Review: LongShot Double IPA

This is the best of the three beers in Samuel Adams' LongShot six-pack this year. LongShot brews, as I wrote about in a previous post, are the winners of SA's homebrew contest.

Pours a cloudy amber in color with a sticky and foamy off-white head.The aroma is all about the hops: Herbal, earthy, citrus -- this beer has it all. The aroma reminds me of smelling hops before homebrewing.

The taste is wonderful. Big hops flavors (earthy, vegetable and citrus) and bitterness mix with a slight sweetness from the malt. This is a hop bomb. This must have been dry-hopped with pounds of the stuff. The hop flavors are soap-like, and I mean that as a compliment. Noticeable alcohol flavors.

Great body that's smooth yet also light, perhaps from the alcohol.

A must for hopheads, especially at the ridiculous cheap price SA charges for its Longshot six-packs.

This is a masterpiece and the best beer I've had from Samuel Adams.

Boston Brewing Co.: Please add this beer to your year-round offerings!

If you like hops, you have to have some of this beer. Drop what you're doing right now and go seek it out.

Review: Bière De Mars

Brewery Ommegang from Cooperstown, Mass., brews beers in the Belgian style. While they have a cool picture of Mars on the label, the Belgians would call this a March (Mars) beer. One thing that makes this beer interesting is that Ommegang says they add "a bit of magical space dust," Brettanomyces bruxellensis yeast, during fermentation.

Some Belgian beers (and a growing number of American) are spontaneously fermented, meaning that instead of adding yeast, brewers expose the beer to the air and it picks up yeasts from the wild. Brettanomyces bruxellensis is a wild brewing strain native to Belgium. It adds a funky, farmhouse-like aroma and flavor to beers. Most of the time, that would be considered a flaw. But not in this type of beer.

You won't find Brettanomyces bruxellensis in the wild here, though. So Ommegang adds it as they would add regular yeast.

If you are used to drinking mainstream beers, a beer of this type will throw you for a loop. It's not strong -- 6.5 percent -- but the earthy and funky flavors will seem really strange. It has to grow on you.

On to the review!

A nice medium amber in color with a big head that reduces over time to a layer and a thick ring in my tulip glass.

Light aroma of vinegar, bready malt and musty/sour. It's funky, but mildly so.

The flavor is also musty and tastes like it has been in a barrel. Light flavors of fruit, too. There is tartness, but it's mild and doesn't wallop you over the head. There are beers out there that are much more tart and that have bigger funky flavors.

The body is creamy and smooth.

Overall this is an above-average beer. The flavors and aromas from the wild yeast are kept well under control.

This would be a good beer to use to enter the world of funky brews. And my current favorite funky beer is Avery Anniversary Ale -- Fifteen.

Read my review (my 500th!) at BeerAdvocate.com.

Tampa featured in BeerAdvocate magazine

This month's BeerAdvocate magazine, which came to me today, features Tampa as its beer destination this go-around.

They do a write-up on the region and select the top-rated places, according to the users of BeerAdvocate.com. A few selections: Cigar City Brewing, Mellow Mushroom and Saint Somewhere Brewing Co.

But no mention of the Oldsmar Tap House? That's the best beer bar I've ever been to. Trust me, no visit to Tampa is complete without going to the OTH.

And for those who want to read the article, you have to subscribe to the magazine. Sorry, its content is print only.

Stone 13th Anniversary Ale is coming to Florida

Hopheads, take note:

I spoke today with Scott Sheridan, Stone's Southeast regional brewery representative, and he said Stone 13th Anniversary Ale (see my previous post), which they call their hoppiest beer yet, will "most certainly" be coming to Sarasota-Manatee and the greater Tampa Bay area.

Whole Foods and Total Wine & More are two of the local stores that will have it, possibly by June 29, he said.

I asked if the beer would also be available in kegs. He said there would be a few kegs in the region, about six or seven, at select bars. He mentioned Mellow Mushroom, Brass Tap and Oldsmar Tap House as likely places.

Stone announces its hoppiest brew

I learned from writer/actor Wil Wheaton (via Twitter, of course, its not like I've met him), that Stone Brewing Co., maker of such excellent beers as Arrogant Bastard and Ruination IPA, has announced its 13th Anniversary Ale on its blog.

They call this "the hoppiest beer we've ever brewed." For those who don't know, that's saying a lot. Stone makes some of the hoppiest beers around -- check out the above-mentioned Ruination.

