WHAT’S BREWING

P.2 The New Highland

P.4 Dr ink Like I t ’s FeBREWary

P.5 St. Patr ick’s Day & Beer

P.6 L iv ing the Beer Li fe

P.8 Sierra Nevada Otra Vez

FEBRUARY/MARCH 2016

Off Tap. is a bimonthly publication of ABC Fine Wine & Spirits. Copyright 2016 ABC Liquors, Inc. All rights reserved. Not all products are available in all stores. If the product you’re looking for isn’t available, ask us to order it for you! Meghan Guarino Editor Allie Smallwood Contributing Editor

Follow us on Twitter @abcbeercountry Email us at offtap@abcfws.com

Our certified beer experts on Twitter:

We have approximately 30 beer consultants on Twitter. To find the one nearest you, tweet us @abcbeercountry or email us at offtap@abcfws.com to be pointed in the right direction.

If you haven’t already heard of Highland Brewing Company, I advise you to grab a bottle of Gaelic

Ale and sit back. This Asheville, North Carolina, brewery is bringing it in 2016.

With the recent hire of head brewer Hollie Stephenson, Highland has an all-new strategy for their line-up of beers, and it doesn’t focus solely on one-offs and seasonals. No, instead Highland is set to introduce three new core beers to their lineup of traditional, routine brews, as well as three new seasonals and several additions to their Warrior Series and Kinsman Project beers.

“Highland hasn’t put out a new core beer in quite

a long time; I want to say a little over a decade,”

Stephenson explained. The first of the core beers was

introduced in January, Highland IPA, and is available

in ABC stores across the state. “This definitely kind

of steps out of the box in terms of the first foray into

a style that is very uniquely American craft,” Stephenson

said of the IPA. “That’s the main difference. It’s going

to be the highest—it’s not super high in alcohol,

it’s only 7%, but it’ll be the highest alcohol beer

in our core line-up. It’ll be—aside from the double

IPA I brewed earlier this summer—the highest IBU

The NEW Highland

abcfws.com

MEGHAN GUARINO

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core beer that Highland has ever put out. It’ll be the hoppiest beer that Highland has ever put out. So as far as how it fits in the core, it doesn’t have a lot of similarities with anything else that we have in the core line-up.”

Hops are the important element here. While Highland has made respectable brews in the past, they aren’t the highly-hopped beers of craft popularity. With Hollie Stephenson’s background at arguably one of the best-known hop houses in the country, Stone Brewing, and her love for West Coast IPAs, we’re sure to see more hoppy beers from Highland throughout the year. Of a potential consistent trait among her recipes she said, “I’m not sure about a common thread, necessarily, I mean, I think hops would be a natural one since I’m such a fan, but… I think I’m just trying to bring newness and really what it boils down to is what I love most about craft beer. I want to make that beer that I want to drink.”

And based on what’s in store (no pun intended) over the next few months from this North Carolina brewery, what Hollie wants to drink is pretty dang delicious.

Highland IPA is available now, and a Pilsner Blanc and Mandarina IPA will be joining the core line by July. Both the Pilsner Blanc and Mandarina IPA will be sold in cans, another new feature from the brewery. Starting in February, the seasonals will begin to roll out, first Saw-Whet Saison, then a hoppy wheat beer and after that a Kölsch style brew. “I’m so stoked about that one,” Stephenson said of the hoppy wheat seasonal. Early’s Hoppy Wheat is expected to hit shelves in April, just in time for spring weather.

Though this year is focused on bringing you a whole new line of brews from Asheville’s oldest and largest native brewery, the team is sticking to the level of quality they’ve developed over the years. Between the traditional ales and the newness that Hollie is expected to bring to the brand, Highland is set to offer a beer for every type of craft drinker.

