After a bit of a hiatus, we are back to finish the 2013 Beer Friends Final 4!
We have 3 rounds left to go, this round will decide which beer wins each region and moves on to the Final Four!
If you need some help deciding you can click on the links to each video for our “expert” opinion. If you’d like to tell us why one of these beers should win over the other you can tweet us @thebeerfriends or find us on Facebook. it won’t help that beer win any but we’ll enjoy it.
Today we finish up the second half of Round 3! Voting goes thorough the weekend, Round 4 to start Monday!
If you need some help deciding you can click on the links to each video for our “expert” opinion. If you’d like to tell us why one of these beers should win over the other you can tweet us @thebeerfriends or find us on Facebook. it won’t help that beer win any but we’ll enjoy it. (more…)
Hello Beer Friends Nation!
Today we return to Founders to continue reviewing their excellent line of delicious brews. This week it’s Dry-Hopped Pale Ale which is a aggressively hopped pale ale much like Dale’s Pale Ale but with a different flavor. This week we are also introducing the Beer Friends Home Game – grab one of the beers we’re reviewing and drink it and post your thoughts below… want extra credit? Grab Dale’s Pale Ale and make a comparison review. Founders! Grand Rapids! Home Game!
Hello Beer Friends Nation!
Dreams are broken and the strong move on… who ever thought the Rocky Mountain IPA had a chance against Breakfast Stout or (the biggest upset) Great Divide Yeti Imperial Stout over Bristol’s Laughing Lab, not to worry Bristol fans – Mass Transit pulled through over the strong year-round available Founder’s Porter. Can Yeti continue it’s run? can Bell’s pull through as the two seed continuing to a 1 vs 2 match-up? Vote and decide!
The 1 vs 8 match up has last year’s winner Fat Tire advancing to play 471 Small Batch IPA from Breckenridge Brewery. This is Breckenridge’s first year in the BFF4 and they had a strong showing… can they be a Butler and bring down the #1 seed?
Hello Beer Friends Nation!
It’s that time of year where EVERYONE is swept up in the madness… yes – Beer Friends Final Four Beer Bracket is BACK!
Forget Louisville in the First Round and bubble teams, we’re talking ales in the First Round and drinking the suds…
This year we (kinda) followed a regional bracket match up instead of the style like last year.
Brad’s Bracket includes beers from Colorado and the Michigan area (somehow Great Lakes snuck in there…). Vote your favorite brew through and pick that Cinderella team, sorry, stout. Pick the winner and hold it over your friends heads until the next year (Brooklyn’s Dark Matter anyone?) Beer! Voting!
The 1 vs 16 match up pits Last Years winner, New Belgium’s Fat Tire against a stout from Boulder – Avery’s Out of Bounds Stout. The Out of Bounds was delicious when infused with coffee, but Fat Tire seems like the fan favorite – should be interesting. See more of this entry for voting!
Hello Beer Friends Nation!
Recently the trend in craft brewing has been cans instead of bottles. 
This is a point of high contention amongst the Beer Friends and we have a 6 month running conversation about why switch to cans, why not start with cans, whats the stereotype/stigma behind cans, etc… While in Colorado we visited one of the leaders in the Craft Can Beer revolution, Oskar Blues, then hung out, took a tour and gained more ammo for the Cans vs Bottles conversation. Now Oskar Blues produces some pretty high quality beers – here is the Beer Friends take on same: (more…)
Hello Beer Friends Nation!
The recap of the Colorado Brewery Tour 2010 continues! This week we re-visit Longmont, Colorado – home of Left Hand AND Oskar Blues! Longmont is a great stop on the brewery tour and Oskar Blues was so great, it changed one Beer Friends mind about them.
Dale’s Pale Ale is our SPotW, a excellent hopped Pale Ale that ranks up there with the best. Enjoy!
Hello Beer Friends Nation!
While one Beer Friend held down the fort in NYC, the other three travelled out to the Great (Brewery) State of Colorado for a look around. Below is a brief recap of the days and breweries we hit.
August 12th -
Garden of the Gods
Phil, James (honorary BF this trip) and Brad arrive in Colorado Springs, quickly finding themselves standing in front of a liquor store cooler inspecting the new and interesting beers in the cooler. Then a quick run around Garden of the Gods, in North-west Colorado Springs. Then a drive to Denver to pick up Graham and back home for our first beers of the tour – an extension of Christmas in July/August with a New Belgium 2 Below and Odell’s Isolation Ale to kick off the trip (beers remaining from my winter holiday trip home).
August 13th -
A beautiful drive to Estes Park and Rocky Mountain National Park. After taking some time to find a campsite (be sure to call ahead) we stop at our first brewery, Estes Park Brewery. This small brewery stays true to their roots, producing small batches to sell to local stores and supply their pub which is upstairs. A few highlights were the Trail Ridge Red – also known as the Redrum Ale (playing off the famed Stanley Hotel in Estes Park – inspiration for the Steven King novel “The Shining”) and the Estes Park Porter. Then we headed into Fort Collins to check out Coopersmiths Pub and Brewing and Equinox Brewery a short walk away. Equinox had a great feel – a bit of a coffee house vibe, it’s a bar without any heels and no Coors Light on draft. We enjoyed their sampler with six offerings – Sunrise Golden Ale, Vernal Hefeweizen, MidSummer Pale Ale, Orbit ESB, Zenith IPA, and the Sunset Stout. All we very enjoyable but MidSummer Pale Ale was a favorite of these Beer Friends. From there we headed to a favorite drinking hole – Old Chicago, had a few before returning to the forrest.
Rocky Mountain Nat'l Park
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Paul
dingerc Graham
Brad
Corporate Kerouac
Phil
