What does the STEEM Beerologist do to up the ante? He hits 3 different bottle shops in 1 day for his legions of followers!

Source:https://www.pinterest.pt/goldensaintbeer/ with a little Zeke design on top.

That's right. I had the chance to hit the big city for a little R&R, a couple nights out, fancy hotel on the water and a bit of time goofing off with family. Upon arriving at the house of said family, I discovered there was no beer. Oh this will not do at all!

So, I hit one of my favourite breweries, the closest one, and a brand new one you will most likely not have heard of. Here we go!

Henderson Brewing

Henderson Brewing https://hendersonbrewing.com/ is the home brewery of my brother. Initially because it is close to his home, but ultimately because they make some great beer. We love their IPA and his wife loves the fruity sour. So, when you show up with a computer for some games and get told there is no beer, this is the obvious place to go!

The fridge in the bottle shop looks like a rainbow and I am really hoping for some one-off playground IPAs as I usually am upon entering any bottle shop. Henderson is known mainly for the namesake Henderson's Best and the Food Truck beer and you can also see the UPA https://hendersonbrewing.com/beer/upa/which is a yummy and always available "Toronto Style IPA." You can see they knew I would be writing a beer blog on Superbowl Sunday and had a special on Cerveza which is obviously their Mexican style lager.

In the end, I opted for a little UPA, and English Style IPA with (too much) Ginger, a Cerveza and a stout. They didn't last long but were a delicious beverage option for an afternoon of STEEM, games, and forgetting about work for a while.

Great Lakes Brewing

Long time followers of my beer blog will know that Great Lakes Brewery http://www.greatlakesbeer.com/ is one of my absolute favourite breweries. They started out early and probably were established nicely by the time the Craft Beer craze really settled in. With the uptick in demand, and the nice increased margin that other beerologists were happy to support, they were able to expand production. With this expansion came Tank 10, which they explain nicely on the website, and a dawn of so many great IPAs. They are initially responsible for my slide into IPA obsession and I return here whenever I am coming through the area for the next one.

I was so excited to find so many choices that I didn't manage to snap a picture of the fridge in the bottle shop. I was hoping for a little Robohop imperial IPA http://www.greatlakesbeer.com/Beer/robohop/ and a nice seasonal, perhaps New England IPA like As Far Back as I can Remember http://www.greatlakesbeer.com/Beer/as-far-back-as-i-can-remember/ which is becoming one of my faves. The good news is both were available and there were so many other choices I came away with 8 brews, also including a couple Stouts, and some other tasty treats.

As a teaser to my post covering and reviewing my Great Lakes finds, here is a glimpse at the New England IPA. I forgive them the fairly stylish but silly label as they have recently brought on a new designer. The important part, for me, is the Tank 10 label and taste bud memories that bring back the hazy, sweet and hoppy greatness that is within the can. It is the first one I enjoyed upon returning home and I have another one I will try and keep in the fridge as long as possible. It is unlikely to last but will be a nice surprise if I do manage to forget about it in the back of the fridge.

Stonehooker Brewing Company

Stonehooker https://stonehooker.com/ is a brewery I have never visited before but had the beer a few times while sailing at the club around the corner. You can see the snow falling lightly on the ghetto patio made up on the lawn with the picnic tables. Breweries don't have to be glamorous though as long as the atmosphere is good and the beer is better.

This old building is tied to my humble beginnings as a beerologist as it used to house the brewery supply store we bought our supplies from when we brewed our own beer for so many years. This shop has changed hands and is strictly a wine supply place which holds no interest for me. So, it is into the bottle shop to see what I can find.

The labels themselves are rather lackluster in design and there are probably few who would do enough sailing to be attracted by Jibe Ho, Broad Reach, or Even Keeled. There is a healthy amount of Newfie as well with the Gollywobbler, Nor'Easter and Sou'Wester. Otherwise, there is a nice variety of stout, wheat beer, gose, and of course IPA.

In the end, I opted for one of each of the IPAs as I generally do my first trip through a brewery. I do love my IPAs and would love to find they have one or 2 good enough to lure me back. The fact I was able to get 4 different ones when showing up unannounced is commendable and I look forward to sampling each of them for a beer blog post all its own. After the two great breweries covered earlier, this could just be a little icing on the cake if there are good.

The first 6-pack died a quick death and I am hoping the other ones will last me the week. It will be a great week as I am not sure any of these beers could be found at our local beer store even though we are only a 90 minute drive to any of these breweries. Should make for a tasty week and I will have to decide which I will feature next #beersaturday.

Won't you join me then?

Considering giving my drinkin' buddy @detlev a follow and inviting a friend to create their own beer post for #beersaturday, one of the longest running. and drunkest ongoing contests on STEEM!
https://steemit.com/hive-187719/@detlev/beersaturday-week-138 We could always use more drinkin' buddies!

I am honoured to curate for:

All football/pub talk in the comments get a beer token!

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