American Craft Beer The Best Craft Beer, Breweries, Bars, Brewpubs, Beer Stores, And Restaurants Serving Serious Beer.
So many beers, So little time…With so many craft breweries, releasing so many beers, we thought it might help to provide a weekly update on all the new beers that are hitting the streets…So welcome to this week’s edition of Newbies – your guide to great new craft beer releases!
Hoppy Pils Day (Paso Robles, CA) – We first sampled this beer during an event that we threw at the close of this year’s CBC in Washington, DC, and we were blown away. Firestone Walker Brewing Company’s Pivo Hoppy Pils Americanizes the classic style while remaining totally true to its roots. Hoppy Pils is a classically rendered pilsner with a West Coast dry-hopping twist. Firestone Walker’s brewing team successfully accentuates the traditional pilsner profile while adding an extra measure of hop character that is so reflective of the American craft beer revolution.
More Lips of Faith (Fort Collins, CO) – New Belgium Brewing has two new quarterly Lips of Faith offerings now available: Paardebloem and Pluot.
Paardebloem is the sixth collaboration beer with Red Rock Brewing. The beer brings together a diverse set of ingredients, ranging from peach juice to dandelion greens. It blends funky brettanomyces with New Belgium’s house Belgian ale yeast, and includes a touch of wood-aged sour beer and Grains of Paradise. Paardebloem pours a light, hazy gold and weighs in at 9% ABV.
Pluot is a subtly sweet ale made from pluot juice, which is a hybrid of a plum and an apricot. Pluot pours light gold, is 10% ABV, and delivers fruity aromas and distinct esters. It is also created with house Belgian ale yeast and brettanomyces, bringing a hint of spice and a malty backbone. Both of these Lips of Faith selections will be available through July or until supplies run out.
Three Taproom Only Newbies from FBC (Fort Collins, CO) – FCB, also known at Fort Collins Brewery, will have three new beers on tap in their Tasting Room this week and they all sound awesome.
Weizenbock is part of the limited-release Tap Club series. It’s brewed using a unique Bavarian yeast strain and is cloudy and complex. It’s also hefty. FCB’s Weizenbock clocks in at an unforgiving 8.3% ABV.
FCB’s Happy Pils is a continental Pils that is light and slightly sweet on the tongue and finishes with a touch of dryness. And at 5.3% ABV, this is a Pils you can pound!
Last but not least is FCB’s contribution to the Collusion Project, in which all breweries in the City of Fort Collins took part to celebrate American Craft Beer Week. All breweries started out with the same malt bill and collaborated with two other breweries to select the yeast, hops, and additional malts. FCB’s version was created with the help of Black Bottle Brewery and Coopersmith’s, features apple wood and cherry wood smoked malts to add just a hint of smoke, and was aged on French oak chips.
Twisted Pine Goes Cucumber Crazy (Boulder, CO) – Fans of Twisted Pine Brewing Company will soon find a super-refreshing new way to cool off in the early summer sun as the brewery releases their Cucumber Cream Ale, the second offering from its popular Farm to Foam series. Cucumber Cream Ale pours yellow and is slightly hazy. The beer breathes out the aroma of (you guessed it!) garden-fresh cucumbers and according to them, “is the perfect type of light and refreshing beverage to quench one’s thirst after a long day spent in the sun.” The beer, made with over 300 lbs of Colorado cucumbers, is available now.
