Will do. Mullen has a tr somewhere itt as well.

Few beers recently:

Night Shift OHTT: Rakau. Another great singled hopped ipa from these guys. They seem to really nail these new Zealand hops. Really enjoyed this.

Jack's Abby Saxony Lager: Vienna style Lager. 5%. Phenomenal. Just hits the spot. Jack's Abby kills these easy drinking european lagers.

Review: Maiden the Shade, a Summer IPA from Ninkasi Brewing Co. Eugene, Oregon.
Pours with a nice head, light colored, maybe a little oranger than Apple Juice, very clear. A subtle bouquet, I tried but couldn't pick up much of a smell other than a little hoppy. Sweet, light, and tasty with hints of grapefruit/citrus. Very dry finish, seems like it just disappears. Very nice, but maybe too sweet. I could envision pounding a sixer of these because it goes down so easy but waking up with a sugar hangover the following morning.

I was guessing it contained Citra hops, but was suprprised to read that Citra isn't one of the 8 different hops in this IPA. I was also surprised with the stats: 72 IBU, 6.8% ABV. I would have guessed more at a 40/5.

I'm going to overweight this ale into my summer rotation for sure, probably at the expense of Elysian Superfuzz.

are Elysian beers worth checking out? I had Space Dust and thought it wasn't very good. Have seen superfuzz and another (with a tiger ?) on shelfs recently.

Yep, here it is -



Not included in this post, Novare Res was an awesome bar that would be sweet for large groups. Eventide Oyster Bar was amazing (very long wait though). Most of the restaurants are cool with taking your number though while you bar hop in the area and texting you when your table is ready. Oh, and the Holy Donut as a morning hangover stop was solid.

I loved Portland, enjoy!

I enjoyed Portland fo sho. I'll def return and Novare is a must for beer lovers but I like Portsmouth, NH more. Could be that I live there, but I think it has more to do with the fact that I enjoy smaller towns. I've said this before, but if anyone's ever in the area, hit me up.

Nope, think they are the worst popular brewery in the area. Superfuzz is ok on a hot summer day I guess. From Seattle, the best brewery that distros is Fremont, then the best smaller ones are Reubens and holy mountain, but structures in Bellingham is making better stuff than all of them (no distro though).

I would agree, Freemont> Elysian. I especially like the Universale Pale and Summer Ales. I really liked the Elisian Superfuzz when I first tried it two summers ago. I still enjoyed the flavor last year, but I would be in trouble the next day if I had more than 24 oz.

A few Voodoo Rangers and a Green Flash IPA have me feeling good tonight. And I bought tickets again to Fat Head's Brewers' Brawl next Saturday since I enjoyed last year's event so much.

I'm most looking forward to FH's own offerings since they are always good, but im curious to see who else is showing up and what theyre bringing - seeing as NE Ohio's brewery scene is blowing up in the last 6 months. Likely offerings from Great Lakes, Jackie O's, Four Strings, Sibling Revelry, Willoughby, and Thirsty Dog, among plenty of others. Haven't seen an official list though.

New Belgium kind of gets overlooked now but Voodoo is solid. Tastes like Sculpin but is cheaper. I can get a 6 pack of i mperial at 9% for $9.

Also wtf is it with Founders cans being dirty 1/2 the time. Will be covered with like a coated dust or dirt, and the condensation turns them sticky.

Got the list:

Bottlehouse
Brew_Kettle Brick and Barrel
Brim
Butcher and the Brewer
Collision Bend
Columbus Brewing
Cornerstone
Goldhorn
HiHo
JAFB
Lagerheads
Market Garden
Masthead
Millersburg
Platform Brewing
Portside Brewing
R Shea
Sibling Revelry
Terrestial
Noble Beast
Willoughby
Wolf Ridge

It looks like its really heavily Cleveland-focused this year. There's barely anything from further away than Akron. Which is fine, but there are a couple breweries I was looking forward to trying that aren't going to be there.

Beer peeps,

Tried lizard of koz, thought it was absolutely terrible.

