A Return to Germany

As some of you may know, I am currently in Germany, in Bamberg to be precise. I'm on yet another beer adventure. I flew into Frankfurt am Main from Philadelphia, arriving last thursday morning at 6 am. The flight was fine, only about a third full, so nobody next to me. I got to my hotel just before 8 am after getting my bags, and going through customs & immigration, and then riding the train into Frankfurt. It was too early for check-in, so I stashed my luggage in a side room, and hung around the lobby and ate breakfast. At 10 am a room was ready. I decided to take a 4 hour nap (this probably screwed up my sleep for the next 4-5 nights, but I was tired).

That afternoon I decided to visit a brewery pub that I had tried to visit a few times before: Brauerei zur Mainkur. It can be reached easily by tram #11. It was a nice place. The food I had was good (a stuffed cabbage), and the beers were fair to good. The beers on tap were: Zwickel Pils, "Export Dunkel", Hefeweizen, and Krolle Bock. In additioon they had Fassenachtigbier, a Maerzen, in bottles. I liked the Bock the best, and the Maerzen was also very nice. The Weizen was very flavorful. They told me they have a Biergarten out back with 280 seats that is open in the warmer seasons. Overall I'm glad I finally made it to this brewery. I will post some pics later.

The next day, Friday, I took a train to Bamberg, and that will be the subject of another post. Cheers

Cambridge Brewing Co. Great Pumpkin Festival 2012

As usual this year I attended The Great Pumpkin Festival at Cambridge Brewing Co., held at the brewpub in Cambridge, MA, on Saturday, Oct. 28th. The line to get in was long all day, so I arrived late in the evening and got inside in about 20 minutes or less. (The line has been long the last 3 years, so it pays to watch Twitter and Facebook for line length updates.)

I managed to sample a fair number of pumpkin beers. Beers from Elysian never disappoint, and it is nice that beers from breweries that we don't normally see in this area make appearances at this fest.

Most of all, though, I enjoy seeing all the Halloween costumes that people wear. People put a lot of effort into these, and they are happy to be photographed. Out of the last 3 years, I can only remember 1 or 2 times that a person declined my request to photograph them. Below are some of the photos I shot that night.

Enjoy!

I hope you enjoyed my photos! If you see yourself and would like a copy of the image file, let me know.

Cheers!

Stone "Enjoy By" IPA

I finally got a chance to try the new "Enjoy By" IPA  from Stone Brewing Co.  This was from the third batch, labeled "12.21.12" such that it seemed to be named "Enjoy by 12.21.12 IPA". I had it on tap at Lord Hobo in Cambridge, MA.

From the moment the glass was placed in front of me, I could smell the hops. Some Centenniel but also some tropical fruity hops (Simcoe? Nelson Sauvin?) The beer was oh-so-smooth, and the high ABV was very well hidden. An incredibly easy drinking DIPA. So much hoppiness, but not overly bitter. A lovely, tropical fruity plus citrusy hoppy flavor and aroma. Very enjoyable.

Not all craft beers live up to expectations or hype these days, but I am happy to say that this one does. Wow, oh so good.

Get this beer if you can. Highly recommended!

Stone Brewing Co. Enjoy By IPA

Stone Enjoy By IPA Stats: 9.4% abv, 88 IBUs Hops bill: Calypso during the mash; Super Galena hop extract for bittering; Simcoe, Delta, Target, and Amarillo for flavor; Motueka, Citra, and Cascade for aroma; Nelson Sauvin and Galaxy for dry hopping

Getting Serious about Blogging

I'm finally getting serious about this blog.  I was working on the layout and links to my Twitter feed and Facebook page the last two days.  How does it look?

Look for some beer content very soon!