Victory for Missouri

BeerNews.org just dropped a solid lead that Victory Brewing, out of Pennsylvania, is eying Missouri as part of its next expansion.  In a video interview with Gary Vaynerchuk, Victory President/Brewmaster, Bill Covaleski indicates that Missouri is "ready for their beers." 

This shows once again that Missouri is such a solid craft beer market that an established and well distributed East Coast brewer wants to gain access.  It will probably still be a while before anything is finalized.  As of now nothing from Victory has been submitted to the Missouri Brand Label Registration.  That means that if we ever do see anything from Victory in Missouri, it won't be until next year at the earliest.

For a while I was trading for Victory beers on a regular basis, so I am a familiar with a few of their offerings.  There are a few Victory beers that I would be eager to get on a regular basis.

• Storm King Stout - This is a top Russian Imperial Stout that ranks in BeerAdvocate's Top 100.  Rich with dark malts, it still has a peppery bite from the hops.
• Prima Pils - A super hopped Pilsner, great for the summer
• Old Horizontal - The Old Ho' will put you horizontal.  A very tasty barleywine.
• Wilddevil - I haven't had this one yet.  This is Victory's wild yeast ale so it should be interesting.

Boulevard Amber Six-Packs coming in September

Boulevard just announced on their Facebook page that six-packs of Amber Ale started going into production.  Product should be on shelves by mid-September.

Amber Ale started out as test product in the Nebraska markets and in the sampler 12-packs.  Response was strong so it is going into the regular line up.

image courtesy Boulevard Brewing

More MO Brewers Expanding Distribution

A while back I had mention Cathedral Square had released an Iglesia Agave Ale. I finally found it at Red X. Red X set up a wine rack display featuring all three of the Cathedral Square offereings. I really liked the Belgian White Ale, so I was interested to try this newer offering.

While at Red X I noticed the Hermann, MO brewer Tin Mill was on the shelves.  Tin Mill had always distributed in central Missouri and part of Saint Louis, but until now I had never seen them in the KC area.  Good for them!  I had always heard pretty good things about Tin Mill, and that their Rythem and Brews fest was worth checking out.

Back to the Iglesia.

22 oz bottle poured into a wide stemmed tulip. About a half inch of tight, cream colored head that recedes pretty quick. No lacing on this one. Color is a murky and hazy light brown. No clarity, no light gets through.

Smell at first is a malty sweetness with an odd fruitiness that I think is coming from the agave. With the second pour that sweetness becomes funky, and not in a good funky way. It is more of a stale fruit, way past its prime kind of funky. Strangely, the smell does not translate into the taste. Taste has more of the malty character that has a fruit juice added to it. Taste is much better than the smell.

Mouthfeel is pretty good. It has a thick and creamy texture, though the body is more medium bodied. The carbonation is mild and is barely noticeable. Over all I would say this has been a disappointment.

Pumpkin of Ages - Schlafly Pumpkin Ale 2009 & 20010

Schlafly Pumpkin Ale, unlike last year's jack-o-lantern, ages incredibly well.  If you recall last year, I nearly worked myself into a frenzy waiting for Schlafly Pumpkin Ale to come out.  I did manage to stock up and save a six-pack worth to age. 

The 8% ABV combined with the spices preserves the beer, where lesser beers would develop a not-so-fresh flavor after the Best-By date.  I have been waiting for this year's vintage to hit the shelves before opening the cellar.  Now that I have this year's in the fridge, the time has come.

I pour the 2009 vintage into one of my Schlafly pint glasses.  There is still a strong carbonation in the body.  The head comes up to the rim of the glass with about and ounce or two left in the bottle.  I can smell the nutmeg and cloves right away.  The body is a clear dark orange color.  Very active tracers of carbonation rise from the bottom to the top.

The spices make up the core of the aroma.  All of the pumpkin pie spices you should expect.  Nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon, allspice, and ginger spark together.  In the back there is a sweetness that is like caramelized pumpkin and sweet potatoes.  There is some brown sugar to mellow out any burnt flavors.  It gives a sense of pie crust.

The body is still creamy, though it may have thinned out with time.  Crisp carbonation keeps the sugars from being too sticky.  Still, there is a lingering sweetness in the back of the mouth.  I love this beer!

Now to compare to this year's vintage.  Poured into a new glass, surprisingly the head and carbonation is not as active.  It could be that the aging prolonged the bottle conditioning to create more carbonation.  The body still has a clear dark orange color.

Smell has more of a pumpkin aroma, a sweet, meaty vegetable aroma.  Spices are still there, but they seem to pop in the nose after the swallow.  There is more cinnamon, then nutmeg, and I don't really get any cloves this time.

The mouthfeel has a more crisp carbonation.  Still there is lots of body on this one.  The great thing is that it is so balanced that it doesn't feel heavy.  It feels satisfying, like that last bite of pie after a home cooked meal.  It feels good all around.

It's the Greatest Pumpkin Ale

Schlafly Pumpkin Ale is out and about, but just not at my local shop.  My shop seems to be at the end of the distributor's delivery route.  That's OK, I can wait.

...

OK, I'm done waiting.  After a few calls I find that a couple of my back up shops have recieved their delivery.  A six-pack is running about $8-$10, and worth every cent.  Guess where I'm going after work.

Amazingly, I still have a few bottles left over from last year so I can do a side-by-side comparison.  I can't wait.

Cheers!