Craft Brewing and Distilling News for March 24, 2014

•The first peach brandy made at George Washington’s distillery at Mount Vernon in more than 200 years will be unveiled on April 1, the Distilled Spirits Council and Mount Vernon jointly announced. Some 400 bottles of the peach brandy will be offered the Distillery & Gristmill at Mount Vernon, retailing at $150 a 375-ml. bottle. The brandy was recreated at the distillery in 2010 by a team of craft distillers who used 18th century techniques, double-distilling the product in copper pot stills heating it by wood fires, then aging it two years in toasted oak barrels. The distilling team was led by Ted Huber of Indiana-based Starlight Distillery, Brian McKenzie of Finger Lakes Distilling in New York, Lance Winters of St. George Spirits in California, Dave Pickerell of Vermont-based WhistlePig Whiskey and Hillrock Estate Distillery in New York, Joe Dangler of A. Smith Bowman Distillery in Virginia and Scott Harris of Catoctin Creek Distilling Co., also in Virginia.

•Boston-based Harpoon Brewery has released a new summer seasonal—UFO Big Squeeze Shandy. The latest entry in the brewer’s unfiltered UFO series, Big Squeeze Shandy is an unfiltered wheat beer blended with grapefruit juice. The 4.5%-abv offering, which is characterized by sweet malt, tart and citrus notes, will be available throughout the summer season in bottled six-packs and 12-packs, cans and on draft, priced at around $7.99 a six-pack. UFO Big Squeeze Shandy joins UFO Pale Ale, UFO Pumpkin, UFO Hefeweizen, UFO Raspberry Hefeweizen and UFO White in Harpoon’s unfiltered lineup. In addition to its Boston headquarters, Harpoon Brewery operates a second production facility in Windsor, Vermont.

•Alaskan Brewing Company has updated its IPA offering with a new flavor profile showcasing increased hop flavor and complexity with a recipe including Bravo, Calypso, Cascade, Summit and Apollo hops. The new Icy Bay IPA is 6.2%-abv and is presented in packaging featuring work by Alaskan photographer Scott Dickerson. Alaskan first released its IPA as a year-round offering in 2007. Alaskan Brewing has a 15-state distribution territory for its craft beers, which also include Alaskan Amber, Alaskan White, Stout and Freeride APA.

Tagged : Alaskan Brewing Co., craft beer, craft spirits, Harpoon Brewery

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