Magic Number 300

Drumroll please the 300th beer was Magic Hat Ourtoberfest!

297 Beers and Counting

As many of you know the reviews and the Blog come from my list of all the beers I have tried. Mrs. Amazing and I are our way this afternoon to the Beer Fest at the Holyoke Canoe Club. I will break the 300 mark this afternoon and then some. I love my job! 'Gansett most likely was the first beer I ever tasted. It was the beer that Dad drank and my first was a sip of Dad's beer. This is a picture of the can I remember we would have opened with a can opener no flip tops back then.

Beer Recommendation

A friend recommended that I try the Halloween Ale! Looks like I am on a mission.

Beer Review - Dogfish Head Palo Santo Marron

Anchor Steam Beer

Anchor Brewing Company is a legend among the beer cognoscenti. If you go back to the middle 70's most of the smaller regional breweries were going out of business. We were left mostly with the national giants Miller, Budweiser and Schlitz with their pale watered down excuse for a beer. I have to admit I drank a lot of Miller back then and enjoyed it. The major brewing revolution that created the fantastic flavorful beers of today was still in the future. Anchor was formed in 1896 by Ernst Baruth and Otto Schinkel Jr. The reason it is called steam beer is lost to the mists of time however by 1896 Steam Beer was the term for most west coast beers. Anchor stumbled along in one form or another for the next 70 years including doing what no one knows during prohibition. In 1965 the brewery was set to close again when the hero of the story Fritz Maytag appeared on the scene. Fritz enjoyed drinking Anchor Steam at the Old Spaghetti Factory in San Francisco. When owner of the Spaghetti Factory mentioned to Fritz to go see the brewery before it closed he rushed down there and soon bought 51% of the operation. It took Fritz 10 years to turn the old girl around but Fritz and Anchor were pioneers in what is now known as micro brewing. I have been to San Francisco and had bottled Anchor Steam. Now out of the blue I have found Anchor Steam on draft in Western Mass. It is not a big bold beer like many of the new creations . Anchor Steam is a nice amber rich but smooth drinking beer slight hop flavor and nice head. 6 caps is my top rating but I had 8 of them last night so you know I kept on drinking this beer.

If you are a beer fan you have to drink an Anchor Steam at least once in your life as Anchor Steam is one of the bedrocks of our modern beer drinking experience.

Drink more Beer

I am on the way to a wedding of a friend's daughter last night. Mrs Amazing and I are talking about how the camera really does add 10 lbs. She turns to me and says "You are going to keep drinking beer for the reviews". I think to myself I really love this woman!

The Big Weekend Needs Big Beers!

This is the beginning of the labor day weekend. Don’t tell the boss but I did sneak out early for a wedding tonight at which I will be have a brew or two. Both of these bottles are specialty brews one from Dogfish Head and the other from Anchor Steam. They are 22oz bottles and I am planning on trying both of them this weekend. I will be a happy beer drinking man. Look for the reviews later in the weekend. Till then I will be uncapping some cold ones!!!

BrewFest 09/09

Brewfest 2011!

The Brewfest is back! Come taste dozens of great, craft beers from of the area's best brewers. Enjoy music, food and one of the most scenic spots on the river.

$30 per day or $40 for the weekend, no tokens. $20 Sunday only.

• Friday, 9/9 3-10pm
• Saturday, 9/10 12-10pm
• Sunday, 9/11 12-4pm.

If you are interested in volunteering, please see the attached form in the column to the right.

Beer from the following brewers will be available, with more expected to confirm shortly:

I hope to see lots of people there

Beer Review Victory Prima Pils

A traditional pilsner very crsip with a tart hop taste. The first thing you taste is the hops followed by a nice smooth mellow after taste. This is a 6 cap beer you and your friends could spend an afternoon drinking Prima Pils.

I was working on the the sermon and the order of service for our Labor Day service. My work was done and it was time for a cold one (see above). I cracked open a Smutty Nose Shoals Pale Ale a took a sip. I immediately noticed the roasted malt taste, I waited for the hops to kick in I appreciated the smoothness of brew I stopped and looked at the colour (a nice dark red amber). I realized that I was drinking more critically now that I doing these reviews. In the past I would have quaffed my first sip and gone damn that's good then checked the Red Sox score(not good). Now I unconsciously really tasted the beer. This is a good thing I really understood what I liked about this beer. For those who care I would give this 5 caps.

Hurricane and Beer

Beer was the drink of choice for several millennia for the simple reason was that it was safe to drink. Water was not always safe or even prudent to drink. So as the Hurricane Irene approaches it is time to stock up on beer. It is the only prudent thing to do.

Decisions! Decisions! Decisions!

Of course on one hand I can't go wrong but which beer to review next? The Dogfish Head is labeled malt beverage aged on Palo Santo wood. It is aged in unique barrels of an exotic Paraguayan wood. It is something that I have no prior expectation of the taste. The Smutty Nose is a Porter and Porters are hearty beers that are close to a stouts. After the gym tonight I will have to make the tough choice. It is a tough job tasting all these beers but I am the man for the job.

PS: Anyone has a preference let me know.

Beer and Baseball

There is nothing better than a cold beer on a hot summer evening at a baseball game. I don't know who first paired baseball and beer but I salute their genius. I went to the New Britain Rockcats game to night. They are the Minnesota Twins Double A team in New Britain Ct. The baseball is good though the 'Cats lost 7-3 to the Reading Phillie's. It is the beer that is major league. The Rockcats have Sam Adams and Long Trail both on tap. Tonight I had Sam's Boston and the Oktoberfest. It was not that many years ago all I would be able to get at a ball game would be Budweiser in a can better than nothing but not Sam Adam's on draft.

TGIF

TGIF means more reviews coming this week end