After I threatened to inject my Thanksgiving turkey with his witbier, Chris Post, brewmaster at Wandering Star Craft Brewery in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, invited me over for a tour. His experience is a lesson in the opportunities and challenges faced by startup breweries. Oh, yeah–and his beers are awesome.
WANDERING STAR CRAFT BREWERY
December 16, 2011
9 Comments | 
Ale Factories | 
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Posted by Commander Pint O. Chug
BEER-STERITY MEASURES
December 12, 2011
Beer-sterity sucks, but there's no reason to get all chained up over it.
All this talk about the best and most unobtainable beers has deterred us from contributing in recent months.* You see, due to some factors beyond our control (such as the collapse of the European banking system) and some within our control (such as taking a 50% pay cut to move to Western Massachusetts or deciding early in life that it’d be a good idea to save the children and work in the public sector), we have been placed under brutal beer-sterity regimes.
19 Comments | WTF | Tagged: beer-sterity, Bia Hoi, budget beers, frugal craft beer drinkers, Lagunitas, Lionshead, PBR, Trader Joe's, Yuengling | Permalink
Posted by Commander Pint O. Chug
IT’S NOT YOURS–IT’S BRINE!
November 23, 2011
The experts say to brine your turkey in your favorite wine or beer for 24 hours before you deep-fry it. I assume that my fellow Aleheads, some of whom haven’t had a bottle of wine in the house in six months, will go with beer.
So we asked the Aleheads what beer they’ll be using to brine their deep-fried turkey. We got some predictably inscrutable responses.
6 Comments | Beerford's Conundra, Holidays | Tagged: Cooking, fried turkey, lagunitas brown shugga, milkman brewing, Thanksgiving, Unibroue, wandering star brewing, wild turkey | Permalink
Posted by Commander Pint O. Chug
PORT BREWING MONGO IPA
July 23, 2011
This beautiful beer doesn’t appear on draft where I live. I’m lucky it’s here at all. The Mongo is a huge West Coast DIPA that has meandered its way to Aleheads’ new Appalachian Command here in the Berkshires (Massachusetts). I snagged this one in a bomber from my local bottle store.
The brewery says they made this prince primarily out of Columbus, Amarillo and Cascade hops, with a side of Centennial and Simcoe. I don’t know shit from shinook Read the rest of this entry »
9 Comments | Tasting Notes | Tagged: California, columbus hops, Double IPA, San Diego, West Coast | Permalink
Posted by Commander Pint O. Chug
NORTH COAST 2010 OLD STOCK ALE (CONTINUED)
June 7, 2011
I’ll be damned.
Back in January, I posted a tasting note about North Coast’s 2010 Old Stock Ale that I jotted down during Chanukah–December 2010. Back then, the 2010 Old Stock Ale was new, and damn, was it raw (or “hot” in Alehead-speak). You might have been able to get a buzz just by breathing in the vapors. I wrote that I would try to age the remaining 3 bottles in the 4-pack and let you know what I found.
To my own genuine astonishment, I actually left those beers alone for the past 6 months. Read the rest of this entry »
4 Comments | Tasting Notes | Tagged: 3 hops, Aging Beer, Founders, Imperial Stout, KBS, North Coast, Old Ale, Old Stock Ale | Permalink
Posted by Commander Pint O. Chug
WHAT ARE YOU DRINKING THIS MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND?
May 28, 2011
I suppose this is as close as Aleheads gets to an open thread. Aleheads and friends, what are you drinking this Memorial Day weekend?
21 Comments | Holidays | Tagged: memorial day, what are you drinking | Permalink
Posted by Commander Pint O. Chug
BEER FESTIVAL REVIEW: COLUMBUS, OHIO
May 21, 2011
Happy Craft Beer Week! Last night, Herr Direktor and I hit up the 2nd Annual Columbus (Ohio) Beer Fest. At 210 beers, it’s a microcosm of its bigger cousins. And there were plenty of breweries notably missing, some because they don’t distribute to Ohio, others for no apparent reason (DFH WTF?).
