Craft beer is enjoying a rising popularity over its mass-produced counterparts, and rightfully so. Americans have long craved a hands-on attention to detail in nearly every aspect of our lives, so why should what we drink be any different? The beers we choose to consume can tell a story about who we are and how we identify ourselves. A long day at the office could be suited to a nice IPA. The blue collar crowd is who we can thank for the style of beer we know as “porter.”

     So how do we identify with those beers which are a bit…different? Take for example “Crème Brulee” by Southern Tier brewery. A thick head introduces the nearly overwhelming nose of vanilla and caramel. One sip and you will have little doubt where this milk stout derives its name from. The finish is long and matches perfectly on par with what you would expect from a beer that is as thick and viscous as this one.      

     Delaware brewer Dogfish Head has a well established relationship with unusual beers such as their limited release “Theobroma.” This ale muddles honey, cocoa, ancho chilies, and ground annatto using a recipe dating back to 1200 BC. The pale color will initially surprise you as this beer demonstrates a fair amount of carbonation. Faint honey and sweet peppers come forward through the beer which disguises any chocolate or hot pepper spice that you may expect. The finish leaves a tad of sweetness with some fresh residual bubbles to clean things up.

     Cider finds itself in this niche market with Woodchuck of Vermont offering a winter seasonal cider that is aged in both French and American oak barrels and exhibits a dryness and mouth feel not unlike champagne. For spring 2011 they left us with a seasonal draft that included brown sugar, and was reminiscent of maple syrup.

     Sierra Nevada and Sam Adams nearly built the craft market for the United States and gave us a proper nod this year with their respective “Beer Camp” and “Longshot: Category 23” offerings. In these mix packs you will find several types of experimental beers pioneered by either their in house brew masters, or customer submitted recipes. Both do an excellent job of exploring the unusual beer realm with beers like the Juniper Black Ale which carries heavy pine notes, or the Honey B’s Lavender ale which has a palate dominated by the lavender pedals and honey used to brew it.

     With this massive flood of new and unusual beers expanding at such a rapid rate there is almost no telling what we can expect to find in the future. These beers shape the type of consumer we are, and our ever-lasting quench for the new and unusual fuels the market furiously. All that is certain is that the unusual beer party is just getting started.      

Rory claims a work history as varied and colorful as the beers he blogs about. Currently he spends a good part of his waking hours at our Bee Ridge Road, Sarasota, store, where he recently joined our beer blogging team.