99 Breweries on the Shelf: Navigating Boston’s Craft Beer Sections

In many respects, it’s never been a better time to be a craft beer consumer, especially in a market like Boston. Gone are the days where there were a few “destination stores” where people would make pilgrimages to do their craft beer shopping; the proliferation of the segment means that nearly every store that sells beer has a section devoted to craft, and those sections tend to be decent at the very minimum. Pretty much every style can be found year-round, and there have never been as many breweries to choose from. Dozens of different breweries jockey for limited space, and new ones are entering an already crowded market all the time. Great news, right? Well, sort of. Craft sections can be intimidating for the shopper who’s just starting to broaden their beer horizons, and even seasoned craft drinkers can sometimes shop with blinders on. Here are a few basic guidelines to make the most of your beer shopping experience:

Take a deep breath and put down your phone.

There are many apps and sites that are chock-full of information about the beer you’ll be potentially buying and they’re generally comprehensive resources. Users provide ratings, descriptions, and pictures, so all you’ll really be discovering is how the beer tastes to you—and that’s a good enough reason to not rely on those platforms when you’re making your selection. Drinking beer is a subjective thing: not all recipes taste the same to everyone, people’s individual preferences differ wildly, and when confronted with a whole bunch of reviewers who think one thing about a beer, those who think differently might not be as eager to offer up that information (who wants to look like an idiot on the internet?). Developing your palate takes more than cross referencing a potential purchase against a database; it involves noticing what you see, smell, feel, and taste and using that information to determine where your particular taste lies.

Get to know your friendly neighborhood beer merchant.

Don’t be afraid to spark up a conversation with staff members who spend a lot of time in the beer section. They’re often working there because, just like you, they love beer. Talk to them about what you like, and ask for their opinion—the more information you give them about what you’re into, the better suggestions you’ll get. They also talk to supplier and distributor reps like it’s their job, so they’re always privy to cool releases coming down the pike. This could come in handy the next time Really Big Deal Brewing Company comes out with their small batch, tightly allocated Tickle Me Elmo DIPA— instead of being one of the many nameless rare-beer hunters who call or show up only looking for that one beer, be the regular who scores a six pack because you’re a loyal customer.

More Ways to Make the Most of Your Beer

The Role of Your Beer Glass Is More Important Than You Think

A Guide to Gluten-Free Beers

Campfire Beer Pancakes

Drink for your occasion.

Whether it’s a 12 pack of low-ABV lager for a cookout or a cork-and-caged 750ml bottle of Russian Imperial Stout to drink by the fire on a cold, late night, think about what you’ll be doing when you drink the beer you’re about to buy. How long you’ll be drinking for, the time of the day, any activities involved, and even the weather are all potential factors to consider when you’re making your selection. If you’re planning on pairing the beer with a meal, keep in mind “the three Cs” of beer and food: flavors that complement each other, flavors that are accentuated through contrasting elements, and how physical characteristics of beer like carbonation can cut through physical aspects of the food you’re eating (think a highly carbonated pilsner up against the grease and sauce from BBQ chicken wings).

Take a mix-six for a test drive.

Many stores have designated shelf areas which hold loose beers that customers can select from to build their own 6 packs—some shops, like locally-based Craft Beer Cellar, extend this option to every beer available in the store. It’s an excellent, low-stakes way to explore different styles and breweries.

Code dates are important, but…

Nearly all breweries offer dates on the package, and it’s important to know how old your beer is. Beer is a perishable product, after all! You might not want to buy a six-month old IPA as the bright hop flavors and aromas will have degraded past anything the brewer intended. However, there are many high alcohol (usually 8% ABV or higher), darkly malted, sometimes barrel-aged beers available that benefit from a little bit of aging. This isn’t exactly news to most, but this practice can be watered down into everyday buying. With so many different beers in and out of rotation all the time, stores can sometimes be sitting on a few six packs of something that’s about to code out, or a couple cases of something that’s perceived to be out of season. This is good beer, but if a store is trying to move through it and puts it on the discount rack at a couple bucks less, that’s better beer.

