I am a little late for this week's edition as I was out of town for an epic sports/music weekend. More on that later on this week as now it is time for #beersaturday
Beer blogging comes naturally to me due to years spent brewing for myself and restaurants, working with breweries on their technology & marketing, and the decades spent imbibing. Hence, the self-decreed title of the #Blockchain #Beerologist doing my best to consume, report and even brew to do that title justice.
This week, we have everything from zombies to goats to hugs!
Pint O' the Week!
Usually, the pint of the week is a nice draft out at a local pub during the week. Sometimes it is a nice short can I keep in the fridge for those times where a small, limited-edition beer is the best. This week, I am dropping a pint that was handed to me when visiting and kicking off a big night of fun.
I am not sure I have ever had a GLB New England IPA I didn't enjoy. I hadn't even heard of They're Alive New England IPA https://www.greatlakesbeer.com/Beer/theyre-alive/ before this and was happy to crack it open to start the evening's festivities. Truth be told I can't remember anything specific about this beer, and can't find the hops listed anywhere that make them not ordinary. It was a typically delicious pint and I will snag more if they make it to the shelves in my hometown.
Grumpy Goat
I had the chance to visit Shakespeare Brewing https://shakespearebrewingcompany.ca/ just down the road and intended to do a tour for this week but decided against it. The brewery itself felt like someone's garage, the experience was a little awkward, and I couldn't think of anything overly nice to say.
All that being said, I was happy to pick up a Grumpy Goat IPA https://shakespearebrewingcompany.ca/#our-beers for the fridge at home. Despite the label being a badly drawn, distinctly undelicious looking green smear, this is an interesting beer. Though I can immediately think of a dozen better IPAs brewed within 50 miles of here, I do appreciate that this is a small brewery and all of the hops used in this beer are from Ontario, our province. It was an enjoyable pint with an endearing clarity compared to the outbreak of unfiltered cloudy beers available nowadays. I didn't hate this!
Quantum Hugs!
I am saving the best for last with another bold and vivacious IPA from Flying Monkeys Craft Brewery https://www.flyingmonkeys.ca/ in Barrie Ontario. Long-time readers and #beersaturday friends may recall that Flying Monkeys played a significant role in my obsession with strong, hoppy IPAs. There seem to always be a number of their IPAs on the shelves and they have quite a variety even in that genre that deliver. A little journey through their website give you an idea how fun the beer and the brewery are if you get to visit.
I featured Quantum Hugs Cold IPA https://www.flyingmonkeys.ca/beers/quantumhugscoldipa in a brewery tour post last year as I was able to sample it on tap at the brewery. Finding it in cans on the shelves was a nice surprise and they really do each beer justice on the webpage. I like Cold IPAs for their lighter malts but heavy blast of hops when done right. This one is we-hopped with Azacca, Idaho7, Motueka, and Sabro hops which would be good enough! Then, the later stages of fermentation are done with cooler temperatures and they dry hop it for extra punch using Azacca, Motueka, Sabro, Strata. Definitely a hazy bold yet smooth quantum hug for your mouth.
#BEERSaturday!
You may have to tune in later this weeks to see why I am still feeling the effects of lots of hockey and perhaps too many beers on the weekend. In the meantime, I would recommend you warm up your liver and join @detlev and I at https://hive.blog/hive-187719/@detlev/beersaturday-301 for this week's #beersaturday post. Grab a pint and join in the fun with a beer story of your own.
This week for #BeerSaturday, I would like to invite one of my newer friends @incublus who is a fellow computer nerd by trade, gamer and movie lover.
Cheers to our global family of beer-drinkers!!
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Cheers! When I look at the cans, it seems to me that your regional brewers have a lot of imagination. Maybe they drink beer in the morning, for breakfast? 😎 🍻
You know, that is quite possible.
To the marketer in me, most of the branding is as creative as it is bush league. Whatever design principals they ignore in the consistency, messaging and contrast is done to stand out on a crowded and noisy shelf.
Delicious results though!
The colour of the second Beer looks very light than the other.
It is like Heineken
Do you know Heineken?
Oh everyone knows Heineken I am sure. It is actually an ipa with all hops grown in this region so it is pretty far from that clean crisp beer.
The P stands for pale which many ipas seem to forget but this one has a nice light malt.
Man, all these beer cans are really interesting. Do you have a collection of them? I would love to participate in this event but it's Ramadan and I don't even drink water, let alone beer, man haha.
Oh don’t worry about participating now and enjoy your festivities! #beersaturday will go on for another 301 weeks I am sure and we will be here.
The only collection i have is my empties shelf which i have to sell for a few dollars. ;)
Grumpy Goat!
I wish we had this kind of variety to choose from around here. We do have bourbon though :-)
Oh I do enjoy me a good bourbon too! Just had a Blanton's at a new restaurant just last week!
If I did beer and bourbon blogs, people might think I have a problems....;)
The grumpy goat really?
And that picture of the goat is so funny 😂😂
Totally true!
Doesn't look or sound delicious but funny enough to catch your attention once. Not a bad beer too.