There’s an epic battle on the Windowsill today. Who will win?
If you know anything about me, you know that I love collaboration beers with a passion. Can you imagine my absolute joy when I saw that one of my new favorite breweries, Beer’d Brewing Company, had decided to collaborate with one of my other favorite breweries, Pipeworks Brewing Company? That’s what we have on the Windowsill today… the Dogs Vs. Shinobi, a New England-style IPA with guava puree added that essentially mashes together the two breweries’ most iconic brews—the Dogs & Boats from Beer’d and the Ninja vs. Unicorn from Pipeworks.
I spoke to Beer’d’s Aaren Simoncini about this collaboration. Here’s what he had to say:
How did the partnership with Pipeworks come about?
Mike from Pipeworks has family in CT and had planned a trip back home to visit them. As luck would have it, Sarene Craft Beer Distributors, our Western CT distributor, also carries Pipeworks here in CT and thought it would be a great idea to put us in touch. We started the conversation and it was pretty obvious early on that our brewing styles were similar. We discussed some of our favorite ingredients and techniques and Dogs Vs. Shinobi was born!
How did you incorporate the two brands to make this one beer?
The final product is certainly a mashup of the two brands (there’s an IP issue preventing us from calling it Dogs Vs. Ninja). We talked about the beer we like to drink, and how we wanted those brands in a bit more of a sessionable ABV range. We also wanted a fruity punch to be included in the final product, and we both immediately gravitated to the Guava, as it plays so well with the Citra, Simcoe and Mosaic.
Check out the awesome label, created by Dan Hamilton. (Credit: Martin Stezano/Beers on Windowsills)
Who did the label for this can?
Dan Hamilton created the imagery for the can label. We started working with Dan a few years ago and love the fact that we can pitch him a cool name or concept and set him loose. We wanted to incorporate both brands without loosing our style and this is where we landed!
Anything else cool about this collaboration?
We love collaborations because they get us outside of our wheelhouse. They’re a great opportunity to learn a new technique or incorporate unfamiliar ingredients in someone else’s workshop. With all that said, it’s time for us to get outside of our wheelhouse, wink, wink, so keep your eyes out for the next step.
As for the Dogs Vs. Shinobi itself? I think you already know… It was awesome. Great mix of hops, and the guava made everyone so nice and fruity. Great collaboration!
Thanks to Aaren! I can’t wait to visit Beer’d myself in a couple of weeks!
Check this one out on Instagram. Make sure you follow Beers on Windowsills for more great craft beer!
How good are these variants gonna be? (Credit: Martin Stezano/Beers on Windowsills)
My day started out super cold. I arrived at Two Roads at about 8:05 AM, and it was 22 degrees. As advertised, tickets for the bottles went on sale at 9:00 AM sharp. I bought my five tickets, paid and got myself some coffee and a sausage, egg and cheese from the 744 Express Food Truck in the parking lot, and headed to my car. The nice part about the way Two Roads does their releases is that once you have your tickets, you’re all set with your guaranteed beer. I was able to snag the tickets and then go home and do a couple of errands. When I was ready, I went back to pick up the bottles.
When I came back, I was ushered to the big glass doors at the back of the taproom, and down the stairs into the actual brewing area, where tables were set up with all of the bottles of Igor’s Dream. I quickly went table to table, got my bottles—I put them into the free big bottle tote bag that Two Roads handed out to everyone who bought bottles—and went out the back door and back to my car. Easy as pie!
I haven’t tried any of the beers yet, but I couldn’t wait to show them to you guys. I’ll do a full review of the Igor’s Dream if and when I pop them open.
Check out more photos of the versions on my Instagram page!
We hereby pause Stout Season to bring you a Sour from the archives!
Have you ever been to Brattleboro Vermont’s Hermit Thrush Brewery? I have… sort of! Back in June, I took a trip to Vermont for my good friend @galleycookinbeersnob’s bachelor party. On my way there, and on my way back, I made it a point to stop by as many breweries as possible. Every time I had to pee, I would search for a brewery near me and make a pit stop.
Lighting got really weird with this can, but the beer was solid! (Credit: Martin Stezano/Beers on Window Sills)
It was on Sunday afternoon, as I was heading back, that I realized I had to go, and found out I was near Hermit Thrush Brewery. I pulled off the highway, followed my Waze App and reached the destination, but there was no parking anywhere that I could find. I went around the block once, and still didn’t see a good place to park, so I hopped back onto the highway and continued my trip. But Hermit Thrush, which is named after the official bird of Vermont and opened back in 2014, looked really cool from the street!