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Drink an Eye-Popping Margarita with Actual Eyes at This Australian Restaurant

One Australian eatery has taken eye-catching cocktails to a whole other level. Faros Tapas, a new restaurant in Australia’s Museum of Old and New Art, serves a black margarita with a rather unusual garnish: a literal eyeball. Now you can watch your drink while it watches you back! We’re guessing this is what the Addams family drinks during happy hour (Or is it sad hour? Maybe it’s spooky hour?).

The restaurant’s website claims the eye’s from bulls, though one restaurant critic claimed he was told they were from pigs. But let’s not get bogged down in this minutia. All that matters is that if you order the beverage, you’re drinking something with part of a face in it, regardless of what part of the farm it came from.

Supposedly the restaurant’s wait staff is instructed to tell patrons to drink the margarita as quickly as possible, so as to not let the frozen eye melt into the beverage. You wouldn’t want the taste of an animal’s visual receptor to contaminate an otherwise normal cocktail, right?

But beyond the freaky garnish, the margarita actually sounds pretty delicious. It’s made with tequila, lime, mezcal, and oh so trendy charcoal powder, which lends to its dark color. There’s also black salt on rim, a subtle complement to the eye inside. So goth.

The black margarita is also only part of the restaurant’s overall artsy and adventurous vibe. Customers literally have to sign a waiver and then, as one restaurant critic put it,  lie “on a bed, in an enclosed metal sphere, for about 15 minutes” while being accosted with flashing lights. The whole concept sounds like a weird, post-modern experience that seems a lot deeper than it is. I mean this is a restaurant in an art museum, so we shouldn’t expect any less.

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Double Chocolate Cupcakes

Chocolate cupcakes were one of the first recipes I became obsessed with perfecting.

To me, the ideal chocolate cupcake is moist with a deep chocolate flavor. The recipe also should produce exactly one dozen cupcakes in a standard muffin tin, no more and no less.

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How to Make Healthy Queso

While certainly not a Super Bowl-specific food, queso will surely show up on lots of tables this Sunday. If you have an urge to make the classic cheese dip a little healthier, there are several ways to go about it without losing flavor.

The most popular recipe is probably the one involving a whole brick of plasticky orange Velveeta, which is admittedly delicious when melted to its perfectly gooey, salty state, especially if there’s a can of Ro-Tel involved. But if you have misgivings about highly processed foods, or if you’re trying to stick to a plan of healthier eating in general, or if you can’t eat any dairy at all, there are several other appealing options to satisfy your queso craving. Let us count the ways.

1. Use real cheese.

Texas Queso Dip from Chowhound

While a bowl full of various dairy products may not be the healthiest thing ever, if you’d rather avoid preservatives and additives, make high-falutin’ queso with high-quality cheese and whole milk, organic by all means. Just keep stirring and you will eventually achieve the smooth texture you’re after. Get our Texas Queso Dip recipe.

2. Use lighter cheese (and other dairy).

Chilled Chile con Queso Dip from Chowhound

There are plenty of “skinny queso” recipes out there, usually involving things like low-fat cheese and skim milk, or even a combo of almond milk and non-fat Greek yogurt. If you’re willing to subvert your expectations, you could try this creamy Chilled Chile con Queso Dip recipe made with cottage cheese and diced avocado. Okay, so it’s not the ooey-gooey, lift-a-chip-three-feet-in-the-air-to-watch-the-cheese-stretch-forever queso you may dream of, but it is an interesting, relatively healthy choice with plenty of flavor from jalapeños, onion, garlic, cilantro, and cumin.

3. Call on cauliflower.

Paleo Cauliflower Nacho Cheese from What Grandma Ate

It can do so much, from standing in for wings (as in our Buffalo Cauliflower with Blue Cheese Dip recipe) to serving as rice—it should be no surprise that people have figured out how to make dip with it too. This paleo version combines blended cauliflower with coconut milk, nutritional yeast, and seasonings, for a perfectly creamy dip you can serve warmed up or at room temp. Feel free to add more spices if you like things hotter. Get the recipe.

