Growlers: Lost Forty Wins at World Beer Cup, Ozark BDCS Release This Weekend

For the second time in less than a year, Lost Forty Brewing has brought home some serious hardware from a major beer competition. At last week’s World Beer Cup, Lost Forty took home bronze medals for Double Love Honey Doppelbock (in the German-style Doppelbock or Eisbock category) and for Wild Barrels Project No. 5 (Experimental Beer category), which was a collaboration with sour masters VOID Cellars. It was the first time in 12 years that an Arkansas brewery has won a medal at the World Beer Cup; Diamond Bear won gold two times in a row for Classic English-style Pale Ale in 2004 and 2006. Lost Forty is celebrating today during its Freshcut Monday release of its latest Wild Barrels Project. It’s called TWIG, and it’s a tart table beer made by repeatedly refilling the foeder every time some of the beer is bottled. That means every release will be a little different, even though it contains part of the original creation and each subsequent refill. TWIG is only available in bombers to-go and for enjoying at the taproom.
One of the state’s biggest annual rare beer releases comes this weekend in Rogers. Ozark Beer Company is releasing the 2018 version of BDCS (Bourbon-barrel aged Double Cream Stout). The release event starts Thursday and Friday at ticketed events and is followed by a public release party Saturday. The trademark minimalist cans with handwritten labels will come in four-packs and are limited to three per person. If you can’t make it up to Rogers this weekend, don’t worry. Ozark tells me that they produced more BDCS than ever this year, and that means a lot more will be distributed to Little Rock. Central Distributors will be bringing BDCS to Central Arkansas in the next few weeks.
Rebel Kettle is almost certainly the brewery most willing to experiment with its creations, and this week’s 4:30 Thursday release is right in line with that philosophy. The brew team is debuting London Smog IPA, and the ingredient list seems like it would be more at home in a coffee shop than a brewery. The ale has Lady Grey tea, coffee, vanilla beans and plenty of citrusy hops. To be honest, I have no idea what to expect from the flavor profile, but Rebel Kettle has succeeded so often with its off-the-wall ideas that I’m definitely optimistic. This will be a small-batch release, so if you want to try London Smog, get there on Thursday.
Flyway Brewing has another new small-batch brew coming out this Friday, the third such release in the past five weeks. This one is called Saison Avifaune, and it’s 5.8 percent ABV saison allowed to ferment at “room temperature” in the brewery. Flyway says this one has flavors of fresh bread, straw and subtle fruit with a crisp, clean finish. “Avifaune” means birds of a particular region, habitat or geological period. There’s only a half barrel of this one available; that’s just over 15 gallons total. The last two small-batch releases sold out on release day, so you’ll need to be there Friday for a glass.
Stone’s Throw Brewing this week is bringing out a perfect warm weather drinker for its #NewBrewFriday event. It’s the Hoppla Hefewiezen, a slightly lighter take on the traditional hefeweizen. The classic banana and clove flavor and hazy appearance are still there, but Stone’s Throw lightened the body and color a bit for a 5 percent ABV crusher. That one goes on tap Friday at 4 p.m.
Do you have some beer news you want to share with us? Email steve@rockcityeats.com.