New Beer Friday

Deschutes is back in local beer news, as we are finally getting bottles of The Dissident here in Albuquerque. We always seemed to have been passed over for distribution of this Flanders Oud Bruin style in the past. The Dissident is brewed with cherries and partially aged in both Pinot Noir and Cabernet barrels. Brettanomyces yeast gives it that funkiness that all the kids are raving over. Jubilation has this one for $14.99, though a distributor error had many places initially selling it at way less- for instance, today the Whole Foods on Carlisle had it still selling at $6.99 per 22 oz. bottle. HAD, I say, because they are sold out. No surprise there. You may still find $14.99 a reasonable price to pay for this very limited release.

You learn something new everyday, or so I'm told. I've already forgotten yesterday, but I learned what a Narwhal is today. A Narwhal is a whale that lives in the Arctic Ocean and has a big unicorn horn-looking tooth sticking out of its face. It, along with the Beluga whale, is a member of the Monodontidae family, which I believe took over took over the Tropicana from Moe Greene. Narwhal is also the Imperial Stout just released by Sierra Nevada, a 10.2% ABV whale of a beer. The beer comes in $8.99 four-packs (Kelly's on Wyoming), so even you tadpoles out there will be able to finish an entire bottle. Sierra touts the beer as having notes of espresso, light smoke, and baker's cocoa. And blubber.