Category:

Beer of the Week: Night Shift Turn Back Time

3/27/2020

Pete
OK - a couple weeks in a row. Still catching up on pre-corona beers, but I added a bunch this week. The best: Night Shift Turn Back Time.
Description: Pretty light body for a dark beer, but plenty of flavor. Chocolate and cherry dominate with a hint of fig. It's on the sweet side, but not too much. There was a time when I would have thought a 7.5% alcohol beer was strong, but this is actually lighter than most of the IPA's I drink these days, so that's a plus when you're trying a whole bunch of new ones.
What you should know: I had been souring a bit on Night Shift in some of my previous visits. They almost never make a bad beer, but I hadn't had many new ones that really impressed me for awhile. That changed on my most recent trip, when I had 8 new beers, including this one. This was my last brewery visit before all the breweries closed. Thinking about that makes me want to Turn Back Time.
Recommendations: Night Shift is still offering beer to go, one of the few breweries in the Boston area to still do so. If you need a fix, they've got you.

Beer of the Week: Tree House Perfect Storm

3/20/2020

Pete
Sorry for skipping a week, but obviously things are a bit crazy right now. I did get caught up on my west coast trip, but I had to go with an east-coaster that I had when I got back: Tree House Perfect Storm
Description: The name is apt. It's an amped up version of one of my favorites, so no surprise this is incredible. Earthy, tropical citrus, and melon combine in various ways throughout the beer.
What you should know: This is a bitter-sweet beer of the week, as Tree House has temporarily closed its doors due to COVID-19. I respect the move, as they're just too popular to find a way to stay open without putting people at risk.
Recommendations: When all this gets back under control, take a trip out to Tree House to make up for lost time. In the meantime, I'll be having Trillium instead. I urge everyone to support their local breweries if they can offer a safe way to get beer to-go or via delivery. Don't put anyone, including yourself, at risk. There's a lot of great beer makers out there, and I want them to all still be there in a few months.

Beer of the Week: Societe The Pupil

3/5/2020

Pete
Again, I'm still a little behind, so I'm basing this on what I've added to the site in the last week. This is beginning of a trip out to San Diego, so I'm mixing it up with the locations. The beer: Societe The Pupil
Description: This is sort of a hybrid between the west coast and New England styles, leaning towards west coast. It has lots of citrus flavor to it, and is plenty hazy, but it also has a piney bitterness to it. Loads of flavor.
What you should know: This beer is perfect for spicy food. It cools you down from the spice, and you can still taste it through other strong flavors. The spice also tempers the bitterness, so if you're not a big bitter beer person, make sure to have it with food.
Recommendations: If you're out west and eating some spicy Mexican food, or even if you're not eating, have a couple of these.

Beer of the Week: Kane A Night To End All Dawns: Banana, Peanut Butter & Granola

2/28/2020

Pete
I'm still a little behind, so I'm basing this on what I've added to the site in the last week. That's almost exclusively beers from a beer festival that I'll get to shortly, so you can imagine there were plenty of options. The best: Kane A Night To End All Dawns (with some additions).
Description: Somehow this tastes like all the things in the title. It smells like bourbon, and a little of that comes through in the flavor, but it's mostly peanut buttery granola. The banana is also there in the background just hanging out.
What you should know: This was a beer festival exclusive, so you probably can't get your hands on it. Sorry.
Recommendations: If you come across any other crazy stouts from Kane, get them.

Beer of the Week: Trillium Resolution Break

2/21/2020

Pete
As promised, here's another great one: Trillium Resolution Break.
Description: The kind of beer that makes you want to break Dry January - it's basically a dessert. Coffee, caramel, molasses, and chocolate flavors hit your tongue on shuffle as you drink it. No real order - each sip is different, but delicious.
What you should know: These bottles from Trillium tend to be $23-26, so don't expect this to be cheap.
Recommendations: Don't bother with dry January; you don't need an excuse to drink this.

Beer of the Week: Aslin Don't Dial In And Focus

2/18/2020

Pete
Wasn't at a computer late last week, so couldn't add this. I'll add another one later this week. The beer: Aslin Don't Dial In And Focus.
Description: Outrageously drinkable. This comes off as lemon-lime flavor, making it super refreshing, and actually encouraging you to drink it fast.
What you should know: The bar I drank this at claimed it was 10.5% ABV. I couldn't believe it, and neither could my friends after trying it. Turns out, the bar was just wrong, and it's a very reasonable 5.5%.
Recommendations: If you find yourself craving some Sprite, just have this instead. You'll feel better afterwards.

3000th Beer Special Beer of the Week: Tired Hands Frequency Illusion: Grenache

2/6/2020

Pete
Finally hit 3000 (it hasn't been very long since 2500). Also, sorry for the delay here, but we've been having all kinds of issues with the website. It should be fixed permanently now. Onto the beer: Tired Hands Frequency Illusion: Grenache.
Description: The bottle really doesn't give you any idea what the hell this is. Could be a beer, could be a rosé. What it really is is just a somewhat funky sour with grape as the dominant fruitiness to balance it.
What you should know: This is highly carbonated, so the flavors don't stick with you all that long, making it dangerously easy to drink.
Recommendations: Pair this with food like you would a white wine, or just drink it by itself - delicious.

Beer of the Week: Tree House Fudge w/Banana

1/10/2020

Pete
Getting caught up on things still, but a trip to Tree House really gave me tons of new potential BOTW. The best: Tree House Fudge w/Banana.
Description: Pictured on the right. It really does just taste like a dark chocolate covered banana. It's sweet, it's banana-y, it's chocolatey, it's a little bitter.
What you should know: This is a variant of Fudge, which I haven't had (yet). These fruit variants of standard beers are generally only available on tap at the brewery, so it's a great reason to make your way out there.
Recommendations: If you've never had many of the beers at Tree House, I still suggest getting a bunch of stuff that can be split into multiple 8oz pours when you go, but once you've had some of their main stuff, definitely test out some of these variants. I also had Haze w/Peach (pictured) and Perfect Storm w/Guava the same day. Sometimes they're better than the original, sometimes not quite as good, and sometimes they become an entirely different beer with just 1 added ingredient.

Beer of the Week: Little Log Cabin Always Better Here

1/3/2020

Pete
Took a week off for Christmas (from posting, most definitely not from drinking). I had a ton of new stuff over the last 2 weeks. The best: Little Log Cabin Always Better Here.
Description: An ultra creamy texture along with sweetness, lots of mango flavor, and plenty of vanilla make you think you're drinking a mango milkshake. If you like that sort of thing, this is dangerous.
What you should know: 2 things:
1) Little Log Cabin is really just a venture by Tired Hands.
2) I drank this while the Eagles were beating the Cowboys in a huge game, so I was already in a very good mood.
Recommendations: If you make your way to Tired Hands and see one of these Little Log Cabin options, definitely go for it. They are described as "focused meditations on comfortable and familiar aromas and flavors". If they're all like this, I'll take it.

Beer of the Week: KCBC Jingle Zombie Apocalypse

12/19/2019

Pete
Finally caught up on all the beers I've been having. The best of the bunch: KCBC Jingle Zombie Apocalypse.
Description: Tons of raspberry, a little bit of sour. Can't really complain about that.
What you should know: I was at the bar with about 10 people for a KCBC tap takeover, and this was the hit of the night. It's on the edge of being a fruit beer instead of a sour, but I don't care. So good.
Recommendations: KCBC is mostly available in New York, but I'm hoping this tap takeover is a sign of things to come in Boston. Either way, if you see KCBC on a menu somewhere (most likely in cans), go for it.