairings to Celebrate Cinco de Mayo appeared first on CraftBeer.com.

“Not-owning a physical brewery doesn’t stop us [gypsy brewers] from being extremely passionate, innovative and community-minded,” explains Dan Del Grande, owner and brewmaster at Bison Brewing. “Our mission with this collaboration is to promote and celebrate the often misunderstood world of gypsy brewing.”

Inspired by their second favorite beverage–whiskey–the motley crew of (oddly enough) beardless brewers decided to brew a super boozy and viscously smokey Strong Scotch Ale. Aptly named the Whiskey Thief, the beer was brewed with a blend of specialty malts, beechwood and peat-smoked malts, housemade candy sugar and “dry-hopped” with heather.

Whiskey Thief fills the nose with soft hints of smoke, toffee, roasted nuts and dried flowers. Once you get a sip, KAPOW!!! Rich flavors of caramel and toffee bombard the tongue––slowly breaking away to reveal a deep layer of smokey, peaty goodness. If whiskey and beer had a baby, this would be it.

Whiskey Thief will make its official grand debut at the Bison Brewing booth during the SF Beer Week Opening Gala. It will also be featured on tap during various beer weeks events all throughout the Bay Area.

For all sales and media inquiries, contact ashley@bisonbrew.com

The post Whiskey Thief collaboration brew released for SF Beer Week appeared first on CraftBeer.com.

“I already have a great business relationship with Aaron Gardner in Washington, ” notes Bison’s owner and brewmaster, Daniel Del Grande. “We’ve experienced tremendous growth and sales success with Alpha Distributing in Washington––and I have great faith that we can do the same thing with Point Blank in Oregon.”

Point Blank also has high hopes for the new partnership. 

“Point Blank is happy to add another great craft brewery to our lineup,” Point Blank’s Brand Manager, Jimmy Werbin comments. “With focus on sustainability, balanced beers and 100% organic beer, Bison is a great compliment to our diverse portfolio. We are excited about the opportunity to continue to grow their brand and to help educate consumers on the importance of supporting organic farming.”

The change in distribution has come at a good time for Bison, who hired its first out-of-state sales representative last year. Duke Geren is Bison’s official brand representative in the Pacific Northwest. He will be working closely with Point Blank to increase Bison’s footprint in the state of Oregon.

“I have tremendous respect for the team at Point Blank distributing,” says Geren. “They are super passionate, privately-owned and only focused on selling high quality, craft beers. They are the best partner for a growing craft brewery like Bison.”

For more information on Bison’s distribution, please contact sales@bisonbrew.com

The post Bison Partners with Point Blank Distributing in Oregon appeared first on CraftBeer.com.

For those who live, work, eat and breathe craft beer, our holiday traditions almost always involve the fruits of our labor. After all, craft beer is a source of income that allows us to provide for our families and enjoy everyday pleasures—something for which we are all extremely thankful.

To celebrate, I asked many of my good friends in the craft beer biz to share some of their favorite ways to celebrate and give thanks to craft beer. Below you will find their stories and favorite Thanksgiving beer traditions. We hope you’ll join us this Thanksgiving in raising a toast to the finely crafted beverage that has brought all of us together.

Cheers, craft beer. We are thankful for you.

Thanksgiving Beer Traditions

It’s been nearly a decade since I’ve spent Thanksgiving with my nuclear family, and most years are spent celebrating with friends. Each year, I dip into my cellar and share some of my most precious rarities with my friends, and I almost always bust out a vertical. Here are a few festive beer-themed Thanksgiving traditions from some of my favorite craft beer colleagues.

Amanda King | Marketing Manager | Odell Brewing Company | Fort Collins, CO

For about the past ten years, we’ve gotten together and enjoyed a meal with our extended coworker family. Everyone brings in a different dish, and often the recipes include our beers. We also pick out four or five beers to pair with the meal and then vote on our favorite pairings. It’s one of my favorite days because not only does it smell like yummy beer making, it also smells like turkey!

Mariah Calagione | Vice President | Dogfish Head Brewery | Milton, DE

‘We usually pull a few bottles of Pangaea (our beer brewed with an ingredient from every continent) to enjoy while playing the “go around game,” which our family invented as a way to help keep the kids part of the conversation. One person asks a question, and then we go around the table and listen to everyone answer it. Sometimes the question is thoughtful, but expected (What are you most thankful for this Thanksgiving?), and sometimes the question is completely random (What is your favorite kind of light, and why?). With twenty-plus folks at the table for turkey day, we get lots of great answers!!

Bess Dougherty | Brewer | Wynkoop Brewing Co. | Denver, CO

The past couple of years I have taken my mother out to lunch and to visit a brewery in downtown Denver. I’ll have her try different beers and then let her pick her favorites that I then pick up and bring to Thanksgiving dinner. Last year she picked the beers based on how she thought they would pair with Thanksgiving foods. Mom beer geeking out is just too awesome! Oh, my other little one is that I make the pies every Thanksgiving and, since turning 21, I have also picked up beers to pair with the pies.

Dave McLean | Brewmaster and Owner | Magnolia Gastropub & Brewery | San Francisco, CA

I’m a sucker for tradition—for the little rituals that wiggle their way into your life and make things interesting. Beer is great for that. We usually host a big group of longtime friends and family at our house, and I always bring home a keg of Magnolia’s Winter Warmer, which has a long tradition of being released at the pub the day before Thanksgiving. For most people who come over, it’s their first taste of it that year, and I love the ritual of that—kicking off the fall holiday season with friends and family sharing a beer I have been brewing for 16 years. Having it around that day throughout cooking, catching up with friends, and celebrating is as integral to my Thanksgiving experience as the turkey itself.

Thanksgiving Beer Pairings

A grand meal without beer is no meal at all. Craft beer has the amazing ability to heighten a pairing and lift a meal to the next level. I love bringing a variety of beers to the table, as many styles work with the rich and complex flavors of a Thanksgiving meal. I love partnering a kriek (cherry lambic) with turkey and cranberry sauce, and a brown ale is perfect for washing down mashed potatoes and gravy. When it comes to dessert, imperial stouts, and Belgian-style triples usually do the trick, and you can’t go wrong with pumpkin beers or other holiday spiced beers.

Jacob McKean | CEO & Founder | Modern Times Beer | San Diego, CA

I love The Bruery’s Autumn Maple with everything I eat. I find that pumpkin beers rarely taste like actual pumpkin, but the yams in Autumn Maple really come through in a very delicious way. I’m a vegan, so my dishes are often a bit different than everyone else’s at the table, but I have had so many memorable meals with Autumn Maple. The sweetness and spice of Autumn Maple pairs beautifully with roasted brussels sprouts, mashed potatoes and gravy and homemade seitan.

Julia Herz | Craft Beer Program Director | Brewers Association | Boulder, CO

Turkey and all the trimmings paired with a Belgian-style golden strong ale (BGSA) is my holiday favorite. The main malt is Pilsener malt, so the base malt flavor is reminiscent of graham crackers. The malt flavors fall into the mild white meat flavor of turkey beautifully (not as great with the dark, more iron-centric meat). Plus, turkey is a very mild meat, thus brining the turkey with beer (see Tipsy Turkey recipe) helps you introduce a variety of flavor harmonies with your craft beer.

Then there are the herbal and toasted bread flavors from stuffing that tie into this beer style’s malt and spicy yeast flavors. The common BGSA yeast strains deliver a lot of white fruit esters (pear and apples) and pepper phenols that help freshen and spice up the meal, leaving you tasting more than just the glorious gravy on your mashed potatoes and protein. The more robust alcohol levels of this style (7%-10% ABV) stand up to the richer side dishes, yet the style is drier and lower in residual sugar than many others, so it’s quite sessionable. Finally, the higher carbonation levels of a BGSA help scrub the tongue and prepare your palate for the next bite.

Rob Tod | Owner & Brewmaster | Allagash Brewing Company | Portland, ME

The beer I naturally think of for Thanksgiving is Interlude—our wine barrel-aged Belgian farmhouse ale brewed with Brettanomyces. It’s extremely versatile and works well with the broad variety of flavors in a Thanksgiving meal. The tartness in the beer compliments the cranberry sauce, yet contrasts the thick creaminess of the gravy and stuffing. Most people drink wine on Thanksgiving, and with its barrel-aged vinous character, Interlude can crossover.

What about craft beer are you most thankful for? Share your stories in a comment below! Happy Thanksgiving!

The post Giving Thanks to Craft Beer appeared first on CraftBeer.com.

“Growing organic hops in Oakland not only gives Bison the chance to engage members of our local community,” notes Mark Cabrera. “It also gives us the opportunity to remind them about the importance and impact of organic agriculture.”

This year, Bison was able to yield nearly 60 pounds of fresh Cascade hops from its Oakland hop harvest. The majority of hops came from Victory Garden and the community gardens at Lake Merritt. However, Bison was also able to source a few pounds from Beer Revolution, a local craft beer bar, and a few local home gardens.

To commemorate the harvest, Daniel Del Grande brewed a special draft-only Session IPA (5.5% abv) with the fresh locally grown Cascade hops, which Bison has aptly named the Oakland Hop Harvest Ale.

“Oakland Hop Harvest Ale is super crisp, citrusy & tropical with a touch of pine-like bitterness and a clean, dry finish,” Del Grande explains. “It’s bold and hoppy like an IPA, yet very refreshing and drinkable.”

Oakland Hop Harvest Ale is extremely limited and only available on draft. For all sales and marketing inquiries, please contact ashley@bisonbrew.com. Additional information on the Oakland Hop Harvest Ale can also be found here.

The post Bison Releases Oakland Hop Harvest Ale appeared first on CraftBeer.com.

What is Labor Day?

Many of you are probably familiar with the often-debated rule that you shouldn’t wear white after Labor Day. And you probably associate the first Monday in September with the end of summer and the beginning of school. But how many of you actually know why and how such a holiday came to be?

The first U.S. Labor Day was celebrated on September 5, 1882. Thousands of New York laborers marched from City Hall to Union Square, where they rallied for the most important labor issue of the time: the 8-hour workday.

Oregon became the first state to recognize the holiday in 1887, and several other states were soon to follow. Unfortunately, it took a violent railroad strike before the U.S. government adopted it nationwide. In an attempt to save his bruised reputation, President Grover Cleveland proclaimed the first national Labor Day in 1894.

Craft Beer’s Contribution to the U.S. Economy

In 2012, the American craft brewing industry contributed $33.9 billion to the U.S. economy and supported more than 360,000 jobs (learn more about these statistics from the Brewers Association). Year after year, craft beer has experienced record growth. The industry is continuing to create jobs for hardworking Americans, as well as contribute to the growth and stability of our national economy.

If there was ever a way to toast this country’s hard-working spirit, it couldn’t get better than raising an American craft beer made by American workers at American-owned breweries. And if there was ever a day to celebrate the hard work and economic contributions of craft beer, it would be Labor Day.

So today, of all days, we should be sure to fill our glasses with some distinctly American beer styles. To be fair, these styles do have European roots, so we need to give our friends across the pond a good nod of appreciation. However, U.S. brewers have taken great strides to produce all-American versions of these styles—using American-grown barley and hops, native yeast strains and, naturally, American water.

American Pale Ale

This Americanized version of the English pale ale was born in Northern California—but the details of “who, what, where and when” are often debated. Jack McAuliffe of New Albion Brewing Co. and Fritz Maytag of Anchor Brewing are often credited for inspiring the American pale ale—both having brewed hop-forward ales using American-grown cascade hops in the late 1970s. The style’s enduring popularity and success, however, is attributed to Ken Grossman of Sierra Nevada Brewing Company.

American pale ales are slightly hoppier, lighter in color and lower in malt sweetness than their English counterparts. Strong American hop profiles (grass, citrus, pine) should be present, but not obnoxious. Overall, they should be super refreshing with strong carbonation, moderate alcohol and a crisp, dry finish.

American Pale Ale Examples

• Sierra Nevada Pale Ale | Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. | Chico, CA
• Zombie Dust | Three Floyds Brewing Co. | Munster, IN
• American Pale Ale | Stoudts Brewing Co. | Adamstown, PA
• Stranger | Left Hand Brewing Co. | Longmont, CO
• Invasion Pale Ale | Cigar City Brewing | Tampa, FL

Steam Beer/California Common

Another California-born style, the steam beer was invented in the late 1800s. Traditional steam beers (often called California common) were inexpensively made and intended for blue-collar consumption. Today, steam beers are proudly made with high-quality ingredients.

Anchor Brewing Co. is credited with creating the modern-day “steam beer” (it even owns the trademark on the name). Anchor Steam is considered to be the prototype for this style category, although several brewers have adopted the unique style.

