Brooklyn Brewery Brewmaster's Reserve Ridgy-Didge Aussie-Style Saison. Brooklyn, NY. Farmhouse Ale/Saison. 8.4% ABV.

Served on tap at Amsterdam Alehouse in a tulip glass. Pours a red-amber color with a two finger foam head that dissipates rather quickly. Smells are lemony and barnyard-esq. The carbonation is on the medium to heavy side with a relatively light body. Tastes are of lemon, citrus, pepper and a hint of licorice. Aftertaste is heavily on the pepper side, with a boozy feel to it.

This was definitely the strongest saison I have tried. I think that the alcohol presence was too strong for my liking. Additionally I had tried a very light sour ale before drinking this one so that may have affected my taste. Regardless, this beer is a one-and-done in my book.

75/100

21st Amendment Hell or High Watermelon. 21st Amendment Brewery. San Francisco, CA. Fruit/Vegetable Beer. 4.9% ABV.

Served chilled and consumed straight from the can. Smells are heavily of watermelon, though on the artificial side. Also smells like a generic, mass produced wheat beer (Blue Moon) The carbonation is on the medium side and it holds a pretty light body. Taste again is heavily watermelon, though it tastes quite fake. The first few sips from the can were nice but the second half of the can was a little much. Overall not a great beer, but I'm glad I finally tried something from 21st Amendment.

65/100

Monk's Cafe Flemish Sour Ale. Flanders Oud Bruin. Brouweirj Van Steenberge N.V., Belgium. 5.5% ABV.

Served chilled from a bottle into a brandy snifter. Pours a deep red-mahogany color with a one finger foam head. Smells are of dark fruits, mostly cherry, with a tart aroma as well. Medium cabonation and body. Taste is of dark cherry, and is very tart and sour. Aftertaste is oaky with a slight sour funk to it. Overall a nice and affordable sour, and one that I enjoyed much more than the Rodenbach.

91/100

Evolution Craft Brewing Lot No 3 IPA. Salisbury, MD. American IPA. 6.8% ABV.

Served chilled in a brandy snifter. (I was out of pub glasses). Pours a murky amber color with a very thin white laced head. I tried to make a thicker head, but could not do it for some reason. The smell was citrusy, malty and hoppy. The carbonation and body were both on the medium-light side. Taste was of peach, citrus peel and the caramel malt. It finished on the bitter side, but was a nice crisp finish. Overall, a delicious IPA that I could drink everyday.

A big thank you to Mike for bringing this back from MD for me!

92/100

Westbrook Mexican Cake. Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina. Imperial Stout with habanero peppers. 10.5% ABV.

Pours a thick black opaque color with a one finger tan, creamy foam head. Smells are heavily of chocolate and vanilla. The carbonation is relatively light though it's a pretty full bodied beer. The tastes are of vanilla, chocolate, cinnamon, and some coffee and there is a peppery and spicy aftertaste.

Overall, this is an interesting, unique and pleasant drinking experience and uncomparable to anything I've ever had. This blows the Stone Smoked Porter with Chipotle Peppers out of water. It is a much more balanced beer that has a less smoky taste to it and focuses more on the contrast between the sweetness of the vanilla, the bitterness of chocolate and the spiciness of the habaneros. 

The beer has been hyped up by lots of liquor stores, as well as on the Twitterverse and craft beer blog world. I can see why everyone has been going crazy about it but I still prefer many imperial stouts over this one. However it really is unlike anything I've had before, and for that, I commend Westbrook for their ingenuity. 

Overall 94/100

Additionally, a big thank you to all the readers during the first month of my site. 3000 views in 1 month!

Rodenbach Classic Red. 75% Young Ale, 25% Ale Matured for two years. Brouwerij Rodenbach N.V., Belgium. Flanders Red Ale. 5.2% ABV.

Served cold from the bottle and poured into a brandy snifter. Pours a beautiful mahogany color with a thin tan lace head. The smells are dark fruits-mostly cherry. Medium carbonation and relatively light body. Has a slight sour taste to it but nothing overpowering. Overall, a very drinkable Flanders Red Ale. Not my favorite beer but this would be a good introduction into sours for newbies.

