Beer of the Week, July 2, 2021

Our Bottlecraft North Park manager, Gene, selects his favorite beer of the week. You can stay up to date on our beer shop favorites through our news feed and also through our Instagram.

1. Humble Sea – Shreddie Van Whalen
   Hazy DIPA, 8.1%

   A true legacy of the bygone Dutch colonial empire, Eddie Lodewijk Van Halen was born in Amsterdam of both European and Javanese parentage. Not long after emigrating to Southern California as a child, he decided to dedicate his life to musical performance. Eventually being lauded as one of the most dazzling guitarists of all time. His untimely death late last year also ended his eponymous band. The crew at Humble Sea honor him with this hazy double IPA, double dry-hopped with Motueka, Galaxy, El Dorado and newcomer Copper.

2. Burgeon | Highland Park – Park Pass Hoppy Lager, 6.0%

   The Los Angeles craft brewery Highland Park makes extraordinary IPAs and hoppy lagers. Burgeon’s talents lie in the same wheelhouse. With their Clever Kiwi (a pilsner dry-hopped with Nelson from the South Island of New Zealand) commanding intense devotion. It only makes sense that the two have joined forces for this beer, pooling their resources and know-how for a lager hopped with Citra, Nelson & the new-wave German varietal Saphir.

3. Drie Fonteinen – Druif Muscat Bleu Fruited Lambic, 8.0%

   Arguably the world’s greatest living steker (blender of traditional lambic), Armand Debelder has largely retired from official duties at Drie Fonteinen. In the twilight of his long and distinguished career, some fascinating new experiments have emerged from his family brewery – especially with atypical fruits. This special-release offering from 3F (as it is affectionately known) incorporates Muscat Bleu, a varietal developed in Switzerland and grown in Belgium as a table-wine grape. Essentially the marriage of funky, spritzy oak-aged spontaneously fermented beer and the humble mealtime red wine, this creation is fully in line with the ethos of utilizing local fruits in lambic production.