Steam beers are fermented with lager yeast at ale temperatures—which technically makes them a hybrid style. Steam beers are malty with notes of caramel and toast, lightly fruity and pretty dry and crisp. This style tends to have a distinctive woodiness from the use of Northern Brewer hops. Alcohol floats around five percent ABV, give or take half a percent.

Steam Beer/California Common Examples

• Anchor Steam Beer | Anchor Brewing Co. | San Francisco, CA
• Tarnation California-style Lager | Baxter Brewing Co. | Lewiston, ME
• The Citizen | Cismontane Brewing Co. | Rancho Santa Margarita, CA
• Steam Engine Lager | Steamworks Brewing Co. | Durango, CO
• Village Reserve | Short’s Brewing Co. | Bellaire, MI

American Black Ale

The name and origin of this style has been greatly debated by brewers all over the U.S. Those who live in or around the Cascadian watershed call these beers Cascadian dark ales (CDAs), while pretty much everywhere else in the country these beers are referred to as American black ales or black IPAs. Many east-coasters credit Greg Noonan from Vermont Brewery and Pub as the inventor of the style, but the Pacific Northwest folks might tell you otherwise. What we can all agree on, however, is that this category of super hoppy dark beers is American in origin.

American black ales taste like really roasty IPAs (or really hoppy porters or stouts, depending on how you look at it). They are super dark, almost black in color, with a noticeably strong American hop bitterness and flavor profile—think pine and citrus. Coffee, dark chocolate and even caramel malt flavors are common in this style.

Learn more about this style in: “Cascadian Dark Ale: A Rose By Any Other Name” | Matt Van Wyk, Oakshire Brewing “In Defense of Language: or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Black IPA” | Greg Koch, Stone Brewing Co.

American Black Ale Examples

• Back in Black | 21st Amendment Brewery | San Francisco, CA
• Hop in the Dark | Deschutes Brewery | Bend, OR
• Stone Sublimely Self-Righteous Black IPA | Stone Brewing Co. | Escondido, CA
• Black Hatter | New Holland Brewing Co. | Holland, MI
• Noonan Black IPA | Smuttynose Brewing Co. | Hampton, NH

This Labor Day, grab an American-brewed craft beer and join me in big toast to all the hard-working women and men in the craft beer industry!

What will be in your glass this Labor Day? Leave a comment below!

The post Celebrate Labor Day with American Craft Beer appeared first on CraftBeer.com.

On Thursday, Aug. 7, join beer enthusiasts, breweries and bars across the globe in a collective toast to one of craft beer’s most iconic styles: the India pale ale.

Founded in 2011, IPA Day is a universal movement created to unite the voices of craft beer enthusiasts, bloggers and brewers worldwide, using social media as the common arena for connecting the conversation.

IPA Day is not the brainchild of a corporate marketing machine, nor is it meant to serve any particular beer brand. IPA Day is opportunity for all breweries, bloggers, businesses and consumers to connect and share their love of craft beer. It is an opportunity for the entire craft beer culture to combine forces and advocate craft beer through increased education and global awareness.

Why Celebrate the IPA?

This illustrious style represents the pinnacle of brewing innovation with its broad spectrum of diverse brands, subcategories and regional flavor variations—making it the perfect style to galvanize craft beer’s social voice.

At the 2014 World Beer Cup, the most entered style category was the American-Style India Pale Ale with 224 entries. The second most entered category was its little cousin, the American-Style Pale Ale (122 entries). Its popularity and accessibility makes the IPA the most inclusive style for brewers, retailers and consumers to collectively celebrate.

IPA Day History

For the past two years, hundreds of events, tastings, festivals and dinners have been hosted around the world in celebration of IPA Day. Last year, the official #IPAday hashtag was tweeted out 33,697 times by 22,877 different users. The #IPAday hashtag had the potential reach of 25.04 million people and appeared on nearly 54.2 million timelines.

Throughout the day, the official hashtag trended in several major U.S. metropolises, including Austin, Birmingham, Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Cincinnati, Columbus Cleveland, Denver, El Paso, Greensboro, Harrisburg, Honolulu, Indianapolis, Jackson, Jacksonville, Los Angeles, Louisville, Minneapolis, Memphis, Milwaukee, Portland, San Antonio, San Francisco, San Diego—and just about every major U.S. city on the map.

Outside of the U.S., reports of IPA Day were recorded all over Europe,  as well as China, Japan, New Zealand, Australia and Brazil.

The goal is to make this year’s IPA Day even more viral. Getting involved is easy! The only requirements are an appreciation for great craft beer and the willingness to spread the word. Anyone can participate by enjoying an IPA with friends, making some noise online with the #IPAday hashtag and showing the world that craft beer is more than a trend.

How to Participate in IPA Day

Organize an IPA Day event at your brewery, brewpub, restaurant, bar, bottle shop, home or office. Be sure to post your events on the CraftBeer.com Event Calendar so others in can join in. Here are some helpful tips on submitting an event.

On August 7, share your photos, videos, blog posts, tasting notes, recipes and thoughts on IPA with the world. Be sure to tag your posts on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, Google+ and other social media platforms with the #IPAday hashtag. Please note that this year we are using a lower case “d” in the hashtag to reduce confusion.

See what other people are saying on Twitter by searching #IPAday. Follow the conversation closely by adding an #IPAday search column on your Tweetdeck.

Become a craft beer steward in your community. Encourage non-craft beer drinkers to take a break from their normal beverage routine and join the collective toast on IPA Day. Set the goal of converting at least one person, if not the whole world of drinkers to IPA lovers!

For more information follow: @TheBeerWench

What’s your favorite IPA? Share in a comment below.

The post IPA Day Returns appeared first on CraftBeer.com.

“My original goal was to make Kermit a yearly release––rotating it in and out of my portfolio like a seasonal,” explains Del Grande. “But, my customers wouldn’t let that happen. And our customers are always right––just ask my sales team.”

“I get calls about Kermit the Hop every day,” notes Mark Cabrera, Bison’s Sales Manager. “And for good reason. It’s one of the best beers we’ve ever brewed.”

Bison’s Double IPA currently boasts an overall score of 97 (out of 100) on the popular beer rating website RateBeer.com––making it the highest ranked beer in Bison’s portfolio. And if beer geek love wasn’t enough, Kermit the Hop just took home a bronze medal in the IPA category at the California State Fair––the most popular category this year with 178 entries total.

“I was extremely humbled and honored to take home bronze for Kermit the Hop,” beams Del Grande. “California is home to the best IPAs in the world. Winning this medal was almost like winning a medal in the World Beer Cup.”

With over three pounds of Simcoe hops per barrel, Kermit the Hop is bright, citrusy and tongue-tingly bitter. It is an excellent match for spicy foods, strong cheeses, and anything fried.

The fresh batch of Kermit the Hop will begin to ship up and down the West Coast and to a handful of other states around the country this week. For information on where to buy Kermit the Hop, contact sales@bisonbrew.com or send a message to Bison on Twitter @bisonbrew.

The post Kermit the Hop is Back! appeared first on CraftBeer.com.

When it comes to beer for camping, I recommend bringing a combination of both cans and bottles. For outdoor adventures like hiking and kayaking, bring some cans of crisp, refreshing, low alcohol styles like pilsners, wits and pale ales (it’s important to keep hydrated). Cans are also lighter and easier to carry, and they can be crushed to ease packing-out your trash.

For the campsite itself, bring some choice bottles—you know, the ones you’ve been saving for a special occasion. Big, rich, boozy beers are great for passing around the campfire at night. If anything, they’ll keep you warm!

As for cooking at the campsite, I recommend doing most of the prep work at home. Not only will it give you more time to bond with Mother Nature, but it also makes cleaning so much easier (scrubbing cooking pans in the middle of the woods isn’t exactly my idea of fun).

Here are two of my favorite tried-and-true, beer-infused camp-friendly* recipes. Both of these recipes pair extremely well with stouts and porters—especially chocolate and smoked versions.

*These recipes would be a stretch for a back country outing, but for a weekend getaway at your favorite state park or car camping (glamping) these recipes are sure to make for some happy campers!

Chocolate Stout Baked Mac n’ Cheese

Not to toot my own horn (too much), but this is quite possibly one of the best recipes I’ve ever invented. It calls for five different types of cheese, including Gorgonzola, which is one of my favorite cheeses to pair with stouts. This dish serves 4-6, but feel free to double it up for a larger group.

Ingredients

½ cup butter (1 stick) ¼ cup flour ¼ cup chocolate stout (or dry stout) 1 cup half and half ¼ lb. Brie 8 oz. cream cheese (1 package) ¾ cup crumbled Gorgonzola cheese 1 ¼ cup shredded cheddar cheese ¾ cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided 2 cup dry elbow pasta Salt and pepper ½ cup panko or bread crumbs disposable (aluminum foil) baking pan with lid Charcoal, lighter fluid, matches etc.

Directions

Boil pasta in salted water until al dente, strain and put aside. In a medium size, heavy-bottom pot, melt the butter over medium heat. Whisk in the flour to form a light roux. Slowly whisk in the beer and half and half. Add the Brie and cream cheese to the sauce, stirring until the cheeses are melted and incorporated. Stir in the Gorgonzola, cheddar and half the Parmesan. Stir until cheese sauce is blended and then add the pasta. Taste and adjust the seasonings as desired with salt and pepper.

Pour mixture into disposable baking pan and top with remaining Parmesan cheese and panko crumbs. Put the lid on the pan and seal it super tight. Refrigerate and store in a cooler until ready to cook. When ready, create a fire pit, light the coals and “bury” the mac & cheese in them, making sure that the hot coals are both under and on top of the pan. Do not put the pan directly on the fire—just the hot coals. Cook for 20-30 minutes (depending on the temperature of the coals).

Stout-Infused Marshmallow & Bacon S’mores

Chocolate, beer and bacon all mixed together—need I say more? Didn’t think so. Supplies you will need for the campsite include: box of graham crackers, thin chocolate bars, six strips of bacon and beer marshmallows (recipe below).

Skewer the marshmallows on a stick (or coat hanger) and cook over a fire until brown on the outside and soft and gooey on the inside. Layer the s’more: graham cracker first, then chocolate, then beer marshmallow, then bacon, and cap it off with another graham cracker.

Beer Marshmallows

Ingredients

½ cup powdered sugar 3 packets unflavored gelatin 1 cup cold, flat stout, divided in half 2 cup sugar ½ cup light corn syrup ¼ tsp salt 2 egg whites 1 Tbsp vanilla

Directions

To make the beer flat, whisk it in a bowl for a minute, then refrigerate for an hour. Pour half a cup of the beer in a mixing bowl and sprinkle gelatin over it, set aside. In a medium saucepan, heat the granulated sugar, corn syrup, salt and other half cup of beer over low heat, stirring until the sugar is dissolved. Increase heat and bring to a boil until the liquid reaches 245°F.

Remove pot from heat and pour liquid over the gelatin mixture, stirring until gelatin is dissolved. Beat mixture with an electric mixer on high speed until it has nearly tripled in volume, roughly 10-12 minutes. In a separate mixing bowl, beat egg whites with an electric mixer until they hold stiff peaks. Add egg whites and vanilla to sugar mixture and beat until just combined.

Lightly grease bottom and sides of a square cake pan, dust bottom and sides with powdered sugar. Pour mixture into loaf pan and sift some powdered sugar evenly over top. Chill marshmallow, uncovered, until firm (at least four hours), then cut into squares.

Beer Pairings

Roasty malt flavors really play well with both of these recipes—especially with the added smoke from cooking over an open fire. As with most recipes that include beer, I suggest pairing each dish with the same beer used to make it. Recommended styles include chocolate stouts, dry stouts, porters and smoked porters.

Recommended Beers

• Campfire Stout | High Water Brewing | Chico, CA
• Chocolate Stout | Bison Brewing | Berkeley, CA
• Coco Loco Porter | NoDa Brewing Co. | Charlotte, NC
• Coconut Porter | Maui Brewing Co. | Lahaina, HI
• El Mole Ocho (Mexican spiced ale) | New Holland Brewing | Holland, MI
• Mexican Chocolate Stout | Copper Kettle Brewing Co. | Denver, CO
• Midnight Oil (oatmeal coffee stout) | Swamp Head Brewery | Gainesville, FL
• Smoked Porter | Alaskan Brewing Co. | Juneau, AK
• The Tres (Russian imperial stout) | Dragoon Brewing Co. | Tucson, AZ

What’s your favorite beer to camp with?

The post Camping with Craft Beer appeared first on CraftBeer.com.

Several factors impacted the creation of the pale lager family, but three scientific advances were probably the most crucial for this category to exist. The discovery of yeast, innovations in kilning and the invention of refrigeration all led to the development and, ultimately, the perfection of pale-colored lagers.

Discovery of Yeast

When humans accidentally uncovered the power of fermentation thousands of years ago, no one knew exactly how or why it happened. When they learned that the result was not just safe to drink, but also tasted awesome, they wanted more of it. Though they didn’t understand the process, brewers ultimately figured out that magical gooey blobs were important for turning sugar into alcohol.

