(This is my contribution to our monthly Session. Jay Brooks is recapping this month.)
Britain’s Campaign for Real Ale has designated May as Mild Month - and tomorrow as National Mild Day.
What does this mean? From the CAMRA web site: “We ask licensees to come on board by stocking this style of beer, encouraging pub-goers to […]

In the course of the conversation that sprung from my post about a review of Three Floyds Dreadnaught Imperial IPA I promised to post what I think are interesting style of “tasting note.” Too long for a comment, so - cowboys and others at the bar - here goes.
Style 1: The experience
Ben McFarland, twice Beer […]

This review of Three Floyds Dreadnaught Imperial IPA tickled the heck out of me.
Jay at Hedonist Beer Jive gave it a 3.5 out of 10 and explained why. After reading his comments (please take the time to read the whole thing) my only question would be, “Why so high?”
He’s pretty persuasive, writing among other things: […]

A couple of years ago Boston Beer founder Jim Koch was talking about innovative beers.
“. . .(A) product has to be truly superior and good on its own,” he said, later adding, “We’re not trying to make a pet rock of beer, but new styles that are cherished 100 years from now.”
He made a […]

(This is my contribution to our monthly Session. Alan McLeod will be recapping them all.)
One Sunday last May, Ted Rice lifted a glass of beer homebrewed in the spirit of a Belgian dubbel.
“That’s the aroma I’m looking for,” he said, putting it to his nose.
This was literally one of the first batches brewed with the […]

Was it good for you?
Dryly sweet perhaps. Light and fluffy? Espresso and bitter cocoa. Maybe even structured.
The approaches to writing about the broad subject of stouts were as diverse as the stouts themselves for our first round of The Session. We got a little history, a little philosophy, some comparisons, a bit of travel and […]

Hope you’re in a stout mood today, because you’re going to read a lot about them in various blogs in the first round of The Session. The theme today is “Not your father’s Irish stout.”
By Monday I will summarize posts on this topic from here and there and provide links.
As the instigator of this event […]

Here’s an example of what I mean by beer from a good home: Berkshire Brewing in South Deerfield, Mass.
Ann Cortissoz profiles the brewery in today’s Boston Globe (free registration).
Co-founders Gary Bogoff and Chris Lalli began selling beer in 1994 after friends helped them rehab on old cigar factory. They coaxed 6,000 barrels a year out […]

I posted details of the Thomas Hardy tasting (’83, ‘89, ‘94, ‘95, ‘96 and ‘97) at Beer Therapy.
I’ll quickly add that if you are laying these beers down that the vintages in larger bottles seem to age a little more slowly.

With a nod toward Bill Maher’s “New Rules” as opposed to Miller’s Man Laws …
THE BACKGROUND: A little over a week ago we were in California for some meetings. For evening diversion, Real Beer co-founder Mark Silva brought along vintage beers for “vertical” tastings (where you sample the same beer across a number of years).
In […]