Allagash Gargamel Review

Gargamel is a limited edition Belgian style ale from Allagash. After primary fermentation Allagash added Brettanomyces yeast and aged it French Oak wine barrels with local raspberries for over 18 months. Sometimes we almost feel bad writing up a beer we know you all can't buy. This is one of those times. This beer is simply incredible but unless you already own a bottle the chance of you trying it are quite low. This beer was available for sale at the brewery only. The beer starts out with an amazing sourness that is immediatly followed up with an incredibly complex Belgian funk with a distinct earthiness. Describing the flavor of brett yeast can sound aweful to those who haven't had it but there's nice notes of earthy hay in the finish (trust us it's a good thing).The fruit adds to the sourness but the beer never feels like a "fruit beer". We got 4 bottles of this (they only allowed each person to buy 2 bottles so that's all we could get). We're down to one bottle left and when that goes it's going to be a sad day. The good news is that this is the first beer in a line of limited release barrel aged beers from Allagashs so we're excited to see what else they come out with.

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Dogfish Head Squall IPA Review

On a beer run to pick up some beer to have with some BBQ we saw this new beer from Dogfish Head. While the name may imply a totally new beer the actual reality is this is an unfiltered, bottle conditioned version of their 90 Minute IPA. Dogfish Head beers tend to have fairly strong yeast notes to begin with so we weren't sure how this would be. The short answer it's good. It doesn't blow our minds but it's worth a try. The Squall IPA feels a bit hotter than regular 90 min IPA, this may be a product of the bottle conditioning. There is a predictable sweetness that comes with many Dogfish beers but it's not overwhelmingly sweet. A nice balance of hop flavors helps round of the overall flavor of the beer. We're not sure we'd buy this again over regular 90 Minute but it's worth buying a bottle to give it a go.

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Father's Day Gift Guide 2009 - Dads Love Beer Too!

Getting the perfect Fathers' Day gift can be tough. Fortunately for you we've rounded up some of the best craft beer gifts out there to help you and your dad have the perfect Fathers' Day. We've got the best craft beer of the month clubs, homebrewing kits and beer glassware. We did the work, so all you have to do is look like a great son or daughter.

Beer of the Month Clubs

You like beer and you dad does too? Beer of the month club gifts are very affordable. You can order a single month for as little as $35 or a full year so there's a perfect club for every budget. We've pulled together three of our favorite clubs to give you some options. What's better than sitting back each month and drinking some new craft beers with your dad?

To help you out we've put together a quick comparison guide of the best beer of the month clubs!

	Clubs of America	Gourmet Monthly Clubs DrinkCraftBeer Editors' Choice Click Here to read our monthly review!	World Beer Club
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What do you get?	12 12oz. Beers 4 different styles	12 12oz. Beers 4 different styles	Options from 9-24 bottles per month 4 different styles of beer each month.
Subscription Options	1-12 Months.	2-12 Months or Month by Month.	1-12 months or Month by Month
How much does it cost you?	$34.95/month Just for DrinkCraftBeer.com readers! We got you a great discout. When buying, use this code for great savings: Discount1 = $10 off any orders from 6-11 months	Original Microbrewed Beer Club: $34.95/month International & Domestic Variety Beer Club: $42.95/month International Beer Club: $46.95/month Just for DrinkCraftBeer.com readers! We got you 2 great discounts. When buying, use these codes for great discounts: GMC5 = $5 off any prepaid order of 6 months or longer GMC$10 = $10 off any prepaid 12 month order	Microbrew Sampler: $32.95 per month Taste of America: $34.95 per month International Pack: $42.95 per month The Beer Lover: (24 bottles) $59.95 per month The Connoisseur (24 bottles): $69.95 per month
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Home Brewing Kits

Even better than drinking with dad can be homebrewing beer with dad. Homebrewing beer is really easy... no we mean REALLY easy. If you can make pasta you can homebrew and it's a great activity to try out with your father. We've even put together a full tutorial, How to Homebrew Beer. Here's all the gear you need to get brewing!

Brewing Kit	Ingredients	Books

Glassware

So maybe your father already has all the beer he needs but you want to make each beer a little more special? Here's some great beer glassware options to make that happen.

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L' Ange Tombe: Julio's Liquors 35th Anniversary Beer Brewed by De Proef

In celebration of their 35th year of being open, Julio's Liquors in Westborough, MA has worked with De Proef Brewery and SBS Imports to create a Black Saison named L' Ange Tombe (The Fallen Angel).

As stated in their release email:

This Black Saison is a medium-bodied ale with a deep amber color and
off-white head.

The hops provide a pleasing spiciness, while the malt and yeast create
subtle notes of anise and cocoa.

It goes on to inform that only 3,000 750ml caged and corked bottles will be released, with some limited kegs going to Armsby Abbey in Worcester, MA.

Their other Julio's Liquors Only beer has been brewed for two years in a row by Berkshire Brewing Company and is a Bourbon Barrel Aged Scotch Ale. If that beer is any indicator of the quality we should expect in L' Ange Tombe, then this beer is going to be in a lot of demand. We're definitely looking forward to this Black Saison, as saisons are great for summer!

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Beer of the Month Club Review - Gourmet Monthly Clubs May

Opening a beer of the month shipment is always fun, it's really like opening a gift each month. We've tried a lot of beer, it's impossible to count at this point but it's well over a 1000 different beers. So when we get a shipment entirely of beer we've never tried, that's really cool. Beer of the month clubs are fun because they often pick beers from smaller breweries that don't distribute past small regional areas. The result is you get to try beer you'd never be able to try unless you traveled to the state it was brewed in. This month brings us beer from PA and NM.

As always if you'd like to join the same clubs as us click here

Pennsylvania Brewery - Penn Pilsner

Appearance: Golden

Smell: light lager

Taste:This is fantastic summer session beer. This is a very basic lager and is fantastically refreshing and simple, and sometimes that's just what you want from a beer.

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Beer of the Month Club Review - Gourmet Monthly Clubs April

Hey everyone,

We're back with the March installment of the Gourmet Monthly Clubs beer of the month club review. This was a fun one for us. While a lot of times we love discovering new beer, the surprise this month was in rediscovery. Fisherman's brewing company is brewed about 45 minutes from us, though we really hadn't had it in a longtime. Rediscovering how good this brewery was made us start thinking about some other brands we've been neglecting in our purchases too. Well enough about that on to the beer!

And, as always, if you want to get the same club as us go here: Click to Join

Grand Teton - Old Faithful

Appearance: Light amber thin white head

Smell: Light citrus with a touch of sweetness

Taste:Light, crisp with peach like notes and biscuity malt. All the beers we got in this shipment seemed perfect for late spring and this was no exception. We've never had anything from this brewery so that alone was cool.

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