Had a chance to visit a couple of Jacksonville breweries that had been on my radar. The first, Bold City Brewery, caught my attention when I sampled a bomber of their 1901 Red Ale (Bold City Brewery; Jacksonville, FL; American Amber / Red Ale; ABV: 8.0), a robust and complex ale with big notes of [...]
Anne & I enjoyed the Memorial Day weekend by heading over to Melbourne to see our friends Brian and Janine. The Space Coast of Florida is one of the fastest growing areas of the country. Even with the looming cuts to NASA, there appears to be enough civilian and military technology firms to keep the [...]
Anne and I took a mini vacation to Boston to spend time with her family. We all had a fantastic time, and the city was hopping with both the Celtics and Bruins in the post season, in addition to the usual Sox following. In keeping with the weird chain of events plaguing our nation this [...]
No rental car, no problem. The Pacific Northwest has some of the best public transportation around. We thoroughly enjoyed our vacation, and spent a considerable amount of time exploring Seattle. Anne & I even took a shuttle down to Portland to pay The City of Roses a visit. The area has a lot to offer, [...]
a This past weekend I had a hankering for English beers. So Anne & I made the rounds to some of our favorite British pubs such as Shakespere’s & The Moon Under Water. I had some fantastic curry at the latter, while at the former a couple of beers truly stood out. Samuel Smith’s Nut [...]
My friend Steve & I went to the Mellow Mushroom the other day to check out the latest brews. I started with a Maharaja from Avery Brewing Co., while Steve started with a Sierra Nevada Bigfoot. The Maharaja is an absolute hop monster, with a bold grapefruit taste amid the cascade hops. I had a [...]
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 [...]