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River Styx Citra Cerberus

7/25/2019

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A cool looking label, though Cerberus is a 3-headed dog, so I think the mythology got mixed up a bit here. The beer is quite good, and it is deceiving given that it's 10% alcohol, so I guess death (or at least the end of sobriety) may come to the unwary. If that's what they're going for with the label, I'm in.

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Beer of the Week: Tree House SImple Life

7/24/2019

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Pete
A few new ones this week, but nothing really stood out. I did have some from my fridge, and that was prime selection. The best one: Tree House Simple Life. It's been 6 whole weeks since I posted a Tree House beer of the week. Honestly, I could post one probably half the weeks I've done this. Everything they make is that good.  
Description: Outrageously dark stout. It's an attempt to replicate s'mores, and it hits on that. It smells extremely marshmallow-y. There's some of that in the flavor as well, but it's dominated by dark chocolate. There's also a subtle spiciness to it that you could interpret as graham crackers (though I didn't as I was drinking it). Overall, just a deep dark dessert that reminds you of a campfire favorite.
What you should know: The Tree House bottles tend to be expensive ($12-$13 usually), but they're almost always worth at least having one. I'd suggest splitting this with a friend, as the richness can become a chore by the end of the bottle if you solo it, not to mention the 9.8% alcohol that can weigh on you.
​Recommendations: See my previous Tree House beer of the week post.

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Brewery Spotlight: Trillium

7/19/2019

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Haven't done this in awhile, and it's about time I did Trillium. I've had 79 of their beers at this point, which is the exact same number I had of Harpoon when I did the last one of these.
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The Venue: Trillium actually has 5 different locations listed on their website as of now. Fort Point (brewery/restaurant), Canton (brewery/taproom), Greenway Garden (beer garden), Farm (farm/brewery - not yet open), and Fenway (taproom - not yet open). I've been to the Fort Point brewery/restaurant and the Greenway Garden (I also went to the old Fort Point brewery before they actually had a taproom/restaurant).

The restaurant in Fort Point is awesome. There's a bar downstairs with some seating with a full menu and plenty of beers on tap. The second floor is mostly for reservations for dinner. There's a small patio outside (see the fencing in the picture), and they have a rooftop (again, see picture) that gets super crowded when it's nice out.  They don't offer flights or anything like that, which is a shame because it's hard to resist wanting to try all of the beers when you're there. They'll usually have around 20 beers available. The food menu is slightly upscale, and everything is quite good. They do have TV's on the bottom floor, but they're only on for major events. They also offer beer to go, by the can (no need to get 4 of everything).

The Greenway Garden right in downtown Boston is where I've been the most. It's a beer garden, with a truck with 8-12 beers on tap. There's some picnic table seating and barrels for standing. It can get quite crowded, especially after-work hours. Obviously, it's only open during the warm months. It's mostly in the shade in the late afternoon, which is nice when it's extremely hot. They don't offer flights, but there's few enough beers on tap that you could probably try them all.

The Beer: This is the draw of Trillium. They're a top rated brewery in the world for a reason. They do an excellent job with IPA's, stouts, and sours. They also make a bunch of lighter options, but I usually skip those. Of the 79 beers I've had from them, I've only rated 2 below 4 Shyoh's. In fact, only 6 are below 5. Here's the spread by rating:
1: 0
2: 0
3: 2
4: 6
5: 38
6: 32
7: 1

That brings the average to a stellar 5.30. That's incredible with that volume of different beers (for reference, the average rating on here currently is 4.556). Shout out to DDH Scaled (an IPA) as the 7.

Specifically, all the sour beers are incredible. They've got a few different series (soak/super soak, fated farmer, seesaw/double seesaw/triple seesaw) where they vary the fruit they put in it, and I will try every single one I can get my hands on. ​They also do slight variations of a bunch of different IPA's that are also always good. That's all without talking about the stouts, which are probably the best of the bunch. They have a bunch of 12%+ alcohol stouts that are just so so good. Hard to go wrong.

Where To Get It: The 3 open locations mentioned above. They also occasionally have it on tap at a very select group of restaurants in Boston (they're regularly at Five Horses). Really though, you just need to go to the breweries or the garden.
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Beer of the Week: Une Année Le Seul XIII (Guava)

7/18/2019

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Pete
As usual, plenty of options this week. Among other stops, I had 4 new beers at Trillium. All were amazing as expected, but none quite as good as Une Année Le Seul XIII (Guava).
Description: Two consecutive sours taking beer of the week. Smelling this one, you'd think it was a fruit beer. So. Much. Guava. Going down, it's quite sour, but as you put the glass down, a little sweetness and all that guava come rushing to meet your taste buds. Perfect balance of sour and sweet. 
What you should know: This wasn't cheap, but it was worth it. I paid $32 for this 750mL bottle in the bar (basically 2 beer normal beers worth). I would absolutely do it again. This was the first time I had seen this brewery in Boston (at Alcove), though I've seen their Hubbard's Cave brand before (Tip Tap Room). I'll be asking if they have any of these stashed away next time I'm at Tip Tap. I'm hoping they become regularly available in the area.
​Recommendations: If you happen to find one of these wine-bottle sized beers from Une Année, ignore the price, grab a friend or 2, and prepare to be blown away.

