Ithaca Beer Brewers Blog

That must mean there’s some sort of a tournament with brackety-type things going on, right?  I kid, I kid.  For those of you not already following along at home, the “National IPA Championship” has been going on for the past couple of weeks.

We’ve had a tough draw, but have somehow managed to become a Cinderella story in reaching the Final Four, defeating such giant and seminal IPA brewers like Dogfish Head(in your face, Selders!), Anderson Valley (Take that, NorCal!) and Boulder Beer(where’s your mojo, Marvin?).  Anyway, it’s very exciting and especially gratifying that the judging has been done by other professional brewers.  We must be doing something right!  This weekend brings us a tough foe in Bell’s Two-Hearted Ale, winner of the 2007 Alpha King challenge.  Wish us luck.

In other news, this past week brought the long-anticipated release of TEN, our Anniversary Ale.  It’s an exploded version of CascaZilla.

The beer has A LOT going on.  Incredibly aromatic, oily and viscous, slightly woody from the judicious use of some  Bamberg smoked malt, with a sweet and juicy flavor, like cherries.  It’s the biggest and hoppiest (read: most expensive) beer we’ve ever brewed and judging by the reception it has been enjoying in our tasting room and at a couple of cask-nights- it’s a winner.  Come on down and treat yourself .

Facial Hair was also largely eliminated at the brewery this week(for those who haven’t noticed, we brewers can tend to let our grooming go during the long winter).  Bill J. took the opportunity to sport what I like to call a “Trooper”.

It’s amazing what a moustache can do for a man’s self-esteem.

We’re brewing this year’s first batch of Partly Sunny today!  That must mean that spring is upon us.  Don’t forget to reset your clocks tomorrow night…unless you’re one of those nuts who live in Arizona or Hawaii.

This coming week will see the release of Old Habit, 2008.   I’ll be writing about that next.