It’s summertime in Boston again, which means it’s time for another American Craft Beer Fest. This year was a lot of fun. Team Beeriety got to try a lot of new beers and chat with a bunch of different beers lovers. We saw some familiar faces, but also made many new friends and tried many new beers. Here are five of our favorites.

Boulevard Brewing

None of us had ever heard of this Kansas City based brewery before the fest, but it’s safe to say we’re now all fans. All of their beers we tried were amazing. In particular we enjoyed their Tank 7 Farmhouse Ale. This delicious Saison, dry-hopped with Amarillo, completely blew us away. Unfortunately Boulevard doesn’t distribute out to our homebase of Boston, but if you can get you’re hand on some, you’re sure to enjoy it.

White Birch Brewing

White Birch is a relatively young brewery from Hookset, NH that has recently caught our attention. We were really impressed by their Wrīgian beer. This Belgian strong ale made with Rye was another really surprising find of the day – a lovely marriage of the spicy complexity of rye and the full, sweet flavor traditional to so many Belgians.

Goose Island

This sizable brewery out of Chicago made quite an impression with fest goers. The line to try their Bourbon County Brand Vanilla Stout was of the longest we’ve ever seen at any beer festival. The beer did not disappoint, with big bold flavors that were nicely balanced by vanilla.

Brooklyn Brewery

Brooklyn never fails to disappoint with their beer and this year was no different. The brew that stood out for most of us was The Concoction, an unusual beer brewed with smoked malt, minced ginger, lemon juice and wildflower honey. It was tasty, but unlike any other beer I’ve had in awhile.

Duck Rabbit

A North Carolina Brewery that specializes in dark beers, this place has steadily been growing its reputation over the last few years. Their End of Reason was one of the best baltic porters I’ve had in many, many years. If you’re lucky enough to have access to this brewery, you’re in for a treat.

Did you attend the ACBF? If so let us know what you’re favorite beers were in the comments!

As a Bostonian, I’ve grown accustomed to having a stellar craft beer selection and culture readily available.  So I was excited to see what the first leg of my trip, in which I visited New Hampshire, Vermont, New York, North Carolina, Maryland, and Delaware, (spanning a decent portion of the Atlantic) would have in store.  All the breweries I visited are producing an interesting and well-executed selection of beers to their local communities and beyond.  What fascinated me the most was the realization that most breweries on this side of the country share a couple of common threads:

-A strong focus on staying style appropriate while creating interesting and delicious beer.

-They commonly offer extremely sessionable beers that become ‘staples’ in many craft beer lovers’ repertoires.

-Use of local ingredients and a significant consideration of the community they’re most immediately serving.

These tenets although not steadfast, but  I found to be common amongst many of the breweries we know and love on this side of the country. As one might expect, a few stuck out amongst the rest, and are doing a great job in defining beer culture in addition to being super awesome.

Smuttynose Brewing Company

Imagine entering someone’s slightly disorganized garage or cluttered home office: cozy, a little tight on space, but nice and homey.  Now add some fermenting tanks, some brew kettles, a bottling and kegging line, a warehouse full of beer, and a few taps for on site drinking, and you’ve pretty much got Smuttynose Brewing Company in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.  As a Bostonian, Smuttynose is a particular favorite of mine.  They are brewing super sessionable and style-abiding classics, from their Star Island Single to their Old Brown Dog Ale.  Offering a hospitable and informative tour of the slightly cramped (they’re expanding to a dream brewery space sometime in 2012!) but awesome facility, you quickly get the feeling that Smuttynose really understands their following. Because really, what more does any New Englander want after drudging through six feet of snow than a wonderfully spiced Winter Ale….or three?

Fullsteam

Fullsteam Brewery  wouldn’t stand out against the surrounding warehouse buildings on its street if it weren’t for the giant red door with the Fullsteam logo on it.  This brewery located in Durham, NC (and less than a year old) estimates that they will produce about 2,500 barrels at the end of their first year. They state that their mission is to create the identity of southern craft beer.  If I do say so myself, they’re doing a fantastic job with offerings like the earthy, tart, and citrusy Sour Mash Sweet Potato Ale; or the Working Man’s Lunch, a dry and delicious dark ale brewed with cocoa nibs from local chocolate shop Escazu.  Fullsteam showcases the flavors that reflect the culture and community of Durham, and distributes exclusively within North Carolina.  And while using some creative ingredients (their website says they’ll soon be boasting a basil ale), they know the value in their staples like the Rocket Science IPA and Southern Lager.  I wasn’t able to tour their facility, but the glass wall peering into their brew house was sufficient.  From what I could tell from their beer and those drinking it at the bar, Fullsteam is only just beginning to show their significant and influential presence in the South and beyond.

