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Kent Falls Brewing Company: Awkward Hug

Kent Falls Brewing Company: Awkward Hug

Hops: Citra, Azacca, Centennial

ABV: 7.0%

IBU: N/A

Availability: Rotating

@untappd says: 4.11/5

Everybody loves a hug, especially an awkward one!

Last time, we discussed the fact that Kent Falls Brewing Company is Connecticut’s first farm brewery. Today, let’s talk about their water. All of the water they use in brewing comes from a well on the farm. Amazingly, this artesian water is preheated in a barn using solar power, which saves a ton of energy. Into composting? So’s Kent Falls. All of their spent grain, yeast and hop trub, and their spent fruits are composted with wood chips, providing much needed nutrients to the farm’s crops—including the hops that go back into the beer. Pretty cool stuff!

The Awkward Hug is a thing of beauty. It’s not just the beautiful label art, which features couples of all races, ethnicities, ages and preferences giving each other every kind of awkward hug in the book (even Waldo’s hugging someone awkwardly!), but also the beer itself. It’s an IPA brewed with Citra, Azacca and Centennial hops—some of Kent Falls’ “favorite hops.” It was the first “clean” IPA produced at the brewery, and has now been packaged seven times. Hopefully this one stays in rotation, because it was crisp, juicy and delicious!

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Knee Deep Brewing Company: Breaking Bud

Knee Deep Brewing Company: Breaking Bud

Hops: Simcoe, CTZ, Mosaic

Malts: Crystal

ABV: 6.5%

IBU: 50

Availability: Year-round

@untappd says: 3.92/5

We’re knee-deep in archived photos, so let’s get a Flashback Friday post on the sill!

Knee Deep Brewing Company was founded by Jeremy Warren in 2010. Like many eventual would-be-brewery owners, Warren first started brewing his beer in his garage, before signing a contract to brew Knee Deep beer at Mt. Tallac Brewing (since closed) in Lake Tahoe. Eventually, his beer got so popular that they were able to lease their own facility in California. These days, I easily get Knee Deep in Connecticut. Pretty solid growth, in not a whole lot of time. In 2015, Warren decided to leave Knee Deep, selling his piece of the company he founded to co-owner Jerry Moore. Knee Deep keeps making solid beer, and Warren moved on to start Revision Brewing. Looking forward to trying some of their stuff, one day!

The Breaking Bud is a fun brew that I’ve been lucky enough to try a couple of times—once in a can, and once in this bottle. It’s an IPA with a lovely pale yellow/orange color and lots of solid tropical fruit aromas. It’s hopped using Simcoe, CTZ and Mosaic, which gives it some nice mango and passion fruit flavors, along with some good pine and dank to balance it out. I love the name and label art, which is obviously based on the hit TV show Breaking Bad (Yo, Mr. White!), but you know who doesn’t? Sony. Enjoy the Breaking Bud beer while you can, because the media conglomerate filed a lawsuit against Knee Deep a couple of months ago for appropriating the branding of their show. It will be interesting to see how this turns out.

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To Øl Brewery: Mr. Pink 2018 Edition

To Øl Brewery: Mr. Pink 2018 Edition

Hops: Citra, Mosaic

Malts: Pilsner, Unmalted Wheat

Special Ingredients: Beets

ABV: 6.0%

IBU: N/A

Availability: Limited

@untappd says: 3.49/5

We have our first ever re-post on the Windowsill today… or do we?

Last year, I posted To Øl Brewery’s Mr. Pink. I lauded the creativity behind the the Mr. Series of brews, which are named after the characters from the 1992 classic film, Reservoir Dogs (Mr. Pink was Steve Buscemi’s character). The beer was a Berliner Weisse made with lychee and pink Guava. It was pretty tasty, and my wife really liked it, so I picked one up for her at @beertable the other day while we were stranded at Grand Central Terminal due to inclement weather. Imagine our surprise when we popped the can and found a completely different beer inside!

To Øl Brewery: Mr. Pink

See that image just above this line? That’s last year’s Mr. Pink. As you can see, it looks nothing like the 2018 edition. That’s because this year, To Øl scrapped the lychee, the guava and even the Berliner weisse, and filled their Mr. Pink cans with an IPA made with beets. Now, like Doug Funnie before me, I love beets. I actually kind of liked this beer, too. It’s hazy and juicy, made with Pilsner malt and Unmalted Wheat, and hopped with Citra and Mosaic. And beets! Who makes beer with beets? I like that! I was just caught completely off-guard by the color, and the fact that a brand new beer was in my can. It threw off my experience, for sure. I’m hoping this becomes the branding for this series—a new [insert series color] beer every year (the other beers in the series seem to also be different this year)—but with more warning next time! OK, this Windowsill rant is now over. Cheers!

