Bell’s Brewery | Hopsoulution Ale

Springtime is here and, for me, that can only mean one thing: sitting on my sunporch and drinking some fantastic IPAs. Thankfully, I live in Grand Rapids, Michigan (AKA Beer City, USA), which means I’m generally near the birthplace of some of the best made IPAs in the world. Michigan breweries know their IPAs, and Bell’s Brewery has blessed us with one helluva new brew in their recently released double IPA, Hopsoulution Ale.
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Banded Oak Brewing | Atomga Barrel-Aged Brazilian Stout

Banded Oak Brewing Barrel-Aged Atomga comes with an intriguing backstory: it was brewed to celebrate the release of the band Atomga’s album, “AGA” and the recipe resulted from a collaboration with Bodebrown, a Brazilian brewery.

But, a great story means nothing if the beer is subpar. So, rather than provide an article filled with interviews and storytelling, I decided as a writer to concentrate solely on the beer.

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Firestone Walker | Mocha Merlin: Who Says Winter Has to End?

Firestone Walker Brewing Company, California’s Central Coast brewing behemoth, has become a frequent visitor to the Colorado craft beer scene. With hazy memories of tasters at past beer festivals, I eyed a can of Mocha Merlin with hesitant hope.

Sure, the hearty coffee-infused stout is a beer intended for the cold season — a great beer to warm you up as you sip from your chalice in the (Game of Thrones’) Winterfell Great Hall — but why must winter ever end? Recent posts on various “beer check-in” websites show that the beer continues to be enjoyed, even as the weather turns more summer-like each day.

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Commonwealth Brewing Company | Big Papi

When traveling, it has become commonplace in our society for people to bring back souvenirs for friends and loved ones. It could be a shirt from a local professional team or a keychain with their name etched on it (which is a sore subject for someone who seemingly always struck out as a young kid when trying to find the one with my name on it). But for those closest to me, they know to expect some samples of local beer brewed in the town or city I was visiting. Read More

Island Hoppin’ Brewery | K-Pod Kolsch

It’s hard to overstate the natural beauty of Washington state. The state is home to mountain ranges, temperate rain forests, desert plains, active volcanoes and other natural wonders that are so varied and abundant, you could easily spend every weekend of the year in a new terrain. Even from my home base of metropolitan Seattle, the closest mountains are less than 30 minutes outside the city and you can book a whale watching tour that leaves from downtown.
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Modern Times Beer | Fruitlands

Peanut butter and pretzels. French fries and ice cream. Gose and fruit. These are just some perfect sweet and salty pairings; and if you have never tried fries with ice cream go to the store now!! It’s just one of nature’s torrid love affairs that stands the test of time. Modern Times Beer Fruitlands marries this divine pairing in a delightful way.
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4th Tap Brewing Cooperative | Kung Fu Robot IPA

4th Tap Brewing Co-operative is one of the most interesting breweries in Texas because they are the only worker-owned cooperative brewery in the state. Founded in 2015, the brewery has taken an inspired, unique approach to their beers and just released their personal take on a new IPA, a Citra and Mosaic hop blend with a touch of flaked oats for a smooth mouthfeel. I caught up with co-founders Erin and John Stecker to find out more about Kung Fu Robot IPA.

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Narrow Gauge Brewing Company | King Fallen Flag

Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love the breweries in western Pennsylvania — Dancing Gnome, Grist House, Voodoo Brewery and Brew Gentlemen, to name a few of my favorites. The craft beer served at those places, as is the rest of the craft beer served in the region, is absolutely delicious. However, every once in awhile you want to branch out and explore other breweries. That is where Narrow Gauge Brewing Company (St. Louis) comes into play, including its King Fallen Flag.

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Deschutes Brewery | Twilight Summer Ale

Some of the best outdoor memories I have are around the twilight hour. You’re settling in for the evening – dinner is already done, fire stoked and watching the stars peek out as the sun sets. There is something about the feeling of moving with the sun, I am usually up when the sun wakes up and winding down after it sets, you just feel one with the universe.

Deschutes Brewery‘s seasonal offering of Twilight Summer Ale seems to capture these feelings beautifully.

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A Tale of Two Sours | Anderson Valley Gose and Great Divide Belgian-Style Sour

It was the best of sours, it was the best of sours. My apologies to Mr. Dickens, but the tale of these two sours from two different breweries located in two different regions, and enjoying two different histories, is a joyful one. So, do you prefer California or Colorado? Kettle or Barrel? Belgium or Germany? It doesn’t matter. You can have whatever you want because beers like these exemplify how we as craft beer fans are indeed living in the best of times.

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Firestone Walker Brewing Company | Nitro Merlin Milk Stout

There was one week in Denver where I saw the weather go from 75 degrees and almost too sunny to 35 degrees and white-out snowing the following day. So, when I finally arrived home after a day of being surrounded by drivers without their headlights on, I needed a beer. I am very much a seasonal drinker. Nothing sounds worse to me than a light beer during the colder months or a thick, dark beer during the hotter months. Therefore, I was extremely thankful that I had a Firestone Walker Nitro Merlin Milk Stout in my fridge.

