Here we are. A Friday night in a summer that is drawing to a close - at least up here in Canada. Time to get out some summer bombs out of the stash. • First up is far southwestern New York's Southern Tier's Hoppe, an imperial pale ale. Wow. A drier 10% imperial extra pale ale. Not an imperial …
I popped over the border yesterday with the family for a US shopping spree. Nothing over the top but seeing as we have Watertown NY, a neighbouring a small US City with a college league baseball team, a place with good ribs, a mall with good hoodies for 15 bucks and a 94 cent dollar, why not …
I have to say, I like the anniversary brews. I had Stone's eighth anniversary brew, a 7.8% mild ale that I reviewed back in 2005. And I think this last year's edition uses font half the size compared to two years ago and I suspect there are over 1,000 words in the personal essay by brewer Dave …
read more »So I give the tickets away, come hope to find them, end up having have to dig through the recycling to find the envelope and there it is - and it is not for the Jays against the Tigers...it's for the Thursday night game next week against the Sox. I am so there. • Good reason to break out the …
read more »Two of my favorite eleven a side squads - IPA and AFC • Springtime is here. For me this is the perfect season for those American green, weedy IPAs that taste like liquid salad with gasoline for dressing. Autumn cries out for stouts and porters while winter needs a slow-sipped tripel or the malt …
Another great Upstate NY IPA, this one from the makers of one of my favorite green hopped even arugulan IPA, Flower Power. I noted the press release for Ithaca Beer Co's Double IPA last spring and was happy to see that it was an experiment with local hops. I was also well warned that this brew …
Four really western pale ales and one of my favorites, Southern Tier IPA, from western New York...that counts, right? I don't know what I am expecting to find from this selection. The Rouge Seahorse as well as both Mojo and Hazed & Infused are new to me. But it is time to do another random cross …
I picked up these last time I was in New York, far western IPAs making their way across the continent. While I have had a number of North Coast brews before - like their Rasputin Imperial Stout - and have seen them fairly regularly, it was only around last Christmas that I noted the Lagunitas …
Can these guys make a bad beer? • This ale pours a light tan foam and rim over bright cherry-amber ale. You pick up heat from the first whiff. Check the bottle. Yikes 11%. I thought it was a Double IPA - but no...it's an Imperial IPA. Good thing the Mets and Braves went to 14 innings. Another …
A quiet weekend around here as I was off in central New York state picking up some more beer to keep your insatiable appetite for my views on brews fed...or at least watered. Also quiet because I've been muttering under my breath about another digital camera that has died on me. For the short term …