For the beer geeks, Stone used more hops per barrel than they have ever used before: 4.5 pounds. They used Chinook hops in the boil and dry-hopped it with Simcoe and Centennial hops. Then they dry-hopped it a second time. Here's Stone's description:

Stone 13th Anniversary Ale pours brilliant deep red with a light tan foam. Up front, the aroma is all piney, resinous and citrus hops. Upon tasting, the hops are still on the front, and they are balanced with the malty, toffee like flavors contributed from the blend of crystal and amber malts used in the brewhouse. The finish is deliciously bitter, with a touch of warmth provided by the 9.5% alcohol. Bitterness comes in at 90+ IBU.

For the uninitiated, hops used during the boil make beer bitter and add flavor, depending on when you add them during the boil. Dry-hopping is adding hops to the fermenting beer long after the boil, this primarily adds hop flavor. Different strains of hops (Chinook, Simcoe, Centennial, etc.) have different qualities, some add mostly bitterness, others add mostly flavor.

IBUs stand for International Bittering Units. They are a measure of how bitter something is. Most experts believe humans can't taste beyond 100 IBUs. Budweiser, by comparison, is about 10 IBU. So you could say this is a bitter beer. Fantastic!

I really hope this limited-edition beer, which Stone's official page says will hit store shelves on June 29, comes to Florida. I'll contact them and post what I find out.

Samuel Adams LongShot, get it while you can

LongShot is a pretty cool idea. Homebrewers from across the country submit their beers and the Boston Beer Co., maker of Samuel Adams beers, brews the best and sells them in limited-edition six-packs.

There are three beers in the packs, two of each.

• Cranberry Wit, a wheatbeer brewed with (surprise!) cranberries and other spices.
• Traditional Bock, a German lager.
• Double IPA, a stronger and hoppier India Pale Ale.

The Wit and Bock were the 2008 winners. The Double IPA actually won in 2007, but wasn't brewed until this year because of a hop shortage. It has seven types of hops in it, and boatloads of them, after all.

I've been enjoying these beers so much, particularly the bock and double IPA, that I bought a case. It's still available locally. I've found it at the Total Wine & More off University Parkway near Interstate 75.

It may be a Total Wine pricing thing, but LongShot is $6.99 a six-pack, which is cheaper than regular Samuel Adams beers at my local Publix, and a steal for beers of this quality. They're easily good enough to be added to the brewery's regular lineup.

Look for my reviews of all three beers here in the near future.

World of Beer update

In response to another one of my e-mails, Matt LaFon said the upcoming World of Beer will be nonsmoking and feature a large patio.

It will be great to have a nonsmoking beer bar in town.

Cigar City beers coming to Sarasota

Howie Hochberg, the owner of the Cock & Bull Pub, posted on BeerAdvocate that he's working to get all the brews from Cigar City Brewing, a new craft brewery that's just started in Tampa. Their beers are generating a lot of buzz in the beer geek community.

I haven't been able to try any of their beers. Howie had some of their Maduro brown ale, but he was out of it by the time I was able to stop by.

Here's the thread on BeerAdvocate.

Review: Horn Dog Barley Wine Style Ale

Tonight's beer is an English Barleywine, from Colorado's Flying Dog brewery. Barleywines are strong ales brewed with lots of malted grain and hops. This particular beer has an alcohol level of 10.5 percent, which is more than twice the strength of a typical beer. There are also American Barleywines, which are similar to their English predecessors but usually have a lot more hop flavor and bitterness to counterbalance the sweetness you get from using all that malt.

It's a deep, deep amber in color with a small tan head.

It has a sweet aroma of dried fruit like dates. Alcohol notes are also very apparent.

The sweet aroma carries over to the taste. This is a beer with lots of fruity esters and flavors. Figs, dates, raisins and more all mix together.

The body is light, which surprises me. Perhaps the high alcohol level (10.5%) contributes.

Overall a good English Barleywine, but it's so strong and sweet that I would reserve it for occasional drinking.

I'm partial to American barleywines. Some of my favorites are Sierra Nevada's Bigfoot and Rogue's Old Crustacean. I love Bigfoot, which is only available around New Year's. I haven't had Old Crustacean in a while because Rogue quit bottling it in 12-ounce bottles and switched to expensive (think $15) 750 mL ceramic swingtops.

