Review: Bear Republic Challenge Series 11 and Sonoma Tart
A pair new releases from California’s Bear Republic, including the latest installment in its limited edition Challenge Series. Bear Republic Challenge Series 11 Double Brut Citra & Galaxy – This is an odd experiment that looks like a hazy, smells like a cross between a hazy and a standard west coast IPA, and finishes like…
Review: Mi Campo Tequila – Blanco and Reposado
Mi Campo (my field) is a new tequila brand — dubbed “a tequila for millennials” by Forbes writer Joseph Micallef — with a curious niche. Combining unusual barrel finishing with 100% agave spirit and a surprisingly low price, Mi Campo is trying to do something new while keeping quality up and prices down. Mucho gusto,…
Review: Allagash Barrel & Bean
Barrel & Bean is not actually a new release from Allagash, but a new name for its James Bean, a Belgian Tripel style ale aged in bourbon barrels and blended with cold-brewed coffee. The beer has been rechristened Barrel & Bean and added to Allagash’s year-round offerings. On the side of the bottle we find…
Review: Gooderham & Worts Canadian Whisky
Gooderham & Worts is a truly historic brand in Canadian whiskydom. Dating back to the 1860s, the brand built a distillery in downtown Toronto in an area that is still known as that town’s distillery district today. The company has been acquired and changed hands several times over the years, and it is now under…
Review: Lagunitas The Waldos 2019, Secret Agenda, and Dark Swan
Three new brews from Lagunitas, including what is Lagunitas’ arguably most talked-about beer ever, The Waldos’ Special Ale. All are available in standard, small format bottles. Lagunitas The Waldos’ Special Ale 2019 – “The dankest and hoppiest beer ever brewed at Lagunitas,” this double IPA is inspired by “the history of 4/20,” though one should…
Review: Dixie Vodka, Complete Lineup (2019)
We last encountered Dixie Vodka in 2014, when it was known as General Beauregard Dixie Southern Vodka. Since then, the Charleston, S.C.-based distillery has updated (and simplified) its branding, while rolling out additional flavored expressions. Everything’s still made from a mash of GMO-free corn. It’s unclear if the distillery still uses the TerrePURE system to…
Review: Troegs Boysenberry Tart Ale
Troegs Independent Brewing, founded in 1997 by Chris and John Trogner in Pennsylvania, has created something special with this new sour ale. As a sour brewed with lactobacillus, coriander, and sea salt, Boysenberry Tart Ale is made decidedly in the Gose style. Gose originated in the Middle Ages in the town of Goslar on the…
Review: Republic Restoratives Civic Vodka and Borough Bourbon
Washington, DC-based Republic Restoratives is a women- and LGBT-owned distillery with giving back firmly in mind. The company donates a portion of proceeds to GIFFORDS, an anti-gun violence nonprofit that’s near to founder Pia Carusone, namely because she was formerly Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords’ chief of staff. Now Carusone is making booze, with four different products…