I knew very little about Rodenbach before trying this beer. I saw it at Carmine Street Beer down in the West Village, and it was one of the few Flanders Reds that they had. After doing a bit of research, I learned that the brewery was founded by four brothers back in 1821 in West Flanders, Belgium. It was a family business for nearly 50 years, until the son of one of the founders produced no male heir. The company went into a public LLC, and the brewery was sold in 1998. One other interesting fact is that their brewery used to supply yeast to Westvleteren, one of the highest regarded breweries in the world (see Westverleteren XII-considered the holy grail of beers).

Overall, I would recommend checking this one out. In terms of sour beers, this one is much more affordable, and if you like it, it goes uphill from here!

86/100

Cigar City Jai Alai. Tampa, Florida. American IPA. 7.5 % ABV

Jai Alai was one of the first IPAs that I tried that I thought "woah this is a world class beer." It happened 2 years ago when I sampled it on tap at Upright Brew House in the West Village of Manhattan. The beer was so smooth, so hoppy and so delicious. It is a refreshing beer, even though it is 7.5% ABV. I had the opportunity to drink one while at a restaurant last week while taking in one of the World Cup matches. 

Served chilled from a can and poured into a 12 oz mug. Pours a beautiful amber color with a healthy, 2 finger foam head. The aroma is very sweet and citrusy. There are hints of grapefruit, mango, peach and hops. The carbonation and body is on the medium side.  The taste is heavily on grapefruit and citrus, and has a delicious caramel malt. The aftertaste has lingering grapefruit notes as well.

Overall I am a huge fan of Jai Alai, and will almost always try out new Cigar City beers. I wasn't a huge fan of the Hopped on the High Seas, but am looking forward to trying their Florida Cracker.

96/100

The Bruery Oude Tart. Flemish Red Ale (Sour). Orange County, CA. 7.5% ABV.

Served at 50 degrees in a red wine glass. Pours a reddish brown color with very little head. The smells are of dark fruit, with a lot of acidity. There are hints of malt and oak, and after reading the bottle, I believe the one off-flavor I detect is leather. The carbonation is on the lighter side, and the taste is incredibly tart and sour, with a slight, puckering funk to it.

Overall this was a phenomenal sour from The Bruery. While I still prefer their Sour in the Rye, this ranks as my number 2 sour so far. I will definitely be on the lookout for more beers by them, and will continue to explore the genre.

Check out the description from BA. A well decorated ale indeed.

Oude Tart is our take on a Flanders Style red ale. It has won back to back gold medals in that category at the World Beer Cup (2010 & 2012) as well as a gold medal at the Great American Beer Festival in 2010. This sour red ale ages in oak barrels for anywhere from 6 to 18 months before being carefully blended to taste. The resulting beer is pleasantly sour with hints of leather, dark fruit and toasty oak.

97/100

Last week I wrote about my favorite stores and bars in NYC. Today I would like to focus on another geographic region, one where many of my readers hail from: Medfield and it's surrounding towns.

I will preface this by explaining that when it comes to craft beer bars in the Boston area, I know very little. Since my area of expertise is NYC, one of my new team members will write about that sometime in the near future.

However, I have learned about a few great stores, and recommend checking them out if you are in back in Medfield.

Medfield Wine Shoppe

Matt expanded his shop a few years ago to include high end craft beers. I have found their selection to be very impressive, as they get a lot of stuff from Wormtown, Maine and other local breweries. He often has a bottle or two open at the front counter, and I have found a few new favorites from those samplings. His wine selection is massive as well-be sure to check him out and tell him Scott sent you.

Harkey's-Route 109 in Millis next to the bowling alley.

Harkey's carries a nice selection of craft beers in addition to their large wine shop. They carry a lot of local beers, like Spencer and Jack's Abby, but I have also found Bourbon County, Maine, Rogue and other brands.

Medway-Liquor World

This has a massive craft beer selection, with a fridge full of bombers and a few isles and fridges full of six packs. They have a large selection of Jack's Abby, Cambridge Brewing Co, Clown Shoes and much more. I have found their prices to be very good as well.

Wegmens

Head on up to Northboro and check out Wegmens selection of craft beers. They have a huge selection, both in six packs and singles.

Divine Wines-Westborough

More great local selections at competitive prices.

Needham Fine Wines

Excellent single bottle selection. A lot of hard to find items and great service. They have a large import selection as well as many local beers.

Always looking for new suggestions-comment away.

Cheers!

Scott

The craft beer store can be an overwhelming experience to the uneducated beer drinker. Many people ask me how I choose what to buy, and specifically, what brands to target and which limited releases are worth buying.

