Category: Beer Reviews

  • Russian River Pliny The Elder

    Russian River Pliny The Elder

    “…water or wine when a salamander has died in it is fatal, and so is even drinking from a vessel out of which one has drunk; and similarly with the kind of frog called a toad! so full of traps is life!” –Pliny the Elder, Natural History. THE BEER So full of traps, indeed. One…

  • Night Shift Morph 4/23/15

    Is a new recipe a new beer? Stone recently made all sorts of Stone Marketing about how they were changing the recipe for Ruination, their DIPA. They state that new hops  and hopping techniques are available, that were nonexistent ten years ago. They argue that to not change is impossible writing,”It takes a prohibitively massive ego,…

  • The Brew Kettle White Rajah

    The Brew Kettle White Rajah

    There is a condition worse than blindness, and that is, seeing something that isn’t there. –Thomas Hardy THE BEER The origins of The Barley Whine goes back to a prior craft beer boom. The 1990’s Sam Adams/Pete’s Wicked dominated microbrew explosion brought thousands of new beers to market, of varying quality. Being young and poor,…

  • Prairie Apple Brandy Barrel Noir

    Prairie Apple Brandy Barrel Noir: Something Sweeter THE BEER Prairie makes a few barrel aged stouts. Last year we loved the Bomb!, their spicy coffee stout. They also have a very nice bourbon barrel aged oatmeal stout, Prairie Noir, that comes in 16.9 oz bottles. Prairie Apple Brandy Barrel Noir on the other hand, comes…

  • Best Coffee Beer: Part 4

    Best of Series: What is the Best Coffee Beer: Part 4? It seems each year more and more breweries decide to try their hand at pairing arabica beans with beer. Nearly always brewing a porter or stout, brewers blend the natural coffee/chocolate flavors of darker malts with bold roasts, often from their favorite local shops. The…