The Beer Garden

Over the years, I’ve become something of a beer “snob”. I seek out good craft beers, and generally refuse the bottom-of-the-barrel suds that you find on special at your local watering hole on any given night. However, I haven’t gotten to the point of insistence on sniffing my beer out for three minutes as I swirl it in its special glass before I drink it. Frankly, I can’t be bothered to tell you about the fruity, malty, nutty, smoky or woody “notes” that dance on each part of my tongue when I take a sip. I do love beer though, and here, I will share with you some of my favorites, giving you enough of a description or story to hopefully want to try them if you’re into beer. Follow me!

The Beer List: Hell or High Watermelon

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This week on The Beer List, I’ll be introducing you to Hell or High Watermelon, by San Francisco’s 21st Amendment Brewery. Once upon a time, the American government deemed that rampant alcohol consumption had caused the country to lose its morals, so in its infinite wisdom, it outlawed booze altogether. In an appropriate nod to that dark period in our nation’s history, 21st Amendment Brewery named itself after the glorious Constitutional Amendment that repealed the ill-conceived act we know as “Prohibition”.  Continue reading →

The Beer List: Coney Island Hard Root Beer

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This week on The Beer List, as promised, I am following up on last week’s feature on Not Your Father’s Root Beer with a review of Coney Island Brewing Company’s Hard Root Beer. Since the hard root beer craze came out of nowhere this summer, Coney Island Brewing’s version has served New Jerseyans as a go-to substitute for Not Your Father’s in its continual absence. I didn’t waste any time after acquiring a can, cracking it open at 9 o’clock on Saturday morning. Continue reading →

The Beer List: Not Your Father’s Root Beer

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I can say with confidence that in my now decade-long love affair with beer, I have never seen such crazy hype over a particular brew than I have over Not Your Father’s Root Beer. Small Town Brewery, based in Wauconda, Illinois, decided to brew an alcoholic root beer, and en masse, everybody’s head exploded. For most of the summer, it was impossible to find in New Jersey, unless you were willing to relentlessly call up liquor stores to find out if they got a shipment of the stuff, and then immediately jump on the bottle or two to which most stores were limiting customers. Personally, I couldn’t be bothered to do that.  Continue reading →

The Beer List: Allagash White Ale

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I first tried the White Ale from Allagash earlier this summer at an upscale restaurant called Char in Red Bank, New Jersey. It happens to be the same place where on another occasion, my friends and I spotted actor Chazz Palminteri and his entourage, a member of which grabbed me by the back of the neck and shook me, mocking me for ordering lobster at a steakhouse. I thought for a moment that I just pissed off a wise guy and was going to get whacked when I walked out the door. But, I digress.  Continue reading →

The Beer List: River Horse Belgian Freeze

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I’ve been a fan or River Horse Brewing for a couple years now, and a few months back, I got to do a tour of the brewery out in Ewing, New Jersey with Jenn and a couple of our friends. The brewery tour was quite extensive and informative, with the guide having walked us through the entire process, from beginning to bottling. It seems that most tours are 5-10 minutes, and then you get right to the drinking (which is all well and good, but I like to get a good look at what goes on beyond the bottle). The first beer I ever had from River Horse was the Belgian Freeze, a 6-pack of which was given to me for Christmas by my brother, along with a hand-picked selection of other brews. I instantly liked it on first try, and luckily I had five more as part of my gift. Continue reading →

The Beer List: Wells Banana Bread

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This dessert beer is one of the best brews that I’ve ever tasted. It was introduced to me a couple Christmases ago by my youngest brother, as part of my gift that year, which was a large bag of select craft bottles from the liquor store where he worked at the time. It smelled and tasted EXACTLY like banana bread, which is, of course, delicious. The beer is brewed with actual fairtrade bananas, so the taste and smell are authentic. The flavors are balanced well enough for you to know that you’re still drinking beer – it’s not beat-you-over-the-head sweet. The ABV on this one is a fairly standard 5.2%, so you can theoretically knock a few back without getting too drunk to really enjoy it. This is one not to be rushed, but rather sipped and savored.  Continue reading →

The Beer List: Fat Tire

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I first tried this beer in the fall of 2014, after much hype and anticipation. Its brewer, the Colorado-based New Belgium Brewing, has no distribution in New Jersey as of yet, so you can’t really get it here. A friend of a friend brought a case from Somewhere, USA, and I was graced with a bottle. It certainly lived up to all the talk I had heard about it from a few of my beer-loving friends. Fat Tire is an amber ale, which is more than pleasant enough to be a great go-to. Continue reading →