My Thoughts on Craft Beer Trends to Look Out For in 2013

Earlier this week I came up this article in Westword, Denver's alternative publication. The title of the article is "Eight Craft Beer Trends to Look for in Colorado in 2013". While I know this article covers a state I don't even reside in, I think it's a good outline of what we have to look out for this year nationwide. So I'm just going to go over all eight points, because I have a blog and my voice deserves to be heard...blarghhh!!!

1. Limited Distribution Packaging - As newer breweries are popping up a a day-to-day basis, we are starting to see a trend in local packaging options, like mobile canning. While it's not something I expect to see much of in NYC, due to the nanny state's hand in regulating the packaging for all this beer, it seems to be something catching on out west. As much as it would be nice to be able to hit up my local bodega and pick up a Pegas-filled growler of Kelso or Singlecut rather than hunt a keg down on Beer Menus, I don't see it happening I'm BK anytime soon. As with the rest of the country...bring it in on. If you have quality product, control the distribution rather than relying on bars alone.

2. Nanobreweries and Microbreweries - What can I say? Four breweries have opened up in Queens over the last 2 months alone, with more to follow all around the NYC Metro area. Don't even get me started on Long Island. I say bring it on. Local drinking is still supporting a localized economy. Maybe the amount of breweries will hit a critical mass, who knows? Not everybody is going to be putting out a quality product, so let the market make and break the new kids on the block. As far as I'm concerned, the more the better when it comes to beer.

3. AC Golden's next big hit - I really don't have much to say about the craft wing of MillerCoors, apparently they are putting out some really awesome beers. AC Golden doesn't really affect our market...yet. I find the recent trend of the Big Guys ploy to grab at the craft market mildly despicable, I also understand that they feel threatened by a culture that is growing a phenomenal rate. I may be a beer geek, but I'm not a snob. I'll try any beer once, even if its produced by one of the Macros. Continuous support is another story all together, unless the options are limited or funds are limited(I'm looking at you, Yuengling)

4. Pelletized Hops - Again, I probably don't have much to say about this since NY isn't exactly a hops growing region. Although the guys over at Bronx Brewery have created the Urban Hops Project, which sets up growing operations in neighborhood gardens am backyards across the city. Everyone loves terroir these days. I don't know how the Bronx locally grown are going to hold up to those coming out of the PNW, I must still tip my hat to the Project.

5. Low ABV Beer - I used to swear by brew that ran no less than 6% ABV. Last year I had the joy of having Carton Boat Beer, New Jersey's Finest session IPA. Since then, the session IPA has become more of a trend, and I embrace it. Quality session beers are something we have all been missing. Why choke down a sixer of PBR at a BBQ when I could have something that tastes a hell of a lot better with similar effect. Quality session beers is what the craft beer world has been missing. I can't wait to see what summer of 2013 produced.

6. Craft beer Co-ops - As I send before, bring on more. Who cares if it's the dream of a single person or the collective love of a group. The ideas of a collective can trump that of a single mind most of the time, so just think of the beer that comes out of such a braintrust.

7. Trademark battles - unfortunately, this is something that will continue to affect every market, no matter how different the copyrights are. Whether it be for the name of a shop compared to that or a brewery, or a beers designated label name verse the name used by a budding brewery, this is a trend that isn't going away anytime soon. Welcome to modern day capitalism and lawyer up!

8. Oversaturation or Undersaturation? - I don't want to talk about it. As of last year, we now have just as many, or more, breweries in America than we did before Prohibition. I for one, dream of a day where there are taprooms in every neighborhood, but that's not going to happen. Lets just see how the current trend develops and not come to any conclusions.

Well that was slightly exhaustive, so lets end this on a slightly lighter note, like a vintage Stroh's commercial.





- Get Straight to the Pint

Monks Love Weissbier...A Franziskaner Commercial

Before the time in my life I made it a goal to seek out as many German biers I could get my grubby paws on, my knowledge of beers from Deutchland was limited. Before move to Brooklyn, my choices in NH consisted of Franziskaner and Spaten. I had tried Beck's first and foremost, but after the first try I really had no desire to tread those grounds again. As a person, or at that point a slightly hairy manboy, I had a preference of the Franziskaner over Spaten. So much, in fact, that I can probably count on two hands how many times I've actually ingested what I consider the lesser of the two. As far as the Franziskaner goes though, there was a time in my life where I barely went a couple days without drowning in Little Stevie's First Weissbier.

