When plans to leave the country for a couple days fell through, my wife and I, already having convinced our brains that we were going to be out of the city for the weekend, decided we needed to get out of town anyway. We looked around for some weekend getaway options until remembering that we [...]
At first, the Summer comes slowly. You’re full of anticipation. You’re longing for the freedom, the warmth, the celebratory feeling that washes over the city. You’re enjoying the gentle pause between Spring’s breezes and Summer’s punishing inevitability, and all of the sudden, you find yourself sweating and panting, walking the avenue looking for a corner [...]
July 4th is the supreme beer and meat holiday, automatically putting it in the running with my favorite holidays of all time. Add in fireworks, copious sweets, great weather, and a bunch of friends outside of the city that oppresses us all so regularly, and you have a recipe for a hell of a time. [...]
I’ve been pretty wrapped up in everything except writing these days, including a recent obsession with Chess, trying to get back into gardening regularly, working, and playing music a few times a week. As usual I’ve had plenty of time to try lots of new beers, so instead of letting these new ones sit in [...]
Reaching back a bit in my archive of notes to write up two beers in one of my all time favorite “non-styles,” the Saison. One is a very authentic modern take originating far from where the style was born, and another a kind of ancient take from right in the heart of the Senne valley.
Nogne [...]
Brew Dog Blog officially declares this The Summer Of The Can (TSOTC). TSOTC has begun a bit early this year, jumping summer’s official date by a full few weeks. Partially responsible for this amazing situation is the timely introduction of the beers of the 21st Amendment Brewery from San Francisco to the New York City [...]
There’s a generally accepted adage that beautiful, warm places have shitty beer. I can think of a few exceptions to this rule (San Diego, mostly) and I can also think of a few places that thoroughly confirm it (Puerto Rico, all of Portugal, most of Spain, etc.). Hawaii, a place I’ve never been but have [...]
With their Red Chair IPA, Deschutes promises extreme hop presence without the bracing bitterness that sometimes precludes my enjoyment of otherwise hoptastic Imperial and Double IPAs. I snagged a few from Joey in our last South Bay Drugs order and downed one a couple nights ago and another last night, just to be sure I [...]
Hopfenstark is a brewery 30 miles outside of Montreal in Quebec, Canada, which has built up a nice reputation amongst beer nerds for offering a wide selection of distinctive beers and sticking to their guns when it comes to style and flavor — basically, the brewer Fred does what he wants, and that’s just the [...]
Mikkeller, the awesome, nomadic “brewery” from Denmark which is actually one guy who goes from brewery to brewery in Europe and the USA brewing collaborative beers or sneaking in his own, is “available” in New York again. I’ve managed to purchase some bottles in the past year or so since I discovered them, but most [...]
