I tweeted something nearly two weeks ago that hasn't aged very well. See, when the Brood X cicadas woke up in my area in mid-May, I was sure that breweries would flood the market with beers celebrating their emergence. I mean, this was a once in seventeen years experience. It seemed like a perfect opportunity for my favorite local spots to capitalize on a unique, summery phenomenon. In fact, I had planned on commemorating Brood X with a blog series featuring cicada beers.

Believe it or not, it's 65 degrees here in Cincinnati today. It's January 22nd. I just got back home from taking a nice afternoon run in the warmth and the sunshine. Today, I'm drinking a winter seasonal. This probably isn't the kind of day that the brewers at Jackie O's envisioned one would enjoy while drinking a Java the Stout--no doubt they brewed it for days when snow piles up and people are forced to stay off of the roads due to unseemly weather conditions.


But, here I am sitting on my balcony in late January, listening to songbirds, and drinking in every last bit of warmth this winter sun has to offer, an open can of Java the Stout at my side.

In my previous post, I said that, with the three brews I had remaining, we were moving onto the bruisers of the month. The beer I drank then was 12% ABV. The next two get progressively stronger.

Today's beer is Jackie O's Bourbon Barrel Black Maple. I won't lie to you: I've had this beer before. All the same, I excited to sit down with my bottle and spend some good, quality time with the beer. Really do it up with the whole John Likes Beer treatment. It's cold, grey, and rainy out but we have a fire roaring in our stove. It's perfect heavy maple beer weather.

Okay, okay. I promise you that I didn't intend to do to Jackie O's beers in a row. Hell, until a few days ago, I had no clue today's beer existed. But the stars suddenly aligned and here we are.

We're doing an owl beer today, and there's a point to it (one we'll get to in due time). Here we go: Jackie O's Double Who Cooks.

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.

My apartmentmate was in Athens, Ohio last weekend visiting a friend. When I found out she was going I asked her to pick up some Jackie O's for me. Upon arriving at her friend's, she texted me to find out what I wanted (specifically asking if I wanted a six pack or a growler). I responded with something along the lines of "Just get me Chomo. Whatever is cheapest and works best for you is fine by me."

She bought a six pack out of the sheer goodness of her heart. I've saved that final can of that pack for today's post. Wanna know what I think about it?

Wow. Turns out all of May slipped by without a single post. I think I've only missed an entire month once or twice (I can't be bothered to go check). Anyway, I'm here today with a special something, the kind of something that'd usually be reserved for a November post. Yet, I couldn't help myself.

Today, I'm taking a look at Jackie O's' coffee variant of my favorite beer: Bourbon Barrel Black Maple. I've had this before, when it was a draft-only offering (which was in 2017!). Fast-forward five years and Jackie O's is making dreams come true. Today's bottle isn't hitting distro, but you can order it directly from the brewery (as long as they're able to ship to you). Let's see how she's drinking.

You know what I've been getting into recently? IPAs. No, I'm serious! I recently completed my yearly playthrough of Link's Awakening and selected a Rye IPA to be my go-to playthrough beer. Okay, you're right. I didn't choose it merely because it was an IPA. I chose it because it had a flying whale on the can (the ultimate goal of Link's Awakening is to--spoilers--wake up a flying whale, so the can fit the game).

Regardless of my motives for drinking that beer, I enjoyed it. Especially that last can. I found myself identifying flavors other than hops. I looked at it not as a bitter beer, but as something more akin to a winter warmer--something complex with individual nuances to be unearthed.

I decided I'd better take my newfound appreciation for this adored style and apply it to another brew before I lose it (hey, it's happened before. Last summer, to be precise). That brew is Jackie O's New Growth, a spruce tip-infused IPA that, shocker, I also nabbed because of the can, which showcases a cool Godzilla-esque monster destroying an evergreen forest.

Happy November (I know this is the second post this month, but it's the first true post)! This is a big month for me. It sits right between my two favorite holidays. It's National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), a challenge where I (and many other similarly-inclined fools) attempt to write fifty-thousand words of a novel in just a short thirty days. But, most importantly for the blog, it's Maple Month, wherein I explore beers and ciders crafted with my favorite adjunct, maple syrup.

We're starting off strong this month with a barleywine from Jackie O's. Calling back to Southeast Ohio's history, Iron Furnace is an ode to the Hope Furnace, a spot near and dear to my heart. Let's see if I'll hold the resulting beer in equal esteem.

It was sometime in late October when I pulled into the driveway from a trip to the bottleshop. I burst through the door, my spoils in hand. I called to Michelle from the kitchen: "Jackie O's has a Christmas beer!" 

I knew then that this would be the first Christmas beer I'd visit this year. I have a pretty sparse December ahead of me: This is the first of four Christmas posts, with two of these being my traditional one-two punch for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. I've consumed a lot of Christmas beers over the years. Let's see how well Jackie O's can play into this varied style.

Forgot to take a picture at Devil's Kettle and my phone as dead for Jackie O's.

