For the next few days, I’ll likely be drinking beer in the Great Outdoors. It’s my sincere hope that I’ll be nowhere near an Internet connection, so I’ll have to catch up on my beer posts after the fact.
Why not use this time to peruse the archives? I’ve made some minor updates that have made this easier, such as:
Better Archives Navigation: At the bottom of my site, you’ll find click-able jumps to pages deeper in the archive. Ever wonder what’s on Page 40? Jump right to it!
Search For Your Favorite Beer: There’s a search box on the right-hand navigation panel. Whether you’re looking for an old post or just checking to see if I’ve already written about one of your favorites, the search bar can help you get there. It’s a bit rudimentary so far (if nothing matches your search, it merely says “page not found”) but that will be an easy fix — for a day when I’m not camping!
I’ll be back at the writing and photo-ing soon.
And don’t forget what all the cool kids are doing — sign up for the daily email update and you’ll never miss a beat!
Brew Free! Or Die IPA
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(2 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)
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If IPA Monday is an excuse to try new hoppy beers, then I’ve certainly begun my week on a successful note. I’ve never had a beer from the 21st Amendment Brewery, but the San Francisco producer has a reputation for crafting fine beer.
In fact, 21st Amendment made headlines this year for brewing a “Twitter Beer” called Spring Tweet — like a Twitter stream, the beer is “unfiltered” and described by the brewmaster as “a little rough around the edges“. (The Twitter Headquarters are a short distance from the brewery.)
Cans of their craft beer have appeared on store shelves here in New England, so I scooped up their IPA called “Brew Free! Or Die”. Originally called simply, “21st Amendment IPA”, the brewery gave it a catchy new name to coincide with last year’s canned release.
Haverhill Brewing L’Esprit Saison
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We’ve had a spotty weekend here in New England, with Hurricane Bill sending passing showers on Saturday and cloudy skies on Sunday. But this morning was quite sunny and I took advantage of the lull by getting behind a lawn mower, a weed whacker, and a shovel. (One at a time, not all at once.)
After sweating out everything but my soul, I decided to replenish my fortitude by heading to our local brewery and brewpub, The Tap. They’ve got a deck overlooking the river, and it seemed fitting to enjoy what remained of the sun for a spell — instead of laboring beneath it.
My wife and I had just entered The Tap when we were hailed from the bar by BeerADay.net reader and Twitter follower, Bob Simonds — AKA, @elric14. We joined him for a beer — or THE beer, as it were — before retiring to the deck for an early dinner.
Victory Old Horizontal
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(1 votes, average: 4.00 out of 5) Loading ...
I’ve been looking forward to trying a bottle of Victory Brewing’s “Old Horizontal”. The beer is a Barleywine-style Ale, and the 11% ABV elixer has an “enjoy by” date of November 2013! Combine these powerful stats with the image of a snoozing moon (as if to say, “After you drink this, we’ll be calling YOU ‘Old Horizontal’!”) and you’ll understand why I’ve been anxious to try out this Barleywine.
The note on the label reads, poetically:
“Low on the horizon the winter moon reclines, resting up for warmer times. While inside our homes the warmth abounds, as dearest friends are gathered ’round. In cheerful moods we gratefully sup, robust Barleywine from the cup! Brewed of pure barley, rich and sweet, one of nature’s truest treats! Fairly scented with fragrant hops, we celebrate this harvest crop. And as the heavens slumber above, merrily we sip . . . with the ones we love! Cheers!”
Such a stiff drink should be parsed out slowly, so I poured Old Horizontal into a snifter. My first pour was too chilled to do the drink justice; but as my belly warmed, so did the beer.
The brother of Zeus and ruler of the underworld, Hades is considered to be one bad hombre in Greek mythology. And yet, as a beer by Great Divide, Hades proves to be far more pleasant than its namesake.
By no means, should you construe “pleasant” to be a euphemism for “push-over” — Hades is a Belgian Strong Pale Ale; and, at about 7.8% ABV, it certainly lives up to the adjective “strong”. Heck, the image on the label shows Hades restraining a leashed Kerberos, the three-headed beast guarding the entrace to the underworld. You’ve gotta be one tough character to take that monster for a walk!
