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Seriously, Who Doesn’t Love a Pile of Baby Kittens

Fat Orange Cat
Collaboration with Twelve Percent Project
Baby Kittens
Hazy New England Style India Pale Ale
6.5% ABV
Simcoe, Citra, and Galaxy Hops
East Hampton, CT

Super hazy yellow straw with a fluffy white head. Before even get near it it’s full of hoppity scents, tangerines, citrus zest, mango hints, and fresh cut grass and pine in the back. Kicking this beauty back and it’s smooth with a bitter piney pop, then mango, tangerine, peaches, and papaya. Keep drinking and the bitter chills out. The longer this wriggling baby kitty breathes, I start to think of fruity shortbread cookies.

Pairs with Cheez-It’s: it’s ok, but I don’t recommend it. Wait…no, I absolutely do not recommend it. You lose the fruity blend.

Snuggle up with a whole pile of these Baby Kittens. They’re so friendly, easy to drink and are purrfect. I have been soooo waiting to get my hands on one of these ever since I tried their “All The Kool Kats On The Back Of The Bus” in January. Revisited their site this morning and read the news that they are permanently closing their tasting barn, but don’t cry…there is hope and good news! They are reopening online ordering and drive-thru pick up on April 3rd! Also looks like for the big day, they have a treat in a 750 ml bottle of “DREAMBOAT ABBEY Belgian Tripel”. It’s only available at the brewery so get the car ready for a little road trip.

@fatorangecatbrewco @BeerBoutiqueNYC @twelve.percent.beer.project @twelve.percent.nyc.metro @hkarlphoto @cheezits #beer #wine #winestagram #instawine #cheezit @worldbyglass #pairswithcheezits  #neipa #ipa #craftbeer #beerstagram #beersofinstagram #beerlife #Simcoe #Citra #Galaxy #hops

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Fortitude + Determination + Family and Friendship = Resilience

Schilling Beer Co.
Resilience American ale project
Geppetto
Milk Stout brewed with coffee
6.3 % ABV
Littleton, NH
Co-founders: Dr. Bruce Cozzens, Jeffrey B. Cozzens, Stuart Cozzens, and John Lenzini

Black coffee pour with a caramel head. Dark coffee and chocolate float out first. Next there’s candy sprinkles like the ones on cupcakes (you know those cupcakes you eat in the dark while watching bad tv you’d never admit in public), brownie edge of pan corner goodness, and a bit of hoppity. Kicking back coffee, chocolate brownies again with more burnt ends, and a touch of vanilla marshmallowy cream. It’s not heavy or thick, very easy to drink, and sweet with a nice bitter bite at the end.

Pairs with Cheez-It’s: makes it a lot sweeter

A father, sons, and a best friend came together to make Schilling and Resilience a reality in Littleton. Their backgrounds vary from dad being a retired veterinarian, one son has research published on international security matters, another came from a mix of business and religion studies, and their friend was a chemistry teacher and coach. Other than beer, they also share a love of fishing/fly fishing and their community. Their epically long list of Schilling Beers are influenced from their experiences and flavors of Europe and the brews found there, but Geppetto (even though it’s an Italian name) is from their Resilience line which is dedicated to American ales, hoppiness, and is an expression of the struggles and successes of their making their way in the beer realm. From what I’m reading on the FB page, their resilience is paying off and they hope sometime this month to reopen their brewpub and kitchen for indoor dining. The tasting room and store is already open from 12-8 for beer and their delicious looking pizzas. They’re even looking forward to events from Oktoberfest, their anniversary, and the R.J Schilling Fly Fishing Festival’s charity event. Looks like life is on its way to getting brighter and brighter.