To continue in my ongoing quest to bring European beer commercials to the savages in America, I give you a fairly entertaining Franziskaner commercial. Granted, it doesn't have a studmuffin running with wild horses like the Jever ad did, but fat monks drinking Weissbier can be just as amazing for a 30 second spot.




- Get Straight to the Pint

Location:Irving Ave,New York,United States

Clear and Refreshing - like a Jever Commercial

This post is more of a test than anything else. Since my 7 year old desktop shit the bed a few months back, I've been forced to use my iPhone for anything Internet related, including blog posts. Now that I've decided to start posting on a regular basis again, after months if sheer laziness, I have had to resort to Mobil tools I am still unfamiliar with. Hence, a test.

Even though this is but a test, I still plan on posting video on a regular basis, especially in commercial form. Beer commercials in the US typically revolve around some Macro I could give a shit about, but Europe has a wide range of commercial beers I enjoy and still have yet to see advertised. So I'm going to take this time to bring these pieces of video art to an American audience, whether you care about the beer or not. You can thank me later.

Jever was the pilsner that actually caused me to lose disdain for the style. Before my first bottle that was brought to me by the fine gentlemen at Raven Imports, I scoffed at most anything that drew it roots from the Czech city if Pilsen. After Jever, my mind was forever changed. This commercial is about as close as video can portray the way that first green bottle made me feel, including the studliness of the actor. I'm sure this is just a natural reaction for all.



- Get Straight to the Pint

Location:Irving Ave,New York,United States

Who Put a Sea Urchin in My Beer?

Out of all my years being a self-proclaimed "beergeek", 2012 was probably the most adventurous of the 17 plus years since the first time I sipped a Shipyard Prelude. It also helped working at the Growler Station for most of the year. I learned about so many different beer styles, and tried most of them, that sometimes I feel I could give The Bros at BA a run for their money. That's not true, of course, but I really did try a whole world of beer.

Thankfully some of the rarer styles I had a desire to consume became something of a trend to recreate in the craft world, like the oyster stout. The oyster stout has been something I had been dying to try for years, but was never to get my hand on a bottle, due to it being unavailable or my own forgetfulness. At this point I've tried half a dozen, and stouts brewed with oysters are one of my favorite dark ales. The combination of animal and beer in one is one of the lost glorious things I've ever put my lips to. It makes me wonder what other types shellfish could make the nectar of the gods taste better.

I wasn't to surprised to find out a few weeks back that my question is being put to the actual test. Burnside Brewing of Portland aka Beervana has teamed up with a local restaurant to brew a beer that includes sea urchin as an ingredient. Like most of the American craft innovators that are constantly raising the bar, Burnside opted to put their own spin on it and ditch the British tradition of pairing shellfish with stout. Instead they chose yet another style of beer that almost died in obscurity by has since been making a comeback, the Gose. The Gose is one of two styles of traditional German sours that is brewed with salt and coriander, a no-no by traditional Purity Law standards. With the addition of tomato water, Burnside has brought something completely different to the world of beer.

Unfortunately, like Wynkoop's take on the oyster stout, the availability on said brew is extremely limited, meaning while I'm still living in Brooklyn my chances of coming across it are zero to none, unless I for some reason am blessed with an all expense paid trip to Portland I the coming month.

For now, I am eager to hear and read others thoughts on the beer and hoping that if it works out for Burnside, production wot be so limited the second time around.


http://www.thrillist.com/drink/portland/or/97209/pearl-district/urchin-ale_great-beer-selection_bizarre-food_seafood_type/cuisine_type

Why does Anheuser-Busch Need a Small Batch Series?

