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Beer Has No Gender

Japas Cervejaria Artesanal
Sawā Peach
Sour Ale with Peach
Peaches are grown in Brazil and Japan
4.7% ABV
São Paulo, Brazil and Chicago, Il
Brewers: Maíra Kimura, Yumi Shimada and Fernanda Ueno

Hazy active golden candy yellow color. The closer the glass gets, the more my nose is tingling with citrus. Lemon, lime, a little mandarin and of course fragrant peach. Light, fresh, crisp tastes…peaches with a squeeze of that citrus mix from before. A little jolly rancher. Even though it’s light the peach lingers. Makes me dream of being somewhere warm by the ocean with a salty breeze.

Pairs with Cheez-It’s: I want to like it but, I just can’t. Some people might, but I think I’ll pass.

Reading about how these three became friends and embarked in the brewing business. They met over beer, beer events and over time realized how much they had in common. They’re also Brazilians of Asian descent, which in Brazil the word Japas is often used to describe them. They embraced it and made it a positive term and thus here’s the name of their brews. Every detail of their creations is very important to them from their ingredients to their packaging, and they are hands on. These are three intelligent, inspiring women who have proven they have the skills to stand out and excel in a male oriented industry, and are taking on the world and winning. As they best put it on their site, they are “proving more and more that beer has no gender.”

@JapasCervejaria @BeerBoutiqueInc #beerternational @mairakimura @yumishimada @crftcollective @cheezits #beer #sour #sourale #wine #winestagram #instawine #cheezit @worldbyglass #pairswithcheezits #craftbeer #beerstagram #beersofinstagram #peaches #sawa #Sawā #Brazil #Chicago #Japan

 

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Explosion, Experiments and Delicious Success

Torch & Crown Brewing Company
King Elizabeth
Barleywine
11.4% ABV
New York, NY
Founders, brewers, and youthful troublemakers/geniuses: Joe Correia and John Dantzler

Dark brown with reddish tint and small head in light cappuccino foam. Spirited sniffs of anise, herbs, tangerine and orange, and a little Dr. Pepper. Kicking back a powerful punch of toffee, caramels, cocoa, and those southern homemade Chewies that look like brownies but no, so much better. A little bitter that is maybe even like some burnt edges of the pan that just might have stayed in the oven a minute or two too long. Also a little banana and mandarin. I am so surprised at how much I am enjoying this little can, and maybe I should have taken the recommendation at Beer Boutique and bought a second back up one.

Pairs with Cheez-It’s: Blerg! No do not pair!

When I saw this can, I thought, label alone I must have this! Figured I would mostly be writing about Elizabeth, who as they say is the emperor of their production facility in the Bronx. He has one faulty eye but who cares, I have a one-eyed kitty and have a deep soft spot for them. Then I stumbled upon the story of how Joe Correia and John Dantzler ended up in beer. These two, what little inventive trouble makers they were as kids. They as many, had fake IDs but evidently went into the wrong NYC bar and got busted. They were 16, what do you think kids at that age are going to do, wait until they’re 21? No way! They started with a home brew kit and well, let’s just say like most guys they didn’t read the full instructions, and busted again but by John’s mom due to the explosion in her kitchen. That didn’t stop them. They got better and better, and won home-brew awards (underage), so their dads got the credit. And look at them now, they made it through college in differing degrees. They didn’t kill themselves with their experiments and now they have their own business, and they make damn good beer! Oh and there’s a restaurant too, and they do take out and delivery. Check out their party packs. The Super Bowl one looks fab.

@torchandcrown @BeerBoutiqueInc @cheezits #beer #barleywine #KingElizabeth #wine #winestagram #instawine #cheezit @worldbyglass #pairswithcheezits #craftbeer #beerstagram #beersofinstagram  #NewYork #NY #Manhattan #Bronx #cats #catsofinstagram #caturday #oneeyedcats #oneeyedcatsofinstagram

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Pass the Beignets, Please

18th Ward Brewing
Decatur Street
Imperial Pastry Stout (New Orleans Style)
Brewed with German, English, and American ingredients
As per label too with beignets, confectioner’s sugar, vanilla & chicory coffee
10% ABV
Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY
Owner: Jordan Beldner
Head Brewer: Will Arnaiz

Dark coffee cola with a short caramel head. Smelling delicious coffee, chocolate, cola, powdered sugar, beignets, vanilla and the label pretty much hands you all this. Oh this tastes like a brownie covered in vanilla powdered sugar with bits of chocolate and that chicory coffee thrown in. Please save me the corner pieces…mmm. Feels like a love song to New Orleans and the French Quarter. Let’s go take a leisurely stroll down Rue Bourbon and then wander Decatur.

