I’ve been into craft beer for about 4 years now. Currently I’m super into Northeast style hazy IPAs.
Last year it was all about sours for me- Gose, Berliner Weisse, Lambic/Gueuze.
I’m kinda off of Gose, they are just so damn acidic. Berliners are still awesome. Lambic and Gueuze are still great. Huge fan of Gueuzerie Tilquin. I’ve got a Tilquin Oude Mur Tilquin in the fridge right now, next to two different blends of Jester King SPON '16. Not sure when I’m going to drink any of them, they are all very special beers.
A high school classmate, colleague for many years working for Philips, and distant cousin of my wife, home brews craft beer.
I don’t think I have ever purchased a six pack and brought it home. Rode my motorcycle down to Guntersville, Al. to see the Ryder Aerodrome, then on to Huntsville, to tour the NASA facilities. It was hotter than a $5 gun. Checked into a hotel, crossed the street and purchased a large iced latte, large Az. iced tea, and two large cans of beer. Downed three of them before I felt hydrated. Hauled the left over beer home. Never did drink it, and finally threw it away. 99.8% of my beer consumption is when eating at restaurants.
However, the one thing Jimmy Carter did right was make home brewing possible. Which also sparked the craft beer industry we have today. It was Prohibition that killed off most old time breweries. And a lot of old brews were revived after H.R. 1337 became law.
And of course they don’t teach this in school history class, but the reason the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock was because they were out of beer, and put ashore to find something to brew up a batch of beer. And who can forget Ben Franklin who it is claimed wrote. “Beer is proof God loves us and wants us to be happy”. However, some researchers say Ole Ben never said that, he only said something similar about wine. But beer connoisseurs aren’t inclined to let facts get in the way of a good beer quote. Very much akin to the saying - Never let the facts get in the way of a good fish story.
Hmm, never heard of Jester King before. Then again, I don’t about any breweries in the south any longer. Twenty years ago this year I lived in Georgia for a year. That was interesting. At that point in time I wasn’t really into craft beer at that point. I was home brewing then. Had visions of becoming a brewer. That didn’t last, but made some pretty good beer.
It’s hard not to admit that living in Vermont I’m really damn lucky when it comes to beer. Really there isn’t a beer style that I don’t like. That being said, I’m not a fan of sours. The only sours I really like are lambics.
A good friend of mine (with whom I drink regularly) is addicted to IPA’s right now, particularly doubles and IIPA’s, so I’ve been drinking a lot of those of recent. But I usually drink different things in different seasons. Right now, when I’m not hanging out with him, I drink porters, stouts, Scotch ales, and barley wine (if I can find it).
At the moment, I have 2 different beers from Collective Arts Brewing and one from Burlington Beer Co. and I have 2 different seasonal beers from Harpoon Brewing. I think that’s it for the moment. It’s subject to change at any moment.