@resiliencebyschillingbeerco @schillingbeerco @BeerBoutiqueNYC @cheezits #beer #milkstout #stout #ale #Resilience #wine #winestagram #cheezit #instawine @worldbyglass #pairswithcheezits #craftbeer #beerstagram #beersofinstagram #beerlife #Littleton #NH #newhampshire #Geppetto

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Mama Knows, She Always Knows Best

MÀKKU
Blueberry Premium Makgeolli
Unfiltered Rice Beer
6% ABV
All natural 100% Korean ingredients: young Gimpo rice, Gapyeong mountain water, live cultures, and 100% real blueberry purée
Brewed just outside of Seoul, Korea
Owner: Carol Pak

Give it a little shake but not too hard before you pour, or you’ll miss out. It’s a Pink Panther pink with lots of active fizzy bubbles and hazy from the rice. Instantly the scents are reaching my nose as I’m still pouring. It’s an aromatic blend of rice, blueberry, and a mellow candy smell that reminds me of as a kid opening the bag of jelly beans in my Easter basket. Now I’m tasting a refreshing and creamy blend of blueberries, old school Hubba Bubba bubblegum, fruity jelly beans (except the licorice one), and all those lovely bubbles. Fun and fresh!

Pairs with Cheez-It’s: makes it even sweeter, wow! Not what I expected.

This is a completely different experience than Hana Makgeolli’s makgeolli which shows the versatility and how you can transform these recipes from wine to beer to more. Again nuruk is used but this one is a wheat-rice blend. From what I’m reading, Carol Pak’s friends were part of why MÀKKU exists. While she was in Korea they coerced her into a makgeolli bar and she realized this wasn’t just an old person’s drink. After researching Korean craft brewers and their unique differing styles due to terroir much like wine, she knew she had to bring this to the US, but she wanted it to be natural. Try as she might, it took mom stepping in to get it just right (she’s a licensed herbologist), and now it’s their gift wrapped up in this pretty can for us.

@drinkmakku @BeerBoutiqueInc @cheezits #beer #ricebeer #makgeolli #wine #ricewine #winestagram #cheezit #instawine @worldbyglass #pairswithcheezits #craftbeer #beerstagram #beersofinstagram #beerlife #makku #Seoul #Korea #nuruk #막걸리

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Nomadic Tropical Trip

Abomination Brewing Company
Tropical Fog
Tropical Edition
Milkshake Style DIPA with Pineapple, Coconut & Milk Sugar
8.6% ABV
Brewed at Twelve Percent Beer Project
New Haven, CT
Co-founders and nomadic brewers: Joe Feldman and Josh Arno

Hazy golden orange murky tropical punch with a active white head, The scents full on hit you as soon as you pop the can. It’s a super cool tropical punch just like the can says…pineapple, coconut, creamy, and a bit hoppy. First sip and damn that is active and is really something. As before there’s pineapples, coconuts, punchy and mellow at same time. Also tangerine, singed orange peels, and a little bitter herby hoppity hop. This should be served out of a coconut with a little umbrella, and don’t forget your sunhat and shades.

Pairs with Cheez-It’s: Pulls forward the coconut and makes it more bitter, so I have to give it a thumbs down and don’t pair.

So Abomination Brewing, is a nomadic brewery and they love hooking up with like minds and working across the beer community. During our pandemic world, they had to come up with a way to create a social distance collaboration brew with a DDH DIPA, and have a slew of breweries that are joining them and putting their own spin on it too. So check out these on IG: @saintsrowbrewing @KinsmenBrewing @hoofheartedbrewing @henorthbrewery @breakerbrewing @rotundabrewingcompany @evergrainbeer @pilgerruhbrewing @ten7brewingco @frontporchbrewing @tatteredflagbrewery @icarusbrewing @bolerosnort @lost_tavern_brewing I think this is a great way to bring people together even though we are still so far apart. So crack a can and raise a glass to Abomination, their creativity, and their beautiful beers.

