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I’m always looking to sample new beers whenever I can, whether in the comfort of my own home or out. Here are three I recently had a chance to try out that I really enjoyed.

Smuttynose Brewing’s Really Old Brown Dog
The Really Old Brown Dog is part of Smutty’s Big Beer series, so you know it’s serious. The only evidence you need that this is really good beer is that I’ve bought three big bottles in the past three week. I can’t get enough of it. I’ve had Smutty’s Old Brown Dog Ale before (truth be told, I’m drinking one now), and it’s good beer, but this is different. It’s a great sipping beer, at more than 10 percent alcohol content, but it’s also light enough so that it’s not as filling as a darker beer. It’s probably my favorite beer right now. Trust me, you need to try it. Continue reading “Three Beers to Try Right Now” »

There are a lot of nice things to say about The Hawthorne, the Hotel Commonwealth’s somewhat new bar that sports a sleek, Don Draper-esque atmosphere pushed 40+ years into the future.

I met up with some old friends there not long ago to check out their beer selection. Places like The Hawthorne run the danger of being too loud and busy, leaving patrons unable to talk unless you’re two inches from somebody’s face. Whoever planned the layout of this place must have kept that in mind because there’s plenty of seating, counter space, and of course, the bar to have some meaningful catch-up with friends.

The music wasn’t too loud, and remained a nice mix of current and old. Hearing a couple of Gang Starr tracks was a nice surprise.

Our server couldn’t have been more attentive. She was polite, genuine and gave us plenty of time to decide on our drinks without forgetting us. And the kid who came by to refill our water was faster than Speedy Gonzales. Continue reading “Outvoting 2 a.m. at The Hawthorne” »

Cheers!

In honor of International Stout Day, Thursday, Nov. 3, I figured I’d share with you five stouts that I find to be particularly tasty. There’s nothing better than sitting back on a cold night with a pint of thick stout — a virtual meal in a glass. This list is by no means all-inclusive, but I can promise you none of them will disappoint you:

1. Rogue Chocolate Stout: This is a fantastic beer. One of the best stouts I’ve had. Maybe too good, as last week, I imbibed enough of them to leave me with the king of all headaches for the ensuing 24 hours. Or maybe it was the two PBR pounders I chased it with. Drink wisely, my friends. Continue reading “Five Great Stouts for International Stout Day” »

I went to three Red Sox games this season, and all three were losers.

So were the beers: Heineken, Bud Light … I couldn’t bring myself to drink a Miller Lite. I tried.

After the third game, I joked with a friend that I had to stay away from Fenway — like a lot of (older) Red Sox fans, I still give in to superstition, to that fog of paranoia that even a little, mundane action within my life, (e.g. removing a piece of lint from my Sox ball cap) could suddenly swing the balance of Red Sox Nation, taking a sudden, hopeful winning streak in the opposite direction. Continue reading “Fenway Park’s Other Beer-Drinking Problem” »

Photo by The Beer Drinker.

The waiter frowned at me in disappointment — a sure sign that I was another annoying yuppie from uptown high off of watching too many episodes of Anthony Bourdain’s “No Reservations” to really know what the hell I was ordering.

“It’s one size,” he said, cupping his hands sideways like a bowl. “It’s $160.”

He flipped over his notepad and wrote the numbers — 160 — on the cardboard back and circled it.

OK, so I passed on the shark fin soup — but I wasn’t leaving until I had drained a few Tsingtaos with my entourage. It was Tuesday night, and we were lucky to even get a table at New Golden Gate. The place was booming with foot traffic, huge bowls full of lobster and shellfish floated past us on trays, with the smell of ginger trailing behind. Continue reading “Pairing Tsingtao with Chinatown” »

With summer winding down, now is as good of a time as any to recap some of the best beers I’ve sampled this summer. Some of them are new, and some are old favorites. It was an amazing summer for many reasons, but these six beers certainly helped make it great.

1. Blue Moon Summer: I’ve never been a big fan of Blue Moon, even though I know a lot of people really like it. But when I saw cans of Blue Moon Summer in my local beer store, I couldn’t resist. And now, just a couple short months later, it’s my go-to summer beer. Like any good summer beer, it’s light — but not so light that it’s flavorless. And though I usually don’t like honey, the hint of honey in this beer gives it just the right amount of sweetness. It’s also not bad in bottles, but I prefer the cans if I can find them. Continue reading “A Mixer Six-Pack of Summer Beers” »

It’s Friday night, and I’m at Meadhall with my old friend Uncle Buzzard. At this time of night, I’m usually on the TV room couch flicking channels while the Mrs. is snoozing on my shoulder. But with my old carrion-eating running partner in town, I’ve been granted a hall pass.

Usually, the arrival of a hall pass comes with the longing that someone might take it away. Any disruption to a routine family routine — even one as pleasant as the arrival of Uncle Buzzard — eventually leads to a thought like the plea of that poor kid in 16 Candles whose parents have forcibly dropped him off at the dance by his parents: “But I want to stay home with YOU GUYS.”

But there’s a lot of water — and malt, and hops, and barley, and Night Train — under the bridge with Uncle Buzzard, and it seems a shame to waste the opportunity to sample what’s going on at Meadhall. After all, here, at the growing nexus of tech and food that comprises surging Kendall Square, Meadhall has been hailed as an ice-breaking battleship of brew, firing its many taps out to a thirsty crowd of cybergourmets. Continue reading “Using (or Perhaps Misusing) a Hall Pass at Meadhall” »