You can email us questions, comments, and beer recs at podcast@barleyprose.com.
Michael and Chris vote for some All-Stars, ponder why we can’t vote for pitchers, discuss the balanced schedule and how the Mets might benefit from having more of their games against the Braves during the healthy deGrom and Scherzer parts of the season.
We discuss ticket costs, crappy Budweiser, and a visit to Plan Bee Brewery in upstate New York. Trevor Williams gets a tip of the cap, despite giving up a bunch of home runs while we recorded.
Also a shout out to Mark Canha and Taijuan Walker for some really cool Pride support this past weekend.
If you want us to mention what YOU are drinking during next Tuesday Night’s Mets games, give us a tweet around 8:30 or so @BarleyProse and we’ll include you.
BEERS
Michael: Plan Bee Ash
Chris: Rising Storm The Show Goes On
Botty McBotface: 99 cent disgusting Red Stripe
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.
Praise be to the hop goddesses, I’ve finally got a local brewery. A _real_ local brewery. Previously the closest brewery to me was a good 15-20 minutes drive on a good day, something deeply troubling. Luckily, finally, there’s a brewery within 2 miles of my house, in a spot I’ve ridden my bike past, actually adjacent to my doctor’s office…called Gearblock Brewing Company.
I managed to find my way over there, something way easier when it’s 4 minutes of side streets, on opening weekend to try out what they had. It’s in a little strip mall type place, but with wide sidewalks that affords them a little outdoor seating, which is always nice, even in a parking lot, but I sat at the bar and ordered a flight.
It’s a nice space, bar, ample seating, bathrooms, and you can see through to the brewery in the back. Typical stuff. There was a Japanese baseball game on, which immediately raised my opinion of the place.
There’s something special about community watering holes, maybe something that’s no longer a dive bar thing. Breweries often fill that space. I didn’t see anyone I knew on this trip, but it’s inevitable that I will if and when I continue to visit.
How was the beer? The beer was fine to good. I wasn’t wow’d by anything, but I wasn’t disappointed by anything either. As I write this a few days later, the Busted Barnacle, a gose that I got in a crowler to go, might be the one that’s hitting the memories the best, but I thought their hazy was pretty good, and so was the Märzen. It’s a good start, and gives me hope going forward.
Most of all, I’m stoked that there’s a brewery so close. Something close enough that I can pop in for a beer when they’re open without having to make a special trip and plan. Gearblock has already added a beer or two since I was there, and I’ll definitely be back soon to check them out. Summer BBQ season is here, and you know I’m going to get a crowler or two to have on hand.
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 onTwitter andUntappd where he’s currently making apple pie and drinking an Alementary Random Placement Of Things. You can also email him at beer@ceetar.com.
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 onTwitter andUntappd 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.
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.
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.
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 onTwitter andUntappd where he’s probably already planning his next vacation. You can also email him at beer@ceetar.com.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
