Cold Snap limited release White Ale from Sam Adams has been around since 2014. Loaded with a plethora of spices, including orange zest, vanilla and other adjuncts, Cold Snap is a light and tasty Winter warmer.
The recipe for Cold Snap has been the same since 2014 – until now that is. Sam Adams has tweaked the recipe for the 2020 release, to make Cold Snap even more refreshing that before.
As I recently mentioned in another article here on CraftBeerMonger.com, Cascade Brewing Company in Portland, Oregon has, for years, set the gold standard for Sour Ales produced in the Pacific Northwest. They’ve been producing outstanding Sour Ales since 2006 and I can honestly say I’ve never had a beer from them that I don’t like.
Most craft beer lovers I know have at least a few Cascade bottles in their cellar. If you don’t, or if you’d like to make your cellar a bit more Cascade heavy, then they have an event coming up next week that you’ll want to check out. From July 22nd through July 29th, Cascade is hosting a “Raid The Cellar” event, with heavily discounted pricing on select Sour Ales.
In the craft beer World, some breweries create more buzz than others. It usually has mostly to do with the quality of their beers. The greater the perceived quality of the offerings from said brewery, the greater the level of buzz and, of course FOMO.
One such brewery that often creates a buzz around their releases is Alesong Brewing & Blending out of Eugene, Oregon. Their creations, which are often Belgian inspired and/or barrel-aged, are quite popular – and quite tasty. I’m a particular fan of their Sour Ales and particularly enjoyed their Peche Sour, which was poured recently during Seattle Beer Week 10 at Brouwer’s Cafe for Sour Fest. Now, Alesong is preparing to release four new beers, in bottles and cans, on May 27th.
Seattle Beer Week #10 is right around the corner (watch for an article from me soon on my top event picks for SBW10), and one of my favorite SBW events each year is Sour Fest at Brouwer’s Cafe. I love a good sour Ale. Years ago, I approached them with caution, not knowing what to expect, and I fell in love.
If you haven’t gotten into sour Ales yet, then Black Raven Brewing Company (CBM Sponsor) is bringing back one that you might want to check out. Arriving today, 4/27, at The Raven’s Nest (Black Raven’s taproom in Redmond) is their popular Corvus Frambicus American Sour Ale with Raspberries.
Seattle is definitely a wonderful place to live if you’re a fan of great craft beers. The high concentration of excellent breweries in the city make it one of the best craft beer destinations in the nation. However, don’t forget to take a trip out of town every now and then, because there are several breweries outside Seattle – from the Oregon border all the way up to Canada – who are doing great work.
One outside-of-Seattle destination I don’t make it to very often is the Olympia area, which is home to several craft breweries including Top Rung Brewing Company in Lacey. You may not be as familiar with Top Run as some other Olympia area breweries, because they haven’t started bottling or canning most of their beers yet, but they’ve been brewing good beers in Olympia for nearly four years now, and it’s time to celebrate. This Saturday, April 21st, Top Rung Brewing Company will celebrate their 4th anniversary.
Are you a fan of sour or wild ales? Not everyone is and that’s just fine by me. Fewer fans simply means there’s more for those of us who do enjoy them to drink. For those who do enjoy them though, we have some breweries here in the Northwest who excel at making incredible sour and wild ales, including Holy Mountain, Urban Family, Engine House Number 9, Cascade and more.
Though I’m a huge fan of Washington (and Oregon) brewed beers, I don’t hide the fact that several of my favorite breweries are, in fact, from California including one of my all time favorites: Firestone Walker Brewing Company. Firestone’s Barrelworks Wile Ale program has it’s roots all the way back in 2006, when Barrelworks’ Master Blender, Jim Crooks, took a trip to Belgium to work with Lauren Salazar (New Belgium Brewing). He returned with some dregs from one of their 15 or so Foeders and placed it into a French oak wine barrel of freshly filtered and un-carbonated Firestone DBA. This experiment was the foundation of what would eventually become Barrelworks’/Firestone Walker’s Agrestic Ale. Continue reading
Seattle Beer Week is just around the corner. It kicks off on Thursday, May 4th and runs through Sunday May 14th. Just two days into the festivities though, on May 6th, Lucky Envelope Brewing is set to celebrate their 2nd Anniversary.
Lucky Envelope has been cranking out craft beers in Ballard since 2015 and now, they’re ready to mark the occasion with a new Anniversary IPA and three bottle releases. Then, one week after their anniversary, they’ll be hosting another event as part of their celebration of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month.
I finally had the opportunity to visit Top Rung Brewing Company down in Lacey a few weeks back at their 2nd Anniversary celebration. I had a fun, if extremely crowded visit (it was their 2nd Anniversary celebration, after all) and even went home with a growler of their delicious Shift Trade IPA.
Now, with Spring upon us and Summer not far behind, Top Rung Brewing is ready to release their Raspberry Wheat Seasonal Ale.
