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First off let me apologize for taking so long to update my page, as some of you know I recently had a child and let me tell you did my life ever change (for the better of course).  Now that she is a little older I will be having more time to tell you about some of the new products we have at the store and let you know also what might be coming here in the future.

We have a few new items here that I really enjoy and the great thing about all of these is that they are available in 22 oz servings so that you will not have to buy a whole six pack not knowing whether or not you will like them and have to throw out 5 beers.

Here is a picture of the two special girls in my life….

Me and my Family

And now on to the BEER!

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New Belgium’s Lips of Faith 22 oz Series
Transatlantique Kriek $13.59

In a never-ending quest to create new beers and defy category, New Belgium Brewing and Brewerij Boon of Belgium have partnered together again to create Transatlantique Kriek - a spontaneously fermented lambic ale made with Polish cherries.

This authentic kriek beer began life in the oaken vessels at Frank Boon’s brewery in the Lembeek region of Belgium.  After more than two years aging, Boon’s offering shipped across the Atlantic and found its way to the intuitive palate of New Belgium’s Brewmaster Peter Bouckaert.  After much sampling and internal consultation, Peter and his brew staff created a full-bodied golden lager to round out the light-bodied kriek.

The cherry nose gives way to a pleasingly sour flash across the palate that rolls gently into a slightly sweet finish.  Crisp, effervescent carbonation keeps the mouthfeel bright and delightfully tingly.

www.newbelgium.com

Biere de Mars $7.99

For the first time in three years we are pleased to offer one of our favorite harbingers of spring, Biere de Mars.

With earthy tones of ripe mango and lemon verbena, this bottle-conditioned ale reflects the hearty character of the southern Belgian and northern French countrysides. Brewed with barley, oats and wheat malt, Biere de Mars’ celestial orange hue inspired the planetary play on words.

Brettanomyces, a wild yeast strain, added for bottle-conditioning creates a refreshingly sour flash across the palate. Lemon peel coupled with the lemon verbena imparts fruitlike character and a citrusy finish. www.newbelgium.com

Le Fleur Misseur $7.99

Deep burnished gold with a slight haze, Le Fleur Misseur opens with pineapple, clove and honey notes. Dry-hopping produces a flower leaf aroma supported by tones of fresh bread and honey.  Bottle conditioned with our special house strain of Brettanomyces (wild ale) yeast, Le Fleur finishes dry and slightly herbal.

Produced for New Belgium coworkers to celebrate our 15th anniversary, Le Fleur has roots in the earliest days of our history. In 1988 founder Jeff Lebesch sat weary on the side of a Belgian road when a young lad passing by picked a delicate yellow flower and offered it to Jeff.

“Le Fleur, Misseur?” Jeff misspelled the boy’s comment in his journal as he accepted the offering. A treasured memory, a beer to treasure. www.newbelgium.com

La Folie Sour Brown Ale $13.59

La Folie Wood-Aged Biere, is our original wood-conditioned beer, resting in French Oak barrels between one and three years before being hand bottled, numbered and corked for your enjoyment. Brewmaster, Peter Bouckaert, came to us from Rodenbach – home of the fabled sour red. Our La Folie emulates the spontaneous fermentation beers of Peter’s beloved Flanders with sour apple notes, a dry effervescence, and earthy undertones. www.newbelgium.com

Anchor Steam “Small Beer” 22 oz $4.29

The tradition of brewing two distinct beers from one mash has existed for thousands of years, and for centuries the term “small beer” was used in English to describe the lighter and weaker second beer. By association, the term came to mean something of little importance.

We make our Old Foghorn Barleywine Style Ale from the rich first runnings of an all-malt mash, and Anchor Small Beer is our attempt to duplicate the “small beers” of old by sparging that same mash: sprinkling warm water over the Old Foghorn mash after the first wort has run off, thereby creating a second, lighter brew from the resulting thinner wort. Technically, both beers are “ales” because they are made with top-fermenting yeast.

