Here’s what’s pouring
Golden Wine Event
FranksWine, at 1206 N. Union St. in Wilmington, is celebrating 30 years in 2017. And that’s not all. This month, FranksWine is hosting a fundraiser—a pop-up Golden Wine Event on Saturday, Feb. 11.
After a five-year break, the event is back at Harry’s Savoy Ballroom at 2020 Naamans Rd. Twenty vendors will be pouring wine that comes from various regions, and guests are invited to meander from station to station—which include craft beer from four local brewers. Overall, the drink menu comprises 80 wines and 16 craft brew selections.
Tickets are $100, and $25 of each ticket and 100 percent of the proceeds from the FranksWine Big Bottle Silent Auction will be donated to Kids Runway for Research, which raises awareness and support for The Nemours Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders.
The event runs from 6:30-9:30 p.m. Get tickets at frankswine.com.
Bob’s 1st Ale is Back
From now through March 30, the South Burlington, Vt. Magic Hat Brewing Company’s Bob’s 1st Ale—the brewery’s inaugural 1994 ale, originally dubbed Magic Hat Ale—is back. Magic Hat has moved away from its seasonal brews, which the ale was originally among, and is introducing the Limited Run series, offering beers from its vault that have been fan and staff favorites over the years. The rotation of the series will have a two-month window for each—totaling five brews for this year. An Irish-style, deep ruby red ale at 4.6 percent ABV, Bob’s 1st is fermented with the brewery’s 150-year-old strain of top-fermenting English yeast. Find the brew at local liquor stores.
Dogfish Head Canned Flesh & Blood IPA
Brewed with a ratio of fruit, freshly-squeezed juice, and Northwest citrusy-hop varieties, Flesh & Blood India Pale Ale—Dogfish Head’s newest year-round brew—is now available at local liquor stores. Clocking in at 7.5 percent ABV and 45 IBUs, and exclusively available in six-pack cans, Flesh & Blood is crafted with orange peel, lemon flesh and an aromatic blood orange juice, resulting in a balanced and zesty ale.
Dogfish remains consistent in its use of all-natural culinary products in which consumers can easily identify the whole ingredient and trust in the freshness of fruits and vegetables, and thoughtfully sourced spices.
“Because we derive flavors and aromas from actual fruits you would recognize at your local farmers market and not jugs or buckets of flavoring created in a laboratory, you will not see statements like ‘brewed with natural flavors’ or ‘natural flavors added’ on our labels,” says Sam Calagione, Dogfish Head founder and CEO.
Flesh & Blood represents more than 21 years of commitment to tweaking and perfecting the fruit IPA style. Dogfish Head is a leading pioneer in this arena; it was the first American brewery to package and ship fruit IPAs nationally.
“We’ve been experimenting with fruit and citrus IPAs since 1996 when we released Aprihop, an IPA brewed with apricots,” Calagione says. “We think the fruit IPA category will surge the fastest in 2017 and we are proud of Dogfish Head’s innovator position in this realm.” To find Flesh & Blood IPA, visit dogfish.com/brewery/fishfinder.
Back by Popular Demand
After a three-year hiatus, Dover brewery Dominion has brought back its Millennium Ale. This Barley Wine Style Ale uses the original recipe first brewed in Ashburn, Va., to commemorate its 1,000th batch of beer.
This full-bodied English/American style barley wine comes in at 10.5 percent ABV. Millennium is brewed with Pale and Crystal Malts, Perle, Hallertau, Mt. Hood and EKG hops, and pure Virginia honey. The limited 100-barrel release is a labor of love that takes 24 hours of non-stop brewing before spending 15 weeks in the fermenter. Dominion Millennium Ale paired with sharp cheeses or a variety of desserts promises to be an ally in the cold winter months.
Says Head Brewer Daniel Louder: “This beer’s complexity, nostalgia and demand makes it something special and a pleasure to brew. Beer drinkers that have had it will be pleased that it’s available again, and ones that haven’t tried it will not be disappointed.”
Dominion Millennium Ale was released last month and is available in six-packs and on draught at local liquor stores.
Fresh Pours
New Belgium Brewing is on a roll. Four new year-round beers are now available from the Fort Collins, Colo., brewery, which is tweaking some other brews, too.
Fresh out of the gate are Dayblazer Easygoing Ale, Citradelic Exotic Lime Ale, Tartastic Lemon Ginger Sour and Voodoo Ranger 8 Hop Ale. A new line of hoppy beers under the Voodoo Ranger trademark is also being introduced, while Blue Paddle Pilsener paves the way for New Belgium Bohemian Pilsener. To make room for all these new flavors, Snapshot Wheat, Slow Ride Session IPA and Shift Pale Lager will roll off into the sunset (at least for now). In a purely cosmetic tweak, Sunshine Wheat will be newly adorned with a Colorado state flag to signify its roots.
“This is our most ambitious portfolio reimagining since our beginnings,” says New Belgium Brewing spokesperson Bryan Simpson. “We’ve got a lot of excitement, momentum and energy and that makes for a bounty of great beers with interesting twists—2017 is shaping up to be an awesome year for drinking beer.”