Brooklyn Brewery

Brooklyn Brewery is the 16^th largest craft brewery in the US. Their flagship beer, Brooklyn Lager, was one of the first craft beers I had in my beer-drinking career.  So when I had the opportunity to take a class on brewing yeast with Brooklyn brewer Chris Basso, I jumped at the chance.  And after kindly pleading, Chris was kind enough to show me around the newly expanded brewery space and talk beer for a bit. The new Brooklyn Brewery has absolutely beautiful, brick walls and the most gorgeous lighting I’d seen of all the breweries I visited. Not to mention the awesomely shiny new fermenting tanks and brew kettles that will increase Brooklyn’s production capability ten-fold.   I tried out the Main Engine Start (an Abbey Single), the first beer they brewed on their newly expanded system.  Simple, dry, with a clean hoppiness and that nice full mouthfeel you get with a Belgian yeast.  Nothing crazy, but delightful and über-sessionable.  I followed that with their Irish Stout, true to style, a bit of coffee and chocolate with a slight bite at the end.  Anyone that drinks craft beer knows Brooklyn Brewery, and with good reason: they are a beacon of delicious consistency and well-executed craft beer.

In all likelihood, you’ve tried beers from at least one if not all of these breweries, but what stood out to me was the passion and drive that these brewers possess was unparalleled, and that is evident in their beer.  Each beer is a beautifully crafted work, paying homage to their history, community, and consumer.  So if you have the chance, try any of the beers Smuttynose, Brooklyn, or Fullsteam is creating. Better yet, go on a trip and try them first hand.

If a little sign wasn’t hanging from the top of the building, you’d never even know Brooklyn Brewery was there. Since 1988, Brooklyn has distributed its beer from New York to Texas, and many states in between. On site, Brooklyn only brews about 20-30% of its product, concentrating mainly on their big bottle series (such as the Local 1 and Local 2), along with some more experimental brews. Our tour guide walked us through a quick educational lesson about the main ingredients in beer, the brewing process, and then walked us through the history of the brewery, highlighting the story behind their logo. The tour itself is very short, but everyone is encouraged to stick inside the brew house for 10-15 minutes, take a look at the equipment, and ask more questions as needed. You can even bring your beer from the pub to the tour!

Speaking of beer…no tasting? Unfortunately, Brooklyn does not do a traditional tasting at the end of the tour. However, there is a small “pub” inside the premises that carries a small selection of Brooklyn beers on tap. You can buy drink tokens (most beers are one token, specialty brews are two tokens) for $4 each, or 6 for $20. They do not serve food, but do allow visitors to bring their own goods or have food delivered (they’ll even supply local menus!).

My favorite part of the tour? A little (read: fat) cat named Monster (yes, named after the Monster Ale). Not all tour guides tell the story, but another employee was willing to answer our question as to why there was a cat at the merch/token booth judging us as we walked in. As the story goes, when the brewery was first setting up shop in its current location, the owners befriended a stray neighborhood cat. This cat eventually because “the brewery cat,” and has stuck around since. Don’t worry, she’s not hanging out around the bar, nor does it seem he’s interested in anything going on. Overall, Brooklyn Brewery is a great brewery to visit if you want a laid back experience that introduces you to what happens in larger scale beer production.

There have been a lot of changes since I made the transition from working at a brewery producing just under 3,000-barrels to one that produces a combined 100,000-barrels in two locations.

The most obvious transition was going from the production side of things to operations side. That’s right, I’m no longer brewing beer for a living. I was expecting a lot of scoffs and confused looks but after explaining this to many close friends, I still receive the requisite response—“it must be so cool working for a brewery!”

Essentially, I have the ultimate office job, if you want to call it that. I am the bridge between the brewery—the production side of things—and the sales reps—the business side of things. While I’m still the office equivalent of keg washer, I’m still spending every minute at work dealing with the beer. It’s my job to assist in production (i.e. plan what is brewed and how much) and make sure the beer gets where it needs to go and ensure it gets there on time.

In addition to the obvious change in job title, I’m also able to witness how a highly functional and nationally renowned brewery operates. For example, the other day at work one of our brand managers informed me that they were conducting an off-flavors tasting in the brew house. Instantly intrigued, I traveled downstairs from my desk to see a table full of different cups, each infected with different symptoms of a bad beer.

If I wanted, I could quaff a nice glass of oxidized brew, or learn what a mug of diacetyl tastes like (it’s extremely buttery, by the way). Although these are things I learned while manning the brew kettle at my previous job, I soon learned that new place of employment wanted everyone to learn this information. Not only were the brewer’s expected to detect the presence of dimethyl sulfide in a bad beer, but the salespeople and tour guides as well! Live by the brew, die by the brew!

