How I learned to stop worrying and love the beer

Since being an unemployed college graduate doesn’t pay well and waiting for people to respond to resumes sucks, I’ve decided to venture into the part of the work force known as waiting tables. I started this week, and things are looking good. I’ll (hopefully) be able to make a decent amount of money and can get a sneak peak into the restaurant world. As an added bonus, I can speak Spanish with the multitude of individuals working in the back. ¡Que Divertido!

In honor of me finding a job, I decided to take the week before work to visit a bunch of friends situated throughout the northeast. While it is always fun to see friends you haven’t seen for some time, it’s even more fun to see them at a delicious local brewery! Hence, I created a miniature Justin Lloyd-Fun-in-the-Summertime-Craft-Beer-Week! I managed to hit up 5 breweries, unsuccessfully beg for samples at 1 and indulge in the Beer Advocate American Craft Beer Fest in Boston. If you’ve ever seen the American Beer, then you understand my inspiration for the trip. Hurrah for being an unemployed college graduate!

Although I tried to take detailed notes at each of the breweries, my notes seem to have slurred into one another. I will do my best to recapture the magic.


Blue Point Brewing Company
Patchogue, NY
Despite its bad reputation for most things, Long Island has some solid beer. The best part about Blue Point is that the tasting room serves as a bar too. After sampling their 8 beers on tap, you can buy a couple of pints and sit at a picnic table in the picturesque parking lot out back.

Beer Sampled: Summer Ale, Pale Ale, Toasted Lager, ESB, Spring Fest, Hoptical Illusion, No Apologies Imperial IPA, Imperial Stout, Old Howling Bastard Barley Wine

My favorite Beer: Oatmeal Stout on Cask. You just can’t beat the rich smoothness of a cask beer.

My Favorite Moment: The crazy old man on the patio shouting about the importance of eating Parmesan cheese with IPAs. He even had a ziplock bag full of the stuff.


Middle Ages Brewing Company, LTD.
Syracuse, NY

Middles Ages holds a tender spot in my heart. It is close to my old college in Binghamton and it is a block away from Dinosaur BBQ. Also, they have a few fat felines skulking around the tasting room and every time I’ve been there I have chatted with the owner. They changed the room around and raised the prices since I’ve last been there but I still love the place. I would have a picture to demonstrate this change but I forgot my camera this day and the photos I snapped of the growler nestled in my fridge won’t do justice.

Beer Sampled: Raspberry Ale, Swallow Wit, Grail Ale, Syracuse Pale Ale, Old Marcus Bitter, ImPaled Ale, Wailing Wench

My Favorite Beer: Old Marcus ESB. It’s better than their Beast Bitter and (even better) there is a growler sitting in my fridge. Dark copper coloring, solid tannish head and a delicious balance of the hoppy bitterness and malty taste.

My Favorite Moment: Seeing the faces of the people pouring beers when my friend Austin Powers showed his ID.
…Yes, that is his birth name.


Empire Brewing Company
Syracuse, NY

I found out about this little brewpub after speaking with a friendly fellow at Middle Ages. A couple of buddies and myself headed down the stairs into this dark and snazzy little pup after feasting on ribs and Ape Hanger Ale over at Dinosaur BBQ. The place recently reopened, and from what I hear they have been inviting different brew masters over to concoct specialty brews. I had a decent 6-beer sampler as I tried to digest the BBQ onslaught inside my stomach.

Beer Sampled: Skinny Atlas Light, Purgatory Pale Ale, Empire Amber Ale, Seasonal Brown, Instigator Dopplebock, Black Magic Stout

My Favorite Beer: It’s between the Brown and the Dopplebock. The brown ale had a heavy coffee flavor that pushed it into stout territory but it managed to retain its lightness and brown ale punch. The Dopplebock was just a monster of a beer. These two made up for the terrible Skinny Atlas and mediocre at best Pale Ale.

My Favorite Moment: Seeing the Syracuse socialites order wine at a brew pup.


Ithaca Beer Company
Ithaca, NY
This is another place that holds a special place in my heart. Ithaca was my Binghamton getaway and the brewery is a great spot to hit up before or after a hike in one of the nearby gorges. The place has been expanding over the past few years and recently won the “Best NY Craft Brewer” award in the 2008 TAP-NY competition. Keep up the deliciousness Ithaca!

