January was Bock Month

Saturday January 23 the Boston Beer Club gathered for Bock month. To be honest this was not a style most of our group was familiar with, which was both intriguing and daunting at the same time. We sampled a wide variety of straight bocks, doppels, and tribels as well as a maibock. Normally we would rank the ones we tasted, but the sheer volume and variety made it virtually impossible to do a fair rating. There were a couple of things that did come-out of the tasting worth noting:

1. Bocks are traditionally in season in late spring, which made giving a fair taste, particularly to some of the traditional ones from Germany, tough.
   
2. We found bocks by and large to be very malt forward in stark contrast to the craft brews most of us of grew-up on (this is not a critique, but instead just an observation).

Conclusions: Despite our group's varying tastes, and preferences in beer, the general conclusion was that there were not many of the bocks we tried that any of us would order again. If we were to recommend one that is accessible to those with craft brew backgrounds, it would be Sierra Nevada's Glissade Golden Bock.

Stouts are in one week!!! Yeah Stout month!!

December was the month of Porters

In the final step in updating our blog from past months we give you December's Porters

The Beers

• Mayflower Porter- Mayflower Brewery
• Southampton Porter- Opa-Opa Brewery
• Old Slug Porter- RCH Brewers
• Mocha Porter- Rogue Ales Brewery
• Robust Porter- Smuttynose Brewing Co.
• St. Peter's Old Style Porter- St. Peter's Brewery
• Stone Smoked Porter- Stone Brewery
• Utenos Porter- Utenos Alus

The Overall Ranking

1. Robust Porter- Smuttynose Brewing Co. (average ranking 2.17)
   
2. St. Peter's Old Style Porter- St. Peter's Brewery (average ranking 3.67)
   
3. Tie- Southampton Porter- Opa-Opa Brewery and Mayflower Porter- Mayflower Brewery (average ranking 4.00)
   
4. See #3
5. Tie- Stone Smoked Porter- Stone Brewery and Mocha Porter- Rogue Ales Brewery (average ranking 4.83)
6. See #5
7. Utenos Porter- Utenos Alus (average ranking 5.83)
8. Old Slug Porter- RCH Brewers (average ranking 6.2)

Ranking by Club Member

AB

1. Robust Porter- Smuttynose Brewing Co.
2. Southampton Porter- Opa-Opa Brewery
3. St. Peter's Old Style Porter- St. Peter's Brewery
4. Mayflower Porter- Mayflower Brewery
5. Stone Smoked Porter- Stone Brewery
6. Mocha Porter- Rogue Ales Brewery
7. Utenos Porter- Utenos Alus
8. Old Slug Porter- RCH Brewers

BC

1. Robust Porter- Smuttynose Brewing Co.
2. Mayflower Porter- Mayflower Brewery
3. Mocha Porter- Rogue Ales Brewery
4. Stone Smoked Porter- Stone Brewery
5. Southampton Porter- Opa-Opa Brewery
6. St. Peter's Old Style Porter- St. Peter's Brewery
7. Old Slug Porter- RCH Brewers
8. Utenos Porter- Utenos Alus

KW (Southampton Porter- Opa-Opa Brewery unranked)

1. St. Peter's Old Style Porter- St. Peter's Brewery
2. Utenos Porter- Utenos Alus
3. Old Slug Porter- RCH Brewers
4. Robust Porter- Smuttynose Brewing Co.
5. Mayflower Porter- Mayflower Brewery
6. Mocha Porter- Rogue Ales Brewery
7. Stone Smoked Porter- Stone Brewery

MS

1. St. Peter's Old Style Porter- St. Peter's Brewery
2. Robust Porter- Smuttynose Brewing Co.
3. Stone Smoked Porter- Stone Brewery
4. Mayflower Porter- Mayflower Brewery
5. Old Slug Porter- RCH Brewers
6. Mocha Porter- Rogue Ales Brewery
7. Southampton Porter- Opa-Opa Brewery
8. Utenos Porter- Utenos Alus

SD (Old Slug Porter- RCH Brewers- unranked)

1. Southampton Porter- Opa-Opa Brewery
2. Mayflower Porter- Mayflower Brewery
3. Robust Porter- Smuttynose Brewing Co.
4. Stone Smoked Porter- Stone Brewery
5. Mocha Porter- Rogue Ales Brewery
6. Utenos Porter- Utenos Alus
7. St. Peter's Old Style Porter- St. Peter's Brewery

