Beer and Wine Weekly Update, December 1, 2014
By Josh Downs, Beer and Wine Manager
First off, I’d like to thank all of our awesome customers for the incredible support last week. We had some record setting days in the store, and we sold a ton of beer and wine. The Holiday Wine 6 Packs were a big success as well, so look forward to seeing more of those in the future! Secondly, I wanted to amend some false information I gave two weeks ago. I had announced the arrival of some limited release Dogfish Head beers, which in fact did not come that week, or the week after. I may not even get all of them this week, unfortunately. There was some delay in the transit, and we finally received some only just a few days ago, but not all of our order. So far we have the Piercing Pils and Beer Thousand in the store. We are still waiting on the Old School, American Beauty, and 75 Minute IPA. I’d like to apologize to anyone that may have come in looking for them and assure you that we will have the rest of the order soon, I just can’t say when. Now it’s been a little while since I last wrote an entry, so let’s just dive right in. Thanks again!
I’m very excited to extend a warm welcome to Stone Corral, Northshire, and Crop Breweries to City Market. We have been focusing on adding more local products, so look forward to more Vermont beer as we move forward. These additions required some changes in the Department so we could fit them all and still keep the great selection we’ve always had.
The changes aren’t too big - some products have just moved around a bit. First off, we added a new shelf in the 6 pack cooler next to the tallboy shelf. Now all the domestics are located in one, easy to find place. This made some more room above them, so we moved all the ciders to the top shelf, and brought the Allagash and Unibroue 4 packs out of the specialty cooler and into the big cooler. This makes them easier to find and allows us to carry a little more Allagash. This in turn opened up some space in the specialty beer cooler, so we moved all the 750 ml Dogfish Head, Allagash, and Victory beers into this cooler. This allowed us to have the room in the bomber cooler for all the new Vermont beers. We moved them up a shelf, so now they are front and center.
The original Shed Restaurant opened in Stowe, VT, in 1965. It quickly became a local staple, and is now brewed in Middlebury. Moving to Middlebury allowed the brewery to produce their beer on a larger scale, so it's much more readily available. The Mountain Ale and IPA are their staple beers, but today we are drinking the winter seasonal, Nosedive Porter.
The beer pours an almost black, opaque, dark brown with a thick, frothy, tan head. An aroma of vanilla instantly hits your nose, but is mellowed out by subtle notes of roasted coffee beans. This is a medium bodied porter that goes down smooth. The vanilla is very prominent, but notes of chocolate and coffee round out the beer. It finishes with a slight bitterness, which really compliments the sweetness of the vanilla. Drink this beer on a cold evening by the fire.
A couple weeks ago we had Founders Centennial 12 Packs on deal, and since they did so well, we have another offering from Founders this week. I was able to get a great deal on All Day IPA 15 Packs that I’m excited to extend to you. The All Day IPA is Founders take on the recently popular session IPA style of beer and it’s a perfect example of the style. Light, crisp, and refreshing with enough hop flavor to do the IPA name justice. This week you can get yourself a 15 pack for just $13.99! That’s less than a buck a beer!
In the wine world, we are offering a fantastic cold weather white wine this week. Badenhorst ‘The Curator’ White Blend is a unique blend of Chenin Blanc, Chardonnay, and Semillon all sourced from the Swartland region in South Africa. The wine is pale yellow in color with aromas of lemon candy, stone fruits and flowers. Its fruity and silky full-body is complimented by exotic notes of honey and licorice. Perfect for a cool night!
Beer and Wine News
This week we have three different tastings in the Beer & Wine Department that I’m really excited about. On Tuesday, we will be pouring six different beers from Dogfish Head. They have been a staple at City Market, and I’m really pumped to let folks that haven’t experienced the awesome beer they make try it for the first time. Then on Wednesday, we will be pouring four selections from Finch’s Brewery out of Chicago. Most of you are familiar with the Fascist Pig, Stache Stout, and Hardcore Chimera, but we also will be pouring a new seasonal beer called Nuclear Winter that is sure to be a hit. Then finally on Friday, we will see the return of Shacksbury to the store. Last time they were here we got a great response, and I’m really happy to have them back again.
As always, if you have any questions, concerns, or topics you’d like covered feel free to contact me at jdowns@citymarket.coop, or give me a call at 802-861-9730. Until next week, Prost!
*Please note: we've had to postpone our Finch's Brewery tasting that was scheduled for Wednesday, December 3. Sorry for the delay!