French chemist Louis Pasteur is the man responsible for deconstructing the beautiful little single-celled, alcohol-excreting creatures we now know to be yeast. He was the first scientist to successfully demonstrate that fermented beverages are the product of yeast converting glucose into ethanol and carbon dioxide in the absence of oxygen.

Brewing scientists then went on to discover that two main types of yeast were essential for making beer: top-fermenting yeast for the production of ales and bottom-fermenting yeast for the production of lagers. Ultimately, a pure culture of lager yeast was uncovered—giving brewers the ability to perfect the process of fermenting lagers.

Advances in Kilning

Most beer styles are brewed with malted barley. In a nutshell, barley is harvested and dried, then rehydrated, which causes the grain to start to sprout and develop sugars inside the husk. The sprouted barley is kiln-dried and roasted to various degrees of color, from pale to caramel to black—a process that significantly impacts the flavor and texture of beer.

Time, temperature and ventilation are the three critical factors of kilning. Pale malts require lower temperatures and higher ventilation—the ideal drying environment. Before the late 1600s, most beer was brown because these perfect kilning conditions could not be met.

Finally, in the late 1600s, the Brits discovered that kilning over coke could make pale malts. No, kids, not that coke. Coke as in coal, heated in the absence of oxygen, that gives off heat with little to no smoke. It took the Germans more than a century to pick up on it, but they eventually started brewing with pale malts by the early 1800s.

Refrigeration

In German, the term ‘lager’ translates to ‘storage’ (or ‘to store’). Lager yeast requires cooler temperatures for fermentation, which for a long time restricted the brewing season for lagers to the colder months. Traditionally, Munich brewers would brew in the winter months and store the beer in ice caves for consumption in the summer.

The invention of refrigeration allowed the Germans to brew a more consistent product year-round, and made it possible to keep beer cold prior to serving. Refrigeration also helped stabilize beer, helping it better survive exportation.

The first large-scale refrigerated lagering tanks were developed for Spaten Brewery in 1873. This allowed lagers to be produced on a larger scale, revolutionizing the lager industry. It is also important to note that the invention of refrigeration is often referenced as a major turning point in the history of beer. It is a key mark of the modern era of brewing.

Importance of the Reinheitsgebot

Also known as the German Purity Law, the original Reinheitsgebot dictated that Bavarian beer could only be brewed with barley, hops and water. Naturally, once yeast was discovered, it was grandfathered in to the law.

Even though the Reinheitsgebot was instituted in 1516, its biggest impact didn’t come until 1871, during the unification of Germany. Enforcement of the law was increased to prevent competition from beer brewed in other countries. Sadly, it also forced the extinction of many “impure” beer styles and brewing traditions in Germany. As a result, pilseners and pale lagers became king, dominating the German marketplace from then on.

The Original Pale Lager Styles

Bohemian Pilsener

The first pale lager recipe, originally developed by Josef Groll of Pilsner Urquell in 1842. Characterized by the use of soft water with low mineral content, Saaz hops, Moravian malted barley and Czech lager yeast.

The Bohemian-style Pilsener is often described to be brilliant pale gold, with a large white head, good carbonation, rich malt flavors, and medium hop bitterness with notable spice from the use of Saaz hops.

While the Bohemian-style can range higher on a bitterness scale, often the German version is perceived as more bitter due to the varying water qualities of the two regions.

Commercial Examples

• Bohemian Pilsner | Mother Earth Brewing | Kinston, NC
• HUB Lager | Hopworks Urban Brewery | Portland, OR
• Lagunitas Pils | Lagunitas Brewing Co. | Petaluma, CA
• Mama’s Little Yellow Pils | Oskar Blues Brewery | Longmont, CO
• Torch Pilsner | Foothills Brewing | Winston-Salem, NC

German-Style Helles

A style created by Gabriel Sedlmayr of Spaten brewery in 1895 to compete with pilsener-style beers, which were rapidly growing in popularity. Main ingredients include German Pilsner malt and noble hops.

Clear pale gold in color with a thick white head, good carbonation, slightly sweet (but not overly sweet) and a very mild, noble hop presence. Of all the pale lager styles, the helles is typically the sweetest.

Commercial Examples

• Bikini Blonde Lager | Maui Brewing Co. | Lahaina, HI
• Hell | Surly Brewing Co. | Brooklyn Center, MI
• Hotter than Helles Lager | Cigar City Brewing | Tampa, FL
• Longfin Lager | Ballast Point Brewing & Spirits | San Diego, CA
• Stoudt’s Gold Lager | Stoudt’s Brewing Co. | Adamstown, PA

German Pilsener

This style was created when the Bohemian pilsener recipe was adapted to meet the brewing conditions in Germany. Characterized by the use of hard, higher-sulfite water, German Pilsner malt and German hop varieties—especially noble varieties such as Hallertauer, Tettnanger and Spalt.

German-style pilseners tend to be lighter in color and body, with higher levels of carbonation and more perceived hop bitterness than their Bohemian counterparts. Light gold in color, highly carbonated, crisp and notably bitter.

Commercial Examples

• Flywheel Bright Lager | Metropolitan Brewing | Chicago, IL
• Hans’ Pils | Real Ale Brewing Co. | Blanco, TX
• Pivo Pils | Firestone Walker Brewing Co. | Paso Robles, CA
• The Crisp | Sixpoint Brewery | Brooklyn, NY
• Two Women Lager | New Glarus Brewing Co. | New Glarus, WI

Dortmunder Export

The lesser-known of the light-colored lagers, the Dortmunder export is another pilsener-inspired style from Germany—originating from the industrial town of Dortmund. This version was brewed with slightly more alcohol to make it more ideal for export.

The Dortmunder export is not as sweet as the Munich helles and not as bitter as the German pilsener—but is higher in alcohol than both. Golden yellow with crisp carbonation, soft cracker-like malts and a pleasantly floral hop presence, the Dortmunder export is technically the strongest of the traditional pale lagers..

Commercial Examples

• Dog Days Dortmunder Style Lager | Two Brothers Brewing Co. | Warrenville, IL
• Dortmunder Gold | Great Lakes Brewing Co. | Cleveland, OH
• Labrador Lager | Thirsty Dog Brewing Co. | Akron, OH
• Jinx Proof | Three Floyds Brewing | Munster, IN
• Oktoberfest Dortmund-style Lager | Ninkasi Brewing | Eugene, OR

American [Craft] Pale Lagers

As with all beer styles, American brewers have put their own twist on the traditional German and Bohemian lager recipes to create their own style of pale lagers. Some stick to old-school recipes, some use adjuncts like corn and rice, some have Americanized them with domestically-grown hops, and some have even gone as far as to imperialize them (brew them at double, sometimes triple strength). And now, there is even a style known as the IPL (India pale lager) rapidly emerging. Those crazy Americans, huh!

Commercial Examples

• Hoponius Union | Jack’s Abby Brewing | Framingham, MA
• In-Tents IPL | Base Camp Brewing Co. | Portland, OR
• My Antonia | Dogfish Head Brewery | Milton, DE
• Odell Double Pilsner | Odell Brewing Co. | Fort Collins, CO
• UnderDog Atlantic Lager | Flying Dog Brewery | Frederick, MD

What’s your favorite pale lager? Leave a comment below!

The post Pale Lagers: The Lightest Side of Light appeared first on CraftBeer.com.

I’ve been in involved in dozens of beer festivals—as media, as a brewery representative, as a volunteer and even as an organizer. On the surface, beer festivals are all the same—they showcase a variety of beers and usually some combination of food and entertainment.

Operationally, however, beer festivals can be vary greatly.

Some festivals are entirely for profit—they purchase the beer from the breweries and all of the proceeds go to covering the cost of the event and paying the salary of the event organizers. Other festivals have a non-profit element, where some or all of the proceeds are donated to at least one charity.

Most beer festivals are organized by a third party company, person or brewery—many of which benefit more from the fest than the charity does. Any donation is better than nothing, right? I agree. But it is also important to analyze the worth of the charity to the festival.

501(c)3 charities provide an event organizer with a temporary alcohol license, which allows vendors to legally donate product. This saves organizers thousands of dollars and a lot of the time. The amount saved is higher than the amount donated to the charity—which means the charity is actually more valuable to the organizer than the event is to the charity.

I don’t fault anyone for making a business out of a beer festival—after all, there is money to be made in beer festivals. The one thing I want more of, however, is transparency. As both a brewer and consumer, I wish more beer festivals would reveal how much they make from sponsorships and ticket sales and the percentage of that they actually donate to the charity.

Working for a brewery, I get asked for beer donations and sponsorships virtually every day. And as much as we would love to support every good cause in the world, Bison Brewing is just too small to give away that much beer.

When Bison chooses to donate beer or sponsor an event, we want to know that it counts. First and foremost, we need to donate to a cause that means something to us as a company. We prefer events that support and impact our local community, and donate all or almost all of the profits to charity—events like Breastfest.

Breastfest

Breastfest in San Francisco is an awesome example of a super transparent beer event that donates 100 percent of its proceeds to charity. It was started 14 years ago by Jennifer Procopio, general manager of Marin Brewing Company, when her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer.

“What really makes this fundraiser special is that it’s 100% volunteer organized and we donate all the proceeds to the Charlotte Maxwell Complementary Clinic in the East Bay,” said Procopio. We are able to pull this event off with the hard work of so many helping hands that generously donate their time and efforts and with the support of Brendan Moylan, owner of Marin Brewing Company.  This is a good time for a great cause and we are proud of what we’ve accomplished this far and how much we’ve raised for CMCC over the past 13 years.”​

Pints for Paws

Berkeley Humane approached me last fall to help them organize some sort of beer-themed fundraiser. As the “step-mom” of a rescue dog and long-time lover of pets, it took me t-minus zero minutes to jump on board.

We decided that an annual beer festival was the best way to raise a significant chunk of change for Berkeley Humane—an organization that is run entirely on donations and corporate gifts. We also wanted to create a new, unique and fun event in West Berkeley.

Like Breastfest, Pints for Paws is a beer festival organized entirely by the charity, with the help of a volunteer team of local beer professionals, marketing gurus and animal enthusiasts. All upfront costs, like rentals and permits, are being handled by Berkeley Humane, and they will receive 100 percent of every dollar raised at the event.

“On average, it costs about one thousand dollars to save a homeless animal,” explains Corinne Lamata, executive director at Berkeley Humane. “This money goes towards providing all of the physical, medical and behavioral care needed—including spay/neuter surgery and loving foster care—so that they are ready to lead a long and healthy life in their adoptive homes.”

The Pints for Paws messaging is simple, honest and transparent: Drink Beer. Save Animals.

Pints for Paws Beer Fest Where: 1050 Parker Street, Berkeley CA When: Saturday, June 7, 2–5pm Cost: $35 in advance/ $40 at the door Purchase Tickets

The Breastfest Beer Festival When: Saturday, July 12th 2-6pm Where: Festival Pavilion Fort Mason Center, San Francisco Cost: $55 in advance/ $65 at the door Purchase Tickets

The post Pints for Paws & Breastfest—Putting the Charity First appeared first on CraftBeer.com.

But being green hasn’t always been easy for Bison, who received organic certification in 2003. “My greatest challenge as an organic brewer used to be the accessibility and availability of organic hops,” explains Del Grande, Bison’s award-winning brewmaster and owner. “But, the organic beer world is rapidly changing. We [organic brewers] have been working with our hop farmers to increase hop supply and the number of varietals available to organic brewers.”

This year, Bison landed a big organic Simcoe® hop contract, finally allowing Del Grande to brew his first organic Double IPA. But the real proof–of how far the organic beer revolution has come–is in the liquid itself. “Kermit the Hop is one of the best beers I’ve ever brewed,” beams Del Grande. “It’s extremely well-balanced and way too drinkable for 8.5% abv. I can’t get enough.”

Instead of drinking dyed beer or (higher-carbon footprint) imported Irish beer, Bison is encouraging beer lovers to choose a more sustainable option this St. Patrick’s Day. “My organic Chocolate Stout is an Irish dry stout––a great alternative to Guinness,” notes Del Grande. “And Kermit the Hop is an obvious choice, with its festive green label. Plus, it will bring you good luck.”

Kermit the Hop is available in 22oz. bottles and draft. For more information on Kermit the Hop’s distribution and availability, contact Ashley@bisonbrew.com.

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“I met Duke through Twitter, and got to hang out with him last 2-3 years at OBF and Winter Beer Fest and my other visits to PDX,” says Dan Del Grande, Bison’s owner and brewmaster. “He impressed me with his beer knowledge—being an educator at F.H. Steinbart Co.—and relentless upbeat attitude.  He’ll continue to provide the best of these two worlds, spreading the word of my organic beers.”