@abominationbrewingco @BeerBoutiqueInc @twelve.percent.beer.project @twelve.percent.nyc.metro @abomination_josh @hkarlphoto @cheezits #beer #DIPA #IPA #wine #winestagram #cheezit #instawine @worldbyglass #pairswithcheezits #craftbeer #beerstagram #beersofinstagram #beerlife #beermonster #milkshake #SocDisBeer #NewHaven #CT #tropicalfog

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From Biology to Brews

Brasserie Dieu du Ciel!
Solstice d’Eté
Sour Berliner Weisse brewed with raspberries
Freestyle Series
5.9% ABV
St. Jerome, Quebec, Canada
Co-Founders: Jean-François Gravel and Stephane Ostiguy

A vibrant raspberry-rose pour with light bubbles, and the last pour shows just how unfiltered it is. Inhaling raspberries, strawberries, and a smooth candy. As it opens, more yeasty scents pop. On to that beautiful sip and it’s tingly and awakening. There’s those raspberries again but now sweeTart sour, and a delicious lemon-lime aftertaste. Quite a little fun character living in this bottle.

Pairs with Cheez-It’s: yuck! Noooooooooo do not try

Dieu du Ciel! Had humble home brew origins with Jean-François tinkering alongside his studies in Applied Micro-Biology. Next came a research project that brought Stephane Ostiguy into the brewing plans. Time and other people have been in and out of the picture and a business/brewery was built by hand in Montreal. Eventually it came time to expand to the St. Jerome microbrewery. You can grab brews and chews at both spaces, but keep your eye on their site for hours due to well, the situation the world is in. Reading more on their site and am touched that they care about their workers. That is so incredibly important to listen, care, and all work together. Here it is in their own words, “Respect, communication, initiative, and passion are the essential ingredients of our business. Our employees are at the heart of our progress. Starting with our established recipes, it is through collaboration that we manage to constantly innovate and expand to new frontiers.” They even say their team is as unique as their beers, which if you look at their beer list, they must all be pretty darn cool.

@brasseriedieuduciel @BeerBoutiqueNYC @cheezits #beer #ale #sourale #sour #frambroise #wine #winestagram #instawine @worldbyglass #pairswithcheezits #craftbeer #beerstagram #beersofinstagram #montreal #StJerome #Quebec #Canada #dieuduciel

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A Phantom Dance of Life and Death

Nightmare Brewing Company
Colombian Necktie
Gose Ale
Soured on Mangoes, with Lulo, Soursop, and Colombian Lime Zest
7.2% ABV
Brewed & Canned by Dorchester Brewing Co. for Nightmare Brewing
Boston, MA
Founder and Phantom Brewer: Billy Powell

Very deep orange/deep gold with a small head, dancing bubbles, and some light sediment has settled the bottom. Scents of exotic mangoes, pineapple, and limes. This is a beautiful tropical drink! Transports me to a warm island, and would be wonderful with fish grilled on the beach under the stars. Glassful of mangoes, lime, strawberries, pineapples, rhubarb, kiwis and the bubbles make it so elegant. What a crazy description for a Gose named, “Colombian Necktie”. Although, after doing a little poking around, I did find this beer is influenced by Champús that has ties to funeral rituals in South America, which would explain the “necktie”. It was/is a form of tortuous death used to send a message and sometimes would be done post mortem, and appears to have started in Colombia during their La Violencia, civil war (1948–1958). Well…death may be the inspiration, but this goes is full of life.

Pairs with Cheez-It’s: brings out the lime

2019 was a smashing year for Nightmare Brewing (Farmingdale, NY). They were named Best New Brewer in NY, Best New Brewer in US, and 2nd Best New Brewer Worldwide, and they keep cranking out the hits. All inspired by horrific history, mythology, torture, and of course death. What else would you expect though from Death Metal brews…cute puppies and unicorns? Oh, definitely not, just check out their labels (collaborations with metal artists) that leap off the shelf at you. This can has a concept sketch by Billy Powell after a break with his original artist this past summer, and is the last label that he calls, “sketched like a toddler”, because he’s found wonderful new artists after a post on IG. Bravo for the move, Mr. Powell!