We believe you will find Anchor Small Beer delicious—similar to what modern brewers call a “bitter”—and we hope you will also enjoy the idea of reviving an ancient brewing tradition, which is something of great importance. www.anchorbrewing.com

Morimoto Soba Ale $6.49

The Morimoto Soba Ale is part of the new Signature Series of Rogue Ales, launched in the Spring of 2003 with internationally acclaimed Chef Masaharu Morimoto—a James Beard awarded chef and one of the stars of the Food Network series, Iron Chef.

Soba (also known as buckwheat) is not a type of wheat but a member of the rhubarb family and has been a longtime staple of Japanese cuisine because of its nutritional value. Buckwheat is high in potassium, phosphorous, vitamin B (50 percent more than wheat) and protein, and its virtually fat-free. The fruits of the buckwheat plant are like small beechnuts, which are milled to separate the edible groats from the dark brown hulls. The groats are then roasted and used more or less like a grain (a good example is Kasha) www.rogue.com

Avery Maharaja $6.79

Beer Style: Imperial India Pale Ale

Hop Variety: Columbus, Crystal, Centennial & Simcoe

Malt Variety: Two-row barley, caramel 120L, victory

OG: 1.090   ABV: 10.24% (2009)   IBUs: 102

Color: Dark Amber

Availability: Seasonally produced from March through August.

Maharaja is derived from the sanskrit words mahat, - “great” and rajan - “king”. Much like its namesake, this imperial IPA is regal, intense and mighty. With hops and malts as his servants, he rules both with a heavy hand. The Maharaja flaunts his authority over a deranged amount of hops: tangy, vibrant and pungent along with an insane amount of malted barley - fashioning a dark amber hue and exquisite malt essence.

Be aware that The Maharaja is a limited release only available for the summer. Welcome to his kingdom! www.averybrewing.com

Avery Sixteen $6.79

Beer Style: Saison Ale

Hop Variety: Sterling

Malt Variety: Two-row barley, pale malted wheat

OG: 1.065 ABV: 7.69%

Adjuncts: peaches, jasmine and honey

Availability: One and done. Bottled in May of ‘09

“Finally, we’re SIXTEEN! Dad, can we have the keys? No really, we’ll totally take care of her–keep her clean–fill up her tanks–show her off to our friends and let ‘em see what we can really do. Really? Thanks, dude! Promise to make you proud. Now to go find Jasmin, Peches and Miel! Well, we got her started and decided to add a few things to the tank. SIXTEEN is a harmonious combination of jasmine, peaches and honey fermented with an unmistakable Belgian yeast strain, all weaving a marvelously spicy and fruity, massively estery and dry, saison ale.” www.averybrewing.com

Rosa di Rosa is from a tiny appellation in northern Italy’s Appenine Mountain foothills calls Colli di Scandiano e Canossa.  (That’s Italian for little bitty medieval villages!)  On a map, it’s north of Florence, south of Milan, and west of Bologna.  The grape variety used is rather rare, called Malbo Gentile (”MAL bo jen TEE lay”).  The wine is half sparkling, half sweet, and half alcohol–exactly like Rosa Regale, except it’s from a neighboring region so it’s a different local grape variety.  It’s actually a limited production wine that is much loved by the locals there, especially with chocolate.Rosa di Bianca is exactly the same in style as Rosa di Rosa, but is made from Malvasia (they pronounce it “MAHL vuh SEE uh”).  It’s served either on its own, or with a special dessert there called panna cotta (”cooked cream”).  Cream is heated, sweetened, flavored with a vanilla bean, then a sheet of gelatin is added.  After it cools it’s like a flan, or thick pudding, in texture.

Thanks to Springhill’s website reader Jim for reminding me to get on the ball and update our site more often.

