I’ve never been impressed with Pumpking (though that’s to be expected, as I am an avowed hater), but I can see how pairing it with a contrasting form of sweetness—assuming Creme Brulee, which I don’t think I’ve had, is sweet?—sounds goodish in theory. Read more

a lot of brewers (I believe BLVD included) throw in trace amounts of pumpkin, maybe just to say they did, but I’ve yet to notice the flavor in a beer other than the Troegs Read more

I really tried this year, I drank and ranked like 20 of them, but there were only maybe a dozen I’d even drink again, half or a quarter that many I’d PAY to drink again. Just not my thing, as much as I’d like it to be (I’m short on blogger cred, always helps to like an old-school Euro variety) Read more

Saison-Brett might be my favorite Boulevard beer, and one of the brewers said he thinks it’s the one that improves most with age (a year or two tops, if I recall) Read more

That might be my favorite among the ones who don’t cheat by going sour/saison/stout. (By cheat I just mean among the ones that don’t use trickeration to distract you from the fact that you don’t really like pumpkin beers.) Read more

Please do alcohol next. Read more

That’s a good point about higher proof. I like Boodle’s but I’m not sure I’ve had Broker’s, and if so I don’t remember what I thought of it. More research is needed! Read more

I agree that secondary ingredients are overlooked, the only shitty part of writing mostly about beer is that I don’t get around to using up good vermouth fast enough sometimes, so it’s hard for me to drop $30 unless I’m having a party (i.e., bender). Read more

Citadelle is good stuff. And I’m kinda with you on there being no wrong answer, I was surprised by how “bad” Tanqueray seemed, but I’ve been drinking it happily for years. Read more

Negroni (gin/campari/sweet vermouth) is the most popular other than gin and tonic; I like Aviation http://liquor.com/recipes/aviati… and Corpse Reviver #2 http://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/12853-… Read more

Hit by car is right in between Hendrick’s and Tanqueray. I gotta ask Albert if I can use that, not sure if it would be homage or theft of intellectual property, but I think it deserves to live on. Read more

Never had a Tod, but now I want to. Thanks for the tip. Read more

Yeah, I wish I’d included it. I didn’t want to double up on any one company’s products, but then I had to w/ Bombay to get it up to 11, because of Craggs’ weird law that you can’t rank things in multiples of 5 or 10. Read more

I prefer gin myself, but it’s close enough so that I don’t think a gin person would ever actively dislike it. Read more

You bet. I took that for granted, which in hindsight wasn’t smart, but I’m hoping people will realize that you don’t discard the peels while keeping the seeds and stems. Read more

Bert’s the best, which is why he’s been promoted to the NBA and General Rantery beats. Read more

Thanks for the tip! I was trying to figure out how to get the science right-enough to guarantee shelf-stability but instead just kinda wimped out and said “uh, good luck!” This is just one more reason I need to get to MN asap (Surly Brewing being another). Read more

I rarely cook with mangoes because I’m terrible at cutting the slippery sonsabitches, but I bet you’re right, it’d be worth the effort. Read more

I don’t remember other versions to compare it to, but I’m not surprised that they pull it off. I think SN gets overlooked sometimesby jaded beer folk who are always chasing the next big thing, forgetting that there’s been this reasonably priced, readily available big thing just sitting here waiting to be drunk for 30… Read more

I’ve seen the Mosaic around Boston a bit lately, I’ll definitely give it a whirl. Thanks for the tip. Read more