The crisp and hop-forward flavors of American Pale Ales make them great spring beers. The full body and complexity of pale Belgian styles also complements the season. American craft brewers have experimented with the pale Belgian styles, noting how the spicy and fruity esters created by the Belgian yeast can nicely accompany a wide variety of malt and hop […]
Author: ryanbrawn
Peak Organic Simcoe Spring
We finally made it to April! The weather is improving, temperatures are rising and the sun is making more frequent appearances. The porters and stouts in the fridge are starting to get replaced by pale ales and other lighter beers that complement the warmer days. My ideal spring beers are light and drinkable enough for a warm spring afternoon, […]
Night Shift JoJo Pink IPA
I think it is very safe to say that American craft beer enthusiasts love their hops. This has led to the emergence of IPAs as probably the most popular style of craft beer. The IPA style has evolved to the point that most of the American versions barely resemble classic British IPAs. New offshoots of the hop-centric […]
Stone Go To IPA
Any craft beer enthusiast has certain beers or breweries that changed the way they thought about and appreciated craft beer. Maybe it’s the beer that showed you there was a world of flavors outside of bland, mass-produced lagers. It can also be the beer that turned you on to a specific style. Stone Brewing Company of […]
Hoppy Boston in NYC
Last weekend I spent some time in NYC. My lovely wife had a conference in Manhattan, so I met up with her and we spent the rest of the weekend getting caught up with friends and family who live in the area. I’ve done a few trips down to NYC, and with help from Google […]
Jack’s Abby Mass Rising
With the ever-increasing number of craft breweries in the US there are now an incredible variety of beer styles available to the consumer. These styles range from traditional brews that mimic those produced in Europe for centuries to brand new styles that are unique to US craft beer. While I love a perfectly done traditional beer, […]
Harpoon The Long Thaw
Harpoon Brewery in Boston originally built it’s reputation on a solid stable of year-round beers led by their flagship English style IPA. Recently they have drawn praise for their more adventurous and experimental beers, including their 100 Barrel Series and Leviathan Big Beers. Harpoon also makes a number of seasonal beers, including the popular and long running Summer […]
Thomas Hooker Liberator Dopplebock
Even though I named this blog Hoppy Boston the intention was always to focus on craft beer from around New England. While I’ve reviewed many beers from Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island (along with Massachusetts of course), this is my first review from Connecticut. I spent nearly two years living in CT and it seems that the […]
Brewmaster Jack Motueka
One popular trend in craft beer is single hop brews, which highlight the flavors of a single variety of hops. Many brewers make a series of single hopped beers, typically using the same malts/yeast/water and hop schedule and just switching the variety of hops used to brew. Brewmaster Jack of Northhampton, MA has a slightly […]
21st Amendment Back in Black
Beer in America was a local product from the first colonies of European settlers through the dawn of Prohibition. Part of this was necessity, the lack of reliable refridgeration and packaging made it difficult to transport fresh beer. Prohibition wiped out many of the small breweries, and after its repeal large, industrial breweries dominated American beer for […]
Hoppy Boston 