12 Beers of Christmas: Heavy Seas and Stone Partner Ships Brown IPA

On the 10th day of Christmas, Frank About Beer drank for me - Brown IPA  from the Heavy Seas and Stone breweries.

Despite what you may think, collaborations between breweries is a fairly common occurrence. In the case of the Partner Ships series from Heavy Seas (Baltimore), they regularly collaborate on a variety of really special beers with other well-known breweries. 

For this Brown IPA, they collaborated with Stone Brewing (San Diego) to make a beer that is not only a great brown ale, but a great twist on a strong India Pale Ale, too.

This one pours an opaque brown with good carbonation. It's a big 9% ABV, so the alcohol content is more similar to this beer's Imperial IPA-ness, than to its brown ale side.

The taste, however, is a very intriguing cross of the two styles. You get a lot of sweetness from the malt and molasses used in the brewing, but then are hit with a BIG, hoppy flavor from a myriad of east- and west-coast style hops. You end up with a bit of citrus, with some pine, and a lot of that great bitterness that's seen in Double IPAs. You even get some mild coffee in the aftertaste. 

Bottom line? This is a really cool beer from two amazing breweries. If you don't care for overly-hopped beers, you'll want to skip this one. You hop-heads, however, should beat a path to find this beer ASAP. It's in very limited production, so if you find it, try it now. Trust us.

Check back tomorrow for the next beer in our #12BeersofXmas series.

Cheers!

Christian and Eric

Tasting Tuesday: Rolling The Dice On Casino Beer

A glass of Long Hammer IPA from Red Hook brewery.

Sometimes when your craft beer choices are limited, you need to roll the dice on something new, right? That's exactly what Christian had to do recently.

On a whim, a friend called and talked me into going to the local casino, Hollywood Casino in Charles Town, WV.. Not being much of a skilled player, and without an Uno or Go Fish table in sight, I soon found myself out of my league. In no time, I was licking my wounds from the blackjack table, and I wandered past the flashing lights to find my way to the bar.

Kristy, the cute, girl-next-door brunette bartender, flashed a great smile my way. "What can I get you," she asks with that heart-melting smile.

"What beer do you have on draft?" I ask, already guessing the list in my head.

As expected, she rattles off the beer selections, which are pretty standard-issue. "Budweiser, Miller Lite, Coors Light..." Her voice trails off - a polite way of hoping I'll bite on one of them. Now, I love an ice-cold Budweiser but, to be honest, none of them really appealed to me that night, and I find myself considering a mixed drink. I'm out, but then she circles back around and says, "Oh, we also have Long Hammer IPA."

I'm back in.

Made by Red Hook, Long Hammer is a 6.2% abv India Pale Ale, with a clear, dark gold color and good carbonation. This one tastes very "East Coast" to me, meaning it's somewhat dry, with a flavor dominated by pine and a hoppy bitterness. It's not one of my favorites, but if you prefer something less grapefruit-like, this might be one to look for although, to be honest, I don't often see it on tap. If it's your first foray into IPAs, I wouldn't recommend it.

However, if you find yourself among the slots and poker tables of a casino, it's worth rolling the dice on. It may just be the one sure bet in the whole place.

So what's been a go-to beer for you when your choices are limited? Let us know or post it in the comments below.

Beer & Kroger

We meet the nicest people in the beer aisle at Kroger! Hope you enjoyed the IPAs.