Here is a list of some of our current seasonal beers
1. Sierra Nevada Summer $8.69/6pk

2. Sierra Nevada Harvest which comes out only 3 times a year. This one is called the Southern Hemispere Fresh Hop Ale $3.99/24 oz

3. Sierra Nevada ESB which is an Early Spring Beer, but we still have a few cases left. $8.49/6pk

4. Leinenkugles Summer Shady $7.69/6pk

5. Blue Moon Honey Moon $7.99/6pk

6. Sam Adams Summer Ale $14.99/12pk

7. Sam Adams “Summer Styles” 12 pk variety $14.99/12pk

8. New Belgium Skinny Dip $14.99/12pk

9. Pyramid Curve Ball $9.49/6pk

Anchor Brewing Company Merry Christmas and Happy New Year Beer

This beer is excellent for aging. When kept properly, it will only get better! Only 3 left, so get yours today!

$13.99/ 1.5L Magnum

Last week, Nancy from Lombardi was at Springhill last week tasting the delicious Cream of Lemoncello. For those of you who don’t know, this liqueur is made right here in Arkansas by “The Italian Couple”. Check out their website for more info and great recipe ideas.

The latest craze in the cocktail industry is called “infusion”. Simply speaking, infusion is imparting different flavors and colors into a base liquor by steeping items (like herbs, spices, or citrus) right in the bottle. It allows you to create your own custom spirits and really personalize your home bar. You can infuse just about anything. How about trying Skittle flavored Vodka? If that’s not your style, how about habenero infused vodka for the perfect Bloody Mary base? The best part about this is the experimentation trying new things. Think of it as arts and crafts for grown-ups. Here are some general steps and rules to following when infusing at home.

1. Choose your base liquor. You can technically use anything, but vodka is the most common. Light rums and gins are not out of the question, you just want to be sure that the flavors you choose compliment the natural flavors of the liquor. Also, don’t grab the cheapest bottle you can find. You’ll want something smooth and clean so the finished product will be drinkable.

2. Choose your flavors. Again, you can choose almost anything. Let your imagination and your palate be your guide. Herbs, spices and fruits are the most common but you can choose just about anything. Do be sure to use fresh ingredients for the best outcome.

3. Let the infusion begin! If the items you are using to infuse the liquor are small enough, you can sometimes just use the bottle the alcohol originally comes in. If not, a mason jar works perfectly. Experimenting with smaller amounts at first might be better until you get the proportions just right.

4. Infusion Time. This should take anywhere from 3 days to a full week to extract maximum flavor and color. Gently shaking the jar a few times a day may help in this process.

5. When it’s done. The last and very important step is straining the infused items out of the liquor. This can be done using a fine mesh strainer lines with a coffee filter. You can pour the liquor back into its original bottle or a new bottle for a custom look.

6. Enjoy your very own creations!

The traditional beer of spring is a bock, a lager that has been around for nearly seven hundred years.
The Americans have decided ales were a better way to go, I suppose,  so most spring seasonals from the New World are American style ales with traditional twists from the old world.

Sierra Nevada ESB: Our ESB combines the best of English tradition with West Coast style. A blend of malts featuring British-grown Maris Otter is balanced with the earthy spiciness of hand-selected English and US hops. The ale is left unfiltered, which enhances mouthfeel and hop aroma creating a slightly reddish-copper hue. It pours with an earthy orange color, crystal clear, with a good inch of almost-white head. The lace is pretty good, and the head reduces to a nice, thick blanket of froth. It smells primarily of slightly roasted malts, with a nice touch of citrusy hops thrown in as well. It has great maltiness with some toasted and sugary grainy notes and everything ends on a dry and bitter aftertaste.