While going through my morning Twitter ritual I stumbled upon this article on Beerpulse covering AB's plans to release a small batch series, and the first and only thing that popped in my mind was "WTF???" Whether it's what-the-fuck, why-the-fuck, or who-the-fuck is inconsequential, I'm sure many of you craft people share my initial reaction. It's bad enough that ABInBev bought out Goose Island, owns a large portion of the CBA(Widmer,Redhook,Kona) stock and tries to market garbage like Shock Top as "craft". Why do they feel the need to continue encroaching into a market that really wants very-little-to-nothing to do with them. Truth be told, how many fans of craft and industry folk are going to make the switch over to small-batch Bud from whatever they brew or craft consumed on a regular basis? Most likely, not many, if any. I admit, I'll try it once, but I guarantee its not going to beat even the worst of locally-produced beers. On the other hand,ABInBev could be shooting themselves in the foot by releasing a Brewmasters series. What if the desire for better beer causes Average Joe Bud to seek out more better beer? We all started somewhere. It's likely to happen, but not on such a scale to affect there business dramatically, but there is always wishful thinking

Staff Draft Picks

If memory serves me well, today the Growler Station is celebrating 3 months of life on West 8th. As for the staff draft picks, if record stores can do it, why shouldn't beer stores?

First Time In Philly

This past Monday I took a day(and night)trip to a city about 80 miles north of the Big Apple that in some hip circles is jokingly referred to as "The Sixth Burrough", Philadelphia. Having had friends who lived there in the distant past, and didn't have many nice things to say about the City of Brotherly Love, I've never looked at it as much of a destination for myself until recently. Most likely due to my obsession with taking the 90 minute trip by bus just for a real cheesesteak lunch. Since I've been working in the craft beer industry, I've been hearing a great deal of good things about Philly, mainly from industry folk. Rumors like "Philly has better beer availability than NYC" and "Cantillon provides most of their imports to Philly". All I could think to myself as a NYer was, "Nonsense, New York is the best city in the world, it can't be." Truth be told....It can. I was in Philly for less than two hours before I happened upon a bottle of Russian River, one of the most coveted breweries in America. i have known for a while that Philly is really the only place on the Eastern Seaboard, but I had always thought it would be ridiculously expensive and rare. Some bottles were a little too pricey for my taste, but I was able to grab a bottle of Damnation for about 8 bucks. Not to mention, i was drinking the Russian River, Pliny the Elder,for less than 5 bucks a glass at Monk's Cafe. Monk's has a beer list over 300 long placed on every table referred to as "The Bible" that had close to 10 different bottles of Cantillon available for purchase. That's crazy, considering the Blind Tiger never has more than a couple at any given time. I was amazed to say the least. Aside from some of the local beers I had the pleasure of pouring into my face, namely Weyerbacher and Yards, I also had the pleasure of consuming one of my new favorite beverages that will probably NEVER have a NYC availability, Bell's Hoplam. I was surprised to actually find a bottle at POPE, which is a spectacular craft beer bar located in South Philly. Not only were the prices right, but it's the kind of place I could see myself spending a LOT of time in if I lived in the neighborhood. My short trip obviously left me craving more, so it won't be long before I take a longer trip up to my new favorite East Coast destination. As far as crafty beer culture is concerned, Philly gets it better than any other city in the East in all aspects. Donnie of Beer Frontiers compares Philadelphia's beer vibe to cities on the West Coast, and I would have to agree. Hopefully it won't be long until my nest weekend trip. Until then, i'll be regularly buying my Yards and Voodoo in Jersey City.

Steel Cans are Todays Twitter Craze

I'm sure by this point many of you tweeters, bloggers, and podcasters who dedicate your life to Malt and Hops have heard about Churchkey Can Co., Adrian Grenier's "craft beer" fallback. If you haven't heard, Grenier and his big wig business partner, a Nike Exec, are in the process of releasing the the first steel-canned beer released in 50 years. Churchkey Pilsner will actually require a churchkey to open it. As cool as many of us probably find the concept, there is a reason why aluminum replaced steel to package foodstuff, namely expense. Sure, the cans are made from recycled steel, but how much of the cost of the product will be because of the package? I also can't help but imagine that because of packaging costs, the company taking funds away from product development, leaving the consumer with an inferior product. I also take issue with a couple of men with money trying to cash in on the current craft beer craze with little to no experience in the industry whatsoever. This is why I don't really consider Bomb Beer as craft. Many of the breweries we know are labors of love to the owners/crafters who put in a shitload of blood, sweat, and tears to be rewarded with the success they know today. Just because you have the cash to hire a brewer to make you a recipe and your packaging is shiny, does this really make the final product "craft"? Thoughts?