I opened a bottle of this a few weeks ago and didn't like it near as much as the first bottle I had last fall. Too cough syrupy, although it did get much better after it warmed.

El D,

Drainpoured it, basically undrinkable. Been pretty polarizing amongst people I've heard having it.

Very awesome. Thanks for a great TR. Pumped to go with 6 of my very good buddies that haven't collectively been together in a while.

Pretty much confirmed what I thought re breweries. Glad Austin st is worth a stop as it's so close to Allagash and Foundation from what I understand. Swish gets all the hype, and rightfully so, but Reciprocal is probably my favorite Bissell beer. Could post up in that tap room for a good amount of time. Half our group isn't beer people per say but I'm sure I can get them into it up there.

Great shout on the restaurant recs. Only 2 nights to dinner prob but I'll def seek those 2 out. Super cool they'll take your number and let you bar hop. And will hit those 2 beer bars as well. Thanks so much. May be checking in as it gets closer for further recommendations/reminders

Mullen,


The reviews ITT were pretty polarized too, so I never bought a bottle. But they had it at a bar yesterday so I decided to give it a try. Cloyingly sweet, and yeah, almost cough syrupy.

I thought it might be pretty good reduced a bit and poured over vanilla ice cream, though.

Jacks Abby Bourbon Barrel-Aged Mole Framinghammer is unreal. Absolutely delicious, does not taste as strong as it is. A must for any fans of this style.

Was in Cambridge over the weekend for the beer festival and general drinking. Highlights (no notes due to being heavily wasted for a decent portion of the weekend):

Alvinne Wild West
Kees 50k IPA
Three Blind Mice Russian Blud
Timmermans Oude Gueuze 2016
Beavertown Barrel Aged Sour Power
Cloudwater Ardbeg BA Imperial Stout
Hanssens Experimental Raspberry Lambic
Little Earth Project Organic Harvest Saison
De Molen/Omnipollo Sitis
Northern Monk Tropical Death Party

And now, I've just had Chorlton's new Citra Basil Extra Sour, which is totally delicious, the herbal bitterness of the basil really offsets the sour, which, when Citra hopped, is in danger of tasting of lemon juice unamended.

Tda,

Any vague recollection of what you thought of the ardbeg stout?

I grew up in Cambridge. Can confirm the beer festival is lots of fun.

TDA, what did you make of the Ardbeg BA stout? My bottle is still waiting for me...

The key thing I noticed was that the whiskey flavour wasn't that strong. While there was a mild smokiness from it, and it no doubt imparted welcome bitterness on what was otherwise quite a sweet impy (chocolate/vanilla flavours without adjuncts), it was far from the likes of ATC 1.3.

I don't know enough about whiskey to tell you if Ardbeg specifically was distinguishable.

Still don't like the fact that it comes in 750s only - I rarely have people to share with!

I guess some variation per batch is to be expected, but my first review on the Ninkasi Maiden the Shade was based on a 22 oz Bomber. Over the weekend I had 2-12 oz bottles out of a Sixer. This batch seemed less sweet, more bitter and had a hoppy finish. What I had this weekend seemed more inline with the 72 IBU, 6.8% ABV advertised. I'm thinking my initial taste test may have been an anomoly.

Not a triple ipa nut or anything but can comfortably say this is my favorite triple. So glad they decided to do All Orange Everything again this year. Excellent collab and the 10%+ is hardly noticeable. Subtle on the alcohol booze but also subtle yet present citrus orange flavor but not at all like a "juice bomb" citrus. Carton and Other Half nailed this one

Other notables lately have been the Other Half basketball releases particular Raining Threes and the new brewery Brotherton has an absolutely outstanding ipa that's randomly on tap at a bar down the street. Plus Kane has been putting out some great stuff and has 3 excellent ones regularly in cans. Some incredible beers and summer is basically here.

My favorite bars 4th Anniversary party is this Saturday. Always a killer list. PUMPED.

WHYM Draft List

Wolf's Ridge is probably my favorite Ohio brewery, and I would highly recommend trying anything they offer. They kill it across a number of styles. I had a bottle of their coffee/vanilla barrel-aged stout last weekend and it was awesome.