USA HYPE
Other Half wasn’t the only cool stuff that came in from the USA last week; we also got a couple of tins from New Hokkaido Beverage Company, a Japanese brewing inspired establishment in Montana. The ONI 10% rice & oat NETIPA & a deep dive into the hard seltzer craze with Pine Appuru, an 8% pineapple and coriander, white wine yeast fermented beverage. We also picked out another hard seltzer, this time from Humble Forager Brewery from Wisconsin - Humble Bumble #1 is a more smashable 5% and contains a zingy collection of ‘calamansi, blood orange, tangerine, orange blossom honey, staghorn sumac blossoms’. I know what some of you may be thinking, and we at Beer Shop shall say ‘don’t knock it ‘til you try it!’
Alternatively, Coastal Sunrise #4 is a sour beer that is similarly all about its additions, having enough tropical fruit and spices to make it a breakfast lassi. And if you like the sound of that, we have a bonus Imperial Pastry Sour Ale at 8% called Sweets Caramel Apple from Mountains Walking made with plenty of oats, caramel, cinnamon and a huge amount of apple puree.
UK HYPE
Rivington 500ml tins, Area Codes, Aluminium Tubes, & Thornbridge collaboration Paparahua 3.2% Table Beer are dishing out the hops whilst Chinchilla In The Heat 6.6% Blueberry & Scotch Bonnet Porter offers something dark and adventurous for the bravest rodents among us.
We’ve also got a new DEYA DIPA entry in Sunny Spells 8% New Englander using Chinook, Idaho 7, & Simcoe - a collaborative effort with Jonny Garrett of beer writing/vlogging/documentary fame that should be packing as much piney freshness as it is fruit (check out the new book). NEIPAs, Invoice Me For The Microphone & Meet Me In The City, are also returning to fill those juicy 6.5% holes in our lives.
While we’re talking hazy 6.5% IPA, new Verdant Written In Wateris tasting good, whilst Track’s Beyond The Frame is more than likely to. There’s also a fruity West Coast option in Dream Of The Gentle Flood 6%. Boxcar & Queer Brewing have also added to the list of NEIPAs with Dreamlets & Infinite Flags, and Burst Into Bright respectively.
The Siren Craft Brew annual Project Barista releases are upon us again, and as per usual we’ve been hooked on some novel concepts matching coffees with beer styles to enhance a nitro ESB, a zesty sour, roasty bock, and of course, a big ol’ impy stout. Siren have always impressed with their nitro beers, and I’d be fibbing if I said there isn’t a can of Nitro Pompelmocello Grapefruit Sour in one of our secret cellar stashes.
Dig Brew are doing their own things with dark and roasty beer experimentation, releasing a further three dinky wax-dipped bottles, Eddie Toasts Judge Doom, Eddie Crosses Judge Doom, and Eddie Finds Judge Doom. The beers themselves are anything but small at 12%, and play with varying degrees of typically pastry adjuncts.
Surprisingly, the only pale craft lager on offer this week is a West Coast Pilsner named Crispy from Drop Project, who are otherwise providing an extra couple of hoppy beers, Yard Sale 8% NEDIPA, and MakeMake collab Cruisin' 4.5% Kveik Pale Ale.
We’re starting this week’s continental bottles section with the controversial - tins - from one of the most prominent breweries in UK craft no less. Cloudwater have always given a good spiel about respect for cultures worldwide and, quite specifically, beer traditions. This week we’ve received their Oktoberfest releases, intending to faithfully recreate a Weiße, Schwarzbier, Märzen, and Hopfenweisse.
Rothaus, state-owned Black Forest brewery Tannenzäpfle Pils & Hefeweizen have returned to our stock - with some of the best low/alcohol-free variants on the market in-tow.
We're also giving more of the Austrian Stiegl-Bräu range a whirl, buying in the Weisse Naturtrüb and Zitrone Alkoholfrei 0,0% soda alongside replenishment of the Salzburg style Goldbräu lager and Paracelsus Glutenfrei (which is, you guessed it, devoid of gluten!).
