I’ve complained about this before, but I have to say, I’m getting really tired of hops.
Ok, so I’m not actually getting tired of hops per se, but I am quite tired of the idea that every beer, of every style, must be hopped to the hilt in order to be of any worth. In fact, I have to admit that I was almost thankful for the hop shortage, hoping it would lead to a somewhat more discriminate use by brewers. As far as I can tell, it hasn’t. In fact, the other day I picked up a variety pack …read more

In had a few beers the other night, but the one I remember enjoying most is the Nugget Nectar from Tröegs. It’s a very tasty beer, with a very slight sweetness – almost as though there’s a tiny hint of honey in it. Now, I’m not much for overly sweet beers, this was a very tasty beer. The folks at Tröegs label it an Imperial Amber Ale, other sites simply refer to it as an IPA, but it’s definitely not your standard IPA.
The beers from Tröegs are consistently good, so we’ll be planning a trip to the Harrisburg PA area …read more

Last weekend I managed to finally make it to the new incarnation of the Dock Street brewpub, which is pretty pathetic considering I had planned to go when they first opened. For those who don’t know, Dock Street was a Philadelphia-based pioneer of micro-brewed beers back in the 80s, at one point vying with Sam Adams for tops in the market.
I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. I expected a slightly too slick and slightly too large brewpub along the lines of a Triumph or the former Dock Street locations in Center City Philadelphia. This one has a much …read more

The Friar drummed up another post for Hopfen und Malz, so here it is:
Less than a week ago, several members of my beer club bottled our first two batches of homebrew. I am well aware that when we taste it next month, the results may be less than spectacular. In fact, given the cost of ingredients (around $110) and the many, many hours of labor that went into it, I am quite sure that it would have been both more economical and better tasting to just go and buy four cases quality craft beer. But as I …read more

As a follow up to my post on beers of the World Series, our little beer group (more on that later) decided to tackle some Colorado brews this month. And so it was, with a selection of 13 different beers from 4 different breweries across the state.
As a group we were very impressed with the beers of Avery, particularly the big bottle products (such as the The Reverend Quadrupel and the Czar Imperial Stout). That said, the beers were uniformly good. The Old Jubilation, a winter ale, didn’t strike us as particularly wintery, and I found the Out of …read more