@NightmareBrewing @BeerBoutiqueInc @DorchesterBrewingCompany @twelve.percent.beer.project @twelve.percent.nyc.metro  @hkarlphoto @cheezits #beer #Gose #sour #wine #winestagram #instawine #cheezit @worldbyglass #pairswithcheezits #craftbeer #beerstagram #beersofinstagram

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Anyone Want to Share an Igloo?

Mast Landing Brewing Co.
Coffee Gunner’s Daughter
Milk Stout
Brewed with sustainable and fair trade coffee from On the Road Coffee and other natural flavors
5.5% ABV
Westbrook, Maine

Deep dark of night, I can’t see through black coffee with a cappuccino head. Bam! It is a punch in the nose of strong coffee, just what I would need in the morning. There’s some nuttiness which has to be peanut, dark chocolate, and caramel. Heading in for that first slosh back and it’s sizzling and tingling dark coffee with a splash of cream and maybe a little chocolate cruller dunked in. Oh this is like the perfect piece of dense cake. I am in love.

Pairs with Cheez-It’s: I’m really scared to try this because the beer is fab on its own. Ok the beer stands up and overpowers the cheez-it, that’s a new one!

Mast Landing Brewing Company started out in 2015, and has always been socially conscious and care about their neighbors and local community. They even have a page for local charities, etc. to sign up for donations. Also in this crazy time, you can reserve an igloo and they also come with heaters. They are even doing trivia nights on Wednesday from the igloos. How cool is that!

@mastlanding @BeerBoutiqueInc @independentbeer @cheezits #beer #milkstout #stout #wine #winestagram #instawine #cheezit @worldbyglass #pairswithcheezits #craftbeer #beerstagram #beersofinstagram

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Beer Has No Gender

Japas Cervejaria Artesanal
Sawā Peach
Sour Ale with Peach
Peaches are grown in Brazil and Japan
4.7% ABV
São Paulo, Brazil and Chicago, Il
Brewers: Maíra Kimura, Yumi Shimada and Fernanda Ueno

Hazy active golden candy yellow color. The closer the glass gets, the more my nose is tingling with citrus. Lemon, lime, a little mandarin and of course fragrant peach. Light, fresh, crisp tastes…peaches with a squeeze of that citrus mix from before. A little jolly rancher. Even though it’s light the peach lingers. Makes me dream of being somewhere warm by the ocean with a salty breeze.

Pairs with Cheez-It’s: I want to like it but, I just can’t. Some people might, but I think I’ll pass.

Reading about how these three became friends and embarked in the brewing business. They met over beer, beer events and over time realized how much they had in common. They’re also Brazilians of Asian descent, which in Brazil the word Japas is often used to describe them. They embraced it and made it a positive term and thus here’s the name of their brews. Every detail of their creations is very important to them from their ingredients to their packaging, and they are hands on. These are three intelligent, inspiring women who have proven they have the skills to stand out and excel in a male oriented industry, and are taking on the world and winning. As they best put it on their site, they are “proving more and more that beer has no gender.”

@JapasCervejaria @BeerBoutiqueInc #beerternational @mairakimura @yumishimada @crftcollective @cheezits #beer #sour #sourale #wine #winestagram #instawine #cheezit @worldbyglass #pairswithcheezits #craftbeer #beerstagram #beersofinstagram #peaches #sawa #Sawā #Brazil #Chicago #Japan

 

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Explosion, Experiments and Delicious Success

Torch & Crown Brewing Company
King Elizabeth
Barleywine
11.4% ABV
New York, NY
Founders, brewers, and youthful troublemakers/geniuses: Joe Correia and John Dantzler

Dark brown with reddish tint and small head in light cappuccino foam. Spirited sniffs of anise, herbs, tangerine and orange, and a little Dr. Pepper. Kicking back a powerful punch of toffee, caramels, cocoa, and those southern homemade Chewies that look like brownies but no, so much better. A little bitter that is maybe even like some burnt edges of the pan that just might have stayed in the oven a minute or two too long. Also a little banana and mandarin. I am so surprised at how much I am enjoying this little can, and maybe I should have taken the recommendation at Beer Boutique and bought a second back up one.

