Archive for the ‘Events’ Category

Start Your Own Craft While You Craft Night

Tuesday, August 31st, 2010

Need more excuses to drink good beer with good friends? Me too. So recently some friends and I came up with a great one: we love to do craft projects, and we LOVE to drink craft beer. Why not put them together and start a Craft While You Craft Night?!

For our first meeting we did a selection of beer and cheese pairings combined with a pinhole art project from designsponge.com. Crafting guru Lauren provided the tools for the project, and I selected some beers and cheeses to sample before, during, and after the project.

For our second meeting we decided to make a beer-themed project, using something most beer-drinkers always have plenty of: bottle caps. Using epoxy, mosaic grout, corkboard, plywood circles, a glue gun, pin-backs, and a few other handy craft supplies, we fashioned some coasters, trivets, earrings, and pins out of our bottle cap collections.

However, before we started crafting, we did a tasting of our favorite Summertime brews. Lauren started us off with a very summer-y beer cocktail: shandy. Shandies can be made a number of ways, but this one was a simple half & half mixture of sparking lemonade and Endurance Arctica Pale Ale. It was bubbly, sweet, and delicious. We then moved to Rebecca’s selection, American Darling, Pretty Things’ “Lawnmower” Lager; then Diana’s, the People’s Pint Natural Blonde Ale – both crisp, clean selections perfect for a summer afternoon. Ready to “spice” things up a little, we moved on to my selection, the Luciernaga Belgian Pale from Jolly Pumpkin. This brew is refreshing and slightly tart, with hints of spice, citrus and apple – a perfect summer-to-fall transition beer. We ended with Heather’s selections: first some Saison Dupont, one of the best saisons around, and we ended with some Ipswich Summer, an unfiltered and citrus-y Blonde. The tastings and the projects went very well!

If you’re not a Craft-er (but still love Craft Beer) there are lots of other possible Beer-tivities that might be right up your alley:

For the film buff: host a movies & craft night – pick a classic (or kitchy) flick and pair it with a selection of beers. You could also do a TV show beer night. Why not drink craft beer (or beer cocktails) during your weekly Mad Men screening instead of downing martini after martini. You’ll stay sober longer and you don’t even have to buy olives!

For the foodie: try a potluck food and craft beer night – everyone brings a combination and you get to explore the flavors that come out when you pair beer with various foods. Or you could go all out and take turns hosting a Craft Beer Dinner where each course is matched perfectly with a particular craft beer.

For the sportsfan: pre-game with some craft beer and then switch to something more session-y when the game starts. There’s no reason to drink swill just because you’re drinking for hours. Don’t be peer-pressured by promises of “Drinkability.”

For the overly-literate: mix up your book club meetings with a tasting before or after you discuss (before, if you’re looking for a more exciting discussion.) Or if you host a weekly Scrabble or Trivial Pursuit night, why not make it more interesting by trying some craft brew while you play.

For the beer-lover with no other beer-friendly hobbies: why not just host a no-frills craft-tasting night? Sometimes the best choice is the simplest one.

Do you have friends, beer, and some way of putting them together? Let us know your favorite craft-ivities, and don’t forget to use the hashtag #mybeer to tell us what you’re drinking!

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Beeriety Visits Chicago: Part 2

Tuesday, August 10th, 2010

Last week we covered some of the great places and great beer we had while in Chicago, but that wasn’t all the town had to offer. While the Goose Island Brew Pub and Miller’s Pub were a lot of fun, there were plenty more beer-centric locales to try while in town; fortunately we got to try two of them.

The Hopleaf Bar

This is one of the premier beer bars in the Chicagoland area. It’s known for its eclectic collection of beers from all around the world and its friendly atmosphere. While I was there I got the chance to try the Two Hearted Ale, from Bell’s Brewery, one of the most respected craft breweries in the Midwest. It was a tasty treat with piny and citrusy hops to spare. I also enjoyed a glass or two of the St. Louis Gueuze Fond Tradition from Van Honsbrouck in Belgium. It was a really lovely sour ale with a tart taste and smooth finish. Although it might not seem like it at first, gueuze and other wild ales with a sour taste to them are enormously refreshing in the hot and and humid months of summer. That little bit of lip-smacking tartness goes a surprisingly far way towards cooling you down.While at the Hopleaf I also had my very first Newcastle Summer ale. I was a bit surprised that Newcastle, a brewery synonymous with brown ale would be trying their hand at a wheat beer. Unfortunately, after having a few of their new brew, I have to suggest that they stick to what they know. It was a fairly generic summer brew, not too far from a Blue Moon.

