It’s officially 2026, but besides making some eggs and ham, there’s not much to say about the new year yet. We took the boys up to the House of Fun in Barrington yesterday so they could blow some Christmas loot and we could try some pints from round-the-way Tonewood. We did exactly the same thing one year ago!
I had the Blackbird Schwarzbier, which is a low-alcohol, darkly roasted lager. It had a great roasty flavor and a tasteful, gentle hop profile. I was keen to try their Blipstream ESB, but it was can only. I ordered their Biergarten Marzen for my second pint, which was excellent but I thought that I hadn’t had it before; checking my posts here on Uncorrected this morning revealed to me that I had, in fact, tried it before.
Where my tastes skew German and English, Rhonda tends to go for more juicy, hoppy selections. She tried a pint of their Slopes Pale Ale, which was a moderate 5.2% ABV and “hopped heavily with Talus, Simcoe & Chinook,” with “notes of dank resin, honey & orange.” The hops put me in mind of Sierra Nevada’s Celebration Ale, of which I have very fond memories, especially the time I turned 21 and my friend, Mike, took me to a German bar in Kutztown, PA, and we had many pints of it in a fireplace-heated, low-ceilinged bar. It was a great night. Her other selection was the Chilly Bin, which we have in cans here at home. It’s a West Coast Pilsner, which is kind of wild: you get the assertive, bitter hop bite that I grew to love with Sierra Nevada’s original Pale Ale, but the smooth body of a lager.
The bartender pouring yesterday mentioned that they have the ESB on cask at their Oaklyn location, so I’m gonna obsess over getting to that location until it happens. I love cask-conditioned ale pushed via hand pump.
Best wishes for a great 2026 for you. This has been the best year for my readership on Uncorrected; it’s peanuts compared to the internet-famous, but I can’t be anything but thankful that I get a fairly regular number of hits each day, week, and month. Thanks for stopping by and reading.