Now, let’s talk about this Gin Barrel Saison, which I actually picked up a one of my local CT liquor stores. Like everything else Hermit Thrush makes, it’s a responsibly-brewed American sour. For this one, they took a saison and fermented and matured it in gin barrels from a rotating list of local distilleries. Sadly, I’m not sure which distillery’s barrels were used to house this batch of the Gin Barrel Saison. Either way, the resulting beer is nice and crisp, with a lot of that gin goodness on the nose and tongue, and a nice, refreshing sweet-tart finish. It’s interesting, for sure!
You know the deal, head over to Instagram to like this post. Make sure you follow for more great craft beer!
It’s cold AF in New England this week, so we’re turning up the heat with the Mexican Cake—a stout brewed with cocoa nibs, vanilla beans, cinnamon and habañero peppers from South Carolina’s Westbrook Brewing Company.
You may have heard of Westbrook through their work with Evil Twin Brewing—the two collaborate on a lot of brews, including previously windowsilled goodies such as Bible Belt and Bozo Beer—but they more than hold their own when it comes to making tasty beers.
I always need a break, and don’t get me started on Mexican Cake! (Credit: Martin Stezano/Beers on Window Sills)
The Mexican Cake is a prime example. It was originally released in January of 2012 to celebrate the brewery’s one-year anniversary. People dug it so much, that Westbrook now releases it every May. They have also released several barrel-aged versions, and have even released a few versions that combine the Mexican Cake with Evil Twin’s Break series. You hard core Windowsillers will recall that I had the Imperial Mexican Biscotti Cake Break on the sill in May of 2017.
What can I say about this stout, other than that it’s delicious? All those ingredients are palpable in the beer, and the habañero kick at the end definitely warmed my throat, no matter how frigid the temperatures outside were. I may have waited several months to open the bottle—I got two for my birthday back in August—but I don’t think I’ll be waiting that long to open the second one!
Head over to Instagram to like this post, and make sure to follow Beers on Windowsills for more great craft beer!
Not only is it Stout Season, but it snowed and was extremely cold in the North East this weekend. That meant I needed an extra beefy stout to keep me warm. Who do you go to when you need a beefy stout? Evil Twin Brewing, of course. At 17.2% ABV, and with the consistency of pure motor oil, the Bozo Beer is one of the beefiest stouts I’ve ever had.
Just a couple of bozos on the label. Can you guess who they are? (Credit: Martin Stezano/Beers on Window Sills)
So why Bozo? According to a piece in the New York Times, Jeppe Jarnit-Bjergsø (owner of Evil Twin) designed this beer “make fun of” the extreme flavor experiments in which craft brewers like Mikkeller often engage. Said Jeppe: We added cocoa, chocolate, coconut, cinnamon, oak chips, chili, coffee, vanilla, hazelnut, chestnut, marshmallows. It’s not a beer I’d drink, but it came out excellent, and it gets crazy high ratings.”
So, when Evil Twin made this beer, which was brewed in conjunction with Westbrook Brewing Company, they set out to make a ridiculous beer, kind of to make fun of us craft beer bozos. With all those giant flavors, and all that booze, I really loved this brew. I’ll be a bozo all day long if it means Jeppe keeps making this beer. It’s amazing!
How about you, Windowsillers? Would you be a bozo for this delicious Bozo Beer?
Don’t forget to head on over to Instagram to like and follow us!
Sometimes, you just need a cool brewery on the Windowsill!
I love when a brewery is good to its followers and fans. Back Channel Brewing Collective is one of the coolest breweries I have ever had the pleasure of interacting with on social media. It all started a week or two ago when, while perusing my Instagram feed, I ran into a post that featured a super delicious looking IPA… in a bowl. A bowl? Yeah. Straight up. Like a soup bowl.
I commented on the post, asking if the brewery distributed to CT, because the beer looked good and the bowl was kickass. I almost immediately got a DM from the company—actually by Josh Leddy, one of the owners and brewers—saying that they didn’t distribute to my area, but they wanted to send me something to try. How cool is that?
Look at this awesome crowler I got! (Credit: Martin Stezano/Beers on Windowsills)
About a week later, the beer mail came. Not only did Josh and Back Channel send me a 24.5 oz crowler of their brand new Gonzo IPA—they only sell beer out of their taproom, and Minnesota state law says they can only sell in 750 ml or 64oz containers—I also got… THE BEER BOWL!
