The Beer-hemoth 4

You would think that this post might belong over at Mmmm, Beers, but those posts are slightly more thought out, which means that I would have to use a more thought-out system of recording my opinions than my exclamation point based system. I only wrote myself a quick note on whether or not I liked the beer, so you are going to have to rely on my memory for a decent review here. And also, I can't move the Beer-hemoths now that they have established a position here. So from now on, the multi-beer posts will be here and the individual beers will be over there. Glad everyone's on the same page.

Today was the Connecticut River Brewfest, which was very much NOT in Connecticut. I was confused by this, but it would seem that most other people weren't, so I guess it's ok. I understand that the CT River runs through a lot of Massachusetts, but it still seems like a weird name. Hey whatever, it was a good time.

Now for a short synopsis of all the beers I tried tonight. Sadly, I will let you know now that we did not see any pregnant ladies, so I will not be able to rip on bad parents. I know, I'm sad too. We'll get through it together.

Goose Island Honker's Ale was the first beer of the afternoon because it was the closest beer to the entrance. I tried this for the first time last week at the Crosby, Stills & Nash concert, and I was pleasantly surprised. It's a good one, and received a rating of "Good!"

Next up was Milk Stout from Left Hand Brewery. Although it shames me, I have to admit that I have never heard of a milk stout before. I am glad that I've rectified that though, because it was delicious! I am a fan of stouts anyway, so I was probably biased toward this one. Anyway, it got a score of "Good!!!"

I followed up my new discovery with the Extra Special Bitter from McNeill's. Kathryn and I tried to go to that brewery once a couple weeks ago, but apparently they open at weird times on Saturday and were closed at that specific juncture. Bastards. This beer was pretty hoppy, and I don't have anything bad to say about it. I would say that it was "Good."

Keeping up the trend of a different kind of beer with each station, I went with Old Brown Dog from Smuttynose. It was a good brown ale, nice and sweet. I don't know if it would be a beer that I would drink exclusively for several rounds, but a couple are fine with me. I deem this beer to be "Good!"

Now it's time for the awards of the day. Somehow, they both go to the same brewery, Paper City. The next beer I tried was their Oktoberfest, which earns the dubious distinction of being my "Most Disappointing Beer of the Day." It only received a rating of "Ok." However, they redeemed themselves by winning "Best in Show" with their Fogbuster, which is an imperial coffee stout. Fantastic beer. I would drink them until I fell down, given the opportunity. I give this a review of "Great!!" That's pretty high.

At this point, we took a halftime break for Kathryn to get a pretzel and me to steal a piece of it. It was ok, but the mustard was great. And back to beer!

I kicked off the second half with High & Mighty's XPA. This beer was an extra pale ale, and boy was it pale. I liked it a lot, and will be looking for it next time I'm at Table & Vine. This beer is on the fence between "Good!!!" and "Great," which means that it comes highly recommended.

Next door to High & Mighty was my new local favorite, Element. Kathryn and I had a nice conversation with the wife of one of the brewer's, so hopefully they will remember us next time we stop by. I drank their Dark Element, which I formerly reviewed under its original title of Dark Matter. It's still equally delightful, and was probably the second best beer there, scoring a "Great!" rating.

On the recommendation of Kathryn's friend's friend Marco, I picked the Black Dog IPA from the Amherst Brewing Company as my next beer. I am not normally a fan of IPAs, but this one was completely different from every other one that I've tried. It was more like a dark beer that they just hopped the hell out of to make it IPA-like. And it was delightful! I liked it a lot, and would say that it was "Good!!"

Heading down the final stretch, I tried Bailey's Blonde from Cisco. It wasn't great, but it wasn't anything to complain about. It just sort of was. My rating was "Good!" but I really don't remember much about it.

And for the final beer of the day, I got Geary's Autumn Ale. Meh. Kind of a low note to go out on, as it was only "Good." At least my day wasn't nearly as disappointing as Kathryn's and Bill's, as they had several crummy beers that they hated, some so much that they even had to dump them. That's bad. I feel like I won the day, had it been a contest.

Now for my random story! I met Dan and Kim from Mix 93.1!! Those two have been waking me up for work for the past 5 years. That is crazy! Yeah, I am easily impressed.

-Jon