Beers

Signapore’s Tiger beer, which earlier this year struck a deal with Anheuser-Busch that greatly expands its distribution is flying off the shelves in – you guessed it – Detroit.

“Last weekend alone we sold 20 cases, which for an off-brand beer is a ton of beer,” says Harry Kefalonitis, owner of Harry’s Detroit, which is near Comerica Park. “They see the sign I put up about the beer, and people will say, ‘Oh, give me that. Get me a Tiger Beer,’ and then the whole table ends up getting it.”

One owner of a popular bar/club said described it as a basic drinking beer.

“It’s like Labatt, but with more alcohol,” he said. “It’s nothing super special. It’s just a basic, solid tasty beer.”

American brewers showed their skill for brewing big and bold beers in the Stockholm Beer & Whisky Festival (that’s Stockholm, Sweden), sweeping the cateogires for strong beers above 6% alcohol.

The U.S. medalists:

Category: Dark Lager max 5.9% ABV
Silver-Boston Beer Company, Black Lager

Category: Porter/Stout max 5.9% ABV
Bronze-Sierra Nevada, Porter

Category: Strong Beer 6.0% to 7.9% ABV
Gold –Stone Brewing Company, Stone IPA
Silver- Oskar Blue Brewery, Dale’s Pale Ale
Bronze-Great Divide, Titan IPA

Category: Strong Beer 8.0% ABV and above
Gold-North Coast Brewing Co, Old Rasputin Imperial Stout
Silver-Flying Dog Ales, Gonzo Imperial Porter
Bronze-Dogfish Head Craft Brewery, 90 Minute IPA

Category: Other Beer Category
Bronze-Rogue Ales, Chipotle Ale

The beers were entered in the festival’s judging thanks to the Export Development Program of the Brewers Association.

Thanks to Oskcar Blues for providing the results.

A few new beers to look for before the holiday favorites return:

– Saint Arnold Brewing in Texas has released the third beer in its Saint Arnold Divine Reserve series, shipping approximately 600 cases of Saint Arnold Divine Reserve No. 3. It’s an Imperial or Double IPA (India Pale Ale). “Some call it the radical beer movement, but I prefer to think of it as an effort to explore bigger, stronger, more intense beers,” said Sinta Rnold founder Brock Wagner. “This Double IPA has more hops, higher alcohol and is a bit lighter in color than a typical IPA because we want the hops to punch through and too much malt tends to mask the powerful bitterness.”

– Odell Brewing in Colorado will ship Extra Special Red – the third release in the 2006 Single Batch Series – at the end of this month. “There is a lot of history behind this beer style. Red beers can be traced back to ancient Egypt. It is one of the oldest beer recipes” said brewer Greg Wiggall. According to Egyptian mythology, beer colored with red ochre was used to pacify an angry goddess and save the world from destruction. A company press release adds, “But according to (founder) Doug Odell, it needed some hops.” It’s a beer of some heft at 8% abv.

– Anheuaser-Busch has put two new beers in its Michelob Specialty Sampler Collection, Michelob Bavarian-Style Wheat and Michelob Porter. The hefeweizen (5.2% abv) is a true Bavarian version, unfiltered and long on banana and clove. The porter (5.9%) is rich (chocolate, caramel, hints of coffee) but understated enough to work well with food. The sample pack also includes Michelob Marzen, Michelob Pale Ale and Michelob AmberBock. It comes in 12- and 20-packs. The 20-pack includes four bottles of each style, while the 12-pack includes the Michelob Marzen, Michelob Pale Ale, Michelob Porter and Michelob Bavarian-Style Wheat.

Don Russell (Joe Sixpack) picks six American fall beers to take you from “the thin-bodied thirst-quenchers of summer to the strapping headbangers of winter.”

On first swallow, yes, these fall beers go down with the same sweetly smooth flavor you’d find in a typical Oktoberfest. But take a second, and you discover a distinctly American twist on a standard German beer.

