Anne & I were in St. Pete the other day, and stopped by The Independent after an excellent sushi dinner. We shot the breeze with bartender and beer aficionado Neal, and had a couple of rounds. This is a really great pub, with a large selection of Belgians and other European beers. All in all, [...]
What if you brewed The World’s Strongest Beer and made it not only palatable, but downright delicious? A beer that has a 41% alcohol content, yet compares favorably with highly regarded IPAs with several times less potency? Those crazy Claymores at BrewDog have managed to do just that with their latest offering! I shared a [...]
It was a very festive St. Paddy’s Day yesterday. I started out at Shakespeare’s, said hi to the gang, and had a couple of pints with my corned beef & cabbage. From there, I headed down to the very busy Gulf Gate area to meet my friends Steve and Bill. We started and finished at [...]
I’m glad to see that World of Beer has added Klosterbrauerei Ettal Curator (Klosterbrauerei Ettal; Ettal, Germany; Dopplebock; ABV: 9.0) back on draft. Curator is a rich tasting, very well balanced dopplebock. There’s an interesting array of flavors in this beer, and each compliments the other. I could taste the sweet caramel malt up front, [...]
Anne and I went to World of Beer last week, and were pleasantly surprised when Tony noted that they had Southern Tier beers on tap. I started with a pint of their superb Southern Tier Unearthly (Southern Tier Brewing Company; Lakewood, NY; Imperial India Pale Ale; ABV: 11.0), which I’ve praised continuously on this blog. [...]
We stopped by BJ’s Restaurant & Brewhouse in Pinellas Park on Sunday for dinner, and noticed that they had an abbey ale as the special on draft. Beer Advocate had it listed as retired, but BJ’s is brewing it again. I can definitely attest, after a couple of pints, that everything’s back to Normal! BJ’s [...]
It’s an annual right of passage at the beginning of February that two world renowned Imperial IPAs make their mark upon the craft beer world. The first, Russian River Pliny The Younger (Russian River Brewing Co.; Santa Rosa, CA; Imperial India Pale Ale; ABV: 11.0), has become the Holy Grail for many beer enthusiasts. While [...]
With the explosion of the craft beer industry, it seems like ales and lagers are giving wine a run for its money as the drink of choice. In fact, many breweries have started to age their ales in oak barrels which give them a distinct wine like character. This “crossover” is producing beers that appeal [...]