Tag Archives: new release

High Alcohol, Low Calories: Bud Light Platinum

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This is a bit of a head scratcher. Though it’s been rumored for a while now, apparently it is coming, as AdAge is reporting that the TTB has given label approval for Bud Light Platinum. Though thought to be somewhere between 6% and 8% a.b.v., AdAge indicated the new low-calorie beer will weigh in at 6% and have 137 calories. Regular Bud Light is 4.2% a.b.v. and has 110 calories. And as regular Budweiser is 5% and 145 calories, it’s hard to see the point. Apparently, the idea is “to tap into the rising popularity of craft beers, which tend to be fuller bodied with more alcohol.” Sure, just throw in some alcohol, that should fool people. Apparently they’re missing the point that craft beer drinkers want flavor, not just higher octane. But given how successful the big brewers have been at convincing people to drink low-calorie light beers, I have little doubt this couldn’t work, too, however illogical I find the very notion of light beer.

ABI has also apparently registered the domain name budlightplatinum.com, but it’s not yet an active website. There’s not even a placeholder there so it may be some time before we see the actual beer. ABI has also not yet made an official announcement or sent out a press release.

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Lagunitas Sucks Holiday Ale

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No, that’s not a judgment call on my part. I love Lagunitas. But that is the name of their new seasonal ale for 2011; Lagunitas Sucks Holiday Ale. They’re calling it that because the new beer is a temporary replacement for their popular — and usual holiday seasonal — Brown Shugga’, which they won’t be able to brew this year due to the installation of their new 250-barrel brewhouse.

From the press release:

It is a sad day at Lagunitas when we have to tell you that our favorite seasonal — Brown Shugga — will take a year off and come back in full force in the fall of 2012 after the installation of our new brewhouse.

A brand new beer that’s sure to please is our “Lagunitas Sucks Holiday Ale”….. it’s our BrownShugga’ substitute.

This beer is a Dry-Hopped ‘Cereal Medley’ of Barley, Rye, Wheat, and Oats…. full of complexishness from the 4 grains, and weighing in at 7.6% abv, it is mondo-dry-hopped for that big aroma and resinous hop flavor.

The entire project has a self-deprecating air about it, including the label notes, which are always written by Lagunitas founder Tony Magee. To wit:

This sad holiday season we didn’t have the brewing capacity to make our favorite seasonal brew, the widely feared BrownShugga’ Ale. You see, we had a couple of good years (thank you very much) and so heading into this season while we are awaiting a January delivery of a new brewhouse we are jammin’ along brewing 80 barrels of IPA and PILS and such every 3 hours. A couple of months back we realized that since we can only brew a mere 60 barrels of Shugga every 5 hours, that we were seriously screwed. For every case of Shugga’ brewed, we’d short 3 cases of our daily brews. The new brewhouse will help insure that this kind of failure never happens again. It’s a mess that we can not brew our BrownShugga’ this year and we suck for not doing it. There is nothing cool about screwing up this badly and we know it. Maybe we can sue our sorry selves. There is no joy in our hearts this holiday and the best we can hope for is a quick and merciful end. F*@& us. This totally blows. Whatever. We freaking munch moldy donkey butt and we just want it all to be over ….

My guess is that the new Lagunitas Suck Holiday Ale will be so good that we’ll all forgive them and Santa will not bring them all a lump of coal this Christmas. They do seem to be appealing to Santa’s better nature but putting a yummy-looking Santa cookie on the label. Perhaps they’ll leave some of them out on Christmas Eve so when Santa comes down the brewhouse chimney, he can eat himself.

Lagunitas-holiday-ale

No Beer At Royal Wedding?

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uk
Another royal wedding’s coming up this Friday. I care about it as much as the last one in 1981 — not one whit. In deference to my British colleagues and friends who cling to the notion that the royal family matters, I’ll spare you my usual diatribe. But it was announced recently that no beer will be served at the The Royal Wedding (with it’s own “official” website, how klassy) between Prince William and commoner — could there be a more insulting term to call someone to their face? — Kate Middleton.

That’s right, no beer at a British wedding. The reason, according to the Daily Mail, is that “while the younger royals enjoy a pint from time to time, neither Kate nor William is a big beer drinker so they decided to leave it off the menu.” Which is, of course, all well and good if you take the position that it’s their wedding, they can — and should — do as they like. Personally, I had my wedding reception in a brewery. And as British clergyman Sydney Smith quipped in 1934, “what two ideas are more inseparable than beer and Britannia?” So perhaps that makes more British than the man second in line to be king.

