Monday

No beer. Took my wife for dinner at blend on the water, a new Latin fusion spot in LIC. Their draft system wasn't operating, and they had $5 mojitos and margaritas for happy hour, so I opted for one of each. By the time I was a quarter way through the second drink I was wishing it was a beer because it was so sweet. Oh well. I made up for it on Tuesday. 

Tuesday

Dogfishhead tap takeover at Rattle n Hum, New York, NY. I started with a 75 minute IPA served on cask. A cask beer is served at room temperature and pumped by hand, so it has way less carbonation than your typical draft beer. It was hoppy, but not overpoweringly so. Very drinkable. I'm not the biggest IPA fan, yet, so this was perfect to get my hops fill for the night. Next up was the dogfish head palo santo marron. This strong brown ale, served at an 8oz pour, aged on Paraguayan palo santo wood, comes in at a heavy 12.0% ABV and does not try to hide its booziness. Its roasty, malty flavor was good but subdued by the alcohol. An interesting dark beer but not something I'd hunt out. Following up was the Indian brown ale. Hoppier than an average brown, making for interesting raisin flavors to go with the more typical chocolate and coffee notes. A solid beer I'd have again. And finally, to close out the night I had the dogfish head red and white. Red and white, a strong Belgian wit, gets its name because a portion of it is aged in Pinot noir barrels and another portion is aged on oak staves before being blended back together. It was very good, but at 10.0% ABV, not my best choice to end the night. I'll definitely have this one again next. 

Wednesday

No beer needed the night off after Tuesday night, which included a funny story about how I convinced my wife I ordered what was a mis-delivered pizza, but that's a tale for another blog. 

Thursday

Bells Oberon, on tap, Woodbines, LIC: Oberon is a crisp and refreshing wheat beer. It's quickly becoming one of my go to summer brews. Goes well with everything from a cheese plate to a cheese burger. 

Friday

No beer. I went to the Yanks-Sox game and had dinner at the NYY Steakhouse at the stadium. The beer list was particularly weak so I started with a Ketel One martini with blue cheese stuffed olives before a few glasses of red wine with my bone in dry aged NY strip. I love a good porter with a steak but there was none to be found. 

Saturday

Blue Point Toasted Lager, on tap, Zoob Zib Thai restaurant, NYC: a random little thai place on 9th ave in the 30's with a respectable little tap list. BPTL is a solid, toasty lager. It's a beer you can feel comfortable bringing over to someone's house and be confident most will enjoy it, from craft beer fans to those who haven't strayed from the world of macro brew yet. In fact, it's a perfect entry beer for expanding ones beer horizons. 

That's it for this week. Biggest lesson learned, don't go overboard on different high ABV brews in the same night. Or you might wind up paying for a pizza you didn't order.

Written By: Chris H. 

JP Casper White Stout. Stevens Point Brewery-Stevens Point, Wisconsin. American Stout. 6% ABV.

This one jumped out to me at the store given its self-proclaimed status as a White Stout, as the box boasted that the beer was brewed with white chocolate. I probably should have read some reviews before buying it, but I decided that it was worth giving a shot because I had never heard of a white chocolate stout.

The JP Casper pours a golden brown hue with a white head – basically indistinguishable from your typical pale ale. The beer smells of white chocolate, cherry, and maybe even a hint of almond. Given the way it poured into the mug, it came as little surprise that the beer felt like a lightly carbonated ale on the palate and tasted as such with some subtle notes of white chocolate and cherry. If I learned anything from trying the JP Casper, it’s that I should always check reviews on my phone before buying a new beer and that a true white chocolate stout, as the name might suggest, probably doesn’t exist.

Written By: Eric Talve

Monday - Hitachino Nest Espresso Stout, on tap at Alewife, LIC, Queens. 

This was my first time having this well regarded Japanese stout, so I was excited to see it on the draft list at my neighborhood craft beer spot. Strong notes of coffee, on both the nose and tongue, as anticipated. Unanticipated was a fruity, sour-ish finish. I'm not sure if this was how the beer was meant to taste or a product of some other bar-induced circumstances. In either case, it left an unfavorable taste in my mouth. Not sure I'll give it another shot right away.


Tuesday - Peekskill Simple Sour, on tap at Valhalla, New York, NY. 

It was a hot day in the city and after the beer I originally intended to have based on their beermenus.com list upated the day before, SixPoint's 3Beans coffee porter, was already 86'ed, I decided to opt for something refreshing, making for a great opportunity to build on my newfound appreciation of sour beers. Simple Sour is one of the more popular sours and with good reason. The beer is exactly what it says it is, a simple sour. Refreshing, tart, tangy and very drinkable. I'll definitely have more of this one throughout the summer.


