New Beers + A Rant Against Out of Season Beers

I don't care what time of year you drink your beers. Want a barleywine in the summer? Wheat beer in the cold? Fine. What I hate, though, is when breweries start pushing their seasonals out of season. You can now find spring seasonal beers in many stores, and it's the middle of February. That's ridiculous. I'm not naming names because they know who they are. I know why they do it: money. They want to get ahead of everybody else to get consumers excited about a new beer on the shelf. Meanwhile they defeat the whole purpose of having seasonal beer in the first place. Beer drinkers, help me out and refuse to buy newly released beer out of season if the beer specifically markets itself as a spring/summer/whatever beer. You will never see a seasonal beer show up at kybecca early. A few breweries that commendably do not pull this trick are Fredericksburg's own Blue & Gray, Dogfish Head, Bell's, and Troegs.

Now on to the new stuff. Do you like Hops? Do you like Belgian Ales? I think you know where I'm going with this. Green Flash brewery in San Diego has released Le Freak, which they bill as a combination of an Imperial Pale Ale and a Belgian-style Triple. I haven't tried it yet but it sounds intriguing.

Next, a new brand in Virginia! RJ Rockers beers are from South Carolina. We just brought in their Patriot Pale Ale and the Bell Ringer Strong Ale. Comes in the bottle and in 6 packs. They are good values too: the pale ale is $8.49 per 6 pack and the Bell Ringer is $9.49 per 6 pack.

And finally, making its return this year is Dogfish Head's Red and White. This beer is modeled on a strong Belgian white ale. The twist is that it is brewed with Pinot Noir juice and part of it is aged in Pinot Noir oak barrels. The result is a beer with subtle wine-like flavors. Really delicious and great with food as well.

Also new Belgian ales, new stuff from Lagunitas, and other stuff I'm sure I'm forgetting.