Lupulin Libations

The name says it all.

Lupulin glands are the tiny little yellow pockets of goodness in a hop cone that contain some essential ingredients for aroma and flavor in beer.

A libation is an alcoholic beverage, and of course beer fits into that category.

Lupulin Libations is dedicated to everything beer. I offer you a chance to have an experience with beer through my organized tasting sessions.

Friday, October 28, 2011

Coborn's Tasting Tomorrow

Alright, it's time for me to make up for missing the last tasting due to car trouble. Stop by the Hastings Coborn's Liquor tomorrow between 1-5pm and sample any of these six brews:
  • Brooklyn Oktoberfest
  • Great Lakes Nosferatu
  • Hacker Pschorr Oktoberfest
  • Lagunitas Imperial Stout
  • Left Hand 400 Pound Monkey
  • Wells Bombardier
I'm looking forward to sharing these tasty libations with all of you. I'll be ready to talk beer and answer any questions you might have, as well. I hope to see you there!

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Beer Brief #4 - Odell Double Pilsner


Brewery - Odell Brewing Company, Fort Collins, Colorado

Beer - Double Pilsner

Style - Double Pilsner (like you weren't expecting that)

ABV - 8.1%

Color - Golden

Aroma - Bread, lemon, herbal spice

Flavor - Sweet bread and honey, spicy hops, earthy metallic bitterness

Verdict - A delicious example of what a double pilsner should be. Sweet malt is balanced perfectly by the spicy, earthy hops.

Monday, October 17, 2011

Vanberg & DeWulf Coast to Coast Toast

Before I get to the Vanberg & DeWulf announcement, I'd like to apologize. Last week, I posted info about a Coborn's tasting I had scheduled for Friday the 14th. Unfortunately, that tasting never happened. While in transit to the Hastings Coborn's, the tensioner pulley in my car decided to explode into pieces. Of course, this led to multiple complications, including the cancellation of the beer tasting. Sorry to any of you that made the trip for the tasting, but arrived and found no tasty samples waiting...

OK, on to the announcement.

Vanberg & DeWulf (a Belgian beer importer whose founders also helped create Ommegang) occasionally sends me an email asking if I would help share some information with my readers. This past weekend, I received such a message. Check this out:


On 11.15.11 we are throwing what we believe will be the largest celebration of Belgian beer held on one day in the USA in this century. No kidding.  Hundreds of bars, restaurants and stores - the places that have made beer culture in America so stupendous - are hosting Coast to Coast Toasts to mark the 30th anniversary of the founding of our company. Thirty of our beers from independent family run breweries will be the stars of the show (Saison Dupont, Scaldis, Lambrucha, Witkap anyone?).

Learn more about the whys and wherefores of the event and participating establishments at: http://belgianexperts.com/ 


Know of a place that absolutely has to be a part of the celebration?  Drop us a line at vanberg.and.dewulf@gmail.com, send them a link, and we will be sure to reach out.

To learn more about the Toast as the date gets closer, follow us on Twitter and check out our Facebook Page.  We have some really big news breaking in another week. To benefit from it you will want to get yourself signed up on Untappd.

Please help us spread the word in your community. 

All the best and many thanks, 
Wendy Littlefield  & Don Feinberg, Co-Founders 


If you love Belgian beer, do your best to help celebrate the Coast to Coast Toast. I know I will!

Thursday, October 13, 2011

Coborn's Tasting Tomorrow

What's that? You say you want another beer tasting at the Hastings Coborn's Liquor? OK, OK, just stop twisting my arm. How about tomorrow, Friday, October 14? Off the top of my head, we could maybe try these six brews:
  • Brooklyn Oktoberfest
  • Guinness Black Lager
  • Hacker Pschorr Oktoberfest
  • Lagunitas Imperial Stout
  • Left Hand 400 Pound Monkey
  • Wells Bombardier
Those beers sound good? OK, let's talk time. How about from 4:30 - 8:30pm? That work for you? Great. I'll see you then.

Thursday, October 6, 2011

Kona in Hawaii

Just recently, my family and I returned from a trip to visit friends in Hawaii. (You may have noticed there haven't been any posts for a while...) We flew to Honolulu, stayed just outside Kailua, and spent our vacation exploring the island of Oahu. In fact, we packed our time with so much fun that days disappeared in the blink of an eye.

The constant sunny, mid-80 degree weather allowed us to experience a large variety of activities:

We had a great time there and were sad when we had to come home. You might be wondering why I'm mentioning this family trip on my beer blog...

Or not.

Yep. Me being me, I already had planned a visit to a beer institution before I ever left Minnesota. I can't go to another state (let alone Hawaii) without searching for some good beer culture! I chose Kona Brewing's Koko Marina Pub for my Hawaiian brew experience, and I was not disappointed.

We visited the pub after snorkeling, because it's pretty close to Hanauma Bay. Kona's brewing facility is actually located on the Big Island, not Oahu. This particular location we visited is a restaurant owned by the brewery. It's not a brewpub, but they do serve all of their year-round beers and a good selection of seasonals. I had never had a Kona beer before, so I didn't know what to expect. However, I can say I was very excited to try some new brews. Hey, it's what I do.

The second I walked into the place, I was happy. This was a beautiful pub sitting right on the water with window views out to the Koko Marina. There was live music playing, which was some excellent quality blues rock. (I liked it so much, I asked if they had albums for sale.) We sat down at the table and I immediately perused the beer selection. Of course they offered beer samplers, but each one only came with four beers. How did I solve this dilemma? By ordering two samplers, of course.

I tasted all eight of those beers and enjoyed every one. They were all well made and left a smile on my face. There are definitely two that rose above the rest in my mind though, and both were seasonals: the lemongrass ale brewed with ginger, and the barleywine. Very good stuff. Add dining on some delicious swordfish tacos to the tasty brews (not to mention the atmosphere and company) and everything was right with the world.

As we left the pub, I had to stop and buy a hat at the gift shop. I probably didn't need a souvenir to remember this experience, but it couldn't hurt. Plus, it looked really good on me...