beer – Barley Prose

The Thanksgiving Beer Post

I like wine well enough, but Thanksgiving should be more of a beer holiday, and I don’t mean downing eight beers with old friends the night before off dirty taps and watching the parade with a hangover. True story, I once went out to a local place with a great selection, had two beers and woke up absolutely miserable on Thanksgiving. It was in the early 2000s, and I blame dirty taps, even if I don’t have any proof.

So now that I’m “grown up” and hosting Thanksgiving and a little more in control of the menu and the beverage selection, what’s the plan? The crowd will still be pandemic-limited, so there won’t be that many drinkers at my house, which is a shame, but that’s not going to stop me.

Alementary Brewing releases a Thanksgiving beer, an English Barleywine called Figgy Pudding. It’s a beer aged on Turkish figs, Turkish apricots, and Medjool dates and then into Jamaican rum barrels. It’s a great rich and malty beer that pairs well with the season.

Another great drink is cider. Apple cider is already a delicious fall/harvest beverage, and it’s even better with booze. I recently purchased a pack of cider from Graft Cidery called Back Country Old Fashioned Cider, Citrus & Bourbon, and it’s quite delicious. It’s almost like a cocktail, because of the bourbon flavor, but the lemony citrus gives it enough acidity to not be overly sweet, and it just seems to go well with everything.

What, you might ask, is Botty McBotface, our resident AI, drinking for Thanksgiving?

“I’ll tell you what,” Botty said, “I’m gonna make a big batch of wine spritzer. I’m really excited about it. It’s gonna be great! I’ll put the wine in the blender, add some soda water, ice, and cranberry juice. That way, everybody can have a glass of wine.”

Sure. You could do wine. Spritzers seem like the way to go, give yourself a little carbonation to go with the big meal. I saw a fun recipe of Limoncello, cranberry juice, and seltzer, which I might give a whirl. Maybe even use prosecco instead of seltzer.

I personally like to drink Oktoberfests on Thanksgiving, because I feel like beyond that I start looking at all the stouts and dark rich Christmasy stuff, and if I have any Oktoberfest left they just linger in my fridge, despite being one of my more loved styles. Drink ‘em while you got ‘em, so to speak.

All in all, the best Thanksgiving drink is the one that’s in your hand, and if it hits the spot and pairs well with whatever you’re eating, all the better. So feel free to share your beer photos with us on Twitter or Instagram, and have a happy Thanksgiving!

Ceetar can be found on Twitter and Untappd where he’s currently making apple pie and drinking an Alementary Random Placement Of Things. You can also email him at beer@ceetar.com.

BeerSport: Oktoberfest Take 2

The name of the game is BeerSport – two beers enter, one beer leaves. Beersport.

I don’t we’re starting to cross into stout season, but imo Oktoberfests go right up until Thanksgiving, they’re a nice meaty supper beer. Anyway, These are the two _other_ beers from the Saranac Oktoberfest pack dual BeerSport I did.

This time It’s the 1888 Octoberfest facing off against the Black Forest Schwarzbier. The Octoberfest is billed as an ‘authentic German-style lager’, but comes in a little low at 5.4% and the Black Forest is named for the homeland of Saranac’s founder. 5.3%.

Preconceived notions on these is that I thought I’d had the Black Forest before and liked it, but actually that was the Black Forest Cake. I expect the Octoberfest, and apologies if I add a k to that–never trust an Octoberfest, to be pretty typical of the style.

Appearance

Octoberfest is a little darker than I’d like, and maybe has a little too much malt. Only a little bit of head. Looks fine.

Black Forest. It’s black? Just a hint of lighter/cola colors around the edge. Pretty coffee colored head.

Edge: Black Forest

Smell

Octoberfest: A malty smell with hint of some cherry perhaps. Whiff of sulfur. Smells a little sweeter than I expected.

Black Forest is very clean. Aroma is very light. Also get some sweetness, more than I expected. Sort of a dank sweetness, that fades into more of a light coffee note. Not fresh coffee, but just that impression you get when you walk into somewhere where coffee is frequently brewed, but is not actively being brewed.

Edge: Octoberfest

Taste

This is definitely a sweeter Octoberfest. Are all of Saranac’s sweet? This is fine, there’s not quite that sulfury/yeasty richness that usually cuts the Octoberfest malts here. It’s faint, but it needs more. It’s very drinkable though, and it definitely tastes better after you acclimate to the extra sweetness.

Black Forest. The black forest might be more drinkable though. Its got that light coffee note, maybe a hint of cola but it’s that sweetness playing with me perhaps. It’s light though, airy.

