Each quarter, Peaks and Pints gather five beers that taste like cocktails for a friendly head-to-head battle. Visit Peaks and Pints, order Craft Beer Crosscut 9.27.19: Flight of Beertails and tell us what you like about each by tagging @peaksandpints on Twitter or Instagram and using #PeaksandPintsBeertails. Cheers!
Craft Beer Crosscut 9.27.19: Flight of Beertails
Left Hand White Russian Nitro
8.9% ABV, 20 IBU
The White Russian had a perhaps unfair reputation as an “unsophisticated” drink, to the point where it’s used as a punchline in the cult film “The Big Lebowski”, where it’s The Dude’s favorite cocktail. Part of this reputation comes from cream often substituted for milk. While it may have been generally accepted for people of all ages to drink milk in decades past, in contemporary culture it’s commonly accepted that milk is a drink for children. Left Hand Brewing has released a third new beer of its four-beer Nitro Beer Series. White Russian Nitro white stout is the strongest of the lot at 8.9 percent, brewed with Rocky Mountain water, malted barley, flaked oats, lactose, coffee, hops, vanilla, yeast, and, of course, nitrogen.
Pelican Sea Breeze
7% ABV, 21 IBU
Pelican Brewing has released Sea Breeze Ale, the next in a cocktail-inspired line of Lone Pelican series. The limited production small batch brew takes inspiration from the original Seabreeze cocktail that marries gin, cranberry juice and grapefruit juice. To bring all the classic flavors to this atypical beer, Pelican added cranberries to the secondary fermentation and then spiced the beer with juniper berries, lemon peel and grapefruit peel. Centennial hops for dry-hopping round out the grapefruit impression and create a beer with incredibly refreshing fruity, tart and citrus characteristics, coupled with the herbal gin-like notes of juniper.
Elysian Rye Barrel Old Fashioned
12.3% ABV
Elysian Brewing’s Rye Barrel Old Fashioned is like pumpkin pie in a rocks glass. Bittered with Chinook, Mandarina Bavaria with a squeeze of orange juice and a twist of zest to finish, this strong ale also is brewed with white sugar, maple syrup, clove, allspice, Angostura Bitters and pumpkin, then aged 10 months in Woodinville Rye Whiskey barrels. It seriously tastes like an Old Fashioned cocktail.
Founders Mas Agave
10% ABV
Founders Brewing‘s margarita-inspired release is an imperial gose, brewed with agave and lime, and aged in tequila barrels. Dip your nose in for all the margarita — salty, tangy, lime, and agave. In fact, Founders Mas Agave tastes like a margarita too — citrusy lime, tart, salty, smooth, with minimal alcohol warmth at 10 percent.
Evil Twin The Art of Mixing A Beer Bellini
8% ABV
For the uninitiated, a Bellini is a Venetian cocktail of white peach juice and Prosecco, the sparkling wine from the Veneto. The original was invented by Giuseppe Cipriani at Harry’s Bar in Venice (not the beach town south of Santa Monica but the original watery city) sometime before the second world war. But it wasn’t christened “Bellini” until 1948. Evil Twin Brewing created a Bellini double IPA as part of their “The Art of Mixing A Beer” series. The nose is hoppy, malty, with a citrus compilation of orange, tangerine, grapefruit, pineapple, guava, mango, and, of course, peach. Taste brings more peach, some white wine and a tanginess at the back.