Pairs with Cheez-It’s: oh man does this make it all about the sugar. Nope, not doing that again

Jordan Beldner opened 18th Ward in 2019, across from Brooklyn Steel, which at the time was a great idea. He could get spillover from their concerts, before and after. I am going to admit, I am ashamed, that I never got a chance to visit. Who thought we’d be in this situation. Would have loved to not only try the beer on tap but also their Pork Belly Po’ Boy. When Brooklyn Steel had to close, they lost a lot of their business. Thank goodness they have a 50 ft outside space and are open noon to 8pm on Saturdays and Sundays. You can pick up or stick around  and sip outside. Back to how they had to adapt. They had to sort out canning because which is the best way to reach the masses that aren’t venturing out. Jordan also brought on Head Brewer Will Arnaiz to help reorganize and sort all of this out. When you can, you also need to come up with some pretty cool and catchy labels, and they lucked out with Abbey Bull. Check out her work @foggyfeelin. Wishing them the best and when they do get to open back up inside, I am definitely walking over.

@18thwardbrewing @BeerBoutiqueInc @indiebeer_ @foggyfeelin @cheezits #beer #ImperialPastryStout #ImperialStout #stout #wine #winestagram #instawine #cheezit @worldbyglass #pairswithcheezits #craftbeer #beerstagram #beersofinstagram  #williamsburg #brooklyn #NY #DecaturStreet

 

 

 

 

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Cheers to Billie!

Fat Orange Cat
Collaboration with Twelve Percent Project
All The Kool Kats On The Back Of The Bus
New England Style India Pale Ale
8.4% ABV
Simcoe, Citra, Mosaic and Nugget Hops
North Haven, CT

Hazy golden orange with a big frothy head. Inhaling all that NEIPA citrus goodness: grapefruit, tangerine, clementines, orange zest, and pine needles. Tasting all the same citrus fruit goodness again added with pineapple and apricots. Then bitter, pine, herbal (like singed sage) and something a little toasty and dark. A very smooth easy drinker that gives you that delightful tingly feeling on your tongue and lips.

Pairs with Cheez-It’s: Makes it more herbal and floral…hmmm

I head over to Fat Orange Cat’s site to see how they’re doing and am greeted by a post that says their open air drive-thru is closed till April 2021, but you can still pick up their beers at your local purveyors and also Twelve Percent Project, who works with them on their large batch beers. Their small batches are made back at their brewery East Hampton, CT with great care to their land, their ingredients, local agriculture, and recycling as much as possible. This is a socially conscious brewery that was once overseen by their “brewmaster” and fat orange cat, Billie who is sadly no longer. There are pics of him on their site in case any of you other cat crazy people, like me, would like to see how cute he was. Join me in a little dance for him with G Love & Special Sauce – Back of the Bus.

@fatorangecatbrewco @BeerBoutiqueInc @twelvepercentbeerproject @cheezits #beer #wine #winestagram #instawine #cheezit @worldbyglass #pairswithcheezits  #neipa #ipa #craftbeer #beerstagram #beersofinstagram #Simcoe #Citra #Nugget #hops

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A Swede and a Buckeye Walk into a Bar

Collaboration from Hoof Hearted Brewing & Dugges Bryggeri
Faster Than the Future
Imperial Stout with raspberry, vanilla and Marcona almonds added
13.5% ABV
Hoof Hearted Brew Master: Trevor Williams
Dugges Brew Master: Mikael Dugge Engström

Dense dark chocolate color with a small coffee head. Whoa this is total dark chocolate tickling my nose, along with espresso, vanilla, lots of raspberries and nutty. Drinking in tingly chocolate covered raspberries, brownies, sweet and mellow vanilla, espresso that snaps back, and that rich nuttiness of Marcona almonds. Lord, how I love Marconas. I had to cut back on them at one point. It was totally becoming an addiction.

Pairs with Cheez-It’s: oddly it makes it super sweet. If you want, try them together, but I prefer the Imperial Stout on its own

So excited when I found this Hoof Hearted collaboration and giddily brought it home. They have so much fun with their irreverent ever changing label art. I think “Don’t Microwave It Don’t Boil It” is my favorite. Love their sense of humor! Heck, the brewery’s name came from a fart joke. They also have such a dedicated following (especially for their IPAs) and there’s good reason for that too…it’s damn good beer! As for how Hoof and Dugges decided to collaborate, I’m not sure of that tale, but would love to hear how this power team came about. Funny enough, the Dugges Bryggeri story page starts out with what sounds like the beginning of an old joke, “An Englishman walks into a bar.” So like Hoof, I’m seeing the humor and also that they also have quite a following in Sweden to the point of their having to expand in 2009, and from what it sounds like on their page they may need to do it again. And I’ll leave it with their own motto, “Brewing our beer. Preaching our brews. Living the dream. And, loving every minute of it!”

@hoofheartedbrewing @duggesbryggeri @BeerBoutiqueInc @twelvepercentbeerproject @hkarlphoto @cheezits #beer #wine #cheezit @worldbyglass #pairswithcheezits  #imperialstout #stout #craftbeer #Marengo #Ohio #Sweden #marconaalmonds