The Beer Hunter, Olde English, and Conan

I've been a fan of Michael Jackson's writings for several years now, and it kills me to think i never thought to do a YouTube search of the Beer Hunter(slaps head furiously). I have to thank my fellow GSer Seth Bradley of Foodncraft for urging me to investigate. I don't know if it's good that there is enough Beer Hunter to waste my time more than YouTube already does, but its going to get done.

Victory Brewing, Big News, and my love of Pils

While checking my Twitter feed for the first time in days I discovered that today's big news (or at least the last hour)is that Victory Brewing is in the process of opening up a second brewery. Since this news has already been covered by many, I really have no to get that extensive about the news(Here). All I can say is good for them. It makes me happy seeing the little guy make a success of himself, especially when it comes to craft brewing. Expansions like this prove to me that even though I've thought that Victory has produced solid products for years, I'm obviously not alone. Speaking of Victory products, I've been consuming the Prima Pils like a fiend whenever I see it on tap. For most craft beer consumers in the Northeast this is possibly the worst news of the day, but it's a pretty big step for me considering that I had a hatred for the pilsner style that has spanned for at least a decade. I repeat, HAD a hatred. Ever since the nice folks over at Raven Imports brought me a sample of Jever, I've been driven to sample as many German, Czech, and American Craft pilsners as possible to see if they hold a light to noble-hopped nectar that is Jever. Thus far, I've had some good ones from here on American soil, but none of them have come close as the Victory Prima Pils in my book. Since I'm obsessive, and must talk about the same topic over and over to multitudes of people, both industry people and geeks and they will usually tell me the same. It's nice to not be alone. Anyway, I look forward to to seeing a good future for Victory brewing and will be anxiously awaiting the Spring seasonal. Steve out!

APORKalypse Now

This past weekend I attended Aporkalypse, a craft beer and food event dedicated to my favorite source of protein, the pig. Dozens of food and beer vendors collaborated and worked together to bring to NYC an annual event of e-pig proportions. Yeah, it's taken me a couple of days to bring you a meager amount of blogage and photos, but trust me that it was an event worth attending. Although i didn't spend much of my time chowing (3 or 4 small dishes), the sample glass as I was given as I entered the room probably saw between 15-18 pours, some spectacular, some not, mostly great. As far as spectacular is concerned, Southhampton's Abbot 12, Brooklyn Sorachi Ace, and Ommegang Aphrodite were among my favorite. Mary and I also spent a considerable amount of time hanging out with the guys from Bronx Brewery, which is always a pleasure. We both took pictures, but Mary took a few more than I did. As soon as i get a hold of them I'll add them.

MIHE TV Interview of Yours Truly

Danny from Make It Happen Entertainment interviewed me during the Bronx Brewery Tasting we hosted a couple weeks back. I know exactly how the interview went but I still have only watched it in bits and pieces, mostly because I hate the way I look on video. This time being no exception.