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Burial Beer Company: Gang of Blades

Burial Beer Company: Gang of Blades

Hops: Amarillo, Belma, Centennial, Columbus, Mandarin Bavaria, Simcoe

Yeast: Wild Ale

ABV: 8.3%

IBU: 65

Availability: Rotating

@untappd says: 4.06/5

I have definitely found my gang on the Windowsill today!

There’s so much to talk about when it comes to Asheville, North Carolina’s Burial Beer Company, that I’m gonna have to find more of their beer so I can talk about it all. First of all, they were founded by Jess and Doug Reiser—they’re married—and their friend and head brewer, Tim Gormley in 2013. They started as a one-barrel system and now, just five years later, they have a production brewing facility where they’ll soon be opening a new beer bar. The company’s unique branding is inspired by the few years the Reisers spent living in New Orleans. That time in the Big Easy infiltrates every pore of the brewery—from the names of the beers to the art on the cans, which are designed by David Paul Seymour. Such a great brewery!

Now, the beer. According to an interview in Craft Beer and Brewing Magazine, Gormley and the Reisers are in an “ever-going quest to create the ideal IPA for each customer.” They have come pretty close to creating mine with the Gang of Blades double IPA. It’s brewed with the scintillating combination of Amarillo, Belma, Centennial, Columbus, Mandarin Bavaria and Simcoe hops. However, there’s a twist. They used wild ale yeast for fermentation, which kind of makes this a wild-ish IPA, I guess? Whatever you want to call it, the Gang of Blades is friggin’ juicy and delicious!

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Springdale Beer: Yawp!

Springdale Beer by Jack's Abby: Yawp!

Hops: Chinook, El Dorado, Comet, Centennial, Denali

ABV: 6.0%

IBU: N/A

Availability: Limited

@untappd says: 3.81/5

Is that a herd of yeti on the Windowsill? Well, I highly doubt it. So what is it?

Let’s say you were known for one thing—like putting beers on windowsills, for example. But you dream of putting beers on other things, too! What do you do? Well, the folks at Jack’s Abby Craft Lagers kind of found themselves in a similar situation—you can’t make non-lagers if your company’s name says you only make lagers. How did they get around this problem? They created an offshoot brand, named Springdale by Jack’s Abby. Under this label, which was kicked off in 2016, they’re free to experiment with everything, from barrel aging to IPAs to pale ales to stouts—whatever they want! Will this inspire me to start a side-Instagram named Beers on Other Surfaces? Nah. I’m good. But I’m glad Springdale by Jack’s Abby is a thing!

What does “Yawp!” mean? No, it’s not just a group of yetis traveling together in a pack (sorry @urbandictionary). It’s actually basically a cry out. It can be used to express exultation, frustration or even just agreement, according to this can. It can even be used in reaction to drinking a really tasty American pale ale, like the Yawp! This one is hopped with Chinook, El Dorado, Comet, Centennial and Denali hops, which makes for a really hoppy and bitter brew. Did I like this one! Yawp!

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Lock City Brewing Company: Research Drive #4

Lock City Brewing Co.: Research Drive #4

Hops: Citra, Simcoe, Eukanot

ABV: 5.7%

IBU: N/A

Availability: Limited (Tap room only)

@untappd says: 3.42/5

You know we love to do our research on the Windowsill!

Let’s talk about Lock City Brewing Company’s Research series! Like any good brewery, the Stamford, CT beer maker is always tinkering with its recipes and creating new brews. These “Research” pilot batches are named after the street on which Lock City makes its home. I spoke with someone at the brewery over IG—you know Beers on Windowsills isn’t afraid to slip into the DMs to get that info—and they told me that they do these batches every once in a while, but have been ramping them up of late in order to add new brews to their portfolio. In order to make these, nothing is safe from being tinkered with. Sometimes add the hops at different times, or reuse the hops during the dry hopping process. Other times, they do a little yeast blending to get some stronger fermentation. Whatever they’re doing, I love the experimentation!

The Research Drive #4 is, as you may have figured out, the fourth version of this research concept. It’s an IPA brewed with Citra, Simcoe and Eukanot hops. I’ve grown quite familiar with the first two varieties on my craft beer journey, but the Eukanot is fairly new for me. The aroma profile for this hop is citrus, tropical, fruity and herbal. I thought it was a fine addition to a pretty solid IPA. Here’s hoping this one becomes a regular brew!

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Port Jeff Brewing Company: Party Boat IPA

Port Jeff Brewing Company: Party Boat IPA

Hops: 10 Kinds (undefined)

ABV: 7.7%

IBU: 101

Availability: Year-round

@untappd says: 3.54/5

Taking the ferry over to Long Island for today’s Windowsill brew!

Port Jefferson Brewing Company opened its taps in Port Jefferson, New York in 2011. It’s the old feel good story of home brewer makes good. In this case, that former home brewer is Michael Philbrick. Philbrick’s wife actually bought him his first brewing kit back in 2000, which is really when the seeds for PJBC were first sewn. It took over 10 years, but PJBC is now in its 7th year making beer for the people of Long Island, and beyond, and they even have a nice taproom now!