Boulevard Brewery Irish Ale: This spring seasonal beer is our midwestern tribute to the legendary red ales of old Ireland. Our recipe combines six kinds of pale and roasted barley malts to provide a rich, toasty flavor and tawny reddish hue. The aroma is not extremely strong. It’s slightly sweet, with a candy or caramel smell. There is just a hint of a buttery aroma, but not very strong. The malt was noticeable but not overpowering, and there is just a suggestion of a piney hop. Typical of Irish red ales, the flavor of Boulevard’s Irish Ale is slightly sweet, but is well-balanced by the hops

New Belgium Mighty Arrow Pale Ale: Until now, Mighty Arrow has only been available in mixed 12-packs called Folly Packs. This beer, which is now sold in six packs, provides lots of pleasurable sniffs from Amarillo and Cascade hops with a fetching honey malt base. Sweet balanced malts, with familiar, but not overpowering cascade hops. It was sweet but its maltiness on the nose balanced with floral hops on the palate.

Blue Moon Rising Moon Spring Ale: This is a wheat ale with a very nice amber color. It is brewed with Kieffer leaves which gives this beer a crisp citrus taste that is well balanced with sweet malts.  It is a great beer to celebrate the end of winter and welcome the warm weather ahead!

One of the newest additions to Springhill’s wine list is also one of our customer’s new favorites. Here’s what the winery boasts:

Cupcake Vineyards crafts decadent wines classic in their presentation but rich enough to create a moment of luxury and pure pleasure—like when your Mom let you have a cupcake! Cupcake Vineyards gets their grapes from California’s desirable Central Coast, where the sun drenched vines create full and elegantly-textured wines.

At $9.99 per bottle, we can all afford to do what Cupcake Vineyards asks us to do:  “Live Deliciously”.

Cupcake Vineyards Chardonnay 2007
Decadent layers of butter cream, bright citrus, and vanilla melt into a balance of oak and spice.

Cupcake Vineyards Merlot 2006
Decadent layers of black cherry, supple mocha, and wonderfully sweet oak mingles into a plush full finish.

Cupcake Vineyards Sauvignon Blanc 2008
From the cool Marlborough Valley, the grapes mature slowly giving them layers of complexity and vibrate zing reminiscent of your grandma’s lemon chiffon cake. The flavors are integrated, delighting the senses with layer upon layer of Meyer lemons, key limes, and a finish that awakens the appetite.

Cupcake Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon 2005
Scrumptious layers of decadent dark fruits, molten mocha and toasty oak, melt into along silky finish.

If you are anything like me, you have a long shopping list this season. It’s not always easy figuring out what to get everyone. Here is a simple list, broken down by price to help you decide who gets what.
And don’t forget, if you are really stuck, you can always give a Springhill gift card in any amount.

Gifts over $200
Joseph Phelps Insignia Red Wine 2005: This is one of the highest rated wines to come out of California. It is a blend of 92% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Petit Verdot, and 1% Malbec. This wine is rich and dense, with chocolaty cassis notes intermixed with hints of subtle wood, roasted herbs, and spice. It is ripe, rich, and full-bodied. This wine is made for collectors. It should last for 25-30 years. $229.09

Penfolds Grange South Austrailian Shiraz 2001: This is arguably one of Australia’s most famous wines and it is officially listed as a Heritage Icon of South Australia. It is deep red in color with notes of blue fruit, sweet soy, cola, and quince paste on the nose. Dark and liqueur chocolate, laced with Moroccan spices complement the pronounced tannins that sweep across the palate. Although they are certainly part of the wine, they are never obtrusive. Long, layered and compelling, this wine is at the spicier end of the Grange spectrum. $224.99

Opus One 2005: This wine is a bright ruby red with rather wild, claret-like aromas of currant, black raspberry, leather, dark chocolate, spices and tobacco. Its velvety texture is juicy and firmly structured, with mouth-coating flavors of dark berries, bitter cherry, minerals, cola, and bitter chocolate. This elegantly styled wine really coats the mouth without coming off as overly sweet. Finishes with a noteworthy spine and length. $205.39

