A co-worker of mine was in Iowa visiting his family and I was joking around with him and told him to bring me back some beer (hinting at Toppling Goliath). He did actually bring me back a 32 oz mini grolwer of "Steroid Stout" from Kalona Brewing in Kalona, IA. He said it was pre-filled when he purchased it from a local shop (hy-vee) in Des Moines. This beer is not registered yet here on BA and i cant find much about it online. My concern is that it has no fill date and my co-worker had no idea how long it was sitting on the shelf before he came along. Does anybody in Iowa have expierence with these growlers sold at Hy-Vee from Kalona? Im more than likley going to drink it this week, but it could already be no good. Thanks for any info.
Kalona is doing some pretty good stuff for being a small, young brewery. Depending on what Hy Vee it was from will be the biggest clue as to how long. I know Ryan at Fleur and Blake at Ankeny are very good at circulating stock and making sure everything is fresh (I'm sure others are as well, but these are the guys I buy my beer from) One thing I can tell you is that Kalona does Co2 counter fill their growlers to preserve freshness. Where as Confluence simply fills their's from their canning line. My guess is it should be just fine.
Woah, Kalona has a counter-pressure filling station? That's a big deal. I had no idea we had anyone in Iowa doing that.
Perfect! Exactly what i was looking to hear! Have you had this "Steroid Stout" by any chance? cant find anything on it anywhere!
“It’s not nuanced coffee. It’s coffee in your face,” said Lew Brewer, the co-owner and head brewer at Kalona. “It’s like drinking a 7.5 percent [ABV] cup of coffee.”
I have and it was very good. Although it was on tap at the brewery. Lots and lots of coffee. It's not going to knock your socks off as the best coffee stout you've ever had, but as I said they are doing a pretty damn good job for being so young and small.
According to Ryan at Fleur, yes. I've never gotten a growler at the brewery so I can't say first hand but I trust Ryan.
Another thing to note is that any Des Moines area HyVee I've seen selling the Kalona Brewing 32oz growlers have always had them refrigerated.
they're unrefrigerated at Cyclone Liquors in Ames, unfortunately. Shauna from the brewery is telling me the ones they sell for retail are indeed counter-pressured filled then shrinkwrapped. Wow. I will have to try that stout sometime, I suppose!
