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Hope to see you all at some of these events this week in Chicago!
The Local Option
1102 W Webster Ave
(773) 348-2008
If you find yourself in need of a beer at any point during the conference, this is the place to go. Look for an all Shelton Brothers draft lineup for most of the week, along with some special food and beer pairings. Make sure you join us on Friday night, when most of our brewers, and the whole Shelton Brothers family, will gather for exceptional beer and conversation. A true Citizens of the World event.
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Posted by: Shelton Brothers
on Apr 05, 10 | 11:07 pm | Profile
Archived under:
Citizenship is not bestowed on a whim. It must be earned. In order to become eligible for consideration, you must attend 2 classes each day, from the selection below. At the end, you will be expected to know how to pronounce Nøgne-Ø, the proper context for using the phrase Dieu du Ciel!, and how many barrels are held within the walls of Brasserie Cantillon.
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Posted by: Shelton Brothers
on Apr 16, 09 | 10:19 pm | Profile
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Just a quick note on a few upcoming events that will feature Shelton Brothers beers and our highly trained and educated staff of beer professionals.
First up, tomorrow we'll be presenting beers in a place that is pretty new to the world of great beers: Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Folks in South Dakota have been enthusiastically embracing a wider world of beer over the past 18 months. We'll be there for a couple days, with the main event being a tasting at Monks House of Ale Repute. Eleven beers that are mostly new to the state will make up a tasting this Monday evening, starting around 6pm. Jerry of Monks along with others and Global Distributing have been working very hard to make Sioux Falls the best place for beer on the plains. If you are in South Dakota and reading this, you better show up!
Ron Jeffries of Jolly Pumpkin will be heading down to Orlando in a week to present his beers at a Saturday brunch hosted by Brent at Redlight, Redlight. This will be a collaboration event with the folks at the Ravenous Pig. They'll be coming in and doing the food for the gang at Redlight, Redlight.
On the 14th, we'll be presenting the beers from Brouwerij De Molen for a dinner at Sycamore Restaurant in Columbia, Missouri. Sanford has been working on this for months, and it promises to be a very special night. Sorry. The event is already sold out.
The following night, the show moves to the St. Louis area, for a 4 flight beer tasting with Paul at the Wine and Cheese Place. We've put together a great list with a flights of Saisons, French beers, Smoked beers, and Sour, barrel-aged beers. Seating is limited to 30.
Posted by: Shelton Brothers
on Apr 05, 09 | 11:25 am | Profile
Archived under: General and Seasonal News
Writer and beer expert Michael Jackson would have been 67 this Friday, March 27, 2009. To celebrate and honor him, we'd like to share this visit that Daniel had with him shortly before his death on August 30, 2007.
Please raise a glass in memory of a great man.
Posted by: Shelton Brothers
on Mar 25, 09 | 1:03 pm | Profile
Archived under: General and Seasonal News
We know you've been waiting for the perfect occasion to slip on those clogs you bought during that frenzied trip through Amsterdam back in college. Maybe you've been putting cut tulips in them during the spring? Shame on you, wooden shoes is for wearin'!
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Posted by: Shelton Brothers
on Mar 03, 09 | 1:16 am | Profile
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With the arrival of three new ciders from Henney's, we're growing even more excited about the future of this traditional drink. Along with Farnum Hill and Oliver's, Henney's Ciders are the real thing. It is time for us to ask a very important question: are Americans ready for real cider?
To most Americans, "cider" means the sweet, non-alcoholic beverage available at farmer's markets and grocery stores. It is expected to be spiced with cinnamon, or spiked with rum (to get through the holidays). It is considered a seasonal treat. What we are talking about is something completely different.
We're drinking cider that tastes like apples not sugar; it's dry, not sweet. It's delicate but intense, rustic but elegant, and filled with flavors ranging from citrus fruit to freshly cut grass. Did we mention it's fermented? That's right; you won't find our cider in gallon jugs in the juice aisle. However, with an average alcohol level of around 6%, you can still enjoy a few glasses at a time. (Believe us, you'll want a few.)
The cider we're talking about is much older than the non-alcoholic stuff. In 55 B.C., Julius Caesar's soldiers discovered hard cider made from fermented crab-apples in what came to be Britain. In 14th century England, this cider was used as currency. Right here in America, before pasteurization and Prohibition, back when English settlers had just arrived, "cider" was not only complex, dry, and fermented, but also the drink of choice. Apples were one of the easiest crops to grow in New England's harsh climate, and hard cider required no refrigeration. American families, young and old, drank it to stay healthy, because it was safer than possibly contaminated water or milk. Then came Prohibition. The temperance movement (and the US government) waged a fierce war on traditional cider, almost killing it completely. The sweet stuff took over as the "wholesome" alternative, and, to this day, is still what America refers to as "cider".
Don't get us wrong, the cider you buy at the farmer's market is good. It's just not as good as the cider we're talking about. Fermentation brings out the subtleties of fruit that are masked in non-alcoholic ciders. Hard ciders are surprising, and extremely refreshing. They are more aromatic, and filled with flavors you'd never expect to come from apples. One word of caution: we aren't talking about the mass-produced, industrial, alcoholic ciders that taste like tart corn-syrup. As far as we're concerned, they don't even have a place in this discussion.
Shelton Brothers was founded when our president, Dan Shelton, began importing traditional lambics from Cantillon. At the time, the only lambics Americans were drinking were from Lindemans. Today, some of our most highly sought beers are from Cantillon. We hope this means America is also ready for a cider revelation. That question remains to be answered. In the meantime, we are assembling some of the world's best, so we're ready when you are.
