Last weekend I went to a get together at a friend’s house and naturally he asked that I bring some beer (I guess I’ve gained a reputation as a beer expert). Five of ten tears ago this group getting together would have meant a late night and many drinks, but now most of us have kids so […]
Author: ryanbrawn
RiverWalk Farm to Kettle 2015
The discussion of fall seasonal beers typically revolves around pumpkin beers and Oktoberfests, which is interesting because these two styles both lack the big hop flavors that dominate the current beer scene. This is why its no surprise that another fall style that is quickly gaining popularity is fresh hopped beers. Hops are harvested in the fall and most […]
Foley Brothers Maple Brown
A couple weeks ago I expressed some frustration in the lack of style diversity when breweries introduce their product to a new market. It seemed like every brewer leads off with their IPA or some IPA variant. I understand the popularity of the style but it leads to a saturation of IPAs and a lack […]
Baxter Hayride
I love seasonal beers, we have such diverse seasons in New England and it is fascinating to see how creative brewers develop beers that complement each unique season. Unfortunately there seems to be a lack of ingenuity in the fall. For years most brewers made Oktoberfest/marzen beers as their fall seasonals, and lately it seems like […]
Sierra Nevada Oktoberfest 2015
I can’t believe October is almost over. I really can’t believe it is late October and I’ve yet to review an Oktoberfest beer. One of the most popular fall seasonal beers is the marzen, the malty lager that is one of the traditional beers of the German Oktoberfest celebration. Marzen beers used to be a fall […]
Cambridge Brewing Co. Hay is For Horses
I’ve mentioned in previous posts that Mystic Brewery and Cambridge Brewing Company have recently collaborated on opening a barrel cellar and bottling project. We can expect to see a number of new barrel aged and wild beers from each brewery over the course of the next few years, and many of these beers will be available […]
Mystic India Wharf Pale Ale
Before you read this article I’d like you to stop for a minute and try to think of how many breweries you know that don’t brew any beers labeled as an “IPA”. Between standard IPAs and all of the sub-styles and variants that carry the IPA name I bet you’ll have a hard time coming up with more than a handful. […]
Hidden Cove Castoff
As more and more breweries open and expand distribution the shelves at a local bottle shop have a wider range of breweries, but often a more limited selection of beers from each. Many of the breweries introduce themselves to new markets with just one or two flagship beers and save their more limited edition beers […]
Kent Falls Farmer’s Table
I mentioned on in my post on Monday that I took a trip to Connecticut this summer exclusively to pick up some of their local beers that aren’t distributed in Massachusetts. I sampled a number of great beers from breweries that I wasn’t very familiar with, and a couple definitely stood out. One of my personal favorites was […]
Relic The Fletcher
This spring I bemoaned the lack of Connecticut beers available in Massachusetts. I wanted this blog to cover breweries throughout New England, but I had reviewed very few CT beers. The beer scene in CT was somewhat limited for a long time, but it has expanded rapidly over the last few years. I ended up making a stop at Craft […]
Hoppy Boston 