Sixpoint Ich Bin Kein Berliner Weisse

This past Thursday, Sixpoint released the latest of their Mad Scientist series to commemorate the release of the The Time Out New York Beer Issue. When the word got out a few weeks ago that TONY was a citywide tapping of the beer, i knew I had to bring the Growler Station in on it. I've always been a huge fan of the TONY beer issue and Sixpoint Craft Ales so there is no question as to why I was quick to raise my hand in participation. What really sparked my interest in participating was the style Sixpoint was brewing, a Berliner Weisse, one of two styles of German sour beer that is rarely seen in the U.S. of A. Being relatively new to the world of sours, I knew this would be a great opportunity to satisfy my craving. Even though we tapped it on Thursday night, I only had room in my bag for one growler as I was leaving work, and I was with my lovely lady, so it wasn't going to be a beer of my choice. Oh well, the things we do for love. It was only a slight disappointment, i mean I manage a damn beer store for Christ sakes. If it wasn't that day it would definitely be the day after. Since Mary had a lovely bunch of friends coming into town later in the evening, we opted for some late night libations at Pine Box Rock Shop, possibly the best taphouse in Bushwick. Thankfully Pine Box had also participated in the TONY tapping, so I didn't have to wait an extra 12 hours to the the Ich Bin Kein. Ich Bin Kein pours that hazy golden hue the is prevalent in many styles of German weiss beers, which can throw the mind off. being new to German sour styles, I wasn't quite sure what to expect, but after my first sip I was impressed. My lips puckered as they would with Oude Gueuze but i didn't get the viscous red wine-like mouthfeel that I usually get when i drink Belgian-style sours. It was as light as I would expect a low ABV wheat beer to be, but with the added pucker. Speaking of ABV, I was quite happy with the 3.5% it runs at seeing as I had no plans of getting loaded. I've been a big fan of the low ABV's lately, especially since I have the money to drink socially now. It makes those long work days easier to handle. I was impressed enough with this latest Mad Scientist to get a second, and would have moved on to a third if my curiousity about a particular pils didn't get the best of me. Would I drink it again? Most certainly, unfortunately I forgot my growler at home. There is always making a special trip tomorrow.

The Growler Station is coming along

We will be ready to rock Greenwich Village in two days!!

The Growler Station

By this point, it's pretty safe to say I have a new job, and it's possibly the best job in the world. I have recently been hired to manage a new beer boutique in Greenwich Village, The Growler Station. A business that will probably change the face of beer retail as we know it. Sure we have more taps than any other store of it's kind in the City, and we also have a bottle selection that would make Michael Jackson roll over in his grave. These things are great, but what really sets us apart is the tap system. Our tap system is not only unique and so easy to use it's as close to foolproof as you can get, but the technology incorporated makes it possible to fill a growler that will maintain it's freshness for months to come. Typically after a growler is filled with the ambrosia of your choice, you have about a week to finish it before the beer becomes undrinkable. The Growler Station's tap allows it so that an unopened growler will remain fresh for months after purchase. As I said, technology like this completely changes the face of the growler industry. So over the past 4 days I've put a great deal of work in, but it hardly feels like it seeing all I do is talk beer all day long. I've met with all the distributors, picked a tap and bottle list, and spent a day learning the brewing process as Southport Brewing Company, along with the more mundane stuff like cleaning and building shelves. No matter what, it's been worth it. I don't think I could have asked for a better job. So because of this, I will be posting much about the store, from tap lists, to new arrivals, to events. As well as my beer reviews that I've been slacking on as of late. So if your in the NYC area, come down and check us out, buy a growler or two and shoot the shit.

Welcome to 2012 ....

Now that we are five days into a new year, I guess I can finally write up my first post of hopefully many to come over 2012. I had intended to start beer blogging like a madman as soon as the new year started, but I came down with a cold this past weekend that put a slight damper on my plans. I like to think that the last few posts I did in 2012 were more of a test than anything else. 2012 is when Get Straight to the Pint is in full motherfuckin' effect! Already 2012 has turned out to be a great year, and I'm only five days in. New clothes, new outlook, new XBox, and best of all, a new dream job( More details to come). My intention with this blog, as with the movie one, is to be able to hook the public with at least 10-15 entries a month, but don't hold me on that. I can only work my word magic with the amount of spare time and subject matter I'm given in a day, so here's hoping for the best. Not only do I plan on giving the public beer reviews, but I'm also going to be writing about events, bars, and documenting my own experience down my newly found path of homebrewing. So I shouldn't be running out of subject matter. Happy 2012!!!!

Happy Hanukkah Beer Geeks!

It's time for the Festival of Lights, people! 8 days of lighting candles, gift giving, and spending time with the family....or so many of us goyim like to think. I know the holiday is more than that, but those of us that were raised in homes with a christian sleight like to think it's close to our holiday equivalent. it's not, but it's close enough to the fake birthday of the Christ for all the ignorant goys out there to think it's relative.

