September Beer of the Month Club Review - Gourmet Clubs
It's always an exciting day when our beer of the month club comes in. It's sort of like a mini christmas each time, you don't know what you're going to get as you open the box only to discover exciting and interesting new beers. Once again we got a shipment of beers we'd never tried before and given we've tried a lot of beer and we mean A LOT that's saying something.
If you want to get the same club as us go here: Click to Join
Woodstock Inn Pig's Ear Brown Ale
Appearance: Brown, light tan head... decent size head.
Smell: Mild, slightly sweet. Smooth
Taste: Very smooth and easy to drink. Good malt flavor, light hop bitterness, but enough to keep the beer very well balanced, if not on the maltier side. A very drinkable session brown ale. Got enough flavor to make it tasty, with a god bit of roast to it. Not too flavorful to make it tough to drink a lot of it.
Woodstock Inn Red Rack Ale
Appearance: Well, surprise surprise, it' red-ish. White head that dissipates real fast.
Smell: Earthy hops... light smell to it, nothing overwhelming. Almost a little smoke in there.
Taste: Light tasting, with a nice hop bitterness to it. Balanced just like the Pig's Ear, but on the hoppy side rather than the malty side. Very drinkable, another very good session ale!
Tommyknocker Butthead Bock
Appearance: Deep brown with some amber hues and a rich but light brown head.
Smell: Malty. Brown sugar and mollases. Smells sweet.
Taste: Sweet. It tastes like a sweet Oktoberfest. Maltiness coats your mouth, it's a pretty thick beer. Definitely a tasty one to enjoy on a cold night!
Jeff Says: It's good for what it is. A bock. I just don't love sweet beers that much. But it is a good example of the style. I like it, but wouldn't seek it out.
Devon Says: I like it. It tastes like a sweet marzen, which for me worked well. Bock's are actually normally a style that I don't care for but I'd definitely drink this again. 
Tommyknocker Pick Axe Pale Ale
Appearance: Dark golden with a white head
Smell: Smells good even just pouring it into the glass! Piny hops. Ryan says it smells like Christmas.
Taste: Dry, hoppy, piny and very tasty! Not overly bitter, but great hop flavor with just enough bitterness to make it crisp. This is definitely the winner of the bunch. A great session ale that we could drink all night long. This one is definitely recommended.
Religion and Beer on CNN.com
CNN had a cool article in their Living section about beer and how many breweries have used religious angles in naming their beer, breweries, equipment and more. Lost Abbey, Russian River, He'Brew, St. Arnold are all featured, as well as several beer appreciation groups and more.
The article definitely gives a pretty good look at why some people decided to use God and religious symbolism in naming their beers or breweries.
Publick House Provisions in Brookline Gets Alcohol License
After 5 months of legal wrangling, Publick House Provisions, the food/beer store that is an offshoot of The Publick House (both in Brookline, MA), received it's license to sell beer on Thursday, September 11 2008. The store had been open, but with reduced hours and coolers empty, since spring of 2008. But now, with their ability to finally execute their goal of selling all the bottled beer that Publick House carries, they've expanded to full hours:
Monday-Sat Noon-10:45PM
Sun Noon-6PM
They are taking delivery of the first beer this morning at 8am (Friday, September 12, 2008). On top of that, they have a great selection of cheeses, chocolate and other high-end food. It's definitely worth checking out... especially since it's directly next to the newest venture from the founders of The Publick House... Roadhouse Craft Beer & Barbecue! So amble your way over, get some delicious smoked meat and American Craft Beer, then check out Publick House Provisions right next door and pick up some delicious Belgian beer, the glass it goes in and some cheese or chocolate to accompany your libation.
Cambridge Brewing Company: The Great Pumpkin Festival!
We have some great news for anyone within driving distance of Boston... Cambridge Brewing Company is having their first annual Great Pumpkin Festival on Halloween this year! For those not within driving distance, we caution you against reading further as it will most likely just make you very very jealous of those who are.
Will Myers, brewer for CBC sent us over this info yesterday and we had to share it.
The Great Pumpkin Festival! or "How we learned to stop worrying & love the pumpkin"
This Halloween, CBC goes a little nutty with our first ever Pumpkin Festival.
The preliminary details:
*4 different CBC-brewed Pumpkin Ales, including our famous Great Pumpkin Ale, a pumpkin saison, Spinal Pumpkin (11% Imperial pumpkin with 11 different heirloom pumpkin varietals), and a pumpkin ale cask-conditioned in and served from a giant pumpkin.
*4 guest pumpkin beers! Expect some unique offerings from breweries otherwise unavailable in these parts. More info to come.
*A special pumpkin-themed beer-friendly menu from Executive Chef David Drew!
*Fun stuff like a costume contest, pumpkin smash, pumpkin baseball, whatever other wierdness we can dream up.
We're super-lucky to be expecting pumpkin beers from Dick Cantwell at Elysian Brewing Company in Seattle, and Ron Jeffries with Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales in Michigan! And to keep it local,
our friend Tod Mott from Portsmouth Brewing Company in NH will be sending a little pumpkin love, PLUS John Kimmich of the Alchemist in Waterbury, VT is threatening to make his first ever pumpkin beer, just to taunt us.
