Great Lakes Christmas Ale

Christmas Ale poured a clear, copper color with a thumb width, off white head. The aroma is malty and sweet, with some piney hops. The mouthfeel is smooth, with plenty of backbone. The taste is malty, sweet, and lightly spiced with a touch of sweetness. Fresh hops on the backend lead to a finish with yeast with a light dryness. There was a little hanging lace left on the glass.

Overall, this is just a really good beer and an almost perfect seasonal. It is balanced and has plenty to offer without being overbearing. Incredibly easy drinking for a 7.5% beer, this is another great effort from Great Lakes.

Samuel Adams Chocolate Bock

Chocolate Bock poured a dark brown color with a finger width, tan head. The aroma is nice, mostly roasted malt with hints of chocolate. The body is the inverse of the nose. Tons of chocolate with a little roasted malt, and a touch of sweetness. Mouthfeel is smooth, with low carbonation. The finish is short and dry, with moderate bitterness.

Overall, a really nice beer, one of my new favorites from Sam Adams. The chocolate really shines, and works extrememly well with the velvety mouthfeel, and bitter finish. A complete beer that is balanced. blands well, and offers plenty, it is a shame it is not easier to find.

21st Amendment Fireside Chat

I am a sucker for craft beer in a can. I am an even bigger sucker for very good craft beer in a can, which is why any new offering from 21st Amendment is a must buy. The San Francisco based brewpub has quickly gained notoriety for their brews. I have been able to chase down and review their India Pale Ale, Watermelon Wheat, and Back In Black. When their new release, a spiced winter ale called Fireside Chat showed up on the shelf of my local craft beer store, there was no doubt as to what I was buying.

Fireside Chat poured a brownish color with ruby hues and a finger width, tan head. The nose is malty, with spices, and a little dark fruit that might be heading towards the sour side. The body is smooth, with some spices, yet light for a winter ale. There is a slight offness/sour notes that dont seem to beling in a spiced winter ale. The finish offers a little dry bitterness.

Overall, this is a below average beer. It is mild for a winter ale, as I was expecting a bigger backbone. The main problem here is the sour like notes that appeared in the nose and stayed throughout the rest of the beer. I can't imagine this is what 21st was aiming for and if it was I am a little confused. It may be a bad batch of beer, which is possible but quite unusual for a canned beer. 21st Amendment has earned my trust so I will give this another shot but the beer that came out of this particular can was not very good at all.

Tröegs Scratch #33: Saison

The Scratch Beer series by Tröegs is an experimental beer series that is produced in extremely small batches and can only be bought at the brewery. Currently, the brewery has produced 35 beers in the series.

Tröegs Scratch #33: Saison poured a hazy, dark orangey, amber color with a two fingered width, white head. The nose is really nice, thick malt with strong yeast aromas. he body is thinker up front with bready malt and a little earthiness. The middle is very highly carbonated and he back end leads to a nice dryness on the finish.

Overall, a really nice beer that gives a little different take on the saison style. The typical saison features are present but there is a little bit more bready malt then usual. I think the malt and high carbonation would allow the beer to lay down for a few months to become a little more polished, but this is a really nice small batch beer that needs to be purchased if ou can find it.

Tröegs JavaHead (Cask)

JavaHead poured a dark brown, blackish color with a pen width, tan head. The aroma is dominated by strong, dark malt, and noticeable coffee notes. The body is smooth, with dark malts, chocolate and coffee. There is a nice helping of hops on the back end, leading to a nice dry, bitter finish.

Overall, I loved this beer. The bottled version is massive and a little much for me, but I thought the casked version is either a little bit more restrained or a little rounded out. The coffee dies down a little, the chocolate come out a bit more, and the dry hopping really brings the hops forward. This is a really enjoyable nightcap and an amazing beer on cask.

Dogfish Head My Antonia

My Antonia poured a clear, golden yellow color with a thumb width, white head. The aroma is pleasant, a nice balance of pilsner malt and hops. The body is slightly sweet up front, with a nice pilsner malt base. The finish is very dry with a crisp hop bitterness. The head retention is great and the beer left plenty of lacing on the glass.

Overall, this is a wonderful beer, one of the best representatives of this style. A big pilsner without taking the "Imperial" overboard. My Antonia is is balanced from the nose to the finish, hides its 7.5% ABV well, and can be either enjoyed by itself or paired with a wide range of dishes.

