Ithaca Brewing Company Flower Power IPA
Style: India Pale Ale
Color: Amber
ABV: 7.5%
Price Point: $8 for 6-12 oz bottles
Technical Notes:
From the Ithaca Beer Company Website: “Enjoy the clover honey hue and tropical nose. Simultaneously Punchy and soothing with a big body and a finish that boasts pineapple and grapefruit. Flower power is hopped and dry-hopped five different times [...]
Middle Ages Brewing Co. X Imperial India Pale Ale
Style: Double Pale Ale
Color: Amber to Red
ABV: 10%
Price Point: $10 for 22oz
Technical Notes:
From the Middle Ages Brewing Co. Website: “Brewed in the style of an American Double IPA in celebration of our 10th anniversary. This beer is golden in color, has medium to full body, intense hop [...]
Ithaca Beer Company Excelsior! White Gold
Style:“Rustic Pale Wheat Ale”
Color: Pale to Amber
ABV: 8%
Price Point: $10 for 750 mL
Technical Notes:
From the Ithaca Beer website: “A Belgo-American Ale brewed with domestic barley and French wheat malts, the finest Continental and U.S. grown hops, and fermented with Belgian, English and Wild yeasts.” Bottle-conditioned.
Hedonic Notes:
The beer pours dark [...]
Pinnacle Ridge Winery Chambourcin Reserve 2007
Appellation: Lehigh Valley (Pennsylvania)
Grape: Chambourcin (pronounced sham-bor-SAN with that uppity French nasal “in” sound)
ABV: not determined (labeled “table wine”), but given Brix at harvest, I would guess around 13%
Price Point: $16
Closure: Natural cork
Technical Notes: {Brix} at harvest: 23.5-24. pH: 3.95, TA 6 g/L after malolactic fermentation and stabilization with [...]
Ithaca Beer Company Excelsior! Le Bleu
Style: Wild American Ale with Blueberries
Color: A translucent red stream leaps from the bottle, recalling a Lambic almost instantly. Pinkish foam forms with large bubbles and dissipates quickly.
ABV: 5.0%
Price Point: $17 (Note: this beer was very limited production. I am told that it is sold out. -Ed.)
Technical [...]
Sheldrake Point Gewürztraminer 2008
Appellation: Finger Lakes
Grape: Gewürztraminer
ABV:13.6%
RS: 0.5%
Price Point: $18
Closure: Natural cork
Technical Notes: Tons of info, courtesy of the website. Bravo to Sheldrake for transparency and geek info! TA: 6.3 g/L, pH: 3.53. Hand harvested at 23.2 Brix, 6.7 g/L Ta, 3.7 pH. “The fruit was destemmed, cold-soaked for three [days]. [...]
Note: This is the inaugural article from our beer writer, Richard Pliny!
Ithaca Beer Company Excelsior! Alphalpha
Style: Double Honey Bitter
Color: Amber
ABV: 8.5%
Price Point: $11
Technical Notes: Brewed with local alfalfa honey and Cascade hops. Like the other Excelsior! Beers, this is bottle conditioned and the last pour includes a bit of yeast.
Hedonic Notes:
The first pour is [...]
Recently, I had a chance to “help” with (more like “observe”) the Sheldrake Point ice wine harvest. I picked a few grapes then helped get them into the press for a two-part feature I would write for the New York Cork Report. I was given some sample bottles to aid in my efforts, [...]
Hey gang,
I’ve been hiatus for a couple weeks now, and it’s high time I explained myself.
I am in the process of converting this ithacork.wordpress.com site into a new-and-improved ithacork.com.
Over the holiday season I will be setting up the new WP.org site (which provides SO much more freedom as far as templates/plugins, etc.) with a whole [...]
Brewery Ommegang Witte
Style: Belgian-style Wheat Ale with Traditional Spices
Color (light, amber, or dark): Light
ABV: 5.1%
Price Point: $7.50/750 mL bottle
Closure: Cork with cage. The yeast sediment in the bottom is a clue that this bottle’s carbonation comes from a fermentation in the bottle, thus the need for the extra pressure protection of the champagne-style cork [...]
