BEER!

[badseed1980]

Last night I went to NERAX, the five days of which are the High Holy Days of the beer-geek religion. :)

I was fairly disappointed to find out that MOST of the beers that interested me greatly in the program were not available. None of the fascinating herb-and-flower spiced ones were up, nor was the one with the best beer name EVAR, "Pressed Rat and Warthog". Bah. That said, though, I did get to try a number of excellent beers, and took good notes.

Cambridge Brewing Company took away the prize for Best Beer Of The Night, in my book. Their Red God was utterly phenomenal, a hophead's paradise. The aroma was beautifully dry and grassy, like a field of new-mown hay. The taste was the same, and the bitterness of the hops was balanced perfectly by a sort of fruitiness. It made me think of lazy summer afternoons. Simply gorgeous. Yes, it's a bit of a punch in the teeth if you're not used to heavily hopped beers, but if you are, it's sheer bliss.

There were some other tasty ones as well, but that Red God just stood out head and shoulders above the rest of the ones I tried, in my opinion.

pierceheart and leenah are fun to beer-geek with. :)

Comments

[unferth.livejournal.com]

You likely to be around for any of the rest of the exhibition? I plan to check it out Saturday, at least assuming I can get in the door.

[badseed1980.livejournal.com]

Alas, the rest of my weekend is going to be hugely busy. Last night was the only night I could make it. :(

If you have a chance to try the Watch City Rites of Spring beer, let me know if it's worth a trip to Waltham! :)

[leenah.livejournal.com]

yo, you and pierceheart totally beat me at beer geeking. i just try to keep up.

i know what i like - it's pretty much the opposite of what you two prefer. give me a beer that i can't see light thru and that i can chew, and i'm pretty happy. :)

[badseed1980.livejournal.com]

Oh, I like that stuff TOO! Hell, Guinness was my first beer love, and I adore imperial stouts. But this time of year, the herbal, grassy, citrusy, or floral notes that hops give a beer are very welcome, and the bitterness is crisp and refreshing. I tend to like bitter flavours in general. In the winter, though...barleywines, imperials...yeah. They totally light my fire.