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2014: The Year in Beer

12/31/2014

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This was a great year in beer for me. I began my blog, brewed 3 batches of homebrew, attended numerous special events including KBS, Parabola and Bourbon County Release parties, two NYC Craft Beer Festivals, as well as the Carmine Street first anniversary and Bruery night at The Ginger Man. Let's reflect a bit. 

A big thank you to a number of people who helped make this blog a success. Thank you to my brother Kevin for setting up the website for me and for making it so easy to manage. Thank you to my guest writers Eric Talve, Kevin Scott, Chris H., Peter Modest and Chet Maplewood for their contributions to the site. Great posts and insight from other geographic areas. And of course thank you to my followers for reading! 20,000 page views since the website began! I will resume posting more often in 2015 and have a ton of new content. 

I'd like to name a few highlights from this year. 


1. Lots and lots of Heady Topper.

I had the opportunity to enjoy Heady Topper a whopping 16 times this year. A big thank you to Cathy, Harry, and Tyler for being able to acquire some for me. As everyone who reads this knows, this is far and away my favorite beer, and is really in a class of its own. The perfect DIPA. 

2. Bourbon County

This year, I was able to enjoy many of the bottles of BCBS that I purchased in 2013. My grocery store kept it stocked until August which was nuts but allowed me to buy it every once in a while for a special occasion. From Black Friday to today, I was able to acquire 6 BCBS originals, 4 coffees, 4 barley wines, 2 Backyard Rye and 1 Vanilla rye. Quite a good year!

3. Tap Takeovers

As I mentioned up above, I went to tap takeovers for The Bruery, Firestone Walker, Founders (twice!), Stone and Goose Island (3 times). My favorite was The Bruery. Not only was it on my 25th birthday, but it was the largest Bruery tap takeover outside of their Orange County taproom ever! I had the chance to try about 10 different things through the flights my big group ordered, and loved almost all of them. Grey Monday and Chocolate Rain were the two big winners. Parabola night and KBS night were both two big takeovers which were so much fun. The Stone night also let me meet Greg Koch, founder and CEO of Stone. We enjoyed a beer together and talked about his brewery a bit. Such a cool experience.  It is always great to be able to put together a group to go try some world class beers. I think everyone enjoyed themselves. Looking forward to more great ones in 2015!

4. Home brewing

My roommate and I finally embarked on the adventure that is home brewing. Our first batch, which I documented in a few posts, was an English style brown ale. All reviews from friends and family were positive, and we are still enjoying the remaining bottles from our stash. The second beer I held out on writing about since it was such a disappointing experience. We tried to brew a Robust Honey Porter with our own additions to make it a Christmas beer. We added cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice and allowed the beer to ferment for about 2.5 weeks. After testing the alcohol levels we sampled the beer and were surprised how harsh the cinnamon flavor was. Not wanting to waste our brew, we got extra creative and added spruce to the tank. Well, it turns out that a little bit of spruce is nice, but when you throw in two branches into a five gallon tank, it smells like liquefying 1000 car air fresheners. We bottled about 1 gallon and tried another drastic step. We created a tea-bag full of coffee beans and tried to mellow out the spruce. Sort of worked but we only bottled one gallon of this next batch. In all, we bottled 2/5 gallons and made Mike P. officially hate his own Christmas tree. Whoops! Our third and final batch of the year has been a success so far. We brewed a Belgian style Tripel, and added tangerine peel during the boil. We sampled it on Sunday and it has fermented to about 9% ABV and tastes delicious! We are looking to bottle New Years Day. Next up is a cider, then perhaps an IPA. Many more homebrews to report soon!

5. NYC Craft Beer Festivals

I attended two of the NYC Craft Beer Festivals this year. I went in the spring and fall, and enjoyed both very much. I was able to sample rare and new beers alike, and got to meet some local brewery owners and distributors. I still keep in touch with some and look forward to attending one or two of these next year. If you have the opportunity to attend, make sure you buy the VIP level tickets early. You get in an hour before general and the tickets are usually only $15-20 more. Totally worth it not to stand in line for every beer!