Duke first fell in love with craft beer over 20 years ago during his first visit to Portland’s iconic English-style pub, The Horse Brass. The bartender that evening was none other than the bar’s legendary proprietor —the late great Don Younger. Younger’s knowledge and passion for craft beer made such and impression on Duke; he was automatically converted into a craft beer fan for life.

After leaving his 23-year career in the airline industry, Duke landed his first gig in the craft beer industry at F.H. Steinbart Co.—the oldest home brew and draught supply store in the United States. Duke worked there three years when the opportunity to join the Bison team presented itself.

“I couldn’t be more excited to be working with a passionate group of individuals who not only promote high quality craft beer, but do so responsibly and sustainably,” explains Duke.

In his new role as the Director of Hearts and Minds, Duke will be working as Bison’s Northwest regional sales representative, promoting and selling Bison’s delicious line of organic craft beers to the thirsty patrons of Cascadia.

Duke has lived in the Portland area for the past 16 years and currently resides in Vancouver, Washington with his partner of 13 years, Courtney, and their two children, Coler and Declynn.

The post Bison Hires Oregon and Washington Sales Rep appeared first on CraftBeer.com.

This year, the vagabond brewing crew opted to brew a Belgian Tripel with local hachiya persimmons, orange blossom honey and housemade candy sugar. They shortened the name this time, dubbing it simply The Tramp.

“It’s what we call the beer down here,” explains Alec Stefansky, brewmaster and founder of Uncommon Brewers, the host brewery for the collaboration. “It was also a verb last year. The crew got ‘Tramped’ several times last beer week.”

The persimmons were tossed directly into the mash, where the fruit literally melted out of the skins. The gypsies ran fermentation up to 74 degree Fahrenheit, allowing the beer to develop intense the intense fruity esters characteristic of the Belgian Tripel style. The gypsies conditioned The Tramp with locally sourced orange blossom honey, pasteurizing it in house and adding it to the fermenters roughly two weeks into fermentation.

Orange-hued with bold notes of orange blossom, clove and orange—The Tramp is a fruity and wickedly boozy elixir with a surprisingly dry finish. Tipping the scale at 11% alcohol by volume, The Tramp is dangerously smooth and very seductive.

“It’s tasting lovely, jaw-droppingly so,” Stefansky reports. “Complex fruits, spice, and just enough alcohol heat. “

“The Tramp is rich, delicious, and oh-so creamy,” notes Daniel Del Grande, owner and brewmaster at Bison Brewing. “We hit a perfect spot where gentle honey and persimmon flavors, spicey yeast notes, and an exquisitely fine carbonation from  secondary honey fermentation linger in your mouth!!”

“FYI, this beer is da sh*t!!  Really excellent flavor and mouthfeel. Happy Happy Joy Joy!!,” exclaims Steve Altimari, brewmaster at High Water Brewing Company.

During SF Beer Week, you can try The Tramp at three events.  First, her grand debut will be during the SF Beer Week Opening Gala celebration.  The Gala will also feature last year’s Belgian Tramp, a quad brewed with figs, raisin and dates, as well as a Chardonnay Barrel-aged version of the Belgian Tramp.  The Band of Gypsies are also partnering on two beer week events—a tap takeover at Bobby G’s Pizzeria in Berkeley on February 10th from 6-9pm and a Gypsy Beer Brunch at Barclay’s Pub in Rockridge (Oakland) on February 16th from 11am-3pm.

Members of the 2014 Band of Gypsies Collaboration Beer Project include Bison Organic Beer, High Water Brewing Company, Oakland Brewing Co., Pacific Brew Labs, Pine Street Brewery & Uncommon Brewers.

The post Band of Gypsies Release 2nd Collaboration Beer appeared first on CraftBeer.com.

“It might sound like a modern-day concept, but people have been brewing with flowers and herbs for thousands of years,” explains Routson. “Hops are actually the more contemporary flavoring agent.”

“Herbs, like basil and lemongrass, have been a major part of Bison’s brewing history since we started in 1989,” boasts Del Grande. “I welcomed the opportunity to continue this tradition with Saison de Wench.”

Using Bison’s gold medal award-winning farmhouse ale recipe as the base, Saison de Wench features a botanical blend of organic roses, organic hibiscus and organic lemongrass—each strategically added in various stages throughout the brewing process, including the mash.

“We put all of the hibiscus in the mash in order to extract as much flavor and color as possible. The lemongrass and roses were added in the whirlpool to capture otherwise volatile aromas,” notes Del Grande. “The result is pink-hued, refreshingly tart and slightly fruity ale with a bright floral nose and spicy, dry finish.”

Saison de Wench LabelSaison de Wench will make its grand debut the 2nd week of February on draft and in stylishly sleek, yet gender-neutral pink 4-packs. “As with all my beers, the packaging showcases the main ingredients––which, in this particular case, are pink,” explains Del Grande. “It’s not meant to attract or alienate either gender.”

“No one else has put a beer into pink carriers,” says Routson. “From a marketing perspective it’s quite original and, dare I say, brilliant.”

Saison de Wench will officially release during San Francisco Beer Week. Official release party is TBD. For information on Saison de Wench sales and distribution, contact sales@bisonbrew.com.

The post Bison Announces New Seasonal: Saison de Wench appeared first on CraftBeer.com.

October 22, 2013 (Berkeley, Calif.)––In the fall of 2012, the City of Oakland approached Bison Organic Beer about growing organic hops in one of their Community Gardens. As a resident of Oakland, Bison’s Sales Manager Mark Cabrera thought it was a great idea and immediately began researching which hop varietals would thrive the best in Oakland’s weather.

The research came back with a resounding vote for Cascade–a hop varietal known for its flowery, citrus-like quality and slight grapefruit characteristic. Bison planted the Cascade hops in various community and home gardens through Oakland last March.

“When we started our project, we were told not to expect many hops in our first year. It is not until the second and third years that you really get some hop volume,” explains Mark Cabrera. “If that is true, I cannot wait until next year. We were able to harvest quite a bit, from multiple locations, including Lake Merit Community Garden, People’s Victory Garden & my house.”

This year’s harvest yielded nearly 30lbs of fresh Cascade hops. To celebrate the Oakland hop harvest, Bison brewed a special 15 bbl batch of its Hop Cuvée, a West Coast-style pale ale, with the fresh Oakland-grown cascade hops. Dubbed the Oakland Hop Harvest Ale, this special release will only be available on draft at restaurants and bars in the Bay Area.

Bison will be tapping the Oakland Hop Harvest Ale on Saturday, November 9th at the Hops ‘N Harvest Benefit at the Peoples Victory Garden in Oakland. The event will include a brewing demonstration and tasting with Bison Organic Beer, edible garden classes, live music and various activities for adults and children. Food from Fist of Flour Pizza Company and Rosamunde Sausage Grill will be available for purchase.

Tickets are available in advance for $10 or at the door for $15. Profits from ticket sales will go towards the Victory Garden Foundation. For more information and tickets, visit: victorygardenfoundation.org or call: 800-971-6620.

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As you can probably infer, what makes sour wheat beers different from their non-sour counterparts is the use of souring agents including Lactobacillus and wild yeast, or a combination of both in the fermentation process. Made with a blend of pale malted barley and wheat, sour wheat beers tend to be extremely low in alcohol with a lemony, almost yogurt-like tartness and can sometimes be a bit funky.

Although most Americans today enjoy these styles of beer on their own, in the past, they were all often served with flavored syrups, fruit purees or some kind of sweetening agent to cut their tartness. In fact, many of them are still served this way in Europe.

It is important to note that sour wheat beers are not exclusive to any particular group or heritage, many variations abound, but the purpose of this post is to look at three specific styles: Berliner-style weisse, Leipzig-style Gose and the Belgian-style lambic.

Berliner Weisse

As its name would suggest, the origin of the Berliner weisse is most commonly attributed to Berlin, Germany. Although beer experts debate the exact location and date of its origin, the first evidence of weisse-making in Berlin dates back to 1642. Upon discovering the Berliner weisse in 1809 while occupying Germany, Napoleon himself has been rumored to refer to the highly effervescent style as “the Champagne of the North.”

It was the most popular style of beer in Germany by the 19th century, being brewed by nearly 700 different breweries. However, by the end of the 20th century there were only two breweries left in Berlin, and a handful in the rest of Germany producing the style.

Much like the terms Champagne and Bordeaux are exclusive to wines produced in those respective regions of France, the term Berliner weisse is highly regulated in Germany, only to be used by beers brewed in Berlin. Today, many American breweries have adopted the style and actively use the Berliner weisse name in labeling German-style Berliner weisse beers.

The style is a tart, highly effervescent and low alcohol ale fermented with Lactobacillus (the same bacteria found in yogurt). Because it is most often brewed with pale malts, 25-30 percent wheat and bottle conditioned, the Berliner weisse tends to be moderately hazy and pale yellow in color. Its typical alcohol range is 2.8 – 3.8 percent ABV.

Traditionally, the Berliner weisse was served with a shot of raspberry or woodruff-flavored syrup to lessen its sour taste. Although still served this way in Germany, Americans typically drink it straight.

Commercial Examples

• Hottenroth | The Bruery | Placentia, CA
• Festina Peche | Dogfish Head Craft Brewed Ales | Milton, DE
• Tartare | Bear Republic Brewing Co. | Healdsburg, CA
• Ever Weiss | Night Shift Brewing | Everett, MA
• Berliner Weiss | Golden Road Brewing | Los Angeles, CA
• Oarsmen | Bell’s Brewery, Inc. | Kalamazoo, MI

Gose

Although most commonly associated with the town of Leipzig, the Gose (“Goes-uh”) was first brewed in the early 16th century in the town of Goslar, where it gets its name from the river Gose that flows through the town. What makes the Gose most unique and unlike any other beer style is its slightly saline character that comes from the style being brewing with salted water.

It is brewed with a blend of pale malts and wheat and can be spiced with both coriander and hops. Although traditionally spontaneously fermented, modern versions undergo a more controlled fermentation with both ale yeast and Lactobacillus. The result is a tart, fruity, spicy and crisp ale with a slightly salty finish.

Only three breweries in Germany still brew a traditional Gose, but many American craft breweries have revived the almost-extinct style, adding their own unique twists to the traditional recipe.

Commercial Examples

• Gose | Choc Beer Co. | Krebs, OK
• Verloren | Boston Beer Company | Boston, MA
• Flowering Gose | Almanac Beer Co. | San Francisco, CA
• Portsmouth Gose | Portsmouth Brewing Co. | Portsmouth, NH
• Duck Goose Gose | Marin Brewing Co. | Marin, CA

Lambic

Quite possibly the most fascinating and complex of the sour beers, lambics hail from the Pajottenland region of Belgium—just southwest of Brussels. Lambics are 100 percent spontaneously fermented, setting them apart from just about every style of beer on the planet. Instead of a temperature-controlled fermentation with typical brewers yeast in tightly sealed tanks, lambics undergo an open-air fermentation with naturally occurring yeast and bacteria in a flat fermentation vessel called a koelschip (pronounced: cool-ship).

Over eighty types of wild yeast, bacteria and microorganisms can be involved in the fermentation of lambic beers—the most noteworthy being Brettanomyces bruxellensis and Brettanomyces lambicus, wild yeasts known for producing barnyard-like (funk) aromas and flavors. Another unique characteristic of lambic beers is the use of aged hops instead of fresh, which allows the beer to benefit from the preservative nature of hops, without absorbing too much bitterness.

Traditional unblended lambics typically take three years to ferment, although younger versions are enjoyed fresh and used to blend into other styles like gueuze. The various subcategories of lambic include: unblended, gueuze, faro, mars, kriek and other fruit blends. Unblended lambics tend to be the most tart of the group, while gueuzes tend to be the funkiest, with the strongest wild yeast (barnyard) character. Fruit blends tend to be the sweetest and most abundant, while faros and mars are rare and can be hard to find.

Commercial Examples

• Brisco | Alpine Beer Co. | Alpine, CA
• Kriek | Cascade Brewing Barrel House | Portland, OR
• Lambic | Rivertown Brewing Co. | Cincinnati, OH
• Raspberry Tart | New Glarus Brewing Co. | New Glarus, WI
• Kiwi Lambic | Upland Brewery | Bloomington, IN

What Pairs with Sour Wheat Beers?

The high acidity and the very light and effervescent body of sour wheat beers makes them a rather difficult style to pair with food. Summer salads with vinaigrette-based dressings, ceviche, ripe berries, fresh and ripened cheeses, goat cheese, roasted chicken, white fish and some fried foods all make a good match for these delicate, yet complex beers.

The post Modern Brewers Experiment with Sour Wheat Beer appeared first on CraftBeer.com.

Older styles are continuously being manipulated to create newer styles and sub-categories. As a result, style guidelines and categories are constantly changing to keep up with the evolution of craft brewing.