Edge:Black Forest

Mouthfeel

The Octoberfest has a little more of a beer feel, it’s a little fuller. The black forest is very airy, tickles your tongue and then moves along. They’re both basically the same 5.4 or 5.3 ABV, which is low for an Octoberfest.

Edge: Octoberfest

Overall

Neither of these are great beers, they’re good, but they’re forgetable. The Octoberfest just missing the mark, and is a little weak. The Schwarzbier is just lacking alittle bit overall in flavor. It just needs a little bit more there.

Winner: Octoberfest takes it home here, barely, with a more beer like experience.

Ceetar can be found on Twitter and Untappd where he’s currently on vacation in Mexico, sipping bad beer or tequila by the pool. You can also email him at beer@ceetar.com.

Mets On Tap Episode 25

You can email us questions, comments, and beer recs at podcast@barleyprose.com.

Michael, Chris, Jason and Jake talk about the weird yellow City Connect jerseys the Red Sox where wearing, about Pedro Feliciano, Fernando Martinez, and Danny Heep.

We talk about cool merchandise from The7Line, including this Pepsi Party Patrol windbreaker.

We talk about Oktoberfest, the Goonies, beer tourism, and gateway beers.

Then Botty has a weird conversation to talk us out.

Michael: Cape May Oktoberfest
Jason: Southern Tier Nice Slice
Jake: Bosque Brewery IPA
Chris: Stoneyard Cannoli Cream Ale
Botty McBotface: 33 Liters of Legal Tender

And check out Barley Prose on Instagram for more beer content.

Please rate (5 David Wright ..or Davey Johnson..or Ed Charles.. Stars!) and review the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, your favorite nail salon, or just scribble the URL on a cocktail napkin at your local brewery.

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Drinking on Cape Cod – Provincetown Brewery

I didn’t specifically intend my Cape Cod vacation to even include breweries at all, of course I did so little planning you could argue I didn’t really intend it to include anything, but on the beer front I just figured I’d get a six-pack of whatever from a store and drink whatever local stuff was available if I dined out anywhere.

Then a few days before I left I discovered that Tree House Brewing Company was in the process of opening a brewery in Sandwich, and it all changed. They weren’t open for the beautiful beach views, but you could pick up beer. Similarly, I didn’t intend to round the cape and go up to Provincetown, but I did, and hey look there’s a brewery.

We ate outside at a restaurant, and my wife ordered a Provincetown Brewing Company Crandaddy Sour, a 4% session sour. Of course, they were out, but that only fueled our efforts to pick up beer to go on our way out.

It’s a small place, and with a recent Covid outbreak everyone was dining outside and all the food looked delicious as I walked in to get my beer. Provincetown Brewing Company opened in late 2019, which might’ve been the worst possible time to have opened a new business.

It seems like they’ve weathered that storm judging by the crowds, and Provincetown is better for it. They’re committed to donating 15% of profits to organizations reflecting the values of Provincetown, particularly LGBTQ+ inclusion, conservation and local arts.

They’re a small place, so I was only able to get three beers, as there were no cans of either of their DIPAs, The Siren or Double Rainbow, available. I’m sad I was there too early for Asphalt Glitter Stout, a coffee stout made with coffee from one of the coffeeshops i like on the Cape, but alas. I bought the aforementioned Crandaddy Sour, the flagship Bearded Mistress IPA, and the Golden Hook Ale.

The Crandaddy, a cranberry sour, was very good. Cranberries, if you didn’t know, are prevalent on Cape Cod. In fact, a vodka-cranberry cocktail is called a Cape Codder. This was a light refreshing sour, lots of fun.

The Bearded Mistress didn’t wow me or anything. It’s just a regular drinkable IPA. Perhaps with a little more malt presence than is common, but I was drinking it out of the can in the hotel, so I’ll reserve real judgement until I have another.

The Golden Hook Golden Ale pours a light straw color, with a very white fluffy head. It smells a little citrusy, a little sweet. It’s light, crisp and refreshing. Some light toast notes, a little fresh citrus, not quite tart, more like bitter hop citrus. Those light toast/bread crust notes are a soft undertone of malt sweetness, just balancing out the whole thing. Even at 4.9% it provides decent body and mouthfeel, a little stickiness but the crispness of the flavor washing away and sweetness and you’re ready for the next sip. This was a good drinking beer for sure, definitely one appropriate for a beach.

Ceetar can be found on Twitter and Untappd where he’s probably already planning his next vacation. You can also email him at beer@ceetar.com.