The atmosphere was… very Ohio. It was in a small ballroom at the convention center. The music was terrible. It was a 4-1/2 hour long beer festival, yet the band took at least an hour long break in the middle–giving way to a crappy radio station. Also, the band sucked. It was like Smashing Pumpkins but with no talent. The food was overpriced and downright bad. And why was the ceiling covered in red and blue neon lights? I don’t know.
I was pumped for the beer list, though. Read the rest of this entry »
8 Comments | Beer Festivals | Tagged: Avery, barley brewing company, beer festivals, Bell's, Boulder, Breckenridge, Brooklyn, columbus brewing, elevator, flying dog, Founders, Goose Island, Gordon Biersch, Great Divide, Harpoon, ithaca, Jolly Pumpkin, Lagunitas, Left Hand, maumee bay brewing, moerlein, mt. carmel, North Coast, north peak, Ohio, Ommegang, rivertown, Rogue, Sierra Nevada, Smuttynose, Southern Star, Southern Tier, steven's point, Stone, tall grass, Thirsty Dog, Troegs, two brothers, Victory, widmer | Permalink
Posted by Commander Pint O. Chug
GENTLEMEN, AN AMENDMENT
May 15, 2011We’ve published our Code. May I offer an amendment? Read the rest of this entry »
13 Comments | WTF | Permalink
Posted by Commander Pint O. Chug
KBS MADNESS
April 13, 2011
Few events bring out the alegeek in us better than the launch of a BeerAdvocate top 10 beer that’s only available once a year. You need look no further than Dark Lord Day, a near-holy pilgrimage to the beertropolis of Munster, Indiana. Or Brother Barley’s semi-conscious stagger to the hallowed monastery of Westvleteret. And I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the gracious invitation that Beerford McBrewin’ made to us last month to join him for happy hour in Portland (a 4-1/2 hour flight) to try Pliny the Younger.
10 Comments | Tasting Notes, WTF | Tagged: barrel and bottle, Barrel-Aged, Beers of the Midwest, best beers, Best Stout in America, Bottles, boulevard carryout, Founders, grandview carryout, KBS, kenny road market, kentucky breakfast stout, Limited Release, Michigan, the anderson's, weiland's | Permalink
Posted by Commander Pint O. Chug
ALEHEADS LEGAL CORNER: BELL’S COLD HEARTED ALE
March 26, 2011
Loyal readers need no introduction to the topic of today’s Aleheads Legal Corner. As we’ve previously written, our former friends at Bell’s Brewery sent a cease and desist letter to Northern Brewer, ordering Northern Brewer to stop using the name “Three Hearted Ale” for its clone of Bell’s Two Hearted Ale. While Northern Brewer was as gracious as possible in responding — and expressly threw cold water on Brother Barley’s call for a boycott — the Internet has been less kind.
What’s the issue here? Well, if you believe Bell’s barely apologetic explanation (which we scorned), “A trademark that is not defended becomes worthless.” (The response also claims Bell’s had never heard of Northern Brewer, even though it’s arguably the biggest player in the home brewing industry.) On the flip side you have the 2 billion irrational people who comprise the Internet, many of whom think the problem is that Larry Bell is a dick.