Before we get into the bowl, let’s chat a bit about the brewery itself. Back Channel was founded in 2016 by Josh Leddy, Melissa Leddy (yep, they’re married), Mark Makarem, Matt Olson and Joe Meehan. Their brewery, which sits on a back channel of Lake Minnetonka, opened its taps in 2017. Not only did the location inspire the name, but Josh Leddy told me the other meaning of the name. “Backchanneling is a secondary, or secretive, way to pass information around,” said Josh. “So all of our beer names are descriptions of famous Minnesotans, or people with significant ties to Minnesota.” Their beer names act as hints to the identity of the inspirations for the beer itself.
OK. So why, exactly, does Back Channel Brewing have beer bowls? Josh actually sent me some marketing copy about this. It seems the gang was on a beer trip in Asheville, NC, and they plum ran out of clean beer glasses. They had to use bowls. In doing so, they realized how having such a wide opening for your beer made the aromatics of their IPAs pop like never before. Also, the care it took to take that sip—two hands, nice and slow—also added to the experience of tasting the beer. Hence, the official beer bowl was born.
Did I drink it out of the beer bowl? You bet your ass I did! (Credit: Martin Stezano/Beers on Windowsills)
I suppose I should talk about the beer, right? The Gonzo is an IPA brewed with Motueka and Strata hops. Josh told me that the batch completely sold out in five days, making it the fastest beer ever to sell out through their taproom. Why is it called Gonzo? Well, the brewery never really reveals who has inspired the name of a particular beer, but I did get one hint: someone from Minnesota was very involved with Jim Henson’s Muppets. My guess? Jerry Juhl—head writer for the Muppets Show. and native of St. Paul. Whether I’m right or wrong, the Gonzo was pretty awesome. Think Julius from Tree House Brewing Company… in a bowl.
My final evaluation of this experience? Back Channel is awesome. The Gonzo is amazing. The bowl? Although it’s a kickass souvenir, and it totally does everything Back Channel says it does with the aromatics, I’m probably more likely to use it for soup over beer in the future. I just can’t commit both of my hands for drinking every beer I ever taste for the rest of my life, lol.
Still, though, I have to give it up to Josh and the rest of the Back Channel crew. Their beer is legit, and I hope I get to try them again some day.
Check this out on Instagram now for a video of me using the bowl! Be sure to follow Beers on Windowsills for more amazing craft beer!
Digging into the archives for another Friday local brewery shout out!
My good friend @beernarrator posted a can of Powder Dreams from Captain Lawrence Brewing Company a few days ago, and it reminded me of just how strong the Captain’s can game has been of late. That, in turn, inspired me to dig through my photo archives for today’s Windowsill brew: The Tears of Green.
Let the tears rain down like a shower on this sexy label! (Credit: Martin Stezano/Beers on Windowsills)
Tears of Green is one of those fun, rotating series from the Elmsford, New York-based brewery. Thus far, they’ve released several versions of it, with the most recent being dry-hopped with Vic Secret and Citra hops. Today, however, we have the first version to be canned—the Motueka and Citra version. The beer was very solid, with bold tropical flavors and not a ton of bitterness. I definitely recommend it if you’re looking to try some of Captain Lawrence’s new-ish and best-ish (in my opinion) IPAs.
I also wanted to give a quick shout out to the brewery itself, which sold its first keg in 2006, and is still going strong 13 years later. I haven’t been there just yet, but I’ve always been an admirer. Cheers to the Captain, and cheers to Tears of Green!
Head over to my Instagram page for more awesome craft beer. Be sure to follow Beers on Windowsills!
Dug to the back of the fridge and pulled out a flower!
For real, this is the last can of Trillium Brewing Company beer left over from my trip in September. Anyway, before we get into the Amarillo Dry Hopped Sunshower Super Saison, let’s talk about gravity!
No, I don’t mean the kind of gravity that caused Newton to get conked on the head by an apple back in the 17th century. I’m talking about gravity when it comes to brewing. According to Craftbeer.com, “A gravity reading refers to the total amount of dissolved solids in water. Since we’re talking about beer, those dissolved solids are sugars.” Basically, yeast needs to eat. Wort with higher original gravity (OG), or more sugar, means the yeast eats more, and produces more alcohol and other good things. So, the higher the gravity of a brew, the higher the sugar in it, which usually means a higher ABV. It can also mean a deeper, more intense flavor.
Love that flowery label. Can you see the rain? (Credit: Martin Stezano/Beers on Windowsills)
OK, now that class is over, let’s get to the Sunshower! It’s a high-gravity farmhouse ale which, according to Trillium, is inspired by the “ethereal refreshing mid-summer moments when we experience both rainfall and the heat of the sun in New England.” If you’re from New England, you know exactly what that means, and there’s no better way to describe it. The higher ABV (caused by the higher gravity, if you recall our lesson), makes an otherwise light and effervescent brew pretty punchy, which is a nice change of pace.
