Beers from the Northeast

it's been a while.

i just got back from a trip to new hampshire and vermont and had a killer time. i knew there were quite a few breweries in the area i was visiting and i went there with a goal to try as many local beers as possible.

beth's mom even got the trip started off on the right note and suprised me with a varitey pack from Otter Creek.


all the beers were solid and pretty typical. nothing outstanding that i would go looking for but good drinking beers... especially when hanging out on the lake.


next up were a couple of beers i picked up in stowe, vt. i stopped at a gas station and got two 22's. the first i tried was an IPA from Harpoon Brewery. I'll admit... this beer kind of let me down and it's pretty much what i expected from an east coast IPA.


Next up was Long Trail's Double Bag ale. this one was pretty good and not something i would regularly like... maybe it was because i had it after hiking for 3 hours. definitely worth trying.


friday night at the rehersal dinner there was free beer! i got my hands on a Long Trail IPA. good beer for sure, but again, no west coast style IPA. it was kind of like a "light" IPA. good if you want to drink an entire sixer of this stuff but not if you are looking for hops and bitterness.


after dinner we all headed to a bar. i checked the draft selection and tried a another local vermont beer. this one was Switchback Brewing Company's pale ale. i took two drinks and ordered a PBR. not into it all. i think i just have too high of expectations and when a beer doesn't blow me away i am bummed. probably a good session brew... and a good name too!

now for the good stuff!


on the way home from stowe we stopped at a killer wholefoods-esque grocery store with a great beer selection. i picked up two more 22's. i didn't drink them in this order but I will start with Pennichuck Brewings Halligan IPA. good IPA. not super hoppy but not as bland as the others. the label is why i chose it. i will probably snag one of these again if I ever see it at Bevmo.


now for the winner! the other 22 I picked was another from Long Trail. This time was their Brew Master Series Double IPA. I had high hopes for this and wasn't let down. at 8.6% ALC and 100+ IBU's this was what I had been searching for and hoping i would find. a great beer and as close to a socal IPA. i will be searching for this.


bonus beer. on our last night there Beth's mom made us an epic feast of lobster and awesome veggies... and she bought some beers. this beer was gnarly.... different for sure. the beer was from Allagash in Maine and was tripel ale that was barrel aged in Jim Beam barrels for 8 weeks. it was 11% ALC but went down pretty smooth. we all split this over dinner. it was good but probably not something i would ever buy again... but stoked i got to try it.


that's it. I am glad i got to try a bunch of different beers but can't wait to head up to sonoma tomorrow and get my hands on some killer IPA's. I am planning on hitting the Bear Republic Brew Pub and hopefully getting over to the Lagunitas for a tasting. report to follow!

a quick review.

I have been really slacking on the beer blogging front... but don't worry I have been enjoying plenty off good beers. Some regular favorites and a lot of new ones. Here's a quick list of some of the new ones I have had lately that I have really liked.

Deschutes Hop Henge Experimental IPA

2 beers from Moylans.
Hopsickle Imperial IPA - "Tripple Hoppy"

Moylander Double IPA

Lagunitas Hop Stoopid

I have also made a couple of trips to the Green Flash brewery... it's awesome! Was there ever any question? West Coast IPA, Hop Head Red, and the Imperial IPA or incredible straight from the tap and/or growler.

that's it for now. i made bevmo trip this week and got a couple of new ones so hopefully i will post a better review over the weekend.

Week of 3.23.2009 - Stone Old Guardian Barley Wine and more...

I know I have been slacking on this blog... but that's what happens when training ramps up. I have also been sticking with some favorites... Green Flash West Coast IPA, Lagunitas IPA, and Stone Ruination IPA. But last week I did get into some new stuff thanks to some sale items a Jimbo's.

I headed into Jimbo's before our wednesday night lululemon run to pick some dinner and they had a bunch of single beers on sale so I picked up a couple of those and also a 22oz of the Stone Old Guardian Barley Wine. I have never had a Barley Wine before this and because Stone is probably one of the best breweries around I decided to give it a shot and make the purchase.