India Pale Ale Categories

One of the most manipulated styles today is the India pale ale (IPA). The Brewers Association style guidelines recognize three official categories of IPA (four if you include the American black ale, often referred to as a black IPA):

• English-style India pale ale
• American-style India pale ale
• Imperial (double) India pale ale

Although those are the only styles of IPA that are defined and judged, the spectrum of IPA sub-categories is not limited to three. Essentially, outside of changing its color, there are two ways that brewers manipulate the style: 1) Take an IPA base recipe and ferment it with an atypical yeast strand; 2) take a different style of beer and hop it as if it were an IPA.

Today, I am attempting to name and describe some of the not-yet defined sub-categories of IPA emerging in the marketplace. Please note that as with most experimental beer styles without official guidelines, these sub-categories are still slightly ambiguous and open to interpretation.

The “Other” India Pale Ales

Belgian-style IPA

IPA base recipe fermented with Belgian yeast. Similar appearance, malt content, hop aroma and flavor profile as an IPA, but with noticeable fruity esters and flavor characteristics of Belgian yeast.

Commercial Examples

• Bitter Monk Belgian Double IPA | Anchorage Brewing Company | Anchorage, AK
• Belgo IPA | New Belgium Brewing | Fort Collins, CO
• Raging Bitch Belgian-Style IPA | Flying Dog Brewery | Frederick, MD
• Triomphe Belgian Style IPA | Brewery Vivant | Grand Rapids, MI

India Session Ale

India session ales provide all of the hop goodness of an IPA, but at a more sessionable ABV level. Learn more about this emerging style in “7 India Session Ales for Summer” by Brian Yaeger.

Commercial Examples

• All Day IPA | Founder’s Brewing Co. | Grand Rapids, MI
• Alpha Session | Drake’s Brewing | San Leandro, CA
• Hoppy Hobbit Session IPA | Wrecking Bar Brewpub | Atlanta, GA
• Trader Session IPA | Uinta Brewing Co. | Salt Lake City, UT
• Wanderer Session IPA | North Peak Brewing Company | Traverse City, MI

White IPA

Belgian witbier hopped like an IPA. Similar color, body and esters as a witbier with noticeable hop aroma, flavor and bitterness.

Commercial Examples

• Chainbreaker White IPA | Deschutes Brewery | Bend, OR
• No. 2 White IPA | Boulevard Brewing Company | Kansas City, MO
• Pig War White IPA | Hopworks Urban Brewery | Portland, OR
• White IPA | Saranac | Utica, NY
• White IPA | Blue Point Brewing Company | Patchogue, NY

Brettanomyces/ Wild IPA

An IPA or IPA sub-category that goes through primary, secondary or other fermentation with wild yeast.

Commercial Examples

• Brett-fermented Eight Point IPA | Devils Backbone Brewing Company | Roseland, VA
• Hop Savant | Crooked Stave Artisan Beer Project | Denver, CO
• Wild Devil | Victory Brewing Company | Downingtown, PA

Red IPA

American red ale brewed at a higher strength and hopped like an IPA. Typically, redder in color than an IPA, with deep ruby hues.

Commercial Examples

• Count Hopula Blood Red IPA | SanTan Brewing Company | Chandler, AZ
• Hop Head Red | Green Flash Brewing Co. | San Diego, CA
• Imperial Red IPA | Blue Hills Brewery | Canton, MA
• Sockeye Red IPA | Midnight Sun Brewing Company | Anchorage, AK
• Tasmanian Red | Samuel Adams | Boston, MA

Rye IPA

IPA brewed with the addition of rye as an ingredient.

Commercial Examples

• Hop Rod Rye IPA | Bear Republic Brewery | Healdsburg, CA
• Red’s Rye PA | Founders Brewing Co. | Grand Rapids, MI
• Rich & Dan’s Rye IPA | Harpoon Brewery | Boston, MA
• Ruthless Rye IPA | Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. | Chico, CA
• Wookey Jack | Firestone Walker Brewing Company | Paso Robles, CA

Spiced/ Herbed IPA

IPA brewed with the addition of spices, herbs or flowers.

Commercial Examples

• Avatar Jasmine IPA | Elysian Brewing Company | Seattle, WA
• Basil IPA | Anderson Valley Brewing Company | Boonville, CA
• Roots Revival Carrot IPA | Twisted Pine Brewing Co. | Boulder, CO

Black IPA

The black IPA is arguably one of the most discussed beer sub-category these days. Technically, the style has already been named and defined by the Brewers Association as the American-style black ale. It is essentially an IPA brewed with the addition of dark specialty malts, resulting in a dark brown to black IPA with a hint of roasted malt flavor.

Commercial Examples

• B-Craft Black Double IPA | Arcadia Ales | Battle Creek, MI
• Back in Black | 21st Amendment Brewery | San Francisco, CA
• Black Top Black IPA | New Glarus Brewing | New Glaurs, WI
• Foster Black IPA | Hill Farmstead Brewery | Greensboro Bend, VT

As you can imagine, the potential for sub-categories of sub-categories becomes exponential when these styles are combined. As more and more brewers step outside of the traditional style guidelines, expect to see more variations of the IPA style to appear in the marketplace. Do you know of others? Leave a comment!

The post The Ever-Emerging Sub-Categories of India Pale Ale appeared first on CraftBeer.com.

Technically speaking, all brewers brew with flowers, as hops are actually the female flowers of the Humulus lupulus plant. Although it sounds like a modern-day concept, humans have been brewing with flowers and other herbs since, well, brewing was invented. In fact, the use of hops as a flavoring agent is the more contemporary technique, only dating back to the 11th century (beer dates back to 9500 B.C.).

Although an ancient practice, using flowers is still a very progressive concept today. With little research available on the subject, it can be difficult for brewers to figure out the what, where, how much and when of brewing with flowers. This knowledge usually comes with experimentation and probably a few muck-ups.

“We learned early on with any beer that you start out very light-handed on the spice, fruit, etc,” notes Garrett Marerro of Maui Brewing Co. “You can always add more later (cold side, teas, etc), but if you overdo it, the beer suffers.”

Regardless of the challenges, some brewers have mastered the art of brewing with flowers. Here are some of my favorite “flower power” ales.

Rosa Hibsicus Ale | Revolution Brewing | Chicago, IL Beer Description: highly drinkable ale steeped with hibiscus flowers and a touch of orange peel for a natural tartness and slight pink hue.

“Rosa is our summer, beer garden beer and the tartness is great on a hot day. The base beer lets the hibiscus shine, both in taste and color. You’ll taste a natural tartness from the hibiscus, which is a great source of vitamin C.  We also use dried orange peel to round out the flavor so it isn’t just the hibiscus and you get some fruit. I like to drink it really cold—like iced tea—and it drinks very easy.” – Josh Deth, Revolution’s Chairman of the Party

Flowers Infusion | Willimantic Brewing Company |  Willimantic, CT Beer Description: saison brewed with wildflower honey, calendula, hibiscus, lavender, roses and a trade secret flower.

“We designed a very simple base beer with a light, flavorful body. We felt that the French Saison yeast strain fermented at a higher temperature would work well with the flowers we selected. The yeast incorporates multiple flavors and aromas that compliment the flowers.” – David Wolliner, owner and brewmaster

Nautilus Hibiscus Saison | Pacific Brewing Laboratories | San Francisco, CA Beer Description: saison brewed with coriander, bitter orange peel and hibiscus flowers. Nautilus has a crisp, tart flavor and a reddish, pink hue.

“When used modestly, flowers produce a great color and aroma that compliment the malty and hoppy flavors already in beer. We chose to add hibiscus flowers to our saison because hibiscus adds a tart and fruity flavor that balances out the farmhouse flavor created by the Belgian Saison yeast. Saison is a light style beer, which allows the flower flavor to blossom.” – Bryan Hermannsson, owner and Chief Mad Brewer

Saison de Wench | Bison Organic Beer | Berkeley, CA Beer Description: Belgian farmhouse ale brewed with rose petals, rose hips, hibiscus, pink peppercorn and lemongrass.

“In 1998, a fantastic book came out called Sacred and Herbal Healing Beer. It validated some of the herb beers I was already brewing, like my Honey Basil Ale, and encouraged me to go further and experiment with roots and flowers. Lighter beer styles, especially saisons, are a perfect canvas for flowers. Saison de Wench showcases the flowers quite beautifully. It has a bright floral nose, hints of tartness from hibiscus and lemongrass, finishing spicy and dry.” – Dan Del Grande, Chief Hoperations Officer

Hops & Roses Brewery | Captain Lawrence Brewing Company | Elmsford, NY Beer Description: Liquid Gold aged in wine barrels with hibiscus, rose hips and elder flowers.

“A sour beer with herbs and flowers just seemed like a good fit in my mind. The beer has a two-part sourness that comes from the Brettanomyces, as well as the flavors of the hibiscus. The aromas are dominated by the elderflower and rose hips, which impart very floral and perfumy notes. Overall the beer is dry, refreshing, tart and lightly fruity…perfect for a spring day in New York.” – Scott Vaccaro, owner and head brewer

Hibiscus IPA | Coronado Brewing Company &  Maui Brewing Co. | Lahaina, HI Beer Description: IPA made with Centennial, Chinook and Nugget hops with the addition of hibiscus flower.

“We try to draw on what the local agriculture provides. Hibiscus is very local, as its known worldwide as a symbol of Hawaii. We often use these, dare I say “adjuncts” to enhance the experience by layering subtle flavors much like a good chef does with their food. None are ever a dominant flavor, they shouldn’t be—it’s beer.” – Garrett Marero, owner and brewmaster

Oh Face, Provisional Saison | Trinity Brewing | Colorado Springs, CO Beer Description: wild saison brewed with lavender and aged in French oak barrels.

“Traditional farmhouse versions incorporated a wide range of ingredients outside the realm of the “base four,” so brewing with flowers was a natural choice. I also use a few mild brettas (wild yeasts) in this beer, whose character is very compatible with the flavors of lavender. In fact, the combination of the specific yeasts along with lavender flower tips creates a unique cinnamon note, reminiscent of cupcakes.”  – Jason Yester, president and brewmaster

Rose Petal Imperial Golden Ale | Caldera Brewing Company | Ashland, OR Beer Description: the beer is like a party at grandma’s house with intense, aromatic fragrance of roses. Brewed with real rose petals and Bulgarian rose water.

“I always wanted to brew with real rose petals—wanted that nice aroma. I choose a big golden ale so the alcohol would balance with the rose petals. I also choose this style as it does not contain dark malts, which would not compliment the rose petals” – James Mills, owner and head brewer

Jasmine Pale Ale | Rock Art Brewery | Morrisville, VT Beer Description: amber ale with nice malt sweetness and just a hint of jasmine and hops.

“I like using alternative ingredients, it makes me feel a connection to the past when beers were made with lots different ingredients. Jasmine is unique, aromatic, romantic and some feel an aphrodisiac. Our Jasmine Pale Ale is a soft summer brew, herbal, flowery and aromatic, great for a summer day. There’s just enough hop flavor that the beer is not sweet, a little caramel malts for flavor and a light ruby color and jasmine in the aroma and flavor, very unique and both guys and gals enjoy it!” – Matt Nadeau, owner and brewer

Baudelaire Series iO Saison | Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales | Dexter, MI Description: red saison

“Farmhouse ales can have earthy spicy notes that work really well with the sweet aroma of many flowers—which often have an earthy note as well. Many flowers have bitter, tart and sweet flavor characteristics which again can work well with farmhouse style beers.” – Ron Jeffries, founder and brewmaster

Quick Wit | Fort George Brewery | Astoria, OR Beer Description: Belgian wit brewed with organic pale and wheat malts, ground coriander, organic lemongrass and wild-crafted elderflower.

“I was looking for something local and floral as our not-so “secret ingredient.” I looked into elderberries, but was soon sold on the elderflower as the answer. Just the right amount makes for a really interesting and quite delicious compliment to the coriander and wheat malt.” – Jack Harris, proprietor and brewmaster

The post Flower Power: Brewing With Summer’s Blossoms appeared first on CraftBeer.com.

“The new and sexy selection of organic hops being made available has finally leveled the brewing playing field,” explains Dan Del Grande, Bison’s Chief Hoperations Officer.  “My hop blend in Hop Cuvée will change every year, like a vintage, to reflect the best crops that our organic hop farmers have to offer.”

Hop Cuvée was designed for hop lovers seeking a more sessionable and refreshing option. It marries the lower bitterness and alcohol levels of a pale ale with the bright and bold hop flavor of an IPA. Golden-hued with brilliant clarity and bold effervescence, Hop Cuvée is crisp, citrusy and tropical with a touch of pine-like hop bitterness and a clean, dry finish.

