Label approvals always come with this disclaimer… only because I never want to be that guy that gets people all riled up about something that might not happen, and that’s the truth about labels as they get approve through the ttb… they could happen… but they might not. Certainly, with a lot of them, they might not happen soon, either.
Now, all that being said, both of these come with a couple good hints that they’re most definitely going to happen… the when remains to be seen, though.
Little Kings
This might not seem that exciting to you… because after all, Little Kings is nothing new… actually, it’s been around since 1958 when they were introduced by the Schoenling Brewing Company. These little green 7oz bottles eventually became so popular that by 1982 they were in 44 states and accounted for nearly 85% of Schoenling’s sales volume.
So… why is this exciting? Well… if you remember when I wrote about the “Triumphant Return of Hudepohl” – I made mention that over the next year or so, we’d start to see the return of more and more of our heritage brands, back to their home in Cincinnati… and if you take a careful look on the label you’ll see three important lines:
Brewed and bottled by the
Hudepohl-Schoenling Brewing Company
Cincinnati, Ohio 45202
That’s right… the king is back in town. I’m not going to pretend that Little Kings is my favorite tasting cream ale anymore… hell… there have even been better cream ales that I’ve tasted out of Moerlein, but there is something really special about these heritage brands that I hope everyone really grasps. The history that our city has with it’s breweries is something that so very few cities can claim, and to have a modern craft brewery still giving respect, and making moves to show respect to those brands… This is good stuff.
Nice Melons
I had a chance to try a pint of this the last time I was down at Rivertown (to taste the Great Miami Hop Project) and I really enjoyed it’s fresh, fruity, crisp refreshing character. This has a flavor profile a lot like a watermelon jolly rancher, which is expected when you hear that they added a bunch of natural watermelon flavoring into a batch of ‘Divergent’
This beer is going to be fantastic as the weather starts warming up (yeah… I’m thinking ahead to that already) and for anyone who is a fan of sour, watermelon flavors, you’re going to like this one.
When I started asking why ‘Nice Melons’ got a fancy name, when some of their other fruited Divergent beers don’t get fancy names, I was told it was only because this one was going to see packaging… It made it not much of a surprise when just a couple days later this popped up as approved. All that being said, I’m not sure when this is going to hit shelves, but keep your eyes peeled for it… it’s pretty tasty!