4 Hands Brewing | Resurrected IPA

My 3 year old daughter asks me this question every night at dinner – “Daddy, may I sniff your beer?” She then daintily sticks her nose into the glass and takes a very theatric, deep inhale. When I ask her what it smells like, she always tells me the same thing, “It smells like beer.” As if I didn’t already love her enough? Though she gave me the usual reply on my recent can of Resurrected IPA from 4 Hands Brewing, I’m here to tell you that it smells MUCH more interesting than just beer.

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Greenport Harbor Brewing | Leaf Pile Ale

ABV: 5.2%

If there is one thing I absolutely need so that I cheerfully adjust to the seasonal transition of Fall, it would have to be pumpkin. Nothing says comfort like an over-sized sweater, multicolored horizon, warm fireplace, and a tall pint.  Read More

Flying Dog Brewery | Snake Dog IPA

ABV: 7.1%

IBU: 60

It snakes down the throat like a faithful friend. – Anna Steadman (Snake Dog IPA label) Read More

Upland Brewing Company | Champagne Velvet Pilsner

ABV: 5.50% | IBU: 29

After a long week at work, I felt I needed something light and simple to drink. While pilsners are usually one of styles of beer I avoid, I’ve found plenty of pre-prohibition style beers that surpassed my expectations. When I realized that Champagne Velvet was originally released as a part of Upland Brewing Company‘s 15th anniversary, I was intrigued by this modern take on the early 1900s beer that originally put Indiana brewing on the map.

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Moonlight Brewing Company | Reality Czeck

ABV 4.8%

Since everyone has already hopped on (pun intended) the pumpkin train, I thought I would instead giddy up on the often forgotten Pilsner train because we hardly get autumn in Southern California. And few perform better in the Pilsner department than Moonlight Brewing Company in Santa Rosa, Ca.

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Rogue Ales | Shakespeare Oatmeal Stout

IBU: 56
ABV: 6%

This past weekend, New York celebrated the annual Brooklyn Book Festival – which is basically book nerd Christmas. During the end of September, you celebrate the first stiff breezes of fall while running around the old Brooklyn courthouse discovering new writers, learning about your favorite authors, and getting all your favorite works signed. Over the years it’s become my favorite holiday, but besides my constant renewing of the website until the schedule of events is posted, it has no rituals. To correct this oversight, I decided to dedicate the weekend to the arts by trying a beer after the bard whose influence is inescapable in writing of the Western World: Rogue’s Shakespeare Oatmeal Stout.

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Boulevard Brewing Co. | Hibiscus Gose

ABV: 4.2% | IBU: 11

I have a secret. I can’t stop buying Boulevard’s Hibiscus Gose. It’s been in Atlanta just a few days, and my hands keep grabbing the cardboard box the sixer comes in. I’ve bought three so far. I can’t control it. Hey, Boulevard, why don’t I just direct deposit part of my paycheck to you?

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Wasatch Brewery | Provo Girl Pilsner

4% ABV

Wasatch Brewery’s Provo Girl Pilsner is a beer showcase that I do not want to write. Why? Because I just spent the day shooting grouse with my good buddy Charlie, who moved to Utah a year before I did to fight fires and occasionally dress up as Smokey the Bear at rodeos. We had some wild nights together as members of Northern Michigan University’s Moosemen Rugby Football Club, and we just spent a day shooting birds and wandering around the Ashley National Forest in Utah’s Uinta Mountains (we didn’t get lost —we just didn’t quite know how to get back to camp). Sitting here by the campfire under some amazing stars with our tired pooches at our feet, writing in a notebook might ruin it. Read More

Tallgrass Brewing Co. |8-Bit Pale Ale

Tallgrass Brewing Co. | 8-Bit Pale Ale

ABV: 5.2%

IBU: 40

Okay, I’ll admit it. I was initially drawn to this beer by its awesome retro can design, as I imagine many children of the late 70s and early 80s would be. The word “Galaxy” also caught my eye, as this relatively recently available Australian hop variety is complex in flavor, and adds a tropical element to many beers. Made in Manhattan, Kansas, by Tallgrass Brewing, the 8-Bit Pale Ale is fairly easy to find here in the midwest, and it has become one of my go-to picks over the last few months. Read More

Bell’s Brewing Co. | Mars – The Bringer of War

ABV: 10.1% | IBU: 100

It is my pleasure to introduce you to the first of what is going to be an incredible beer series, Bell’s Mars – The Bringer of War. A roaring Double IPA that is the first brew to roll out of Bell’s Brewing Co. “Planets Series”. A series that has been inspired by Gustav Holst’s seven-movement orchestral suite, “The Planets.” As a fundraiser for the arts and consumer of higher quality beer, my passions are colliding in this deliciously tasteful work of art known as the Planet Series.
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Great Lakes Brewing Co | Nosferatu