The Map Room

The Map room is another of Chicago’s greatest beer bars. This place is a bit unique in that it’s not just a bar, but a coffeehouse as well. To accommodate these sometimes conflicting passions, the place is open from 6:30am to 2am most days of the week. Although the crowd that shows up early for a cup of joe is probably not the same folks sticking around for last call, it was clear from our brief visit here that all were welcome. We didn’t try any coffee, but their beer selection and beer eduction classes made it clear where their passions lay. I sampled some of the Ska ESB,  another of the growing number of craft ales available in a can. It was tasty but more of a pale ale than a traditional ESB. I followed that up with some Bockor Cuvee Des Jacobins Rouge, which is a hard enough to say when your sober, let alone after you’ve had a couple. This sour ale was similar the the Fond Tradition we tried earlier in our trip but noticeably much darker. I also sampled Köstritzer, which is a really amazing Schwartzbier, or black lager, and New Belgium’s Belgo, a tasty IPA with five different types of hops in it.

Everyone from Team Beeriety had a blast while we were in Chicago and hope to return one day. If you’re in the area be sure to check out these bars, or let us know about your favorites in the comments.

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Beeriety Visits Chicago: Part 1

Tuesday, August 3rd, 2010

Recently some of Beeriety crew headed to lovely Chicago, IL to take in the sights, sounds and tastes of The Second City. While we were there, we got the chance to check out many of Chicago’s best beer bars and sample some of the tasty brews that we just can’t get in our home base of Boston. Here’s a quick run-down of where we went and what we drank.

Goose Island Brew Pub

Goose Island is the signature Chicago craft brewery, so it only seemed fitting to start our trip at their Wrigleyville brewpub – right in the shadow of Wrigley Field, home of the Cubs. We visited the one across the street from Wrigley Field, home of the Chicago Cubs. It was a beautiful day, and the place was crowded with baseball fans preparing to head over for an afternoon Cubs-Phillies game. To get things started off I order a flight of beers: 312 Wheat, Honker’s Ale, Summertime Ale and India Pale Ale. After that I finished up with a Maltilda. Goose Island has recently expanded into Boston so I was somewhat familiar with some of their beers, but I was excited to try more. I can’t say any of them were amazing, but they were all solid, dependable beers. Much in the same way Sam Adams makes good, but not astounding brews, I’ve found Goose Island to be a reliable source of a decently tasty brew.  Rating: 3 out of 5 – Worth a try.

Miller’s Pub

This historic restaurant is where I got to try my first beer from Three Floyds Brewing out of Munster, IN. This a brewery I’ve heard about for many, many years as one of the best in the country, so I was pretty excited to give them a try. Thankfully their Alpha King, Pride & Joy and Gumball Head beers did not disappoint. They were each wonderful takes on the pale ale, ESB and wheat ale styles, respectively. There was a great deal of subtlety and finesse to these beers that reminded me a lot of the brews of Dogfish Head, another amazing brewery from an unlikely location (Delaware). Rating: 4 out of 5- Must Try

Billy Goat Tavern

This little place was made famous in the early days Saturday Night Live with the “Cheeseburger! Cheeseburger!” sketch, and it’s not far from the truth. A menu with 3 items on it and a small bar make for an interesting experience. I happily enjoyed several of their house lagers, which which were watery, bland and gross, but perfectly suited to the rundown decor. Rating: 1 out of 5 -Steer Clear

Tune in later in the week when I’ll cover my visits more of Chicago best craft beer bars.

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Pretty Things’ ‘Once Upon A Time’ Event

Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010

On Saturday The Pretty Things Beer & Ale Project debuted the first beer in their Once Upon a Time series of beers brewed according to historic recipes. The Beeriety team was lucky enough to be there to try this fantastic new brew at one of Boston’s finest craft beer bars, Deep Ellum.

Pretty Things is a small craft brew project based in Boston, Massachusetts that has already made a strong name for itself among craft beer drinkers in the area since its founding less than two years ago. They are known for bold, unusual brews with equally off-kilter label art. It’s quickly become a favorite brewery of everyone at Beeriety, and we were thrilled to get the chanced to see what they were doing next.
London XXXX Mild Ale was the beer of the hour. It’s an historic re-creation of a beer first brewed on February 27th, 1832 at a Brick Lane London brewery. Using an historic manuscript given to them by beer historian Ron Pattinson, they  brewed the beer exactly as it had been over 150 years ago.

