Do you ever find yourself getting bored with your go-to booze? When you’ve grown tired of that mundane drink order, we’ll be here to walk you through what’s new and noteworthy this week:
Stone Brewing 24 Carrot Golden Ale: Stone has once again decided to extend its family of flavored brews. The latest, carrot cake beer, was the winning entry in this year’s Stone Homebrew Competition. The brewer, Juli Goldenberg, created a Belgian-style ale that combines raisins, vanilla, cinnamon, and carrots—making it nuanced, rich, and spicy. On the strong side, at 8.5% ABV, it carries a medium body, but not too much flavor that could get in the way of drinkability. While carrot cake is reserved for dessert, feel free to drink this beer whenever your heart desires.
The OG Miller Lite: Our holiday season is complete; Miller Lite is bringing back its Original Steinie Bottles. These bottles were the catalysts of the lite beer movement. They symbolize freedom, liberty, life, and the pursuit of happiness. Well, maybe not ALL that stuff. But they look cool, you’ll feel hip each time you drink one, and they’ll put the twinkle of nostalgia in your eye.
Ballotin Chocolate Whiskey: Our two favorite things now exist together in harmony. The new chocolate whiskey on the block goes by the name of Ballotin and comes in four variations: Original Chocolate, Bourbon Ball, Carmel Turtle and Chocolate Mint. Chocolate flavors generally fit quite nicely into the natural taste of whiskey, making these new releases perfect for people who are jumping on the whiskey train for the first time. Created by a startup firm in Kentucky called Saloon Spirits LLC, Ballotin whiskeys come in at 60 proof.
Tocayo Craft Beer: The people want Mexican beers, and so Mexican beers we shall give them. Constellation Brands (owners of Modelo and Corona Light) have come out with a line of craft beer to add to this category that will be called Tocayo Brewing Company. The first beer, which is to be preliminarily released on draft only in Chicago, will be Tocayo Hominy White Ale, a Belgian-style wheat ale with 5.5% ABV. So definitely have more than one.
Grateful Dead Wine: Yesterday, fifty years after this legendary band was born, Wines that Rock released a commemorative blend of wine in their honor. Just for limited addition, the 2012 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon was crafted by the Mendocino Wine Company. If you asked us, they missed the boat by not naming their wine “Grapeful Dead.”