Eastern Beers: Yo, Stoutmeister is in Jersey

RED BANK, N.J. — Stoutmeister here, checking in from the East Coast of the United States, a strange, humid place, full of gray skies, bad drivers, but thankfully also a few scattered breweries. I am technically here for my cousin’s wedding, but hey, when dealing with this much extended family, to say I need some…

GABF 2012: The halls of Valhalla must close eventually

DENVER — Stoutmeister here with our final recap from the final day of the Great American Beer Festival. Yes, VALHALLA has come and gone. We shed a silent tear. Our livers quietly rejoice. And thus, the tale ends. So first, the news of the day involved the awards ceremony, which took place during the day…

GABF 2012: Surviving Valhalla is not as easy as it looks

DENVER — Stoutmeister here from the aftermath of day two (day one for us) of the GABF, a.k.a. VALHALLA. The good news is we are alive. The other good news is that at no point did we get a collective “ooooooh!” from the crowd (which happens to anybody that drops his/her glass inside the convention…

GABF 2012: Things to do in Denver when you’re not at Valhalla

Stoutmeister here, checking in after a long drive, a long night of bad football, and in general being in Denver, within spitting distance of the Great American Beer Festival, but not having tickets for day one of the three-day event. Yeah, in case I failed to mention, we did not get tix for day one,…

Saturday Night Sixer—An autumn starter session

Greetings brew fanatics!  Brandon, a.k.a. Cryptogrind here with this week’s installment of Saturday Night Sixer!  Is a weekend bonfire in the works?  Need something to calm the rage from that Monday Night Football match-up this past week??  Planning on spending a weekend in the mountains before the cool fall weather and wanting that perfect brew to complement…

Hopfest in review: Chilling out in The Maple’s Shade

Stoutmeister here, fully recovered from the madness that was Hopfest 2012 down at Hard Rock on Saturday afternoon. First off, a huge thanks to everyone there, from the fans to the employees and volunteers. You all made it a wonderful show. A big thanks to Marne Gaston, who supplied us with Extra Hoppy tickets. For…

Durango beer trip: Winding down at Carver

Stoutmeister and E-Rock continue their trek through the breweries of the Four Corners area with a stop at Carver Brewing Co. in Durango. By the time E-Rock and I got back to Carver (we had a beerless breakfast there early in the day) to finally sample their beers, we were a couple of tired bloggers…

Durango beer trip: Embracing the darkness at DBC

Stoutmeister and E-Rock continue their quick trek through the breweries of the Four Corners area with a stop at Durango Brewing Co. After an hour or so break following our time at Ska on Wednesday afternoon, E-Rock and I headed up Main Ave. to the north end of Durango, where at the intersection of 30th…

Durango beer trip: Rockin’ out 90s style at Ska

Stoutmeister and E-Rock continue their quick trek through the breweries of the Four Corners Area with a stop at the most famous of the bunch, Ska Brewing. After the general disappointment of Steamworks on Tuesday night, our bar dropped pretty low for Durango-area breweries. Not surprisingly, Ska said “to hell with that” and reminded us…

Durango beer trip: Steamworks falls just short

Stoutmeister here. E-Rock and I arrived late in Durango on Tuesday night, cursed by traffic, construction, a long Isotopes game, etc. So by the time we got into our hotel room and took a moment to unwind from the drive, it was after 9 p.m. and there was not much left to beckon us. The…