Celebrate Craft Beer Week: Dogfish Head Burton Baton

We are celebrating Craft Beer Week (May 11-May 17) at The Humidor Cigar Bar & Lounge!  Join us as we showcase a different craft beer every day.   On Saturday, we will be featuring Burton Baton from Dogfish Head Brewery.

Based in Delaware, Dogfish is known for their quirky brews and their trademark line of IPAs (60 minute, 90 minute, 120 minute).   The brewery runs a philanthropic venture called “Beer & Benevolence”, in which they endeavor to creatively collaborate with nonprofit organizations to foster community, nourish artistic advancement and cultivate environmental stewardship.

The Burton Baton, an oak-aged hybrid, has been gaining popularity over the past few years and is now available year-round.  I love enjoying it with some soft brie.  Be careful with this brew, it’s a 10% ABV monster.    Available for half-price on Saturday at the Humidor.

Celebrate Craft Beer Week: Tomoka Hazy Sunrise

We are celebrating Craft Beer Week (May 11-May 17) at The Humidor Cigar Bar & Lounge!  Join us as we showcase a different craft beer every day.  For Friday, we are tapping a keg of Hazy Sunrise, a wheat ale from Tomoka Brewing Company.  What’s that glorious golden glow, streaming out from the hazy morning heavens? It’s a light & refreshing Hefeweizen, with a kiss of Florida citrus! Brewed with wheat & pilsner base malts, this easy-drinking beer is great any time of day!

Tomoka Brewing Company is located just down the road from us in Port Orange, Florida.   w are proud to celebrate local brews!

Celebrate Craft Beer Week: Steelhead Double IPA

We are celebrating Craft Beer Week (May 11-May 17) at The Humidor Cigar Bar & Lounge!  Join us as we showcase a different craft beer every day.  On Thursday, we are featuring Steelhead Double IPA from Mad River Brewing Company.

Since 1989, Mad River Brewing Company has been brewing award winning beers.  In the late seventies Brew Master Bob Smith, founder of the HOMEBREWERS Guild, dreamed of opening a small brewery specializing in craft beers. Excursions to buy brewing supplies led Bob to Ken Grossman’s Homebrew Shop in Chico, California.

After Ken shared his plans to build Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. in Chico, Bob became determined to build a craft brewery in Humboldt County. In 1989 construction began on what is now known as Mad River Brewing Co.

I have great appreciation for Dylan’s brews and his beard.

Nestled in Humboldt County adjacent to the Mad River in Blue Lake CA, Mad River is now under the command of Brewmaster Dylan Schatz.

Malty, hoppy and robust, Double IPA (8.7% ABV) is dry hopped with Amarillo hops for a fresh piney and citrus flavor and aroma. Aggressively hopped, but perfectly balanced.

We have been serving the Steelhead Double IPA for some time at the Humidor and I am a big fan!  Come enjoy this brew today for half price!

Celebrate Craft Beer Week: Anderson Valley Summer Solstice

We are celebrating Craft Beer Week (May 11-May17) at The Humidor Cigar Bar & Lounge!  Join us as we showcase a different craft beer every day.

For Wednesday, we are celebrating Anderson Valley Brewing Company (Boonville, CA) by featuring Summer Solstice seasonal ale.  Summer Solstice is a slightly sweet, malty session beer with a creamy mouth feel and clean finish.  With hints of caramel in the nose and a touch of spice, it’s become affectionately known as “cream soda for adults”. The unique flavors and superior “drinkability” make for the ultimate refreshment on a hot summer day.

We are great fans of Anderson Valley Brewing Company, currently offering several brews from them.   Bourbon Barrel Stout and Pinchy Jeek Barl (both bombers), Hop Ottin’ IPA, Barney Flats Oatmeal Stout, and the seasonal Summer Solstice.

Anderson Valley Brewing Company is a true “small brewery” both in size and in community participation.

Like many craft breweries, Anderson Valley maintains a strong ecological commitment.    In 2006 the brewery installed a large photo-voltaic array (otherwise known as solar panels), providing 40% of the breweries electrical needs. Anderson Valley Brewing has been a five time WRAP Award Winner in 2005, 2004, 2003, 2001, and 2000. Waste Reduction Awards Program (WRAP) recognizes California businesses for their outstanding waste reduction efforts.

The brewery’s 100-barrel copper brew house was recycled from two closed breweries in Germany, Ambrose Brutting Braü (Stoffelstein) and Magnus Braü (Kassendorf). Recently the brewery began packaging beers in aluminum cans, a lighter and more compact packaging that requires far less energy transport and less energy to recycle other than glass.

Land management is assisted with the help of some furry friends. Of Anderson Valley’s approximately 28 acres of grass, about 10% is “mowed” using a team of goats. A non-toxic pest control system (a cat named Figaro) guards the brew house and keeps rodents out.

Perhaps the most interesting chapter of Anderson Valley lore is its native language, Boontling. Still spoken by a handful of residents, Boontling is considered by modern linguists to be one of the world’s most extraordinary examples of a homemade language. At its peak Boontling was even taught in the valley’s schools and it was not uncommon for bright lighters (outsiders) to be completely dumbfounded by local conversation.  Anderson Valley Brewing embraces this local history by using Boontling in their marketing.