GAELIC ALE A deep amber-colored American ale, featuring a rich, malty body. Cascade and Willamette hops add a complex hop flavor and aroma. This ale is exceptionally balanced between malty sweetness and delicate hop bitterness. – Brewery notes

BLACK MOCHA STOUT Highland’s most robust beer, having a very malty body with a large, roasted chocolate flavor, all achieved solely through the use of special roasted barley grains. It is black in color with a very clean finish and moderate hop flavor. – Brewery notes

OATMEAL PORTER A unique Highland creation, this robust beer is black in color, very malty with hints of chocolate-roasted flavor and a well-balanced hop character. – Brewery notes

Quick-Fire Round with Hollie Stephenson, Head Brewer at Highland Brewing Company

Favorite part of the brewery? CellarBest season for seasonals? WinterCan or bottle? BottleFlight or boot? Flights nowadaysBottle cap or cork? CapOne-off or year-round? One-off

Oscar Wong, founder

Drink Like it’s FeBREWary

SIP A NEW BREW According to a recent craft beer study the gose style is the fastest growing; you’ll be seeing all the best breweries implementing gose in 2016. Sierra Nevada’s Otra Vez Gose-Style Ale is brewed with prickly pear cactus and grapefruit for a deeply layered adventure into the newest star of the craft beer world. Get more details on this beer on the back cover!

THROW A TASTING PARTY Pick a Saturday, set up some tables and stop by ABC for a spread of beers—you’ll be hosting a beer and food pairing party. Start with green chili-stuffed portobello mushrooms and a schwarzbier or try creamy risotto paired with an American amber lager.

WILL YOU BEER MY VALENTINE? When your beer has better flavor and texture than V-Day treats, it’s probably wiser to go with the beer. From milk stouts to chocolate porters to decadent dessert beers, FeBREWary is best celebrated with Valentine’s brews. Terrapin Liquid Bliss is peanut butter and chocolate heaven and Young’s Double Chocolate Stout mixed with a raspberry lambic is like chocolate-covered dark fruit.

COOK WITH BEER

Using beer in your food is not only brilliant, it’s the new trend. The malty, richness of specific beers can elevate a dish from zero to hero in 45 minutes or less. Follow us on Pinterest or check out our blog (blog.abcfws.com) for brew-infused dishes and recipe ideas.

BREW YOUR OWN BEER Maybe there are some crazy beer flavors that you’ve always thought would be good, maybe you really love playing with chemistry, or perhaps you’re just super bored and looking for a new hobby… in any case you should definitely try brewing at home during FeBREWary.

ALLIE SMALLWOOD

This year, the second month isn’t about groundhogs and cupid… it’s about fresh-crafted, complexly-flavored, hit-the-spot-delicious beer. You’ll want to drink like its FeBREWary this month, so here are some of our favorite ways to enjoy this glorious liquid. Look at the next 29 days as a gateway into the world of malts, hops and creative one-offs. Because anything with the word brew in it is always worth celebrating.

Saint Patrick’s Day & Beer

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RICK SWARTZ – BEER CONSULTANT@ABCBEERRICK

There is a long history of brewing in Ireland, more than 5,000 years by most accounts. Legend has it that Saint Patrick even had his own brewer, a priest named Mescan (which is also the name of a current craft brewery making Belgian beers). Guinness, a name most associated with Saint Patrick’s Day, has been brewing in Ireland since 1756 and in the same location at Saint James’s Gate since 1759.

There are currently three main styles of Irish beers according to the 2015 BJCP Beer Style Guidelines. Most of us who are “a little bit Irish”—even if it is just on Saint Patrick’s Day—are familiar with some of the flagship beers of one or more of these styles: Irish red ale (Smithwick’s Irish Ale or Killian’s Irish Red), Irish stout (Guinness Draught or Murphy’s Irish Stout) and Irish extra stout (Guinness Extra Stout, the U.S. version). You can also find many versions of these styles from your favorite craft brewers.

Since Guinness reigns as king on Paddy’s Day, it might be warranted to explain a little about Guinness Draught to anyone who might not have experienced it before. First off, a “proper pint” of Guinness always benefits from a two-part pour. At a pub, this involves pouring the beer into a clean glass at a 45-degree angle until three-quarters full. Then you pause pouring and wait for the “surge” of nitrogen bubbles to settle. Then you continue filling the glass to the top. This is a process that, when done correctly according to the folks at Guinness, takes exactly 119.5 seconds. But if you are pouring your Guinness out of a can at home, it is usually much faster. Pour from the can into a large, clean glass in one smooth motion.

This is a process that, when done correctly

according to the folks at Guinness, takes

exactly 119.5 seconds.

