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The Best Beer Available Online This Week
This week features The Lost Abbey, Kern River Brewing, 21st Amendment Brewery, and The Bruery.
This is a weekly series in which we feature beers from Craft Shack that are particularly rare, fantastic, or both.
One of our missions at Hop Culture is to make the craft beer movement — the culture, the beer, the knowledge — more accessible to everyone. For drinkers living outside of the major beer cities, or simply on the opposite coast from their favorite brewery, much of beer journalism is an exercise in unfulfillable coveting. If a beer isn’t distributed to your local beer store or bar, you aren’t drinking it. Not anymore.
For the price of shipping, drinkers living across America can get the nation’s best beer delivered straight to their door. So for those wanting to sample the best of the craft beer revolution, look no further. Here are the five best bottles of beer available online this week.
Melange No. 3, The Bruery
Description: Mélange #3 is a blend of three bourbon barrel aged strong ales: White Oak Sap, a wheat wine, our Anniversary Series old ale and our imperial Stout, Black Tuesday. Chocolate, dark fruits, oaky vanilla and rich toffee-like character reach through hints of bourbon.
ABV: 15.5%
BA Score: 96
Share This: OC, The Bruery
Description: This is the orange-chocolate edition of The Bruery’s rich, chocolatey imperial stout. Proceeds will benefit Food Forward’s efforts in Southern California.
ABV: 11%
Blah Blah Blah IPA, 21st Amendment Brewery
Style: Blah Blah Blah IPA is a tongue-in-cheek commentary on the popularity of this style and all the sub-styles that have become part of craft beer conversations and offerings. With nine different hop varietals, on top of late-kettle boil additions, this beer has a juicy, hop chewy flavor.
ABV: 8.0%
BA Score: 88
Buy Online: $3
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Hop Nookie, Kern River Brewing Company
Description: A triple IPA brewed with with Chinook, Amarillo, Centennial, Mosaic, and Eureka.
ABV: 11%
BA Score: 91
Buy Online: $10
Find a Bottle Near You
Red Poppy Ale, The Lost Abbey
Description: Red Poppy Ale features sour cherries in an explosion of aromas and tastes. Brewed from a brown ale base and aged in our oak barrels for over 6 months.
Notes: One bottle left.
BA Score: 94
About The Author
J. Travis Smith
Currently Drinking:
Mystic Brett Renaud
Travis Smith graduated from Duke University with a degree in Economics and Environmental Science & Policy before moving to New York, where he received a Master's Degree in Journalism from Columbia University. Afterward, he and co-founder Kenny Gould were among the first hires at Gear Patrol Magazine. Many beers and waistline inches later, he turned his hobby into a profession. He currently lives in New York City with his girlfriend and a small dog named Wesley.