I am way behind in my beer reviews, first there was the CBC blacklist issue, then end of the year posts and the holidays, and all of a sudden it’s 2017 and I have some beers from November that I still need to review (I’ve already drank these beers and took notes, no worries that […]
Author: ryanbrawn
Best of Hoppy Boston 2016
Now that the calendar has turned to 2017 I thought it would be fun to do a recap of some of my favorite and/or most popular articles of the year, along with a rundown of some of the best beers I reviewed this year. It was a crazy year personally with buying a house, changing jobs and […]
Lamplighter Blitzen
Merry Christmas (a day late) and Happy Holidays! I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend celebrating with friends and family, and that it included a number of delicious beers. I am enjoying a large variety of styles over the holidays, from hop-bomb IPAs to malty stouts and barleywines. In my opinion you don’t need a specific style for […]
Random Beer Thoughts: December 2016
There have been a couple more important articles released since I published my thoughts on the Craft Beer Cellar Blacklist (if you are sick of talking/reading/thinking about this topic I understand, feel free to skip ahead, but there is clearly a lot of interest). BostInno published an in depth and very well researched article with thoughts from the owners of […]
Alchemist Focal Banger
This is post #500 on Hoppy Boston (thank you WordPress for keeping track of stuff like that, I lost count by week 3). I had no idea where the blog would go when I started writing it over three years ago, or if anyone would read it, but I am still having fun writing about […]
Foundation Afterglow
When I make my semi-annual trips up to Maine I try to grab some Maine beers that aren’t distributed in Massachusetts yet. One of the breweries I find myself consistently gravitating towards is Foundation Brewing Company out of Portland. When I first visited Foundation a couple years ago they were just getting started and benefitting from being sandwiched between […]
The Craft Beer Cellar Blacklist
This last Friday and Saturday were an interesting time for people who follow the Boston area beer scene on Twitter. It started with a back-and-forth between Hopsters owner, Lee Cooper and Craft Beer Cellar owner, Suzanne Schalow. Lee made a number of accusations including trashing the CBC business model, and Suzanne responded by trashing Hopsters. […]
Smuttlabs Trucco
I used to drink a considerable amount of whiskey, it is the only spirit that I’ve ever had much of an appreciation for. Now it’s pretty rare that I enjoy a glass, I drink a lot less than I used to and most of my alcohol consumption is in beer form. With this in mind […]
Castle Island TBD
I had to shovel a little snow when I got home from work this evening, mostly just cleaning the porch and walkway, but enough to conclude that winter is officially here. With the winter months I am moving some more dark beers into the rotation, expect plenty of reviews of stouts, porters, barleywines and Belgian […]
HoppyBoston Best Beers-Fall 2016
After an incredibly crazy summer life has settled down a bit this fall. I am back into somewhat of a routine with the new house, new job, new commute, etc. I’ve even found some time to visit a handful of breweries this fall. As part of the compromises that came with these changes I am writing a little […]
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