Beer is worth getting excited about but #BeerSaturday is where I am a VIKING (and a beer blogger loving the blockchain rewards.)
Source: https://www.pinterest.pt/goldensaintbeer/ with a little Zeke design on top.
I became a beer blogger years ago because of the blockchain, my need for a weekly column, and an age-old obsession with beer. Add that to the years I spent brewing for myself, and the breweries I work with now on their technology and marketing, you get the perfect recipe for a #blockchain #Beerologist.
This week, I returned to my old haunt at the beer retailer and found myself scratching my chin at the bounty in the Craft Beer section. Having been adventurous the last couple weeks, was it time to return to some old favourites? Would there be something new as the winter seasonal begins to make room for new spring seasonals?
Pull up a pint and let's find out together in these 1,200 beery words.
Pint of the Week
The Pint of the Week is a new feature for this weekly report as the restaurants and bars have reopened after the latest lockdown. There is nothing really like bellying up to the local bar, enjoying a fresh pint, and being a part of the community which has done its share of hibernating lately.
This week, This week, I was at one of my regular haunts https://redlionroom.ca tasting something new. Some places, this one included, usually ask me if I will have my regular and pour me a craft IPA. Others know I am an adventurous and progressive beer enjoyer and offer me something new. This is a case of the latter as a new beer deal saw the inclusion of Cowbell Brewing Lorna Bray Flygirl Nitro Oatmeal Stout https://cowbellbrewing.com/beer/lorna-bray-fly-girl
Damn fine pint and a pleasant change from the norm. Will have again!
Drinking From a Fire Hose
This is my favourite shelf at one of my local beer retailers. To the untrained eye, it looks like a cacophonous mess of unicorn vomit due to the contrasting labels on the contrasting brews. The shelf behind me is almost the same but a panoramic shot cant effectively get it all in. Either way, you can see the red circle of deliciousness that attracted my attention this day.
Triple Shot of Great Lakes Beer!
After short deliberation, I decided that I would give the new beer discovery a break for a week. There were a couple returning seasonal beers I had enjoyed last season and a redesigned label on an old favourite I figured would make for good chugging and a riveting blog. It was so close to being a clean sweep for New England IPA and promised to be delicious.
The star of the show this week is Great Lakes Brewery https://www.greatlakesbeer.com/ This place has consistently provided at least 1 of my top 5 beers for the last 5 years which is nothing to sneeze at, even if these pints look a little chilly.
Haze Mama
Great Lakes Haze Mama New England IPA https://greatlakesbrewery.myshopify.com/collections/cans-bottles/products/hazemama burst onto my radar earlier this year. It was previously a limited run seasonal only the most astute, local and unemployed beer hipsters could score. Being from out of town, I had never even been lucky enough to sample it until it suddenly became available year-round.
I immediately enjoyed the design on the label (having not been a real fan of the past branding artist) and found myself really looking forward to tasting another in their recent obsession with New England style IPAs.
The rest, as they say, is recent history. The fantasticly full and sweet taste, permanent availability and photogenic nature landed this baby into my top 5, replacing another of their awesome brews. Not only is it welcoming when I pull it out of the fridge, I know it is going to be delicious and there is no delayed gratification in having it pose for a picture before I quaff it. So damn good.
Angry Octopus
Great Lakes Octopus Wants to Fight IPA https://greatlakesbrewery.myshopify.com/collections/cans-bottles/products/octopus-wants-to-fight has been one of the major contributors to my IPA obsession many years. It started out as a crazy beer someone brought to LANfest, to a seasonal one only available in the winter, to a couple kegs ordered for one of those LANfests and a cottage beer-a-thon, to ready year round.
Here, you can see a couple revisions of the label from years past and even a New England version which I particularly enjoyed. I do like the tweaks to the new design with a little more depth and polish. The beer itself is no longer head and shoulders above the other regional craft IPAs because of the latest wave which includes the aforementioned Haze Mama but still good.
As Far Back As I Can Remember...
As Far Back as I can Remember New England IPA https://greatlakesbrewery.myshopify.com/collections/cans-bottles/products/as-far-back-as-i-can-remember-1 has been drowned out by so many other damn fine beers from Great Lakes. Nothing bad about it in memory but nothing special? In order to make this 6-pack a triple shot, it was a good enough addition.
I am hip without being a hipster. My pants go to my shoes, I wear socks out of the house and have no use for labradoodles. IPA is less of a defining component of my self image and more of a reward for kicking so much ass. I will have to admit that this one kicked me in the ass with surprise! I enjoyed it more than the Octopus and perhaps as much as Haze Mama because of the familiar NEIPA style and perhaps due to the limited supply of this seasonal offering. I will DEFINITELY be buying this for as long as this season lasts and again next one.
As hard as it is to award my priceless stamp of approval to one of these 3 brews from possibly my favourite brewery, I will have to give it to this last one. Bravo GLB! I would only ask that you send me a few GLB glasses as I have worn out my previous ones enjoying your beer and saying nice things about it in this globally consumed blog. Thanks!
#BEERSaturday!
Thanks again for this wonderful #hive #beer gift by @spirall on Twitter! Join the Hive marketing push with us.
Today we are going to party like it is week 193 of #beersaturday because it is! Fact is, besides beer and tea/coffee, beer is the next most popular beverage on the planet and my physician told me this week 14 or less a week is good for you! https://hive.blog/hive-187719/@detlev/weekend-is-beersaturday-time-week-193-calls-you so you should pull up a pint and heed the call.
I invite a friend to the party every week and this week it is @scubahead who is our tropical scuba instructor and beer aficionado. We will be swapping shirts when he lands in his new digs but he is a good drinkin' buddy.
Cheers DOODS!
I am honoured to curate for:
Octopus wants to fight is a great name for a beer
It isn't too deep...not that you need to get too deep with a beer title.
Apparently, this is what popped into their minds when brewing this with 8 hops.
The graphics on those cans are awesome! Seems unicorn vomit looks better up close and actually tastes quite nice. Great to hear your town has opened its pub doors. Here in the UK we are still waiting for that special day to arrive...
It took us an extra couple weeks to get the pubs open because you Brits were successful in producing a mutation of the virus to fuel the governmental paranoia machine here in Canadia! ;)
Hopefully you are back to sharing a safe pint soon.
Haha! Yes, the Boris Johnson strain. Symptoms make you turn into a complete bell-end incapable of telling the truth. You’re welcome 😉
!Beer
Awesome.... I need some Great Lakes Beer... I’m North of Lake Superior.
I got the hots for Lorna Bray ;)
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The !BEER cans look very interesting. With the beautiful cans I also could not resist. I would have also bought and tried.
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