The New England Brewing Company Puzzle

When I first arrived on the craft beer scene, April of this year, I was completely overwhelmed. With hundreds of breweries and thousands of beers, I had no clue where to start. CJ first advised me to start utilizing different resources such as BeerAdvocate and Untapped. I quickly learned that there were a ton of breweries within a stones-throw here in Connecticut. I visited many of the local package stores and grabbed whatever I could and the journey began. I immediately realized that New England Brewing Company (NEBCO) was located in Woodbridge, CT. NEBCO is not only one of the finest breweries in Connecticut, but in the northeast. After following them on Twitter and Facebook, I came to realize that they have a devout following and many people are fixated on three of their beers in particular, Gandhi Bot, Coriolis, and the famous Fuzzy Baby Ducks. Finding and trying each of these beers became my first personal challenge in the craft beer world.

Gandhi Bot, a Double IPA, was the first I was lucky enough to try. NEBCO announces their beers on tap through social media outlets from Wednesday-Saturday. I dropped much of what I was doing and raced to Woodbridge to get my first ever growler fill of Gandhi Bot. It seemed to be my first real achievement in the ever changing craft beer scene and I was thrilled.

About 6 weeks went by and Fuzzy Baby Ducks as well as Coriolis continued to evade me. These beers are not canned or bottled, so finding them at a local bar or at the brewery was really my only option. I became further entrenched in the craft beer scene over these weeks, being able to try the likes of Heady Topper, Pliny the Elder, and Julius.

Just when I thought Fuzzy Baby Ducks, an American IPA, would have to go on the back burner, NEBCO announced they would have it at the brewery a few days before the 4th of July. I was fortunate enough to have the day off and raced to Woodbridge. I planned to arrive 90 minutes before they opened, knowing how big of a following this beer has, and it wasn't nearly early enough. Upon arriving, there were easily 150 people there in front of me. We got inside the brewery, 3 hours later, sampled Fuzzy Baby Ducks, and left with 4 full growlers. The whole trip lasted about 5 hours in total but was completely worth it. This brew remains in my personal Top 5 to this day. Bringing this up to Maine to share with family for the 4th of July weekend was a real treat.

Two of the top 3 NEBCO beers had been "ticked" off my list and I was only in search of one more, Coriolis, a Double IPA. Today, I saw that NEBCO had this on tap and I filled and drank the growler all within 3 hours. This was the final piece of the "NEBCO puzzle" that I first set out to complete. Although it took much longer than I initially thought it would, today was the end of one small chapter for me and the beginning of the next.

Best of the Week: July 20-26

Each Sunday we will take a look at the best beer each of the four bloggers has consumed throughout the week. Here are each of our favorite beers between July 20-26:

Carl: Alien Church (Tired Hands): This American IPA had me coming back a second time as I don't think I appreciated it enough the first go around. Brewed with Mosaic, Citra, Chinook, Centennial and Columbus hops, this was one of the smoother IPAs I've had in a while. Rating: 4.75/5. Honorable Mention: Only Void (Tired Hands), Delicado (Tired Hands/Hill Farmstead collab), 077xx (Carton).

Mark: Second Fiddle (Fiddlehead): Love at first sight? This Double IPA has been a favorite of mine since I arrived on the craft beer scene. With a burnt orange appearance and a tangerine citrusy nose, what more could someone ask for? Without a doubt a world class offering from Fiddlehead. Rating: 5/5. Honorable Mention: Dinner (Maine), Lunch (Maine), Pliny the Elder (Russian River), Green (Tree House), Gose (Westbrook).

Eric: Only Void Aged on Coffee & Cherries (Tired Hands): Cherry forward! This was a well-balanced stout and probably the best dark beer I have ever had from Tired Hands. In fact, I wish I ordered a doughnut with it! Rating: 4.75/5. Honorable Mention: The Substance (Bissell Brothers), Green Diamonds (Other Half).

