Spring sippings

Maybe it's just me, but springtime seems built for hoppy beers. Those malty winter beers tend to get pushed to the back of my beer shelf for some fresh hopped-up six-packs. This is what I have been sampling:

Berkshire Saint of Circumstance Sour Mash Whiskey Barrel Aged IPA, 9
berkshire decided to go for it with this gutsy idea for a beer. i thought it worked too. hops and bourbon play nice together and its sour without being over the top. very interesting.

Blue Hills Comet Tail Pale Ale, 7
 a pretty big pale ale. malty in the front and hoppy in the back.

Cambridge Weekapaug Gruit Ale, 7
while this is an unhopped style, the replacement spices give it a springy feel as well. points for the phish reference too.

Mayflower Spring Hop, 6
solid hoppy amber.

Sixpoint Resin, 7
really stands out on the shelf with its sharp green label and skinny can. heaps of delicious piney, citrus hops. not to be confused with a session beer however.

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