Beers of 19th century London were different than what we drink today in many ways, so although their version is called a ‘mild ale’ as it was originally, it’s anything but mild. It weighed in at 10.5%ABV and packs a super sweet taste. The beer has a rich copper color to it, and a light smell of caramel. The taste is bold and massively sweet, but its body is surprisingly light and smooth for such a heavy beer. The hops impart a bit of a peppery spice to them, different than the usual bitterness associate with hops. Overall the beer was unlike anything I’ve ever had before, and it was absolutely delicious.

In keeping with the theme of the day the beer was served from a wooden cask as would have been common in Victorian England. The brewers, Dann and Martha Paquette as well as the staff of Deep Ellum, all dressed in period inspired clothing with vests, top hats and bonnets. Dann and Martha even generously offered to buy a drink for anyone who came dressed in historical attire. The place was completely packed and by the time they tapped the first cask there was a line out the door just to get in. Clearly we aren’t the only ones who have been keeping a eye on this exciting new brewery.

It was a wonderful afternoon with a wonderful beer. Dann & Martha as well as everyone at Deep Ellum were gracious hosts and it was neat to get a glimpse of what’s next for Pretty Things. Martha was even nice enough to give us a special preview bottle of the stuff. (For a rough video of the cask’s tapping and an introductory speech by Dann, head over to the Pretty Things blog.) We can’t wait to see what’s next in the Once Upon a Time series. Whatever it is, it’s sure to be great.

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Beervana Beer Festival

Tuesday, October 13th, 2009

Beervana

Recently the Beeriety crew went down to Providence, RI to attend the first Beervana Beer Festival in the Roger Williams Park Botanical Center. There was a lot of beer to try, and a lot of fun was had by all.

DSC04622

The most striking thing about this beer festival was its location. The botanical gardens were a far cry from the usual convention halls in which most beer festivals take place. The high glass and metal ceilings and the plethora of large and exotic plant life made it feel like a beer festival in the bio-dome. The environment was fun, even if the winding layout made it tough at times to find your favorite brewer. All of the glass and metal didn’t absorb much of the noise of 500 chatty beer lovers either, which made talking to the various brewers a bit of challenge at times.

Of course, the beer and not the location was the reason we went down to Providence, and on that front, Beervana was a rousing success. Over 20 different brewers and importers offered a huge variety of different brews, including many that weren’t available anywhere else. There were many different beers to try, but the ones which stood out most in our minds were the scotch ales and other liquor-inspired offerings.

Here’s a breakdown of some of our favorites:

Newport Storm Rum-Chipped Marzen- This was a traditional German marzen brewed with chips from an oak barrel which had been used to age rum.  (The chips were strained out before bottling.)  The sweet, warm flavors of the rum imparted a subtle vanilla taste to this beer.

Brooklyn Brewery Manhattan Project- This  beer was a collaboration between Brooklyn Brewery and David Wondrich, drinks editor of Esquire magazine. It was aged in rye whiskey barrels for a wonderfully smoky aroma and taste.

Berkshire Brewing Company Wood-aged Scotch Ale- Another great, barrel-aged scotch ale with a powerful aroma matched only by its alcoholic strength.

Samuel Smith Stingo- This classic Yorkshire brewery unveiled their latest creation, which was aged in oak barrels for over a year before bottling.  The oak blended nicely with the buttery flavors from Sam Smith’s house yeast.

Smuttynose Brewing Oaked Tripel Penetration- A great twist on a traditional Belgian style tripel. The heavy oak notes blended well with the light flavors of a tripel.

Dogfish Head's Sam Calagione

Dogfish Head's Sam Calagione speaks

In addition to all of the great beer, there were special guest speakers. Rob Tod, founder of Allagash Brewing Co., spoke about barrel aged beer. Sam Calagione, founder of Dogfish Head Craft Brewery, spoke about his special ancient ales project. Both speakers attracted large crowds, but it was no surprise to see that Calagione drew the biggest audience, as he’s known throughout the craft brew world for his blunt nature.

All and all, it was a great time and a well organized event, especially for a festival in its first year. If you’re in the area next year, be sure to check out Beervana.

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The Great American Beer Fest 2009

Tuesday, October 6th, 2009

GABF

Today’s post comes to us courtesy of Beeriety’s Denver correspondent Rachel Dipalma. Thanks Rachel!

