ChrisZach.com » Beer

High-Alcohol Beer Gets Squirrelly… Really

Chris Zach — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 03:23:32 +0000

I don’t even know what to say about this creation. I’m still absorbing the absurdity of the entire invention.

BrewDog is a brewery in Scotland that pushes all the limits of what beer can be. I respect them for that, and I actually met James Watt, one of the founders, at a tasting at ChurchKey in DC recently.

Here’s James Watt, speaking about BrewDog’s latest record-breaking, 55%-alcohol beer:

“The impact of The End of History is a perfect conceptual marriage between taxidermy, art and craft brewing.”

That’s right, taxidermy. Because this here beer isn’t served in a brown paper bag like those 40s you used manhandle in college.

No, this beer is served in what I can only assume is the appropriate “koozie” for such a novel:

A squirrel.

It tastes alcoholic and... furry.

At 500 or 700 GBP, depending on the species, this is one expensive rodent. (As of 7.22.2010, the beer is sold out.)

Watch the video about the beer’s creation:

The End of History from BrewDog on Vimeo.

via It’s the World’s Strongest, Most Expensive Beer — Inside a Squirrel – Asylum.com.

New Beers to Taste Thanks to GABF

Chris Zach — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 15:57:35 +0000

The winners of the recent 2009 Great American Beer Festival in Colorado were just announced, thereby seeding a long list of area microbrews I need to try for the first time. Having moved to DC from San Diego only a couple months ago, my experience with East Coast beers is relatively limited.

Congratulations to all the area breweries who took home awards! Flying Dog Brewery came in with 4 medals (3 golds!) and Dogfish Head with 3 medals.

I also have to throw some props out to Pizza Port/Lost Abbey Brewing back in San Diego. They treated me well back there, both with their amazing brews and their delicious pizza. At GABF, they wrangled up 11 awards alone! Nice work.

Delaware breweries

Brewery	Beer	State	Medals	Category
Dogfish Head Brewery	Chateau Jiahu	DE	Gold	Specialty Beer
Dogfish Head Brewery	Palo Santo Marron	DE	Silver	Specialty Beer
Dogfish Head Brewery	Midas Touch	DE	Bronze	Specialty Honey Beer
Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant	Schwarzbier	DE	Gold	German Style Schwarzbier
Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant	Raspberry Torte	DE	Silver	American-Style Sour Ale

Maryland breweries

Brewery	Beer	State	Medals	Category
Brewer’s Alley Restaurant and Brewery	Brewer’s Alley India Pale Ale	MD	Bronze	English-Style India Pale Ale
Clipper City Brewing Co.	Clipper City Marzhon Vienna Lager	MD	Bronze	Vienna Style Lager
DOG Brewing Co.	Pub Dog Black Dog Stout	MD	Bronze	Classic Irish Style Dry Stout
Flying Dog Brewery	Horn Dog Vintage 2007	MD	Gold	Aged Beer
Flying Dog Brewery	Dogtoberfest	MD	Gold	German Style Märzen
Flying Dog Brewery	Gonzo Imperial Porter	MD	Gold	Imperial Stout
Flying Dog Brewery	Barrel Aged Gonzo	MD	Silver	Wood- and Barrel-Aged Strong Beer

Virginia breweries

Brewery	Beer	State	Medals	Category
Devils Backbone Brewing Company	Gold Leaf Lager	VA	Gold	International-Style Pilsener
Devils Backbone Brewing Company	Natural Born Keller	VA	Silver	Kellerbier/Zwickelbier
Devils Backbone Brewing Company	Danzig	VA	Silver	Baltic-Style Porter
Devils Backbone Brewing Company	Vienna Lager	VA	Silver	Vienna Style Lager
Great American Restaurants	Crazy Jackass Ale	VA	Gold	Rye Beer
Great American Restaurants	Wits End	VA	Bronze	Belgian-Style Witbier
Rock Bottom Brewery – Arlington	Dude! Where’s My Vespa?	VA	Gold	Coffee Flavored Beer
Starr Hill Brewery	Dark Starr Stout	VA	Gold	Classic Irish Style Dry Stout

Pizza Port/Lost Abbey Brewing Co. (San Diego, CA)

Brewery	Beer	State	Medals	Category
Pizza Port Carlsbad	Beech Street Bitter	CA	Gold	English-Style India Pale Ale
Pizza Port Carlsbad	Revelations	CA	Gold	Belgian Style Strong Specialty Ale
Pizza Port Carlsbad	Cow Stout	CA	Gold	Sweet Stout
Pizza Port Carlsbad	Reed’s Wee Heavy	CA	Gold	Scotch Ale
Pizza Port Carlsbad	547 Haight – The Toronado San Francisco’s 20th Anniversary Imperial Red Ale	CA	Silver	Imperial Red Ale
Pizza Port Carlsbad	Good Grief Brown	CA	Bronze	English Style Brown Ale
Pizza Port Carlsbad	Great American Brown	CA	Bronze	American Style Brown Ale
Pizza Port San Clemente	Ernest’s Silky Smoove	CA	Gold	Oatmeal Stout
Pizza Port Solana Beach	Shark Attack	CA	Gold	Imperial Red Ale
The Lost Abbey	Carnevale	CA	Gold	Belgian and French-Style Ale
The Lost Abbey	Duck Duck Gooze	CA	Gold	Belgian-Style Lambic or Sour Ale

via 2009 GABF Winners.

Vino Plastico

Chris Zach — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 00:48:07 +0000

Sounds like the wine industry is wising up and realizing that shipping millions of tons of glass around the country, or even the world, just to transport some Two Buck Chuck doesn’t make any economic or environmental sense. You will now be seeing more wine in plastic bottles. Good move!

Plastic reshaping wine trade — latimes.com.

Updates in Craft Beer Press Releases | Beernews.org

Chris Zach — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 18:35:55 +0000

Dogfish Head (out of Delaware) is one of the few breweries in the country brewing big IPAs that can keep up with the Pacific Coast breweries (particularly those in San Diego!).

Plus, they have some awesome new artwork for their 75 Minute IPA bottle label:

Dogfish Head 75 Minute IPA label

Updates in Craft Beer Press Releases | Beernews.org.