Sunday, May 27, 2012

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.

Sunday, May 6, 2012

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