From the arrival of the first European settlers in the Americas up through Prohibition, beer and brewing were very local to regional business. These smaller local breweries were mostly wiped out during the ban on alcohol sales in the 1930’s. After prohibition was repealed, innovations in mass production, shipping and refrigeration led to the rise of the […]
Author: ryanbrawn
Pioneer Brewing Into The Woods
If I walk into a local bottle shop and see offerings from a brewery I am unfamiliar with it is a pretty good bet that I will grab something to try. This is especially true if the beer is brewed in New England. I try to keep up to date on the ins and outs of the […]
Bog Iron Stinger IPA
I mentioned last week that my visit to Bog Iron Brewery included an extended tasting and the purchase of a couple growlers. I reviewed their One Down Porter as part of my first post, this second will focus on my other purchase, Stinger IPA. The IPA style is so popular it is almost a requirement […]
Hoppy Boston/Hopster’s Fuggles Porter
My brother and I recently brewed another batch of beer at Hopster’s Brew and Boards in Newton, MA. Our first brewing experience at Hopster’s was over a year ago (I’ve been back since, just not to brew), and so much has changed in that time. First, Hopster’s received a liquor license to become a fully functional […]
Long Trail Harvest Barn Ale
This weekend I did a bit of a stock up run at Craft Beer Cellar in Newton, and I noticed that many breweries were swapping out their fall seasonals for winter beers. This is actually reasonable, November is close enough to winter to justify starting this transition, this is nothing like pumpkin beers showing up on store shelves […]
Bog Iron One Down Robust Porter
Last week I wrote a post about finding the best brewery in Massachusetts (HERE), mostly as a response to Gary Dzen’s #HotBeerTake declaring that Trillium Brewing was the best brewery in the state. I hoped that my post would be a conversation starter and I would get a number of responses supporting the various breweries I mentioned or […]
Left Hand Oktoberfest
In over a year writing this blog, I have reviewed many beers from breweries all over the US (and a few from other areas of the world). By design I tend to focus on New England beers, and there with so many good choices this keeps me busy. This local-centric approach means that there are some nationally […]
Peak Organic Hop Harvest
Outside of the now ever-present pumpkin beers, there are a couple other trends that seem to predominate craft beer fall releases. An always popular fall style is the malty German marzen/Octoberfest style lagers. A newer trend is wet hopped beers, brewing with the freshest possible hops right after the fall harvest. I guess it should come as no surprise that at […]
Night Shift Thunder Moon
Apparently today is National Stout Day, so to celebrate I’ll review a porter (just to be difficult). Who needs a specific day to celebrate a certain style of beer? I love stouts (and porters) when the weather gets cool/cold. Living in New England that means they are seasonally appropriate pretty much from September through June (ok […]
What is the Best Brewery in Massachussetts?
Today Gary Dzen published a piece in the Globe on Trillium Brewing Company in Fort Point, and named it the best brewery in Massachusetts (find it HERE). I thought this was a pretty bold “hot take” as there are so many great breweries in Mass now it makes it hard to pick any one as the […]
Hoppy Boston 