About the Beer: Oyster stouts are a very rare style of beer, but they’re more than worth your while if you can get your hands on one. The dark, grainy texture of stouts are a perfect pairing with oysters and other shellfish so it was only natural to bring the two together in a beer. The Harpoon Brewery in Boston uses real oysters from nearby Island Creek oyster bar for their take on the style.

In a Nutshell: While the subtle hint of oyster makes Harpoon’s Island Creek stout tasty, it’s not much different than a regular stout.

Review: Oyster stouts seem like a style that only the brave would enjoy. Meat, let alone seafood, in beer seems like a very tricky proposition. Fortunately Harpoon takes this caution to heart, only adding a hint of oyster to their beer rather than letting the flavor overpower the beer. You’re left with a minerally, rich-tasting beer with a subtle whisper of oyster. It would no doubt pair very well with any kind of seafood, but at the same time it’s not that different from their regular stouts, leaving me wondering if it was worth the effort to obtain.

Rating: 3 of 5

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!

We’ve been discussing the many different beers that are associated with the autumn months lately. For many though, beer is not the only drink strongly connected to the fall. Hard cider is also quite popular this time of the year. Although it doesn’t get the same attention as the craft brewers, there are a number of great craft cider producers out there worth a try. Today we’re going to change gears a bit look at some cider worth a try.

Before we get to the particular ciders though, I should mention that just like there’s many different styles of beer, there are many different styles of cider. Because the sweeter varieties are the most popular here in the US, many folks think all cider is like that, but there are many different versions out there, made from many different apples. The taste of cider can range from syrupy sweet to dry as champagne, so before you cast off cider be sure you’re aware of the variety out there to try.

Magners - Possibly the most well known brand of cider around the world. Although Magners is not very respected among many serious cider drinkers, who find it too sweet, everyone shoot still try it just for the reference. This brand is actually known as Bulmers in its native Ireland, which should not be confused with the English brand of the same name.

Woodchuck – A Vermont producer which has a delicious Granny Smith cider available. It’s got a nice tart flavor to it that balances out the sweeter qualities of the apples.

Harpoon – This Boston-based craft brewer has making great craft ale since the 1980′s. Recently they began producing a line of cider, and it’s definitely worth a try.

Original Sin – A producer based out of New York City which makes great cider that’s a little bit dryer and less sweet. It’s a great introduction to the more sophisticated European styles of cider

Ace – The first American craft cider producer, this is the company that started it all. If you can get your hands on any of the cider from California, be sure to give it a try.

What do you think about Cider? Let us know next time you have one by tweeting it and adding the ‘#mybeer’ hashtag.