Five craft beers to know this week: Several serious stouts and one very stable genius

I’m writing this from the year 2556 A.D. Artificial super intelligence has taken over the world, thankfully. War is eradicated. Famine is gone. The earth is rare in both beauty and cleanliness. Without human intervention, the earth is seemingly a utopia. But art is gone. The imagination of human agency and creation have been replaced by hard science and intelligent agents. The best example: After endless simulations, predictive outcomes and perhaps tinkering from its Belgium-based creator, this super AI has deemed Bud Light 2556 A.D Light Pilsner earth’s only option — its thin, efficient, tasteless, high profit character being the most economical opiate of the people. This is the reason I’ve sent this message back in time. The brewing community of 2018 needs to grab their collective hoverboards and continue to fight for the art of beer. I’ve realized even paradise is nothing without a good brew. I’ve pulled these five examples from the ancient archive once called five beers to know this week.

This Aeronaut can collaboration with The Lights Out is awesome

The Lights Out and Aeronaut Brewing made music and beer history when they released T.R.I.P., the world’s first album on a beer can. Now they’re back with Night Vision, a new collection of songs and a black IPA to match it.

Night Vision will appear in two forms: on an Aeronaut beer called X-Ray Night Vision, which will contain a limited edition of the digital album featuring artwork by Raul Gonzalez III, followed by a hard copy expanded edition of the album, titled Night Vision.

T.R.I.P., the band and brewery’s first collaboration, was a recipe for success. It took on an issue plaguing the music industry for decades, reintroduced the tactile element to new music discovery that’s vanished in the digital age, used technology to solve a problem technology created and turned the beer aisle into the next record store.

“T.R.I.P. completely transcended the ordinary and set a new standard for how these things should be done,” said Aeronaut Cofounder Ben Holmes. “Night Vision takes that approach and brings it somewhere new.”

The beer will be released on Saturday, Dec, 8. The hard copy of the album will be released on Friday, Jan. 4.

Props to Axle Brewing for this charity donation (and the poke at our stupid president)

Last February, a tweet reassured millions of Americans that not only was their leader brilliant but not remotely volatile. The eloquence inspired Ferndale, Mich.-based Axle Brewing Co. to launch its Very Stable Genius beer. Invigorated by the continued poise and grace it’s namesake has demonstrated over the past year, the brewery will bring back the popular beer this weekend, this time in cans and on draft exclusively at Axle’s Livernois Tap. A portion of the proceeds will benefit Ferncare, a non-profit, self-funded, free clinic that provides no-cost medical care to the medically uninsured. Learn more about Ferncare here.

“The beer itself really defies conventional logic and rational explanation. It’s like, really delicious, and it’s way huge, but also beautifully limited. It’s one of the most powerful beers in the world, yet incredibly delicate and very fragile. And just to be clear, this beer has never been made anywhere in the world before, not even by us earlier this year!” said Axle Brewing Co. President Dan Riley.

A 9.3 percent super-dry Malt Liquor, VSG has an ethereal orange hue and a heady foam with a straw color rarely found in nature. Just when you think it couldn’t get more interesting, the flavor profile escalates dramatically. The confounding aroma hits you in short confusing bursts before coalescing around a pronounced hint of lunacy.

North Coast Brewing’s Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout wins gold

North Coast Brewing Co.’s classic Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout has been awarded a gold medal at the Tastings.com World Beer Championships. The Tastings.com judges described Old Rasputin as “a craveable hoppy imperial stout that is superbly balanced,” rewarding it with a ranking of 94 points.

Rooted in history, Old Rasputin is one of North Coast Brewing’s most famous brews, nationally recognized in the beer industry. Featuring a mix of rich flavor elements and a warming finish, Old Rasputin is a timeless take on an imperial stout.

Internationally recognized, the Tastings.com World Beer Championships date back to 1994. The World Beer Championships reviews a different beer category each month, using feedback provided from a panel of judges with expertise in categories such as beer retail, production, distribution and taste. Beers are blind tasted and judged on a 100-point scale, providing the highest level of control to guarantee beer fans with top-quality reviews.

Telegraph Brewing collaborates with Epic Brewing on a double-barrel-aged monster

The Big Bad Baer, Telegraph Brewing’s first double-barrel-aged imperial stout has emerged from its long slumber in both whiskey and port wine barrels and will roar into the California market just in time for the holidays. This massive beer was brewed as a collaboration with Epic Brewing, inspired by their well-known Big Bad Baptist and named after Telegraph’s head brewer Peter Baer.

“I’ve been working with Epic’s brewing team for the past year while developing our new IPAs and sours. It’s been a lot of fun tossing ideas back and forth and when the opportunity came up to do a Big Bad Baptist inspired barrel-aged stout I immediately started thinking of ways to infuse it with a Santa Barbara flavor,” explains Peter Baer, Telegraphs head brewer. “The addition of orange peel really complements the cacao nibs in the beer and the use of port barrels adds new depth and complexity not often seen in this style of beer and definitely makes it uniquely Californian.”

Big Bad Baer, 13 percent ABV, is aged in first-use whiskey barrels for nine months then finished in freshly drained port barrels for an additional few months before being blended with Handlebar Coffee’s Honduras Marcala beans, cacao nibs and sweet orange peel. The result is a rich and decadent stout that transitions from roasted coffee and chocolate sweetness to ripe fruit and a hint of citrus.

“We selected Handlebar’s Honduras beans because it highlights the coffee berry with hints of apricot and is very lightly roasted. These beans complement the flavors from the port barrels and allows them to shine through rather than get buried in overly robust roasted flavors,” said Jordan Schupbach, Epic’s director of brewing operations.

Cascade Brewing celebrates 20 years in business with awesomely named Bourbonic Plague 2016

In December 1998, Art Larrance opened Cascade Brewing and the Raccoon Lodge and Brewpub in Southwest Portland. Twenty years later, the brewery is recognized worldwide for its highly-rated Northwest sour ales. The brewery will commemorate its 20-year milestone anniversary with a celebration that will include the exclusive 750-ml bottle release of Cascade’s Bourbonic Plague, one of its fan favorite projects.

The Cascade Brewing 20-Year Celebration will take place on Friday, Dec. 7, at the Lodge at Cascade Brewing. The highlight of the event will be the exclusive bottle and draft release of Cascade’s Bourbonic Plague 2016, a blend of sour imperial porters aged in bourbon and wine barrels for up to two years with dates, cinnamon, vanilla and orange peel. The original Bourbonic Plague won Cascade its first gold medal at the 2009 Great American Beer Festival in the wood- and barrel-aged sour beer category. This marks the first time in seven years Cascade has bottled Bourbonic Plague, and each bottle will be individually numbered in this extremely limited project.