There are many reasons to love quality beer including the diverse flavor profiles, sharing bottles with friends, the excitement in finding something new and delicious and the great memories that come rushing back with the first sip of an old favorite. That last one is a big reason that I was so disappointed to hear that […]
Author: ryanbrawn
Smuttynose Smuttlabs Thelema
As more and more new breweries open and many beer drinkers focus their attention (and dollars) on what is new and exciting it is important for established veterans of the brewing community to continually innovate. While some breweries have re-vamped their entire lineup of beers to meet changing consumer tastes, others try to balance their classic […]
Maine Beer Co. A Tiny Beautiful Something
When my wife and I make trips up to Maine to visit my family we have developed a few traditions. We are trying to stick to some of these traditions even with the recent addition to our family. One is lunch at Gritty McDuff’s, the classic Maine brewpub with a solid lineup of beers and high quality […]
Pretty Things East Kent Saison
I found a good stock of Pretty Things beers at Craft Beer Cellar in Newton last week, so my tribute to their beer will continue for a few more weeks. One of the beers was probably the last new beer Pretty Things brewed, East Kent Saison. This beer was brewed in honor of the migrant […]
Goose Island Bourbon County Brand Stout 2015
If you were amongst the people out getting a head start on your Christmas shopping the day after Thanksgiving you might have noticed a line of customers at your local beer store. I am not a Black Friday shopper, while I imagine that watching people get in a fist fight over a $90 TV at WalMart would drive […]
Homebrew Recipe: Hoppy Fall Take 2
Two years ago I brewed a hoppy amber ale that I named Hoppy Boston Hoppy Fall. The final beer was good, but I am a relentless tinkerer and there were a few things that I thought could be better, so I started working on a new version. The beer was designed to smell like an IPA and […]
Pretty Things Babayaga
My frequent readers have probably noticed that most of my beer reviews follow a similar format, the second part has tasting notes and a score while the first is more varied, with information about the beer, the brewery, the style, a personal story, or any other information that I find interesting or relevant. When I am […]
HoppyBoston Best Beers: Fall 2015
My favorite beers list for the fall is somewhat briefer than normal, it’s actually the shortest list I’ve had since I started the blog. It’s not that I didn’t sample and review great beers over the last three months, on the contrary I think I found quite a few, there were just a lot of beers that […]
Rising Tide Waypoint
I still don’t drink coffee. Many of my colleagues are shocked that I didn’t pick up the habit in graduate school, the 70-80 hour weeks in the lab drove many towards any additional boost they could find. I joked afterwards that I had one more big test, which started almost 7 months ago with the […]
An Ode to Pretty Things Beer and Ale Project
I had my evening all planned out. I am heading up to Maine tomorrow for Thanksgiving, so I was going to wrap up work, come home, get myself packed and then help my wife get everything packed for the little man, have some dinner then knock out a beer review. Quick and easy post, probably the […]
Hoppy Boston 