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From Larry...
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Fall is almost here and the seasonal beers are already on the shelves. In Florida, we are still waiting for the small temperature change and cooler nights. In North Carolina, that has been happening since August! This was one of the coolest months of August in NC history. Leaf season is right around the corner. As in recent years there are new and different brews for fall. The usual pumpkin ales, robust browns, reds and any beer that goes well with hearty foods are here. There were almost 20 different pumpkin ales on the shelf at Total Wine last week. One was a Pumpkin Imperial Stout, a new and different style idea. Meanwhile, many breweries have brewed up quite a variety of Autumn brews. Sierra Nevada brewed "Flipside" red IPA for the switch from summer to fall. New Belgium brewed "Tour de Fall" Pale Ale for the ride into Autumn. Both of these are available in FL and NC. In between there are many smaller local breweries with their own twist on the seasonal brew for autumn. There are also many "Harvest" or Oktoberfest beer festivals in the next few months. These are at the best time of year for outdoor events. The weather is cooler and the brews will be fresh. Check locally for different beer events and get out and enjoy the season. Stop by your local brewery and enjoy a fresh seasonal beer and take home a growler or two. Have a great Autumn whatever you do!
The "Style of the Season" is English - Style Dark Mild Ale, a sessionable English style that has been made in London for years. Some American craft brewers are just discovering different session beers. I enjoyed this style at a new brewery, First Magnitude Brewing in Gainesville, FL.
The Featured brewery is Innovation Brewing of Sylva, NC. I would be a regular here if it was closer to home. A very friendly and laid back place, they have 15 beers on at any given time. Brewer Chip is brewing some innovative beers; I enjoyed everything I tried.
All back issues of The Blast are available on the Media / Archive page.
Cheers,
Larry
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 Style of the Season
English Style Dark Mild Ale
Lately, craft brewers have been brewing more 'sessionable' beers. There is a demand for lighter, easy drinking beers. Lower ABV and lighter tastes make these beers perfect for long sessions of drinking and good times with friends. There is a reason that the English and Irish can drink the day away in the pub. The mild style is made for these sessions. Low ABV ( 3.4 - 4.4%), lighter taste and drinkability all make a session ale. Milds have low hop character and low fruity esters. Malt flavor and caramel are the main flavor profile with licorice and roast malt tones making this style a good fall beer as well.
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 Innovation Brewing Sylva, NC
is a fun laid back brewery taproom with good people and beer. It's on Main Street in Sylva, NC, which soon will have 3 breweries. At Innovation there are 15 + brews on at any time. There are the regular offerings and some innovative styles where brewer Chip has put his own twist on the style. Nut Brown is a rare find and his IPA's all were excellent. Ginger Pale, Red Wheat and Beet & Basil ale all are non traditional styles created by Chip. The atmosphere is great; locals come in to enjoy a beer with others and everyone is friendly. There is an outside deck which is good for the cool nights and will be great this fall. They may add a deck directly by the river in the future. My review is on the 2014 review page with a link to pictures.
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Beer Camp Across America - Wrap up
On August 3rd, the 7th and final stop of Beer Camp was at Sierra Nevada Brewing's new brewery in Mills River, NC. Being the seventh event, everything went perfectly. It was a beautiful day; the threatened rain never materialized and good beer and cheer were the order of the day. There were over 100 different breweries there; many from North Carolina. I saw names that I haven't heard of and many that I knew. Western NC was well represented and there are many new breweries from the eastern part of the state. Highlands, NC has a new brewery, Satulah Mountain Brewing; they were there. Sylva's Innovation was there as well as all the Asheville area breweries big and small. We visited with our friends from Dunedin brewing (Dunedin, FL) and saw Wynwood of Miami too. The variety of beer styles was incredible; each brewer had two brews, so they wanted to display their best. No two breweries were the same or even similar. This is what is great about craft beer styles. There are style guidelines but each brewer can interpret them in his / her own way. The 12 collaboration brews all were available in a special area for the 12 lucky breweries that collaborated with Sierra Nevada on some very interesting styles. I met many good people; some employees of SNB, who were the best hosts ever, other festival goers and the brewers and other workers all were welcoming. Lots of beer knowledge and stories were exchanged. Now that they have it down, my idea for next year is something similar; pick 7 states and focus on that state's breweries. This way the series of festivals could go on for 5 more years, at least. Beer Camp Florida 2015 sounds good and would be pretty interesting considering all the growth in the Florida craft beer scene. My original review is on the GBL 2014 review page and some photos are on the GBL FB page. |
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Locally...
Titanic's Oktoberfest is now on just in time for the annual celebration. The 2X IPA and Tripel Reserve are both back on. The guest tap list varies; Founders Red Rye, and Sixpoint Resin Double IPA are on.
The Mighty is Miami's newest gastropub. It's a casual neighborhood bar at 2224 Coral Way. The beer selection is varied with several American crafts and some Belgian brews as well. The food is great; try the home made sausage or any of the other fresh made selections. Another cool detail: the draft beer menu is updated daily at beermenus.com
Grovetoberfest, Save the date! Miami's largest beer festival is on October 18th. The fourth annual edition will be better than ever. Get the VIP ticket if possible; it's well worth it. See the website for tickets and more information.
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New Breweries
Wynwood Brewery brews are appearing all around South Florida from Jupiter to Key West. The taproom is running full time; see the Events Page to see what's up. Apparently there are plans for a few more breweries in the Wynwood area. More details next time.
MIA Brewing Co.; Construction continues; the opening date is fall - winter 2014. MIA brews are getting around Miami. The tap room looks like a great place; I'm not sure why the continued delays in opening. See MIA's Facebook page to find out where MIA will be pouring beer.
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Gainesville Florida's newest brewery, FMB has 3 brews available. The brewing attitude is: be creative with the styles; remember the style guidelines but don't forget that the 4 basic ingredients of beer can be combined in almost limitless ways. The 15 BBL system is impressive and the beers produced are quite tasty. There are a few pictures on the GBL FB page.
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© Larry Goeser
Miami, Florida Good Beer Larry |
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