Regardless of whether your pint is from a pub or your home, the beer in your glass should look the same. It will appear a deep ruby color, almost black, but not quite, with a silky, tan head. The aroma should remind you of unsweetened chocolate and roast with an almost imperceptible tinge of sourness in the background. Despite its bold, dark color, Guinness Draught has a very thin and light mouthfeel. For what many people think is a strong, heavy beer, it really isn’t.

Its ABV is in the 4% range and it has less calories than many mass-brewed, pilsner-style lagers.

But don’t let the description of Guinness Draught’s mouthfeel fool you. This beer is surprisingly complex for such a light-bodied beer. Part of the reason for this is the bit of sourness you may have noticed in the aroma. Each batch of Guinness Draught is blended with a touch of soured beer from a previous batch—think sour-mashed whiskey for those of you who are Jack Daniel’s fans. This touch of sour beer adds a quite unexpected layer of complexity and also makes it ideal for quenching a thirst. Another interesting quality of Guinness Draught it its specific gravity. While the science of specific gravities may not be very interesting, it does allow you to do some fun things with Guinness when mixing drinks.

Saint Patrick’s Day brings with it beer cocktails, some of which have become classics. Among those standards are the Black & Tan (half Guinness Draught and half traditional pale ale), the Snakebite (part Guinness and part cider) and the Black Velvet (served in a large stemmed glass, this drink is 3 ounces sparkling wine with the remainder of the glass filled with Guinness).

And this is just the beginning of the Saint Patrick’s Day beer cocktails. Once spirits and cordials are included, the list quickly lengthens to include the Irish Car Bomb (combine 1 ounce Irish whiskey, 1 ounce triple sec and 2 ounces sour mix in a glass, then fill with Guinness Blonde), the Belfast

Car Bomb (in a shot glass, combine ¾ ounce of coffee liqueur topped off with 1 teaspoon Irish cream and 1 teaspoon Irish whiskey. Drop this shot glass into ⅔ pint of Guinness) and the Irish Margarita (combine 1 ounce Irish whiskey, 1 ounce triple sec and 2 ounces sour mix in a glass and fill with Guinness Blonde). But if you’re a bit of a skeptic and none of these drinks suit you, there is still a Saint Patrick’s Day cocktail for you. Build the Skeptic in a highball glass with 1 ounce blue curacao, 1 ounce coffee liqueur, 1 ounce vodka, 3 ounces lemonade and float Guinness Draught on top to fill the glass.

No matter your drink of choice, have fun with it and may the luck of the Irish be with you!

Over recent years the phrase “Craft is a way

of life” has become the mantra chanted by

an innumerable and exponentially growing

crowd of beer lovers. At first snubbed as a

fad in the beer market, craft beer has enjoyed

a massive explosion of popularity. Gone are

the days when bars displayed tap handles for

three styles and their light brothers, here now

are the days that proud craft beer bars set up

50+ handles for everyday proceedings and

saunter out with expensive bottles for special

occasions with all the formality granted to

expensive restaurants. How consumers view

craft beer all of a sudden has become a

direct reflection of how they view themselves.

Like any group of people, those involved

in the Beer Life are not always united in

their way of thinking. Bars don’t always

have the pleasure of watching their patrons

unanimously lifting their glasses to toast their

brethren in victory over the wine drinkers,

no—as with any philosophy, those involved in

the beer scene have splintered off from their

original beginnings into smaller subcultures

whose identities have formed based on their

approach to living a Beer Life. Below are

a few examples of Beer Lover stereotypes

and their role in the beer scene.

THE BEER ELITIST:

After reading this description, you’ll

probably recall having an encounter with

the Beer Elitist. They’re one of the most

easily recognizable Beer Lover categories

in the social forum and have the accidental

tendency to give Beer Lovers a snobby

reputation. At a bar, their go-to move is

looking up a beer’s rating online; if that

number isn’t 90 or above, they’ll never put

their lips to it. Beer Elitists make it well

known how the beer in your hand is a poorly

constructed golem of their world-class

Belgium (that costs $15). Examples of Beer

Elitist tendencies: they’re the Beer Lover who

only drinks IPAs brewed with certain hops,

the one who had a bad beer from a brewery

and now refuses to sully their reputation

with another try, and they’re the person who

becomes fanatical if their beer is served in

anything but a chalice.