Wednesday - Founders KBS, Founders Devil Dancer, Allagash Curieux, on tap at District Tap House, New York, NY.

I got an email Wednesday afternoon from beermenus.com letting me know there was KBS on tap at a bar nearby bar. A KBS tapping is a special event and I wasn't passing it up because there's no telling the next time it will turn up. Turn out it was the tail end of a Founders tap take over from the previous night. KBS is one of my favorite beers, an amazingly well balanced coffee stout aged in bourbon barrels. It was served in a wine glass at $12 for a 10 oz pour. Well worth it and I was disappointed the keg was kicked shortly after I ordered mine. It did give me the chance to try some other beers. Devil Dancer, founders new triple IPA, is very hoppy, very floral on the nose. A solid example of what a good, strong IPA should be. The Allagash curieux is a Belgian tripel aged in Jim Beam bourbon barrels. The barrel aging was much more subtle here compared to the various other barrel aged beers I've had. This is likely due to Allagash blending the aged tripel with some fresh tripel before bottling. It was strong, yeasty, and flavorful. Not something I'd have often but something I'd have again. I'd be interested to try it without the fresh tripel added back in the mix. Note, I only had a sample of the Devil Dancer. These three beers are all heavy hitters in the alcohol content, with the KBS coming in at 11.2 abv, Devil Dancer at a whopping 12.0 and the Curieux at 11.2. Once the KBS ran out I wanted to try the other two and made the call to go with the sample of the DD because I feel it will be easier to find than the Curieux.


Thursday - Sunday - New Belgium Fat Tire, 6 pack of bottles, Boca Raton, FL. 

I was away for the weekend, visiting family in south Florida. New Belgium is a great brewery out of Ft.Collins, Colorado. It's very well known throughout the country but they don't have distribution in New York City yet as far as I know. I pick up a sixer every time I'm in Florida to enjoy while I'm out in the sun. Fat Tire, their signature brew, is an amber ale with great malty flavor. I could drink this beer every day. Crisp and refreshing, with a 5.2 abv, it's
extremely drinkable. It will be a staple in my fridge as soon as it's available in NY!


Overall a very solid beer week. An unexpected midweek KBS find is always a big win.

Craft beer lessons from the week: beermenus.com is your friend. This goes for both the craft beer fan and craft beer bar. Update your favorite beers so you get notified when they're available in your area. And bars, us craft beer fans really do go to places based on what's on your list. So keep them updated regularly!

So I decided to take a page out of Scott’s book and do a blind taste test of two of my favorite brews from one of my favorite breweries: Trois Pistoles and Maudite from Unibroue out of Chambly, Quebec, Canada. On a ski trip to Quebec City this past winter, I was lucky enough to stumble across a pub serving 4 types of Unibroue on draught and really fell in love with Trois Pistoles. In the months since the trip, I have favored Trois Pistoles over its cousin, Maudite,every time I see the two at the store. Both are listed as “Belgian Strong Dark Ales” on Beer Advocate and seemed fairly similar having never explicitly pinned them against each other.

Below are the vital stats for each beer per Unibroue’s website:

Maudite. 8.0% ABV. 22 IBU. Strong Amber Red Ale.First brewed in 1992.

Trois Pistoles. 9.0% ABV. 15.5 IBU. Abbey Style Strong Dark Brown. First brewed in 1997.​

Because I’m pretty familiar with each beer, I sampled each in a snifter glass while blindfolded. I sipped the first one and was fairly convinced that I had been given my favorite, Trois Pistoles. After sampling the second, I was convinced that beer 1 was Trois Pistoles and beer 2 was the lesser, but still fabulous Maudite. WRONG.

Maudite

After taking the blindfold off, I was surprised to learn that this one has a distinctly lighter color than Trois Pistoles with a dark golden-brown hue. This one has a powerful aroma of orange, spice, and a hint of hops in the background. Like all the Unibroues I’ve sampled, the Maudite is heavily carbonated. The finish is a bit on the dry side and the aftertaste pleasantly lingers on the palate.

Trois Pistoles

This one is clearly darker than Maudite – borderline black with a darker brownish head. The smell is sweeter than Maudite with hints of grape and spice, but with a noticeable lack of hoppiness.

Trois Pistoles is also heavily carbonated with a port wine-like taste that separates it from most beers that I’ve tried. This one also has a strong yet welcome aftertaste and leaves the mouth a little drier than Maudite due to its sweeter taste profile.

With my tail between my legs, I’ve gotta give the nod to Maudite, but both of these beers are among my favorites.

Maudite - 96/100
Trois Pistoles - 95/100

If you haven’t tried one or both of these beers, I’d recommend you give them both a shot. Unibroue is best known for its Tripel, La Fin du Monde, which I would also recommend any day of the week. Look for the big 750ml bottles complete with cork tops at places like Trader Joe’s (which carries La Fin du Monde, only) or your local beer store.

