Nora McGunnigle

One of Maine's many state slogans is "The Way Life Should Be," and my time in New England so far would bear this sentiment out. The reason I'm here is to attend the Beer Bloggers Conference, held in Boston but with a pre-event excursion in Portland ME and Portsmouth NH.

OK, this event was like three weeks ago, and I had so much fun talking to local brewers and other awesome folks, and I didn't even post anything in a timely fashion! Since I was out of town this past weekend and missed the rescheduled New Orleans on Tap (as well as the Outlaw Homebrew Festival in Hattiesburg, MI, which John from the Keg and Barrel had invited me to judge) I figured I'd discuss the recent, more low-key local brewery and cheese/charcuterie event held on October 24 at the St. James Cheese Co. Peter Caddoo was there with a firkin of NOLA Brown ale, Gordon Biersch had something that was pretty unremarkable but fine. Gnarly Barley was there, and I hadn't met them yet. They had a very interesting rye beer, that was being called an IPA but didn't quite fit into that category, in my opinion. I think if they can call it something so that the IPA expectation isn't there, they'll have something. They also had a pretty decent coffee porter on tap. ...

So we cracked open a few of the beers we brought home from Pensacola. I had the (justifiably) well reviewed Bell's Brewing Two Hearted Ale, a complex but easy drinking IPA. Tom tried the Southern Tier Phin & Matt's Extraordinary Ale. I only had a sip of the Phin & Matt's, but its schtick is that it's brewed with three different hops and three different malts. The Bell's was awesome. Wonderful hop aroma and flavor- full of citrus and pine and pineapple. Balanced and drinkable and delicious. This bottle was dated June 30, 2011, so it was super fresh and tasty. Tried the Terrapin Rye Pale Ale. It initially suffered a little being drunk after the Two Hearted, but it is an excellent rye malt beer. The hops serve to support the spiciness of the rye, and allow the malt flavor to shine, without the characteristic significant malty sweetness. Very enjoyable. Glad we have six packs of these both- my inclination is to hoard them, but of course these beers won...

So, we went on vacation to Florida's Forgotten Coast (Port St. Joe and Cape San Blas area) and were able to drink new and exciting brews from Yuengling, Sweetwater (420, IPA, and Blue), Blue Point (Toasted Lager), Cigar City (Porter), and Pensacola Bay (Brown, Amber, and the Deluna XPA). We wanted to check out the Pensacola Bay Brewery but it was downpouring in an epic fashion on both the way to Port St. Joe and the way home. I liked the Sweetwater 420, it was an easy drinking and tasty beer for hot summer days (or the recovery from them.) We had a couple bottles of the Sweetwater IPA at the Indian Pass Raw Bar , which was good, but not the crazy hop bomb that the bottle boasted. Other places we found good beer to drink: The Thirsty Goat , Joe Mama's Pizza , Provisions , (all in Port St. Joe) and the Fish House in Pensacola. But the beer motherlode was when we came back through Pensacola and, upon the Beer Buddha's recommendation, we stopped at Four Winds International Fin...

Have enjoyed a couple nice beers that we don't get in Louisiana. Long Trail Unfiltered IPA- very nice and low key IPA from Vermont. Also had the Long Trail Ale on draft, an alt style ale that is malty, delicious, and highly drinkable. BBC Steel Rail Pale Ale from Berkshire Brewing Company. The weather today was unexpectedly hot and sunny, and this was perfect to have coming in out of it after the funeral. Followed by Widmer's Double IPA. Also tried: Naughty Nurse Amber/Pale Ale from a City Steam, local Hartford brewery. Pleasant drinking, nothing too special, but fine and dandy for pre-wake drinking. Found a bomber of Blue Point Rastafa Rye Ale at the package store- given my weakness for rye beers and Blue Point Brewing, it was a gimme. Was at room temp at the store, and we have no fridge in our room. So between last night and tonight, we iced it down several times in the ice bucket till it was chilled. Ooh, tasty. Seriously beautifully hopped combined with the spicines...