Green Flash Brewing Co. out of San Diego produces some very good beer, and most famous on that list is West Coast IPA.  As the colorful purple label declares, West Coast IPA is most certainly “extravagantly hopped”. At 95 IBU and 8.1% ABV, West Coast IPA is a delicacy for …

Ballast Point Sculpin and Big Eye IPA have been long-time favorites of mine for some time.  These are solid IPAs that you can always go to and expect a great beer.  I heard about a hard-to-find variety called Grapefruit Sculpin.  I missed a keg of Grapefruit Sculpin on tap at …

Tröegs Nugget Nectar makes a fresh appearance about this time of the year, and I’m always happy to see this Imperial Amber stock the shelves.  For when Nugget Nectar is available, spring is not far behind.  Troeg’s brewery was founded by John and Chris Trogner in 1996.  So where does …

If you have not read the article on Beer Science: Alpha Acids, you can do so by clicking the link.  In summary, alpha acids are present in lupulin glands present in the cones (strobiles) of mature female hop plants.  But there are other acids and oils that can affect both …

Recently opened The Moor Pat in Williamsville, NY, co-owned by Mike Shatzel and Peter Braun, is one of my favorite beer places… ever.  So it wasn’t really a question of IF I should do a review, but WHEN I should do a review.  And last night seemed like the perfect …

Today being President’s Day, my beer review is of 21st Amendment Brewery’s Brew Free! or Die IPA.  21st Amendment Brewing is located in San Francisco, California, only two blocks from the San Francisco Giants baseball park.  Their most popular beer is Brew Free! or Die IPA, but the brewery also …

Last Friday, February the 13th, I attended the appropriately named “Snow Day” release party at Community Beer Works.  Most of Western New York (the schools anyway) had the day off, the snow was falling, and the roads were horrible.  Yet all of these factors did not stop beer-lovers from attending …

I’m always pleased to see fresh Ithaca Beer Co. Flower Power in the beer cooler.  Despite being available year-round, Flower Power resurfaces with spring beer offerings.  And with the biting cold and sub-zero temperatures this week, we all could benefit from thoughts of spring and flowers.  So I welcomed Flower …

Alpha acids are an essential chemical component to any good beer (note: beta acids is another discussion).  In fact, yours truly has mentioned alpha acids in previous posts including The Chemistry of the Skunk.  This science installment sought to answer the following two questions about alpha acids: (1) Where do …

I have been familiar with Bell’s Brewery’s wonderful beers for a few years now, but they weren’t available in Western New York until late 2013.  Beer drinkers from Michigan have long known about Bell’s for decades, and it wasn’t long before they developed quite a reputation with craft beer drinkers …