AleSmith IPA

So I learned about a new subreddit the other day, New Beer Friday, and I immediately wanted in on the fun. I've heard a lot of hype about AleSmith Brewing, especially Speedway Stout, a perfect rated beer on Ratebeer, but I wanted to start closer to the beginnings. So I ordered a case of AleSmith IPA and immediately took home a bottle and tucked it in the fridge for Friday. After playing some reggae music, then delivering some "medicine" for a friend with MS, I finally got home just before midnight and poured this wonderful nectar. Usually I'd try and find some facts about a brewery and other little nuggets, but I'm not doing any of it, other that checking if there's a space in AleSmith (There is NOT).
AleSmith IPA is a beautiful IPA, up front citrus hops, followed by nice sweetness from the pale malts and finished with immense bitterness. It's an IPA that's just perfectly balanced, and I instantly wish it was cheaper so I could stock my fridge with it. But, that's the problem with excellent west coast IPAs. You can only get what you can get, and in this case it makes for an excellent beer that will be a great special treat whenever I get the chance.

Jack's Abby: ABCS

‘Thought I saw you on the road last night

I need to get my eyes checked

Can’t believe I’d love something as yellow as you

He’s gone so deal with it man’

Piebald – King of the Road

Those are the lyrics to one of my favorite album openers ever, from Piebald’s 2002 album; We are the Only Friends that We Have. Lead singer Travis Shettel is getting emotional over the retirement of the school bus Piebald converted to drive around the country in to tour. As for me, I'm longing for  a beer that’s gone, and who knows if it’ll ever come back. Jack’s Abby ABCS Imperial India Pale Lager was brewed for Drink Craft Beer Springfest this year, and who knows if it’ll ever be back. Jack’s Abby has been churning out new beers what feels like weekly, and while they will defiantly be making another super hoppy lager again, it’ll probably be a variant of their recipe. This particular version was just so delicious, with every hop descriptor you could imagine so well balanced with each other, not to much citrus, not to much bitterness, with a nice hint of pine and tropic fruits and who the fuck know what else on my tongue. I don’t wanna over complicate this beer, it just tasted delicious. So this might be it for the ABCS, and man am I bummed I didn’t end up with another 10 bottles to enjoy, so if you see some somewhere buy them and enjoy them, but like the song says, “He’s gone so deal with it man.”

Watch City: Rescue 1 Kolsch

Germany loves David Hasselhoff, and Germans apparently also love Watch City Brewery. I have no solid evidence of it other than two German tourists who came in asking if the store sold their beer because they loved it. I told them unfortunately we did not, and that they'd have to go to the brewery to get it. On their way out they told me that Watch City makes the best German style beers they've had in the states, and I agreed for one reason. Americans don't make great Kolschs, but Watch City makes a really excellent one.
On December 8th, 2011 Worcester Firefighter Jon Davies passed away in the line of duty fighting a 3 alarm fire, and to raise money for the fallen heroes family, Watch City Brewed Rescue One Kolsch. Rescue one is a grassy, lemony beer that's so light and fluffy yet so full of that citrusy hop finish that it could be drunk all day and night and still feel fresh on the tongue. And it's available again this year, right now on tap at the brewery. I had it with a nice buffalo chicken flatbread and it couldn't have complimented it better, the spicy chicken and the crisp dry beer washes it down perfectly. Go get some now while it's on tap.

Notch: Left of the Dial

Notch Brewmaster Chris Lohring has been making beer a long time, and he understands the market. Session beer is slowly making gains in the market but sometimes a little manipulation of the situation is necessary to the greater good of the beer collective. Presenting the manipulation; Notch Left of the Dial.
It's very rare to find a beer I can drink all night that's high in ABV. I can drink Heady Topper after Heady Topper because it's amazing and so drinkable, but it also knocks me out to finish a 4 pack. That's why I love Left of the Dial. An IPA made in the traditional british style, with a base of fawcett golden promise malt and some oat malt to give this beer a touch of sweetness. Then 3 main hops, Citra, Galaxy and Simcoe cooked in to the wort to make a unbelievable beer of pure deliciousness.
I wish this beer was in a 4 or 6 pack cause it's a beer I could polish off one after another without the crushing alcohol of some of the stronger beers I love. But Chris mentions in his blog that it broke the bank to make, so I might have to buy up as many bottles I can find. He also mentions that the first beer he ever named is a homage to old analog stereos and pulling that dial to find MIT's radio station WMBR and one of my favorite local radio shows that's still going strong, Late Risers Club. It helps that Late Risers Club DJ Ben Kochan used to play my band on LRC for a good chunk of 2010, but either way, love the reference, and love the beer. I hope Chris makes it again cause it's just pure deliciousness. I'm headed out to find a few more bottles.

