Getting The Beer Right

Beer is important. So why do so many otherwise fine restaurants get the beer list wrong? It doesn't have to be an extensive list to provide the needed variety. An example of a local venue which gets it right is Blue, the live house on Congress Street between High and State. It's a small place, with limited taps, but the beer menu is thoughtful and demonstrates knowledge of beer and beer drinkers (confession; I have to be careful there because the taps include Dogfish Head 90 minute IPA, non-locavore compliant and one of the world's great beers).

Barry, who runs Blue, includes an English style pale (Geary's), a White (Allagash), a flavorful lager (Brooklyn), a shite lager (PBR), a pretentious shite lager (Stella), the mandatory Guiness (which Barry tells me is his best seller), and two IPAs, the best-of-local Frye's Leap, and the aforementioned 90 minute. Maybe a brown or a red could be added to the mix, and a seasonal (which he may have, I forgot), but that's nit-picky. This is a fabulous beer short-list, with something for everyone. I also appreciate his apparent unwillingness to stock anything with "light" in the name (water or Chardonnay works for light "drinkers".)

Twitch Itched

A very good beer. A little bit of a sweet nose but with a nice full flavor and crisp, bitter, flavorful hoppy notes throughout. I need to sample more.

Big News!!

Big Twitch is at the Bear! I'm I've got a Big Twitch to get there and sample it. I'll satisfy that twitch later today and report back.

Streak Over

The Red Sox had been undefeated (6-0) over a period of 3 years when I'd been able to have a beer at Bukowski's on Dalton Street before the game. That streak came to an end on Sunday. I drank an Opa Opa Ipa (brewed in Western Massachusetts), then tried the Opa Opa Amber, which was on tap. I drank that one because it was only $2 if ordered with the BBQ Chicken Sandwich special. I had the Chicken sandwich because it came with the beer. Neither of those were very good, creating the bad karma that led to the Sox defeat (4-2, to the Chicago White Sox). The IPA was pretty good, though, as was the Leatherlip IPA (Haverhill, Ma brewed) I had after the game. A little too malty and balanced for my taste was the Ipswich IPA, also after the game.