By Steve Siciliano
With the first post of the new year I would like to thank my son Chris for the outstanding work he has done in his past role as contributing editor of The Buzz. This blog was launched at the beginning of the last decade with a piece celebrating the Mitten State’s 174th birthday. Chris wrote that inaugural post as well as many others that have run both in this new space and on our old platform over the last ten years. I hope that he will be able to find time in his busy life to contribute a few more.
While many of the over 900 posts that appeared in The Buzz over the last decade had to do with specific information related to what we sell and what we do at Siciliano’s Market, many others were about three of my greatest passions: travel, fly fishing and food. We have also run bar, restaurant and distillery reviews and some pieces are tagged with the labels of fiction and philosophical musings. Writing is one of my avocations and it’s nice to have a loyal readership. It’s even nicer when folks tell me that they enjoy the writing.
As we begin a new decade Barb and I would like to personally thank all our loyal customers for their patronage. On behalf of the Siciliano’s staff we would like to wish everyone a happy and prosperous new year.
New and Returning Beers
Alaskan Spruce IPA, $1.79/12oz - "This IPA is high in clarity, with a dark gold color. Bold hops give prominent notes of citrus, pine, and resin. This beer offers big citrus and pine flavor up front, ending with a light malt sweetness and berry-like spruce character." (source)
Dugges Daylight, $4.69/16oz - "For our third IPA brewed on US soil and our first IPA brewed att the all new Twelve Percent Beer Project brewery in North Haven, CT, we wanted to bring Sweden. During a couple of months every summer the northern parts of Sweden experience a never setting sun. Literally daylight 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. This is that daylight in a can. Cheers!" (source)
Evil Twin I Grew Up in Niva, $4.69/16oz - "Evil Twin I Grew Up In Niva from Evil Twin Brewing is an India Pale Ale IPA style beer, medium in color, is moderate hoppy and has an ABV of 7%." (source)
Hoof Hearted $60 Nachos, $4.69/16oz - "Wanna drink some ice cold beer? Wayyyyelll Imma letcha! Prime that cheddar cheese pump with the gooiest Citra, Simcoe, and El Dorado. Does it smell? NO! It stank! Plus - it itch. *SNORT*" (source)
Perrin Coffee Latte, $2.08/12oz - "Full-bodied brown ale with coffee, light chocolate notes, and rich roasted aromatics with added milk sugar for a creamy malt finish." (source)
Sierra Nevada 40th Anniversary, $1.79/12oz - "A tribute to the best of the West Coast IPA and craft beer’s long, strange journey. Bottle conditioned with intense pine and citrus with a deep gold color and slight caramel sweetness." (source)
Sierra Nevada Bigfoot, $2.49/12oz - "Bigfoot is a beast of a beer, packed with bittersweet malt and heaps of aggressive whole-cone Pacific Northwest hops. First introduced in the winter of 1983, Bigfoot is a cult-classic brewed in the barleywine style—strong and robust with the refined intensity of a wine." (source)
Sierra Nevada Fantastic Haze, $2.49/12oz - "We were in search of something fantastic. Something juicy, something hazy, something ripe with notes of mango, melon and citrus. So we said, "Reason be damned," and filled our kettles with five hop varieties and loads of malt, oats and wheat. Some may call that absurd. We call it absurdly fantastic." (source)
Stillwater World Famous Pilsner, $3.29/16oz - "A 'Post Prohibition' style ale brewed with Pilsner malt, corn, and rice. Hopped at 2lbs per BBL with Cluster, Northern Brewer, and Saaz, and fermented with a farmhouse ale yeast and two strains of brettanomyces to weigh in at 4.5% ABV." (source)
Untitled Art Double Oat IPA, $4.69/16oz - "Our goal is to make new and exciting beer styles available in Wisconsin. Called "Untitled Art", the beers are presented without explanation allowing the drinker to formulate their own opinion. In a market filled with exhausting back stories and kitschy names, we strip this away and let the beer speak for itself. With creative influence from Levi Funk, Untitled Art is similar to a gypsy brewery. We brew what we want, when we want it. (source)
Video of the Week / Twelve Percent Beer Project
Cheers!