I’m the first top criticize Ontario brewers for leaving vast swaths of beer styles unattended — think IPA, strong or “Imperial” pale ales, bocks and doppelbocks, and pretty much anything born of Belgian influence — so when I heard that Amsterdam Brewing had released a newly formulated Spring Bock AND that it was inspired by the recipe of a local homebrewer AND that the buzz it was receiving was uniformly good, I decided to put my money where my mouth was and stroll over to the brewery to pick up a six-pack. (more…)

My first thought on pouring this beer was, “Thank god it’s not green.” A facetious thought, I will admit, since I really didn’t expect it would be green, but there was a slight relief nonetheless. (more…)

I’ve always found it amusing that, in New York City, when you buy a bottle or can of pretty much anything — pop, juice, beer, alcopop — the shopkeeper will immediately slide it into a single-serving brown paper bag and ask you if you want it opened. It’s like a vast conspiracy to allow those who wish to drink an alcoholic beverage in public to do so, despite its illegality. (more…)

Well, I survived the Philly Beer Week 5k run from the Bishop’s Collar and finished the course with a cool can of Sly Fox Pils. (The extra 3k in the title of this post is from the jog out to Fairmount and 24th from downtown Philly, which I did only because I felt goofy walking there in my running gear.) (more…)

Well, I made it through a whirlwind visit to Belgium, including a small brewery mini-fest hosted by Picobrouweij Alvinne and the legendary Zythos fest, and have landed in Philadelphia during the heart of Beer Week, which itself included going straight from airplane to hotel to Monk’s Cafe where I hosted a well-attended beer dinner. (more…)

A while back, my friend and fellow scribe Stan Hieronymus posted on his Appellation Beer about the “Tyranny of the Tasting Note,” cribbing, and attributing, liberally as he did. And, indeed, there is much to learn about the way in which wine writers have mystified wine to the point that, for many, it’s an intimidating topic. (more…)

No, the above quote is not referring to the noted strong ale from Colorado’s Avery Brewing, although we will return to that later on in this post. Rather, those words are from Philadelphia Tourism rep Cara Schneider and what she is referring to is Philadelphia Beer Week. (more…)

I like The Globe and Mail newspaper, I really do. I like it enough that it’s the only daily I receive six days a week — they don’t publish The Globe on Sundays — and I like it enough to on occasion write for it. I’ve worked with many an editor there and they’ve pretty much all been creative, considerate and kind people. (more…)