Before you dig into this post, rest assured that I'm still actively hunting for cicada beers to bolster my (hopefully) burgeoning cicada-themed brews series. Since I'm having trouble tracking down more than what I've already written about, I'm shifting gears slightly to another loose series that'll run the course of the summer. This is one that'll focus on lo-cal craft beer.

The first beer I'm writing about in this set is the first lo-cal craft beer I ever tried: Dogfish Head's Slightly Mighty. I'd spent a while looking for it on store shelves and, coincidentally, managed to nab a sixer back in 2019, on the exact same day that Dogfish joined The Boston Beer Company (a.k.a. Sam Adams). I was one of many people floored when that merger went through, but I'm happy that Dogfish beer hasn't dropped in quality.

This is a post I've been anxiously anticipating, and I hope it's the first in what becomes a series that'll run the next few months.

See, 2021 marks another emergence of Brood X, cicadas that flood Greater Cincinnati every seventeen years. Knowing this was coming, and knowing that I'm the kind of person to geek out over the bugs, I'd been keeping my eyes peeled for cicada-themed beers. So far, I've found only one: Seventh Son's Abaddon. I bought this back in March and it's been kicking around my fridge since. I'm really hoping that Cincy breweries will hop aboard the cicada train as Brood X continues to hang around this summer.

Today's special, though, because I spotted my first cicada of the brood this morning before leaving for work. It was hanging out on a locust tree in my back yard, breaking free from its shell--a sight I'd never seen before. Sensing a photo-op (okay, because Michelle suggested it), I quickly ran inside and pulled my can of Abaddon from the fridge. In my eyes, the emergence has officially begun. To mark it, here're my thoughts on Seventh Son's Abaddon.

Today I'm bringing you a post that I'm super happy about. See, back when Michelle and I lived in Cincinnati proper, we lived in the city's Pleasant Ridge neighborhood. MadTree was a little over just down the road from our apartment--an easy drive, but not necessarily walking distance. While I was happy to have a great brewery so close to home, five years in Athens had me wishing for something close enough to walk home from after a drink too many.

Luckily, the summer before we split town Nine Giant opened. The brewery was a five minute walk from our place. I spent more than a few dollars there (and I continue to do so every chance I get). I've loved the brewery and kitchen from the day they opened (I attended their soft-opening with some friends). I was bummed when we moved out east of the city and hoped that Nine Giant's offerings would eventually get canned and hit distro. 

Today, thanks to a collaboration with Silverton's HighGrain Brewing, I'm about to crack into the culmination of that hope: Dank IPA, a beer brewed for April 20th.

This is a post I've been sitting on writing for a long time. I first had Genesee Spring Bock (then just "Bock Beer," a spring seasonal) back in 2018. Since then, I've had plans on writing about it during some springtime on the blog. Each year since, I've consumed my final can of the stuff before getting around to blogging it.

Here in 2021, however, I decided that ought to finally change. I stuck a can from my 12-pack in the back of my fridge for safe keeping. You might think I've forgotten about it--that's not the case. While I had planned to write this in late-March, time quickly got away from me. Now, just as it's almost no longer relevant for this year, I'm finally able to sit down and tell you about Spring Bock.