My recommendation would be to locate stores that allow you to make a mixed six-pack. This allows you the freedom to try many different varieties without the financial constraint of buying an entire sixer of the same thing when you don't know if you'll even like it. This was my philosophy early on. I made it a personal rule not to rebuy anything in my mixed six-packs, and was able to develop a love for certain breweries and styles.

I did not do any prior research on breweries or styles prior to beginning my craft beer journey. I tried things from most breweries at my local store before realizing what the good ones are. This was a good and bad process. Bad, because I could have gone online, read the blogs and quickly realized which ones to try and which to avoid. Good, because I developed tastes that were my own, and not ones that the "professionals" told me I should have.

This is not to say that professional rankings aren't a helpful tool while at the store. Very often if I find a new seasonal or brewery, I will look up the beer on beer advocate. I typically look for items rated 90 and above, though will often buy anything above an 80. The issue with low rated beers can be sometimes there are too few reviews, or a prior year's batch skews the results.

The other website that many people use is ratebeer.com. I personally do not like this website, as I have found many of the reviews are all over the place. Things receiving high marks on BA score in the 50s on RB. Similarly, beers that get mid to low 80s on BA get close to 100. Seems a bit random to me...

So after almost 4 years of sampling, which breweries do I recommend?



Stone

Stone is a brewery located in Escondido, CA, and I am proud to say it is my favorite brewery in the country. They have rarely missed in my book, and even the limited releases are usually home runs. I always pick up an Enjoy By, and love their IPA, Ruination, Russian Imperial Stout, Arrogant Bastard, Oaked Arrogant Bastard, Smoked Vanilla Bean Porter and more. The only one that really missed for me was their Porter with Chipotles. I will continue to buy them loyally, and expect to see many more reviews. 

Founders

Founder's is located in Grand Rapids, Michigan. They are most well known for their Kentucky Breakfast Stout (KBS) which is released every April. It is heavier version of their traditional Breakfast Stout, and has hints of coffee and bourbon in it. I went to their launch party this year in NYC, and was very pleased with this year's batch. Other great beers from them include Devil Dancer, All Day IPA, Centennial IPA. Porter, Double Trouble, Imperial Stout, Rubaeus, and more. Definitely check them out, as they have rarely missed for me (like Stone).

Firestone Walker

Firestone Walker has quickly become one of my favorite breweries. I love their Double Jack, Wookey Jack, Union Jack, Easy Jack, Opal, and many more. I currently have a few of their boxed beers (Parabola and Stickee Monkee) waiting to be consumed. They are another West Coast brewery making cutting edge and world class items. You cannot go wrong with anything they brew.

Dogfishhead

What would a craft beer blog be without a plug for Dogfishhead? DFH is located in Milton, Delaware, only a few miles away from Rehobeth Beach. They are well known for their IPAs, but have made a niche in pushing the boundaries in what a "traditional" beer is. Their motto is to make "off-centered ales for off-centered people." This has translated into an Ancient Ales program, in which they brew ancient beers from Egypt, Africa, China, and South America. Their Midas Touch beer was created after analyzing jars from King Midas' tomb (2700 years old). Unlike Founders and Stone, DFH has had a few misses for me. Their Tweason Ale (gluten-free) and Aprihop did not do it for me. However, their 60, 61, 75, 90 and 120 Minute IPAs are phenomenal beers. The 120 is almost too heavy, but the process of brewing it is impressive enough to buy it.

Goose Island

Goose Island is located in Chicago, IL, and though it has the backing of a brewing behemoth, still puts out world class ales that the craft beer community goes wild over. Their Bourbon County Brand contains a number of world class rated beers, and they have expanded into a Farmhouse Ale and Sour selection. Goose Island rarely misses on the higher end beers, but selections like the 312 Urban Wheat are nothing spectacular. Definitely check them out if you have not before (and I have written several of their reviews already!)

Other Breweries to Check Out (in no particular order)

• Lagunitas
• Troegs
• Victory
• AleSmith
• Ballast Point
• Sierra Nevada
• Cigar City
• Allagash
• Russian River
• Avery
• Great Divide
• The Alchemist
• Wormtown
• Jack's Abby
• Maine Brewing Company
• Three Floyds
• The Bruery
• Six Point
• Ithaca
• Bear Republic
• Green Flash
• Bluepoint
• Cambridge Brewing Co
• Clown Shoes
• Any Trappist Brewery

That should be a good start. Come back to me in a few months once you've exhausted the list.

Cheers!

Scott