Siciliano's Market News, December 2, 2021 Edition

This week's list of new and returning products follow a few words about buying local & an incredible sale on beer making and wine making equipment kits

Preamble by Steve Siciliano

If you’re as old as I am you remember the time when folks did the majority of their shopping at small family run businesses. The Grand Rapids neighborhood where I grew up had a number of these mom-and-pop shops within walking distance from our lower west side home. There was a hardware and a bakery and a corner drug store where meager allowances were spent on comic books, baseball cards and penny candy. A fair-size grocer was on Fulton Street down towards the park. If mom needed a gallon of milk or a pound of sugar or a loaf of bread and she needed it now, she sent us to Borucki’s, one of those once ubiquitous neighborhood grocery/butcher shops that was just a half a block away.

Most of these small independent shops are gone now. Today when we need something we hop in our vehicles and drive. National chains have replaced the corner drug store. Big boxers with acres of floor space have replaced the neighborhood hardwares. Supermarkets have replaced the friendly mom-and-pop grocers. Today we can purchase goods with little or no human interaction. “Don’t forget to take your receipt and all of your change.” It’s all very convenient but also quite impersonal. That self checkout with the detached voice may be very efficient but it doesn’t know your name.

Keeping the human touch in retail is something we strive to do here at Siciliano’s Market. We recognize that today folks can find craft beer anywhere. Big grocery stores have large selections of wine and quality spirits. The internet is an option for beer- and wine-making supplies and premium cigars. But isn’t it nice to be able to talk to someone about that new hazy IPA or which wine would pair best with a chicken marsala, or to have someone explain the differences between a rye and a bourbon or a Nicaraguan and a Dominican cigar? Isn’t it nice to get advice on a beer recipe or have someone help trouble shoot a stuck fermentation?

As incentive to buy local during this holiday season we are offering incredible deals on our beer making and wine making equipment kits. The following prices will be in effect through December 24, 2021:

BREWER'S BEST® DELUXE EQUIPMENT KIT SALE PRICE $99.00, REGULAR PRICE $122.00

BREWER'S BEAST EQUIPMENT KIT SALE PRICE $119.00, REGULAR PRICE $153.00

VINTNER'S BEST DELUXE WINE EQUIPMENT KIT SALE PRICE $99.00, REGULAR PRICE $125.00

Featured Wines of the Week

Masi, 2018, Campofiorin, Italy, $16.99/750ml- Full bodied, smooth and velvety, but approachable and versatile in its food pairings. Combines simplicity with style, strength and majesty.

This is the original Supervenetian created by Masi in 1964 and internationally recognised as a wine of “stupendous body and complexity”, the prototype for a new category of wines from the Veneto inspired by the Amarone production method (Burton Anderson). Its own production method was described by Hugh Johnson as “an ingenious technique. (Source)

Fascino, Prosecco, Italy, $18.69/750ml-A dry frizzante, with light citrus flavors, and a pleasant creamy wave of light bubbles. Fresh and light on the palate, with balanced acidity and body; harmonic with a pleasant dry aftertaste. Packed in a re-useable swingtop bottle. Organic too! (Source)

Buy three or more bottles of wine get 10 % off.

"It's our mission at Siciliano's to sell quality wine at affordable prices"

Featured Spirit of the Week

Jeppson's Malort, Chicago, $27.69/750ml- A CHICAGO ICON

Jeppson's Malört has the aroma and full-bodied flavor of an unusual botanical. Its bitter taste is savored by two-fisted drinkers. (Source)

New and Returning Products

Abomination Wandering into the Fog Double Galaxy, $6.79/16oz-Brewed with a heavy wheat and oat malt bill, hopped and double dry hopped aggressively with 7+lbs per bbl of Mosaic, Pacific Jade, Citra, Summit and a ton of Galaxy! Fluffy, pillowy, juicy, dank, DDH goodness.

Bells BA Expedition Stout, $7.69/12oz, Limited - 4pk per household- This 12 month barrel-aged version of our award-winning Expedition Stout thirsts for travel, but is perfectly content to sit in your cellar, maturing, until you are ready. The tough part? Deciding if you want to enjoy it now or wait until later. You can't go wrong either way

Big Lake The Lunatic, $5.89/16oz-A dark, rich and chocolatey bourbon barrel aged stout

Brew Detroit BBA Cold Brew, $5.49/12oz-Our B.B. Cold Brew Detroit Stout delivers with a complex flavor profile of coffee, caramel, dark fruit & bourbon. Smooth on the palate this brew was aged in Detroit City Distillery Bourbon Barrels and conditioned on Great Lakes Coffee Roasting Company Motor City blend.

Brew Detroit BBA Modern Mornings, $5.49/12oz-

Brewery Vivant Space Queen: Shadow Skull, $4.69/16oz-This dry hopped Sour with Ekuanot, Citra, and Amarillo hops is the next beer in our Space Queen Series. All of the Space Queen beers are dry-hopped sours that pop with vibrant hops and are extremely crushable due to a low ABV and a zippy finish.

Brewery Vivant Wizard Burial Ground, $7.19/16oz-Aged for 12+ months deep in the old gypsum mines south of town, this Belgian inspired quadrupel ale pours a deep amber. The big alcohol of the quad pulls notes of bourbon, vanilla and charcoal from the barrels and melds perfectly with the caramel richness.

Founders Fruitwood, $4.59/12oz-We took a crisp, light-bodied cherry ale and hid it away in oak barrels that have held both bourbon and maple syrup. After a lengthy stint, it emerged a changed beer, blanketed in notes of warm vanilla and earthy sweetness. The wood proves itself the star of this beer, adding depth and taming the tart cherry while the maple imposes a velvety texture that lingers for not a moment too long.

Great Lakes Dank Demon, $3.59/16oz-Leafy layers of heady hop aromas lurk in every wicked whiff of Dank Demon's hauntingly full-bodied brew.

Lagunitas Unrefined Shugga, $3.79/12oz-This new iteration of Shugga’ has all the rich, winterly-warming flavors you know and love from our fan-fav seasonal sweet release, with a fancy upgrade—Whole Cane Sugar added to the brew. Along with this sweet update comes a new name: Unrefined Shugga'.

Off Color Beer for Hoops, $2.99/16oz-American cream ale with peaches and vanilla served on nitro.

One Well Centenial Falcon, $3.69/12oz-IPA - Imperial / Double

Prairie BA Moose Boots, $15.19/12oz-Barrel aged imperial stout maple syrup, toasted almonds and vanilla.

Prairie Double Vanilla Noir, $15.19/12oz-Barrel aged stout with Madagascar vanilla and Tahitian vanilla.

Shorts Goodnight Bodacious, $2.59/12oz-Goodnight Bodacious is a Double Black India Pale Ale with the maltiness of a Barleywine and the hoppiness of an IPA. A rich, hoppiness dominates the aroma, with earthy and loamy scents. A medium body presents big, bitter black barley and roasted coffee flavors, with subtle complements of dark fruit and green hops. Strong alcohol flavors and pleasant warming qualities become more noticeable as the beer approaches room temperature.

Stillwater Cellar Door, $2.79/12oz-Dry-hopped wheat ale brewed with sage.

Descriptions courtesy of Untappd