IPA 12pk Variety (Dark Horse Brewing)

    Dark Horse Brewing is the strongest brewery I have to play with in Northern Virginia. Customers became quickly educated to the sought after offerings like Scotty Karate, Crooked Tree and all of the before mentioned holiday stout series. I follow the brewery activity on Facebook and frequent their website looking for little nuggets to tease customers with for future opportunities. I was very happy to see this larger package for me to potentially sell. I emailed accordingly and the product was ordered. The rest is what I am still dealing with. I managed to buy this twelve pack and once upon a vine, and despite the 22$ price point I jumped right into this beer.

    The box includes single hopped IPAs that is each hop in crooked tree is the only hop used in each bottle. I began trying the Citra hopped first. The bottle appears to say ARTIC, which is the letters of Citra. There is a heavy earthy flavor, and the bitterness is very traceable. I started with the one that would prove to be my favorite. 

    I continued to try the other two, but really wished I had someone to share this experience with. It has become my new desire to share my beer discoveries with like minded people. It is a fun part of craft beer. I even have 5.5oz sharing glasses that allow me to split 12oz beers perfectly. I am really into sharing, and don't drink as much when doing so. I highly advise you to pick up, share and compare the subtle differences in these our beers. Always keep up with dark horse at www.darkhorsebrewery.com!

Peeper Ale (Maine Brewing Company)

    Maine beer company is a boring looking beer that my eye kept going to while working in northern Virginia. So as I decided to create a wish list of new things to try Maine made it to the top. Most of the beers they make are hoppy, and should be drank fresh. I have methodically taste tested all of their beers except for mean old Tom, which will probably be my favorite. Peeper was the freshest of their pale ale offerings. It had a very light mouth feel and a vegetable freshness in the finish. 

   Maine beer company is running with a common formula that is very earth aware. They also spend money on providing fresh quality ingredients, and no money on marketing. The beer is on the expensive side for a royal pint. I picked up three bottles in NoVa and found two more favors locally. 

   You will not find much on the website but it's still there www.mainebeercompany.com!

MaineBeerCo on Twitter

Daniel on Twitt

Basic Brewing Radio 4/4/13 (Podcast)

     In my attempts to further my beer education I have continued listening to stitcher radio to and from NoVa on almost a daily basis. I have started reading the episode summary because I have listened to a lot of bad pod casts. I have been subjected to an hour of moronic twenty somethings struggling to describe what they are drinking, while fighting each other with the frequent Star Wars or video game reference. Finally I landed on Basic Brewing Radio, which was a informative and eye opening program. The episode starts and the host, with the classic NPR voice, gives very little background and goes right into the recorded House of Representatives debate. Brace yourself . . .
    I will sound nearly as ignorant by not going back for transcripts of the program, or giving proper names for those that spoke. The fine representatives of the state of Alabama are as classic as the characters portrayed in Forrest Gump and the accents were dead on. The children they explained, who will keep this evil from the children. I should of prefaced that by saying that everyone that approached the mic first started by stating their religious affiliation and friendship with the speaker. It was quite clear that the representatives didn't understand that home brewers are not, to my knowledge, the same as backwoods moonshiners. I have never been exposed to the seedy underbelly of the home brew bottle share. In my mind, home brewers are beer enthusiast who simply want to make beer for themselves, and enjoy the tribulations of doing so. In recent months this hobby has been able to grow into spawning breweries.
     So in the state of Alabama you can buy beer and pay the state tax on it to fund this governing body. Lets not forget the lobbyist who are the second biggest contributors for most campaigning? Who is number one? The teachers unions who are protecting the old angry bags who are really ruining your child's potential. The issue kept getting confused as to who was going to regulate the quality of what was produced? It doesn't matter it is not to be sold, different law governing that all together. There was a bit of comedy relief when several local winos got a microphone and insisted on knowing who would be making this wine and where they could procure some.
    The biggest push for this law comes out of Madison county Alabama, where apparently there is some NASA offices nearby. It appears that these well paid scientist like to dabble in good beer on the weekend. This is clearly the gateway to Satan worship, and criminal enterprise. If you want a good drinking game, listen to the end of the podcast and take a drink every time the female representative says "at the end of the day". I grew to hate that phrase in about 2 minutes after listening to this podcast. The other would be to drink every time the word alcohol is mentioned. Why can't they just say brewing beer, that is what the bill is called, the home brewing bill.
    Alabama, don't be excited that you are the last state to legalize home brewing, be embarrassed. You need to have your eyes opened to the good folks that have started breweries out of this hobby. These are all things that this economy needs. We are not a country of well built affordable cars anymore. This maybe out new economical stronghold on today's global economy. Well check it out on your own, the debate runs about 40 minutes, and it is sad and funny for similar reasons.

http://www.basicbrewing.com/index.php?page=radio