Shipyard makes some of the most popular beers available down here in Florida. Seeing Pumpkinhead Ale in stores for the first time in a season is like Christmas morning. Aside from their regular beers, they also have a series called Pugsley’s Signature which is basically their high-end line. When I heard about their Pugsley’s Signature Smashed Pumpkin Ale, I couldn’t wait to try it out. Luckily, I got the last bottle at my local Total Wine but I haven’t tried it yet. The only drawback to this series is that it’s quite pricey.

If you’ve ever been curious about trying all of the beers in the Pugsley Signature Series and you live in Florida or New England, you can pick up a sampler pack with 22 oz. bottles of each of the four beers for $24.99. You can read the full press release below. (more…)

I don’t mean to alarm anyone, but it seems like there’s a major shortage of hops and malted barley, two of the main ingredients used in the brewing of beer. As a result, the cost of beer will begin to rise across the nation. The most affected beers will be those that come from microbreweries since they don’t have the kind of distribution that a company like Anheuser-Busch has.

On a lighter note, the brewers at Samuel Adams are selling off their extra hops below market value to help the microbreweries keep their production up.

The purpose of doing this is to get some hops to the brewers who really need them. So if you don’t really need them, please don’t order them. And don’t order them just because we’re making them available at a price way below market. Order them because you need these hops to make your beer. We’re not asking questions, so let your conscience be your guide.
We hope this makes brewing a little easier for those hardest hit by the hop shortage.

Kudos to Sam Adams.

Consider this your warning. I’m going to start hoarding like a squirrel does just before winter. Then I will hibernate in my house during the summer with stacks of six-packs and I will emerge in the autumn with a glorious beer belly and a wicked hangover. Surely society will have crumbled as a result of this shortage, but fear not. Dyna and I will rebuild and we will lead as two kings.

[Yumsugar and Dethroner]