Beer in Syracuse

Up in Syr for the girlfriend's brother's HS graduation. In addition to hanging out with Christine's fam, this meant free dinners (thanks Carol!), and the ability to buy beer in units smaller than a case. Yeah, because in PA, unless you're buying beer to-go from a bar at ridiculous prices, you can only buy beer from a beer store in 24 or 30 packs. Further proof to my theory that beer laws are never written by people that actually drink beer.

On our first night in town we hit the newly re-opened Empire Brewing Co. We were informed at the door they couldn't sell us beer since they didn't have a liquor license, but we were welcome to free samples. Have I ever mentioned I like free beer? We also hit up the Party Source on Erie for some single bottles. The grumpy old man that runs the place was there as usually. I like to call him "Grumpy McGee" in my head. Seriously, the guy is surrounded by great beer but acts like the bluebird of unhappiness crapped on his face.

Now up to 575 reviews:
Fuller's London Pride: A lovely, complex English pale ale. Might be a little weird for some, there's almost a meaty aroma, but I liked it.

Empire Amber Ale - Not actually very amber. It fairly light and the grains taste biscuit-like, but that's not a bad thing.

Empire Black Magic Stout - A nice big stout, though not as big as Middle Ages' Black Heart Stout.

Yes, that's right, Matt Allyn is in Allentown. You're so funny.

The hiatus is over now that I'm basically settled in Allentown, PA. Last Wednesday I started my internship at Men's Health after three days of driving and moving from MN to Syr to PA. Yeah, it was that fun. Here's a crappy sunset shot from somewhere in western NY.



There really isn't much to say about PA so far other than I'm loving Rodale (Men's Health's parent company). I get great editorial work for an intern and the perks are great. For instance, yesterday I had an extended lunch break to play full-court basketball with editors. Can't beat that.

I'll also mention I had a great time at my grad party. The beer list had about 10 options with something for everyone. We had yard game fun and then built a fire. And who doesn't like fire? Below is Ben and Jacob. As far as I can tell, Jacob's doing a Bob Dylan impression.



As for beer, I'll just say there's been a lot of good stuff. I had several beers from BeerAdvocate's Top 100 and while they were good I didn't think any deserved such high stature. The main culprit of overrating was the the Trappist-monk brew Rochefort 10. It was smooth and tasty, but I couldn't get much flavor out of it. Meh.

The best beer of late is the local hefeweizen from Bethlehem Brew Works. If you're curious, here's the link for everything else I've reviewed lately.

It's Wednesday

It's Wednesday and that means I start my internship at Men's Health in a week. On one hand I'm really excited for the job. On the other hand, work is going to be a lot harder than staying up to watch CSI, followed by Star Trek Voyager, followed by more CSI (best 3 hours of late night TV?).

I've also started a new batch of articles for Draft Magazine, though only about four small ones this time. That's A-ok with me as I'm about to start 40-50 years of work and don't want to get swamped right away.

In random news Ben, the new opinions Ed. for Jerk Magazine, got an email from CollegeHumor.com asking if they could use my "I despise musical theater" article I wrote last semester. I don't think it quite matched up to my "I love death metal" article, but whatever, they can use it. If I ever see it posted I'll put up a link.

Moretti Birra La Rossa - Maybe the best Italian beer that's somewhat readily available. It's just a dark German doppelbock with nice caramel and fruit tones.

Sprecher Black Bavarian - Not your average German Schwarzbier, the flavors were deliciously rich with cocoa and light roasted coffee. One of the best dessert beers I've had in a while.

Full Sail Ltd 02 - A small batch amber lager. Mostly a nice caramel malt flavor that made is a good companion for summer grilling.

Herkimer Gose - Minneapolis's German brewpub, Herkimer, made this very rare style of wheat ale. It's tart like lemon juice, but also a little sweet and spicy. Yum.

Dad's Little Helper - One of two craft-brewed malt liquors. Worth trying for the novelty, but just tastes like a strong pale Euro lager. Nothing special in the flavor dept.

Granite City Northern Light - Light, but not bland. There's a mellow, lightly-toasty barley flavor.

Capital Brewery Special Pilsner - A good version of a true Euro pilsner, but it's a touch on the sweet side. Still a great, lighter beer.

The Weekend of the Summer

I think that says it all for the weekend at Ben's cabin. And Christine is right, the beard needs to go. Here's a couple more gems anyways:


Dwight anchoring for Team Luigi again Team Bojangles in the Tri-Tippy Cup Team Tournament.


Late-night Scategories. That's Mike in the background puking in his shoe.


No idea, just Dan doing what he does best.

MN Beer Fun

Since my return to MN, I've been making my way around all the best beer spots. This includes new-to-me watering holes like the Muddy Pig and Green Mill brewpub in St. Paul and Dennis Bros. Liquors in Cottage Grove.