The Great American Beer Fest (GABF) sloshed its way through Denver from September 24th to the 26th. The GABF is really an incredible experience, but like any epic undertaking it does not benefit from going into it blind-eyed. A four hour session can fly by if you go in unprepared. The best place for me to do research was on Twitter, where searching for #GABF would yield tons of tweets from Thursday’s session about everything from the beers to try, the overrated brews not worth waiting for, to the lines in the bathroom. You can also prepare in the admission line, because it’s one of the longest ones you’ll ever stand in. Hopefully you’ve already made your pretzel necklace by now (to ward off the beer belly-ache, of course) so you can focus your hour-plus stand in line to map out where to go first, what not to miss, etc.

Once I was inside I took a deep breath and a good look around. A massive showroom floor is in front of me, with thousands of happy people representing 450 breweries waiting to serve over 2,000 beers. Thankfully, the groupings of tables are broken up by geographic region, which makes it easier to prioritize. I had the benefit of going with three GABF virgins who all had different goals and tastes- one wanted milk stouts, another wanted sour styles, and another went into it like I did- asking the brewers and reps (if they’re around) what their favorite is. Truthfully, it’s damn near impossible to try every single beer on your wish list, so for me, going with a recommendation is the best way to handle a new brewery.

Photo: Jason E. Kaplan

Photo: Jason E. Kaplan

Some highlights for all of us were beers from Lost Abbey, Duck-Rabbit, Brugges Brasserie, Alesmiths, and the always-charming Brooklyn Brewery. I tried some excellent beer made with Yerba Mate tea (from MateVeza Brewers out of Ukiah, California,) and got a chance to say hi to the brewers from Olde Saratoga/Mendocino brewery, whom are among the East Coast establishments I miss dearly. I think the most important part for me was to spend time with good friends drinking and talking about beer.

Another surprising highlight was the amount of amateur events going on. We got to try the three Sam Adams Long-Shot competitors, Sam Adams’ homebrew competition. They were all great- Lemon Pepper Saison? YES PLEASE! We also spent some serious time at the GABF Pro-Am tables. 25 or so of the nation’s most creative and delicious small batch brews were served up, conceptualized by Average Joes and sponsored by their local breweries to be there. It really speaks to the purpose of GABF itself- a gathering to encourage and inspire people to do what they love, and do it well. The Pro-Am standout for me was a golden ale made with elderflowers- the flavor was so crisp that it made an impression on my beer-burnt out tongue.

Alas, taste bud fatigue is the demise of many a GABF-er, and the only remedy for that is, obviously, a late-night snack. Thankfully, we know the perfect place for that. The Vine St. Pub in Denver’s Uptown neighborhood serves up organic bar food and a late-night happy hour full of microbrews from their mother brewpub in Boulder, as well as several carefully selected guest brews. This place is definitely a laid-back spot, and is always a great way to end a blurry evening.

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Women & Beer: Shattering the [Pint] Glass Ceiling, One Sip at a Time.

Thursday, June 25th, 2009

Today’s post comes from guest contributor Sarah. Thanks Sarah!

Women at the American Craft Beer Fest

Saturday’s American Craft Beer Fest marked a celebration of all things beer. But as a female beer-drinker, it’s often hard to know exactly how to fit into the “bro fest” that is beer culture. As most commercials will tell you, beer is something marketed to and consumed by men. And while women can certainly be the bikini-clad tools for marketing beer, we just don’t seem to be the demographic that’s drinking beer (unless of course it’s fruity or low-carb.) So we’re left in the margins – either ignored completely, condescended to, or thrown into a wet t-shirt contest.

However, the fact remains that whether or not we’re invited into the club, women LOVE beer. The strong showing of female beer fest attendees is a testament to that fact, as are the growing number of women who work within the beer industry. So Beeriety’s Erin and myself made it a point to talk to some female brewers about their sense of the beer community and their place as women in a predominantly male field.

Megan O’Leary Parisi, “Lead Brewster” of the lovely Boston brewpub Cambridge Brewing Company, was kind enough to talk with us not only about the exciting CBC lineup, but also about her role as a female brewer. Check her out discussing one of her beers featured at the beer fest, a rare Danish smoked lager know as an Imperial Skibsøl

During our conversation she also expressed a hope that someday soon, she’d no longer be referred to as a “female” brewer, but instead as simply a brewer. She also turned us on to two organizations designed as networks for women within the industry.