THE LOCAL ENFORCER:

Often heard statements include, “I only

drink <insert your state or region> beers,”

and “Our brewery is known for <insert

certain beer style or ingredient>.” This Beer

Lover takes extreme pride in their state or

brewery’s ability to produce craft beer. This

place, they insist, has the ability to produce

the best beer/style/collaboration of all time.

Drinking something from a craft brewery on

the other coast? You probably shouldn’t be.

They’re ready with an entire list of homespun

facts on why their state/brewery is the only

one worth investing time and taste in, and

they’re most likely decked out in state or

brewery gear. It’s not unlike them to drop

thousands of dollars for that brewery’s beer

festival or to enroll in an expensive special

bottle club.

THE BEER GEEK:

The Beer Geek knows everything: the creator

of the brewery, the year they started

brewing, the state the brewery is located

in, their first beer, etc. The Beer Geek has

an alphabetically arranged mental list of

every beer made by whatever brewery you’ve

just asked about. They’re loud, they’re

proud, and they don’t mind launching into

an hour-long speech containing every fact

they’ve gathered, much to the chagrin of

their listeners. This Beer Lover, despite their

gushing informative tendencies, is one of

the best people to have on your team for

beer trivia night.

THE NEWBIE:

All of us are new at some point, but to

fall into the category of The Newbie, a

person presents themselves as extremely

excited about everything craft beer. That

sticker from the brewery that they’ve never

drank any beer from? Has to have it. That

ill-fitting jacket with the horribly stitched

decal claiming loyalty to the brewery they

just visited? Has to have it. That accident

of a beer that happens even to the best of

breweries? Has to rate it 100 and suggest it

to all of your friends. This person is caught

up in the magic of craft beer, but never

fear: This stage doesn’t last long! If one of

your friends is The Newbie, their rocketing

enthusiasm will either die off as a new

obsession is picked up, or they’ll level out

as their thirst for “the new” is quenched by

good old information.

THE ANYTHING GUY (OR GAL):

The Anything Guy will take whatever is on

the menu. Whether it’s a pitch-black stout

or an artisanal import, if it has the backing,

they’re going to throw it back. “What’s your

favorite style?” you may ask them, but you

already know the answer: whatever’s available.

If you suggest a beer or hand them one a

bottle from your coveted four pack that cost

you $20, you know they’re going to finish it. If

you need a buddy for a festival, they excitedly

volunteer. A class on craft beer? They’re

ready to go. As your beer wingman, they

are ready at a moment’s notice to escort

you into any craft beer situation.

People are as unique as the beers they

dream up, so don’t be surprised to find all

kinds of different Beer Lover archetypes,

hybrids and philosophies out in the world.

As the craft beer market changes with

each new revolutionary idea, so do we, the

drinkers of beer; when we are exposed to

new advertising, taste experimental styles

and link up in beer communities we go

through a metamorphosis of thought.

Every new beer is a chance to become

someone new.

Living the Beer LifeMAKENZIE LADD, BEER CONSULTANT @ABCBEERMAKENZIE

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8989 SOUTH ORANGE AVE.

ORLANDO, FLORIDA 32824

New to the year-round line-up of coast-to-coast

brewery Sierra Nevada is Otra Vez Gose-Style

Ale. While this beer is currently brewed only at

Sierra Nevada’s Chico, California, location, the

summer is ripe for expanding production to their

Asheville, North Carolina, facility.

The gose style originated in Germany, where it

was first made by spontaneous fermentation—a

process, you probably recognize as the reason

behind those ultra-tart sours and lambics from

Belgium. While many gose ales today are made

with top-fermenting yeast, that characteristically

tart profile is still very much a trait of this style.

Otra Vez is a quintessential gose made with

prickly pear cactus and grapefruit for a kick of

refreshing tartness. With delicate balance and

just the right amount of complexity, Otra Vez

allows the cactus and the grapefruit to shine

alongside notes of coriander and a tiny touch of

salt. Fruity, tangy and perfectly crisp, this gose

is exactly the beer you’ll be craving for casual

sipping on warm days.

Pair this 4.5% ABV sessionable ale with Thai

and Vietnamese cuisine or grilled fish.

Sierra Nevada Otra Vez Gose-Style Ale