Summer Summer Summer Time

Of the billions of things my Grandfather has taught me, one of my favorites is how to enjoy fine tobacco, whether it was from a pipe or rolled up in a delicious cigar. When we could play darts together he would almost always pull out the pipe or light a cigar and the atmosphere of a british pub was unavoidable. The smell is unmistakable, a musty smoky smell, hard to describe but as soon as I smell it my mouth starts watering like Pavlov's dog waiting for food. And as the weather changes there is nothing more enjoyable that sitting out on the back porch reading a book, sipping a beer and smoking a nice cigar.
Today will hopefully be one of many, as I cracked a few lovely beers to accompany a lovely day and a hand rolled cigar from Boston Cigar Company. The two six packs I've been nursing all week have been Narragansett Summer and Harpoon Summer, both strait out of the can and both amazingly excellent for unique reasons.
Narragansett Summer Ale is brewed with two row pale malt and what feels like thee most popular hops at the moment, Citra hops. That's it! The taste is just a touch of sweetness followed by bright citrusy tang from the hops, but very little bitterness to go along with an easy drinking 4.2% alcohol so I can just  sit back and enjoy a bundle of them without feeling them.

The Kolsch style of beer originates from Cologne Germany, where they'd brew an ale and then cold store it like a lager until it's ready to drink. Rich Doyle and Dan Kenary based Harpoon Summer on the kolsch style after a trip to Cologne and they've been brewing it ever since. Every year I look forward to it, because so few Americans can make a good kolsch, but Harpoon certainly can. Their kolsch is a crisp and easy drinking with tart citrusy hops on the tongue and present throughout the entire can.
It's summer time, so I am gonna drink a lot of beer at BBQs and baseball games and everything else, so this won't be the last you'll see of the bacon beer koozie, I guarantee.

Boulevard Reverb, Imperial Pilsner

I love Pilsners. Something about pilsner malt just hits my tongue in the right way. I can't even describe the taste other than saying it tastes like pilsner malt. But if I had to try, I'd say it tastes a bit like corn flakes, and I'd say they're gr-r-reat! Imperial Pilsners can be a tough beer to make though. Too much malt and the beer is a sugary mess, not enough malt and the hops end up tasting like a bouquet of flowers, but man, when someone nails an imperial pilsner it's fucking awesome. Boulevard nailed their imperial pilsner.
Boulevards Imperial Pilsner, Reverb, delivers on everything I'd want a pilsner to be. It pours beautiful liquid gold, with the head rising up slightly and pushing out delicious smelling floral hops. The taste is like sugary breakfast, with upfront floral hops that finish with a slight bitter bite on the back of the tongue. The finish is very dry leaving a nice aftertaste of fresh flowers and some corn flakes. It's really a great sipper beer as I enjoy the Red Sox on a peaceful Sunday afternoon, hoping Jared Saltalamcchia ends this game soon. Maybe.

Backlash Brewing: Hops Hops Hops

So recently I volunteered for Drink Craft Beer's Springfest, a celebration of hops, and I was lucky enough to be stationed at Helder Pimentel's table pouring Backlash beer. Full discloser, the first time I had a backlash beer (Declaration) I was pretty disappointed, with tons of hype behind a decent, but hardly spectacular beer, I was put behind a booth of beer I didn't know much else about. After some introductions I poured myself a quick refresher of Declaration and was amazed at how much crisper and fresher this beer was than I remembered, and frankly, how delicious it was. The 2 other beers on the docket for the night was Salute, Backlash's west coast double IPA and a cask condition version of Declaration with a dry hopped addition of Citra Hops to the cask. A few people came back for 2nds and 3rds and told me it was the best beer of the night. The only Problem? That beer existed for that night and that night only. So I'm gonna ramble a bit about a beer you can have.

Atlas Distribution seems like the red headed step child of the Massachusetts Beverage Alliance, with specialty cases rarely, if ever, making it's way into the tough sell market of the route 2 corridor of Massachusetts. So I was in absolute shock when a case of Backlash's Salute showed up at the back door of my work, West Concord Wine & Spirits. Salute was recently geeked out on by Gary Dzen in his excellent column, 99 Bottles, and rightfully so because the first taste of this beer is a fresh blast of hops right in my fucking face. 2 hops, 2 simple but effective hops,  Citra and Simcoe make this beer a complex combination of all things citrus and pine, with a nice residual sweetness balancing the bitterness all the way down. Strait off the tap and fresh, this beer is outstandingly crisp and a wash of all things hops, and so drinkable that being behind the booth might make for a dangerous evening. Luckily I laid off it long enough to stay standing all night. But that doesn't mean I'm not gonna grab a bottle and experience this beer again, cause it's more that worth it.