4. Substitute sweet potatoes.

Three Cheese Sweet Potato Queso from The Gourmet RD

You can either add puréed sweet potatoes to the usual cheese for a slightly lighter and more nutritionally dense dip (pictured above), or you can make a vegan version with sweet poatoes and zero dairy (in which case, you don’t get quite that same oozy texture). You can also make vegan queso with regular potatoes, plus “nooch” (cheesy-tasting nutritional yeast) and non-dairy milk.

5. Choose cashews.

Roasted Jalapeño Vegan Queso from Minimalist Baker

Cashew nuts commonly replace cream cheese in vegan cheesecakes, and it turns out they can also make a killer vegan queso. It’s just a matter of soaking them until soft, then blending them really well with a few other ingredients, including jalapeños, nutritional yeast (there’s a good reason it’s in so many “cheesy” vegan dishes), and spices. Creamy, cheesy-tasting, and a lovely yellow-gold, this one’s a clear winner. Get the recipe. (Or you can do cashew queso blanco if you prefer.)

6. Add veggies to the dip itself.

Spinach Queso Blanco from Chowhound

If you have your heart set on a truly cheesy dip, you can still add some vegetables to the mix, like in this Spinach Queso Blanco recipe. Baby spinach is sautéed with garlic and roasted Anaheim chiles, then stirred into a warm, smooth, gooey blend of white American cheese and whole milk. Feel free to double the amount of greens, so you have something more akin to Tex-Mex warm spinach dip—because nobody doesn’t like warm spinach dip. Adding fresh pico de gallo bumps the vegetable content even higher, so you can feel a little more virtuous even as you’re scraping the bottom of the bowl. If you’re not a spinach fan, consider stirring in other stuff, from corn kernels to diced sautéed bell peppers and onions.

7. Serve it with healthier chips (and chip replacements).

Vegan Salsa con Queso from Cotter Crunch

Greasy, crunchy tortilla chips are a perfect partner to queso, but it’s alarmingly easy to eat about five times the recommended serving size. Choose healthier chips at the store (whole grain, for instance, or black bean chips for your gluten-free folks), but also offer a vibrant assortment of raw vegetables—anything crunchy, from carrots and bell peppers to broccoli and cauliflower. If you’re doing the Whole30 thing, you can also bake homemade plantain or sweet potato chips to go with your legitimately delicious dairy-free queso.

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Funeral Home Offers Free Pizza to People Who Preplan Their Funerals

Death isn’t the most appetizing thing to think about. But one funeral home is helping to change that perception. The Krause Funeral Home in Brookfield, Wisc. is hosting a pizza party! The “Pizza & Preplan” promotional event is designed to entice younger folks to discuss and plan their future funeral wishes. The promise of free food always negates morbidity, of course.

“Enjoy free pizza on us as we discuss how preplanning your funeral helps ease the emotional and financial burden for you and your family,” the funeral home’s ad reads. Who are we to turn down that offer? Think of it as the baby boomer equivalent of “Netflix and Chill”—an entertaining pretense for something you just want to get over with. (Because sex and death are never as romantic as we imagine.)

The one-day only event takes place today, Jan. 30. And if it’s anything like last year’s, it should be a huge success. Over 100 people showed up to talk about their impending mortality over a slice of tomato pie.

As far as gimmicks go, it’s a pretty good one. Free pizza is always a good incentive, and if it gets people talking about a normally taboo, but totally natural part of life (you know, the ending), we’re all for it.

There are still some pizza and death-related services we’re pining for though. There’s got to be someone who will turn your funeral into an actual pizza party—every will should come with that caveat! Or more impossibly, what if there was a way to ensure your customized pizza preferences carried into the afterlife. We’ll put in an order for four cheese, extra thin, crispy crust and olives, please. Of course, we’re assuming people in the bad place are stuck with pineapple for an eternity. Is there a fate worse than that?

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7 Easy Ways to Make Any Soup Better

Soup is soul food, satisfying and warming on a cold day or night. Sometimes, though, you make a pot of soup that’s good and fine, but maybe you wish it were a little bit… better. Maybe you want to take this soup to the next level, and give it something extra to improve the taste, texture, or complexity of flavor.