Munich’s Oktoberfest begins tomorrow, so you may also want to lay in a more traditional Oktoberfest beer as well. Your call. Meanwhile, some other tasty choices posted in blogs this week:

– Drie Fonteinen Oude Kriek.

– Russian River Blind Pig IPA.

– Lost Abbey Avant Garde.

– Ithaca Beer Double IPA.

A new beer (you’ll have to wait; it hasn’t been brewed yet), the return of a seasonal, and wider distribution:

– Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant’s founding partners Kevin Finn, Kevin Davies and Mark Edelson will gather in the brewhouse at their Newark, Del., original location later this week brew their first ever collaborative beer in honor of Iron Hill’s 10th Anniversary. They’ll a Belgian/Trappist-inspired ale, similar to a Rochefort 10, a strong brown ale with an alcohol content of 10% percent or more.

The beer will be bottled and ready for consumption on Nov. 14 for Iron Hill’s 10th anniversary celebration. “After 10 years, I’ve finally convinced my partners to join me in the brewhouse,” said Edelson, director of brewing operations. “It will be a significant occasion, because it’s our first attempt at this type of Trappist ale, and the first time the three of us have brewed together.”

– Anheuser-Busch begins the second year of its seasonal beer series by bringing back Jack’s Pumpkin Spice Ale. Previously only available on draught, this seasonal offering will now also be sold in bottles, beginning Wednesday. “Given what a passionate following Jack’s had last year among beer lovers, we’re excited about brewing it for them again,” said A-B brewer Florian Kuplent.

Jack’s Pumpkin Spice Ale is brewed with two-row, caramel and carapils barley malts and a blend of imported Hallertau and domestic Saaz hops. It is also brewed with seasonal spices and Golden Delicious pumpkins from the Stahlbush Farm in Oregon. Jack’s Pumpkin Spice Ale is brewed at the Anheuser-Busch Fort Collins, Colo., brewery and has 5.5% alcohol by volume.

– Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing Company is expanding beyond regional distribution to several new markets. The subsidiary of Miller Brewing is rolling out Leinenkugel’s Sunset Wheat in Atlanta, Austin, Dallas/Fort Worth, Philadelphia and Tampa/Jacksonville.

Launched in Spring 2006, Sunset Wheat is already one of the fastest growing craft beers in the country. Leinenkugel’s anticipates Leinenkugel’s Sunset Wheat will appeal to both male and female consumers.

– AleSmith Brewing in San Diego is ready to release Barrel-Aged Old Numbskull 2004. Individually numbered bottles will be available for purchase only from the brewery Sept. 1 (next Friday), beginning at 3 p.m. Due to the rare nature of this beer, purchases will be limited to two bottles per person. A release party will follow in the back of the brewery [AleSmith is located at 9368 Cabot Drive, 858-549-9888]

– Saint Arnold Brewing in Houston will celebrate Oktoberfest in the brewery Oct. 13-14, but its Oktoberfest beer will be ready Sept. 1. Saint Arnold Oktoberfest was introduced into the brewery’s rotation of seasonal offerings in 1997 and has been judged among America’s best. It was recognized with the Bronze Medal in the Scottish Ale category at the Great American Beer Festival in both 2001 and 2000.

Headlining this year’s fifth Oktoberfest celebration will be two-time Grammy Award winner and highly danceable Brave Combo, which boasts a repertoire that includes polka, waltz, mambo, two-step, merengue, ska, stroll, foxtrot, Muzak, twist, ondo, tango, bossa nova, zydeco and rock. Only 200 tickets to Saint Arnold Oktoberfest will be available each night, so making reservations are needed. Call 713-686-9494 and ask for Ann.

– Spoetzl Brewery, also in Texas, continues the countdown toward its 100th anniversary in 2009 with the release of Shiner 97, a Bohemian Black Lager that Shiner 96, a Marzen-style ale that debuted during last year’s Oktoberfest. “This is the second year of our anniversary beer concept and we want to showcase our brewing heritage, our German and Czech pedigree and our history of brewing in Texas,” said Gambrinus CMO Shamus Hanlon.