Within the last couple years a couple sub-styles of IPA started to gain traction amongst beer drinkers and brewers. One sub-style is the Brett IPA, hop-forward ales fermented with funky Brettanomyces strains of yeast. Another is the myriad of fruited IPAs, which were popularized with the introduction of Ballast Point’s Grapefruit Sculpin. I love Brett IPAs when they are done […]
Author: ryanbrawn
Foundation Cosmic Bloom
When you ask a beer nerd to name the best breweries in Maine there are a few that will inevitably come up. Hopheads will immediately cite Maine Beer Company and Bissell Brothers, while fans of Belgian styles would point to Allagash and Oxbow. There are many others that would also be mentioned, it’s an incredibly vibrant scene […]
Exhibit A Demo Tape Eleven Side B
For a long time I avoided most types of wheat beer. I’ve never been a fan of hefeweizens and only like a few Belgian style witbiers. My experience with American wheat beers was mostly with Sam Adams Summer Ale and similar wheats. I am not a Sam Adams basher, I love a number of their beers, but […]
Should Beer Writers be Critics or Cheerleaders?
I recently read an interesting article by Jeff Alworth on the beervana blog, he has decided to make a conscientious effort to write about beer and breweries that have disappointed him. He isn’t talking about being a critic for critics sake (or being one of the yahoos who love to write negative reviews of Bud […]
Big Elm Thunderlips
Love them or hate them, it looks like New England style IPAs are going to be a huge part of the local beer scene for the foreseeable future. It seems like nearly every brewery in the area is taking advantage of the popularity of this sub-style, brewing their own versions of these murky, low-bitterness hop bombs […]
Bunker Brewing Rockerz
There are a number of reasons why I buy a particular beer. Some are old favorites that I buy all the time, or beers I’ve enjoyed in the past but haven’t drank in a while. Some beers are recommendations from other beer writers, social media or friends. Sometimes I see a new release described and immediately know I’m […]
Mast Landing Gunner’s Daughter and DDH Tell Tale
Some beer geeks get very excited when a new out-of-state brewery begins to distribute in Massachusetts, they have a list of beers that they want to try as soon as they land. I am not usually in that group, I focus nearly all of my drinking on New England beers so I don’t pay much […]
Random Beer Thoughts: July 2017
My favorite article of the month is from Hop Culture reminding everyone to drink what you like and that beer is fun. I try to never criticize the beers that other people choose, and don’t enjoy the game of chasing down rare beers to brag about them online. I’d rather have a couple good beers shared with friends […]
Sam Adams Brewing the American Dream
Sam Adams releases a number of variety packs over the course of the year, usually changing them with each season. This month they also released a special new pack, called the Brewing The American Dream Collaboration Pack. This 12-pack features two bottles of Boston Lager along with two bottles each of five new collaboration beers. Each collaboration is with […]
Boothbay Brewing Thirsty Botanist
I’ve never done any formal beer trading. I like to focus on local beers, and I really don’t like the chase whalez to trade for other whalez game that seems to dominate the beer trading sites online. That being said, I have a couple of friends who are fellow beer nuts and when we get together we […]
Hoppy Boston 