Drink Drakes

Since it’s the perfect thing to drink with chili, plenty of people consider adding beer to their chili recipe, but which beer style should you choose? I made an extremely basic recipe, using cubes of beef (chuck) browned in oil (ok lard), tossed in chili powder* and then in goes the beer. Although that didn’t work out, I still wanted to try and get the malt character of the beer  to mesh with the chili, so I tried Drake’s Amber. Add the chili powder to the hot oil at the end (to bloom the spices), and toss in the meat, their collected juices, and the beer, not quite to cover, maybe 3/4s of the way up the meat.

This year’s edition of Hopocalypse Double IPA will feature Talus hops, one of the more unique hops to come out of the Pacific Northwest in the past few years. This crossing of U. S. and European influences all came together in Cascade, a hop deliberately bred from cultivated European rootstock and a “wild American male” (I love that it says that on the USDA description!). Not only were pure neomexicanus hops released, but growers started crossing them with existing hops, and now we’re seeing them hit the market. Sabro got people’s attention, but I’m more hyped on Talus hops (look, we got back to where we started!).

Complementing the Citra in this batch are Simcoe hops, potentially our favorite hop here at Drake’s, and Sultana (Denali), an off-the-radar hop that underpins the heavy hitters with dank, resinous aromas and fleshy citrus notes. Aroma Coma IPA can be purchased now at all Drake’s locations and is currently being shipped to our distributor partners. That’s because there’s no such thing as an “original recipe” for Aroma Coma. That was Aroma Coma through 2015, a rye IPA that we released every summer with a constantly tweaked hop bill.

Drake’s Brewing is excited to announce the return of their beloved seasonal sipper, Tree Beer IPA, made with spruce tips and juniper berries at 5.5% ABV. cans, Wednesday, November 25, at Drake’s Barrel House (San Leandro) and Drake’s Dealership (Oakland), and then arrives at Drake’s BARN (West Sacramento) on Friday, November 27. Tree Beer IPA was originally brewed in 2013, shortly after the Christmas season, when discarded trees were considered a great opportunity. Since then, the Tree Beer IPA recipe has been refined, and every year it’s slightly different, but remains an incredibly unique experience.