While 2020 might be … unusual, to say the least, there’s one thing that’s just as reliable and awesome as always: Goose Island’s Bourbon County Stout. I think I say this every year, but this is one of the best BCBS lineups yet. I had two main takeaways from this year’s variants: First, I’m really…
If you’re looking for a new type of beer experience in NYC, look no further than Izakaya Juraku! This Japanese restaurant and bar in the Lower East Side has the largest selection of Japanese beer in New York State. And let me tell you, they all pair amazingly with their delicious and fun food menu,…
I discovered craft beer about a decade ago when a local bottle shop opened near my apartment. During those formative years, I had no idea which beer I liked, so I would just indiscriminately pluck random bottles of all different styles from the shelves to create a random mixed six. One of the first beers…
Other Half’s Pastrytown was probably the most anticipated beer event to ever hit New York City—and it exceeded my expectations. One of the trendiest styles of beer—the pastry stout—was in the spotlight for one glorious and gluttonous day at Industry City in Brooklyn. Beer blogger Alex Kidd of DontDrinkBeer famously coined the name for the…
Ever since I first tried a beer from Toppling Goliath Brewing Co., from Decorah, Iowa, I’ve been hoping for the day when their beers would become available in New York. And that day has finally arrived! Thanks to Sarene Craft Beer distributors, I got to try some super fresh cans and bottles of some of…
It’s not often that a brewer in New York City releases a barleywine. So when I heard that Long Island City’s Big Alice Brewing released a bourbon barrel-aged barleywine, called Valley of Ashes, I knew I had to try it—and I’m really glad I did! This 12.8 percent beast was aged for one year in…
One of the best parts of the growing national beer scene is getting to try beers that were once only available at breweries. We’re very lucky in NYC to have a huge distribution network that just keeps getting bigger. I’ve wanted to try Bells Bourbon Barrel-aged Expedition stout since it was first released in 2016…
Black Friday is almost over. We just shared our Bourbon County reviews with you, but saved one more beer from Goose Island: Sofie Pardisi. We used to seek out this super refreshing saison back in 2012 and 2013, when it was commonly featured during Goose Island tap takeovers around the city. We loved enjoying it…
This year’s Goose Island’s Bourbon County Brand Stout release is the biggest ever with eight (!!!) different variants. Other notable differences include a hiatus for the hugely popular coffee stout and barleywine. Subbing in are a new coffee barleywine and wheatwine. This is also the second time that there’s a “Reserve” variant—this year’s version is…
One of the coolest and most positive parts of the craft beer community is how beer lovers give back to society through amazing charity events. We were fortunate to attend a fantastic event a few weeks ago in Beacon, New York, at Hudson Valley Brewery: Melesa’s Wings, benefiting cancer research at Memorial Sloan Kettering. The fundraiser was organized…
Zwanze Day at Spuyten Duyvil NYC is always a blast! This year was the best yet.
NYC Beer Week 2018 started off with a huge, sold out bash last Saturday night at the Brooklyn EXPO Center. With so many new and growing local breweries, it seemed like there was a never-ending list of must-try beers to sample. Add that to an amazing group of guest brewers from around NY State and…
Stout season is going strong across the country and one of the best annual local releases is always Finback’s BQE. I think their barrel-aged version is consistently the best stout brewed in NYC, period. This year, they gave us a second variant: Salty Caramel, which I am drinking right now as I write this post…
Black Friday is coming up fast so here’s the info for Top Hop’s (94 Orchard St, New York, NY, 10002) annual Black Friday event! SAVE THE DATE. It’s here! Once again, Top Hops is your NY home for the 2017 bottle release for Goose Island Bourbon County Brand Stout. The All-Important Details! – At 9…
Black Friday is almost upon us and for beer nerds that means Bourbon County Brand Stout time. We got a chance to try this year’s lineup and we’re excited to share our reviews. Spoiler Alert: These beers are awesome! 2017 Bourbon County Brand Stout, 14.1-14.7% BCBS is back and once again it’s as incredible as…
Goose Island Migration Week 2017 is upon us! That means if you attend any one of these events, you’ll get a chance to try some of the rarest and tastiest offerings that Goose has to offer. We can’t wait to check out as many of these amazing events as possible and we hope to see…
Michigan’s Perrin Brewing Company will start distribution in NYC next week! I’ve heard a lot of good things about their beer—especially their No Rules bourbon barrel-aged imperial porter, brewed with coconut and turbinado sugar. I can’t wait to try their stuff! Check out a list of their launch beers below. We’ll be posting some reviews…
