Plus, welcome three new brewers
By LOU PAPINEAU | October 1, 2014
There’s never a shortage of beer news ’round here. Let’s dive in while we’re counting the days to Beervana. . . .
Last year, 3000 cases of the Narragansett/Autocrat Coffee Milk Stout hit stores in mid-December. Soon after ’Gansett prez Mark Hellendrung told us, “The Coffee Milk Stout was really unbelievable. Everyone loved the beer and we basically sold out in a week. Unfortunately, we all seriously underestimated how well it would be received, and RI’s love for Autocrat. It will be back in November and we’ll obviously make a heck of a lot more.” Well, they moved the release date up a month and indeed made a lot more — about six times more (the brew, in six-packs of 16-ounce cans and 12-packs of 12-ounce bottles, should be available till the New Year). The launch party will be on Saturday, October 4 at Dusk (301 Harris Ave, Providence, relocated from Fete) from 4-8 pm, with music by Jay Berndt and the Orphans and Gavage, games, raffles, free Olneyville N.Y. System Wieners, and $3 pints of the liquid goodness. . . Grey Sail is about to debut its third year-round beer: the Captain’s Daughter , a double IPA (8.5% ABV) packed with Mosaic hops, an uber-tropical variation which has been described as “Citra on steroids.” It should hit tapes and shelves in mid-October. And Grey Sail is launching its Little Swell Series with Dark Star, a Belgian Imperial Stout (8.5%) aged for more than nine months in bourbon barrels; and Flotsam and Brettsam , an IPA aged in wine barrels with the wild yeast Brettanomyces. Check greysailbrewing.com for updates on the release of the limited edition 16.9-ounce bottles. . . Matt and Kara Richardson have been selling hops — aka the spice of the beer — from their Ocean State Hops outpost since 2011; Newport Storm, the Bucket, and Proclamation have used their flowers to grace their beers. But the long-time home brewers will be keeping their hop harvests since they’ve finally realized their dream of opening Tilted Barn Brewery , the state’s first farm beer maker. With the license framed and hanging on the wall, they hope to be pouring their first brews before Halloween, with an IPA, pumpkin ale, and coffee stout on tap. When the gates open, visitors will be able to tour the barn, hop yard, and the farm. Check facebook.com/tiltedbarnbrewery for updates. . . And we’ll have a thorough preview of Beervana (which is on October 17 at Rhodes-On-the-Pawtuxet) in two weeks, but here are a few tidbits to get you salivating (and to purchase your tix): the fest will feature all 12 Sierra Nevada Beer Camp collaboration beers; Dave from Proclamation and Josh from Grey Sail cooked up a berliner weisse for your sampling pleasure; and the seminars will be led by Ron Lindenbusch of Lagunitas and Dave Engbers, a co-founder of Founders. Head to beervanafest.com for updates.
