Beltramos Blog » Tastings

Belgian Beer Tasting Part I, Friday May 24th

dbeltramo — Wed, 22 May 2013 03:26:14 +0000

Belgium has the most diverse beer culture in the world, with many styles and varieties to keep the serious beer drinker occupied for quite some time. Witbier, Flemish Sour Reds, Lambics and the dry, crisp Saisons from the south are just some of the beers available from this remarkable brewing nation.

Our line-up this week will give a glimpse into these famed styles with some fine examples from across Belgium, the well known names and the smaller, unique breweries will all feature in this fantastic tasting.

Try all nine of these great Beers for $5 this Friday May 24^th.

St. Bernardus Wit

De Ranke Guldenberg Abbey Ale

Dubuisson Cuvee Des Trolls

Hanssens Oude Gueuze

Monk’s Café Flemish Sour

Duchess De Bourgogne Red Ale

Fantome Chocolat Saison

Dubuisson Scaldis Tripel

Monks Stout Dupont

Christian B., Beltramo’s Beer Buyer

Hop-Head Beer Tasting

dbeltramo — Mon, 06 May 2013 22:20:48 +0000

The primary flavoring ingredient in beer, the humble Hop plant (or Humulus lupulus if we want to get technical) has steadily risen in stature and prestige to become King of the Beer World and is now worshipped by the ever growing numbers of beer lovers and Hop-Heads worldwide.

With the increasing demand for heavily hopped beers, new styles and brewing methods have been evolving; the traditional Pale Ales and IPA’s have been modified and supercharged to create double and even triple IPA beers with huge amounts of hops and malts to create a fiercely intense, palate destroying experience!

Our lineup this week encompasses a wide range of hopped beers from around the globe showcasing many different hop strains for a broad spectrum of flavors and aromatic qualities.

So if you need any further examples of the Hop’s dominant status in the beer world, come on down to Beltramo’s this Friday and sample some of the Hoppiest beers the world has to offer.

Try all nine of these great Beers for $5 on Friday, May 10^{th from 4:30-6:30}.

Thornbridge Hall Jaipur IPA

Epic Armageddon IPA

Nogne O ‘Two Captains’ Double IPA

Dogfish Head ‘Rhizing Bines’ IPA (Collaboration with Sierra Nevada)

Heretic ‘Evil Cousin’ Imperial IPA

Firestone ‘Double Jack’ Double IPA

Knee Deep Brewing ‘Hop Shortage’ Triple IPA

Clown Shoes ‘Muffin Top’ Belgian Style Triple IPA

Bear Republic ‘Black Racer’ Black IPA

Christian B., Beltramo’s Beer Buyer

Bay Area Beer Tasting, Friday April 12th

dbeltramo — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 20:42:52 +0000

Through the month of April, Beltramo’s will be celebrating all things local, with our Beer tasting room being no exception. With so many great breweries in the Bay Area producing craft beer, from the traditional and classic to the experimental and unique, we have drawn up a list of some of the best the Bay has to offer.

From San Jose to Sonoma, we will be sampling everything from intensely hoppy IPA’s and refreshing Pale Ales to spicy Saisons and Barrel Aged wild ales. We invite you to come and celebrate the exciting Bay Area beer scene with us and maybe discover your new favorite local brew.

Try all nine of these great Beers for $5 this Friday, April 12th

Triple Voodoo ‘Witopia’ Belgian Style Wheat
Heretic ‘Gramarye’ Rye Pale Ale
Brouwerij West Saison Extra
Almanac Farmers Reserve No.1, Barrel Aged Wild Ale
Lagunitas ‘Maximus’ IPA
St. Florian’s IPA
Speakeasy ‘Betrayal’ Imperial Red Ale
Bear Republic ‘Tribute’ Brown Ale
Drake’s ‘Black Robusto’ Porter

Christian Brown, Beltramo’s Beer Buyer

New Arrivals Tasting Part II, Friday March 29th

dbeltramo — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 18:20:56 +0000

Following on from our successful New Arrivals Tasting Part I, we will be continuing to sample some of the new and exciting beers making their way onto our shelves here at Beltramo’s. This week we will taste a combination of unique domestic beer along with a wide variety of what the rest of the world has to offer.