After sitting through a forty-minute tasting of off beers and trying to determine the difference between a four year old Czech Pilsner and an American Czech-style Pilsner, I realized that the opportunity for me to learn about beer is only getting greater.

With this new column, my hope is to impart not only brewing knowledge and science, but also the little things that make the beer industry tick. After all, we wouldn’t have great beer without great brewers, but without informed and knowledgeable beer fans and enthusiasts, there’d be no one to enjoy the fruits of their labor.

Every fall countless pumpkin beers are released. With all the beers to out there to choose from it can be tough to know which one to get. To solve this problem last week the Beeriety crew conducted a blind taste test of 16 popular pumpkin beers. We were hoping to see what beer would emerge as the group favorite when labels, brands and preconceptions were removed. We had a blast, and learned a lot about pumpkin beer in the process.

We started with 16 different pumpkin beers. We tried to include a mix of major craft beers (Dogfish Head, Brooklyn) Local favorites (Opa-Opa, Cisco) and macro brewery selections (Blue Moon, Jack’s Pumpkin Spice from Anheuser-Busch.) The 16 brews are by no means the definitive list on pumpkin beer, it’s just what we could get our hands on around our home base here in Boston.

With the help of Challonge.com the 16 beers were randomly organized into a bracket of 8 pairs. We then evaluated each pair by sampling the beers side by side in unmarked cups poured by our MC for the evening, Sarah. A vote was taken, and the winner of each round moved on the next round, where it would be paired against the other winners from the previous round. This process was repeated until we were left with just one beer and the winner of the evening, Dogfish Head Punkin’ Ale.

For the most part the process worked very well. Keeping the identity of the beers a secret from everyone but Sarah until the end made things a little more difficult, but it was well worth it as our votes weren’t affected by any preconceived notions about a brewery or beer. Our results should of course be taken with a grain of salt. You should keep in mind that a small sample of beer is going to come across very different than a full pint. Also the temperature of the beers inevitably changed through the course of the night which can have a strong influence on a brew’s taste. This is by no means the final word on what the best pumpkin beer is, just a list of what we like the most. It was a lot of fun and something we’ll definitely be trying again in the future with other styles. We highly recommend hosting a similar event yourself.

Check the bracket for full results (Winners are in orange.) Surprised by any of the outcomes? Let us know in the comments!

On Saturday, October 16th @EatBoston hosted a lobster and beer fest dubbed the Boston Lobster Party at The Historic SoWa Power Station. 15 craft breweries set up shop and brought a plethora of kegs and bottles. In addition to all the craft goodness one can drink, there were 9 of Boston’s restaurants showcasing a number of lobster dishes.

If you are unfamiliar with @EatBoston and live in New England, you are missing out. Sure this isn’t your American Craft Beer Festival, but it’s a damn good time. Back in April they hosted the Boston Bacon & Beer Festival. See a trend forming here? The best food mixed with the best beer!

The Attending Breweries:

• Blue Hills Brewery (Canton, MA)
• Boston Beer Company (Sam Adams) (Boston, MA)
• Brooklyn Brewery (Brooklyn, NY)
• Cisco Brewers (Nantucket, MA)
• Clown Shoes Brewing (Ipswich, MA)
• Harpoon Brewery (Boston, MA)
• High and Mighty Beer Company (Holyoke, MA)
• Ipswich Ale Brewery (Ipswich, MA)
• Magic Hat Brewing Company (South Burlington, VT)
• Mayflower Brewing Company (Plymouth, MA)
• Narragansett Beer (Providence, RI)
• New Century Brewing Co (Boston, MA)
• Notch Session (Portland, ME)
• Peak Organic Brewing Company (Portland, ME)
• Pretty Things Beer & Ale Project (Cambridge, MA)

The Attending Restaurants:

• Garden at the Cellar (Cambridge, MA)
• Petit Robert Bistro (Multiple Locations in Boston)
• South End Buttery (Boston, MA)
• Turner Fisheries (Back Bay, Boston, MA)
• Union (South End, Boston, MA)
• Gaslight (South End, Boston, MA)
• Wicked Kickn’ Cheesecake (Boston, MA)
• Trina’s Starlight Lounge (Somerville, MA)

On to the event:

Upon entry we were each given a fork, plate, tasting cup, and a few tickets for entrees and appetizers.

Ipswich Ale Brewery:

Ipswich rolled up in style with their signature beer truck.