Yesterday was the last official day of Ohio Brew Week 2015. I spent four glorious days in Athens for it before driving back to Cincinnati in order to be at work on Friday. Life continues while you're away, right?

Anyway, day four started at Devil's Kettle for their Wednesday Hops School offering. This time they had dry-hopped Spider Silk with summit hops, which gave the blonde ale a strong berry flavor. I visited DK three days in a row and I'm anxiously awaiting the chance to get back there.

I had work yesterday so I didn't roll into Athens until 9:30ish last night. I met my friend at his house (which is where I'm sleeping this week), dropped off my stuff, and convinced him to head to the bars with me. We didn't make to Jackie O's--our first stop--until about 10.

It's mid-January now, somehow. Which is weird. But fine, I guess? We still have the majority of 2021 spread wide before us and, while the breweries that will have long since announced their lineup for the year, there's always wiggle room for special every now and then, right?

There are some rules I'll be abiding by for my choices: 

1) Each beverage on my list must be a beer

2) It needs to be a beer that's not currently available via distribution

3) It needs to be a beer whose distribution has been slumbering for at least a year (meaning that you won't see a Christmas beer that's only just returned to a brewery's vault)

4) No collaborations--while I wish some of my favorite collabs will be brewed again, I know that the odds of two or more entities working on a beer they've already done is slim to none

Now that you know how this'll be played, let's get to the list. These aren't in any particular order aside from how they came to mind. I'll give five beers I want to see hit distro and I'll tack a few extras on at the end that don't necessarily fit the criteria I've listed above. Because what's the point of rules if you can't break them?

Today's bottle is numbered 293/500 which is insanely fitting because it feels like we're on day 293 of our COVID-19-induced lockdown. I know we're nowhere close to being that deep into this but, man, does it feel like it. Today dragged on and on here on the work from home front.

Looks like Lottie's just a permanent fixture in this pics now.

Since we're still knee-deep in COVID-19 territory, I'm still doing my Tales from the Cellar series. Today's is a beer I blindly pulled from my cellar and stuck in my fridge. With the shape of the bottle, I could've sworn it was a Warped Wing or a Jackie O's. Much to my surprise it's from Little Fish, one of my top three Athens, OH breweries! Let's see how Don Yon Holler is drinking two years out from its being bottled (the specific date on the label, if you can't see in the above picture, is 1/10/18).

Hello and welcome to my beer blog. I'm John and, as the blog's name implies, I like beer. In this, the inaugural post, I intend to let you know a bit about me, my hopes for what this blog will become, how my posts will work, and, lastly, what I think about beer in general (not just that I like it; I assume you know that by now because I've stated it as plainly as possible).

Like the majority of my high school cohorts, I was pressured into strongly encouraged to pursue a higher education. For both my bachelors and masters degree, I attended Ohio University. The campus, located in Athens, Ohio, is beautiful. Placed amongst rolling Appalachian foothills (with a somewhat ominous repurposed asylum looming over the city), the place makes for a pretty great college experience.

Ohio University has a reputation for being a party school. This is very true; there are dozens of parties any given week night weekend. I attended quite a few of these during my undergrad (and graduate) years. At parties, I drank plenty of what I like to not-so-lovingly call "butt beer." This is beer like PBR, Natty Light, Keystone, Killians, Yuengling, and Rolling Rock, which, when consumed en masse as a reckless college kid, makes you act like a butt. Hence the name.

Three quick things: Some butt beers I actually enjoy on occasion (specifically the final three mentioned) and I intend to write about each them at some point. Don't let the "party school" rep OU has negatively impact your view of the institution--some of its academic programs are incredibly good. Also, this is not an ad for Ohio University and, if you're looking to receive an education, don't let my nostalgia about the place sway you. Do your research and pick a school that's right for you.

After I was over the whole partying scene (even when I was over it I still attended parties, albeit sporadically) I found myself drawn more and more to uptown Athens, which is where many of the city's bars are located. Athens' bars are incredibly cheap so I had a lot of drinks in them during my college years. Sometime around this point in my life, I really began to enjoy beer. I found myself talking about how certain brews taste, what they look and smell like, and, most importantly, I began to be able to discern between different styles (a porter is not a pilsner is not IPA. That sort of thing).

One fantastic thing about Athens is Jackie O's, a pub and brewery located uptown that, during my senior year, opened a cannery behind my house to export its brews across the state. This place, apart from offering some excellent brews, greatly contributed to my beer education by giving myself and my friends a place to try and discuss beer.

I am now pleased to call myself an avid beer drinker. I also enjoy hard cider (a cider house opened in Athens during my final summer there, which would have been a lot more awesome if it hadn't been so pricey) and I'm starting to dabble in homebrewing (the background image for this blog is my very first batch!). All of this to say, beer is a deep passion of mine.

Through this blog, I intend to share that passion with you by writing about my experience with a beer. I'll share my memories that a beer (flavor, aroma, everything) brings up, some history of the beer, and of course, I'll give you my impressions of it. That last part will more or less be a review.