Posted by: Shelton Brothers
on Feb 27, 09 | 4:22 pm | Profile
Archived under: General and Seasonal News
It is with great pride and pleasure that Nørrebro Bryghus hereby announces that Old Odense Ale – a truly unique, challenging and charming beer, created as a joint brewing project between Sam Calagione of Dogfish Head and Nørrebro Bryghus – is now available through selected outlets in the US.
The Beer
Old Odense Ale is a 7.5 ABV beer that defies any known beer style or category. On the label we describe it as “Ale brewed with maple syrup and herbs”. But this says precious little about this bright and copper coloured beer with a very sparse and fragile head. The aroma is extremely complex and spicy, with notes of anis, tobacco, brettanomyces, leather and dried fruits. The body is rich and with a delicate sweetness that balances the sour tartness, making it far more accessible than a Belgian lambic, which would be the only well known style to which one could possibly compare Old Odense Ale.
The Creation
Following an initial contact between Sam Calagione and us at Nørrebro Bryghus, we agreed that Sam would visit Nørrebro Bryghus and do a guest brew in June 2007, and when we started discussing which beer to brew, Sam was quite adamant that it be an old, traditional Danish beer style. We therefore unearthed the obscure ‘Odense Old Style Ale’ web page with a translation of a 15th century pre-hop era gruit ale recipe from the town of Odense, and the process of converting this into something that might be brewed on a modern brewing system commenced. Not an easy task, which this list of ingredients might illustrate: Pale and dark barley malt, oats, fine syrup (in our translation: maple syrup form Sam’s dad’s farm in Massachusetts), smoked dark syrup, fir branches and fir bark, wood sage, hyssop, blackthorn berries, woodruff and star spice.
The actual brewing of this beer was as fun as it was crazy and nerve-racking – stuff for an entire article (that actually has been written, but is yet to be published). Suffice to say here, that the amazing souring of the beer, that happened within 48 hours of fermentation, must be due to the potent ‘herbal juice’ hand squeezed by our honoured guest brewer from the herbs in the 7 huge gauze bags, and added to the wort kettle during the boil.
How do I get hold of ‘Old Odense Ale’?
Old Odense Ale is available in the US through our importer, Shelton Brothers of Belchertown, MA (www.sheltonbrothers.com). And don’t worry – the FDA has received samples for analysis for toxic substances (!) and has given us the green light to sell the beer in the US.
Who and what is Nørrebro Bryghus?
In September 2003 Nørrebro Bryghus opened its combined brewery, restaurant and bar in a former metal workshop close to downtown Copenhagen. The mission from day one was to contribute to a new evolution and expansion of the Danish beer culture. The Nørrebro Bryghus concept is based on creating the total experience – great beers, modern beer cuisine, excellent service in a unique ambience surrounded by award winning design and contemporary architecture.
As it is the vision of Nørrebro Bryghus to supply quality beer to any venue where the customers expect the very best in craft beer, we launched our beers on bottles and kegs in 2006. Export began in 2007 with Sweden, Finland and the USA as the first markets importing Nørrebro Bryghus beers. As the first Danish craft brewery, Nørrebro Bryghus won two bronze medals at the 2008 World Beer Cup® in San Diego.
Anders Kissmeyer, August 2008
Posted by: Shelton Brothers
on Aug 05, 08 | 5:49 pm | Profile
Archived under: Press Releases
For all you in Southern California that are starving for some good Shelton Brothers beers, you best get yourself to the Del Mar Fairgrounds this Saturday, June 21 for their Craft Brewers Competition and Festival. We'll put emphasis on the festival part of that name.
Here is a list of breweries that will have beers pouring (while supplies last):
Baird Brewing (Japan)
Cantillon (Belgium)
Christoffel (Netherlands)
De La Senne (Belgium)
De Proef (Belgium)
De Ranke (Belgium)
Drie Fonteinen (Belgium)
Duyck/Jenlain (France)
Eisenbahn (Brazil)
Inveralmond (Scotland)
Isle of Skye (Scotland)
Jolly Pumpkin (USA)
Kulmbacher (Germany)
Mikkeller (Denmark)
Nogne-O (Norway)
Norrebro (Denmark)
Ridgeway (England)
Be sure to thank the staff for making this year's fest a true international delight! Man, I wish I was going to be there...
Posted by: Shelton Brothers
on Jun 18, 08 | 11:53 pm | Profile
Archived under: General and Seasonal News
Here's a quickie list of beers we're planning to bring to this weekend's fête at Ommegang Brewery. With any luck, we won't run out of beer after the first hour . . . again.
We're also hoping to have a few bottles each of Struise Pannepot and Pannepøt on hand for a mano y mano battle, to the death. That will happen at 3:00, sharp. Sharp, I say!
Anyway, to the list . . . .
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Posted by: Will Shelton
on Jul 16, 07 | 1:36 pm | Profile
Archived under: General and Seasonal News
Very sad news reached us today from the UK, where our friend, and craft beer ambassador, John White, has died. John was a true example for all of us in the beer world -- an impassioned beer traveler with strongly-held opinions, who still managed to befriend everyone he met.
Like many of the people we've come to know over the years, John did not make his living in the industry, yet craft beer was his life. He traveled broadly in search of better beer, leaving behind a wealth of knowledge and insight, which he was always happy to share. We're proud to have one of his photographs on our home page, in fact.
This July 4th, whatever you drink, we ask that you raise your glass in John's honor. He will be missed, truly.
Posted by: Will Shelton
on Jul 03, 07 | 9:27 pm | Profile
Archived under: General and Seasonal News
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