Top Hops in the Lower East Side will be celebrating its 5th Anniversary this coming Friday, January 13! Big Surprise! … they will have some amazing stuff on tap—including the debut of Top Dollar, the new Mosaic-hopped IPA that Barrier is producing exclusively for Top Hops—only available there and at Barrier’s tap room in Oceanside.…
There’s a great new brewery out in Bay Shore, Long Island, called Destination Unknown Beer Company. They just began canning recently and I was lucky to get to try their Imperial IPA Sore Thumb. With all the hazy, hop bombs out there, this was a classic (but fresh!) retreat to the West Coast IPAs that…
Once again, Top Hops is the place to be in NYC to get your bottles of Bourbon County Stout. They’ll have by far the biggest allotment in the city and if you can roll your turkey-stuffed body out of bed to get some, they’ll have it! For our reviews check out our post here. Check…
Bourbon County Brand Stout Just like 2015’s vintage, this year’s BCBS is very smooth for being so young. A fresh bottle tastes as if it was already aged in the bottle for a year or more—the alcohol is very well hidden and there’s no barrel heat—just delicious vanilla notes from the bourbon barrels that complement…
The holidays kick off on Black Friday, and craft beer lovers will be lining up around the country for one of the best beers on the planet: Goose Island’s Bourbon County Brand Stout! We’ll be at One Mile House (10 Delancey Street) on Wednesday, November 25, where they’ll have almost a dozen Goose Island taps,…
Beer Hero: Ambulance Brew House By Eric Sturniolo Ah, suburbia. Strip malls, white picket fences, and now a bar with one of the best tap lists in the NYC area. There’s a lot that makes Ambulance Brew House great, and one amazing thing that makes it immediately worth the trip up to the ‘burbs: a…
New York City, a brewing wasteland just a few years ago, is now brimming with awesome, city-made beer. To celebrate this, the Brooklyn Local Craft Beer Festival has brought together 14 of the NYC area’s best up and coming brewers. There will also be local food trucks like Carpe Donut, Bill’s Balls, and Sweet Chili.…
Our next, and best, event will be held at the awesome bar Hops Hill, located in Clinton Hill. It consistently has one of the best tap lists in the city, and they are putting up a really great one for us. They also have a pretty gigantic bottle list. Please join our group and RSVP…
Drie Fonteinen Oude Kriek By Eric Sturniolo Ah, spontaneous fermentation. The trademark of Brussels-area breweries like Cantillon and Drie Fonteinen. Drie Fonteinen produces their own wort (about 70% of their total production) and buys the rest from different breweries in Belgium. After the wort is cooled in a…coolship, it’s left exposed to the air, allowing…
Hair of the Dog – Bourbon Fred – 2013 Edition by: Eric Sturniolo One of my favorite breweries ever (and certainly the most unique) is Hair of the Dog, and after aging this for two years, I couldn’t wait any longer to open Bourbon Fred. “Regular” Fred is aged for 6 months in oak barrels.…
This Saturday, May 16th will be a good one for NYC sour beer lovers. One of our favorite bars, One Mile House, will have a truly epic tap/bottle list starting at 3pm. Details below! Tap List Cantillon Brewery Iris Bell’s Brewery, Inc. Wild One Allagash Brewing Company Century Ale Allagash Currant Affair Barrier Brewing Co.…
After the unfortunate circumstances of last year’s THE Festival in Portland, nobody was really sure if another organizer would tackle the mess of craziness that is Maine’s antiquated approach to beer regulation. But miracles happen, especially when beer is involved. Sierra Nevada just announced a 7-stop series of festivals they’re calling “The largest craft beer celebration…
WARNING: Rambling prologue ahead. If you want to skip to the Allagash goods, proceed to the photo of the barrel-filled Allagash Wild Room below. Prologue to Allagash Tour, Part II: Mike: India Pale Ales are the language of love in the craft beer world. It’s the international language, and everyone speaks it. Ask a beer…
Eric: The Jack’s Abby frenzy continued with two more new (for me) beers. First was Lashes Hopbock Lager and I totally loved it. Bocks are usually not hoppy at all, and this one didn’t have the extreme hops like the IPAs we love, but it had just enough. The bit of hops combined perfectly with…
Eric: Living in New York City is great. The constant noise, traffic, crowds, tourists, rats, pigeons, garbage, and cripplingly high cost of living all contribute to a very stress-free life. The one bad thing about living here is the lack of space and storage. My apartment pretty much looks like this: Andrew is lucky. He…
