One of my favorite new breweries has bottled their first beer recently in a limited edition. Referred to as a “Migrational Release”, this ale has turned out to be one of the best saisons that I have ever had. Swamp Head Saison Du Swamp (Swamp Head Brewery; Gainesville, FL; Saison / Farmhouse Ale; ABV: 7.6) [...]
Sometime last week I drank my 1200th different beer. It’s an ale that won Gold at the 2010 World Beer Championships, and was described by the late beer connoisseur Michael Jackson as “More than a serious beer – it is outstanding….Dizzying, appetizing, refreshing.” North Coast Le Merle (North Coast Brewing Co.; Fort Bragg, CA; Saison [...]
This Saturday marks the second anniversary of Billy’s Beer Blog. To mark the occasion, I’ve decided to do an updated version of my Ultimate Case. While I’m keeping two of my three rules from a year ago – no retired beers and a limit of one beer per brewery – I’m dropping the ban on [...]
It was a festive day on Saturday when Mr. Beery’s hosted the Cigar City Total Tap Takeover. Indeed, word of this stupendous event traveled fast, and the crowd on hand included many a beer aficionado from around the country, in addition to local residents already familiar with the world renowned brewery. In general, the brewery, [...]
Something was in the air this past Tuesday night. Maybe it carried over from the Infinium Release Party, but Beer Nerd Show & Tell was something special. Epic was the theme for this evening’s lineup. Samuel Adams Utopias (2009); Boston Beer Company; Boston, MA; American Strong Ale; ABV: 27.0. The first beer presented by Mark. [...]
Anne and I spent Saturday afternoon at the Cigar City Brewing Tasting Room. In addition to being a cool place to hang out and have a pint or two, there’s the added bonus of getting a tour of the brewery. The Tasting Room draws a nice crowd of people from all ages, and the novice [...]
I remember the first time I walked into Mr. Beery’s with a couple of friends a little less than two years ago. Owner Mark Tuchman was on hand, and we all hit it off immediately. Before the end of the night, Mark was breaking open complimentary bottles of Ken Schmidt Maui Stone Coffee Macadamia Coconut [...]
Stopped by The Shamrock yesterday afternoon and was pleased to learn from James that a porter I have wanted to try was on tap. Described by Ommegang as a “Belgian Love Affair”, I was quite eager to try this latest offering from the Cooperstown brewery. Ommegang Seduction (Brewery Ommegang; Cooperstown, NY; Porter; ABV: 6.8) is [...]
I received a couple of sample bottles from Newcastle of an ale that’s part of their Limited Edition series. As I’d enjoyed their Newcastle Winter IPA from a previous sampling, I was looking forward to trying this latest offering. Newcastle Founders’ Ale (Caledonian Brewery; Edinburgh, Scotland (UK); English Pale Ale; ABV: 4.8) is a fine [...]