Halfway Crooks is #1 on my list of breweries I have to visit. The collab beers they've done with some NE breweries were phenomenal. This is Threes Brewing Eleventh Hour Anniversary Pilsner. Every year they produce a different variation of their base pilsner. This years version is as described from their social media post- "11th Anniversary Blended Pilsner Foeder batch with whole cone Zuper Saazer Stainless batch dry-hopped with Tango and Adeena Tasting notes: Slate, citrus blossom, starfruit"
Ruekeller: Pilsener from The Bruery Inviting fruity aroma. Tastes of malt and honey with just the right touch of sweetness. Flavor of ripe green melon with a tang of grapefruit, and just a slight bitter aftertaste. I think of Fresca with a fruit garnish and a shot of gin. This would make a fabulous IPA with a little more of everything, but it's super for drinkability as a lighter style of hoppy brew. Weirdly enough it's dated 3/24/25, going on a year old but still quite delicious.
Pine Grove Pilsner - Steuben This is two beers in one. Nice spicy hops and earthy malt initially turns more crisp and grain focused with warmth. Aside from bitterness and spice the hops are more subtle than the name suggests. Medium body with scratchy burlap texture, and light yet noticeable abv, which is surprising for a 4.6% beer. It totally would be appropriate for camping, in a pine grove not.
Did you purchase it locally? That's great that it's still drinking so well, but even so... I'd be kind of annoyed if I inadvertently purchased a nearly year old pils off the shelf.
Errant Path - Wayland This is very, VERY nice. Aroma of fresh white bread with lightly toasted malt and faint herbal/floral notes. Fairly bitter, yet far from a mild IPA. Malt forward without any assertiveness. Crisp and carries the aroma forward. Medium to light body and texture of a felt hat. One could happily make a long afternoon session with a few of these.
Sonnet SMASH Lager from Moonlight Brewing Aroma is faintly lime and melon. Very dry tasting with a spritzy mouthfeel. Seems devoid of any malt flavor. Hops are the main show, but they are not overdone. Overall this is a drinkable hoppy lager but rather austere. It seems too far to the tart side for some reason, and then the bitter aftertaste takes over. Dated 12/31/25.
Amigo Lager from Pizza Port Aromatic with bread and alfalfa and hay. Substantial body with plenty of spritz in the mouth. Flavors of crackers and some slightly sweet malt. It hits the right spot with malt but not too much, and just enough herbal taste. It's even kind of fruity with a tangy finish. Pizza Port does it again, proving it doesn't have to have a tub of hops to make a tasty beer. From the 16 oz can purchased at Trader Joes. Dated 01/30/26.
Trying a new to me beer, Brauerei Knoblach Urmärzen. 5.6% abv. It's always fun to try one of these more rustic lager beers from a traditional, small, German, family owned brewery. The beer has a very nice color to it, inbetween dark golden and copper colored I would say. It is a bit hazy as well, hinting at it being unfiltered or only lightly filtered. But without any sediment. I do believe that this is quite fresh and it both smells and taste fresh as far as I can tell. The aroma is rich and malty but with a mild but pleasant, fresh herbal hop note as well. The word I would use to describe the smell is rustic, it is a beer with character and heft. In the taste the beer has a pleasant balance of rich bready malt, a solid hop bitterness (probably around 30 IBUs) and an aromatic hop flavor. Even though the aroma and taste is rich in malt taste it is still a dry, or at least not a sweet tasting beer, as the malt is balanced by the bitterness and flavor of the hops. The aftertaste is also aromatic with hops and malt lingering. The mouthfeel is also full. To me this is a very, very tasty beer. A quality beer that has alot of character packed into a relatively low abv, which is something that I personally appreciate. It is a very good Märzen in my opinion, offering the heft that this style should offer in my opinion, with the rusticness that one expects from a small brewery, and that one is unlikely to find in a beer from a larger brewery attempting to brew the same kind of beer (due to different processes? ingredients?). If this was my local brewery I could see myself becoming a loyal customer.
Aurora Club - Aurora Crisp and clean, they nailed it. Very similar to Utica Club. My last can might just have to be poured into a Dooley Mug, if only in celebration of the upcoming High Holy Day.
I had a Fair State brewing German Pils tonight. Canned in May 2025. Very flavorful for 4.9%. Perfectly balanced clean pils malts and Hallertau Mittelfrüh hop flavors. Zero warming ABV. Spot on style. Lemony and woody/spicy hop flavors. 4.12/5
I discussed in the NBW thread: My favorite beer at the recent German Bierfest in Philly I once again attended the annual German Bierfest which is held at the Pennsylvania German Society at 6th & Spring Garden streets in Philadelphia (February 27th). https://www.phillybierfest.org/ There are lots of beers at this event, both German brewed and US brewed. According to the booklet there were about 40 German brewed beers and over 70 US brewed beers. Too many brands to try them all but I got my fair share. I wrote a ‘trip report’ for a friend who could not make it to the event and a snippet from that report: “FWIW, the Gold Medal winning beer for me at this event was East Branch Riemer Pilsner. I went back for several pours of this beer!” Last Friday I met some buddies for beers & lunch at a local craft beer bar/restaurant and bottle shop: Capone’s in Norristown, PA. As good fortune would have it there was Riemer Pilsner beers in the beer refrigerator. It was not a long decision as to whether I would buy this beer (a four-pack). Will this beer taste the same from the can as to those I enjoyed at the beer festival? Served in my Polish Pilsner glass: Appearance: Straw/Golden yellow colored with a three finger white head. Aroma: An enticing combination of is bready/cracker-like Pilsner Malt aroma and hops aromas of herbal/spicy. Taste: The flavor follows the nose with bready/cracker-like malt with a pleasing combination of herbal/spicy flavors from the hops. There is a notable bitterness. Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with a dry finish. Overall: In one word: excellent. Just as good from the can as on draft. On the can’s label it states: “a classic German style Pilsner”. Yep, that pretty much sums things up. For folks who might be curious as to the brand name Riemer, it is the name of a man-made lake in Munich. Cheers!
May of 2025? I believe this brewery has closed as of last December. https://www.beeradvocate.com/commun...enings-and-closings-2026.682303/#post-8297280
So that list isn't quite right--Fair State is still open and making beer, but it's under new ownership and their tap room (under old ownership) closed. I have a feeling their inclusion on the closed list is for the 'old' company. Their website and Facebook pages are still active: https://www.facebook.com/FairStateBeer https://fairstate.com/
I tried the website and got the "unsafe to proceed" warning, though your link is clear. Wonder what Google is returning for a search -- and the BA link* is the same. *It's "fair state.coop" correction being suggested.
Well, there's no malware or anything else attacking my laptop as I'm currently browsing their website. I know you're not on Facebook, but this post is from March 11: https://www.facebook.com/FairStateB...MU5jBHpKpGSxqiGhhqghDfekmRSVjXijHGkwYkX5Kjqcl It's no longer a co-op. The brewery is still open and making beer.
Yeah, they're one of those FB accounts that has a preference set to block non-users. Web address correction suggested for the BA page.