Crafted with food in mind, Hop Cuvée is a great match for everything from sushi to grilled meats. Recommended pairings include shellfish, sushi, cured meats, Thai curries, American BBQ, carrot cake, aged Gouda, and cave-aged cheddar.

The 2013 Hop Cuvée recipe includes Citra® and Simcoe, two new and exciting organic hop varietals not previously available as certified organic, as well the classic Centennial hop. This year’s hops were grown by Carpenter Ranches, Perrault Farms and Roy Farms—three family-owned farms in Yakima Valley, WA.

Hop Cuvée will be available in 12 oz. 6-packs and draft starting April 1^st. For more information on how to locate Hop Cuvée, visit http://bisonbrew.com/hop-cuvee. For Hop Cuvée label and bottle images, please visit: http://bisonbrew.com/press-kits.

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About Bison®: More than a beer, a movement.   Founded in 1989, Bison is dedicated to crafting unique artisanal ales that not only taste delicious, but also support a farming future emphasizing ecological and economical sustainability. With its organic mission, Bison strives to lead by example, educating that one need not sacrifice the pleasures of everyday living to be green. Bison’s flagships include Chocolate Stout, Honey Basil and seasonal Gingerbread Ale.

Follow Bison on Twitter @bisonbrew and become a fan on Facebook.

The post Bison Organic Beer Unveils Hop Cuvée appeared first on CraftBeer.com.

From retail to restaurants to winery work, I spent six years pursuing a career in wine. I had the honor of being trained by one of the world’s few Master Sommeliers, and even moved to California specifically to work in the wine industry.

Wine fascinates me. It gets me excited. I absolutely adore wine.

And if it wasn’t for wine, I might never have uncovered my love for craft beer. Studying wine helped give me an understanding and appreciation for well-crafted alcohol beverages. Wine trained my palate and taught  me how to taste and pair.

One of the beers that helped me make the leap to craft beer was Dogfish Head’s Midas Touch, an usual grain and grape hybrid, made from an ancient recipe that scientists were able to recreate from alcohol residue found in King Midas’s tomb. The flavors blew me away. It was rich and vicious, almost Sauternes-like, yet bright, refreshing and bubbly.

Midas Touch was, in a sense, the gateway beer that led me to seek out and try craft beer. From there, I uncovered a passion for hops, a love of rich, dark malt and a fascination with wild yeast beers—all because someone decided to infuse beer with wine.

Although beer-wine hybrids aren’t exactly new, the concept is rapidly becoming a big trend in craft beer. Dogfish Head continues to push the boundaries of its beer, but now they’re not the only ones. A couple dozen breweries all over the country are experimenting with wine barrel-aging. Some breweries are even using wine yeast strains in fermentation. An even smaller group are brewing with wine must—freshly pressed grape juice that includes the skin, seeds and stem.

Fruity, oaky and complex—wine-inspired beers artfully combine the best of both beverage worlds. Here are some of the world’s best vino-infused beers from the breweries pioneering the hybrid movement.

Russian River Brewing Co.

Santa Rosa, CA

Originally founded by Korbel Champagne Cellars, Russian River Brewing Co. has been at the forefront of the wine barrel-aging movement since the late 90s. Growing up in a wine-making family, Russian River’s renowned Co-owner and Brewmaster Vinnie Cilurzo was born with fermentation in his blood. His background in wine, combined with a passion for sour, barrel-aged Belgian beers, inspired Cilurzo to create some of the most sought-after, highly-coveted wine barrel-aged sour beers in the world.

“The idea in using wine barrels was to take my favorite component of Belgian lambic beer, which is Brettanomyces yeast, and create a beer based around those flavors of the Brett,” notes Cilurzo. “For Supplication, the whole idea is to match the flavors of the beer with the specific flavors of the wine that was once in the barrel,in this case Pinot Noir, with the fruit (cherries) and meld them all together into one cohesive beer.”

Russian River’s wine-inspired beers include:

• Temptation: Blonde ale aged about nine to 15 months with Brettanomyces, Lactobacillus and Pediococcus in used Chardonnay barrels from local Sonoma County wineries.
• Consecration: Dark ale aged for four to eight months with black currants, Brettanomyces, Lactobacillus and Pediococcus in Cabernet Sauvignon barrels from local wineries.
• Supplication: Brown ale aged for about 12 months with sour cherries, Brettanomyces, Lactobacillus and Pediococcus in used Pinot Noir barrels from local Sonoma County wineries.

Dogfish Head Craft Brewed Ales

Milton, DE

As part of its off-centered mission, Dogfish Head Craft Brewed Ales has been focused on beer-wine hybrids since the late 90s. Inspired by ancient brewing and winemaking practices, Dogfish Head was one of the first modern-day craft breweries to experiment with grape juice and must in the brewing process.

“One of our rallying cries at Dogfish has always been ‘analog beer for the digital age,’” says Sam Calagione, president of Dogfish Head. “So many ancient beverages were hybrids, incorporating grains and grapes as they can compliment each other so well to reach exponential levels of complexity. It’s possible to look backwards for inspiration instead of always looking to the future.”

Dogfish Head’s wine-inspired beers include:

• Midas Touch: Somewhere between wine, beer and mead, Midas Touch is brewed with white Muscat grapes, barley, wildflower honey and saffron.
• Red & White: A big, Belgian-style witbier brewed with coriander and orange peel and fermented with California Pinot Noir juice.
• Noble Rot: A beer-wine hybrid brewed with botrytis-infected Viognier must, Pinot Gris must, pilsner and wheat malts and fermented with a distinct Belgian yeast strain.
• Sixty-One: A continuously-hopped IPA brewed with California Syrah grape must.

Block 15 Brewing Co.

Corvallis, OR

Block 15 Brewing Co. launched its barrel program shortly after opening in 2008. They started out with one Pinot Noir barrel and six Bourbon barrels, but have since expanded the program to include Chardonnay, Syrah, Cognac, Port and Brandy barrels. While most brewers choose to barrel-age beers already in their portfolio, Block 15 designs each of its beers specifically for the barrel that it will be aged in.

“I look at barrels in general as another ingredient for the beer,” says Nick Arzner, founder and head brewer at Block 15. “When first working with a barrel type, I spend some time with the aroma and look of the inside thinking about what it may contribute to the beer. We then use the knowledge we have of various grains, hops, yeast, bacteria and fruits, and build a beer for that barrel.”

For its fifth anniversary this March, Block 15 started brewing with wine grapes, adding fresh southern Oregon Petit Verdot grapes to a Brett-fermented blonde ale.

Block 15’s wine-inspired beers include:

• Framboise White: A strong mix fermented wit matured in Chardonnay barrels with local golden raspberries.
• The Demons Farm: Black farmhouse ale matured in Pinot Noir and Bourbon barrels with local tart cherries.
• Golden Canary: Yearly blend of mixed, open-fermented wild and sour ales from various wine barrels, aged up to three years.

Captain Lawrence Brewing Co.

Elmsford, NY

Captain Lawrence Brewing Co. began brewing with wine grapes and aging in wine barrels right out of the gate. In 2006, when the brewery opened, Captain Lawrence took home the gold medal at the Great American Beer Festival in the German or American Sour Ale category for Cuvee de Castleton—a golden ale aged with Brettanomyces and Muscat grapes (seeds, skins and all) in wine barrels.

“The romance of the barrel is something that really caught my attention,” explains Scott Vaccaro, owner and head brewer of Captain Lawrence. “Putting the beer into the barrel and nurturing it in the hopes that it transforms into the beer I envision—I find that similar to winemaking.“

Captain Lawrence’s wine-inspired beers include:

• Cuvee de Castleton: Golden ale aged with Brettanomyces and Muscat grapes in wine barrels.
• Rosso E Marone: Belgian-inspired dubbel aged in wine barrels with red grapes and Brettanomyces.
• Golden Delicious: American tripel, dry-hoped with Amarillo hops and aged in apple brandy barrels.

Other notable breweries producing beer-wine hybrids:

• Crooked Stave Artisan Beer Project | Denver, CO
• Cascade Brewing Barrel House | Portland, OR
• Firestone Walker Brewing Co. | Paso Robles, CA
• Stone Brewing Co. | Escondido, CA
• The Bruery | Placentia, CA
• The Commons Brewery | Portland, OR
• Odell Brewing Co. | Fort Collins, CO
• Avery Brewing Co. | Boulder, CO

Have you had an amazing wine-beer hybrid? Share your tasting experiences in the comment section below!

Photos © Brewers Association & ClaudioBrisighello via Flickr CC

The post Beer-Wine Hybrids: Two Worlds Collide appeared first on CraftBeer.com.

Sour and Wild Beer: The Distinction

The terms wild and sour in reference to craft beer are usually used interchangeably, but there is a difference. Beers are soured by introducing acidifying bacteria (Lactobacillus and Pediococcus being the most common) to fermenting beer. Wild beer is generally used to describe any beer that displays the earthy characteristics of Brettanomyces yeast strains—often shortened to Brett—regardless of whether the beer is a light golden ale or a strong dark stout. Often these styles receive all three of the bacteria to blend a funky, sour character that many beer geeks have developed an affinity for.

From coast to coast, America’s small and independent craft breweries are producing sour and wild beers that pair perfectly with regional dishes.

Pacific Northwest

In the Pacific Northwest, sour beers are more than a beverage accompaniment with meals, they are ingredients in recipes. The chefs at Cascade Brewing Company in Portland, Ore., use their Cascade Kriek to enhance locally-grown cherries, Cabernet Sauvignon grapes and other seasonal fruits that are added to compotes for meat and cheese plates.

These sometimes tangy beers are also strong enough to replace vinegar in vinaigrettes for salads or give a flavor spike to Carolina-style barbecue sauce.

Pacific Sours

• Cascade Kriek Ale | Cascade Brewing |Portland, OR
• Rainier Kriek | Double Mountain Brewery |Hood River, OR
• Peche ‘n Brett | Logsdon Organic Farmhouse Ales | Hood River, OR
• Ocho Sour | Flat Tail Brewing | Corvallis, OR
• The Lamb | Fremont Brewing | Seattle, WA

Atlantic Northeast Sours

Nothing says Atlantic Northeast like seafood rolls. Whether they’re paired with shrimp, crab or lobster, sours are a match for them all. Their vibrant, citrusy notes slice through the rich, fattiness of seafood.

Sours are just at good at showing their sweet side, too. In Maine, where blueberries grow as wild as Brettanomyces, the tartness of these beers accent the sugary sweetness of pie. These yeasty beers cut through sweetness without overpowering the light, earthy elements of fresh-picked blueberries.

Atlantic Sours

• Coolship: Resurgam | Allagash Brewing Company | Portland, MA
• Tulach Leis | Vermont Pub & Brewery |Burlington, VT
• Festina Peche (summer) | Dogfish Head Craft Brewed Ales | Milton, DE
• Ithaca Excelsior! Le Bleu (limited) | Ithaca Beer Company | Ithaca, NY

South

Peaches, whether fresh-picked or cooked into a spicy sauce and drizzled over shrimp and grits, have found a new friend in craft beer. The tangy element of sour beers like Tampa-based Cigar City Brewing’s Kumquat Berliner Weiss, bring out the natural flavor of fruit, without overpowering it.

The uniquely crisp quality of sour beer, combined with the complex flavor profile of sauces made with peaches and other fruits, creates a party on a palate. And just as easily, sour beers balance out strong flavors while making them dance off each other. From cioppino in Florida to gumbo in New Orleans, these beers effortlessly break through rich, thick and spicy southern staples.

Southern Sours

• Kumquat Berliner Weiss | Cigar City Brewing | Tampa, FL
• The Danger Zone Series (limited) | Highland Brewing Company | Asheville, NC
• Natty Greene’s American Sour 2012 | Natty Greene’s Brewing Company | Raleigh, NC

West

The flavor from Brett gives sours the legs to stand alongside earthy produce like potatoes grown in Idaho or mushrooms produced in California. These beers play just as well alongside California’s more delicate flavorful crops too, like peppery-flavored arugula.

When combined with California’s abundant citrus like lemons, limes, grapefruits and oranges, sour beers create an unmatchable flavor sensation. Creating a pairing with citrus fruits, which are strong enough that they don’t mind the bright acidity of a sour, causes quite a pop on the palate.

West Sours

• Agrestic Ale | Firestone Walker Brewing Company | Paso Robles, CA
• Temptation; Supplication; Consecration | Russian River Brewing Compnay | Santa Rosa, CA
• Red Poppy | The Lost Abbey | San Marcos, CA
• Sour in the Rye with Kumquats; Oude Tart; Hottenroth; Tart of Darkness | The Bruery | Plancentia, CA
• The Meddler | Odell Brewing Company | Fort Collins, CO
• L’Brett d’Or | Crooked Stave Artisan Beer Project | Denver, CO

Southwest Sours

Sharp-flavored sour beers can handle heat, and with the wild yeasts and unruly bacteria strains they’re known for, they’re right at home among the spice-heavy foods of the Southwest.

