BEER Profiles: Vacationland Summer – Exit 11 – Helles Blond Bock and More

Here are a bunch of beers that were released within the last few months and some that will be releasing this fall:

Vacationland Summer Ale

Vacationland Summer Ale has hit the shelves and is featured on tap at all Gritty’s Brew Pubs. Vacationland is an Extra Special Golden Ale that’s light in color but full-bodied, with a snappy hop finish. A bit of extra time in the conditioning tank rounds out and mellows the ale. We use generous portions of pale malt with just a touch of wheat malt to give VSA unique flavor that’s richer than most summer brews. Cascade leaf hops add a delicate and forward hop character as well. Summer. If you drink it, it will come!

Click here for the 2BeerGuys.com Review (score 16 of 30) – Ale – 4.9%

Exit 11 Hoppy American Wheat Ale

Exit 11 Hoppy American Wheat Ale is the second in their wildly popular Exit Series of Big Bottle Beers. Exit 11 is a confluence of styles and ingredients, just as Exit 11 is the point in New Jersey where the Garden State Parkway, the New Jersey Turnpike and several other highways come together.

Exit 11 is an American-style wheat beer brewed with English ale yeast and three Pacific Northwest hops, Columbus, Palisade and Amarillo. It is brewed with 50% Belgian pale malt and 50% white wheat, and is an ideal summer thirst quencher, with its bouquet of tangerines and apricots. Exit 11 is available only during this one-time release, and only until it sells out across New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware.

Harpoon Helles Blond Bock

The 27th beer in the limited edition Harpoon 100 Barrel Series, Helles Blond Bock. This light amber beer has a bready aroma, creamy smooth mouthfeel, and a clean, lingering sweetness at the finish.
This beer was brewed by Harpoon Brewer and Quality Control Manager Jaime Schier. Jaime also brewed 100 Barrel Series editions Wit Beer (#2) and Saison (#14).
Brewer Jaime Schier set out to create a beer with a robust body that was light in color and delicate on the palate. Jaime combined Pale Ale malt, Munich malt, and Black malt to give the beer its intense malt flavor. A German Bock yeast accentuates the malt character, yielding a slightly sweet aroma. German Noble hops add a touch of bitterness to balance the malt.

This Helles Bock recipe called for the most malt per batch ever brewed at Harpoon. Enjoy it on a warm, sunny day, with a big basket of pretzels and mustard.

ABOUT Helles Blond Bock
– Brew Date: 4/17/09
– Packaging Date: 5/15/09

BEER SPECIFICATIONS
– Style: Helles Bock
– Original Gravity: 17.1
– Alcohol by Volume: (ABV) 7.4%
– IBU’S: 15


Big Bohemian Pilsner
Are you ready for something…. BIG? Harpoon Leviathan Big Bohemian Pilsner has been bottled! This latest installment of the Harpoon Leviathan Series was brewed in the centuries-old tradition of Czech and Bohemian brewers. Harpoon Big Bohemian is a large lager with a clean maltiness and a huge aromatic hop character.

About Leviathan Big Bohemian Pilsner:
– Style: Imperial Pilsner
– Original Gravity: 19.5
– Alcohol by Volume: 9%
– IBU’S: 75
– Available in 4-packs and in limited release on draft.
– Recommended Serving Temperature 42-46° F
– Original Released: May 2009.

This installment of the Harpoon Leviathan Series was brewed in the centuries-old tradition of Czech and Bohemian brewers. Harpoon Big Bohemian is a large lager with a clean maltiness and a huge aromatic hop character.

Continental Pilsner, pale two-row, and Carafoam malt was used to brew this big, strong beer, true to the Leviathan Series. Pilsner malt is the classic ingredient of this classic style and the Carafoam malt produces a nice, frothy head. This malt mixture combined with Czech Saaz hops, the quintessential hop of the style, yields an assertive but not overly aggressive beer. The finish is dry with a lingering floral hop character.

Magic Hat – Wacko Summer Seasonal

As Magic Hat’s new summer seasonal offering, Wacko will be available from the call of the first cricket until the final blueberry falls from the bush (April 1st to August 1st). Look for it in six-packs, 12-paks, in the new Summer Scene Variety 12-pak, and on draft at discriminating purveyors of better beverages.

Crisp like the morning, cool like the evening and quenching all day long. It’s the beer that dances to the beet of summer. Pop the top and let your summer lose. Wacko is the song of summer.

A delicious, beet-red like summer beer with a big malty aroma, a subdued hop bite and clean, slightly sweet finish.

Marvel at its one-of-a-kind beet-red color! Raise the waiting glass and breathe deep of its big malty aroma! Revel in its inviting body and savor its sensationally smooth and slightly sweet essence! Wacko is a wholly original creation summoned from Pale malts and Columbus hops to which beet sugar and natural beet juice have been added to extraordinary effect. The resulting manifestation of fermentational arts is a brewing miracle that’s rated at 15 IBUs and possesses an ABV of 4.5%.

BEER SPECIFICATIONS
Yeast – English Ale
Alcohol – 4.5%
IBUs – 15
Gravity – 11
Malts – Pale
Hops – Columbus
Extra Ingredients – Beet Sugar
Available Wherever Warm Breezes Wander


Left Hand Brewing Company – St. Vrain Tripel

Back from a 2-year hiatus is our limited edition St. Vrain Tripel Ale. If you’ve been out to the brewery, you must have seen the ‘raging’ mighty St. Vrain Creek that churns due west of the brewery in the shadow of the Rocky Mountains. Named after Ceran St. Vrain, an early settler to the valley who built a trading fort in the area. A reflection of this dedicated spirit can also be found in the beers of Belgium, where brewers, often monks, developed beer styles over the past 900 years of distinctive character. At 20.5 plato, St. Vrain is a classic Belgian Style Tripel. It’s beautifully light in color and lightly bittered with Stisselspalt hops. A touch of sweetness from clear Belgian candy sugar tempers the warm spiciness hidden within beers of this gravity. To maximize authenticity, the entire brewing staff shaved their heads and bathed in baptismal ecstasy on the banks of the St. Vrain. 9.0% ABV, 17 IBU’s.

Who’s getting it: Colorado, Alaska, Florida (Fort Lauderdale, Miami, Orlando, Panhandle), Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Massachusetts, Michigan (western), Minnesota, Missouri, New York (Long Island and NYC), North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Texas, Virginia and Washington (western).


Left Hand Brewing Company – Oktoberfest Märzen Lager

The beer pours an alluringly clear copper color, with a short white head and good lacing. The malt bouquet is accented by toasty, bready aromas. As you lift your stein in high anticipation, your palate is well rewarded for its patience. The sweetness of the German malts dominate upfront, while the noble pedigree hops allow for a proper dry finish, true to style. Medium-bodied, with the subtle elegance of a well-balanced beer. Clean and crisp, this Märzen Lager can easily become your session beer this Fall. 6.0% ABV with 27 IBU’s. Beer Advocate Magazine said of it in their October 2007 issue: “We sized this one up and it came through like a champ. A complex but drinkable malt bomb on the taste buds.”

Who’s getting it: every single state that Left Hand is in!

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