December 12, 2011
Moylan’s NorCal IPA
It doesn’t make a difference if there’s frost on the ground and you can see your breathe float away from you in the morning light. It could be 20 below zero and it wouldn’t make a difference. When that craving for a hoppy IPA hits, let the cold weather beware. I’ve had a couple of [...]
December 8, 2011
2011 Anchor Our Special Ale
There are only a handful of winter-specific beers that I absolutely must find each and every holiday season. There are even less of those that I buy with the sole purpose of setting down in the basement for an extended period of time. Anchor Brewing’s Our Special Ale has always been one of those few. [...]
December 7, 2011
Firestone Walker Walker’s Reserve Porter
I haven’t had a Firestone Walker beer that I haven’t thoroughly enjoyed. From the Union Jack to the amazingly awesome Parabola, each beer is distinctive in flavor and of outstanding quality. Finding this bottle of their Walker’s Reserve Porter a couple of weeks back immediately drew a Pavlovian response from my salivary glands almost immediately. [...]
December 6, 2011
Leinenkugel’s Big Eddy One Year Tasting
Just about this time last year I received several samples from Leinenkugel’s Big Eddy Russian Imperial Stout. I decided to take advantage of the brewery’s generosity and setup a series of tastings. You can get caught up with the fresh and six-month reviews if you like before diving into this one year tasting of this [...]
December 5, 2011
Stone Brewing 15th Anniversary Escondidian Imperial Black IPA
I’ve had a few Black IPAs over the past couple of years as the style has grown. I’ve had some decent ones and I’ve had some poorly crafted ones. The good ones straddle the line between the black and the IPA, creating and evenly balanced beer. The bad ones, not so much. For their 15th [...]
December 2, 2011
Beach Haus Winter Rental
Back in April, earlier this year, I had the opportunity to sample East Coast Beer Company’s Beach Haus. I described the beer as having a singular purpose in life — to be enjoyed at the beach in the heat of a glorious Summer day. Well, now that the weather has gotten significantly colder the brewery [...]
December 1, 2011
Boon Kriek
As followers of this site may have noticed over the past year or so, I’ve recently gotten more into sours, krieks, lambics and the like. I’ve had some that were almost too tart/sour to enjoy and I’ve had others that were so cloyingly sweet that it was like drinking coolaid. I’ve also had a few [...]
November 30, 2011
Cricket’s Nocturne
I’d seen this beer several times over the past six months or so, but for some reason only just recently decided to pick up a bottle and try it out. New Jersey based Cricket Hill Brewing’s dark lager, Cricket’s Nocturne, turned out to be a tasty little treat. This beer proved to be the right [...]
November 29, 2011
Rodenbach Classic
I’ve only recently been getting into more sour-style brews the past couple of years, but there was always one beer that was recommended I try for as long as I can remember being a craft beer fan. Rodenbach, a Flanders Red Ale, has been on top of several wishlists through the years, but I was [...]
November 28, 2011
Japanese Green Tea IPA
I hope every one had themselves a wonderful Thanksgiving Day celebration full of good food and beer. This collaborative effort between Baird Brewing, Ishii Brewing and Stone Brewing wasn’t enjoyed over the holidays, but a couple of weeks ago (still working on that backlog of reviews). I’m not much of a teach drinker, but it’s [...]