The beers stand up particularly well against pepper-laden tex-mex staples like hearty bowls of spicy chili and chipotle black bean soups. Fatty beef, like those cuts of meat traditionally found rotating for hours over a barbecue spit in Texas, hold up against the strong flavors of a sour beer. The tangy bite of these beers bring out the meaty flavor that can sometimes be downplayed by barbecue sauce.

• Territorial Reserve Wild Wheat Wine (limited) | COOP Ale Works | Oklahoma City, OK
• Boxer’s Revenge; Funk Metal; Das Wunderkind; RU 55; Ol’ Oi; Bonnie the Rare; Buddha’s Brew; Das Überkind (limited) | Jester King Brewery | Austin, TX
• Los Innovadores (limited) | Santa Fe Brewing Company | Santa Fe, NM
• 5th Element; 529 | Squatters Pub Brewery | Salt Lake City, UT

Midwest Sours

Even in the Midwest, where long-standing, traditional brewers have crafted beer for decades, sour beers are becoming more and more of a welcomed flavor. Central Waters Brewing Company released their sour, Exodus, at the 2012 Kohler Festival of Beer in Kohler, Wis.

The show’s section of sour beers, one of a growing number of sour showcases at American craft beer festivals, featured brews that could seamlessly slice through rich, traditional Wisconsin foods like double brat sandwiches, bowls of pork sausage chowder and deep-fried, beer-battered cheese curds.

When it comes to pairing cheese with sour beer, which can taste a bit funky, the rule of thumb is: the stinkier the better. Aged Brie is a good choice; and tart beers pair as well with sharp Cheddars, Blues and fatty Mascarpones.

• Wisconsin Belgian Red; Raspberry Tart; Serendipity; Berliner Weiss; Old English Porter | New Glarus Brewing | New Glarus, WI
• Exodus | Central Waters Brewing Company| Amherst, WI
• Maracaibo | Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales | Ann Arbor, MI
• Blue Sunday Sour | New Holland Brewing Company | Holland, MI
• Saison-Brett | Boulevard Brewing Company | Kansas City, MO

The post Sour Power: The Wild Side of Pairings appeared first on CraftBeer.com.

Although scientific support for aphrodisiacs is inconclusive, the connection between certain foods and increased sex drive has been documented by several cultures for thousands of years.

Casanova was rumored to have eaten 50 oysters every morning while Montezuma was said to have drunk large amounts of chocolate spiced with chili peppers every day—they must have been onto something!

Some foods, such as figs, avocado and bananas, have been deemed aphrodisiacs based on exotic appearance or resemblance to certain body parts. Others, like garlic, ginger and chili peppers increase blood circulation, while foods rich in zinc, like oysters and pine nuts are known to increase levels of testosterone. And some foods, like papaya and aniseed, have estrogenic compounds which can induce similar effects to testosterone.

Alcohol is also considered to be an aphrodisiac as it lowers inhibitions and acts as a social lubricant and confidence builder. But beware, over-consumption of alcohol impedes sexual performance—so moderation is recommended. “It increases the desire, but takes away the performance.” – William Shakespeare, Macbeth: Act 2, Scene 3.

In theory, combining the arousal-inducing powers of aphrodisiacs can help to increase their potency and desire-inducing effects. If this theory holds true, beers brewed with arousal-inducing ingredients like chocolate, ginger, honey, chili peppers and oysters should be considered super aphrodisiacs, right?

Here are three simple, desire-inducing recipes that combine the powers of multiple aphrodisiacs. Pair each dish with one of the craft beers I’ve recommended below for a truly orgasmic Valentine’s Day experience.

Ménage-à-Trois Guacamole

This recipe combines the aphrodisiac powers of avocado with an endorphin-enhancing ménage-à-trois of chili peppers for super-powered dip guaranteed to get your blood flowing and your heart racing.

Ingredients

3 ripe avocados 1 lime 1/4 cup red onion, diced 1/4 cup red bell pepper, diced 1/4 cup Poblano pepper, finely chopped 1 small Serrano pepper, seeded and minced 1 clove garlic, minced 1/4 cup cilantro, chopped 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper sea salt and fresh ground pepper

Instructions

Halve avocados and remove pits. Carefully remove avocado from shell, using a spoon. Chop avocado into 1/4 inch pieces and put into a medium-sized mixing bowl. Squeeze lime over avocado, toss to coat. Add onions, peppers and garlic to bowl. Sprinkle with cayenne pepper, sea salt and fresh ground pepper to taste. Using a spatula, stir until all ingredients are incorporated. Optional: mash avocado for a creamier consistency.

Craft Beer Pairing: Chili Ale | American Pale Ale

Although not a category in itself, beers brewed with chili peppers are quickly becoming a trend in the U.S. For this particular dish, I recommended sticking to pale or amber styles. Avoid chili-spiced stouts and porters, which will overwhelm the fresh flavors of the guacamole. Can’t find a chili beer? Grab an American pale ale instead! Moderately hoppy with hints of caramel sweetness, the American pale ale cools the heat without overwhelming the bright flavors of the guacamole.

Recommended Beers

• Chipotle Ale | Rogue Ales | Newport, OR
• Sweet Heat | Burnside Brewing Co. | Portland, OR
• Chili Pepper Ale | Six Rivers Brewing Co. | McKinleyville, CA
• Hot-Jala-Heim Beer with Bite | Horseheads Brewing, Inc. | Horseheads, NY
• Zombie Dust | Three Floyds Brewing | Munster, IN
• Dale’s Pale Ale | Oskar Blues | Lyons, CO
• 420 Extra Pale Ale | SweetWater Brewing Co. | Atlanta, GA

Broiled Oysters with Garlic-Basil Butter

Scientists recently discovered that a group of shellfish, which includes oysters, are rich in rare amino acids that trigger increased levels of sex hormones in the body. Broil oysters with circulation-enhancing garlic and blood flow-stimulating basil for an even more powerful aphrodisiac.

Ingredients

12 oysters, opened 3 Tbsp unsalted butter, softened 1 clove garlic, minced 1 basil leaf, minced salt and ground pepper

Instructions

Pre-heat broiler. In a bowl, mix softened butter, garlic and basil. Arrange oysters in shells on a baking sheet. Divide garlic butter evenly amongst the oysters. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Craft Beer Pairing: Oyster Stout | Dry Stout

The dry stout is by far the most popular and time-tested pairing for oysters. A stout brewed with oysters only enhances this euphoric experience. The first known account of an oyster stout dates back to 1929 in New Zealand. Although not as common as most styles, the oyster stout has seen a mini-revival in the past decade or so—especially in coastal breweries. Some breweries brew with only the shells while others opt to brew with the entire oyster, shell and all. Oyster stouts are typically dark, roasty and dry with a mild brininess or slight gaminess. Can’t find an oyster stout? Grab a dry stout for an equally great pairing!

Recommended Beers

• Pearl Necklace | Flying Dog Brewery | Fredrick, MD
• Oyster Point Stout | 21st Amendment Brewery | San Francisco, CA
• Oyster Stout | Upright Brewing | Portland, OR
• Out of Bounds Stout | Avery Brewing Co. | Boulder, CO
• Irish Stout | Saranac | Utica, NY

Chocolate Fig Almond Bark

Worshiped by the Mayans, chocolate is known to have a euphoric and stimulating effect on both the mind and body. Figs are thought to possess aphrodisiac qualities based on a likeness to a female body part. And, according to legend, Samson wooed Delilah with almonds, a fertility symbol throughout the ages. Mix the three together for a super simple and ultra sexy dessert.

Ingredients

12 ounces dark chocolate 1/2 cup chopped almonds 8 dried Mission figs, chopped

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350°F. Toast almonds in oven until they become fragrant, roughly 5-8 minutes. Line a baking sheet or pan with parchment paper. Arrange nuts and fruit on the parchment. Heat chocolate in a double boiler or microwave, until melted. Pour chocolate evenly over the nuts and fruit until fully covered. Put into freezer for an hour. Break into pieces to serve.

Craft Beer Pairing: Chocolate Stout

Roasted malts often give stouts a dark, chocolate-like flavor profile, making them a perfect base for brewing with chocolate. Velvety smooth with rich flavors of roasted malt, coffee and dark chocolate—who needs to eat dessert when you can drink it instead? My thoughts exactly.

Recommended Beers

• Choklat | Southern Tier Brewing Co. | Lakewood, NY
• Black Chocolate Stout | Brooklyn Brewery | Brooklyn, NY
• Chocolate Stout | Bison Brewing | Berkeley, CA
• Lugene Chocolate Milk Stout | Odell Brewing Co. | Fort Collins, CO
• Double Chocolate Stout | The Fort Collins Brewery | Fort Collins, CO

Myth or truth, most aphrodisiacs are superfood powerhouses boasting a laundry list of health benefits. The healthier people feel the happier they are. And happiness itself is a great aphrodisiac! So, whether you believe in the power of aphrodisiacs or not, share one of the pairings above with someone you love this Valentine’s Day!

Be sure to check out Ashley’s post “Find Love with Craft Beer Aphrodisiacs,” where she shares craft beers brewed with lust-enhancing ingredients like chocolate, chili peppers, oysters and honey.

The post Cupid’s Guide: Aphrodisiacs Love Craft Beer appeared first on CraftBeer.com.

On Feb. 7 from 7-8 p.m. CST, join Whole Foods Market (@WholeFoods) and The Beer Wench (@TheBeerWench) to chat about chocolate beers, cooking with beer recipes, and perfect beer pairings for Valentine’s Day. Taste and tweet about four tantalizing chocolate beers with the breweries that make them.

To participate, pick up one or all of the featured chocolate beers and tweet your experience using the hashtag #WFMBeer. Every 15 minutes, the focus of the tasting will shift to a different beer. The schedule is as follows:

7:00 p.m. CST: Samuel Smith’s (@merchantduvin) Organic Chocolate Stout

7:15 p.m. CST: Odell Brewing (@OdellBrewing) Lugene Chocolate Milk Stout

7:30 p.m. CST: Bison Organic Beer (@bisonbrew) Organic Chocolate Stout

7:45 p.m. CST: Southern Tier (@stbcbeer) Choklat

Skip the diamonds and the pearls this Valentine’s Day and woo your special someone with a velvety smooth, rich and chocolatey craft beer.

If you can’t find one of the recommended beers, simply ask your local Whole Foods Market beer specialist to make a chocolate beer recommendation and join the conversation on Twitter.

Participation is limited to those 21 years or older.

The post Taste & Tweet Chocolate Beers on Feb 7! appeared first on CraftBeer.com.

The Brewers Association (BA) defines this type of brewery as a contract brewing company—essentially a business that hires another brewery to produce its beer. The contract brewing company is often responsible for recipe development and handles the marketing, sales and distribution of the beer.

“Not-owning a physical brewery doesn’t stop us [gypsy brewers] from being extremely passionate, innovative and community-minded,” notes Band of Gypsies ring leader, Ashley Routson of Bison Organic Beer. “Our mission is to work together to promote and celebrate each other, and educate the craft beer community on the world of gypsy brewing.”

Members of the Band of Gypsies Collaboration Beer Project include Bison Organic Beer, Calicraft Brewing Co., Highwater Brewing, Lucky Hand, Oakland Brewing Co., Pacific Brew Labs, Triple Voodoo & Uncommon Brewers (host). All of the breweries have headquarters and live in the Bay Area.

In honor of San Francisco Beer Week 2013, the Band of Gypsies is releasing its first collaboration beer, aptly named The Belgian Tramp – an organic Belgian Quad brewed with house-made candy sugar, California-grown Mission figs, raisins and dates. Boasting a hefty 10.5% abv., Belgian Tramp is sticky sweet and boozy with rich flavors of dark fruit, roasted malt and caramel, a moderate hop bitterness, and a smooth, dry finish.

“The opportunity to collaborate with this many great brewers doesn’t come around all that often. We had a lot of fun sitting down and bouncing ideas back and forth, trying to find the right expression for this collaboration,” Alec Stefansky, brewmaster of Uncommon Brewers, explains. “I think that the beer we landed upon does a fantastic job of showing what’s so exciting about the Bay Area’s brewing community, a fusion of old-world techniques and West Coast innovation.”

During San Francisco Beer Week 2013, the Band of Gypsies will be co-hosting a series of tap takeovers all over the Bay Area. Each event will spotlight The Belgian Tramp collaboration beer, as well as feature craft beers from each individual brewery’s portfolio. For a full schedule of events and updates about the Band of Gypsies Collaboration Beer Project, follow @GypsyBrewers on Twitter and Like the project on Facebook: http://facebook.com/gypsybrewers

The post Bay Area Gypsy Brewers Band Together for SF Beer Week 2013 appeared first on CraftBeer.com.