I cracked the Old Guardian open on Thursday night just wanting to try. For some reason I was convinced I was not going to like. Well let's just say that I was way off. I loved and proceeded to kill the entire 22oz and with it being 11.3% ALC I was definitely feeling it! Stone doesn't disappoint... and I will never write-off another one of their beers without trying it first. Here's the review from Beer Advocate:
Stone Old Guardian Barley Wine

The other beers I tried:
Flying Dog IPA - very good. i will definitely be buying more of this. the single i picked up from Jimbo's wasn't enough!
Firehouse IPA - ok... at 5.9% for an IPA I thought it was kind of week and doesn't even come close to the other San Diego brewed IPA's.
New Begium Might Arrow Pale Ale - very good pale ale. I really like this. Meredith both Beth and I six pack for letting her borrow my race wheels. I would loan out my race wheels to anybody willing to buy me a sixer of this stuff.

Week of 3.2.2009 - Lagunitas The Hairy Eyeball

I am stoked on this beer. So far everything I have had from Lagunitas is solid.

I rolled to Ryan's house late friday night before Counting Coup and he had The Hairy Eyeball waiting in his fridge for our pre-race brew. To me it was almost like a hoppy'er amber... and really good. That's all I really have to say... and I will be picking up a sixer of this at BevMo this week.

Week of 2.23.2009 - Port Brewing Shark Attack Double Red Ale

After a long day and a hard race on Sunday I was ready for a cold beer when I got home. i picked up this 22oz of Port Brewing Shark Attack Double Red Ale a couple of weeks and go and it's been chillen in the fridge.

This was the first time I have had this beer. I really like the Port's Shark Bite red ale so I was pretty sure I would like this double red ale. Shark bite is 5.5% alc and the Shark Attack is 9%.... sweet!

It definitely didn't disappoint. Even though it's a pretty strong beer it doesn't really taste like it. Way more mellow than the strong IPA's I have been drinking lately. I will be picking up a couple of these next time I go to BevMo. Since it's only a seasonal release I want to make sure I get some more before it's all gone.

here are some more reviews from Beer Advocate:

http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/13839/41421

Week of 2.16.2009 - Chupacabras Pale Ale

On Sunday Beth and I set up a group MTB ride at Lake Hodges. We decided to start and end our ride right across the street from Hernandez Hideaway. It's a killer little mexican joint right off of Del Dios highway.

We had a good time riding and then it was time for refueling so the crew all headed to the restaurant. I definitely wanted a beer but wasn't feeling like a mexican beer... I wanted an IPA! They didn't have any IPA's but the waitress suggested a new pale ale they just started serving.

It was Chupacabras Pale Ale from the Cucapa Brewing Company. I was a little hesitant at first. A pale ale from a mexican brewery... how good could it be? Well I was impressed. It was solid and hit the spot, especially combined with chips, salsa, and guac.

If you see this beer give it a go. Better yet... come out to Hodges next time we ride and knock a couple back post ride.

Week of 2.9.2009 - Dogfish Head Craft Brewed Ales

This post is coming a little late. I was a little short on time with everything going on last weekend, but I did get to drink some good beer.

When I was back east for the Holidays Beth's dad, Dr. G., showed me an article in the New Yorker about a small brewery in Delaware. The brewery was Dogfish Head and it was very interesting. While in Philly we searched for the Dogfish, and after a lot of driving around to various locations, we were able to get our hands on a couple of bottles of the 90 minute IPA. It was solid and I was bummed we didn't buy a couple more.

So a couple of weeks ago I noticed that Bevmo started carrying some Dogfish Head brews, including some we couldn't find in Philly. So I decided to buy a 4 pack of each and take the out to AZ for the family trip.

I got some more 90 min IPA, Midas Touch, and Palo Santo Marron.

All the beers are very unique... and good. The IPA is something I could drink on a regular basis, but the other two are not "everyday" beers in my opinion. They are interesting and taste good but not really a beer that I would ever drink more than one of at a time.

Midas Touch.

Palo Santo Marron.

If you can find these beers I would definitely recommend giving them a shot... especially if you want to try something new.