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11/23/25: Wandering Monsters Brewery's Viator Obscura: Maple Barrel Aged
This month's gotten away from me, but, honestly, I knew that'd happen. Between my returning to work, juggling homelife with a wonderful wife and two rambunctious beans, NaNoWriMo (which I've adjusted from writing fifty-thousand words this month to just "write every day"), and the rest of everything happening, well, it's pretty clear that the blog would fall by the wayside. But it's maple month, the best month for beer drinking of the year! I won't let it slip away so easily. That's why, tonight, I'm getting around to Wandering Monsters' Viator Obscura: Maple Barrel Aged. I only just did up a Wandering Monsters beer a handful of posts ago so, in the interest of preserving my time and yours, I'll just link to that . Give it a glance to learn about the brewery. I'll also direct you to their website for anything else you'd want to know. Viator Obscura: Maple Barrel Aged isn't on the brewery's website, so we'll head over to Untappd for our intel. The profile here for the beer bills it
by noreply@blogger.com (John)6 views6-melba-hiffsbarrel-agedimperial-stoutlimitedmaplemaple-month - news
10/31/25: Swine City Brewing Company's I Put a Spell on You, A Timely Halloween Post
Yet another Halloween season draws to a close. This is one of my top two favorite times of year (it's tied with the Christmas season). Now that my son's three, I find myself loving Halloween and its build up more and more. It's a shame it ends so soon! But I'm seeing it off with style. This is a beer I had on tap when we hung out with my in-laws for a late-birthday celebration. I loved it enough that I bought a sixer to bring home with me. Is it as good canned as it is from the source? Let's find out as I drink Swine City's I Put a Spell on You. Swine City 's located in an industrial part of Fairfield, OH. They boast a dive bar vibe while offering delicious craft beers, seltzers, wine, and food (hot dogs, via Underdog). The vibe of the place is unmatched--there's nothing corporate here. Just gritty, do-it-yourself craft beer. If I lived closer to the place, I'd be there all the time. The first thing that grabbed me about canned I Put a Spell on You (Spell, henceforth) was the label. It
by noreply@blogger.com (John)5 views7-melba-hiffsalehalloweenpumpkinpumpkin-pierating-10-10 - news
10/30/25: Fat Orange Cat Brew Co.'s Cat-O-Lantern
Now come the dark days! Tonight, we stand upon the precipice of that most harrowing of dates: All Hallows' Eve! Spirits shall speak, the dead shall rise, and all manner of horrors will bump into the night, bringing untold gloom and misery into the world! What few comforts we have we should do well to keep close to us. Family, hearth, home, light, good food, and good drink. These are the very things which to aside these nightmares! These are the very things which will bring us through the coming dark and into the brighter days yet ahead! For my part, I keep all that bring me that sense of safety well at-hand during this season of ghoulish tidings and haunts. Though the cold and dark press against my window, I keep them at bay, if only for a little longer yet. The elixir housed safely within the can upon my table prohibits the horrors from entering my abode. See now the power of Fat Orange Cat's Cat-O-Lantern! The fabled brewhouse of Fat Orange Cat has forever closed its gates of its pic
by noreply@blogger.com (John)5 views5-henrietta-hiffsbrown-alefat-orange-catimperialrating-10-10seasonal - news
9/19/25: Wandering Monsters Brewery's Ludwig
Today's beer is one I picked up on a whim this week (meaning it wasn't originally slated for this month!). Michelle and I took the time to finally head to Wandering Monsters, one of the newest breweries in our area. I had a pour of their Oktoberfest and enjoyed it so much that I nabbed a few bottles of it to bring home. Yes, this isn't the first time I'm drinking Ludwig. However, I'm excited to sit and really mull it over. Will I like it as much from the bottle as I do on tap? Let's find out! Wandering Monsters opened their doors in Cincinnati's Anderson Township in July, 2023 (man, it took us a good damn while to get over to them!). It's headed by Jason Brewer, who worked at the now-(unfortunately-)defunct Listermann Brewing Company before branching out to found Wandering Monsters. The brewery's truly family friendly (unlike other breweries that claim to be but really aren't). Zac Boehnke, the brewing mastermind at also now-defunct Braxton Labs, is Wandering Monsters' head b
by noreply@blogger.com (John)6 views5-melba-hiffsfestbieroktoberfestrating-10-10seasonalwandering-monsters - news
