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So many beers, So little time…Newbies is your essential map to the “best of the best” and the hottest new craft beers rolling out each week. From Ninkasi’s Summer Style IPA to Mother’s Brewing Summer Seasonal Sandy – we have some of the best summer releases that will get you ready for that favorite time of year.
So welcome to another edition of Newbies -Your ultimate guide to great new craft beers!
Ready for the Shade? (Eugene, OR) – You know summer is right around the corner when there’s a water draught, it reaches 102 degrees at your house in May, and the kids are running around in their underwear – so time to tip back Summer Style IPAs! Ninkasi Brewing’s Maiden the Shade is the perfect IPA for you as the barometer drops and your bare legs stick to grandma’s cellophane-covered davenport. The re-released craft, which can be found in 22 oz. bombers and on draft May through August, has a higher hop perception and aroma than prior years’ releases and also packs tastes from eight different hop varieties. The more flavorful hop profile provides for a delicious and smooth IPA that will have your friends running to your fridge like fat kids running outside for the ice cream man.
Prepare the Runway (Redlands, CA) – Hangar 24 will be releasing their 6th Anniversary beer, a Farmhouse Saison, next weekend at their anniversary and annual airfest across the street from the brewery at the Redlands Airport. It will practically be the Fourth of July and the Farmhouse Saison is perfect for the warm weather occasion. The spiciness from the Saaz hops mixed with the French yeast strain and the fruity aromas of the El Dorado hops provide for that classic saison taste that will make you want to do some sweat-inducing yard work just so you can enjoy another.
Great Beer for a Good Cause (Los Angeles, CA) – If warm weather was to have an official smell and taste, then the tropical and citra notes of Golden Road’s Heal the Bay IPA would be your best representative. Some may argue that summer should smell like BO and melting asphalt and taste like gun powder because of that time when Cousin Joey shot a bottle rocket in your mouth. Obviously those naysayers have never had the second year release and now seasonal Heal the Bay IPA – back in SoCal in four packs of 16 oz. cans. One sip and you’re transported to the lagoon on Koh Hong Island in Thailand surrounded by friendly tiger fish while a local from a longboat yells out to you, “Nice moooostache!” You respond by telling him that it’s a goatee, but then you ask yourself, “What the hell am I doing sporting a goatee? It’s 2014, time to shave Everlast.” You shake your head and find yourself back on your deck and you tell yourself that this is one hell of a beer.
Three Canned Newbies (Cold Spring, MN) – Third Street Brewhouse has launched three of its crafts in cans at select retailers in Minnesota for those upcoming summer activities. Now you can recreate the beach fun that Frankie and Annette had in Beach Blanket Bingo with Three Way Pale Ale, with a combination of unique hops and three select malts that provide a ménage à trois in your mouth of grapefruit, pear, and spice. The Lost Trout is a brown ale with a caramel roasted chocolate malt taste that will give you a reason to go fishing but never come home with any fish. You can now add your own chores to your Hunny Do list, and by chores we mean drinking Hunny Do Wheat Beer. This crisp, refreshing, and lightly sweet craft has a slight honeydew melon flavor that will motivate you to half-heartedly push through chores, like cleaning the gutters, to get to this most important “chore” of all.
Summer’s Seasonal Sandy (Springfield, MO) – It seems necessary for Mother’s Brewing to release their summer seasonal in time for Mother’s Day, and they delivered with their unfiltered hopped-up wheat beer with a touch of grapefruit zest. Mother’s Brewing named their mix of a Belgian Witbier and an American Pale Ale “Sandy,” which pays tribute to the mother of founder Jeff Schrag. As craft beer drinkers, I think we can all agree that this is probably the best Mother’s Day gift ever. Score one for Jeff not only for being a great son, but also for creating a light-bodied beer that is refreshing, complex, and perfect for those summer months. You can currently find Sandy in six packs and on draft in Springfield, MO, and soon throughout most of Missouri as well as the surrounding area.