But, unlike my wedding or your wedding, this one hardly counts as a private affair, it’s a national event and should, I suspect, reflect the nation. At a time when British beer is suffering, pub closings are epidemic and neo-prohibitionists have their attack dogs out, you would think this might be a perfect time to celebrate the wedding with that most British of drinks, cask ale. But, no, apparently champagne is more to the liking of the royals, or at least the ones who planned the wedding. But here’s the part that should have every red-blooded Brit up in arms. This is the “official” reason given for the ban on beer at the wedding. “It is thought that guests knocking back pints of ale was considered rather unseemly for such a regal affair attended by royals and heads of state from around the world” or put even more bluntly by a Daily Mail source, “[l]et’s face it, it isn’t really an appropriate drink to be serving in the Queen’s presence at such an occasion.” Really, that’s the problem? That the Queen might object to the drink her people should be most proud of, that contributes greatly to her nation’s economy, and is enjoyed by the majority of her subjects being served at her grandson’s wedding? If the royal family was truly in touch with “their people,” I should think they’d come to a very different conclusion.

Their source added. “It was always their intention to give their guests a sophisticated experience and they have chosen the food and drink with this in mind.” And there the other shoe drops. Beer isn’t “sophisticated” enough for a royal wedding. Wow.

UPDATE: Pete Brown had a similar reaction to this news and wrote a post, Beer ‘Not Appropriate’ For Royal Wedding that made some similar points and then a great many more of them, all spot on. Though hilariously, you can see in the comments, there are many people who do think the royals are still above criticism and even that no one should use “bad” language when discussing them. Oh, dear, and we’re considered the provincial ones. Hilarious.

Luckily, Scotland’s BrewDog has just the thing for this sort of nonsense, a beer entitled Royal Virility Performance. With only 1,000 bottles to be released the day before the wedding, here’s how it’s described:

A limited-edition beer containing herbal viagra to mark the forthcoming royal wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton on April 29th. Brewed using various well known aphrodisiacs, the limited edition artisanal beer will only be available to buy from the BrewDog.com website.

According to the specially commissioned label, the Royal Virility Performance contains herbal viagra, chocolate, Goat Weed and ‘a healthy dose of sarcasm’. The beer is a 7.5% ABV India Pale Ale and has been brewed at BrewDog’s brewery in Fraserburgh.

With this beer we want to take the wheels off the royal wedding bandwagon being jumped on by dozens of breweries; The Royal Virility Performance is the perfect antidote to all the hype. A beer should be brewed with a purpose, not just because some toffs are getting married, so we created something at our brewery that will undermine those special edition beers and other assorted seaside tat, whilst at the same time actually give the happy couple something extra on their big day.

BrewDog-royal-virility-btl

Moylan’s Releases Orange & Black Congrats Ale! For Giants’ Opener

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As the Giants get ready to take on the Athletics in the annual Bay Bridge Series that begins tonight, a local brewery gets set to release a new beer to honor San Francisco’s world series victory last year. Moylan’s, in Novato, California, will release Orange & Black Congrats Ale! on March 31 to coincide with the start of the regular baseball season. The special limited release is an American black ale, 6% a.b.v. and 32 IBUs. It will be available on draft, in growlers from the brewpub and in 22 oz. bottles.

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From the press release:

In honor of the World Champions at the Cove, Moylan’s has created a smooth, American Black Ale brewed with orange zest. A hearty brew for the bleacher bums, the gardeners of turf and patient fans who have endured 54 years of pine-grabbing torture. This ale is a reflection of the many dedicated hearts and minds needed to brew a quality beer. It is made with Montana-grown pale two-row barley malted by Malteurop, crystal and black malted barley grown and roasted in Bamberg, Germany by Weyermann Specialty Malts. The robust flavors in the Black and Orange beer also include Canadian-grown barley supplied by Gilbertson and Paige and Mt. Hood and Liberty hops grown in the Yakima Valley by Puterbaugh Farms for Hops direct.

All the oranges used in this brew were grown locally in the California sunshine. Moylan’s offers an adult beverage to salute the Bat, the Stick, the Rally throng, the Crab, the Seal, the Golden voices in the box and all of the San Francisco legends that helped them see the dream become reality. The Orange & Black beer will be officially released on the Giants Opening Day on March 31st and will be available for a limited time. Alcohol by Volume 6.0%, total IBUs 36, 1.068 Original Gravity. This beer will be seen on draft at the pub and in select locations throughout the bay area.

This should be the perfect beer to enjoy as the Giants begin their run for back to back world series victories.