Naturally, we asked our two legal experts, Baron Sudsy von Brue and Commander Pint O. Chug, to weigh in. Read the rest of this entry »
7 Comments | Beer Industry, Beer Marketing, Brews in the News, Homebrewing | Permalink
Posted by Commander Pint O. Chug
HIGHWAY 78 SCOTCH ALE
February 16, 2011
Our friends at Bodega recently opened package store at the North Market in Columbus, Ohio called The Barrel and Bottle. True to form, they wasted no time in getting in a selection of beers you can’t find anywhere else in town. The owner was kind enough to root through some boxes with me and dig out a collaboration among the three premier craft brewers in the San Diego area: Green Flash, Pizza Port Carlsbad, and Stone. As your attorney, I advise you to pick up as many bottles of this limited offering as you can.* Read the rest of this entry »
6 Comments | Tasting Notes | Tagged: 4 Hops, bodega, California, collaboration beers, Green Flash, north market, pizza port, San Diego, Scotch Ale, Scotch Ales, Scottish Ales, Stone, Wee Heavy | Permalink
Posted by Commander Pint O. Chug
GUEST POST: THREE FLOYDS ROBERT THE BRUCE SCOTTISH-STYLE ALE
February 1, 2011
It’s icy here in the flatlands today. Icy and cold. Frau Direktor is down the street letting the Bubchen run himself silly with a friend and I have a few moments to myself. Having chosen education over litigation*, I am sitting at home blessing the quarter inch of ice that has afforded me this opportunity to sample the spoils of the Commander’s Kentucky conquest. Read the rest of this entry »
1 Comment | Tasting Notes | Tagged: 3.5 Hops, Beers of the Midwest, Guest Post, Herr Direktor, indiana, Robert the Bruce, Scottish Ales, Tasting Note, Three Floyds | Permalink
Posted by Commander Pint O. Chug
THREE FLOYDS BLACK SUN
January 31, 2011
Three Floyds’ extravagant beers make it the topic of frequent conversation in these pages. Sadly, its distribution map, which consists of a few patches of enlightenment among vast expanses of medieval darkness, makes its beers a seldom subject of our tasting notes. But that’s why God put Cincinnati on the border of two other states, Indiana and Kentucky–so we Ohioans could make 21st century rum runs across the border and bring back a bounty of Three Floyds. Read the rest of this entry »
3 Comments | Tasting Notes | Tagged: 4 Hops, beer run, Beers of the Midwest, black sun, dry irish stout, indiana, irish stout, Stout, Three Floyds | Permalink
Posted by Commander Pint O. Chug
GREEN FLASH DOUBLE STOUT
January 25, 2011
I’ve heard the hype about Green Flash and had to try a couple of their beers for myself. So in the midst of what passes for a blizzard here in Central Ohio, Herr Direktor and I skidded our way over to Bodega for happy hour. There was no way I was starting with anything other than an imperial stout, and it was my lucky day since they had Green Flash’s Double Stout on tap… at half price!
According to the brewery, the Double Stout is made in the traditional British style and is continually hopped with UK Target hops. The result is an incredibly rich, smooth, satisfying beer. Read the rest of this entry »
4 Comments | Tasting Notes | Tagged: 3.5 Hops, bodega, California, Double Imperial Stout, Double Stout, Green Flash, Imperial Stout | Permalink
Posted by Commander Pint O. Chug
SOUTHERN TIER PHIN & MATT’S EXTRAORDINARY ALE
January 24, 2011
Phin & Matt’s isn’t a bad beer–its flavor profile is just so subdued that it risks fading into Bolivian. Southern Tier makes a lot of outstanding brews. This ain’t one of them. Read the rest of this entry »
1 Comment | Tasting Notes | Tagged: 2 Hops, Beers that aren't Dale's Pale Ale, Pale Ale, Southern Tier | Permalink
Posted by Commander Pint O. Chug
SAMUEL ADAMS BRICK RED ALE
January 9, 2011
The people at Walt Disney World lie.
Over the holidays I took a trip to Disney World with the Commandress and the Commanditos. Naturally, I spent half the time bitching about how no place had beer worth drinking. I’m not talking about the Magic Kingdom, where they don’t serve beer at all, but the whole park and the Downtown Disney area. It was comical: what are the “local favorites” that the menu says you should ask your server about at the Rainforest Cafe? Sam Adams Boston Lager and 22 oz. Budweisers. The most exotic beer at the bar in Downtown Disney serving “over 50 different beers”? Newcastle. My quest to find Cigar City brews while in Florida? Abject failure.