6. My Favorite Stores

Carmine Street beers celebrated their first anniversary this year which I wrote an article about. They also held a BCBS release party in November and will be hosting some really cool things in January. City Swiggers had a great selection as always, as did Top Hops, Good Beer, the Pioneer a Grocery Store, Whole Foods and Key Foods. In MA, Medfield Wine Shoppe had many great new selections and recommendations. Palumbo Liquors had a great year and have expanded their craft selections tremendously. And it Fort Myers the Total Wine had a great selection of local Florida beers I rarely find.

7. My favorite bars

Upright Brew House had a strong year, with many new world class beers on tap and in bottles. Many of my readers know about Upright and the great things Jay, Rob and Ali are doing. Amsterdam Ale House, Beer Authority, Rattle n Hum, Alewife, Ginger Man and One Mile House also had some great selections this year. 

8. Top new beers tried

It is a tough thing to just a few. I tried a number of new beers this year through tastings, festivals and flights but these are some of my highlights. See below the article for some pictures. 


Heady Topper (see above section-hard to believe this was the first year I had it!) 


Jacks Abby Kiwi Rising, Mass Rising, Vanilla and Coffee Framinghammer


Dogfish Raison D'Extra 

Wormtown Hopulence

Goose Island Bourbon County Vanilla 

Goose Island Bourbon County Coffee 2013

The Bruery:

-Tart of Darkness

-Sour in the Rye

-Grey Monday

-Chocolate Rain

Firestone Walker Parabola and Stickee Monkee

Founders KBS 

2011 Southern Tier Pumking

9. Expansion of my beer cellar


I was able to expand my cellar collection to close to 75 bottles, and have a number of rare beers stored away for future vertical tastings. I plan on doing a post at some point in early 2015 about my cellar, as well as how to begin your own cellar collection. 



10. What does next year hold?

I am excited for 2015 in the beer world. I have grown my beer cellar and have some great vertical tastings planned for next year. Additionally, there are some great events coming up for tap takeovers, events at beer stores and craft beer bars, and new releases coming out. Again, thanks to all my readers for a tremendous 2014, and I look forward to reviewing more and hearing about your tastings in 2015!


Cheers!
Scott



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Lagavulin 16

12/26/2014

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In honor of Boxing Day, I have chosen to review a glass of Lagavulin 16, a Single Malt Whiskey brewed on the island of Islay in Scotland. The distillery dates back to 1816, though is now owned by Diageo (Guinness, Johnnie Walker, Baileys, Smirnoff, Hennessy etc.) It is a very well known and highly regarded single malt scotch, typically enjoyed by the scotch connoisseur. 

My review is brief given my lack of knowledge about the spirit. Served neat and at room temperature and poured into a brandy snifter. Pours an absolutely beautiful reddish-brown color with a hint of orange. The spirit is clear as could be. Smell is medicinal and very smokey. It almost smells like a campfire or a burnt cigar. Taste is unbelievably smooth, with hints of the peat from the island. Aftertastes is smokey as well and warming.

I will also add that this bottle is not only a 16 year variety, but is 13 years old. Age did some wonderful things to this spirit, and I would definitely assume added some strength to the alcohol. Highly recommended.

Check out this clip below from Parks and Recreation where Ron Swanson visits the Lagavulin distillery. 
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St. Bernadus Christmas Ale 2014

12/25/2014

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Merry Christmas to all of my readers! In honor of today, I have selected one of the most well known Christmas beers in the world.

St. Bernadus Christmas Ale 2014. Brouweij St. Bernadus NV. Trappistenweg 23 Watou, Belgium. Quadrupel Ale 10% ABV.

