Beer and football VII — week fifteen

The game: Patriots at Broncos The beer: Lefty’s Barrel-Aged Scotch Ale The result: Win, 16–3; Adam, 10–0–0; Erin, 4–0–0–0 The commentary: I don’t know about the barrel-aged beers anymore. A little rich for me. The Northampton Brewery didn’t have Maggie’s Wee Heavy on tap last weekend so this “Scotch ale” from Provisions was a no-brainer. […]

What the shit was and what wasn’t the shit

There are forty-eight planets and moons in our solar system and one hundred ninety-five visible stars in the universe. And there it is. Longtime readers (!) tripped up by last year’s abbreviated playlist, tallying “only” thirty-six songs at a brisk two and three-quarter hours—and down almost three thousand words from 2014—will surely find comfort in […]

Beer and football VII — the draft

The beer: Bent Water Jolene Porter The commentary: We’re switching to Roman numerals. It’s so goddamn obvious, I wish I’d thought of it years ago. And here we are: the second and third rounds, one week after the fact, with full big-picture knowledge of what went down. It’s one way to bring back my “live” […]

Beer and football VI — week fourteen

The game: Patriots at Texans The beer: Clown Shoes Coffee Pecan Pie Porter The result: Win, 27–6; Jeremy, 10–0–0 The commentary: Leave it to fantasy origin stories involving turkeys to reclaim first place in the AFC. These past few weeks have become awfully meta around here: repeated self-referential links to a year-old post about the […]

Beer and football VI — week nine

The game: Redskins at Patriots The beer: Smuttynose Rhye India Pale Ale The result: Win, 27–10 The commentary: I thought for awhile that announcers Kevin Burkhardt and John Lynch (sure, John, it was your decision to leave the Pats in 2008) were deliberately avoiding the name “Redskins.” With so many awkward uses of just “Washington,” […]

Beer and football VI — week eight

The game: Dolphins at Patriots The beer: Ipswich Ruby Red India Pale Ale The result: Win, 36–7; Kelly Ashley, 4–0–0–0 The commentary: Halloween is a big deal in our new hometown. Our previous home was closer to Boston but also closer to madness and the exponential suburban shift has resulted, somehow, in a community more […]

Beer and football VI — week two

The game: Patriots at Bills The beer: Ipswich Route 101 India Pale Ale The result: Win, 40–32; Saints lose, 26–19 The commentary: “You guys mind if I run back inside for the last minute of the game?” With my mom visiting we retired to the back yard, the Pats seemingly in control with eight minutes […]

Beer and football V — week fifteen

The game: Dolphins at Patriots The beer: Northampton Humbug Ale The result: Win, 41–13; Natalie, 4–2–1 The commentary: Nine o’clock: I knew something was wrong when I queued up Patriots Game Day, which I only record for its three-minute segment with Mike Reiss. “OK, fast-forward through this Steve Burton crap. Fast-forward through Dan Roche’s fantasy […]