Mercifully, there were three (moderately) bright spots in this beer wasteland. Read the rest of this entry »
2 Comments | Tasting Notes, WTF | Tagged: 2.5 Hops, Red Ale, Sam Adams | Permalink
Posted by Commander Pint O. Chug
AND THE BEER LASTED FOR EIGHT DAYS, PART 3: FOUNDERS CENTENNIAL IPA!
December 3, 2010
When Doc crowned Founders Centennial IPA the best IPA in America, he invited the rest of us to do a full tasting note on it. As Commander of Aleheads Central Command, I feel the urge — nay, the duty — to take him up on that. While I would not call it the best IPA in America, it’s definitely close, and an outrageously good beer.
NOTES: Bottle @ Herr Direktor’s place
STYLE: American IPA Read the rest of this entry »
2 Comments | Tasting Notes | Tagged: 4 Hops, Beers of the Midwest, Centennial hops, Founders, IPA, Michigan | Permalink
Posted by Commander Pint O. Chug
AND THE BEER LASTED FOR EIGHT DAYS, PART 1: AVERY IPA!
December 1, 2010
Chanukah is an odd holiday. According to the Talmud, after the Syrians conquered Judea from the Egyptians in the 2nd century BC, King Antiochus attempted to Hellenize the Jews living in his kingdom. One facet of this ill-conceived “hearts and minds” campaign was to seize the Holy Temple and sacrifice pigs on the altar. (You can see why the Jews did not appreciate this gesture.) A Jewish priest named Mattathias and his sons (who came to be known as the Maccabees, which is Hebrew for “hammer”) led a revolt and reclaimed the Temple. But they discovered that there was not enough oil to keep the eternal lamp burning for the eight days it would take to bring more oil to the Temple, and as some of us learned during Hell Week, do not let the candle go out. A great miracle happened there, as one day’s worth of oil lasted for eight days, and the eternal lamp was not extinguished.
Modern scholars are not terribly convinced by this version of the events. Read the rest of this entry »
1 Comment | Tasting Notes | Tagged: 3 hops, Avery, Chanukah, Colorado, IPA | Permalink
Posted by Commander Pint O. Chug
ASK THE ALEHEADS: BEERS OF THE NORTHWEST
November 16, 2010Among our many-ish talents, the Aleheads are renowned (/reviled) for our countenance on difficult issues of a moral, spiritual, or beer-related nature. Dr. Ripped Van Drinkale III posed the following challenge to the rest of the Aleheads. Since we just can’t keep our inane blathering to ourselves, we decided we’d share it with you, our loyal reader(s). Enjoy. Read the rest of this entry »
4 Comments | Alehouses, WTF | Tagged: Boston, Cask, Deschutes, Green Flash, Pacific Northwest, Silver City, Troegs | Permalink
Posted by Commander Pint O. Chug
SAY IT WITH ME NOW: BODEGA — PART 1
November 15, 2010
It’s fall in central Ohio, so that means three things: college football, cold weather beers, and the Copperpots’ annual visit. “Lord” (Douchebag) Copperpot and I make a pilgrimage every year to the hands-down best alehouse in Columbus–Bodega on High Street. (Say it with me now: “Bo-de-ga.”) Bodega features about 50 taps, most of them craft beers. And best of all, all draft beers are half price during happy hour: 4-8pm, Monday through Friday. Yes, this really does mean that pints of the best craft beers in America run about $3. They don’t call Columbus a liveable place for nothing.
The more beer I try, the more I appreciate Bodega. Read the rest of this entry »
4 Comments | Alehouses, Homebrewing, Tasting Notes | Tagged: 2xipa, 3.5 Hops, Beers of the Midwest, bodega, brew kettle, Double IPA, Imperial IPA, Ohio, old 21 ipa, Southern Tier | Permalink
Posted by Commander Pint O. Chug