The first, Women in Beer is a Boston area group of women in the beer industry who [according to their website] “get together at least once a month to taste and review beers.” The second is the national group, the Pink Boots Society, an organization comprised of women who are employed within the beer-industry (brewers, marketers, owners, journalists, etc.) While any women within the industry is welcome, voting rights within this group are reserved solely for women involved in the physical production or quality assurance of beer itself. The PBS website also provides a listing of all its members and their titles, giving you a good idea of just how many women are situated within this field and just how diverse their jobs are. While the Pink Boots are exclusively a female group, Women in Beer is avid that they are not out to exclude men, merely to make women their main focus.

Over the coming weeks, we hope to be able to attend a Women in Beer meeting and discuss with them in greater detail their views on the industry, their goals as a group, and [most importantly] their favorite beers!

For now, ladies, we here at Beeriety would love to know what you’re drinking. Twitter your beers using the #mybeer hashtag!

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Beeriety takes on the American Craft Beer Fest, Part 1

Monday, June 22nd, 2009

American Craft Beer Fest

On Saturday, Team Beeriety and some friends including Susie from We Are Not Martha headed down to the American Craft Beer Festival on Boston’s waterfront. It was an amazing array of 75 American brewers with over 300 different craft beers to sample. There was a lot of unusual beers and beer lovers at the festival and we did our best to check out as many of them as we could.

Pretty Things Beer & Ale Project

Pretty Things Beer & Ale Project

The beer was fantastic and while we all had our individual favorites, there was a general consensus that Pretty Things Beer & Ale Project was the break away star. Considering this small brewery run by a husband and wife team has only been around for about a year their beers show an astounding amount of sophistication and deliciousness. Their labels also live up to their name as some of the prettiest I’ve seen in awhile. They are surely a brewer to keep an eye on.

Brooklyn Brewery

Another favorite was Brooklyn Brewery’s Intensified Coffee Stout. Brooklyn has long been one of the most prominent craft brewers in America and this new brew showcases why. I’ve known and loved many coffee stouts, but never have I tried anything that so thoroughly captured the taste and mouthful of French press coffee and stout.

For a more detailed look at what beers grabbed our attentions take a look at our individual favorite lists:

Carleton:

Chris:

Erin:

Ryan:

Susie (from We Are not Martha):

Woody Chandler Beer Monk

Woody Chandler, Beer Monk

There was also plenty of interesting people in attendance, like Woody Chandler, the ‘beer monk’.

Pretzel Necklace

Pretzel Necklaces were all the rage

Several people also had curiously placed a necklace of pretzels around their necks, which I’d never seen before but seems like a great way to snack while keeping two hands free for beer. We’ll have more on the beer fest and exclusive interviews from the floor with brewers and attendees alike once we have a chance to sort through it all.

Until then check out the rest of the photos from the fest on the Beeriety Flickr account and let us know if you attended and what you were drinking in the comments!

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American Craft Beer Festival: What is craft beer anyway?

Friday, June 19th, 2009

American Craft Beer FestTomorrow the Beeriety team is heading to the America Craft Beer Festival in Boston to sample some tasty brews and meet some fellow beer lovers. We’re real excited for the festivities and we plan on shooting lots of video and photos for our fest report next week.

Many of you may be wondering what exactly is “craft beer” and how  it differs from regular beer. For a better understanding of this sometimes loose term let’s turn to the Brewers Association website, which states:

An American craft brewer is small, independent, and traditional.

Small: Annual production of beer less than 2 million barrels. Beer production is attributed to a brewer according to the rules of alternating proprietorships. Flavored malt beverages are not considered beer for purposes of this definition.

Independent: Less than 25% of the craft brewery is owned or controlled (or equivalent economic interest) by an alcoholic beverage industry member who is not themselves a craft brewer.

Traditional: A brewer who has either an all malt flagship (the beer which represents the greatest volume among that brewers brands) or has at least 50% of it’s volume in either all malt beers or in beers which use adjuncts to enhance rather than lighten flavor.

This all boils down to beer that’s made by people who take a hands-on approach to brewing that emphasizes quality over cost. The first American craft brewery as we know it was Anchor Brewing Company, makers of San Francisco’s famous Anchor Steam, who under new management in the early 1970s changed their recipe to only include hops, barley, yeast and water. With this change they became one of the first breweries in Post-Prohibition America to make beer free of additives and adjuncts and since then craft beer has grown to include over 1500 American craft brewers.

Team Beeriety is looking forward to sampling just a fraction of the amazing craft beer the US produces. We’ll be twittering live from the event (#ACBF hashtag) and letting you know what we’re drinking with the Beeriety #mybeer hashtag!

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