-Chris H.

Written By: Chet Maplewood

Okay. I didn’t get home from the restaurant until 5 this morning, but I’m awake again, with a tall boy of Marshall Wharf Cant Dog DIPA in my system and plenty of Wu Tang bouncing off the walls of my apartment building. I’m ready for some flow of my own, my first blog.

Here are 5 beers my staff is judging you for ordering, and my suggestions for what you ought to be drinking instead.

BLUE MOON/SHOCK TOP

I have a hate/love relationship with these ubiquitous, pseudo-craft Belgian Whites. On the one hand I HATE the fact that MillerCoors and AB-InBev have tricked so many people into thinking they are drinking something close to the small batch, artisanal brews I hold in such high esteem. At the same time, I LOVE that there are millions of casual beer drinkers out there who are somewhat primed to experience the endless pleasures of Belgian-style ale. This phenomenon really requires its own post, so I’ll wrap things up with some serviceable upgrades that actually capture the refreshing splendor of beer brewed wheat, orange peel and coriander: Allagash White, Southhampton Double White, and Cisco Gray Lady.

HARPOON IPA

Harpoon IPA is everywhere in Boston. Everywhere. Even behind my bar, which features some of the most exotic drafts available in the state, we always have a line of ‘Poon. It’s a moneymaker for vendors and a familiar step up from light lager for the customer looking for a beer that tastes like SOMETHING, but at the end of the day, I think of Harpoon IPA as the unceremonious first step in the 1,000 mile journey that is India Pale Ale. Step two? Try Dale’s Pale Ale, Lagunitas IPA, or Green Flash West Coast IPA, then we’ll talk hops.

SAM ADAMS BOSTON LAGER

Jim Koch, whom I’ve met a couple times, is one of the godfathers of the American craft beer movement and deserves a great deal of respect. That said, Boston Beer Company, commonly known as Sam Adams, represents a whopping 1% of beer consumed domestically and needed the U.S. Congress to increase the production limit from 2 million barrels to 6 million last year in order to retain the moniker (and tax breaks) of a craft brewery. Their flagship Boston Lager, an amber, malty Vienna-style lager is a fine beer, and often your best option for flavor at a ballgame, concert, or fundraiser. To the Sam drinkers out there, the subtle pleasures of other real lagers await! I’m all about pouring pints of Boston Lager alongside another tasty, locally brewed sample of Berkshire Brewing’s Life On Marzen Lager, or a time-honored, real deal German lager like Weihenstephaner (est. 1040 A.D.).

ANY SHANDY

I won’t name names, but shandys have become a big thing this summer and they usually suck. For those who don’t know, a shandy is basically beer mixed with a soft drink, usually some for of lemonade. More often than not, the mass-market bottled form of shandy is not much more than fizzy, boring beer masked with a cloyingly sweet, artificial citrus infusion. If you must eschew the incredible array of juicy, fruit-forward, dry hopped brews out there, I’ll confess I have a soft spot for Narragansett Shandy, a BBQ-friendly collaboration with the iconic Del’s Lemonade. Better yet, ask your bartender to MAKE YOU a shandy, with real beer and the fresh juice of your choosing.

BUD LIGHT

Sigh. In 2012, almost 20% of the beer consumed in America was Bud !@#$%*& Light. The history of beer in America, specifically the rise of the flavorless light lager, will fill another post at another time. For now, just know the popularity of Bud Light and its ilk can be attributed to some really bad lawmaking (see: Prohibition) and not much else. Those funny TV ads serve to distract the masses from realizing that Bud barely deserves to be called beer. Since the dawn of civilization, beer has been appreciated as a mystical concoction with unparalleled diversity of flavor, texture, potency, and nutrients(!) in its many, many iterations. Bud Light is a brand, not a beer. If you only drink Bud Light (I’ve watched people turn and walk out of my restaurant when they find out we don’t carry it), and you have even the slightest interest in enjoying beer in some capacity other than getting drunk, take a deep breath and actually CONSIDER something else. Literally. Anything. Bud Heavy?


ABOUT ME
I manage a restaurant in Boston with tons of good beer on tap and the food to match; a large amount of my time is spent tasting, studying, and teaching the enjoyment of beer in particular and paying attention to your palate in general. I don't have a favorite beer, but Ayinger Celebrator changed my life shortly after I turned 21. Chet Maplewood isn't my real name.

I am excited to announce that in the near future, we will be adding a new team of authors! I will continue to maintain my blog page, but this will serve as an additional insight into craft beers around the country. 

Cheers!

Scott