The real beer excitement of week has been Surly's new offering, Bitter Brewer. It's a lighter, English style called a "bitter," but with an American craft beer twist (more hops). It blew my mind with the layering of flavors, from juicy hops to subtle malt and vanilla.

And yeah, that bike is sweet, I wish I know who's it was. It uses a Surly (bike maker, not brewer) frame and note the front disc brake.

Sprecher Mai Bock - A highly potable mix of light grains, with fruit and hops spice.

Green Mill Big Island Porter - Very smooth, but that flavor is a touch unwhelming.

Green Mill Honey Brown Ale - Not too sweet like the JW Dundee's Honey Brown, nothing special but a good pairing for a meal at Green Mill.

Green Mill Grand Marais - A nicely balanced pale ale of citris hops and biscuit-like malt.

Green Mill Kabeelo Lodge Lager - This pale all-malt lager was the star of the sampler. Big malts with complimentary hops.

Monk's Flemish Sour Red Ale - Not as complex as most sour ales, but pleasant and good starting sour ale for anyone interested in wild ales.

Avery New World Porter - Hops + Chocolate = Yum

Bob's '47 Munich Style Lager - A good example of amber lager brewed with German traditions.

Miller High Life - What? I was at a bowling alley, come on. Not bad for the style, fairly clean for a macro lager without many off-flavors. Still not recommended unless you like cheap-tasting beer.

7 Bridges Brown Ale - Lake Superior Brewing can do better. It was all right, but more like an amber ale than a brown.

BEEEEER and some stuff

New beer seems to be around every corner these days. I've already crushed April's record for new beers tried in a month with 65 and counting this May. I should point out that my birthday at Fitger's (pictured) was a big help for the count as with a sampler platter and a few 10 oz. drafts I tried everything they offered. Yum.

Now that I'm back in Minneapolis for the time being, I'll have another run of new beers as I try to review and enjoy as much as I can in good health. Friday I met up with friends at Town Hall and helped finish a couple pitchers of Black H20 and the legendary Masala Mama (ranked #9 overal at BeerAdvocate.com). Last night was more low-key with African-inspired music and a beer at the Blue Nile.

It's also been nice to get back on my favorite local mtn bike trails. I hit up Theo Wirth yesterday and broke my lap time record on the big loop by 2:30. That puts me at about 17:30 and means I suck a lot less now at biking. Today I did a hard 3-mile around Cedar Island Lake and finish in 20:00, averaging 6:40. That's an ok pace, but only 17 seconds faster per mile than I ran at the Mountain Goat 10 miler. I guess I know what to work on.


O'Fallon Unfiltered Wheat - A Blue Moon alternative, but really no better.

Bell's Java Stout - Like coffee and beer? Here's something special for you.

Black H2O Oatmeal Stout - Still my favorite oatmeal stout. Oh-so smooth and delicious with light roasted and chocolate flavors.

Masala Mama India Pale Ale - A great IPA, maybe not the 9th best beer in the world, but one of the best IPA's for sure. Very rich grapefruit and citrus flavors with a lopng-lingering bitterness for hop heads.

Bell's Expedition Stout - At nearly 12% abv, this one was a nice dessert beer, but would benefit from some aging. The dark flavors were too rough and underdeveloped.

Avery India Pale Ale - Big juicy hops flavors without overwhelming bitterness. A good first-IPA for curious folks.

Jolly Pumpkin Bam Bière - A great wild/sour ale from Michigan. A little spendy, but worth trying for the complex tart, pale barley and hops flavors.

Dry-Hopped St. Rogue Red - A great combination of pine and citrus hops with caramel malt.

I'm in Duluth, eh.

Really, Canada's just up the road. Some folks here even have the accent. But anyways, that's my sister next to Lake Superior. Yesterday we also went into Duluth and I got to hit up the bike trails at Hartley Park. It was my first good single track ride of the year and while I still suck at going down hills, my overall balance is greatly improved. I only feel off my bike a few times, it was great.

We also stopped by the local good beer store afterwards, Warehouse Liquor. The place is run by a couple of the nicest liquor store guys I've met (most act like they suck at life). I got a mixed 6'er and a couple bottles of new Norwegian microbrew import, Nogne O. It's the sort of brew that give beer geeks wood and while it doesn't show up much at BeerAdvocate (lack of reviews), RateBeer.com loves the stuff. I'll get to it soon enough. Here's a couple good ones from last night.

Scrimshaw Pilsner - Light, clean and hoppy, like a pale ale for hot days.

Sand Creek Wild Ride IPA - A fantastic IPA from Wisconsin. Big citrus hops flavor without overwhelming bitterness to make for a great drinking IPA.