Joshua: Sunny Side Up (Pizza Boy): To sum it up in one phrase, it's the best cup of coffee I've ever had. I have had plenty of stouts in my time, but this one, brewed with beans from Little Amps Coffee in Harrisburg, PA, makes a case for the best stout I've ever had. Rating: 5/5. Honorable Mention: Eternal Sunshine (Pizza Boy), Murrens (Pizza Boy), Storm (Crooked Run).


Cheers to another week of drinking!

Tired Hands: A Brewery Unlike Any Other

It's Okay at Brew Cafe.

Odds are we will do many more pieces on Tired Hands in Ardmore, PA as it is one of our favorites and right nearby outside of Philadelphia. Last night, Eric and I ventured out there and had quite a night at their two locations. While I have been there a number of times before, this was the first time I sat down and drank a number of Tired Hands brews at once. After probably my fourth, I turned to Eric and said "you can go to any brewery around the country, or even the world, and you will never find beers like these guys make." They are that different and that good.

We started the night at the Brew Cafe. Off the top of my head I cannot speak for every one Eric had, but while indulging in a bologna and cheese sandwich on a bread they make in house, I also slugged back an It's Okay (American IPA) and a SaisonHands (Saison/Farmhouse Ale), the latter being one of their staples that is generally always on tap.

Outside the Fermentaria.

After finishing up at the Brew Cafe, we made the 0.3-mile "trek" to the brand new Fermentaria, where you can find 12 beers on tap, all of which are different than the ones on tap at the Brew Cafe (aside from HopHands and SaisonHands). While in this beautiful new building with pretty much nothing separating the bar and eating areas from all the brewing tanks and barrels where all the magic happens, we indulged in a number of other brews.

I started off with the Only Void Aged on Coffee & Cherries (Double Stout), which is said to be one of, if not the best, dark beers Tired Hands has ever made. And I'll tell you what, it's hard to argue. One of the smoothest stouts I've ever had and the cherry notes were so prevalent.

From there I went with Alien Church (American IPA). I later had to go back to this one a second time because I don't think I appreciated it enough the first time around. This is one of the better beers I've ever had. Brewed with Mosaic, Citra, Chinook, Centennial and Columbus hops, it went down super smooth and had me coming back for more later on.

The Trendler Pils (Pilsner, obviously) was next, and while it wasn't a bad brew by any means, it left a little more to be desired. Not going to lie, it's probably more because I'm not much of a pilsner guy.

Alien Church at Fermentaria.

As I commented on my Untappd for this next one, you can sign me up for anything that has to do with Hill Farmstead, thus far my favorite brewery. Delicado (American IPA) is a collaboration between Tired Hands and Hill Farmstead. This was another out of this world IPAs. Every IPA I've had from HF has gone down so easily, and this guy was no exception.

Prior to capping the night off with another Alien Church, I moved on to Honey, I Love You (Saison/Farmhouse Ale). This one has been compared to HF's Anna, and upon tasting both, I concur. A sour brew that isn't too sour, which is exactly what I'm looking for.

If I were to rate the SEVEN distinct beers I had last night (on a scale of 1-5, yes the Untappd scale!), this is how it would go:

1) Alien Church (4.75/5)
2) Delicado (4.5/5)
3) Only Void (4.5/5)
4) Honey, I Love You (4.25/5)
5) It's Okay (4/5)
6) SaisonHands (4/5)
7) Trendler Pils (3.75/5)

 These ratings may be a little redundant for the average reader because by the time you read this or make your way over to Tired Hands, most of these beers (aside from SaisonHands) will be gone and will most likely never see the light of day again. That's what makes this place so special. They never seem to run out of ideas for different brews every week and they don't appear to have a shortage on names, however obscure some of them (most of them) are.

If you are ever in the Philadelphia area, Tired Hands is in my opinion the No. 1 spot you must hit up. It's that good. I promise you won't be disappointed.

Cheers!

Beer Advocate Rankings Go Haywire!

If you're like me and are still semi-new to the beer scene (although I like to think I can hold my own to an extent), Beer Advocate (BeerAdvocate.com) can be a great tool to increase your knowledge on the subject. When I was first starting out, BA is where I went to figure out what was what. The forums are a great tool, seeing what others are drinking, where they are drinking and what they think about the beers they are consuming.

