Here at Checkpoint Adventures, we like beer. Patrick and I are especially keen on our hop, barley, and malt beverages. With winter being a great time for beer, we thought we would point out some great seasonal beers that you might have looked over at your local beer cooler. These beers are great for after a hard workout, sitting down with friends, or anytime other time of day. Below are our winter seasonal picks, brought to you by the three of us at Checkpoint Adventures.

Patrick:

I’ve been a big fan of Pyramid beers for many years, but I only recently “discovered” Snow Cap Ale while on vacation in Washington. I’m not that great at describing the nuances of beer (my strong suit is the drinking part), so I’ll let the folks at Pyramid provide the “technical” description and follow up with my interpretation.

From Pyramid Breweries:

“[Snow Cap Ale is] a rich, full-bodied winter warmer crafted in the British tradition of holiday beers. This deep mahogany colored brew balances complex fruit flavors with a refreshingly smooth texture, making Snow Cap a highly drinkable and desirable cold weather companion.”

My interpretation:

Like all beer, Snow Cap Ale is a great beer for any season. This brew is on the dark end of the spectrum, but not opaque like a stout. Don’t let the color fool you, though. You won’t be overwhelmed by an overly sweet or bitter finish, making Snow Cap Ale highly drinkable.

In any case, if you find a sixer of Snow Cap Ale on the grocery shelf I recommend you give it a try. If you don’t like it, give me a call and I’ll be happy to properly “dispose” of what’s left.

Cathi:

I have sampled 3 winter brews lately this season:

Winters Nip (Big River Brewing Company, Chattanooga)
Winter Hook Ale by RedHook (Anheuser Busch)
Winter’s Bourbon Cask Ale (Anheuser Busch)

I must say that I am not the connoisseurs Kevin & Patrick are, although I definitely enjoy a cold adult beverage, especially after a long day of training. I am always up for trying new brews and always hit the microbrews of cities I visit and start with their sampler. That being said, I have to say that the first 2 winter ales I tried didn’t stand out to me. They were both good and went down smoothly. Both were also full-bodied, something I would expect out of a winter ale. But I can’t get into any details about their various complex flavorings, etc. However, the Winter’s Bourbon Cask Ale did stand out for its unique vanilla flavoring. The aftertaste was slightly reminiscent of root beer which was a refreshing change from many other beers. This being said, this isn’t something I’d pick up a 6-pack of and drink during a football game. After 1 or 2, I think I’d need a break from the sweetness. I’d definitely recommend adding it to your list of things to try before “the season” is gone!

Kevin:

Winter seasonals are generally on the darker side of the beer spectrum, and my two beer picks this season are no exception.

Cold Mountain Winter Ale, by Highland Brewing, is available in limited quantities at your local specialty beer retailer. Cold Mountain Winter Ale is a lightly hopped beer with spices that change on a year to year basis. The 2006 edition is a bit sweet with a vanilla finish that may surprise you if you aren’t expecting it. Though at first it may come off as sweet, this beer is highly drinkable.

Big Hoppy Monster, by Terrapin Beer (a Checkpoint Adventures sponsor), is available in 4 packs at your local specialty beer retailer. Released late fall, you should still be able to find it in stores. As the name suggests, Big Hoppy Monster is BIG on hops. BHM is an amber colored beer with a slight grapefruit finish. If you enjoy hops, this is a beer for you.

Feel free to share your favorite winter seasonal beer in the comments.

Terrapin Beer, one of our sponsors needs your help. I’m going to copy and paste a portion of a newsletter I receive every month from Terrapin. The parts of the newsletter are inclosed in the quotes with a few more comments from me at the end.

“This newsletter will no longer be sent out on a monthly basis. We will be sending the Terrapin Times out quarterly from this point forward. So what does that have to do with UPCOMING EVENTS?

Well, it seems the State of Georgia has decided that it is against the law for us to tell anyone about any promotional events that we are doing. In fact Terrapin recently received a citation and is being fined for doing just that. Seriously. As hard as it may be to believe, Terrapin is being fined for listing upcoming promotions on our website.

We were also told that if someone calls us on the phone wanting to know where to find Terrapin, we are not allowed to tell them a specific retail account. We are only allowed to say, “Any package store in Athens should have our beer” or “Terrapin is in most good beer bars in your area”. We are not even allowed to tell you about any upcoming beer festivals we may be attending.