There are some things to note about my reviewing process that are pretty peculiar. Above is a picture of my cat, Purrl. She likes to sniff a beer as soon as I open it. She never attempts to drink it or anything but, for some reason, she's just drawn to the aroma of some beers. Because of this I'll start all my reviews by stating how many sniffs she gave a brew before slinking off to sleep somewhere.

Another thing I'll be doing is what I understand to be taboo amongst beer reviewers: I'll be drinking and talking about a beer as its presented by the brewer. This means that I won't be pouring it into a glass to drink. I'll grab a bottle or can out of my fridge and talk about the brew as I drink it from the container in which it was purchased.

One final quirk about my write-ups is that I'll also be enjoying and discussing ciders for the simple fact that I really, really like hard cider.

Through my writing about a certain brew I hope to enhance your enjoyment of it.

Before I wrap up this post, I'd like to talk about my beer/cider preferences. This will allow you to better understand where I'm coming from and why I don't typically write a lot about a kind of brew you might really enjoy.

• I don't harbor any particular feelings for IPAs. Most of them are just too damn hoppy for me. Every once in a while I'll stumble upon one I can get behind. But, for the most part, I tend to stay away from them.
• I love porters. They're my absolute favorite. I'll post about them pretty frequently. But not all the time because I like trying a bunch of different kinds of beer from a bunch of different breweries. 
• Pumpkin ale intrigues me. Sometimes it's amazing and is the hight of beer enjoyment. Other times it's dreck. Expect a lot of pumpkin ale musings in the fall.
• I find seasonal brews to be the same as pumpkin ales. I'll write about them pretty frequently, too.
• As far as cider is concerned, I'm not a huge fan of the dry stuff.

Back in January I referred to myself as a porter man. Since making that statement I haven't put my money where my mouth is. You'd think I'd've discussed at least one porter, right? Nope. I've completely dropped the ball and am unspeakably ashamed.

But soon I won't be! You see I have not one but two porter posts coming at you soon (well, I guess there's only one after this one but you still get my point).


Today's porter post is about none other than Smuttynose's Robust Porter. I knew nothing about this brew before sitting down to write this post. But, upon researching the brew by going directly to Smuttynose's website, I found that Andy Crouch, of Great American Craft Beer fame (it's a book about domestic craft brews), called it "...the quintessential Porter...". That's a glowing review. Do I agree with it?

This is the finale of my 4-part series on Michigan brews. You can take a look at the first part, in which I discussed Atwater's Purple Gang Pilsner, to get a better idea of what this series is. To briefly describe it, I built a four-pack and threw in some beers native to MI that I'd never before had so I could share my first impressions of them with you, my beloved readers.


I really like brown ales. Perhaps my favorite is another offering from Michigan: Bells' Best Brown Ale. Yes, I was originally drawn to that particular one because I thought the owl on the packaging looked cool (I know Bells is involved in a tiff with another brewery but I don't know enough about it to state my opinion. It's not something I'm going to talk about. Bells is just a convenient intro to this piece--a brown ale from Michigan? Come on, that's almost too perfect for this opener).

If I had to describe the reason why brown ales appeal to me it would have to be the simplicity of them. Yeah, one can throw in as many crazy ingredients as desired into a batch; Jackie O's does this insanely well with their Chomolungma, which includes wildflower honey. But, even the barest of a brown ale's bones are great. It's typically sweet, but not so much as to be overpowering. For me, brown ales are the comfort food of the beer world.

In this, the final post of my first series, I'm discussing one of this ales. It's Keweenaw Brewing Company's (KBC) Lift Bridge Brown Ale. It's brewed in, obviously, Keweenaw, which is basically as northern as the Upper Peninsula gets. What should you expect from this brew if you ever try it?

WE INTERRUPT OUR STANDARD OCTOBER PUMPKIN BEER CONTENT TO BRING YOU THIS SPECIAL POST.

I got into birding last year. Michelle and I were expecting and figured the hobby would 1) be free (minus a guide, a notebook, and a cheap pair of binoculars) and 2) train me to be observant; both these aspects are important in the life of a new dad.

My big goal of birding was to see an owl in the wild. I hear them frequently from my porch (we have both great horned and barred owls around here) but they always take wing before I can draw near to where they're perched and singing. I knew that, with persistence, it was only a matter of time before I saw one of the raptors. In preparation, I bought a single can of Seventh Son's Mr. Owl to discuss on the blog to honor the occasion of adding one of these guys to my life list.

Well, guess what! I'm drinking and discussing Mr. Owl today. I saw an owl--two, at that! The pair of great horneds were in a tree outside my house when I took Lottie out this morning. I quickly ushered her back indoors one her business was through before spending a good twenty minutes watching and listening to the birds (and hearing another pair some distance from our house that I couldn't see) until a flock of mallards flew too close to the tree and spooked them away. 

This post will feature the audio and (admittedly terrible) pictures I took of the pair while they were visiting.