We will be leaving no stone un-turned, sampling everything from the refreshingly sour Gueuze beers of Belgium, white ales from Japan, and a white wine infused brew from down in Orange County. We will contrast these with a traditional recipe English IPA, a Canadian coffee Stout, and the more experimental Danish Brewery Mikkeller.

Try all nine of these great Brews for $5 this Friday, the 29th from 4:30-6:30pm

Lindemans Cuvee Rene Gueuze

Hitachino Nest White Ale

Cismontane ‘The Mesa’

Brouwerij West Tripel

Anchorage Brewing Company ’Galaxy’ White IPA

Meantime India Pale Ale

Brasserie Caracole ‘Nostrodamus’ Belgian Brown

Mikkeller ‘Beer Hop Breakfast’ Oatmeal Stout

Dieu du Ciel! ‘Peche Motel’ Imperial Coffee Stout

Christian B., Beltramo’s Beer Buyer

Beltramo’s New Arrival Beers Part I: Friday, March 15th

dbeltramo — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 02:26:11 +0000

There have been many new arrivals making their way onto Beltramo’s shelves recently. To celebrate, we will be trying many of them in the coming weeks with 2 New Arrivals tastings; sampling everything and anything new and exciting. In Part I, the focus will be on domestic beers with Part II containing more unusual, esoteric offerings from around the world.

This week has something for everyone, from light and crisp Farmhouse and Saison styles (examples from California, Missouri and New York) to full bodied imperial stouts and Abbey Ales. There’s also a few treats for all the hop-heads out there with Firestones Black Rye IPA and the Port Brewing Double Red Ale.

Try all nine of these fantastic New Arrival Beers for $5 on Friday 15^th March from 4:30-6:30pm.

MateVeza ‘Morpho’ Herbal Ale

Ommegang ‘Hennepin’ Farmhouse Saison

North Coast ‘Le Merle’ Saison

Boulevard Smokestack series ‘Tank 7’ Farmhouse Ale

Port Brewing ‘Shark Attack’ Double Red Ale

Firestone ‘Wookey Jack’ Black Rye IPA

The Lost Abbey ‘Lost & Found’ Abbey Ale

Drake’s Brewing ‘Drakonic’ Imperial Stout

Speakeasy ‘Scarface’ Imperial Stout

Christian B., Beltramo’s Beer Buyer

Beltramo’s Barleywine Festival, Friday 15th February

dbeltramo — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 20:44:10 +0000

To coincide with the 20^th Annual Barleywine festival at the infamous Toronada Pub in San Francisco, we here at Beltramo’s have decided to create a special Barleywine festival of our own. We will be showcasing some of the finest beers of this style alongside a unique opportunity to sample multiple vintages of Sierra Nevada’s Bigfoot with bottles dating back to 1998!

Barleywine is a very big bold beer, not for the faint of heart. Lots of hops and malt are combined with high alcohol to create a powerful yet nuanced brew, perfect for aging and seeing the character and fruit profile develop over time.

Try all of these fantastic Barleywines for $5 on Friday 15^th February from 4:30-6:30pm.

Anchor ‘Old Foghorn’

Swan Lake ‘Samurai’ Barley Ale

Shipyard Barleywine (Pugsley’s Signature Series)

Uinta ‘Cockeyed Cooper’ Bourbon Barrel

Drake’s ‘Jolly Rodger’ Ale

Sierra Nevada ‘Bigfoot’ (assorted vintages dating from 1998 -2013)*

Christian Brown, Beltramo’s Beer Buyer

*while supplies last.

Specialty Beers Tasting: Friday, February 1st

dbeltramo — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 18:56:14 +0000

Most of you may be familiar with those broadly defined styles including Amber, Blonde and Dark beer, but what happens when the beer in front of you doesn’t fit neatly into any of the above categories? Our specialty beer tasting pulls together all the unusual and exotic (some might say extreme!) brews into one place to excite and delight the senses.

This tasting includes beers aged in Whisky casks, beers brewed with smoked malt and grains, others with fruit, right through to tantalizingly tart sour beers brewed with wild yeast strains.

Try all nine of these fantastic Specialty beers for $5 on Friday 1^st February from 4:30-6:30pm.