Here are a few tips to take you beyond the recipe and make all your soups sing.

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How to Make Your Winter Cabin Rental Extra Cozy

Heaven knows we’ve already had a rough start to the winter, and any respite from the doldrums of the commute-work-gym-repeat routine is always welcome. The day-to-day also doesn’t allow enough time for deep, contemplative chats with close friends, especially ones fireside, nor does it allow time for shared enjoyment preparing a meal with loved ones, so an escape via a cabin rental is long overdue for most of us.

Here are six personal touches and ideas that can help make your next cabin rental experience even more fun and cozy!

Build a fire, tend to it, and relax.

Pavan Trikutam via Unsplash

Part and parcel to having a winter cabin experience is having a fireplace. Fires have a hypnotizing effect, and whether building them indoors or out, they can set the tone for a warm, “hygge” evening.

Building a fire and tending to it is also a really gratifying experience. It isn’t often that our efforts provide such immediate results, nonetheless, one that is so comforting. There are countless ways to build a fire, but first make sure that the damper in the fireplace is open when you start the fire. The damper is the device that seals the fireplace shut when it’s not in use. If it’s closed, smoke won’t be able to escape and will instead fill the room and house. Next, lay the tinder in a lattice pattern, putting the smaller kindling at the bottom and the larger logs at the top. The smaller tinder and kindling will catch on fire easier and more quickly, and give time for the larger logs to burn.

Make heavy, substantive food.

Smoked Chili by Chowhound

Cabin trips are no place for light, delicate meals. They’re meant for full, unadulterated comfort, and giving your mind, body, and soul what it really craves. They’re the place for heavy soups, stews, pot pies, casseroles, and the like.

A good place to start, and a great way to meal prep if you have a long weekend in the cabin, is to make chili. Chili is easy to make (and in large amounts), so anyone can easily grab some for themselves for the entire duration of the trip. For a great recipe, try our Smoked Chili recipe, and for some additional cabin food ideas, check out these cold weather recipes.

Bring throw blankets for everyone.

Kira auf der Heide via Unsplash

There isn’t a single moment during a winter cabin retreat that you can’t make use of a good throw blanket—eating breakfast, sitting by the fire, reading a book, eating lunch, drinking hot cocoa–really, the list is endless. They’re a symbol that there’s no pretense; no need to show off your latest handbags, clothes, or accessories, and that everyone’s there for the same thing, to relax. Although, it’s very possible for someone to have the biggest, softest, and most comfy throw blanket, to rule them all. And in that case, it’s completely okay to show off.

Let the wine, beer, and cocktails flow.

Hot Buttered Rum by Chowhound

I’d say if you aren’t planning to bring wine or beer, or make some cocktails, then you must have a different idea for what a weekend cabin trip is for. Instead, you must be planning to discuss your five and 10-year career plans, and the tangible steps that you need to execute to get there. But if that isn’t you, I recommend bringing enough wine (preferably red) to please the Greek god Dionysus, enough cases of beer so that you don’t have to make multiple trips to the store, and all the ingredients for your favorite cocktail.

If you need a cocktail that is part fun and alcoholic and also part warm and comfort-inducing, then try hot buttered rum. I liken it to what Harry Potter’s Butterbeer should taste like—sweet, warm, and filling. Get our Hot Buttered Rum recipe.

Set aside time for yoga, meditation and peace and quiet.

Isaiah Ransom via Unsplash

A portion of cabin retreats should always be to ease the body and mind. Allocate time to sit and just be quiet, and let your mind wander wherever it wants, or make a concerted effort to free up some share of mind and meditate.

If you have a lot of creaks in your body, knots, or just tense muscles, bring a yoga mat on the trip and broadcast my personal favorite, Yoga with Adrienne. She’ll show you some “yummy” stretches, and has videos catered for specific goals, problems, or stresses; i.e., yoga for runners, yoga for depression, yoga for migraines, etc.

Put down your phone.

This last one is the most obvious but maybe even the hardest. Try to put down your phone, and simply be. Smartphones are our everyday ball and cabin, and putting it away means that much more time for catching up with your friends, loved ones, and yourself.

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