The first eight barrels of Guinness beer sent to the United States arrived in South Carolina 200 years ago. Inspired by the same export stout recipe from 1817, Guinness is commemorating this milestone with a special release. The beer is brewed with Black Patent Malt and Golding Hops at the Open Gate Brewery in Dublin, where Guinness brewers experiment with new styles — and in this case, reinterpret historical brews.
It's tougher than it should be to find a good Oktoberfest beer made by an American brewery. Thankfully, choices like Schlafly Imperial Oktoberfest are available. The brewery ferments their Marzen for several months, just like the German brewers who created this seasonal style. They add plenty of Munich-sourced malts and German hops to the brew before it's bottled in these 750-ml bottles with a swing-top. It's malty, lightly sweet, and bold enough to share at 8% ABV.
Just in time for the fall season, Firestone Walker takes a legendary beer up a notch with the addition of coffee and cocoa nibs. Velvet Merlin is already one of the best oatmeal stouts in the country, and with the addition of Colombia La Granadilla blend coffee, it's ready to challenge java forward stouts as well. The milk stout version of the original Velvet Merlin recipe also sources cocoa nibs from Ghana to the brew rather than using processed chocolate. Available on draft and in 12oz cans throughout the fall and winter seasons.
Based in New Zealand, Yeastie Boys brewed this beer in the UK using high-grade Japanese Koshiihikari rice. Despite those tangled logistics, Inari Biru is a well-balanced extra golden pale ale that finishes clean and dry. Unsurprisingly, it pairs well with Japanese cuisine and comes in these simple, appealing 12oz cans.
In 2015 Rogue acquired vintage, WWII-era coopering equipment making them the only brewery-distillery-cooperage in the country. Rolling Barrel Thunder Works is the Rogue barrel making arm of the company, and Rolling Thunder Stout is the fruit of their labor. It's brewed using ingredients grown at Rogue Farms and ocean aged in Dead Guy Whiskey-soaked barrels made by hand using Oregon Oak coopered at Barrel Thunder Works. The beer itself is a big and bold 14% ABV stout available in 1-liter swing-top bottles.
It's not every day that a world-famous designer lends his talents to the beer world. But that's exactly the case with Starck Beer, a collaboration between Brasserie d'Olt and French design giant Philippe Starck. The beer is an IPA, created using organic spring barley, three types of hops, and brewed with no additives, coloring, or preservatives. It's packaged in these beautiful and unique glass bottles designed by Starck himself, leaving his creative fingerprints on yet another industry.
True to its name, the line of beer from Side Project Brewing known as Derivation becomes something entirely new after time spent in barrels. The most sought after beer in this line is arguably Double Barrel Derivation, an Imperial Stout aged for two years in Willett 12-year-old barrels before being racked to Port barrels for three months of finishing. It's then bottled and naturally conditioned for eight months before being released to the public.
Sourced and crafted in the U.S.A., the Leesa mattress is backed by both elite athletes and over 10,000 verified five-star customer reviews. You order online and then it's built, compressed, rolled, and shipped directly to your door. And just in case you aren't sure if you'll love it, Leesa will let you try the mattress in the comfort of your own home for 100 risk-free nights or visit a West Elm store near you to try before you buy.
Presented by Leesa.
Stantt has already revolutionized sizing for shirts with 75 sizes narrowed down quickly and easily just by entering your measurements. And now, they're ready to change dress shirts by adding the latest technology customarily reserved for sportswear. Stantt is using a brand new fabric developed using the latest athletic apparel tech to make your dress shirts more comfortable and versatile. Each shirt using 4-way stretch technology to move with your body and stay comfortable. And the moisture-wicking tech moves sweat away from your skin and regulates your body temperature to keep you cooler throughout the day. And just in case you still work up a good sweat, the shirts are designed to dry three times faster than cotton. Available in four colors, every Stantt shirt is crafted one at a time by hand and gives you the look of a premium dress shirt that's as comfortable as something you'd wear to the gym.
Presented by Stantt.
With the eye-catching can designs Stillwater Artisanal Ales continues to release, it's easy to look past what's actually in the can instead of treating it as the piece of art it also happens to be. The Cloud IPA is another can design victory, but also wins as a beer, packing loads of Mandarina Bavaria and Huell Mellon hops into the recipe. More familiar aromatic hops like Mosaic and Centennial join the party as well, providing for a tropical fruit wave that rises from each can. Oats and lactose are the backbones of The Cloud, smoothing out the drinking experience and highlighting the brewing expertise from this Baltimore based crew.
A strong Bockbier made even more powerful by freezing water off the beer, Eisbock is a style that dates back to the late 1800s. For Founders Brewing's 20th Anniversary, they're dipping their toes into the Eisbock waters for the very first time. Tank Bender is made using Munich malts before spending some time in bourbon barrels to help balance out all the intense flavors. The 750ml bottles go on sale at Founders in October as a part of the anniversary celebration.
