Wolf Among Weeds IPA Keeps the Great Hopocolypse Rolling

Can we make a pact right now?  If any one of us in the US of A catches another beer drinker complaining that he can’t find a good IPA in his local beer store that we slap some sense into said beer drinker.  Literally. If said beer drinker persists, can we please stare at him …

Rising Tide’s Zephyr Pushes our IPA Boundaries

We live in a world with a glut of hoppy beers.  Let’s get something straight: I’m not complaining.  When I die, I’d like to be entombed in citra hops.  In this heavily-hopped world we live in, however, we’ve begun to hit a wall.  Though we have access to a myriad of piney and uber-citrusy West …

Lost Beer Passage from Kahlil Gibran’s ‘The Prophet’

Then an old man, a keeper of a bar, said, Speak to us of Beer. And he said: Would that you could live simply on the fruits of the earth and be sustained by wine. But since you were born to drink delicious craft beer made locally by brewmasters who harness the powers of grains …

Rising Tide Brewing Company Teaches Us How to Truly Drink Responsibly

For a long time, I’ve wanted to write about Rising Tide Brewing Company’s Zephyr.  It’s an autonomous IPA, a true original in our beer-scape of citrusy West Coast knockoffs.  It tastes more of pears than grapefruit or pine.  It hits the pallet with something unique. But I have something more pressing on my mind.  Something …

Hill Farmstead Brewery is a Microbrew Dream

You find yourself in Burlington, Vermont, and you don’t know why. You’re not frightened. You’re where you’re supposed to be. It’s night. You walk down Church Street and get a Bombay Grab IPA at Vermont Pub and Brewery. This is delicious, you think. After tipping the angelic woman behind the bar, you walk up St. …

Always Remember, It’s Just Beer

To some people, the title of this blog might be blasphemy.  Like when Mick Jagger sang through those big puffy lips, “I know, it’s only rock and roll, but I like it.”  A lot people were up in arms.  Only rock and roll?!  How can Mick be saying this only five years after Woodstock?  How?! …

Sierra Nevada Pale Ale is the American Ale Gold Standard

We live in a new world.  I like to think of it as the post-Anheuser era.  The neo-beer years where we are no longer shackled by watered-down lagers as the only option in our drinking lives.  The store shelves are lush with a varietal of craft-brewed beers. As with all great eras in human history, …

Maine Beer Company’s Lunch is the Best Beer in Maine

Yeah, bold title, but it’s true.  Maine Beer Company’s Lunch is the best tasting beer in the great state of Maine.  And that’s saying something in a state that boasts a deluge of world class brews. The new hip beer on the scene is the sweet/sour, yeasty saison.  In Maine, craft beer disciples are gushing …

When Life Hands You Citra Hops, Make Zombie Dust

In my pursuit of the perfect IPA there have been a small handful of recurring beers people tell me I have to try.  120 Minute IPA.  Check.  Maine Beer Company’s Lunch.  Check.  Hop Stoopid.  Sierra Nevada Hoptimum.  Hop Wallop.  Green Flash.  Check.  Check.  Check.  Check. I’ve even found myself holding the elusive and mysterious Heady …

Maine’s Best Drink-Me-Everyday IPA Is An Old Friend

You can’t swing a growler in Maine today without hitting a new brewery crafting high quality beer.  Gone are the days of swilling Shipyard and Gritty’s because you were dying to drink local beer.  Maine has joined the brewing revolution with full force.  Rising Tide, Maine Beer Company, Oxbow, Baxter Brewing, among others, have brought …