Although my leftover Sunshower can wasn’t exactly straight from the cannery—I had the rest of the ones I bought right after I bought them—the beer within was still pretty nice and quite tasty. The dry hopping with Amarillo definitely brought a little more complexity to the flavors, too. Really enjoyable. Need to review a fresh one next time!
Have you checked out Beers on Windowsills on Instagram yet? Get over there for more great craft beer!
We’re building another fort on the Windowsill today!
Last February, we had an ass-kicking raspberry ale from Dogfish Head Craft Brewery on the Windowsill. It was called Fort, and I can honestly say that it’s still the strongest fruit beer I’ve ever had. Today’s beer is Dogfish Head’s follow up to that brew, the Fruit-Full Fort.
Definitely more than a handful of berries in this brew! (Credit: Martin Stezano/Beers on Windowsills)
Rather than just raspberries this time, owner Sam Calagione has opted instead to open up his berry sensibilities by including a “boatload” of raspberries, blueberries, boysenberries and elderberries in this version of the Fort. The result is more of the same oomph that the Fort brought to the table. Boozy and fruity—almost like a glass of sweet wine. Be careful with this one, but enjoy the fruity goodness!
Did you notice the yellow bottle cap on the Fruit-Full Fort? Most Dogfish Head heads know what it means—that you’re about to get knocked on your ass by just a few sips, since all yellow-capped beers from Dogfish Head are over 15% in ABV. However, like everything else about this Delaware-based brewery, there’s a story behind it.
You better watch out when you see one of these babies! (Credit: Martin Stezano/Beers on Windowsills)
Back in the 1990s, when Dogfish’s World Wide Stout first came out, it had a very similar label and cap color to a different, much less expensive beer, the Indian Brown Ale. Sticky-fingered, stingy beer drinkers would often conceal World Wide bottles in their Indian Brown six-packs to sneak them past unaware liquor store clerks. The company took enough losses on the World Wide that it started using these yellow “Yield” caps to put an end to the thievery. Eventually, they started putting the “danger cap” on all of their hefty beers, as a warning to consumers that booze is on the way, and they might want to put on a helmet before sipping. For me, these aren’t a warning, though; they’re a challenge!
How many danger caps have you had, Windowsillers?
Head over to Instagram now to check out more great craft beer. Be sure to like this post and follow @beersonwindowsills!
Special Notes: Brewed with coffee, brown sugar and cream extract—in the style of Ca Phe Sua Da (Vietnamese iced coffee). Collaboration with Evil Twin Brewing and Heart of Darkness Brewery Saigon.
Have you ever heard of Ca Phe Sua Da? I hadn’t either. As it turns out, it’s a style of coffee that originated in Vietnam. According to Steamy Kitchen, “Vietnamese Iced Coffee is an intensely brewed coffee concentrate that drips down into a tall glass of ice and a big spoonful of sweetened condensed milk.” The result is a rich, creamy, smooth, sweet and intense coffee flavor that can be a bit shocking to those of us used to “regular” coffee.
Sometimes a happy accident can lead to great inspiration. Like this label! (Credit: Martin Stezano/Beers on Windowsills)
Sounds good, right? Well, that’s what the Saigon Scooter Selfie is; a Vietnamese style coffee stout. It’s brewed with coffee, as well as brown sugar and cream extract. The beer is the latest—along with the Geyser Gose and the Pachamama Porter—in the Two Evil series of collaborations between Two Roads Brewing Company and Evil Twin Brewing. For this Vietnamese-inspired stout, brewers Phil Markowski (Two Roads) and Jeppe Jarnit-Bjergsø (Evil Twin) actually traveled to Saigon—they’ve traveled somewhere to brew all of the Two Evil beers—to work with Duane Morton, head brewer at Heart of Darkness Brewery.
The label is inspired by a real photo taken by co-founder of Two Roads Clem Pellani. Pellani was actually trying to take a video, but ended up taking selfie instead… on a scooter… in Saigon.
Much like the Vietnamese-style coffee, the end product of this collaboration was rich, creamy, decadent stout. The label describes it like a coffee milkshake, and that’s really what it is. I haven’t had another stout quite like it, and I really wish I had another. It also makes me desperately want to try the real Ca Phe Sua Da… so I think that’s what I’ll be doing next!
Head over to Instagram to check this one out, now!