Served semi-chilled from a bomber and poured into an oversized goblet. Pours a dark brown color with a two finger white foam head that disappears very quickly (I had to keep pouring to get a picture with a head on it!) Smells are of dark fruits, mostly raisin and fig, as well as sweet sugars and yeast. Carbonation is moderate with a medium to light body. I was expecting this beer to be much heavier than it actually was. I think the surprising consistency enhanced my perception of this beer. Taste was like the smell. Dark fruits and sweet sugars shine through, and a nice bready malt is present. There are some seasonal spices on the end, but not much of an aftertaste other than sweet and warming.

If you couldn't tell already, this beer was nothing like I expected. Hands down the easiest drinking beer over 10% I have encountered (and a Christmas quad at that!) If you have the opportunity to find this beer, please purchase it. This is a very difficult to find beer and can actually be aged for 15 years. I had mine fresh but failed to pick up a second bottle (not cheap either...) However, if split with friends or enjoyed on your own, it promises to be a great winter seasonal.

93/100
$15/bomber
Beer Advocate
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You Enjoy My Stout

12/22/2014

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Cambridge Brewing Company You Enjoy My Stout. Imperial Stout aged in Bourbon Barrels. Cambridge, MA. 10% ABV.

Served chilled from a 22 oz bomber and poured into a wine glass. Pours a deep black color with a two finger creamy tan foam head. Smells are of roasted malts, coffee, chocolate and BOURBON! Carbonation is moderate-actually much more carbonated than I was anticipating- and the body is full-though not as full as I anticipated. Taste is sweet and chocolatey, smooth yet with a burning bite from the bourbon aging. The dark malts shine through, though at times there is a somewhat wateriness to the beer. Certain tastes are intense and flavorful and others are somewhat duller. Aftertaste is mostly bourbon and warming.

Overall I thoroughly enjoyed this beer from Cambridge. I picked up the bottle at Medfield Wine Shoppe and am thrilled I did. I would definitely recommend, and it certainly gets better as the beer warms. 

92/100
$10/22 oz bomber
Beer Advocate Review

As a new feature I will put in the Beer Advocate review to check mine! I rarely post on BA so I will keep my reviews to here, Untappd (HOLBS) and Instagram
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Bear Republic Cafe X

12/19/2014

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Coming to you live via Amtrak!

Bear Republic Racer X. American Double IPA. Healdsburg, CA 8.3% ABV.

Served chilled from a 22 oz bomber and consumed straight from the bottle (it's Amtrak-gotta hide it!) Smells very floral with lots of citrus notes. Carbonation is moderate with a medium to full body. Taste is of mango, pineapple, apricot, bitter hops and a hint of lemon grass. Aftertaste is sweet yet bitter.

Overall a solid beer from Bear Republic. I don't think I've reviewed this one before but I am a big fan of the 5 and 15. Was only logical to buy the 10!

93/100

$10/22 oz bomber at Penn Station

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Bourbon County Vanilla Rye 2014

12/14/2014

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Goose Island Bourbon County Vanilla Rye 2014. Chicago, IL 13% ABV.

Served chilled from a 22 oz bomber and poured into tulip glasses. Pours a dark brown to black color with a one finger frothy tan foam head. Smells are heavily of bourbon and vanilla. It is extremely sweet, and smells like it will be a delicious dessert. Carbonation is light with a very, very, very fully body. Taste is unlike anything I've had before. The first taste is sweet and warming, with the bourbon and malt notes coming through towards the middle. The finish is of vanilla, molasses, chocolate, bourbon and so much more. I savored every  last sip of this magical creation.

As you can tell, I found this variant of Bourbon County to be life changing. I hope next year they make a larger selection, or at least release a 1 year aged version of it like they did the Backyard Rye this year. I can honestly say this was one of the best beers I have ever tried, and am going to do my best to find another bottle of it. To give this beer a 100/100 is almost not enough.

100/100

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Adoration

12/13/2014

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Ommegang Adoration Ale. Cooperstown, NY. Belgian Strong Dark Ale. 10% ABV.

