tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-114227412024-03-07T14:39:37.810-08:00Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02330401953456265387noreply@blogger.comBlogger28125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11422741.post-51623007504711557112007-08-06T15:51:00.000-07:002007-08-06T16:25:25.026-07:00

I have a confession: I like cocktails. I know, I'm supposed to be a beer guy; I'm supposed to represent.Well, I like cocktails.It seems to me a lot of people like drinking cocktails, but are bewildered by the variety of options, and especially, have no idea how to make a cocktail at home.So, I've distilled (no pun intended) what I think is the essence of a basic knowledge of classic cocktails,

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02330401953456265387noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11422741.post-1165090250172115352006-12-02T12:09:00.000-08:002006-12-02T12:10:50.186-08:00

I found myself on my own in the Cambridge area on my day off, and coudn't keep myself away from a lunch at Redbones, after months of exile in the northern regions of the great state of Massachusetts. Still, I managed to hold out until 3:30pm for lunch. Maritime Pacific Salmon Bay ESBThis ESB arrived hazy, sporting a frothy, rocky head. The beer was rather gassy, leaving a dry, vegetal hop

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02330401953456265387noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11422741.post-1134322527001737392005-12-11T09:34:00.000-08:002005-12-11T09:35:27.000-08:00

Merrimac Mild, 3.4% ABVCoffee flavors up front. Somewhat thin, but tasty and very drinkable.Leatherlips IPA, 5.3% ABVSo hoppy it made my teeth squeaky. Not terrible, but a little excessive for my tastes.

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02330401953456265387noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11422741.post-1134322361703310342005-12-11T09:31:00.000-08:002005-12-11T09:32:41.703-08:00

Had this at Redbones back in MayHarviestown Ptarmigan, Cask ConditionedThis is a mouthful. Good hop bitterness, well balanced by a full malty flavor. Nice oak flavor. Lots of layers to the flavor, mostly up front. Another beer I could drink all night.

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02330401953456265387noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11422741.post-1134322198439082322005-12-11T09:28:00.000-08:002005-12-11T09:29:58.463-08:00

Bamberger RauchbierCrystal clear, blond, with a loose, smooth head. The smoke in this beer is on equal footing with a nice fruitiness. The mouthfeel is smooth, creamy, spritzy. Beautiful balance in this very traditional beer. A great quaffer. A fine example of a beer that is flavorful and complex, without any reliance on hops whatsoever, other than lending a light, crisp bitterness.Delirium

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02330401953456265387noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11422741.post-1131027734848754882005-11-03T06:22:00.000-08:002005-11-03T06:22:18.076-08:00

Sounds kinda yucky. Coffee beer. Plenty of folks have made beer flavored with coffee - kind of nice in a stout or porter. These wacky Swiss folks are fermenting coffee.

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02330401953456265387noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11422741.post-1130789159445249102005-10-31T12:05:00.000-08:002005-10-31T12:07:23.356-08:00

The state of Connecticut has banned the actually rather tasty Seriously Bad Elf beer! Apparently the images of Santa Claus might appeal to children. Goofy.

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02330401953456265387noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11422741.post-1130439300285515752005-10-27T11:55:00.000-07:002005-10-27T11:56:36.876-07:00

The Belgian ShopThis store claims to ship all over the world. Belgian beers and beer glasses. Um, and chocolate and waffles (?!) too. The selection is staggering. Christmas is coming!

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02330401953456265387noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11422741.post-1130182656958086632005-10-24T12:37:00.000-07:002005-10-24T12:38:59.020-07:00

BitDefender is offering 1000 german beers, and a trip to Romania to meet Count Dracula (really!) to the most thorough beta tester of their product.

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02330401953456265387noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11422741.post-1129921000436538792005-10-21T11:56:00.000-07:002005-10-21T11:58:45.960-07:00

Interesting article on the history of "medical beer" during prohibition.

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02330401953456265387noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11422741.post-1126283550105919172005-09-09T09:32:00.000-07:002005-09-09T09:33:53.413-07:00

Creative way to help...

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02330401953456265387noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11422741.post-1124460348291077782005-08-19T07:05:00.000-07:002005-08-19T07:06:15.296-07:00

Great collection of scanned german beer coasters from the 70s.

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02330401953456265387noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11422741.post-1118352602879915602005-06-09T14:27:00.000-07:002005-06-09T14:30:02.886-07:00

JW Lees Harvest Ale CalvadosCask ConditionedAt Redbones, 6/6/05An unusual barleywine, aged in casks which originally held calvados - an apple brandy. Brewed by JW Lees.A little hazy. 5oz serving in a wine glass. Looks like grade b maple syrup in the glass, medium brown, tinged toward red.Wow! Toffee. Buttery. Raisins. Nutty. Lingering finish. Reminds me of an old Pedro Ximenez sherry.