So how are we supposed to promote Terrapin and actually try to grow our business? According to the State of Georgia we aren’t. We must sit back and hope you somehow find us. Following State guidelines here is what our current event listings would look like:

–Terrapin is going to be at a bar in Cumming on Monday July 10th, Snellville on Tuesday July 11th, and Roswell on Wednesday July 12th to promote the All American Imperial Pilsner.

–Every Thursday in July we are doing an All American Imperial Pilsner pint night at a chain of beer bars throughout Atlanta. Buy a beer and keep the glass.

Honestly those listings seem pretty pointless so we just aren’t going to do them any more. If we continue to list our promotions the State of GA would actually go so far as to revoke our license and put us out of business. So all we can say is please continue to visit your local taverns and hopefully we will see you there some time.

* OTHER STUPID RULES
CAVEAT: John Cochran is writing this and is expressing personal opinions that in no way reflect the views of Terrapin Beer Company. Or maybe it does. You decide.

So what other rules are breweries in GA hamstrung by?

How about the fact that when a Terrapin rep goes into a bar to attempt to convince them to carry Terrapin it is against the law for us to give them a sample? Yet it is perfectly legal for wine and liquor salespeople to leave samples.

How about the fact that as brewery reps if we walk into a package store and the shelf is empty we are not allowed to take a case from the back of the store and put it on the shelf?

How about the fact that we are prohibited from pouring our own beer at a beer festival? If a volunteer has to take a bathroom break we can only stand there and tell customers, “Sorry, you have to wait. I’m not allowed to pour the beer because I work for the company that made it.”

How about the fact that we are not allowed to give anything of “value” to a retailer? That means we can not give pint glasses to a bar. They have to buy them. That means we can not give t-shirts to the staff of a restaurant. The owner has to purchase them. And of course this means we can not list promotional events on our website.

How about the fact that when breweries give tours they are not allowed in any way to sell growlers, 6-packs or kegs to anyone visiting the brewery? We are only allowed to give free samples. After all, why would we actually want the right to sell our product to the hundred or so customers that are standing in front of us at the brewery?

That starts to get into the three tier distribution system and how it works. We will leave that one alone as it is a huge can of worms. Just ask Crawford Moran, former owner of Dogwood Brewing about it. He claims it put him out of business in this article.

* ALL GA BREWERIES NEED YOUR HELP
Enough talk, its time for action. We know, as do the other local breweries, that you guys support us all. And now all the local breweries need your help. Julie Baggett, the President of SouthEastern Brewers Guild is collecting statements from all the local breweries about the hassles we have been getting from the State of Georgia recently. She is going to try to work with a State Representative to see if we can get some rules changed. Any statements of support that you would like to add to this can only strengthen our case. Send any comments you may have to info@terrapinbeer.com and we will forward them on to Julie. Thanks in advance for your help.”

Those that know me, know I enjoy good beer. Terrapin definitely produces good beer. In fact, my soon to be wife loves many of their beers after I introduced them to her. Patrick, the other RD with me on the Ultra O-gaine, is a huge fan of their Monster Beer Tour after I introduced them to him last year. I don’t know many people who don’t like their beer after I’ve given them some. I sought Terrapin out as a sponsor, as I do many of our sponsors, because I believe in the product they produce. Terrapin is also run by great people. John, one of the owners, and his family came to the 2005 A24 and broght along two kegs of their fine beer. They sat around with the staff, support crews, and racers and were very enjoyable to talk to and hang out with. I wish they could have come to the 2006 A24 but the laws mentioned above prevented them from attending. I ask anyone that loves good beer to consider contacting Terrapin as described above. Thank you for helping out the local Georgia breweries.

I’m leaving for Seattle, WA butt early Tuesday morning. I’ve never been to Seattle so I’m excited to go. I’m hoping to have my fair share of Pyramid Brew while I’m up there too! I had the Pyramid Hefe years ago (2000) while in Phoenix and have been trying to get some since; it’s great stuff. It’s brewed in Seattle so I better get some while I’m there.

I’ll have limited access to a computer while in Seattle but I hope to update my blog a few times while I’m there. Look for me on the SPQ website in the picture section sometime! Once I get back I hope to upload my pictures to the cpadventures.com site too. See you in a few weeks!

Oh yeah, look for some big changes in the Checkpoint Adventures website in the next 3-5 months. There is a huge change coming!

Subaru Primal Quest: http://www.ecoprimalquest.com

Pyramid Brewery: http://www.pyramidbrew.com