It seems like tap rooms are all of the rage right now and for good reason, including the fact that brewers can sell their product directly to consumers which allows for more control of quality, freshness and margins. It almost seems like a few local breweries have no interest in canning or bottling beer outside of what […]
Author: ryanbrawn
Maine Beer Company Woods and Waters
There are so many amazing breweries in Maine and I’ve made an effort to expand my horizons and make different stops on my trips North, but there is one place that I always seem to visit, Maine Beer Company in Freeport. Some of that is ease of access, it is right off the highway and very much […]
Brewmaster Jack Crushendo
Unlike some of the outspoken beer critics/bloggers/talking heads on twitter I am an unabashed fan of the New England style IPAs. As a point of clarification, New England style IPAs are beers with large doses of fruity hop aroma and flavor, substantial haze and low bitterness. Many IPAs brewed in New England don’t fall into […]
Gritty McDuff’s Vacationland
I make 2-3 trips a year up to mid-coast Maine to visit family and friends in the area where I was born and raised, the first trip this year was over the holiday weekend. Even with the additional demands of traveling with a child, I am usually able to make some beer-centric stops on the way, […]
Random Beer Thoughts: June 2017
Just a quick thought to start my monthly notes/links column: the other day a number of beer writers were alerted on twitter that an upstart website was copying their work and publishing it without citation. I won’t say what site it is, it has a relatively small following and they don’t deserve any further attention. I had […]
Wachusett Wally
Probably the biggest challenge facing “veteran” craft brewers is balancing the continued production of the beers that built their brand with innovating to compete and meet the changing preferences of the market. Some brewers stubbornly refuse to change, even if they need to lower production due to decreased demand. Some have completely changed their brand, […]
Riverwalk Rangelight
Riverwalk Brewing has been going through a series of exciting transformations this year. They have expanded distribution, you can now find their beers all over the state of Massachusetts. It might just be me, but I’ve also noticed increased availability and selection of their beers in metro-Boston and metrowest. Riverwalk also announced that they are […]
Idle Hands Proeme
For a while I was convinced that the next “big thing” in craft beer would be hoppy saisons. American drinkers love their hops, and anything with a big dose of popular new varieties will probably sell well. This has led to a proliferation of sub-styles on the IPA, where wheat IPA, red IPA and black […]
Springdale Solid State and Kriek Mythology
A couple months ago I wrote about my first visit to the Springdale Brewery, an offshoot of Jack’s Abby that specializes in ales (while Jack’s Abby does all lagers). While they brew a wide variety of beers Springdale seems to have two focuses. The first is IPAs, they make a variety of delicious hop-bomb beers. […]
Lamplighter Watchman
There are a number of major milestones that a brewery goes through as it starts up and begins to establish it’s place in the market. Opening the doors and starting to sell beer is obviously the first huge event, along with seeing your beer on draft at local bars. Starting to can or bottle beer is another big […]
Hoppy Boston 