Beer Thirty with Owl Maker's Jessie May

Jessie May pictured with bearded friend.

Let's  head out to New England. Owl Maker was kind enough to allow us to bask in the beery glow of their bassist, one Jessie May.

Like anyone who's looking forward to these columns, she enjoys a tasty beer. 

Though she and  I have some different tastes about beer, she's clearly passionate about the topic. I'd also take the time to point out that she's shown her work for you.

There are a goodly number of links I'd urge you to check out. If there aren't too many already, check out our previous run ins with Owl Maker HERE.

1. My personal favorite beer style is the might Double India Pale Ale. The best DIPA in the world is STLIPA by Urban Chestnut. Tell me about your favorite style.

I'll drink pretty much any beer except a sour, but my favorite style by far is Imperial Stout.  I think the first one I tried was Weyerbacher's Old Heathen, which I found all the way at the back of the liquor store and bought because it had a badass label.  The rest is history. Some of my go-to imperial stouts are North Coast Brewing's Old Rasputin and Thimble Island Brewing Company's Mutually Assured Destruction.  The most recent one I've tried is Brooklyn's Black Chocolate Stout -- so rich that I couldn't even finish my second one!

If I'm not feeling a high-octane imperial stout, I'll go for coffee stouts like Two Roads Espressway and Thimble Island Coffee Stout.

And this might sound gross to some people, but I'll occasionally mix half a stout with a cup of cold black coffee.  My two favorite things, together! That's actually what happened to the rest of that second bottle of Black Chocolate Stout..

2. Many international people have laughed at me for this, but American Beer is the best in the world. Not American Lagers, that piss water is best used for drinking 15 of them while you're at the karaoke bar, but American Craft Beer. Which nation is pumping out the best beer?

I'll see your "American Beer" and raise you "New England Beer."  There are a TON of great breweries in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Vermont.  If you like IPAs/DIPAs and ever find yourself in Connecticut, visit Lock City in Stamford, Counter Weight in Hamden, or NEBCO in Woodbridge.  There's Lawson's Finest Liquids and The Alchemist Brewery in Vermont, Treehouse in Massachusetts....  

And for some cheap beer that's "made on honor and sold on merit," grab Rhode Island's classic brew Narragansett.  It's the best tasting six-pack you're gonna get for six bucks -- and tallboys at that!  (I'm a little biased towards 'Gansett, I was "Miss February" in their 2016 calendar...)  

I'll also mention SingleCut in Queens -- technically not New England and not cheap -- because they give all their beers musical names and have an awesome imperial stout called Heavy Boots of Lead.  \m/

So, yeah.  'Merica. Our president might stink on ice, but our beer can't be beat!

3. Even though I'm a giant beer snob, I'll drink beers that break the Bavarian Purity Laws. My personal favorite is Schalfly's Bourbon Barrel Imperial Stout. It's a might 22oz of 10% ABV Stout aged in bourbon barrels. It'll warm your heart and soul. 

What beers do you love that break Reinheitsgebot?

That stout sounds delicious!  But this is the first time I've seen the word Reinheitsgebot....  Rules be damned -- if I like it, I'll drink it!

4. Right now, you couldn't pin me down and get me to give my favorite St. Louis Brewery, though Urban Chestnut's STLIPA does put them in the lead...but if you put a gun to my head, it's Schlafly Brewing. What do you think of your local brewers?

Connecticut has some great local breweries of varying size and distribution reach.  It's hard to pick a favorite, but I'll say Thimble Island.  Not only are their beers amazing, but they are located in my hometown of Branford.

5. Hops or Malt? Personally, I feel like a jerk for asking the question. Give me a malty Scottish/Scotch Ale or a hoppy DIPA...and I'm happy...but you gotta pick one.

Since it's more in the forefront of stout flavor, I guess I'll say malt.

6. Whenever I'm road tripping. I'm always bringing back beers. Ohio, Great Lakes Brewing. East Coast, Yuengling. Western New  York. Genessee. What do you bring home? 

Thumbs up to Yuengling!  I could afford to deepen my knowledge of beers outside my region -- but I had a great time visiting the Stone Brewing in SoCal with my little brother last summer, and brought some Abita home from a trip to New Orleans as a thank-you to my boyfriend for cat-sitting.  I hope to visit Los Angeles, Maryland, Philly, and maybe Chicago this year, and definitely look forward to checking out the beer scene in those locales.

Thank you for inviting me to talk about beer, Glacially -- as you can see, it's one of my favorite subjects.  

America runs on Dunkin, Owl Maker runs on Imperial Stout!