I love occasions. I love them because they disrupt routines, which is like defying life itself. Think about it. The earth rotates. Cells divide. Hearts pump. Insects do all of the gross shit bugs do. All of creation is like my uncle eating a turkey sandwich every day for lunch for 40 years. Mindless functioning. But we humans have occasions. Halloween parties! Music festivals! Bocce league nights! Moments and memories. But why us? Why do we have occasions? Well, we discovered beer, of course — the atomic energy of occasion. “But Chris, doesn’t the occasion exist without beer?” Research is inconclusive because we have no samples of occasions without beer to test the hypothesis. All we know is this: Beer exists outside of spacetime, in what scientists call “Beer:30,” a state capable of being an occasion all on its own. Like right now, I’ve opened a beer, and now it’s an occasion! I put a record on, and I’m done explaining this. Here are your five turkey sandwiches beers to know this week.
Three Rivers Brewery brews the ultimate beer for Farmington, N.M.
Three Rivers Brewery — recipient of the 2018 Distillery of the Year Award from the New Mexico Restaurant Association — is celebrating the culture and community of Farmington, N.M., in a unique way with a beer named Thrivers. Dubbed the “taste of Farmington,” the American amber lager derives its name from a combination of Farmington’s branding and the Three Rivers name.
“Farmington is known as the place where outdoor lovers and active families thrive, and this is illustrated in what we see every day,” said John Silva, co-owner of Three Rivers Brewery. “In Farmington, we have a culture of hard work, outdoor activity and fun. Whether you live and work in Farmington, or you’re just visiting, you’re likely working up an appetite during the day. We wanted to create a beer that could be enjoyed after a hard day’s work or a hard day’s play in our incredible outdoor areas.”
Opened in 1997, Three Rivers is located in the Andrews Building, which originally housed the Farmington Drug Store and the newspaper. With a strong history in Farmington, Three Rivers started out as a standalone brewery and has grown significantly. The business currently owns most of a block of historic downtown Farmington with businesses including a game and taproom, pizzeria and distillery.
Sea Dog provides the Skyway 10K with what every athlete needs: beer
In celebration of the Second Annual Skyway 10K, which is scheduled to kick off on March 3 in St. Petersburg, Fla., Sea Dog Brewing Co. announced the release of the Sunshine Skyway 10K Pilsner — a refreshing citrus infused pilsner created by master brewer Bobby Baker. The intense aromatics of Cascade hops are balanced by the richness of traditional two-row British malted barley, making the perfect crisp and refreshing beer for every runner. The limited-edition pilsner will be available on draft through February at Sea Dog’s Clearwater and Treasure Island locations, as well as select bars and restaurants throughout the Tampa Bay area.
“Sea Dog Brewing has been one of our strongest supporters since day one, and we are honored that they used the Skyway 10K as inspiration for their latest delicious craft beer creation,” said Brian Horne, event director of the Skyway 10K.
A portion of all proceeds from the sale of Sea Dog’s Sunshine Skyway 10K Pilsner and specialty race shirts will benefit the Armed Forces Families Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that provides 100 percent of the funds they raise back to projects to help military families.
Three Weavers debuts collaboration with Japan’s COEDO Brewing
Three Weavers Brewing Co.’s upcoming release of Komorebi is an international collaboration with Japan’s COEDO Brewing. Komorebi, a tart and tropical IPA, will debut at Three Weavers’ Inglewood, Calif., taproom on February 27 with distribution in northern California and in Japan to follow. The collab will be available on draft and in four-packs of 16-oz. cans. COEDO Brewer Yasuki Mizunuma traveled to California to conceptualize and brew Komorebi with Three Weavers’ Brewmaster Alexandra Nowell. Both brewers were excited for the opportunity to create something out of the ordinary.
“They take a similar approach to ingredients as we do. They respect ingredients and how they’re used, and you can see the proper expression of those ingredients in the beer,” said Nowell. “Yasuki was excited to use these American hops that he doesn’t get to see on a daily basis. The hops are outstanding, and it was really cool to see someone else as excited about them as I was.”
Komorebi is brewed with a blend of Citra, Strata and Galaxy hops at about 3 lbs per barrel. The recipe also includes hibiscus and lactobacillus, resulting in a hoppy, tart, bright IPA. “I take a very romantic approach to recipe formulation,” said Nowell. “And there’s something about the Japanese language that’s romantic as well.” The beer was dubbed Komorebi, after the Japanese word for “the feeling you get when you see light filtering through leaves.”
Lakefront Brewing comes up with gose-style gluten-free beer
From Lakefront Brewery, which crafted one of the first gluten-free beers granted label approval in the United States, comes another certified gluten-free brew. New Grist Gose-style serves up a punch of lime and sea salt with no gluten-free aftertaste. New Grist Gose-style with lime is 5.1 ABV and is crafted using rice, sorghum, lime and sea salt. It features Zeus and Willamette hops with an IBU rating of 15. Its release date is set for April 15.
“It’s tart, without being super sour. It’s also refreshing and light,” says Lakefront Brewery Brand Manager Michael Stodola. “In blind taste testing, a handful of folks thought it was a margarita.”
Meet Berthoud Brewing’s second location and its first sour
Berthoud Brewing keeps rolling out the firsts. The northern Colorado craft brewer just opened a second location at 5030 Local — a cool collaborative venture between a music venue, brewery (Berthoud) and restaurant (Peel Handcrafted Pizza) — in Loveland, Colo. And now it is debuting its first sour — a strawberry lemonade sour.
Made with local Coloradan Root Shoot malts and lightly hopped with Hallertau Blanc hops, “Happenstance Sour” is light peach color in color with a touch of haze. The kettle sour has notes of strawberry, lemon and lime with a hint of bread in the finish. It’s extremely refreshing with a mild sourness that gently lingers through the finish.
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