Sweet 16? I thought our IPA rather dry.

This past Saturday was round one of the National IPA Championship, run by the Brewing News. 128 IPAs entered, including Flying Bison, three entries from Pearl Street and, oh yes, CBW’s The IPA!

In round one we went up against Knee Deep Brewing of Lincoln, CA, and… we won! Congratulations should also go to Flying Bison’s Buffalo IPA and Pearl Street’s Black Pearl. The second round has us matched against Fordham Brewing Co’s Rams Head IPA. We’ll find out if we’re continuing on after the Grand Rapids judging this Saturday.

When you Jack is makes an Astor out of… wait, that’s not it

Tonight! 6 pm! CBW tap takeover at Jack Astor’s. Rudy and Ethan will be present to hang out and share some Frank with you. All five of our beers — Frank, The Whale, De Maas, The IPA and The Soft Bulletin — will be pouring, plus an extra offering, so come on down!

Image from the Art of Beer website

Extra? Oh yes. We’re going to have what we’re calling Drier Than Usual Frank, a play off of the summer’s Wet Frank. That was “wet hopped” with hops from McCollum Orchards, whereas this is double dry hopped with cascades! (This means we put twice as much of them in, but doesn’t “double dry hopped” sound cooler?)

Then you would think we’d rest for a bit, right? Take the day off? Not so! The very next night — tomorrow, for those of you poor at math — we’ll be at The Art of Beer at the Niagara Arts and Cultural Center. It’s always a good time, and it supports a good cause, so we hope to see you there. We’ll have Frank, The Whale and The Soft Bulletin coursing through our jockey box for your enjoyment.

Of course, if you would prefer to enjoy our beer in the comfort of your own home, I’ll be holding down the fort at CBW HQ for retail sales 3-7 tonight and 3-8 tomorrow, with our new 11-7 hours on Saturday being manned by Rudy and Ethan.

The Paper Anniversary

Save the date! April 20th is our one year anniversary. Anything you have planned: cancel it! (We’re looking at you, UNYHA) Details are still being worked out, but this isn’t something you’re going to want to miss.

And, finally: like CBW but live on the other end of the state? After Ethan took a trip to Boston this week, The Excelsior Pub has found itself with some CBW on tap!

(An aside to end this week’s update: my bachelor’s degree is in the oh-so-useful field of history. During my senior year research class — I did mine on the history of Allegany State Park — one of my classmates found reference to a Buffalo native moving to the “warmer climes” of Albany. We all found that funny, and the phrase has stuck with me ever since.)