Gifts between $100 and $199
Caymus Vineyards Special Section Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2005: According to the Wine Advocate: A barrel sample of the 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon Special Selection offers terrific fruit intensity and purity, a more laid-back style, a meaty, chewy texture, and impressive opulence as well as length. It should evolve for 10-15 years. $169.59

Beaulieu Vineyard Georges de Latour Private Reserve cabernet Sauvignon 2005: Classic structured, firm, and soft at the same time with a creamy mouthfeel. The depth of blackberries, cherries and currants is unreal and persistent. This is one for the cellar and will age for at least a decade and probably far longer. Try to keep your hands off it until after 2011. $102.69

Perrier Jouet Fleur De Champagne 1996 Hand-painted Gift Set: This is a great gift for that special person in your life. A blend of approximately half Chardonnay and half Pinot Noir this crystal bright, light-bodied Champagne is elegant and distinctive. Opening with aromas of fresh pineapple, lemon and white florals, warming into complex scents of pear. A rich bouquet of white fruits end in subtle notes of honey and vanilla. The bead is intense with brisk effervescence, swirling up into a generous and persistent mousse. It comes in a hand painted bottle and with two hand painted glasses. $145.29

Macallan 18 Year Old Single Malt Scotch: This scotch is rich and complex with a smoky flavor and a mellow and smooth texture. Give this gift to the most refined scotch drinkers; they’ll appreciate the subtleties and complexities of this extraordinary single malt. $152.99

Gifts between $99 and $50
Duckhorn Vineyards Napa Valley Merlot 2005: This wine is a medium-bodied and balanced with a smooth entry, integrated soft tannins, and a long finish. The aroma is lifted with raspberry, red currant, blueberry, cherry cola, and delicate spice. The flavors are polished with blackberry, plum, black cherry, toast, and a hint of herb.  $57.59

Plumpjack Cabernet Sauvignon 2005: This is a full-bodied, chewy wine displaying copious aromas of lead pencil shavings, black currants, blueberries, licorice, charcoal, and spice box along with a hint of new oak. This beauty should unfold gracefully over the next 5-7 years, and last for two decades or more. $81.49

Ambullneo Big Paw Chardonnay: Nicely packaged in an oversized, heavy bottle, the ‘05 Ambullneo Big Paw is simply a beautiful wine, rated 91 points by Robert Parker. A rare example of all aspects of a Chardonnay at full throttle while in total balance and harmony, you can enjoy this now or over the next 5-10 years. It has everything in spades – bright fruit and nice minerality, dancing on a bed of acidity. Hands down, this can be mistaken for a top flight Burgundy – it’s that good! Many California producers should stop and take a sip of this to see just how tasty this noble varietal can be. $63.49

Lagavulin 16 Year Old Single Islay Malt Whiskey: Massive, peat-smoke typical of southern Islay, yet with a dry finesse that makes up a classy package. Rumor has it the teetotaler Johnny Depp sometimes orders a dram of this and just sniffs it! (It’s that good!) The taste is a combination of sweetness and smoke that is very rugged and sticks around for a long time after it is swallowed. $89.99

Gifts $49 and under
Crown Royal Gift Set:Just about everyone you know wouldn’t mind finding one of these under the tree. The set includes a 750 mL bottle of Crown Royal and two beautiful glasses.  $23.49

Grey Goose Gift Set: This set includes a 750 mL bottle of Grey Goose and a martini shaker. Both are displayed in a beautiful blue box.  $31.49

Budweiser Vintage Crate 24 pack: This one is for the true collector. Two 12-packs are packaged inside this vintage-recreation wooden crate. $42.99

Ferrari Carano Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon: A powerful wine with great finesse, this wine boasts aromas of blackberry, dark chocolate and black tea complemented by elements of earth and licorice. Ripe black fruit, currants, toffee and caramel flavors give this wine a sweet mid-palate, excellent depth, showy tannins, and a pure, classic Cabernet finish. $39.79