Beer Alert: New Barrel-Aged Stouts And Summer Pilsners

(Courtesy Saint Arnold Brewing)

With Memorial Day now in the rearview mirror summer is officially ON and American craft brewers are addressing things with a smart roster of new releases you’re gonna want to have around as things heat up.

Anniversary Cru (Houston, TX) – Saint Arnold Brewing is celebrating 30 years of making serious beer with something special that’s been five years in the making.

A toast to its fans and three decades of innovation, Saint Arnold 30th Anniversary Grand Cru is a MASSIVE 16.8% ABV Imperial Stout aged in a variety of different bourbon and whiskey barrels for different durations – between two and four years. The barrels were then blended into sweet and fortified wine barrels: Madeira, Tokaji, and Tawny Port for additional aging. Finally, these barrels were blended a second time to create this opulent masterpiece.

Starting June 10, Saint Arnold’s special Grand Cru will be available in individual 12 oz bottles at grocery and liquor stores and on draft at select bars and restaurants, but it won’t be for long so you know what to do.

(Courtesy Partake Brewing)

Perfect for Pickleball (Cincinnati, OH) – Pickleball is an emerging sport that’s played indoors and outdoors on a badminton sized court, which combines elements of tennis, badminton and ping-pong. And Partake Brewing, a leader in the Non-Alcoholic beer category has a new beer that celebrates the game.

The “official non-alcoholic beer” for the 2024 Association of Pickleball Players Tour, Partake Pickleball Pils is a buzz-free bright golden 25-calorie Pilsner that comes bursting with hoppy tang but none of that alcohol baggage.

Rose Rules! (Chippewa Falls, WI) – Leinenkugel’s has a special limited release that was inspired by an incredible woman in the Leinenkugel’s family whose perseverance the historic Wisconsin brewery. Having shifted to creating sodas and tonics during prohibition, when alcohol was re-legalized in 1933, Leinenkugel’s was not equipped (physically or financially) to make beer again. But Rose Leinenkugel (the daughter of the founder Jacob Leinenkugel) took on huge risk of reestablishing the brewery and the rest is history.

Leinenkugel Lakeside Cherry is a 4.4% ABV fruit-forward take on a classic German Gose-style inspired by Rose, who mortgaged her family home to save the business and restore Leinenkugel’s to its pre-Prohibition glory.