PT

1. Robust Porter- Smuttynose Brewing Co.
2. Mocha Porter- Rogue Ales Brewery
3. Tie- Utenos Porter- Utenos Alus and St. Peter's Old Style Porter- St. Peter's Brewery
4. See #3
5. Southampton Porter- Opa-Opa Brewery
6. Stone Smoked Porter- Stone Brewery
7. Mayflower Porter- Mayflower Brewery
8. Old Slug Porter- RCH Brewers
   

November = Brown Ales

In our continued attempt to update the blog here are November's Brown Ales

The Beers

• Brooklyn Brown- Brooklyn Brewery
• Indian Brown Ale- Dogfish Head Brewery
• Chocolate Bar Brown- Hairbrain Brewing
• Fireside Nut Brown- Leinenkugel Brewing Co.
• Opa Opa Brown Ale- Opa Opa Steakhouse and Brewery
• Peak Organic Brown- Peak Brewing Co.

The Overall Ranking

1. Chocolate Bar Brown- Hairbrain Brewing (average ranking 1.6)
2. Opa Opa Brown Ale- Opa Opa Steakhouse and Brewery (average ranking 2.4)
3. Indian Brown Ale- Dogfish Head Brewery (average ranking 2.8)
4. Brooklyn Brown- Brooklyn Brewery (average ranking 3)
5. Peak Organic Brown- Peak Brewing Co. (average ranking 5.4)
6. Fireside Nut Brown- Leinenkugel Brewing Co. (average ranking 5.8)

Ranking by Club Member

AB

1. Opa Opa Brown Ale- Opa Opa Steakhouse and Brewery
2. Chocolate Bar Brown- Hairbrain Brewing
3. Brooklyn Brown- Brooklyn Brewery
4. Indian Brown Ale- Dogfish Head Brewery
5. Peak Organic Brown- Peak Brewing Co.
6. Fireside Nut Brown- Leinenkugel Brewing Co.

BC

1. Indian Brown Ale- Dogfish Head Brewery
2. Tie-Opa Opa Brown Ale- Opa Opa Steakhouse and Brewery and Chocolate Bar Brown- Hairbrain Brewing
3. See #2
   
4. Brooklyn Brown- Brooklyn Brewery
5. Peak Organic Brown- Peak Brewing Co.
6. Fireside Nut Brown- Leinenkugel Brewing Co.

KW

1. Chocolate Bar Brown- Hairbrain Brewing
2. Brooklyn Brown- Brooklyn Brewery
3. Opa Opa Brown Ale- Opa Opa Steakhouse and Brewery
4. Indian Brown Ale- Dogfish Head Brewery
5. Tie- Peak Organic Brown- Peak Brewing Co. and Fireside Nut Brown- Leinenkugel Brewing Co.

PT

1. Chocolate Bar Brown- Hairbrain Brewing
2. Brooklyn Brown- Brooklyn Brewery
3. Opa Opa Brown Ale- Opa Opa Steakhouse and Brewery
4. Indian Brown Ale- Dogfish Head Brewery
5. Fireside Nut Brown- Leinenkugel Brewing Co.
6. Peak Organic Brown- Peak Brewing Co.
   

AP

1. Indian Brown Ale- Dogfish Head Brewery
2. Chocolate Bar Brown- Hairbrain Brewing
3. Opa Opa Brown Ale- Opa Opa Steakhouse and Brewery
4. Brooklyn Brown- Brooklyn Brewery
5. Peak Organic Brown- Peak Brewing Co.
6. Fireside Nut Brown- Leinenkugel Brewing Co.

October means Oktoberfest

Unfortunately the records from this month are missing...must have been a really good month!

September is Pale Ale Month

In our attempt to catch-up on past months' tastings here is September with Pale Ales.

