The big little guys

When the Brewers Association -- the craft beer industry's trade group -- put out its annual list of the largest craft breweries, a lot of familiar names topped the list. What was interesting was the fact that 36 of the top 50 are still small and independent craft breweries, a number that will surely continue to dwindle as the macrobreweries continue to add surging craft brewers to their portfolio.

Rank	Brewing Company	City	State
1	Boston Beer Co. (Sam Adams)	Boston	MA
2	Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.	Chico	CA
3	New Belgium Brewing Co.	Fort Collins	CO
4	The Gambrinus Company (Shiner)	San Antonio	TX
5	Deschutes Brewery	Bend	OR
6	Matt Brewing Co. (Saranac)	Utica	NY
7	Bell's Brewery, Inc.	Galesburg	MI
8	Harpoon Brewery	Boston	MA
9	Lagunitas Brewing Co.	Petaluma	CA
10	Boulevard Brewing Co.	Kansas City	MO
11	Stone Brewing Co.	Escondido	CA
12	Dogfish Head Craft Brewery	Milton	DE
13	Brooklyn Brewery	Brooklyn	NY
14	Alaskan Brewing & Bottling Co.	Juneau	AK
15	Long Trail Brewing Co.	Burlington	VT
16	Shipyard Brewing Co.	Portland	ME
17	Abita Brewing Co.	Abita Springs	LA
18	Great Lakes Brewing Co.	Cleveland	OH
19	New Glarus Brewing Co.	New Glarus	WI
20	Full Sail Brewing Co.	Hood River	OR

New Mass Brewers

These past few years we have witnessed a golden age in Massachusetts brewing with new nano and microbreweries springing up left and right. Here are some of my newest samplings:

Backlash Declaration, 6
7.2% belgian ipa. aggressive bitterness and sweetness make this less than drinkable.

Blatant IPA, 7
a solid ipa, although a little less hppy than i would like. would buy this again though.

Cody No Name IPA, 5
substandard, but i will give them another try.

Wormtown Be Hoppy, 8
good hop flavor and easy drinking. recommended.

Takes the cake:
Mystic Saison Aged in Sauvignon Blanc, 10
classy bottle with great description of brewers approach to saison's on label. barley and oats provide coarse element. yeast is magnificent, makes beer. white wine qualities come through but in correct proportions. excellent.

A mixed six of first timers

Clown Shoes Eagle Claw Fist, 7
found on tap at public eat + drink in north adams, a solid beer bar. this hopped up red weighs in at a healthy 8% abv. 

Gulden Draak, 9
pretty sure i have had this before but never wrote it up. dark, sweet, and sour all at once. delightful. 

Harviestoun Old Engine Oil, 8
a dark, malty 6% porter. imagine it would be even tastier on tap, or better yet, nitro. 

Keegan Ales Mother's Milk Stout, 6
one of several milk stout's floating around the states with this name. good not great. 

Oskar Blues Dale's Deviant IPA, 9
big fruity hop flavor in a can! an excellent double, just be prepared to pay for it at $14 for 4 tallboys. much better than their GUBNA. 

Wandering Star Mild, 4
4.3% porter. in my opinion, mild's should be light enough to be sessionable. this was not.

Worcester's best

For my 30th birthday last weekend we were looking for someplace exciting to go for dinner. And Armsby Abbey, Massachusetts #1 beer bar, is as exciting as it gets!

Only my second visit, Armsby Abbey managed to once again exceed my sky high expectations. Plenty of interesting beers I had never tried on tap, rare top-notch bottles (although you will pay for the privilege with some topping out at $50), and wonderful food. My plate of duck confit over brussel sprouts in a mustard-cream sauce was spectacular. But on to the beer! 

Beer Here Hopfix, 7
i think this is the second brewer i have tried from denmark after mikkeller. a clean, hoppy ipa.

d'Achouffe Biere du Soleil, 4
the maltiest saison i have ever tried... tastes more like an amber. no hop presence, dry, dull.

Jack's Abbey Cascadian, 7my first beer from this new framingham-based brewer. a very roasty schwarzbier, perhaps a little heavier than i prefer. encouraging though.

Port Mongo, 8no shortage of citrusy, grapefruit hops here. nice to get port on tap.
Sixpoint Spice of Life Nugget, 8
light colored and cloudy, tangy grapefruit hops. not a bad hop to build a single hop beer around afterall.

Thornbridge Kippling Pale Ale, 6
musty off-note was too much, even for a british pale

Best in show:
Cigar City Marron Acidifie, 10
this big bottle was a $38 splurge. i chose wisely at least. a collaborative brew by two personal favorites: the bruery and cigar city. pours a murky red with great lacing. tart cherry and oakiness defines flavor and leads to dry, puckering mouthfeel. sweet notes are what sets this one apart and allows it to keep semblance of drinkability. (glad i had some help drinking it though.) complexity you would expect in beer designed to be paired with a cigar. one of the best american sours i have had.

Maine Weekend, Part 2

Our beer sampling trip to Maine didn't end Saturday night at Lion's Pride. The next morning we went to the Sea Dog Brewing brewpub in Topsham, Maine. Located in a historic mill building on the river, the brewpub has built quite a reputation for its Sunday brunch. An all you can eat buffet, this smorgasbord has everything from eggs benedict to shrimp cocktail to cheesecake. Sadly, the food is a little more memorable than the fruity-bending beers. A very worthwhile take nevertheless.

Of the sampler tray, I had only tried two before: Blue Paw Wild Blueberry Wheat Ale (5) and Riverdriver Hazelnut Porter (4). The others are as follows:

Sea Dog Cabin Fever Winter Stock Ale, 6
Rich, toffee malt flavor. Refreshing after a bunch of watery options. The best of the bunch.

Sea Dog Old East India Pale Ale, 4
Hoppiness level more typical of a pale ale.

Sea Dog Old Gollywobbler Brown Ale, 4
Dull. Bland.

Sea Dog Owl's Head Light Ale, 1
Watery... go figure at only 3.25% abv!

Sea Dog Stout, 3
Charred flavor, one-dimensional.

Sea Dog Topsham Pale Ale, 3
Floral hops but very weak.

Sea Dog Windjammer Blonde Ale, 2
Dull wheat flavor but easy drinking.