I’ve seen some recent criticism out Boston as a beer city, specifically pertaining to the lack of focus on local beers. In fairness, most of this criticism was leveled at bars in the city who devote many tap lines to beers from across the country but few to beers brewed in their own backyard. I […]
Author: ryanbrawn
Allagash Sixteen Counties
I have lived in Massachusetts for most of my adult life (outside of a 2-year sabbatical to Connecticut for my post-doc), but I was born and raised a Mainer. I grew up in Knox County, my family now lives in Waldo County and I went to college in Cumberland County. I also have some great memories […]
HoppyBoston Best Beers Spring 2016
My favorite beers this winter were predominantly big and malty, stouts, porters, quads and barleywines. As the weather started to warm I went back onto a hoppy beer kick, and this is reflected in my favorite beers of spring. As I move into summer I imagine my taste will go even lighter, hopefully adding a number of pilsners and […]
Berkshire Brewing Slue’s Maibock
So my plans for a beer style of the month for May, which was going to be maibock/helles bock, ended up being a pretty big fail. There were a number of reasons for this including lack of readily available examples of the style, getting distracted by other reviews and articles and not having the time to really plan […]
Is Beer Getting Too Expensive?
There have been an interesting series of debates and discussions on social media recently involving the price of beer, especially in the Boston area. Some of this debate surrounded specific beers (like the Beer Camp 12 pack that is selling for ~$30), while other threads covered prices in bars or comparisons of local beers to national […]
Sierra Nevada Beer Camp Part 2
Yesterday I reviewed the first three beers in Sierra Nevada’s Beer Camp 12-pack. Today I’ll continue with the final three and some thought on the pack as a whole. Moxee Moron Imperial Session IPA: Represents the Pacific Northwest and Rockies in collaboration with Bale Breaker, Barley Brown’s, Black Raven, Melvin and Odell Brewing. The “style” imperial […]
Sierra Nevada Beer Camp 2016 Part 1
Last year Sierra Nevada launched Beer Camp, a series of beer festivals in different cities across the country. As part of this celebration they brewed 12 collaboration beers each one with a different brewer in a Beer Camp host city. The 12 beers were sold as a 12-pack, which sold out incredibly quickly around here so I […]
Sam Adams Rebel Raw
I am a huge fan of the show Top Chef, I have watched every season. When I started grad school and was trying to live in Boston on a small stipend I taught myself to really cook (beyond grilling and a few other simple dishes) and I used food TV as a source of inspiration. There are a few […]
Stony Creek Cranky IPA
Not even a year ago I wrote about the lack of Connecticut beers available in the Boston market. I try to make this blog cover all of New England and I had read about a number of exciting breweries in CT but few were distributing north of the border. I even made a stop in Hartford on […]
Aeronaut A Year With Dr. Nandu
Every year a multitude of new breweries are opening while others are expanding production and opening new taprooms. There isn’t a single business model that these brewers need to follow, there have been many different routes to success. I’ve enjoyed watching the path taken by Aeronaut Brewing Company in Somerville. First they opened their taproom, a fun […]
Hoppy Boston 