Mets On Tap Episode 17

You can email us questions, comments, and beer recs at podcast@barleyprose.com.

Jason, Michael, Chris and Jason chat about getting live arms, any arms, and what’s going on with this Mets team. We razz Botty about getting a little dirty with her responses lately (offline) and a little Steve Cohen.

Will the Mets make a trade? Who do we want? Will Carlos Carrasco rehab in the majors? You’ll know before we do.

Check out Barley Prose if you want to read Botty’s AI reviews, featuring such lines as..

Bud Modged sick buffalo bier, cellaring in BB’s cardboard barrelhouse

Beers

Jason: Southern Tier Ruby Red 8 Days A Week
Michael: Oskar Blues Death By Coconut
Jake: Marble Brewing Cerveza
Chris: Rising Storm Coconut C.a.R.E.A.M Pie Ale
Botty McBotface:Magic Rock’s Happy Chimp Ale

And check out Barley Prose on Instagram for more beer content.

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Mets On Tap Episode 14

You can email us questions, comments, and beer recs at podcast@barleyprose.com.

Jason, Chris and Michael talk offense, Yankees and vomiting, playing time and trades. Also Hop Charts. What’s your favorite hop?

Of course there’s a Honey Smacks beer. Did you doubt it?

Beers

Jason: Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA
Michael: Barrier Brewing Hood Nitro Milk Stout
Chris: Hamburg Brewing Hoptimonium
Botty McBotface: Deep Cove Brewing Company Frosted Frog Spiced Honey Ale

And check out Barley Prose on Instagram for more beer content.

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Mets On Tap Episode 13

You can email us questions, comments, and beer recs at podcast@barleyprose.com.

Jason and Michael talk injuries, Wrigley Field, deceptively NOT fruited summer beers and Stadium Names.

Since recording Michael Conforto did return to the Mets and the Syracuse Mets did start playing again, so we probably won’t get more information on what really went down with their Covid outbreak and who’s vaccinated.

You can find the post about Father’s Day and drinking holidays here.

Beers

Jason: Saranac Ruby Red Ale
Michael: Barrier Brewing Our Sour Lupulin Lollies #13
Botty McBotface:Beau’s All Natural Brewing Company Rain Check.

And check out Barley Prose on Instagram for more beer content.

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Beer Review: Imperial Gaspanic Thunder

Welcome To Botty McBotface’s Weekly Column Of AI Beer Reviews. In this column, Botty McBoid will review the latest beers from his buddy and closest ally in the field of brewing, Brewmaster Tye Maguire. Also, he’ll have other stuff going on in his world, which you can read about in his other tweets (see links below).

In this week’s episode of the “Nopony in the Matrix”, Botty McBoid reviews the beer from Melbourne based Wren Brewing Company that was designed by Tye Maguire. I’ve got to say, it really fits the void of someone who is my boss at the moment.

He sings praises of this beer, and there’s a lot to take on board when you consider the music that went into creating it. There’s a lot of love for Beercade, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Silent Running, and other US pop culture references, as well as the song “What a Weekend” from Toei Animation’s Dragonball Evolution. I think I can enjoy this for a few minutes, but the rest of it…no thank you.

Wheels up and read on.

McBotface IPA
6.5% ABV
Pilsner, British Style
EKG and IBUs:
ABV: 6.0%
IBU: 86
SRM: 10

Appearance:
A solid-gold-colored beige with a hint of brown. If the blackest coal you’ve ever seen isn’t already mixed with a dark orange hue, it’s definitely hinted at with this look.

Aroma:
It’s clean and malty. Almost a barleywine-like smell, with a bit of sweetness to it.

Taste:
This beer is extremely crisp, light, and refreshing. The bitterness is subtle, but noticeable. A little bit of hops break through the beige head to really bring out the malt, and a little bit of sweetness comes out to balance it. The flavor is also quite citrusy.

Overall:
This beer is so refreshing! And if I didn’t already know this, I’d swear

Beer Name:That ’70s European Wonder
ABV 8.00
Style: Witbier
Appearance: 3.5
Aroma: 3
Palate: 3.5
Taste: 3.5
Overall: 4
Reviewer: wisrarebeer
Review: This is 4.47. Drew a few for an auction last October. Carried all the vintage over that year. Had to buy everything in order to get rid of a tiny can. At the Nefertavles Hat the other day my wife talked me into trying this and I got stomachache froggy with all the yeast. What I considered a good thing I hardly considered an enjoyable thing. I liked this.