Telegraph Brewing “Petit Obscura”

Gordon Biersch Weizen Eisbock

Rochefort 6

Lindemans Kriek

Dogfish Head “Black & Blue”

Rogue Imperial IPA

Harviestoun Ola Dubh 18 year

The Bruery ‘Smoking Wood’

Aecht Urbock

Chrisitan B., Beltramo’s Wine & Beer Consultant

The World of Belgian Beers, Friday 18th January

dbeltramo — Sun, 13 Jan 2013 20:17:38 +0000

Firstly, a huge thank you to all the beer lovers who turned out in force on the 4^th to sample some of the excellent domestic Belgian style beers we had on offer and making our tasting a resounding success. As a special treat for supporting the domestic Belgian beers, I’ve decided to up the ante and put together a line-up of the real thing – a showcase of some of the many styles available from this diverse beer nation including some unusual and limited edition bottles.

This tasting will introduce the casual drinker to some of these delicious beers and for the connoisseur, reaffirm their love for some of the greatest brews on the planet.

Try all nine of these fantastic Belgian beers for $5 on Friday 18^th January from 4:30-6:30pm.

Duvel Golden Ale

Brasserie Dupont ‘Biere de Miel’ (Ale Brewed with Honey)

Brasserie Caracole ‘Troublette’ Witbier

Rodenbach Grand Cru (Flanders Red Ale)

Timmermans Oude Gueuze Limited Edition

Brouwerij Timmermans-John Martin N.V. ‘Bourgogne des Flanders’ (Flanders red Ale)

Steenbrugge Dubbel

St Bernardus Tripel

Straffe Hendrik Quadrupel

Christian B., Beltramo’s Wine & Beer Consultant

Belgian Style Domestic Beer Tasting: Friday, January 4th

dbeltramo — Mon, 31 Dec 2012 01:48:45 +0000

Belgium is considered by many as a Mecca for the serious beer connoisseur and is home to a staggering number of different styles of beer to suit any occasion. Crisp golden ales and citrusy Saison beers moving through to rich Abbey ales, Quadrupels and even sour beers fermented with wild yeasts offer the beer drinker a huge range of styles and limitless food pairing opportunities.

The U.S brewing industry has embraced this tradition with a great deal of passion and enthusiasm creating hundreds of Belgian inspired beers both classic and experimental. Great examples of these beers are appearing from all corners of the country with occasional collaborations with Belgian brewers not uncommon.

Try all nine of these great Belgian style beers for $5 on Friday 4^th January from 4:30-6:30pm.

Uinta ‘Monkshine’ Belgian Blonde

Green Flash ‘Rayon Vert’ Pale Ale

North Coast ‘PranQster’ Golden Ale

Telegraph Brewing Company White Ale

Russian River & Sierra Nevada ‘BRUX’ Domesticated Wild Ale

The Bruery ‘Trade Winds’ Tripel

Ommegang ‘Three Philosophers’ Quadrupel

Allagash ‘Black’ Belgian Style Stout

North Coast ‘Brother Thelonius’ Abbey Ale

Christian B., Beltramo’s Wine & Beer Consultant

Holiday Beer Tasting, Friday 16th November

dbeltramo — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 02:26:27 +0000

If you have been especially good this year, you may have sneaked your way onto Santa’s good boys and girls list and will find Santa hurrying down the chimney on Christmas Eve. If this is the case, you will be thinking of leaving out some milk and cookies for good old Saint Nick. Instead, why not give Santa a real treat this Christmas and leave a delicious bottle of one of our Holiday beers to provide some real refreshment and add a little extra color to those rosy cheeks.

This week’s line up will see an excellent assortment of beers from around the world, all jam packed with roasted malts and seasonal spices of clove and nutmeg all combined to create a hearty and delicious brew for this seasons festivities.

Try all nine of these great Holiday beers for $5 on Friday 16^th November from 4:30-6:30pm.

Sierra Nevada ‘Celebration’ Ale

Alaskan ‘Winter’ Ale

Deschutes ‘Jubelale’ Winter Ale

Samuel Smiths ‘Winter Welcome’ Ale

St. Peters ‘Winter’ Ale

Ninkasi ‘Sleighr’ Dark Double Ale

Brasserie La Rulles ‘Cuvee Meilleurs Vouex’ Belgian Ale

Huyghe ‘Delirium Noel’ Belgian Ale

St. Bernardus ‘Christmas’ Belgian Abbey Ale

Christian B., Beltramo’s Wine & Beer Consultant