Eric: Bears are wondrous creatures. They can climb trees, catch fish, hibernate, and apparently, brew beer. I’ve liked Bear Republic beers ever since I was a BrewCub. Their Racer 5 was one of the first IPA’s I fell in love with. I’ve also had and liked their Red Rocket Ale, Hop Rod Rye,…
Andrew: This is one of the most elaborate pranks I’ve ever seen! What makes it better is that it involves beer! CLICK LINK: http://beerpulse.com/2013/09/friends-prank-guy-by-plumbing-his-house-with-beer-video/ Related articles Best home improvement ever swaps water plumbing for beer (dailydot.com) Best prank ever (looseheadprop.wordpress.com)
Eric: Ah, Yom Kippur…that magical time of year when a young man’s fancy turns to atoning for sins and getting inscribed into the book of life. And what better way to get on God’s good side than buying beer! In NYC, the BrewBoyz are spoiled by all the great beer stores with tastings/taps like Top…
Andrew: September 13 is our wedding anniversary. When I heard that Stone’s next Enjoy By batch would be 9/13/13, and that it would be distributed in New York, I knew I had to get this beer to enjoy on 9/13/13, our 4th anniversary. (You can find out about the next batch here.) Enjoy By is…
Eric: Sour beers are one thing. I can even handle beer with spices. But a sour beer made with spices and salt? No thank you. What’s that? You enjoy drinking salt water? But you’d like it even more if it also had the sourness of 10,000 lemons? Then this beer, a gose is for you!…
Eric: There are some important moments in life. Being born (done), becoming a man (Bar Mitzvah:done), having beers on tap for the first time… DONE. My first stop tonight was Strong Place, where I had an Ithaca Flower Power and a Stone Enjoy By 9.13.13. Both were great hop punches to the face. Then I…
Andrew: I checked out Pony Bar’s website last night and saw that they had a beer from Carton called Something Like Sandy wild stout. The brewery was making this beer when the storm hit and it was left fermenting longer than expected because of the storm. Here’s a link to the video the brewery made…
Eric: Maine Beer Company. I’m not exactly sure what it is, but I suspect it’s a beer company, although I have no idea what state it’s in. Whatever and wherever it is, they make some of my favorite beer. At the Goose Island Takeover at Top Hops, I bought a bottle of their two new…
Eric: It was a typical Thursday night in BrewBoyz land. We went to Top Hops for a Goose Island takeover. All their taps were Goose Island beer, including some rare stuff. I’ll talk about my night… Here’s the menu: I started with a glass of Matilda Lambicus, a Belgian Pale Ale fermented with brettanomyces. The…
Eric: Like Andrew’s 11 Madison Park/Ithaca Brewery collaboration, I had my own less fancy restaurant/brewery beer last night at Habana Outpost. Spread Love is a collaboration with Kelso, a 6% ABV pale ale. Kelso made it exclusively for Habana, and their restaurant in Ft Greene, Brooklyn is the only place it’s sold. It had an…
Andrew: I tried the Stone Coconut R&R IPA tonight. It is a very solid IPA. Great tropical fruit. I just don’t get any distinguishable coconut taste. I’m sure it adds to the flavor of the beer, but I just don’t taste coconut itself. Next (and currently 🙂 ) is the Maine Beer Company/Nogne-O Collaboration Time…
Eric: A leisurely stroll to deposit checks at the bank become a spontaneous beer buying frenzy. I don’t remember most of it since I blacked out from the excitement, but two stores and $120 later, I have this: Professor Fritz Briem 1809 Berliner Weisse x 3 Maine Beer Company MO Maine Beer Company Zoe Firestone…
Andrew: One of the more recent trends in craft brewing is collaboration. That’s when two or more brewers from different breweries work together to create a beer recipe. On rare occasions, brewers actually blend two completely unique beers together to make a new hybrid, mutant beer. I’ve recently picked up a bunch of collaboration beers…
Andrew: FYI, if you are allergic to carrots don’t drink these.
Eric: If you’re like me, you’re illiterate, but slowly grasping how to read. I’ve gotten most words down, but when they are put together in sentences and paragraphs, my head starts to hurt and I give up and drink beer. This is why lists are great.. who needs all those unnecessary sentence words?! But lists,…
Andrew: I just picked up a bottle of Southern Tier Imperial Pumking—by far my favorite pumpkin beer. I know that pumpkin beers are one of the most popular seasonal styles, but I find it strange that they are becoming available earlier and earlier. It’s seasonal for a reason—you expect to see them in the fall…
Andrew: I’m home sick today. It sucks because I want to drink the beer that I bought last weekend on the epic VT trip. Luckily, there are only a few I have yet to try. First I’ll start this post by finishing off the day and night we spent in Waterbury, VT: After visiting The…
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