But perhaps the best tool you can use is BA's Top-250 beers, which until just recently had only slightly changed from time to time. When I wanted to find out whether or not this funky looking brew I found was any good, I took a look to see what its rating was and if it was anywhere on the top-250.

For the longest time these rankings remained rather stagnant with Alchemist's Heady Topper leading the way. Well, a couple days ago the rankings went nuts and everything changed!

Heady was replaced at the top of the list by Russian River's Pliny the Younger (have yet to indulge, but hear it is fantastic). That was just the start of it. The top-10 looks very different. Zombie Dust moving into the top-10? Don't get me wrong, a fantastic beer, but it made a drastic jump to make its way up to No. 9.

The fact that I now see Stone's Enjoy By IPA all the way up to No. 48, just ahead of the likes of Focal Banger (49) and King Sue (51) is just nuts to me. Enjoy By is a good beer. Not great, but good. To me I can't see why it even belongs in the top-250, let alone in the top-50!

Ballast Point's Sculpin, another solid brew, is not the 52nd best beer in the world. It just isn't. I'm sure some people out there consider it their favorite beer, but there's just no way it belongs that high. Not to mention you can pretty much find it anywhere nowadays.

The more I look at the rankings, and believe me I have not gone to great lengths to examine the list top-to-bottom, it seems to be more of a popularity contest. What I mean by that is some of the beers that made drastic jumps are very popular and quite easy to find. I don't know if this plays a factor, but it's a little head-scratching to me.

Pliny the Younger is brewed once a year and distributed to a number of areas. If you are in Philadelphia around the time it is released, there is a decent chance you can find it on tap (although you are going to have to wait in line for it). My point here is how does a beer that is only around once a year, which is usually in the winter, all of a sudden make the leap up to No. 1? It hasn't been drank by anyone in months and out of nowhere, in mid-July, it vaults to the top spot.

Obviously either way you cannot take these rankings as gospel. Drink what you enjoy and don't let rankings and ratings get in the way. But I have to say I was thrown for a loop when I saw these new rankings. Just a little puzzling to me.

Cheers!

Welcome to Life's Brewtal

Life is not easy. It's unfair, unforgiving, will kick you while you're down and usually will show no mercy. So what do we turn to at the end of the day when you've all but had enough? A beer!

Think about it for a second. What are you reaching for after a 12-hour day of work? You woke up too late this morning and did not have time for your daily cup of coffee. Jimmy from accounting shredded a crucial document you needed in order to finish that project you've been working on for months and in turn your boss reamed you out for a good 45 minutes. And to top it all off, dammit if Jimmy didn't go and steal your cold tupperware of pasta for lunch while he was at it. The thought of eating that pasta was all that was getting you through the rest of your day!

When you finally plop down on the couch after an hour and a half commute through rush-hour traffic, you pop on the TV and crack a beer. Now what kind of beer is it? That doesn't matter all that much! IPA, stout, pale ale, etc. It's all the same to you at the end of the day from hell.

The beer world is vast and wonderful. Whether you are into the craft game or are perfectly content with cracking an ice cold Bud Light when life's got you down or you're looking to have a good time, I'm not here to judge or complain at all. Whatever floats your boat.

I entrenched myself in the beer game about six months ago and I'll tell you what - it's just awesome. Don't get me wrong, it's exhausting. The continuous search for the next great beer is enough to make you pull your hair out, but the thrill is exhilarating.

That is what this blog is all about. I, along with a number of colleagues, hope to bring you some entertainment through our travels as well as our trials and tribulations trying to find our next brew.

I think I can speak for my fellow contributors on this blog when I say we are still in a learning process here. We are not going to pretend like we know everything there is to know about beer. Some of us know more than others, but not one is an expert. We will use our continued experiences, as well as this blog, as a platform to expand our knowledge.

From our random trips to our experiences just waiting in line for a limited release, we hope to capture it all! This should be entertaining, so we encourage you to tune in and come along for the ride with us.

Cheers!

Summer 2015 Share