Amish Beer For Rumspringa

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amish-fightin
I love contradictions, especially when they have to do with the Amish. I grew up right around the Pennsylvania Amish, and in fact on my mother’s side, I am partly Amish, so to speak. From my grandfather’s generation and before, my family was Mennonite and operated a farm, having come to America from Bern, Switzerland in 1745 as Anabaptists. The Amish and the Mennonites both share an Anabaptist heritage. The Amish are the more well-known of the two, and eschew many modern conveniences such as electricity and cars. Mennonites on the other hand, at least the ones I observed growing up, drove cars but painted all the chrome black so as to avoid anything flashy or showy. Whenever you visit Amish tourist areas, the ones operating the gift shops and tourist attractions who look Amish, are more likely to be Mennonites.

As a result of that childhood, I love all things Amish and we even have a large hex sign on our house in California, if for no better reason than to confuse people — plus, I just think they’re cool. When I play fantasy sports, I often use as a team name: the “Fightin’ Amish,” again because I love the contradiction. The Amish are conscientious objectors and don’t fight, and even have an exemption for military service. Likewise, there’s a great band I like called The Electric Amish that nicely plays on the contradictions between the Amish and modern life. I bring this up because Lancaster Brewing, in the heart of Pennsylvania’s Amish country, has announced their latest seasonal beer, in a can, to be called Rumspringa Golden Bock.
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Rumspringa is essentially adolescence, from around age 16 until 18, when an Amish teen has to decide to be baptized and join the church or be “shunned” (ostracized by their community for the rest of the lives — no pressure there). Not surprisingly, most join the church. During the Rumspringa, teens have more freedom then before or after, and though it varies by sect, it’s often thought of as the time when they can “sow their wild oats,” find a spouse, get a little crazy. While I’ve seen documentaries where drinking and other taboos do take place, for most it’s simply a time to decide what to do with their lives, at least as I understand it. The Amish, of course, don’t drink alcohol so I love the apparent contradiction of naming a beer for this time in the Amish life cycle. Plus it’s just a good name for a spring beer. And I’m doubly glad they’re canning it so I may even have a shot at trying some.

A Stiff Drink

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It’s hard not to chuckle a bit when BrewDog manufactures another controversy to get free publicity. Their latest, and possibly greatest, stunt is their new world-record beater — at 55% a.b.v. — The End of History. As if a 110 proof beer wasn’t enough, each of the limited bottles (only 12 were made) cost £500 (approx. $770 U.S.). And they sold out in mere hours to consumers from the Canada, Denmark, England, Italy, Scotland and the U.S. Why, you may ask — besides of course supply and demand? The answer is no doubt designed to bait the press and especially animal lovers, because each of the twelve bottles is inside a small stuffed animal. That’s right, a taxidermist placed a bottle inside the body of 4 squirrels, 7 weasels and 1 hare, all collected as roadkill.

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The BBC was the first to weigh in, calling it “perverse.” They got a twofer of outrage from both Advocates for Animals and Alcohol Focus Scotland. Libby Anderson, policy director for Advocates for Animals was quoted as saying “[i]t’s just bad thinking about animals, people should learn to respect them, rather than using them for some stupid marketing gimmick,” forgetting that animals are nearly ubiquitous in advertising, from cute and cuddly to perverse and scary. Remember the Foster’s Farm chickens driving around hoping to be eaten? She adds “[i]t’s pointless and it’s very negative to use dead animals when we should be celebrating live animals. I think the public would not waste £500 on something so gruesome and just ignore it.” Sorry Libby, I guess you don’t know the public as well as you thought, because it sold out in less than a day. Others have called it “shocking” and in “bad taste.”

Here’s how BrewDog describes the beer:

The End of History, at 55%, is the final installment of our efforts to redefine the limits of contemporary brewing.

This blond Belgian ale is infused with nettles from the Scottish Highlands and Fresh juniper berries. Only 12 bottles have been made and each comes with its own certificate and is presented in a stuffed stoat or grey squirrel. The striking packaging was created by a very talented taxidermist and all the animals used were road kill.

To me, the proof that it’s a put up lies in this fact. If you read much philosophy, perhaps the title of the beer, The End of History, sounds familiar? It should, because it’s taken from a 1992 book by Francis Fukuyama, “The End of History and the Last Man,” which itself was based on an earlier essay published in the international affairs journal The National Interest. Fukuyama’s original 1989 essay is online, and a percentage of the later book can be read online through Google Books. In referencing the title, BrewDog comments that “this is to beer what democracy is to history.”
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There’s also a pretty funny video about the End of History, you can find more about the beer at BrewDog’s website.

The End of History from BrewDog on Vimeo.