Tales of ales from the heart of Ohio to the ends of the Earth
Last month I wrote a post about the madness of the Hoof Hearted Dragonsaddle Triple IPA can release party. To recap I showed up a little too late to ride the dragon, as hundreds upon hundreds of hopheads descended on an otherwise nondescript farm field in Morrow county. In response to my post several readers... Continue Reading →
Thanksgiving and the days around it are among the best days of the year for breaking out those beers you’ve been saving for a special occasion. What could be more apropos, after all the pilgrims stopped at Plymouth Rock in Massachusetts in large part because their supplies of beer were dwindling. So on Thanksgiving eve... Continue Reading →
Looking back over recent posts I realized that I haven’t written a beer review in nearly three months. As a first step to atone for this shameful dereliction of duty, today we take a closer look at one of the more unique Columbus area beers—Wolf’s Ridge coffee infused cream ale, Clear Sky Daybreak. This review is... Continue Reading →
As the Central Ohio beer scene matures an increasing number of breweries are releasing their beer in bottles and cans, with the latter emerging as the more popular format. Land Grant and Actual Brewing have recently purchased canning machines, Jackie O's keeps expanding the number of canned offerings, while Seventh Son, Four String, Elevator, and most recently North High... Continue Reading →
During the summer I find myself on the road a lot. While I enjoy using these trips as an opportunity to try beers I can't get at home, increasingly I find that it's not so easy to find places where the beers are better than what I can get back in Columbus. So before heading out on... Continue Reading →
With the weather finally coming around this is my last post in the Sunday Stout Soliloquy series. I was planning to review Goose Island's Bourbon County Brand Stout, going so far as drinking a bottle that I had stashed away and taking tasting notes. I can summarize my thoughts on BCBS by saying of all the barrel... Continue Reading →
Those of you keeping track will have noticed that I missed a couple of weeks in the Sunday Stout Soliloquy series. Perhaps you thought it was over because the series was only supposed to run until the end of winter, and the optimist in me would like to think that winter is behind us. In... Continue Reading →
As we approach St. Patrick's Day many a pint of Irish dry stouts like Guinness and Murphy's will be hoisted. I'll admit that I have a soft spot for a good pint of Guinness served on nitro, particularly when looking for something sessionable. It may surprise you to learn that Guinness has the same alcohol content as a... Continue Reading →
Time for another installment of Sunday Stout Soliloquies and for the first time my ritual of drinking strong dark beer every Sunday seems to be unnerving old man winter just a little. Cracks of spring are starting to show through, but I have a feeling that winter still has a few tricks up his sleeve.... Continue Reading →
Looking out my window today I see that winter is still fully entrenched in Central Ohio, which means it's time for the second installment of Sunday Stout Soliloquies. Today we take a closer look at Plead the 5th Imperial Stout by Dark Horse Brewing. Not content with making one or two different stouts, Dark Horse releases... Continue Reading →
Recently I posted the results of an Imperial Stout blind taste test that was wildly popular. If my readers want to get up close and personal with this dark and burly style of beer who am I to argue. Lord knows the weather is wintry enough to make you turn to a beer that can warm... Continue Reading →
Of the Central Ohio breweries that distribute in big bottle format (22-25 oz) those from Seventh Son are generally the most expensive, retailing at $10.99 for a 750 mL bottle. Yet they disappear so fast that if you don't pay attention you it's not hard to miss the release altogether, a powerful testament to the quality... Continue Reading →
The latest offering from Actual Brewing Company is an abbey ale called Temporal. A bottle of Actual beer is almost worth the asking price just for the label artwork and this one is no exception (yes I do have a collection), a faceless woman is holding back the hands of a clock about to strike... Continue Reading →
I think we can all agree that it's pretty frigging cold out there right now. Time to drink dark, strong beers to stave off the bite of winter. That normally means malt forward styles like imperial stouts and barleywines, which can leave the hop heads among us with a moderate to severe case of seasonal affective... Continue Reading →
One of my goals for the holiday season is to reduce the inventory of my beer fridge and cellar. It's a little like those year end sales that stores put on, out with the old to make room for the new. The holidays provide an opportunity to open up some of the bigger beers that... Continue Reading →
Did you have any beer-related items on your Christmas list, perhaps something from my list of gifts for the 12 days of Christmas? If so did Samichlaus come through as hoped? I’m not sure how I ended up on the nice list, but I received more than my share of Christmas booty including a set... Continue Reading →
Christmas is almost upon us and I've saved a special seasonal beer for my last beer review before the big day—Christmas Ale by St. Bernardus Brewery in Watou, Belgium. As beer geeks will know St. Bernardus brewed the beers of the Trappist monastery of St. Sixtus in Westvleteren from 1946 to 1992, using the recipes... Continue Reading →
At this time of year holiday beers are all the rage, particularly here in Ohio where the popularity of Great Lakes Christmas Ale has spawned such a multitude of winter warmers that I would not be surprised if our beer consumption put a strain on the world supply of cinnamon. For my first holiday beer... Continue Reading →
Last year at Thanksgiving I celebrated with a bottle of Seizoen Bretta from Logsdon Farmhouse Ales and absolutely loved it. It's still the only beer I've reviewed on this site that has received a perfect 10. So I thought why not make it a tradition and drink a Brett ale every Thanksgiving. The tricky part of that... Continue Reading →
Beer writers and bloggers tend to take one of two approaches when it comes to pumpkin beers. On the one hand, google “best pumpkin beers” and you’ll see that cyberspace is replete with lists of the best and worst pumpkin beers in North America. On the other hand, you don’t have to look very far... Continue Reading →
