THE BREWSPAPER / WELCOME ANOTHER GRAPEFRUIT IPA

GUEST BLOG—By Jason Stockberger, Head Brewer, Mike Hess Brewing Company, San Diego CA.

 “Seven years ago, Mike Hess was trying to convince his mother to try an IPA over her preferred stout. In an effort to persuade her, he suggested thinking of an IPA as carbonated grapefruit juice, and lo and behold, she is now an IPA enthusiast.

Fast-forward to the summer of 2015 when Mike was solicited by a local business to create a specialty craft beer and it dawned on him he could create a grapefruit IPA using his flagship Solis recipe and adding fresh grapefruit from the backyard of his home in La Mesa. After picking hundreds of grapefruits from his tree with his children, Mike and his family hand-zested and squeezed the grapefruit to add to Solis #46.

After perfecting the recipe, Grapefruit Solis was added to Mike Hess Brewing’s menu as a flagship beer using a combination of Nugget, Cascade and Citra hops with two-row, melanoidin and Vienna malts. Grapefruit Solis takes the best out of a traditional San Diego IPA and combines it with a well-rounded flavor profile brought out by the citrus in the grapefruit. This recipe is the perfect example of fruit-infused beer.

We pack our hop-back with grapefruit zest just before fermentation and then, prior to packaging, we add in a dose of real grapefruit juice, doubling down for flavor-town. Light in color and dry in taste, this beer has a subtle malt component and a clean yeast profile. It’s like getting sacked in the face with a bag of grapefruit.”

Source: WestCoastersd.com

THE BREWSPAPER / GREAT AMERICAN & BRITISH BEER FESTS

Beer volunteer Gigi shown at last year's Great American Beer Festival in Denver delivered the goods.

The world is getting to be one big beer festival.  Witness the fact two of the world’s greatest beer drinking nations are having their respective world series of beer only one week apart.

Let’s start with the one that’s upcoming.

GABF at Colorado Convention Center last year.

The Great American Beer Festival is the largest most talked about U.S. beer festival and competition.  Denver is the site of the 2016 (35^th annual) beer extravaganza, October 6-8 at the Colorado Convention Center, 700 14^th Street.

Each year, GABF represents the biggest collection of U.S. beer ever served, in a public tasting event plus a private competition. GABF brings together the brewers and diverse beers that make the U.S. the world’s greatest brewing nation.

GABF was founded in 1982, and has been growing and evolving along with the American craft brewing industry ever since.

Tickets to the public are available August 3 @ 10 am (MT) via TicketMaster.com

INFO: https://www.greatamericanbeerfestival.com

San Diego was well represented by Societe Brewing Company

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Brit Venue: Olympia London

Across the pond, the Great British Beer Festival is organised by the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) and offers visitors over 900 real ales, ciders, perries and international beers as well as fantastic entertainment, food, seating areas, and traditional pub games to enjoy all under one roof in the heart of London.

Festival runs between August 9 -13.

This summer the Great British Beer Festival (GBBF) will once again return to London’s magnificent Olympia exhibition centre.

Prince Harry at the GBBF, Olympia Hall

Ideally placed in the centre of London, and easily accessible by public transport, it is the perfect setting for the UK’s biggest beer festival. During the festival's duration Olympia will host over 55,000 thirsty drinkers across two halls; the larger, and aptly named, ‘Olympia Grand’ - and the slightly smaller, but equally impressive, ‘Olympia National’.

Each hall will have a number of bars serving real ale from hundreds of breweries of all shapes and sizes across the UK, as well as brewery bars where you can try both well-known brews and limited edition beers from some of the UK’s biggest and best real ale brewers.

As well as that there’ll be some fantastic international draught and bottled beers from the likes of Belgium, Germany, the Czech Republic, and the always hugely popular American Cask bar.

Olympia London

Hammersmith Road,

Kensington,

London W14 8UX

INFO: http://gbbf.org.uk/home