As we count down the days left of summer, it's important to remember there are plenty of undiscovered summer brews just waiting to be discovered. Almanac Brewing's Tropical Galaxy is a sour ale brewed with mangoes, lime, and coconut that sits in oak foedres with Almanac's farmhouse-brett base beer. It's then finished by dry-hopping using Australian Galaxy Hops to add passion fruit and citrus aromas and flavors. It's a fruit forward wild ale that's a natural fit for warmer temps but promises to pack a flavorful punch no matter when you drink it.
It's easy to see why Anderson Craft Ales is one of the best new breweries in Ontario. And it's easy to taste why it's so popular as well. All of the breweries beers are made using only four ingredients: Canadian-grown barley, North American hops, crisp, clean water, and yeast. And that same focus on simplicity and minimalism translates to the packaging as well, with bright white cans and crisp typography used for beer names and descriptions. Styles range from Session IPA's to an Amber Ale, a Pumpkin Ale, a Cream Ale and much more.
When you combine two breweries who know how to make delicious beers and value the design of their bottles, you get Schiuma Party Saison. Based in Stockholm, Sweden Omnipollo teamed up with Stillwater Artisanal Ales from Baltimore for this saison. The beer is aged for four months in wine barrels with Brettanomyces before being bottled at 6.8% ABV. It was brewed at Brouwerij de Molen in Holland and features the artwork of Karl Grandin on the bottle.
Finding great Belgian style beer in British Columbia might be unexpected. But that's exactly what's on tap at Dageraad Brewing. The word Dageraad is Flemish for "daybreak" and draws on Belgian influences for the beer, and Art Nouveau for the beautiful packaging. The Amber Kelderbier is one of several brews from Dageraad worth your attention, bottle-conditioned using Brettanomyces. It's another example of how Dageraad is helping to move British Columbia's beer culture forward.
While American craft beer continues to grow by leaps and bounds, it's seeing a big boost north of the border as well. Driftwood Beer in Victoria, British Columbia is a great example, and their Farmhouse Saison might be your best point of entry. Made for warm weather days, their interpretation of a farmhouse ale uses a long-grain bill and freshly-ground black pepper. They also use Ardennes yeast from Belgium to bring about the banana and clove flavors familiar to Saison fans.
Craft beer cans have become as much a work of art as the beer itself. And one of the breweries that appreciate this the most is Pure Project Brewing in San Diego, California. One recent example is Knot Murky; a West Coast IPA brewed in collaboration with another left coast brewer, Beachwood Brewing. The IPA is brewed with Ekuanot, Mosaic, and Loral hops and hits all the classic, clean, West coast style notes you'd expect. It's packaged in these appealing 16oz cans that feature a detailed wood grain pattern that looks realistic enough to feel.
Expanding on our latest series of limited edition collaborations, the Topo Designs x Uncrate Rover Pack uses our signature American bison leather as a base for Topo's nearly indestructible Ballistic Cordura fabric construction. This versatile bag holds around 16L of gear, a perfect size for most uses, and has a pack cloth liner and inner sleeve for your laptop. Zippered front and top pockets hold smaller loose items, the side pockets are ideal for water bottles, and the combination drawstring and fold-top closure keeps your most important stuff safe from splashes and showers. Handmade in Colorado. Ships free within 24 hours.
Born from an art-school design concept that went viral, the Transparent Speaker from Stockholm-based People People proves great sounding speakers don't have to come in oversized black boxes. Built of lasting materials like locally-sourced sapphire glass, and utilizing a design scheme that can be dismantled and maintained with an included simple wrench tool, this stunning speaker is a dream come true for audiophile DIYers everywhere. While previous iterations of the Transparent Speaker required the use of your own separate, external component to play tunes over Bluetooth, we're particularly pleased that they now come with a built-in Bluetooth adapter for usage from your phone or tablet. But don't worry, you're still given the option of the original modular setup allowing you to connect any audio source via USB or 3.5mm line-in, with line out capabilities as well. Hardware features include a 6.5-inch woofer, dual 3-inch full range drivers, an energy efficient, built-in amplifier with embedded digital signal processing, front panel treble, bass, and volume controls, and old-school power switch.
Dimensions: 16" tall / 13" wide / 4.17" deep
Frequency Response: 35 Hz-20 Khz ±5Db
Woofer Output: 80-100 W
To kick off their Living Barrel Series, Funky Buddha Brewery in Florida is taking on the flavor profile of a classic summer cocktail. Piña Colada Ale starts out as an imperial cream ale made with real pineapple and coconut before being aged for months in Jamaican rum casks. It's then bottled at 10.8% ABV and hits all the right flavorful notes that you'd want from a Piña Colada but in the form of 22oz of beer.
If you're paying attention, you know that hazy IPAs are the hottest trend in beer right now. And while plenty of breweries are trying to emulate the pioneers of the style, only a handful are hitting the nail on the head. Add Fieldwork Brewing to that list with Hazy Train IPA, packing citrus aromas and a pale, hazy appearance. Hazy Train takes some of the hop bite out of your drinking experience, replacing it with a smooth, velvety, fruit-forward mouthfeel and taste.