As secular a lifestyle I represent, there are still many things to look forward to during the holiday season. Namely, holiday and winter seasonal brews. But for all the beers out there with Santa and Krampus on the label reppin' the holidays, I'm surprised I never taken the time to wonder why Hanukkah beers are sorely lacking on the market. Thankfully, I'm a godless liberal who subscribes to NPR on my Facebook news feed, and chances are you may be too. Just in case your not though, NPR released a nice reader-and-listener friendly article mere hours ago about the growing Hanukkah holiday beer market, and a little bit of background on Jewish brewing for those history buffs out there. It's a short article, but a good read and relative to the subject of this website.


 NPR - With Hanukkah Microbrews, A Taste of Jewish History

Clown Shoes Clementine (Mass)

I have long been a fan wheat beers. Ever since the first time I poured a Weihenstephaner down my gullet at the Boulevard Tavern all those years ago, wheat beers have always been my go-to session drink when I'm not pinching pennies on peebers. So it should be no surprise that my first time trying a beer from Clown Shoes, it was likely to be a wheat beer. Or at least that's the excuse I'm using even though it had more to do with my budget. Honestly, if I had the cash flow, I probably would have went with the Muffin Top for the sheer humor value.

I poured my $3.00 bottle of Clementine after a long two hours running around North Brooklyn looking to fill up a couple of growlers. An activity that takes up close to 3 hours of my obviously exhausting week. Since I'm a bit limited in the glassware department, I used the old standard...the 16 oz. pint glass! Clementine pours exactly how I would expect a what beer named as such, golden yellow with orange hues. The head quickly dissipates, which is probably one of the least disappointing things I find when I'm about to rate a beer. As much as I find the scent appealing, Clementine's being heavy on the citrus(to me it was of sweet oranges), the aspect I most care about when drinking a beer is the actual taste. I'm sure most beer geeks can agree with me. "Grapefruits!" was my first thought after taking the first sip, most likely due to the bitter surprise that the hops gave. As the beer settled, the citrusy bitterness stopped being so apparent, and I the sweetness of the oranges I found it the scent became much more defined. Seeing that it was only 3 O'Clock in the afternoon on a weekday, I took my time with this brew, which was a good thing, but I could easily see my self polishing off a sixer of Clementine at a BBQ or any other warm weather drinking session. Not to say that I won't be drinking any this winter since I don't really discriminate based on the season. Wheat beer is good year round.

Would I take Clown Shoes over Weihenstephaner? Most definitely not, but there are several beer bars in NYC that only cater to craft brews, and right now Clown Shoes is on everybody's beer menu in the City, most likely because it's slightly regional. Regardless, it would be a nice replacement when my wheat beer of choice was not available. I'm sure Clown Shoes Clementine will be getting a session or pub revisit from me in the near future.

Dogfish Head Palo Santo Marron

Sometimes it's hard to to grasp just how much the craft beer market has evolved in such a short amount of time in terms of ABV percentage. It was only about a decade ago that the highest grade micro available on the common market, at least in my neck of the woods, was the Trouble Bag at 8%. Back then, all it took for me to consider myself a beer snob was to indulge in Guinness, Bass, and Franziskaner in between some pretty severe PBR sessions. I didn't really hold the craft beer market in such high regard, even though I came from an Old New England town with a long brewing history (Portsmouth,NH). It wasn't until the Double Bag that my my interest in high test, and therefore craft brew, really to a grasp.

Fast-forward 3 years - Dogfish Head 60 and 90 Minute IPA's become readily available in the NH Seacoast and I'm hooked, over the next year after discovery I hear rumors of a 12% ABV. I must have it!

2 more years - Upon arriving in NYC I am finally able to indulge in the sweet nectar that is the 120 Minute IPA. At 10 bucks a bottle, it's a rare treat.

Today - By this point, I rarely drink anything under 7-8% ABV, unless it's session drinking. Even then, I try to stay away from the old standards like PBR if I can help it. By this point, Dogfish Head has produced a 15% beer that is still cheaper than the seasonally-released 120 Minute. But there is a new 12 percenter in town and it goes by the name Palo Santo Marron.