Served chilled from a 12 oz bottle and poured into a snifter. Pours a purple-brown color with a thin tan laced head. Smells are of dark fruits, alcohol and yeast. Carbonation is moderate with a medium to full body. Taste is sweet and yeasty, with hints of figs, molasses and raisins. Aftertaste is alcoholic and spicy. 

Overall a pretty solid beer from Ommegang. A strong Belgian dark that I would buy again. I prefer many other Christmas beers over this but still quite good.

88/100
$2.69/12 oz bottle
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Some Recent Highlights

12/10/2014

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My apologies for the lack of posts over the last month or two. I've been cutting back a little bit on the new beers and trying to post more quality items. However, it might be interesting to start doing a monthly check in of the non-post worthy beers that I have tried. See below for some from the past month that didn't get a post of their own. There may be a few others upcoming that warranted their own post but haven't been written yet!

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Master of Disguise

12/7/2014

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Stone Stochasticity Project Master of Disguise Imperial Golden Stout. Stout brewed with cocoa and coffee beans. Stone Brewing Company Escondido, CA. 9.7% ABV.

Served chilled from a 22 oz bomber and poured into a snifter. Pours a copper-amber color with a thin off white foam head. Smells are of coffee and chocolate, mostly coffee actually. Carbonation is moderate with a medium to full body. Taste is of coffee, chocolate and a slight creaminess. If I closed my eyes I would think this was an incredibly dark beer. Based on the types of malts they are able to achieve a lighter color. There is some hop character but is really overshadowed by a burnt espresso taste. Aftertaste lingers and is somewhat harsh, almost like a black cup of coffee.

I went into this not knowing what to expect at all. Founders recently did a beer called Dark Penance which was a Black IPA. Closing your eyes and drinking that had a similar effect, as I would have thought that beer was really light. Best Bars in America did part an episode where they explored this phenomenon as well. There is a stigma that dark beers are heavy and light beers are light. Not necessarily true. Yes Bourbon County is dark and 14%, and Evil Twin Bikini Beer is 2.7% and light, but Guinness is only 4.2% (and lighter on calories than most beers out there) and Dogfish 120 Minute IPA (relatively light in color) ranges from 15-19% ABV. But there can be light colored stouts, dark colored IPAs and a variety of other things.

I will say I did not care much for the Dark Penance (I won't waste a post on reviewing that but will post a picture below) and I wonder if it had something to do with the color. It did taste roasty for an IPA, but I wonder if it had what I call the Heinz Ketchup effect on me. When I was a kid Heinz came out with the Green Ketchup. I could close my eyes and not be able to tell the difference between the green and the red. I couldn't stomach it though when I looked at it on my plate (that color doesn't exist anywhere in nature). I wonder if this was the same effect. Funny though that I enjoyed the lighter stout though. It was definitely different tasting than some of it's counterparts, but in general I tend to enjoy the heavier coffee style beers. 

Enough rambling. Bravo Stone on a golden stout. I would definitely buy again.

90/100
$9.99/22 oz bomber
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Enjoy By 12.26.14

12/6/2014

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Stone Enjoy By 12.26.14. Escondido, CA. American DIPA. 9.4% ABV.

Served chilled from a 22 oz number and poured into a snifter. Pours a copper color with a two finger white foam head. Smell is citrusy, piney and malty. Smells incredibly fresh, perhaps more than usual. I haven't had this beer in about 3 Enjoy By cycles so this could be why. Carbonation is moderate to high with a medium body. Taste is very bitter and hoppy, though there are certainly hints of orange and other fruits.

I purposely didn't cross check this review with previous Enjoy By reviews, but I am sure they are quite similar. Always a world class batch of incredibly fresh beer.

99/100

$8.99/22oz bomber

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    Scott is a craft beer lover living in NYC who enjoys sampling new beers and educating friends and family on the diverse and exciting world of beer. 

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