Read my review at BeerAdvocate.

Senate may raise taxes on beer

If you've noticed craft beer getting more expensive, get ready for it to get pricier.

As part of a plan to expand health insurance coverage, the U.S. Senate is considering raising taxes and fees on many products, including beer.

According to The Associated Press, "Under the proposal, beer taxes would go up by 48 cents a six-pack, from the current 33 cents."

That doesn't sound like much, but remember, that's the base tax. End consumers will likely pay more after breweries, distributors and retailers pass along the price increase.

This tax would come after major price increases brought about by rising costs of grain, hops and energy.

Read the full story at my newspaper's Web site.

Poll tax

I made a poll to find out what content you would like to see on this blog. It's in the column on the right. Blogger was giving me an error, so I apologize if it's not working right.

Southwest Florida's craft beer renaissance

The craft beer situation here in Sarasota County, circa the late 1990s, was rather bleak. Remember in "The Blues Brothers" when the band went to Bob's Country Bunker? The proprietor said they played both kinds of music: County and Western. The beer selection here used to be like that: Bud and Bud Light. Until the Big Change.

But before the Big Change there were oases in the wasteland.

The first one I found was the Cock & Bull Pub on Main Street in Sarasota. I learned of it through co-workers. We went there after the shift one night, and I was hooked. I'll write about the Cock & Bull in another post, probably in the same one where I write about how I got into craft beer.

Seeking a bottle of Corsendonk ale I had on draft at the C&B led me to Blackburn Point Liquors on U.S. 41 in Osprey. I found it by calling all the liquor stores in the yellow pages. That was a great beer store, and the only store in the region that had a good selection of craft beer.

So what was the Big Change?

It was the repeal of Florida's old beer bottle size law. This law, which dated back decades, declared that beer sold in Florida had to be in 8, 12, 16 or 32-ounce containers. That kept out many American craft breweries, who bottled in 22-ounce "bombers," and many international breweries, who bottled in metric sizes like 500 mL and 750 mL. This law was supported by the big breweries like Anheuser-Busch and Miller, who didn't want the competition. I remember them arguing that there were already something like 700 beers available in the state. Wasn't that enough?

I can't remember which legislator wrote a bill to repeal this law. But the first year he introduced it the big breweries fought the bill and it didn't pass. The next year, the breweries didn't fight and bill went through and Gov. Lawton Chiles signed it. Under the new law all bottles were legal as long as they were 32 ounces or less.

I remember asking Neil, the owner of Blackburn Point Liquors, when the new bottles would come in. What a great day that was! I bought a bottle of Abbaye Des Rocs Grande Cru and loved it. Soon were were getting bombers from Rogue Ales in Oregon, one of my favorite breweries.

The repeal was the watershed moment for craft beer in Florida. It opened up our market to so much great beer.

Review: Maximus

I haven't had Maximus, a Double India Pale Ale from Lagunitas, in more than four years. The last bottle I had was a 22-ounce bomber I drank during a trip to Portland, Ore. I visited their brewery in Petaluma, Calif., during a beer pilgrimage several years ago.

This is a very good Double IPA. It's hoppy and bitter, but not in a pound-you-over-the-head way.

Check out my older review at BeerAdvocate.

World of Beer coming to Sarasota-Manatee

After my wife and I saw the "Coming Soon: World of Beer" sign in the empty storefront on Tourist Center Drive off University Parkway near Interstate 75 in Manatee County across from Moe's and Jersey Mike's (next to Keva Juice), I e-mailed World of Beer.

Matt LaFon wrote back:

"Thank you for inquiring about the new location in Sarasota for World of Beer. You can expect it to open in August-September. It will be both bar and retail, very similar to the WOB in Westchase. We look forward to meeting you and please help us spread the word!"

Here's a map of its approximate location.

Update: In a later e-mail Matt wrote that it will be nonsmoking. Yay! It will also have a large patio.

Fermentation is a go

After gently prodding by my family, I've decided to start a blog on the growing craft beer scene here in Sarasota, Fla., my hometown. This area used to be a craft beer wasteland. That sure has changed.

My idea for this blog is to expand upon my work at BeerAdvocate.com, where I review beer and try to keep other craft beer fans in the area in the know. I also learn a lot about the local beer scene from fellow BA members.

This blog is a work in progress; I'm just figuring this stuff out. Expect lots of changes.

I welcome your comments.