I cracked open the Palo Santo Marron for a Saturday morning breakfast a couple of weeks ago after a long night out on the town. I find that beer is a perfect accompaniment to my double-meat breakfast sandwich that is an almost daily staple, especially when feeling a bit hungover. Poured into a pint glass, I was immediately impressed by how dark this particular brown ale was. With it's dark coffee head, that doesn't last very long at all. It poured more like a porter or stout. As baffled as I was, after tasting I was not going to be doing much complaining. Chocolate malty goodness with a fair alcohol presence, in both taste and smell. I found that the brew tasted best about halfway through when the vanilla started to become more prevalent. This tells me that next time I should let the bottle sit out of the fridge for about 20 minutes before I crack it open.

At 12% ABV, Palo Santo Marron is not a session beer, but knocking back 1 or 2 while relaxing is not going to kill you. In fact, I find that it makes a whole afternoon of marathon TV that much more relaxing, as well as eliminating a hangover better than an Advil. While cheaper than the 120 Minute, drinking a whole 4-pack to your head could put a damper in your plans, if you have any. As far as the label art is concerned, it's a standard Dogfish Head logo with some funky colors added to distinguish it from anything else in the flagship. Nothing worth noting. I feel the Dogfish Head has made such a name for themselves in recent years that they don't even need a flashy label to sell beer, the name speaks for itself. The Palo Santo Marron does a really good job representing the company.

Bomb Lager - NYC, NY

To kick off the first beer review in close to five years, I figured what better way to go than with something new and local. That, and Bomb Lager was also the cheapest 6-pack available at the overpriced organic market on my block when I was headed back home from Pearl's Social and Billy Club at 2 AM.

New York City isn't exactly a mecca for locally-produced craft beer like the cities of the Pacific Northwest. So whenever something new pops up on the local market, I'm sure to seek and destroy with a vengeance. Many parts of2009 and 2010 are but a faded memory, a blame I place solely on Sixpoint....and maybe Kelso. The point is, a new local brew doesn't escape me for very long. It only took me four days to procure a sixer of Bomb Lager after reading about it in this article.

A few questions still remains though....Can the beer really be called "local" and "craft"? Bomb Beer Company is a NYC-based business but contract Lion Brewery in PA to produce it. If I'm correct, Lion Brewery is hardly a local craft brewery. Regional favorite(for some) yes, but more on the macro side of the American brewing world. I guess I would have to have a better understanding of the contracted terms to see which company actually designed the recipe.

For a $6 six-pack at an overpriced gentro-bodega, I can actually forget about those questions in a timely fashion. Not so quickly to forget I'm drinking something that is no more than a couple steps away from a shitty American Macro Lager. Bomb Lager pours a bright amber, with a fair-sized white head that will stick around for the duration of drinking. As far as duration is concerned, it really shouldn't take you more than 10 minutes to knock this session beer back. Like most American Lagers, opening a cold one and taking an instant sip is sure to produce gasface from the bitterness. That's why I have found it best to wait a few minutes after pouring before knocking it back. I have also found the drinking it at a warmer temperature is a more pleasurable experience. Drinking it at 45-50 degrees brings out more of the Helles style that Bomb is supposed to be modeled after.

Now we get to the artwork...blarggh! I love street art just as much as the next bearded fucker who calls Bushwick home, but I am of the opinion it doesn't belong on a beer can. I like my label art to to have elks and drunk monks, even images of Lucifer. The current label makes me think I'm drinking alcoholic Kool-Aid like FourLoco and all the other ghetto shit that mocks it. Street art belongs on brick walls, not a can of craft beer.

Despite my hatred of the can art, I can't really go wrong with the price point. It's the best party/session beer that I'm going to find in these parts. It's even cheaper than getting a sixer of PBR, and much better in taste and quality. It couldn't have come at a better time. I've been disgusted with my old friend the Blue Ribbon lately, and was on the verge of never touching it again. Bomb Lager just gave me a good reason not to.