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City Spotlight: Portland, ME

7/12/2019

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Pete - I went to Portland for my bachelor party a few weeks ago, and I had been there a few years before, so I figured I'd share some recommendations. Note that most of the breweries close at 8pm, so that's a bit limiting.

There's so many breweries in Portland (I went to 10 in one weekend), so there's no way you can go everywhere. Things you definitely need to do:
- Spend at least half a day in the area around Allagash. As of when I visited, there were 5 total breweries there. The previous time I went, there were only 3. It's a hotspot, and there are food trucks at all the breweries, including one with lobster roll flights inside Allagash.
​- Go to Bissell Brothers. I think they make the best beer of all the breweries in the city. See below.
- Go to Novare Res. Always great beer options, and cornhole if you can be outside.

Now I'll highlight all the breweries I visited, in my very subjective order of where I think you need to go. Each of the links has more details about the brewery itself.

Bissell Brothers: Just go ahead and get yourself all the New England IPA's they've got. I didn't try the other styles, but I'm sure they don't make anything bad. You can get 6oz pours if you want to maximize the beers you try. Not really near any of the other breweries.

Definitive: This is a relatively new brewery (about a year old), right near Allagash. They do IPA's, sours, and stouts all well.

​Battery Steele: My favorite IPA's, there's just not that many of them. Also in the Allagash area.

​Allagash: The biggest brewery in Portland for a reason. All kinds of styles, and their tour is pretty enjoyable. I mentioned lobster roll flights earlier, they also have beer flights.

​Goodfire: A few different IPA's and pale ales that are all glorious. They'll have a food truck, and are right next to Lone Pine. Feel free to go to both of those, then Oxbow on your way downtown. Speaking of...

​Oxbow: They've got a bunch of sour and funky beers, really different from the rest of the places. They also have food from Duck Fat (great, albeit very small, restaurant downtown).

Lone Pine: Next to Goodfire. The IPA's they distribute are incredible, so get some of the other stuff. They had some very good sours while I was there.

Mast Landing: This is a bit further away, in Westbrook, but they make great beer, have a pretty large space, and offer small pours. They have enough options that you could commit some time to it, given it'll take awhile to get there. It also happened that I was staying in Westbrook, so this was a walk for me.

​Liquid Riot: Right smack downtown, and open until 1am. They are a distillery in addition to a brewery. Good place to end a night (if you aren't at Novare Res).

​Foundation: I didn't go here this time due to time constraints, but it's right by Allagash, and they make a bunch of great beers. I went on my previous visit.

Austin St.: Again, right by Allagash. Really small taproom, but they offer flights and have cornhole outside, as well as a food truck (shared with Battery Steele while I was there).

Other things to do are mostly centered around food. Portland Lobster Company has great beer, live music, and (you guessed it) great lobster. It borders on a must-do. Duck Fat is great and Holy Donut is super popular with their potato donuts. For places to hang out, feel free to give Bubba's a go. It is a really weird place, so I fit right in.

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Beer of the Week: Channel Marker Siren w/Guava, Strawberry & Lactose

7/11/2019

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Pete
Once again, plenty of options this week, but my favorite by far was: Channel Marker Siren w/Guava, Strawberry & Lactose.
Description: This past Saturday was a hot one in Boston, and I was in a house with no A/C. Something refreshing was much needed, and this came through big time. Strawberry is obvious as you start to drink it, and it goes down with a huge burst of the guava. A touch of creaminess and a slightly salty edge at the end really make this a complex incredible sour.
What you should know: This was the first time I've seen anything from Channel Marker. They opened in early 2019 in Beverly, MA, and I haven't made it out there yet. Fortunately, this was available (along with an IPA that I haven't tried yet but is in my fridge) at Shubie's in Marblehead, MA. It's unclear how much distribution they do, but I was lucky enough to find it. They have a bunch of different variations on this 'Siren' series, but I can't imagine any of them are bad based on this one.
​Recommendations: This is worth going out of your way for, so do it. Maybe give them a follow on various social medias and try to find out if you can get their stuff, or just head on up to the brewery. There's a few other breweries in the area too, so make a day of it.

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Beer of the Week: Battery Steele Flume^3

7/5/2019

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Pete
Had my bachelor party in Portland, ME this past weekend, so I had plenty of amazing beers. The best of the bunch: Battery Steele Flume^3
Description: Just so much mango. An absolute juice bomb.
What you should know: At 9.5%, I was expecting this to be sweet, but it really wasn't. This is an amped of version of Flume, which is one of the few beers I've ordered multiple times in a row at a bar. You should also know that Battery Steele is starting to distribute into Massachusetts, which is really nice for me.
​Recommendations: Even if you can get this in Boston or somewhere else, take a drive up to Portland. I'll have a full write-up of everywhere I went in Portland next week along with some recommendations, but consider this an early warning that this will be on the "must go" list. They don't have a ton of options available in the taproom, so it won't be a huge time sink, an even bigger plus given how many different places you'll want to go.

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