Although it has its place in the world of beverage pairings, meat isn’t the only food worthy of pairing with beer. The spectrum of flavors and textures in vegetarian and vegan cuisine is considerably broad—making veggie dishes just as, if not more, suited for beer pairings than their meat-centric counterparts.

But don’t take my word for it.

The following meatless dishes and pairings have been collected from respected professionals in various aspects of the craft beer industry—all of whom share both a love for craft beer and an abstinence from meat in common. Try one (or all) and see for yourself how amazing, fun, and flavorful vegetarian beer pairings can be!

Grilled Portabella “Burger” | Smoked Porter

The Pro: Angelo De Ieso: Founder, BREWPUBLIC.com; Beertender, Beer Revolution

Dish: Marinated and grilled portabella mushroom on a grilled ciabatta bun, topped with caramelized onions, vegan chipotle “mayo” and mixed greens.

Recipe: Vegan Chipotle Mayonnaise via CleanGreenSimple.com

Pairing: The thick, meaty texture and juicy, sponge-like quality of portabella mushrooms make them an extremely flavorful substitute for burgers. The earthy, charred flavors of grilled portabellas are a perfect pairing for the slightly burnt, bittersweet, and roasted malt character of a porter—especially smoked versions. Caramelized onions bring out a hint of sweetness in the beer, while the smoked flavors in the chipotle mayo are a dead match for the smoked malts.

Commercial Examples

• Ranger Creek Brewing & Distilling | San Antonio, TX | Mesquite Smoked Porter
• O’Fallon Brewery | O’Fallon, MO | Smoked Porter
• Left Hand Brewing Company | Longmont, CO | Smoke Jumper, smoked imperial porter
• Alaskan Brewing Company | Juneau, AK | Smoked Porter
• Stone Brewing Co. | Escondido, CA | Smoked Porter

Seitan Pot Pie | Dortmunder Export

The Pro: Tracy Hurst: President, Metropolitan Brewing

Dish: Seitan sautéed in a dash of peanut oil and plenty of soy sauce, baked with veggies, under a flaky, hand-made vegan crust.

Recipe: Seitan Pot Pie via The Mighty Vegan

Pairing: A well made dortmunder features balanced malt and hop profiles. Malty, sweet flavors compliment the savory notes of the pot pie; and the crisp, dry finish provides a balance to the heavier mouthfeel of the dish.

Commercial Examples

• Metropolitan Brewing | Chicago, IL | Flywheel Bright Lager
• Great Lakes Brewing Company | Cleveland, OH | Dortmunder Gold Lager
• Two Brothers Brewing Company | Warrenville, IL | Dog Days Dortmunder Style Lager

Vegan “Hawaiian” Pizza | American Pale Ale

The Pro: Jacob McKean: Founder and CEO, Modern Times Beer

Dish: Pizza with homemade tomato sauce, pineapple, onion, vegan sausage, and a sprinkling of dairy-free “cheese”.

Recipe: Jacob’s Vegan “Hawaiian” Pizza Recipe

Make or buy pizza dough. Make tomato sauce by mashing a can of whole peeled tomatoes and simmering with garlic, smoked paprika, Italian herbs, and salt until thick. Spread sauce over stretched dough and top with slices of pineapple, vegan sausage (recommended: Smoked Tomato Field Roast), and thinly sliced raw onion. Toss a handful of dairy-free cheese (recommended: Daiya) over the whole shebang, put it in the oven at 450° for 20 minutes, then revel in the fact that you just made a ridiculously good animal-free pizza.

Pairing: The dominant flavors of the pizza are smoke, tomato and sweet pineapple. It’s a shockingly delicious combination, and you want something that’s going to cleanse your 
palate between bites. At the same time, it’s bready so you want something you can drink in quantity. A hoppy pale ale does the job perfectly, and it’s also a no-nonsense style that won’t distract from the pizza or make the whole thing seem too formal.

Commercial Examples

• Three Floyds Brewing Company | Chicago, IL | Alpha King
• New Glarus Brewing | New Glarus, WI | Moon Man
• Oskar Blues | Lyons, CO | Dale’s Pale Ale
• Captain Lawrence Brewing Company | Elmsford, NY | Fresh Chester Pale Ale

Fire-Roasted Corn Chowder with Sriracha | Rye IPA

Photo © Leo Gong

The Pro: Randy Clemens: Media and Communications Linchpin, Stone Brewing Co.; author of The Sriracha Cookbook and The Veggie Lover’s Sriraca Cookbook (Jul 2013)

Recipe: Randy’s Fire-Roasted Corn Chowder with Sriracha I via The Sriracha Cookbook Blog

Pairing: Combat the corn’s natural sweetness with something nice and hoppy, though I’d stay on the lighter side of the color spectrum. Rye IPAs would be rad, especially if you opt for the coconut milk in place of the cream (vegan version). The added peppery character of rye really plays well off of the flavors in either version of the recipe.

Commercial Examples

• Bear Republic Brewing Co. | Cloverdale, CA | Hop Rod Rye
• Sierra Nevada Brewing Company | Chico, CA | Ruthless Rye IPA
• Founders Brewing Company | Grand Rapids, MI | Red Rye PA
• He’Brew | San Francisco, CA | Bittersweet Lenny’s RIPA.

Raw “Buddha Bowl” | Saison

The Pro: Win Bassett: All About Beer Magazine; Executive Director, North Carolina Brewers Guild

Dish: A layer of raw kale, massaged with raw apple cider vinegar, topped with cauliflower rice, an assortment of seasonal raw vegetables, avocado, homemade kimchi, and homemade purple sauerkraut.

Pairing: Garrett Oliver (Brooklyn Brewery) has called the saison the “Swiss-army knife” of pairings, and this combination of vibrant raw food and a dry, lively, and slightly hoppy farmhouse ale is no exception. While the creamy head of the French-and Belgian-inspired beer complements the soft avocado that sits atop a pile of greens, the spicy and herbal character of the beer heightens the kick of the similarly fermented kimchi and kraut that crown the dish.

Commercial Examples

• Wedge Brewing Company | Asheville, NC | Super Saison
• Logsdon Farmhouse Ales | Hood River, OR | Seizoen Bretta
• Boulevard Brewing Company | Kansas City, MO | Tank 7 Farmhouse Ale
• Brooklyn Brewery | Brooklyn, NY | Sorachi Ace

Spicy BBQ Seitan with Tangy Slaw | American Red Ale

The Pro: Kory Stetina: Co-Founder, LOVELIKEBEER

Dish: A Korean-style spicy BBQ sauce over a rich, filling wheat protein and a tangy non-fermented Kimchee-like slaw.

Recipe: Kory’s BBQ Sauce

1/4 cup soy sauce, 1 cup orange juice, 8 cloves chopped garlic, 1 bunch chopped green onions, 1/4 cup peeled and sliced ginger, 1 cup sugar, 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1/2 cup chili paste, 1/8 cup agave nectar, 2 Tbsp black pepper.

Mix all into a pot, bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and reduce the sauce to desired thickness, strain.

Pairing: This is a play on a dish we created for LOVELIKEBEER’s menu series with Chef Tommy Fraioli at Sea Rocket Bistro. The caramelized crunchiness of the seitan is rounded out by the caramel malt of the beer, while the spicy sauce is accentuated by the bitter hoppiness. The citrus slices and acidic slaw pick up the same floral and citrus notes in the west-coast-style hops. The result is an intense, incredibly full-flavored pairing and a super filling meal packed with protein and complexity.

Commercial Examples

• Green Flash Brewing Company | San Diego, CA | Hop Head Red
• Lagunitas Brewing Company | Petaluma, CA | Imperial Red Ale
• Speakeasy Ales and Lagers | San Francisco | Prohibition Ale
• Midnight Sun Brewing Company | Anchorage, AK | Sockeye Red IPA

Ratatouille Nicoise
 | Biere de Garde

The Pro: Ashley V Routson: Director of Awesomeness, Bison Brewing; Founder, DrinkWithTheWench.com

Recipe: Julia Child’s Ratatouille

Pairing: Medium-bodied, with great carbonation and a dry finish, the Biere de Garde is a very food-friendly style of beer. Its low hop bitterness and slight tartness pairs perfectly with tomato-based dishes. Boasting biscuit-like, sweet malt flavors with hints of wood, barnyard and earth, the Biere de Garde is a great match for rustic, French cuisine, especially Ratatouille Nicoise.

Commercial Examples

• Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales | Dexter, MI | Oro De Calabaza
• The Lost Abbey | San Marcos, CA | Avant Garde
• Brewery Ommegang | Cooperstown, NY | Bier de Mars
• Two Brothers Brewing Company | Warrenville, IL | Domaine DuPage

Photo © Leo Gong and Shutterstock

The post A Vegetarian’s Approach to Craft Beer Pairings appeared first on CraftBeer.com.

This business structure is very common in the wine industry (often called “custom crush”) and specialty food trades, but is a sadly misunderstood segment of the craft beer industry and often a target of criticism and discrimination. The goal of this article is to challenge the negative stigma of contract brewing by explaining the practice and highlighting its positive attributes.

It is important to note that some brewers avoid the contract brewer label by entering an alternating proprietorship, which temporarily shifts control of the brewery (but not ownership) from the host brand to the contract brand during certain brewery operations.

Contract Brewing’s Sliding Scale of Involvement

First, there are the brands that contract the entire product from recipe development to packaging, often alluding to a fictitious brewery that doesn’t actually exist. This is common practice for private label beer brands brewed for large retail chains, mostly developed to skip the expense of the distribution tier.

Next are the brewers that contract the equipment and labor, leaving the responsibility of recipe development and ingredient sourcing to themselves. Notch Brewing in Ipswich, Mass., and Bison Brewing in Berkeley, Calif., have found success with this method: “After 10 years brewing on my 10 bbl system, the only way to grow my business without a million dollars was to use another brewery’s spare capacity,” said Daniel Del Grande, owner and brewer of Bison Brewing.

Then there are hands-on brewers who lease facilities and equipment of others to physically brew the beer themselves, but ask the host to package it. Attempting to perfect this style, Pretty Things Beer and Ale Project developed and defined the term “tenant brewer”: “It means we brew all the beer ourselves, without help on the brewday from a professional brewer, said Martha Holley-Paquette, co-founder of Pretty Things. “Tonight we’re sleeping in our car at the brewery, and tomorrow we will be up at 5 a.m. again to brew.”

Instead of settling for capacity anywhere, some contract brewers provide their own capacity at trusted breweries, purchasing and installing their own fermentation tanks. “By securing our contract capacity, via purchasing our own fermenters, we have been able to focus on the sales and market development of our product line and not have to worry about product availability due to capacity constraints,” said Steve Altimari, brewmaster and president of High Water Brewing, who bought tanks that were installed at Drake’s Brewery in San Leandro, Calif.

Building Brand Identity

Although contract brewing has a higher cost of goods due to the overhead and profit owed to the host brewer, the bulk of the business is a variable cost with very little overhead. Rather than having the usual revenue expenses associated with owning a business—rent, lease on forklift, loans on brewing machinery, payroll for a large staff—contract brewers use their capital for additional brand building and marketing activities to yield a higher return on investment.

“One of the primary reasons we chose contract brewing was to get our product line into the marketplace and establish brand identity before we committed to building our own brewery,” said Altimari. “This not only reduced our upfront costs but allowed a much faster time to market.”

Contract Brewing’s Sustainability

Contract brewing is not only a great startup strategy for aspiring brewers, but also a sustainable solution for brewers looking to expand. 21st Amendment Brewery and Restaurant in San Francisco has opted to brew its own pub beer, but has an alternating proprietor relationship for its packaged product. They, like many larger contract brewers, enjoy lower cost and higher quality and efficiency as their partners have advanced filtration and bottling or canning machinery.

Although most contract brewing relationships are symbiotic, the contractor is greatly at the mercy of its host. “No matter what the sliding scale of commitment, unless a contract brewer has full control over the brewery and staff (co-ownership), a contract brew is only at or below the highest level of performance of the host brewery,” said Del Grande. “This includes challenges like shifting scheduling whims or sanitary mistakes of staff, but also benefits like high quality equipment I couldn’t normally afford.”

A Means to an End

So how does one find out if a brewery is contract or not? By law, all labels must cite the exact town or city where the beer is brewed—however, they aren’t required to mention the name of the host brewery. As a result, many consumers aren’t able to discern a contact brewing company based on a label alone. Some brewers choose to broadcast it as a part of their brand message, while many brewers only address the topic when asked.

But does it matter? If the beer is good and deep-rooted in passion, does it really make a difference how and where it’s made?

When it comes down to it, contract brewers can be just as innovative, creative, passionate, and hardworking as their brick and mortar brewery-owning counterparts. Good beer is good beer, regardless of how it is produced.

The post Contract Brewing is Not a Dirty Word appeared first on CraftBeer.com.