There are instances where you should judge a beer by its cover, or packaging. That's certainly the case with Sun Juice from Stony Creek Beer. The eye-catching bottle design is enough to pick it up, but it's also worth your time after the cap is discarded. Sun Juice is a Belgian Summer Ale that is brewed with wheat and Saison yeast. The name and taste match up with the summer season, evidenced by the amount of tropical fruit aromas and flavors in each bottle.
We trust the guys at Stone with IPAs and are rarely disappointed when a new one is released. Brewed with coriander, grains of paradise, and blended with citrus, Stone Ghost Hammer IPA is named after the noises the pipes in the cellar make as the brewing team works overnight. It arrives in this ghostly can at 6.7% ABV and is certain to be the next big hit in a long line of hop bombs from a legendary brewery.
Cascade Brewing in Portland, Oregon was one of the pioneers of the sour craft beer movement that has taken off in the past few years. One of their best sour offerings is the Manhattan NW. It's a blend of sour quad and blond ales aged in bourbon barrels with sour cherries and apricot noyaux. This unique sour beer is a tribute to the classic Manhattan cocktail, and the 2015 version was just released in 750ml bottles at 10.3% ABV, corked and caged with a brand new label design.
It still might be behind the pace of the United States, but the craft beer scene in the UK continues to grow with some impressive offerings. One that stands out is Good Chemistry Brewing from Bristol. The burgeoning brewery has plenty of offerings, but during warm weather, it's wise to lean towards Solar Impulse, a full-flavored sipper with plenty of hops. British, American, and German hops round out the profile of this easy drinker that also happens to be vegan-friendly. Available in these beautiful 660ml bottles that feature a handy ingredient chart front and center.
The beer you sock away for emergencies is probably also the stuff you'd only consider drinking in an actual emergency. But Emergency Drinking Beer is not only named for this specific occasion but also happens to be worth sipping on outside of a dire situation as well. This pilsner is brewed using citrus zest, Portuguese sea salt, and lemongrass for a crisp, tart, beverage that is low in alcohol and easy to consume. Ideal for a hot summer day, this session pils from Wild Heaven Beer is as worthy to drink during a casual get-together as it is to open in a post-apocalyptic dystopian future.
Just in time for summer, The Bruery have teamed up with the flavor experts at Funky Buddha Brewing for Guava Libre. It's an imperial cream ale with guava, lactose, and vanilla added for a sweet, creamy mouthfeel. Inspired by a Cuban guava pastry, it reminds us of a tropical vanilla cream soda. A refreshing choice for the warm weather months, it weighs in at 7.5% ABV and can be purchased in 750ml bottles.
Back in 2011, Sierra Nevada introduced Hoptimum to the masses, and it quickly rose in the ranks among the best triple IPAs on the market. Six years later, the brewers have re-imagined this hophead favorite with a new recipe and label. Sierra Nevada says the new Hoptimum Triple IPA is their hoppiest beer to date and is packed with Simcoe, Citra, and Chinook hops. This annual release is available in 4-packs of 12-ounce bottles on store shelves at 9.6% ABV.
Before you know it, you'll be spending time at the pool, beach, or in sun-soaked backyards most weekends. And if it's a BYOB situation or you're hosting, you want to have a refreshing and flavorful beer option at arm's reach. Tritonia with Cucumber and Lime from Creature Comforts Beer might make the most sense. It's a tart, crisp beverage featuring lime and the cool freshness of cucumber with a hint of sea salt and coriander.
There's no shortage of hazy IPAs on the market these days, but that doesn't mean all of them are great. Monswoon IPA from Pueblo Vida in Tucson, Arizona is a long way from the origins of the hazy IPA style, but it tastes like something you'd find much further east. The latest Monswoon release replaces the Idaho 7, and Citra hops with Mosaic and Simcoe Lupulin powder in the dry-hopping process. The result is a tropical fruit forward hop bomb that you'll want plenty of as we head into the summer.
It turns out when you dry-hop a Pilsner and leave it unfiltered with generous amounts of hops added; it resembles an IPA just as much as a Pils. That's the case with Vocation Dirty Pilsner Beer brewed in the UK and hopped up with loads of American hops to create a unique flavor profile. The Pilsner malts balance out the fruity hops well, and it's all packaged in these beautiful cans that feature a white background and colorful spray-can paint effects.
Inspired by the shoegaze movement in the music industry and the often distorted wall of sound many of those bands delivered comes Stillwater Artisanal Ales Shoegaze Beer. Shoegaze is a distorted farmhouse pale ale, bursting with orange zest, lemon, and the grain-forward flavors the farmhouse style is known for and is packaged in colorful 16oz cans. It's a great addition to the already strong lineup of farmhouse style pale ales in the Stillwater lineup.
The first Saturday in May marks The Kentucky Derby. It's been described as the most exciting two minutes in sports, but we all know it's just as widely celebrated for the decadence and depravity that surrounds it. Braxton Brewing Kentucky Home Beer might play a role in your celebration, especially if your Mint Julep pitcher is empty or you'd just rather drink beer. It's a golden ale aged in bourbon barrels infused with mint to provide the same flavors you'd expect from a Julep and just might be the best beer you can consume while you take in the run for the roses this year.