Tröegs DreamWeaver Wheat Ale

DreamWeaver poured a hazy, golden orange color with a two fingered width, white head. The aroma is dominated by citrus fruit with a touch of yeast. The body is more of the same, packed with orange and other fruit. The mouthfeel is smooth, with low carbonation. The finish leaves a faint dryness,

There was some nice hanging lace left on the glass. Overall, a nice wheat beer. I love the fruit but it could use a little hop bitterness to balance out the ineveitable sweetness.

Good Beer NYC Offers Chance to Appear on "Brew Masters"

On Saturday, November 13th, Good Beer New York will offer customers a chance to join the taping of the new series "Brew Masters" featuring Dogfish Head's Sam Calagione. Every purchase will give customers a chance to join the the taping on Thursday, November 19th at the Discovery Center in Times Square. Attendees of the taping will be the first to taste Dogfish Egyptian.

Good Beer 422 E 9th St. NYC

http://www.goodbeernyc.com/

There are three requirements for perfecting a craft: hard work, patience, and Skeet Ulrich totally lying and telling everyone you're terrible in bed when you didn't even sleep with him. Not cool, bro! Dedicating their store to The Craft of suds: Good Beer NYC.

Started by a guy who after 14yrs saw his prospects in the publishing world dwindling, GB's a sunken hybrid beer cafe/shop with with a raw, old-school general store feel, boasting a wall of refrigerators stocked with bottles to take with you, and taps set up for enjoying draughts at a handful of metal tables, but not Metallica tables, as then you'd just Spill 'Em All. The small batch/craft bottles're geographically arranged starting up front with the Northeast (the densest offering, including stalwarts like Smuttynose, Captain Lawrence, Six Point, and Dogfish Head), roaming the states to cover everything from Cigar City (Tampa), to Founders' (Mich.), to Bear Republic (Cali.), and ending with international options like Delirium Tremens, Lucifer, and Hobgoblin, proving once again that all things foreign are terrifying. On-the-spot pours (also avail in growlers to go) are spread over twelve taps, with the opening rotation including Dogfish Head 60 minute, Arcadia's Jaw-Jacker Pumpkin Ale, Oskar Blues' Dale's Pale Ale, Coney Island Sword Swallower, and a a house favorite, "extravagantly hopped, full flavored, medium bodied, and copper colored" West Coast IPA from Green Flash,

Should you want to fortify, GB's also supplementing the hooch with organic grass fed dogs, kielbasa (spicy or cheddar filled), pretzels, and cheese plates, but no Meyer's ice cream or Campbell's soup, because those are just people who were in The Craft, and have nothing to do with this whatsoever.

Check out the menu and the mammoth list of brewers that'll be repped by the over 900 different beers available.

http://dsc.discovery.com/videos/brew-masters-series-premiere.html

Weyerbacher Double Simcoe Cask

Double Simcoe poured a cloudy, apple cider color with a thin, pen width, white head. The aroma offers up plenty of grapefruit and citrusy hops. The body is smooth, with little carbonation. The mouthfeel is super juicy, with some sweetness and touches of dark fruit. Plenty of fresh hops on the finish lead to a blast of bitterness that linger and leave the palate plenty dry.

Overall, this is a big IPA, that is still a sipper despite its ability to hide the higher ABV extremely well. A well made beer with a very sturdy backbone, the casked version is a little bit more rounded out then a kegged or bottled version.

Smuttynose Wins Two Medals in Europe

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE- Portsmouth NH –9 November 2010

Smuttynose’s Second Trip to Europe This Year is Twice as Nice

Smuttynose Wheat Wine Ale and Smuttynose Robust Porter each won a gold medals at
2010’s European edition of Mondial de la Biere, held in Strasbourg, France. An
international panel of experienced judges awarded two of only fourteen gold medals
to the Portsmouth, NH brewer, which was the only American brewery to claim hardware.
Both beers are previous gold medal winners at the Great American Beer Festival,
with Wheat Wine Ale taking a gold in 2005 and Robust Porter taking a gold in 2001.

In a world of style-shredding beers, the Mondial de la Biere is one of the few
competitions that takes a post-style approach to judging. Instead of each brewery
choosing the categories in which to enter its beers, judges nominate each beer into
a style category. The winners are then chosen through a numerical scoring system.
Beers can be entered into multiple style categories but each beer can only win one
medal and awarded medals aren’t tied to a specific style. “This unique judging
format really opens the door for a lot brewers who, like us, don’t brew exactly to
style,” says David Yarrington, Smuttynose’s Director of Brewing Operations,
“Obviously, we’re really grateful that the folks at the Mondial have taken such a
unique approach to beer judging.”

