This one has been in the archives for a while, but it’s too cold to drink, so I have nothing new to share!
This collaboration between Stillwater Artisanal and Against the Grain Brewery started when, as Stillwater puts it on the label, “the boys at Against the Grain made a beer based on a fictional ‘sexy man’ and uhh, his sheep friend.”
If you know your beer, you know that refers to Against the Grain’s Rico Sauvin, a double IPA made with Nelson Sauvin hops. In keeping with the theme, Stillwater took that Rico Sauvin base and turned it into an even sexier Farmhouse Ale brewed with added passion fruit juice and mango juice. It’s part of Stillwater’s remix series of collaborations.
I love a good farmhouse ale, and this didn’t disappoint me. From the label to the beer inside, it was all good. Cheers!
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Special Notes: Named after a famous Russian WWII general
ABV: 11.8%
IBU: 70
Availability: Yearly release (Summer)
@untappd says: 4.21/5
With the help of Cigar City Brewing, we’re honoring a great military leader on the Windowsill today.
If you know what my day job is, you know I’m a big fan of history. That’s why I love when a brewery digs into the past for inspiration for its beer names. Tampa, Florida’s Cigar City Brewing has done a great job of this with their Marshal Zhukov. It’s a Russian Imperial Stout named after Georgy Zhukov—one of the greatest generals of World War II.
Proper label color for this Russian Imperial Stout! (Credit: Martin Stezano/Beers on WIndowsills)
Most of us living in the United States only get to know about the great American generals during the war, like Dwight D. Eisenhower or Douglas MacArthur, so, to me, it was cool to research Zhukov and learn a bit about his role for Russia in WWII. Zhukov’s story is a classic rags-to-riches story. He was born in 1896 into extreme poverty, served—and was injured—in WWI and eventually rose to command the entire Red Army during WWII. I won’t get much further into his life on the Windowsill, but his is a fascinating story. Look it up if you want to know more.
Now that the history lesson is over… does the Marshal Zhukov do a good job of honoring the great Russian general? “Da.” Without a doubt. It pours into the glass like motor oil—in both color and viscosity—and the notes of chocolate, coffee and other roasty goodness hit my taste buds like a bullet from a PPS-43. It also had some pretty solid sweetness… perfect for dessert.
If you’re looking for a good Russian Imperial Stout, bid “do svidaniya” to the rest… Marshal Zhukov’s is a must-have.
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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!
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Use the promo code WINDOWSILLS at checkout, and you get your first month for only $5!
Have you heard about Shirts on Tap? They work with local breweries—currently in Denver, Dallas, San Diego, Portland, Seattle and Chicago—to design custom kickass t-shirts. Every month, they ship you one, for only $18 a month. You can either choose to always receive shirts form the same city, or a rotating program. Cancel any time!
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!
With new breweries popping up seemingly everywhere, the Connecticut beer scene is doing better than ever. This weekend, however, it’s a classic that’s making the big news. You might want to get yourself to Stratford this Saturday, January 26, because Two Roads Brewing Company is releasing the 2019 version of it’s famous Igor’s Dream, a rye whiskey barrel-aged Russian Imperial Stout.
This will be the seventh release of the Dream, which is named after world famous aviation pioneer Igor Sikorsky. Sikorsky emigrated from Russia to the United States in 1919, at the age of 30, and founded the Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation—one of the most prolific aviation companies in American history. Among the company’s many accomplishments is the design and production of America’s first viable working helicopter, which Sikorsky flew himself in 1939. Why is Two Roads so obsessed with the Russian immigrant? The company’s headquarters are also in Stratford. This beer is just Two Roads’ way of paying homage to a true Connecticut hero.
Yep. Starting at noon, the Sikorsky Historical Archives and CT Air & Space Museum will be displaying some cool stuff and signing bottles. Master Brewer Phil Markowski will also be signing bottles. Also, 10% of all pint sales will be donated to the Sikorsky Historical Archives, and there’s going to be a raffle for an Igor’s Dream Swag Bag that benefits the CT Air & Space Museum!
Head over to Two Roads’ Instagram for more info, too!
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!
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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!
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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?
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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!