The Beers Tasted:

• Shoal's Pale Ale by Smutty Nose
  
• American Pale by Stoudt's Brewing Company
• Otter Creek Pale Ale by Otter Creek
  
• Whale's Tale Pale Ale by Cisco Brewers
• Doggie Style Classic Pale Ale by Flying Dog Brewery
  
• Homerun American Pale Ale by Haverhill Brewery
• New Dogtown Pale Ale by Langunitas
  

The Overall Ranking

1. Doggie Style Classic Pale Ale by Flying Dog Brewery (average ranking of 1.5)
2. Whale's Tale Pale Ale by Cisco Brewers (average ranking of 2.5)
   
3. Tie- New Dogtown Pale Ale by Langunitas and Otter Creek Pale Ale by Otter Creek (average of 4.5)
4. See #3
5. American Pale by Stoudt's Brewing Company (average ranking of 5.33)
6. Shoal's Pale Ale by Smutty Nose (average ranking of 5.5)
   
7. Homerun American Pale Ale by Haverhill Brewery (average ranking of 6)

Ranking by Club Member

AB

1. Whale's Tale Pale Ale by Cisco Brewers
2. Doggie Style Classic Pale Ale by Flying Dog Brewery
3. New Dogtown Pale Ale by Langunitas
4. Otter Creek Pale Ale by Otter Creek
5. American Pale by Stoudt's Brewing Company
6. Tie- Shoal's Pale Ale by Smutty Nose and Homerun American Pale Ale by Haverhill Brewery

BC

1. Doggie Style Classic Pale Ale by Flying Dog Brewery
2. Whale's Tale Pale Ale by Cisco Brewers
3. Otter Creek Pale Ale by Otter Creek
4. Tie- Shoal's Pale Ale by Smutty Nose and Homerun American Pale Ale by Haverhill Brewery and American Pale by Stoudt's Brewing Company
5. See #4
6. See #4
7. New Dogtown Pale Ale by Langunitas

BK

1. Doggie Style Classic Pale Ale by Flying Dog Brewery
2. Whale's Tale Pale Ale by Cisco Brewers
3. New Dogtown Pale Ale by Langunitas
4. Otter Creek Pale Ale by Otter Creek
5. Tie- Shoal's Pale Ale by Smutty Nose and Homerun American Pale Ale by Haverhill Brewery
6. See #5
7. American Pale by Stoudt's Brewing Company

KW

1. American Pale by Stoudt's Brewing Company
2. Doggie Style Classic Pale Ale by Flying Dog Brewery
3. Otter Creek Pale Ale by Otter Creek
4. Homerun American Pale Ale by Haverhill Brewery
5. Shoal's Pale Ale by Smutty Nose
6. Whale's Tale Pale Ale by Cisco Brewers
7. New Dogtown Pale Ale by Langunitas

MS

1. Doggie Style Classic Pale Ale by Flying Dog Brewery
2. Whale's Tale Pale Ale by Cisco Brewers
3. New Dogtown Pale Ale by Langunitas
4. Shoal's Pale Ale by Smutty Nose
5. Homerun American Pale Ale by Haverhill Brewery
6. Otter Creek Pale Ale by Otter Creek
7. American Pale by Stoudt's Brewing Company

SD

1. Tie- Doggie Style Classic Pale Ale by Flying Dog Brewery Whale's Tale Pale Ale by Cisco Brewers
2. See #1
3. New Dogtown Pale Ale by Langunitas
4. Shoal's Pale Ale by Smutty Nose
5. Otter Creek Pale Ale by Otter Creek
6. American Pale by Stoudt's Brewing Company
7. Homerun American Pale Ale by Haverhill Brewery

Greetings all and welcome to the official blog of the Boston Beer Club. We finally have this thing up and running, so here are the basics:

Who we are: A group of guys living in the Boston area with a passion and interest in beer.

What we do: We gather once a month when we try and rate a range of beers that fall within the beer style of the month.

What you'll find here: The beer style of the month, the groups overall ranking of the beers sampled, and each individual club member's rankings for each month.

About our rankings: We're not saying that the beer we rank number one each month is the best there is in that style. What we are saying that if you are looking for a particular style of beer then the ones we ranked high are a good option. Also, if you happen to be at a bar/liquor store and see one of the beers we've ranked highly, then we think you'll enjoy it. We're also including the monthly ranking of our individual members, because everybody's tastes are a little different. You may not have the same tastes as our entire group, but based on previous rankings you may find that you and one of our members have similar tastes. This way if you seem to generally agree with a particular member, then you can see what they like in other styles and use that as a guide if you are looking for something new.

We're a little behind, so we will be posting all of our tastings since the September 09. From here on we'll update after each tasting.

We hope you enjoy.