This year was the second edition of the Strasbourg Mondial de la Biere. The
original Mondial began in Montreal in 1994 and has become one of the world’s premier
beer festivals, offering not only a wide range of beers to sample but a successful
educational program as well. The festival is the premier international beer event
in North American and is world renowned, expecting around 100,00 visitors next year.
This year’s French edition hosted 16,000 attendees (up 5% from last year), showing
how rapidly craft beer culture is spreading, even in areas that are traditionally
considered wine country.

The wins continue a great run for Smuttynose in European competition. The brewery’s
Big A IPA won the Michael Jackson Award, given to the Best American Beer at the
Great British Beer Festival in August of this year. European interest in craft
beer, and American craft beer in particular, is booming, and Smuttynose is exploring
options by which it can join this European beer renaissance. The medals, which
would have simply been a nice surprise in days past, may now open a door to new
markets.

Smuttynose Brewing Company is New Hampshire’s leading craft brewery. Founded in
1994, Smuttynose brews more than 20 different styles of beer, which are distributed
in 19 different states, including the entire East Coast. Its beers have won many
awards both domestically and abroad and have been featured in publications as
diverse as “Wine Enthusiast,” “Men’s Journal,” and “The New York Times.”


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2011 Kate The Great Day Information Released

For Immediate Release- October 29, 2010- Portsmouth NH

A lot of people have written us with questions and suggestions for 2011's Kate Day, the day we release our famous Kate the Great Russian Imperial Stout. This year, we'll be managing the release differently than in years past. Here are the highlights, in Q & A format:

• When will Kate Day take Place in 2011?
Kate Day will take place on Monday, March 7, 2011.

• How much Kate the Great will be brewed?
We will brew the same quantity as in years past: ten barrels, divided equally between draught and bottles. Approximately 900 bottles will be available for purchase.

• How much do bottles of Kate cost?
After holding the line on price for the last four years, in 2011 the price of 22-ounce bottles of Kate will increase to $15 apiece.

• Will growlers of Kate be available?
No.

• What time are you going to start passing out calendar pages to people who wish to
purchase bottles?
We are not going to use calendar pages this year!

• WHAT? If you're not going to use calendar pages, how are you going to handle
bottle sales?
We're glad you asked! This year, we are going to organize bottle sales using custom-printed scratch tickets. Ten thousand tickets will be available, with nine hundred "winners" mixed randomly among them. These tickets will be sold at the Portsmouth Brewery for $2 apiece starting six weeks prior to Kate Day, until they run out. All of the revenue generated by the sale of these scratch tickets will be donated to a non-profit of our choice. Sale of scratch tickets will be limited to ten per person per day. Scratch tickets must be purchased in person at the Brewery.
None will be sold by mail.

• If I don't live near Portsmouth, how will I be able to purchase a ticket?
This is where you become resourceful and ask your Aunt Tillie in Kittery or your BA trading partners to help out and buy tickets for you.

• So I've got a winning scratch ticket, now what to I do?
A winning scratch ticket has no cash value - it merely entitles the bearer to purchase a single bottle of Kate at his or her convenience any time from March 7 through April 15, 2011. An individual can purchase as many bottles of Kate as he or she has winning scratch tickets. Winning scratch tickets become invalid after April 15, 2011. Any bottles of Kate remaining unsold after that date will be made available to the general public in our retail store.

• So no camping out on the sidewalk in front of the Brewery the night before?
Not for people wishing to buy bottles of Kate - that will no longer be necessary.

• How is draft Kate going to be released?
We've made some changes here, too, compared to years past. The Portsmouth Brewery will open its doors for business at eleven on Kate Day. We will let people into the building in groups of 50, spaced 15 minutes apart, until the restaurant is fully seated. This is to assure that service (and beer) flows smoothly, enabling us to provide the best hospitality throughout the day. The official tapping of Kate will take place around 12:30-ish.

Nebraska Brewing Company Hop God IPA

Hop God poured a very dark copper color with a two fingered width, white head. The aroma is almost a perfect balance of malt and hops. The body is smooth, medium to high carbonation and a full mouthfeel. Bready malt up front, with hops that tun the course of the body. The finish is clean, with fresh piney hops, with a lingering bitterness and dryness. The glass was coated with ringed lace.

Overall, this is a really nice beer, with huge body and depth. There is plenty going on here and is fairly well balanced for a big IPA. Well worth a try if you see it.

Weyerbacher Hops Infusion