Boston Beer Company (Sam Adams):

Along with their seasonal Octoberfest, Sam Adams brought with them their Latitude 48 IPA.

Brooklyn Brewery:

Brooklyn Brewery had their station equipped with recommendations for pairings with appetizers, entrees, and a dessert substitute. For their dessert substitute they hosted their delicious Black Chocolate Stout.

Harpoon Brewery:

Harpoon’s Glacier Harvest Wet Hop Ale paired well with the savory Lobster cupcakes we grabbed from one of the restaurants.

Pretty Things Beer & Ale Project:

One of Beeriety’s favorite local breweries Pretty Things brought three of their brews: American Darling, Field Mouse’s Farewell, and Jack D’or.



Peak Organic Brewing Company:

Their Espresso Amber Ale is definitely worth a try.

High & Mighty Beer Company:

These guys never let me down. I felt like I kept swinging by their booth to get my cup topped off.

Lobster Goodness:

(Susie of We are not Martha pictured on the top row.)

All great things eventually come to an end:

Enjoying some High and Mighty Two-Headed Beast with Adam.

(From left to right: Adam and Chris)

Cheers!

When I’m not drinking beer one of my favorite things to do is read about beer. In the last ten years or so a number of outstanding books have been published on the subject of beer and brewing. Here’s five great ones to add to your library.

1. The Brewmaster’s Table – This tome by Brooklyn Brewery brewmaster Garret Oliver is at first glance a guide to pairing beer and food, but really it’s so much more than that. Oliver presents a thorough history and profile of many of the most popular and well loved beer styles along with well written stories and anecdotes of his many travels and visits to some of the world’s best breweries.  It’s a must for any lover of beer, food or both.

2. The Complete Joy of Homebrewing – This is the book that started it all.  Charlie Papazian is the godfather of the modern homebrewing movement and by extension the craft beer movement as well.  This book, now in its 3rd edition, remains all you really need to learn how to make beer yourself. Papazian breaks down every aspect of brewing to simple, easy to understand steps while keeping first time brewing jitters away with his motto – “Relax, Don’t Worry About It, Have a Homebrew.”

3. Designing Great Beer – Once you’ve learned the basics of homebrewing this book is a must. Ray Daniels takes a detailed look at a variety of styles, breaking down how they’re brewed and what ingredients they call for to make it easy for you to start creating your own recipes. The history of each style is also presented in amazing detail, which makes for a great read even if you’re not brewing.

4. Brewing Up a Business – In this book Dogfish Head founder Sam Caligone tells the tale of how Dogfish Head went from the smallest commercial brewery in the US to one of the most renowned breweries in the world. It’s inspiring stuff for anyone who’s daydreamed about making beer more than just a hobby.

5. Michael Jackson’s Great Beers of Belgium - This is the book that first got the craft beer world interested in Belgium and Belgian-style beers. Jackson was championing the brews from this tiny country long before they were popular, but thanks to his tireless efforts and books like this one, you can now find Chimay and other Belgian beer almost anywhere in the world.

What are your favorite beer books? Let us know in the comments.

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

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:

• Brooklyn Brewery – Intensified Coffee Stout
• Pretty Things Beer & Ale Project – Baby Tree
• Ithaca Beer Co. – Cascazilla
• Cambridge Brewing Co. – Imperial Skisbsøl
• Dogfish Head Brewery – Sah’ Tea

Chris:

• Brooklyn Brewery – Intensified Coffee Stout
• Southern Tier Brewing Co. – Jah-va
• Watch City Brewing Co. – HellHammer Oatmeal Stout
• Pretty Things Beer & Ale Project – Cofounded Mister Sisyphus
• Terrapin Beer Co. – India Style Brown Ale

Erin:

• Ithaca Beer Co. – Flower Power IPA
• Southern Tier Brewing Co. – Imperial IPA.
• Victory Brewing Co. – Wild Devil
• Pretty Things Beer & Ale Project – Jack D’or
• Terrapin Beer Co. – Sunray

Ryan:

• Brooklyn Brewery – Intensified Coffee Stout
• Pretty Things Beer & Ale Project – Baby Tree
• Brewery Ommegang – Three Philosophers
• Left Hand Brewing Co. – Oak Aged Imperial Stout
• Southern Tier Brewing Co. – Cherry Saison

Susie (from We Are not Martha):

• Pretty Things Beer & Ale Project – Baby Tree
• Terrapin Beer Co. – Side Project 90 Shelling
• Brooklyn Brewery – Intensified Coffee Stout
• Dogfish Head Craft Brewery – Midas Touch
• Left Hand Brewing C0. – JuJu Ginger

Woody Chandler, Beer Monk

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

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!