ABV: 8.0%

IBU: 70

My love affair with Nosferatu began not with the beer but with the film by the same name. Read More

New Belgium Brewing | Lips of Faith: Wild² Dubbel

ABV: 8%
IBU: 30

As one might expect from the name, New Belgium Brewing has a long-standing reputation built on producing solid Belgian-style beers including their Abbey ale, Trippel, and even Fat Tire, a ubiquitous brew which undoubtedly marked the beginning of many a casual beer drinker’s insobrietous journey to certified beer geek. As such, I was excited to find Wild² Dubbel, a new entry in their Lips of Faith series in a local bottle shop. What makes this dubbel wild? Well, it’s brewed with Schisandra berries, also known as the “five taste fruit” and finished with Brettanomyces. The five flavors promised by the berry are sour, sweet, salty, bitter, and spicy. Brett is something I generally enjoy, but not being familiar with Schisandra, I wasn’t sure what to expect as I opened the bottle.

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New Glarus Brewing Co | Moon Man No Coast Pale Ale

As a self-imposed Sconnie, I’ve signed up to endure perennial misery each year between November and May. Every fall I watch in horror as the sun sets earlier and earlier, the nights get frostier, and the boat-dotted lakes become empty canvases awaiting a frosty fate. That’s why today, when it could very easily be the last 80 degree day before hibernation begins, I opted out of the office lifestyle and escaped via kayak with my two best friends. One is called Justin – he makes an excellent porch drinking companion. The other is called Moon Man – he makes for excellent drinking. Read More

Cascade Brewing | Gose

School is back in session, the leaves are beginning to change, and I even need a jacket in the morning on some days. Fall is just around the corner. While breweries are racing to get their pumpkin beers and fall seasonals on tap and on the shelves, I’m refusing to let go of summer just yet. That’s why I’m enjoying my last reserves of Cascade Brewing Gose. Read More

Two Roads Brewing Co. | Worker’s Comp Saison

ABV: 4.8%

The beauty of living on a landmass between the Hudson River, Long Island Sound, and Lower Bay, is that on the other side of those bodies of … Read More

Fountain Square Brewing Co | Stay Classy Scotch Ale

Fountain Square Brewing Company has delivered a great beer with Stay Classy Scotch Ale, which is a Ron Burgundy, from Anchorman, inspired scotch ale. Before I even started drinking the … Read More

Saint Arnold Brewing | Pumpkinator

Saint Arnold – Pumpkinator 2013
ABV: 10%
IBU: ??

The machines rose from the ashes of the nuclear fire. Their war to exterminate mankind has raged for decades, but the final battle would not be fought in the future. It would be fought here, in our present. Tonight. In this tulip glass! Saint Arnold’s distribution footprint just hit the Colorado Market and one of the heavy hitter’s first out to attack the taste buds is their imperial pumpkin ale, Pumpkinator.

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Thirsty Dog Brewing Company | Barktoberfest

ABV: 6%

IBU: 15

Mid-September: that between-the-seasons limbo. Labor Day has passed. The first day of fall has not yet arrived with its tantalizing cool. With a nod to many individuals’ preferences for certain beers hitting stores at just the right moment, I present to you a sweet and approachable Märzen from the state of Ohio, Thirsty Dog’s Barktoberfest, perfect for this time of shifting seasons.  Read More

St. John Brewers | VI Massive Series Double IPA

ABV: 8.8%
IBU: 80

Weddings are usually a fun-filled weekend followed by a week-long hangover. Family weddings, on the other hand, are a whole different animal, especially when the man your sister is marrying decides he is going to brew the beer for it. Pretty challenging in and of itself, but then throw in the extra challenge of bottling and labeling, and you begin to get a scope of this endeavor. Now here comes the whammy: Eight styles. Eight different brews dispersed into 650 bottles and voila, you may kiss the bride. That said, it is safe to say that beer has a warm place in the hearts of most my family- 10 siblings/spouses and counting!

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Alaskan Brewing Company | Freeride APA

ABV: 5.3%

IBU: 40

I recently started my very first bucket list, which, as a mid-20-something, likely stems from a mix of quarter-life crisis and the awareness of a wonderful, travel-filled summer coming to a close. In any case, so far the list has proved to be an exciting excuse to plan out my vacations for the next five years. In fact, the very first item on the list is “hiking/snowboarding in Alaska,” so this week I decided to showcase a beer from Alaskan Brewing Company, headquartered in Juneau. Their Freeride APA perfectly complemented my newfound bucket list aspirations – its label explains, “Freeride is a mountain biking and snowboarding term that can be applied to most any adventure.” And since I have a list of about 14 adventures sitting in front of me, why not open up a bottle? Read More