Pairs with Cheez-It’s: Blerg! No do not pair!

When I saw this can, I thought, label alone I must have this! Figured I would mostly be writing about Elizabeth, who as they say is the emperor of their production facility in the Bronx. He has one faulty eye but who cares, I have a one-eyed kitty and have a deep soft spot for them. Then I stumbled upon the story of how Joe Correia and John Dantzler ended up in beer. These two, what little inventive trouble makers they were as kids. They as many, had fake IDs but evidently went into the wrong NYC bar and got busted. They were 16, what do you think kids at that age are going to do, wait until they’re 21? No way! They started with a home brew kit and well, let’s just say like most guys they didn’t read the full instructions, and busted again but by John’s mom due to the explosion in her kitchen. That didn’t stop them. They got better and better, and won home-brew awards (underage), so their dads got the credit. And look at them now, they made it through college in differing degrees. They didn’t kill themselves with their experiments and now they have their own business, and they make damn good beer! Oh and there’s a restaurant too, and they do take out and delivery. Check out their party packs. The Super Bowl one looks fab.

@torchandcrown @BeerBoutiqueInc @cheezits #beer #barleywine #KingElizabeth #wine #winestagram #instawine #cheezit @worldbyglass #pairswithcheezits #craftbeer #beerstagram #beersofinstagram  #NewYork #NY #Manhattan #Bronx #cats #catsofinstagram #caturday #oneeyedcats #oneeyedcatsofinstagram

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Pass the Beignets, Please

18th Ward Brewing
Decatur Street
Imperial Pastry Stout (New Orleans Style)
Brewed with German, English, and American ingredients
As per label too with beignets, confectioner’s sugar, vanilla & chicory coffee
10% ABV
Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY
Owner: Jordan Beldner
Head Brewer: Will Arnaiz

Dark coffee cola with a short caramel head. Smelling delicious coffee, chocolate, cola, powdered sugar, beignets, vanilla and the label pretty much hands you all this. Oh this tastes like a brownie covered in vanilla powdered sugar with bits of chocolate and that chicory coffee thrown in. Please save me the corner pieces…mmm. Feels like a love song to New Orleans and the French Quarter. Let’s go take a leisurely stroll down Rue Bourbon and then wander Decatur.

Pairs with Cheez-It’s: oh man does this make it all about the sugar. Nope, not doing that again

Jordan Beldner opened 18th Ward in 2019, across from Brooklyn Steel, which at the time was a great idea. He could get spillover from their concerts, before and after. I am going to admit, I am ashamed, that I never got a chance to visit. Who thought we’d be in this situation. Would have loved to not only try the beer on tap but also their Pork Belly Po’ Boy. When Brooklyn Steel had to close, they lost a lot of their business. Thank goodness they have a 50 ft outside space and are open noon to 8pm on Saturdays and Sundays. You can pick up or stick around  and sip outside. Back to how they had to adapt. They had to sort out canning because which is the best way to reach the masses that aren’t venturing out. Jordan also brought on Head Brewer Will Arnaiz to help reorganize and sort all of this out. When you can, you also need to come up with some pretty cool and catchy labels, and they lucked out with Abbey Bull. Check out her work @foggyfeelin. Wishing them the best and when they do get to open back up inside, I am definitely walking over.

@18thwardbrewing @BeerBoutiqueInc @indiebeer_ @foggyfeelin @cheezits #beer #ImperialPastryStout #ImperialStout #stout #wine #winestagram #instawine #cheezit @worldbyglass #pairswithcheezits #craftbeer #beerstagram #beersofinstagram  #williamsburg #brooklyn #NY #DecaturStreet