The Party Boat IPA is a pretty crazy IPA. It’s got a big malty backbone up front, with some good piney, citrusy hop finish. Although I don’t have the specific varieties identified, this beer contains a whopping 10 different kinds of hops. I wouldn’t say it bowled me over, but the Party Boat is a nice little IPA, not too hefty on the ABV, but with some good flavor and aroma.

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Marz Community Brewing: Jungle Boogie

Marz Community Brewing: Jungle Boogie

ABV: 5.4%

IBU: 44

Special Ingredients: Rooibus tea

Availability: Rotating

@untappd says: 3.9/5

Would you care for a spot of tea on the Windowsill today?

Let’s chat about Chicago’s Marz Collective Brewing! The Marz collective—housed in the Bridgeport area of the Windy City—is made up of homebrewers, pro brewers and artists. They first came together because they all liked to drink beers at Maria’s Packaged Goods & Community Bar. They’re dedicated to “making small, artisanal batches of beer in a sustainable and socially responsible manner.” Can’t wait to learn more about these folks, and to have more of their beers!

The Jungle Boogie is a pale wheat ale brewed with rooibos tea. Rooibos means “red bush” (tee hee), and boasts a ton of health benefits. It will help you with everything, from diabetes prevention to digestion to heart health. I don’t know if the Jungle Boogie has enough rooibos to do any of that for you, but it sure as hell tastes good. It has some good fruity hoppiness—and that rooibos flavor—but the wheat backbone really helps balance the flavors and provides some good mouthfeel. Really interesting beer!

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Kiuchi Brewery: Hitachino Nest Yuzu Lager

Kiuchi Brewery: Hitachino Nest Yuzu Lager

ABV: 5.5%

IBU: N/A

Availability: Rotating

@untappd says: 3.74/5

Hitachino Nest is back on the Windowsill today!

Last February, something wonderful happened in San Francisco: Kiuchi Brewery—my favorite Japanese brewery—opened up a restaurant and taproom in the Tendernob area of the city! It’s called Hitachino Beer & Wagyu, and is based on Kappo, a Japanese style of eating that focuses on pairing food with wine or beer. If you like beef, and beer, you’ll love this place. It also serves the highest grades of Hitachiwagyu beef—meat from the Hitachino area’s Japanese Black Wagyu cattle, which also drink the beer their delicious flesh is cooked in—and features ten varieties of Hitachino beer brewed exclusively for the location. I haven’t been, but it sounds like a super cool place I need to visit some day.

Now, the beer. Today’s Windowsill wonder is the Yuzu Lager. It’s a relatively new brew from Kiuchi. It’s a lager brewed with lots of added Yuzu fruit. If you don’t know what Yuzu is, it’s a unique Japanese citrus fruit that has been around for centuries, but has only relatively recently started making appearances in cuisine around the world. I thought it worked pretty well with this traditional lager. The Yuzu flavor wasn’t overpowering, but the acidity was a nice complement to the crispness from the lager. Sometimes, a simple addition of extra citrus fruit really brings a lager to the next step. This one was solid!

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Maine Beer Company: Peeper Ale

Maine Beer Company: Peeper Ale

Oh boy. Looks like we have a peeper at the Windowsill!

The story of Maine Beer Company starts with family. Brothers Dave and Daniel Kleban started brewing as a weekend hobby in the mid 2000s. The two loved it so much, that Dave asked Daniel to be quit his job at a law firm and be his beer-making partner instead. Maine Beer Company started with a one-barrel system. In 2010, they bought a 15bbl brew house, and a 30 bbl fermenter. In 2013, they opened up a huge facility, complete with a taproom and a warehouse. What started as two brothers just “doing it right” has evolved into one of the more respected breweries in Maine. I also love that they partner with 1 Percent For the Planet a nonprofit that partners with companies who agree to donate 1% of their yearly profits to other nonprofits. Very cool!

The Peeper Ale is near and dear to the heart of the Kleban brothers. When they started, their goal was to perfect one recipe. They wanted to do one beer, do it right, and see if people would drink it. That beer was the Peeper Ale, named after the Spring Peeper, a frog that appears as one of the first signs of spring in the area. The beer was originally known as the Spring Peeper Ale, but the name was changed so it wouldn’t sound so seasonal. The Peeper is brewed with Amarillo, Cascade and Centennial hops, along with a grain bill of American 2-Row, Carapils, Vienna and Red Wheat. It’s light, citrusy, with notes of berries and pine—a really solid pale ale. The Kleban brothers really did do it right! Thankfully, with their operation much bigger these days, they make a lot of different beers. Glad I was finally able to have them on my Windowsill!

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