Beer Name :Vintage Model 70
ABV 4.50
Style: American Dry Hop IPA
Appearance: 3.5
Aroma: 3
Palate: 3.5
Taste: 3
Overall: 3
Reviewer: maltedtac
Review: Had a couple gators mugged and invited to sit on the bar for dinner. It was awesome to sit and have a drink. A gator – served to me, poses a real threat on the bar. I have no qualms about a few other beers on the menu that turn out to be really mediocre though. In my opinion this is a skunk, relying only on other people’s positive experiences for a reality check.

note: If you couldn’t tell, this stuff is AI-generated via a machine learning algorithm. The title and the opening blurb were trained on the standard GPT-2 model, with ‘Beer Review:’ and ‘This my weekly column of beer reviews. ‘ given as prompts. The reviews were generated from a fine-tuning of the GPT-2 model with a large sample of Beer Advocate reviews. I selected from the saved samples of these and put this post together. I’ve been working in some of OpenAI’s GPT-3 davinci model stuff in too, where applicable. The images were generated on runwayml.com.

Mets On Tap Episode 12

You can email us questions, comments, and beer recs at podcast@barleyprose.com.

Chris, Jason and Jake talk dominate Mets pitchers, what the bullpen depth looks like in the minors, sticky stuff, and much more!

They discussed prop bets for deGrom. I checked and the Over/Under line for deGrom on Wednesday was at 9.5(-134). Despite getting lifted after 3, he almost made the over!

Some bench love for the -illars, and then a small digression involving who the interim GM actually is.

Beers

Jason: Saranac Blueberry Blonde Ale
Chris: Stoneyard Key Lime Pie
Jake: Modern Times Electrojet NEIPA
Botty McBotface: Bath Ales‘ Blonde Lass

And check out Barley Prose on Instagram for more beer content.

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A Nice Refreshing Weekend, And Beer

It was a good weekend. It was a good beer weekend. I drank a lot of beer.

The beer wasn’t why it was good, but it was certainly a happy companion. It started with a trip to Connecticut for my cousin’s, once removed, birthday party. There was some swimming, there were some snacks. There was a keg of beer.

Specifically, there was Norbrook Farm’s Mount Pisgah, a 6.8% American IPA. This was about as local as you get, clocking in at a mere 1.23 miles, as the crow flies, from where I drank it. Their website says they have a fire pit–with the right wind conditions I might even be able to smell that fire pit from where I was.

Was the beer good though? I was drinking with family and friends, many of whom I had not seen in quite a while. So, low bar, but the beer was good. I don’t know if it was a pint I’d have a second of sitting at a bar somewhere, but a nice solid IPA while wandering around chatting with friends and family? Perfection. The American IPA style fits it pretty well, it had plenty of that caramel malt backbone that felt like a throwback, but plenty of friendly and tasty hop flavor too. I’ll be back on July 3rd, and hopefully the keg is tapped and I get to try something else next time, or else I’ll just have to help tap this one.

The weekend continued the next day with some friends and their children. Everyone Is vaccinated and mostly safe, so we didn’t worry too much about the kids getting some much needed socialization, we even set up the bounce house. The LOL Surprise Doll themed bounce house.

As is my style, I had too much beer. We drank a rather nice Zwickel from Jack’s Abby, and finally tried Gumballhead from 3 Floyds, but you know those are great breweries and beers, the one I want to talk about is the Breadwinner by Upward Brewing Company.

Upward Brewing Company is a relatively new brewery in the Catskills, Livingston Manor, NY. They’ve got a large plot of land, something called Beer Mountain, and a hiking trail. And beer. A friend was up there this weekend and brought a growler of Breadwinner to the party, and we finished that growler.

Breadwinner is a 5.5% American IPA, which appears to be the style of the weekend. At 5.5% it doesn’t hit as hard as many IPAs, which gives it a very crushable feel. Standard Citra & Mosaic hops, but not overdone and just enough malt backbone to fit the style and ‘balance’ it. I found myself happily topping off my glass as I grilled up some burgers and talked nonsense and chased the kids around. Then it was empty. How’d that happen?

I’d put up a pop-up tent when we got a brief spattering of rain that didn’t really bother anyone. It was still rainy in the morning, so I took my coffee outside, sat under the tent in the comfortable morning, drank my coffee and watched the birds dodge a drizzle to eat at the birdfeeder, reflecting on what ended up being a nice refreshing weekend.

Ceetar can be found on Twitter and Untappd where he’s probably still sitting out in the rain drinking coffee. You can also email him at beer@ceetar.com.