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Urban Chestnut Brewing Company | Big Shark Lemon Radler

Love. We all need love, right? I love a few things in life. Aside from my beautiful wife and the kids she claims are mine, my other great loves are biking and beer, or beer and biking. Now, in St. Louis it’s impossible to have one ‘favorite’ brewery, but I do have one favorite bike shop. I’ve been buying bikes from Mike Weiss and Big Shark for 20 years. They are MY bike shop. So, when I learned that my favorite bike shop was teaming up with one of my favorite breweries — Urban Chestnut, I may have teared up a bit. Really. A tear was shed.
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Rivertown Brewing | Raspberry Flicker

The first time I tasted Rivertown Brewing’s Raspberry Flicker in their airy Monroe, Ohio, taproom on a sunny day in late January, it reminded me of childhood. I realize that’s an odd thing to say about an alcoholic beverage, but stay with me. No, my childhood did not involve me throwing back refreshing lagers. But it did involve raspberries.

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Red Rock Brewing | Le Quatre Saison

How do you define style these days? When we think of a head brewer with style, we think of Kevin Templin. He has been crafting some of our state’s most iconic brews before we even knew what good beer really was. You see, Templin led Salt Lake City’s Red Rock Brewing team as Head Brew Master for just about the past two decades. When we finally woke up and peered into the world of craft beer, Templin was one of the first professional brewers we met. We once wandered a beer fest with this guy and people simply gravitated to him. Silly enough, it was an honor to see him work the room (or should we say “tents”). He didn’t think of himself as a celebrity, but we were certainly in a bit of awe hanging out with him. Admittedly, the intimidation of his beer knowledge captivated us. Yet it turns out; this suds veteran effortlessly balances connections within all levels of experience in the trade. Read More

Altamont Beer Works | Green Collar Pale Ale

As I write this, the Oakland Athletics are celebrating their 50th year in Oakland. Sadly I wasn’t able to make it to the game, but luckily I snagged a few cans of Green Collar. While the players were at Spring Training, an all-star team was brewing. Serious A’s fans, Altamont Beer Works and Mraz Brewing teamed up to create this home run of a pale ale. Read More

Heist Brewery | Blurred Is The Word IPA

There comes a time where the lines between “I’ll take another one of those” and “wow, what was the ABV on this again?” become blurred. We’ve all been there and I’d have to say it is a rare feat that is ultimately welcomed. Of course, when browsing a draft list or tap menu, you may take a glance but it’s rare you care to remember the ABV once you order and take a sip or two. Heist Brewery has successfully delivered this experience time and time again with their periodic staple, Blurred Is The Word. Read More

Five Boroughs Brewing Co. | Dry-Hopped Gose

Recently, I packed up my downtown life and moved to Brooklyn. One of the biggest benefits by far is the easy access I have to craft breweries in the boroughs. A quick ride down Third Ave. leads me to my newest discovery of the barely-one-year-old, but definitely bad-ass, Five Boroughs Brewing Co. and their Dry Hopped Gose.

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Platform Beer Co. | Haze Jude

The New England IPA (NEIPA) was once only available via bottle trades or to those willing to wait in long lines. But that has slowly started to change because larger breweries are making this style and distributing them in much larger volumes. That’s good news to those that previously couldn’t get their hands on these beers. However, it is worth asking if the large scale production can mimic what made this style so unique and special. Cleveland’s Platform Beer Haze Jude helped answer that question.

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Banded Oak Brewing | Cabernet Barrel Aged Belgian Dark Strong Ale

I like to consider myself an equal opportunity imbiber. My preference is beer, sure, but there’s no denying the fun that comes along with whiskey or a bottle of wine. The sweet spot, then, is barrel-aged beers: after all, what better way to improve upon a brew than to stuff another form of alcohol into it? Barrel-aged beers are like Turduckens, except your resulting sleepiness is due to a high ABV instead of tryptophan.

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Bottle Logic Brewing | Roll For Initiative

It is important to first realize that Bottle Logic Brewing was founded only five years ago in 2013 and they have been doing big things ever since. Their tasting room opened its doors just a year later, and in 2015 they were ranked up on BeerAdvocate’s ‘Best New Beer’ list. It’s no surprise that their initiative and passion has led them to plans for a tasting room expansion later this year to accommodate the beer heads that come from all over to try their stuff.

Bottle Logic has never been afraid to rewrite the rules and live on the edge with their beers. Their mantra is “Process and Science Reduced to Art and Magic,” and they have lived up to it without a doubt. Easily their most popular and most sought after series is the Stasis Project. Focusing on barrel-aged masterpieces, Stasis has released some of the most incredibly complex and sought after stouts in the secondary market. It may only be less than a week until Space Trace releases, but people are still reeling over the last and newest addition to the Stasis lineup, Roll for Initiative. I did not miss this release, and I knew before it touched my lips that this would be my next beer showcase. Here’s why…
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