Beer Sampled: Apricot Wheat, Ithaca Pils, Pale Ale, Nut Brown Ale, Cazcazilla, Ten, Flower Power, Saison (brewed at the Empire Brewery)

My Favorite Beer: The Nut Brown is definitely my favorite all year Ithaca Brew, but the Ten is phenomenal! They made this brew in honor of their ten-year anniversary and it is a knockout. Ten is a bottle condition American Strong Ale with a dark, red color and a 10% alcohol content that goes down much smoother than most of the high alcohol beers I’ve tried. It’s made with similar hops as Cazcazilla but instead of being a hoppy assault on your taste buds, it melds perfectly with a stick maltiness that makes this one remarkably drinkable celebration brew. Be careful with this one, it will kick your ass if you don’t/

My Favorite Moment: A meandering stroll through Buttermilk Falls after the sampling.


Portsmouth Brewery
Portsmouth, NH
As delicious brewpub located in the center of Portsmouth, New Hampshire. This brewery is the sister company to Smuttynose and serves a few of their great beers in addition to their own concoctions. This was my first time in the state and it was long overdue; some of my favorite brews come from New Hampshire and Maine and this brewery made some great food to go with their beers. I had a massive ten-beer sampler and indulged in every last drop. Go New England!

Beers Sampled: Dirty Blond Ale, Smuttynose Portsmouth Lager, Hefeweizen, Smuttynose Shoals Pale Ale, Wheat Wine, Bottle Rocket IPA, Saison, Wild Thang, Black Cat Stout

My Favorite Beer: While the Wild Thang was the most interesting (a golden ale brewed with wild rice), the Saison was my favorite. The brewery describes their Saison as a “traditional ale characterized by its pale color, fruity notes and lively effervescence” and this is pretty much spot on.

My Favorite Moment: Hearing my New England born waiter say Chow-dah.


Smutty Brewing Company
Portsmouth, NH
Despite this brewery making tasty, tasty beer, they only allow visitors to sample their delights Thursdays and Fridays at 3pm. Unfortunately, I showed up on a Monday at noon and they refused my humble pleas for a tasting. Either way, they have a basketball hoop rigged up to the outdoor grain tank so they get an A+ in my book. Maybe Next time.

Beers Sampled: None

My Favorite Beer: The one I saw one of the Smuttynose employees drinking as I begged for a sampling

My Favorite Moment: Holding back my tears…


American Craft Beer Fest
Boston, MA
What can’t be said about this festival? 75 breweries, 300 beers and I got to hear Sam Calagione from Dogfish Head give a seminar on beer and cheese. This festival is the work of the Alström Brothers and their lovely creation, Beer Advocate. It was a way to give us East Coasters and chance to sample tons of good beer, learn about what we were drinking and make toasts to an entire convention center full of intoxicated beer fanatics.

Beers Sampled: Here it comes… Sam Adams’ 2-year Barley Wine and Sahti, Ommegang’s Biere de Mars and Ommegeddon, Brooklyn Brewery’s Extra Brune and Local 1, Cambridge Brewing’s Cerise Casée and YouEnjoyMyStout, Dogfish Head’s aged Raisin D’extra, Festina Lente, Old School Barley wine and World Wide Stout, Ithaca Brewery’s Brute and Ten, Magic Hat’s Berliner Weisse with raspberry and with a green substance the name of which I cannot read from my notes but it tasted like lucky charms, Mercury Brewing’s Original Ale on cask and Summer Ale, Michelob’s Shock Top, Peak Organic’s Amber Ale and Maple Oat Ale, Pennichuck Brewing’s Schwarzbier and Shouboushi Ginger Pilsner, Rouge’s 100 Meter Ale, Hazelnut Brown Nectar, Morimoto Imperial Pilsner and Shakespeare Stout, Southern Tier Brewing’s Big Red and Cherry Saison, Terrapin Beer’s Rye Pale Ale and, finally, Victory Brewing’s Saison and Baltic Thunder Porter

My Favorite Beer: Far too many to name

My Favorite Moment: Hearing Garrett Oliver tell me that he literally stands behind his beer as he poured me an Extra Brune while wearing the craziest black and green cowboy shirt I’ve even seen. Also, tasting a bunch of delicious beer with a bunch of great people and beer fans. Kudos Boston.