8/25/25: Christmas in August! (De Dolle Brouwers' Stille Nacht)
Since I missed July 25th (Michelle and I were in the hospital after the early birth of our second kid), let's get to that beer now. Merry Christmas in August! I've never done Christmas in August before and don't anticipate from deviating from July in the future; let's enjoy this as a fun little one-off thing. Today we're breaking into a bottle I nabbed from store shelves in January, just before it disappeared. It's De Dolle Brouwers' Stille Nacht. That's right, a heavy Belgian Christmas ale. Luckily, it's a little cooler today than it was a month ago, so I'm more prone to drink a beer of this caliber. Before we dive into the ale, however, I think a little bit of housekeeping is in order. I've been away from the blog since February. Purrl will remain the face of the blog, even though she's gone, because she was part of this whole thing with me. Don't go looking for my profile image to change anytime soon! Aside from that, I'm scaling back. I have a slate of beers for September (Ok
by noreply@blogger.com (John)6 views2-melba-whiffsbelgianchristmaschristmas-alechristmas-in-augustde-dolle-brouwers - news
2/17/25: Goodbye Purrl (Great Lakes Brewing Company's 30th Anniversary Imperial Oyster Stout)
After this post, the blog will be on hiatus. I'm hoping to get back to it for Chirstmas in July. If you want me to let you know when I return to beer, shoot me an email at johnlikesbeerblog@gmail.com and I'll personally drop you a link when the next post goes up. Thanks for reading and for understanding. Before going any further, here's a trigger warning for anyone who needs it: This post deals with the death of a pet. Purrl is gone and I'm framing this post around a beer I picked up nearly seven years ago, Great Lakes' Imperial Oyster Stout. Great Lakes is based in Cleveland, OH. Here's their "About" page . I won't get into much of their history here, but I'll say that they're one of the pioneers of the craft brewing movement and that their beers are rightfully celebrated. Eliot Ness was my first favorite beer. The beer I'm drinking to commemorate Purrl's life still has a spot on Great Lakes' website (good on you, Great Lake!). This 11% ABV stout features oysters, salt, and caca
by noreply@blogger.com (John)5 viewsgreat-lakesoyster-stoutpurrl-picturerating-10-10update - news
1/26/25: BERO's Kingston Golden Pils
I don't think I've ever talked about it here on the blog, but I'm a huge Spider-Man guy. The character's been my favorite superhero since I was a kid. When Tom Holland took the mantle as the MCU Webhead, I was impressed with how seamlessly he could be both Spidey and Peter Parker. When he announced BERO last year, I told myself I'd be on the lookout for it for this year's Dry January. I found a variety pack of the stuff at Target the other week, picked it up, and drank all but one. That's what we're doing today: BERO's Kingston Golden Pils. Holland's BERO's founder, but Grant Wood is its brewmaster. The company's goal is to make non-alcoholic beer that is just beer. Without fancy frills. The wort they make for each batch is much lower in ABV than your standard beer's wort. They then ferment with a yeast that doesn't touch the malt sugar, meaning that those sugars aren't converted to alcohol. If you want more on the brewery or the beer, here's their "Our Story" page . Kingston Gol
by noreply@blogger.com (John)6 views12-hiffsberodry-januarylagernon-alcoholicpilsner - news
11/26/24: Jackie O's Pub & Brewery's Cellar Cuvée 15
What a month November's been! I'm sprinting to the finish line of NaNoWriMo (50k words is calling my name) and just about ready to deck the halls around the blog to ring in the Christmas season. But before we start the Old Saint Nick welcoming procedures, we have one Maple Month offering to make. We're finishing Maple Month proper as we started it: With a barleywine from Jackie O's. But, it's more than just a barleywine, it's a barleywine cuvée. It's Cellar Cuvée 15. Look, I just wrote about Jackie O's earlier this month, so I'll link you to that post instead of getting into the whole thing here. But I will say that there's a reason Jackie O's is so well-regarded. Athens, OH's original brewery is still out there making a wide array of beers, " Something For Everyone ." I'm not sure if Cellar Cuvée 15 is for everyone, but it certainly seems like it's for me. The limited release' official spot over on Jackie O's' website gives the mixture of the 14.7% ABV barleywine: 58% hone
by noreply@blogger.com (John)5 views8-hiffsbarleywinecuveejackie-o-slimitedmaple