• Bahl Hornin’: good drinking
• Barney Flats: Hendy Woods National Forest. A spectacular forest of virgin redwoods, located in Anderson Valley.
• Boont: Boonville. The largest community and focal center of Anderson Valley. The town where the language of Boontling originated. Now famous for its local brewery
• Heelch: A large quantity.
• Horn: A drink; to drink.
• Kimmie: A man or father
• Tidrik: A party; a social gathering. (Probably from “tea drink,” a dialectal expression meaning the same thing.)
• Yink: boy or son

We hope you will enjoy some Bahl Hornin’ with us today, as we feature Summer Soltice for half price!    

Celebrate Craft Beer Week: Anchor Steam

We are celebrating Craft Beer Week (May 11-May17) at The Humidor Cigar Bar & Lounge!  Join us as we showcase a different craft beer every day.

For Tuesday, we are celebrating Anchor Brewing Company (San Francisco) by featuring Anchor Steam. Anchor Steam owes its deep amber color, thick, creamy head, and rich, distinctive flavor to a historic brewing process like none other.

Anchor Steam will be half price in the lounge today.  We also offer Anchor Porter and Anchor Liberty Ale.   Come celebrate small breweries!

Celebrate Craft Beer Week: Sierra Nevada Torpedo

We are celebrating Craft Beer Week (May 11-May17) at The Humidor Cigar Bar & Lounge!  Join us as we showcase a different craft beer every day.

For our first beer, we commemorate one of the pioneers of the craft beer movement, Sierra Nevada Brewing Company. Sierra Nevada was founded in 1979 by home brewers Ken Grossman & Paul Camusi. Based in Chico CA, they produced 950 barrels of the now recognizable “green label” Pale Ale.  (In comparison, 17 million barrels of Coors Light were produced in 2013.)   Many craft brewers consider this to be the beginning of the current craft beer movement.   While many small breweries didn’t make it out of the 1980s, Sierra Nevada continues to thrive. It currently produces about 800,000 barrels per year (second only to Sam Adams in independent brewery production) with about 450 employees.

I have chosen Sierra Nevada’s Torpedo IPA to kickoff Craft Beer Week because it is a favorite of my business partner, Ky Ekinci.

I chose Sierra Nevada as the first brewery because it was a pioneer in the movement, but also because it still operates in an innovative and environmentally sound fashion.  The company was awarded the “Green Business Of The Year” by the Environmental Protection Agency in 2010.  The brewery operates on solar energy, with 10,000 solar cells covering its rooftops and parking lots. The company processes used cooking oil from its restaurant for biodiesel use in its delivery trucks. In 2009, it reached an agreement with a local ethanol company to produce high-grade ethanol fuel from its discarded yeast. Spent grain is sold to local cattle ranchers for livestock feed; spent water is sent to the brewery’s own water treatment plant, where it is reused, mainly as drip irrigation for its fields. Over 99.5% of the brewery plant’s solid waste is diverted from landfill.  Cheers to sustainability!

Celebrate Craft Beer Week With Me! (May 11- May 17)

Join me as I celebrate American Craft Beer Week at my cigar bar, The Humidor Cigar Bar & Lounge, in Palm Coast.   We will be showcasing one brew each day, starting Monday.
From Sierra Nevada, widely recognized as the impetus behind the craft beer movement, to locally brewed Lunar Eclipse Stout we have a diverse list for you to try. While all the beers are available any time, we will be announcing specials each day for the showcased brews. Check the list below and try support small breweries this week!

What makes a craft beer? The following are some concepts related to craft beer and craft brewers:

• Craft brewers are small brewers.
• The hallmark of craft beer and craft brewers is innovation. *Craft brewers interpret historic styles with unique twists and develop new styles that have no precedent.
• Craft beer is generally made with traditional ingredients like malted barley; interesting and sometimes non-traditional ingredients are often added for distinctiveness.
• Craft brewers tend to be very involved in their communities through philanthropy, product donations, volunteerism and sponsorship of events.
• Craft brewers have distinctive, individualistic approaches to connecting with their customers. Craft brewers maintain integrity by what they brew and their general independence, free from a substantial interest by a non-craft brewer.
• The majority of Americans live within 10 miles of a craft brewer.

*source: American Brewers Association

Here is the list of brews for the week:

Monday: Sierra Nevada Torpedo (On Tap)
Tuesday: Anchor Steam from Anchor Brewing Company (Bottle)
Wednesday: Anderson Valley Brewing Company Summer Solstice (Can)
Thursday: Steelhead Double IPA from Mad River Brewing Company(Bottle)
Friday: Hazy Sunrise Wheat Ale from Tomoka Brewing Co (On Tap)
Saturday: Burton Baton by Dogfish Head Beer (Bottle)
Sunday: Pennant ’55 by The Brooklyn Brewery (Bottle)

Today’s Drink Recipe: The Paloma

Looking to celebrate Cinco De Mayo, but prefer something other than a margarita?  Try The Paloma, the first cocktail I ever made!

The Paloma

2 oz tequila
1/2 oz fresh lime juice
Grapefruit Soda
Pinch Of Salt

Illustration by Caitlin Keegan