New on Draft--Cool stuff for fall

We have a few new things we think you'll like--we're crazy about them. First,(from our in-house server notes) Stone Vertical Epic 10.10.10:

Stone Vertical Epic 10.10.10 is part of an annual series of cool beers Stone began on New Year’s Day 2001, with 01.01.01, and will continue through 12.12.12 two years from now. Our keg has a brew date of 10/7/10. This year’s version is a Belgian “Strong Golden Ale” and carries an ABV of 9.5%. Brewed with the Wyeast “Ardennes” strain of yeast, it has a restrained Belgian farmhouse earthiness, bready/biscuit maltiness, a slight touch of cantaloupe and honey, and you can taste the white wine grapes (Muscat, Sauvignon Blanc, and Gewurztraminer) added in secondary fermentation, as well as the chamomile flowers the beer was steeped in during aging.


Then, Port Old Viscosity:

Port Old Viscosity
is an American Double or Imperial Stout, dominated by flavors of coffee, chocolate, roasty malt, smoky oak, and maybe a little vanilla. There is some heat from the alcohol, but not as much as you might expect from this 10% ABV stout. This is a full-bodied beer, for sure, but not a heavy one, again pleasantly surprising given the high gravity. The brewery’s own notes call it “sludgy” but we disagree. Interestingly, this beer is a combination of 80% “new” beer, fermented in stainless steel, and 20% “old” beer, also fermented in stainless, but then aged at least 6 months in bourbon barrels.

Next, Port High Tide:

Port Brewing High Tide—a “fresh hop” IPA
This beer was brewed with fresh-picked, undried, unprocessed Yakima Valley hops, with Centennial fresh hops used in the whirlpool (at the end of the boil, generating flavor and aroma) and Chinook fresh hops for “dry hopping” (in the fermenter, with impact primarily on aroma, but some effect to flavor as well). It is an American IPA, coming in at about 6.5 % ABV (“alcohol by volume”). Centennial are famous for a citrus flavor, somewhere between orange and grapefruit, while Chinook tend to be perceived as a big, bitter, pine-y hop. Fresh from the harvest, these flavors are intensified.

Stay tuned; coming this week are Odell's Bourbon Barrel Stout, Bristol's Black Fox La Noche Del Diablo (a black saison, just in time for Halloween) and the classic Halloween beer, Rogue's Dead Guy maibock. And everybody's favorite late fall seasonal: Sierra Nevada Celebration.