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02330401953456265387noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11422741.post-1116358958209049102005-05-17T12:42:00.000-07:002005-05-17T12:42:38.220-07:00

ELSEWARES � INDEPENDENT ART & DESIGN sells these lovely bracelets and rings made from real beer cans. Come on folks, represent.

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02330401953456265387noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11422741.post-1114968040077404732005-05-01T10:10:00.000-07:002005-05-01T10:20:40.076-07:00

So, I only made it to one more session of Nerax, but it was a good time overall. Tons of great beer, as usual, not enough time to try everything I wanted to.The beers I managed to try, with occasional notes:Adnam's BitterFuller's ESBAlways one of my favorites. More than once, I've spent an entire Nerax session nursing pints of this.Ridgeway IPADry, tasty. Slight vegetal flavor, but not

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02330401953456265387noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11422741.post-1114869189713789872005-04-30T14:52:00.000-07:002005-04-30T11:05:03.883-07:00

Specific gravity is a measure of the density of a liquid compared to the density of water. A liquid that is 5% denser than water has a gravity of 1.05. In the beer industry, this is commonly referred to as a gravity of 1050 or 50. This measurement is useful to breweries because it can tell them roughly how much fermentable sugars are present in the beer before the yeast has done its work (

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02330401953456265387noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11422741.post-1114872073751719932005-04-30T07:43:00.001-07:002005-04-30T07:48:11.150-07:00

Who needs a pump? 

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02330401953456265387noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11422741.post-1114872203193543652005-04-30T07:43:00.000-07:002005-04-30T07:47:26.870-07:00

Happy beer fans 

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02330401953456265387noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11422741.post-1114872136974462002005-04-30T07:42:00.000-07:002005-04-30T07:48:38.263-07:00

Pulling a pint of Youngs 

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02330401953456265387noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11422741.post-1114871420769460552005-04-30T07:22:00.000-07:002005-04-30T07:45:53.926-07:00

The opening session of Nerax was fun as usual. With over 60 beers on tap, it can be a little daunting. It can help to have a strategy. I decided not to spend too much time on the beer list, and just have a few of my favorites, try anything that struck my fancy, and go home. No tasting notes from this session (it was all delicious, how's that?).Here are some photos, as a consolation prize.

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02330401953456265387noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11422741.post-1111179614664411042005-04-26T17:00:00.000-07:002005-04-26T13:49:46.456-07:00

Nerax is the best beer event ever. I look forward to it all year.Because it's all "Real Ale" (read: warm, flat beer), it tends to be crowded with nice folks who love good beer, rather than bored obnoxious frat boys.Did I mention the truly excellent warm, flat beer?New England Real Ale ExhibitionI haven't updated recently (buying a condo - very busy), but I hope to post some reports from the

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02330401953456265387noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11422741.post-1113186438477428402005-04-10T19:20:00.000-07:002005-04-10T19:27:18.476-07:00

Ok, so I didn't travel very far, but Salem is definitely not Boston. My wife and I have been looking for a house north of Boston, and decided to stop into Salem Beer Works for a bite to eat. Actually... as we were driving down the street looking for a place to have lunch, I slammed on the brakes, and my wife looked around and said "Are we going to Salem Beer Works?"I just smiled.Unfortunately,

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02330401953456265387noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11422741.post-1112982830537916152005-04-08T10:52:00.000-07:002005-04-08T10:53:50.536-07:00

Thomas Hooker Libertor Doppelbock, from Connecticut.Redbones serves this in a 10.5oz goblet, like most of the other stronger beers they serve.Dark brown in color, with a creamy brown head.Gassy, but smooth texture. Dark caramel and chocolate malt flavor, with coffee notes. Some hop bitterness, in the background. Doesn't have the clean malt flavor that characterizes European bock, but

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02330401953456265387noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11422741.post-1112653457297721882005-04-04T15:24:00.000-07:002005-04-04T15:24:17.296-07:00

Holy cow! I thought blogging about beer would be a narrow focus. Check this out: eggbaconchipsandbeans Incidentally, sorry for not posting for a while. I had a pretty bad cold, couldn't taste a damned thing. More beer soon.

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02330401953456265387noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11422741.post-1111616513811482252005-03-23T14:17:00.000-08:002005-03-23T14:21:53.813-08:00

Rogue, Morimoto Imperial Pilsener, tasted at Redbones, 3/22/05.If memory serves, Rogue Ales was founded in 1988 in Ashland, Oregon and has since relocated to Newport, Oregon. They began brewing this beer in honor of Iron Chef Japanese Masuharu Morimoto in 2003.Redbones, located in Davis Square, Somerville, serves this strong beer up in a 10oz goblet. Cloudy and pale, this beer has a very mild

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02330401953456265387noreply@blogger.com0