New Beer Alert: Classic Craft Pilsners And Small-Batch Lagers

(Courtesy Firestone Walker)

With Memorial Day now behind us, the summer season is officially ON and American craft brewers are addressing things with exciting new beers you’re gonna want to have around.

Doubling Down On A Classic (Paso Robles, CA) – Firestone Walker Brewing is commemorating DBA’s 10,000th batch with special limited release that doubles down on the beer that started it all for the brewery back in 1996. DBA, originally known as Double Barrel Ale, was the first beer made by Firestone Walker. It was born as a British-style pale ale with a touch of California flair, and it became an instant hit on the Central Coast. DBA was particularly notable for being partially fermented in American oak barrels.

Firestone Walker Double DBA Batch 10k marks the 10,000^th batch of beer brewed at Firestone Walker’s Paso Robles, California brewery. “This was the perfect beer to bring us full circle and mark this milestone brewing moment,” said Brewmaster Matt Brynildson. “It takes DBA’s classic oak-influenced profile to an entirely new level.”

This very special limited release originates from DBA that was brewed at double strength, then aged for a year in 11-year-old Old Fitzgerald bourbon barrels. This distinctive barrel treatment enhanced DBA’s classic flavors of toffee and caramel with notes of baking spice, cocoa powder and dried fig.

(Courtesy Shiner Beer0

Shiner Returns Something Prickly (Shiner, TX) – Spoetzl Brewery, the independent, family-owned makers of the iconic Shiner Beer have returned something “prickly” that was first introduced in 2012. Now by popular demand and available once again in Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and Florida, Shiner Prickly Pear is a slightly tart, slightly sweet, 4.9% ABV Lager brewed with real prickly pear (a cactus native to Texas), as well as Citra and Golding hops, a blend of 2-row barley, malted wheat and the brewery’s proprietary lager yeast.

“Just in time for summer, we’re proud to re-introduce this cult-favorite and show our community how much we listen and appreciate them,” says Nick Weiland, Shiner’s Brand Director. “Prickly Pear is a special brew for us because it features uniquely Texan ingredients.”

High Noon (Chico, CA) – Sierra Nevada has returned a classic from 2015 that’s exclusively this summer along with other “blasts from the past” in the brewery’s new Fan Favorites Pack. Sierra Nevada Nooner is a 5.2% ABV German-Style Pilsner that’s approachable yet full of spicy floral hop flavor from the use of whole-cone European hops.