Tenaya Creek and Brew Dog Brew The World’s Most Expensive Beer

| March 12th, 2014 | 3 comments

White Stout with goldLast night I visited the top floor of the Trump Tower for a special event featuring the Tenaya Creek Brewery. The past couple weeks they have been working with James Watt and Martin Dickie, co-founders of Scotland based Brew Dog, brewing a collaboration beer celebrating Las Vegas; and it was time for the big reveal.

Brew Dog is most well known for some of their outlandish beers. The End of History is a 55% alcohol beer in which the bottles were shoved in the mouths of taxidermy squirrels. They’ve also fermented a beer at the bottom of the ocean, and most recently released a protest beer named Hello, My Name is Vladimir.

They also have their own TV show, aptly named Brew Dogs. The show features the co-founders as they travel around the US, brewing beers that are meant to represent the given city that they are visiting. Of course, these are no ordinary beers that are brewed. A San Francisco a beer was brewed using fog, a Colorado beer was made using the power of the sun, and a highly caffeinated beer was brewed on top of a ferry in Seattle. The show also features a brewery local to the city to assist with the creation of the beer. They are currently filming season 2, with Las Vegas and Tenaya Creek being chosen to participate.

I’m not sure what I personally would have chosen as ingredients in a beer meant to represent Las Vegas. Anthony Gibson, head brewer for Tenaya Creek, and the Scottish duo chose to go big. Really big. They brewed the most expensive beer in the world, in the most Las Vegas way possible.

(more…)

Tall Cans In The Air

| March 3rd, 2014 | No comments

Oskar Blues Mama's Little Yella Pils CanOskar Blues is finally available in Las Vegas. If you are unaware of who Oskar Blues is, here’s what you need to know:

1. Colorado based craft brewery famous for being the first to fully embrace cans for the packaging of their beer.
2. They make outstanding beers.

Now that we have cleared that up, let me say that every Oskar Blues beer that I’ve had has been phenomenal; though admittedly, I haven’t had too many. Ten Fidy, Old Chub, and Deviant Dales come to mind. So, I went ahead and decided to try something new. Being as I’ve been in a bit of a lager mood lately, I opted for a can of Mama’s Little Yella Pils. (more…)

Alpine Beer Company goes gluten-less with all of its beers

| February 26th, 2014 | No comments

We started using an enzyme in all of our beers before the end of last year and are now prepared to announce a significant breakthrough for gluten intolerant people. Because we love you and want you all to be happy, our beers are now SIGNIFICANTLY gluten reduced. Legally, we can never claim our beers to be gluten free because any product, according to the FDA, that once contained gluten can never be claimed as gluten free. However, the FDA threshold for gluten free is 20 ppm; our beers should fall in around the 10 ppm range. Celiac sufferers need not abstain any longer. Relax and have a beer.

This is huge for those with gluten intolerance. Searching for gluten free beers is not easy, and many of the beers are lackluster (though I personally prefer either Dogfish Head’s Tweason’ale, or Las Vegas locals, Joseph James Brewing Company’s Fox Tail; which happens to be the first canned gluten free beer). Alpine is known for having incredible beers, and having all of them available to those who are gluten intolerant awesome. Click the above quote for the remainder of the press release.

I believe that the enzyme that Alpine is using is likely Clarity Ferm, made by White Labs. This enzyme was released last year, and its primary purpose is to reduce chill haze in a beer. As an added bonus, it reduces the gluten content in a beer. When I first heard of this enzyme a year ago, I wondered if/why a brewery wouldn’t just add it to all of their beers. Chill haze is something that no brewer wants to have, and why wouldn’t they want to make their beers available to those with gluten intolerance? If you clicked the link over to White Labs, you would’ve noticed that the TTB has interim guidelines for beers made with Clarity Ferm in what is allowed to be on the label. As Alpine mentioned in their press release, the term “gluten free” is not allowed since it was originally produced with gluten. It will be interesting to see if the use of this enzyme expands further.

New Belgium’s Snapshot: Lacto-Fermented Lemony Wheat Beer

| February 18th, 2014 | No comments

20140218-230509.jpg
Somewhere near the end of 2013, New Belgium released details of what was going to be their newest year round beer: Snapshot Wheat. This beer was to be a blend of both a traditionally fermented wheat beer, and one fermented with the souring bacteria lactobacillus. Being a fan of the Berliner Weiss style made me excited to try this beer; with the assumption that it would be similar to that style of beer.

(more…)

Pork Chops And Applesauce

| February 10th, 2014 | No comments

Here we are. We’ve reached the final installment in this series of Emily and Melissa drinking beer. Along with Danny, they’ve had barley wine, mead, gueuze, and kriek. Off camera there has also been excessive wine drinking, and some shots of tequila; which leads us to where we are today. The beer is Sierra Nevada and Russian River’s collaboration; BRUX. Next time you see Danny, be sure to give him a hi-five for putting up with Emily and Melissa, and managing not to physically attack either one…

Miller’s Disappointing Fortune

| January 30th, 2014 | 1 comment

Miller-Fortune

To be clear, I wasn’t exactly expecting to be amazed by MillerCoors’ newest “premium beer,” however I was intrigued by it and the way it was being marketed. Bloomberg was first to put together a piece on the beer. Between the various interviews in the article, it is mentioned that the primary reason for this beer’s existence is to try and bring market share back to beer from spirits.

“We asked, ’How would Jack Daniels or Maker’s Mark do a beer and why?’” said David Kroll, who was brought to MillerCoors from Dyson in 2012 to shake things up as its head of innovation. “We tortured every aspect to say, ’Are we falling back on what beer would do?’ Because this brand is intended to play in a spirits occasion.” (more…)

Sometimes When We Touch

| January 27th, 2014 | No comments

Today, Emily and Melissa drink some kriek with Danny. Also, Emily and Melissa have a “moment.” There is only one more video after this one, and it can only go downhill from here.

To learn more about kriek, and more specifically, Transatlantique Kriek, read below.

(more…)

The Serious Eats 50 States of Beer

| January 22nd, 2014 | No comments

Screen Shot 2014-01-22 at 9.22.47 AM

Serious Eats put together a cool map of the country that highlights a favorite beer in each state. It was put together by all the various contributors to Serious Eats’ drinks section. I always enjoy infographics like this, as it helps me to hear about other breweries that I don’t have access to here in Nevada. Later, if I’m in another state and I see something I recognize, I’ll know to pick it up. (more…)

The Hooked on Hops Guide To Aging Beer

| January 20th, 2014 | 2 comments

Processed with VSCOcam with a1 presetA properly aged beer is something that cannot be recreated without the hard work of actually being patient and waiting it out. It is incredible to taste the differences in a beer even just a year later. So, without further ado…

First of all, there are no rules. There are only suggestions, or even just hypotheses. The fact is, the exact same chemical changes happen within every bottle of beer as time progresses. Depending on some specific factors (alcohol content, hop content, beer style, etc) this chemical change can be called spoilage in one beer, or maturation in another. This is why guidelines exist for aging beers. Certain guidelines are generally true for most beers, some are not. The real truth, however, is that we all taste and perceive flavor differently. This is the biggest reason why aging rules vary so much. The effects of aging a beer are nearly always the same, but whether the effects are something that you want is another factor. That said, here are some things to consider: (more…)