You have your standard issue pint glass, Sea Dog and Yuengling, which are perfect for drinking any beer.  I like using the Yuengling style glass for Guinness style beers due to the shape of the glass.  The Sea Dog style is great if you have nothing else.

The Long Trail glass holds 22 ounces, and I use it when I have a large bottle.  Some beers will tell you to use a wide mouth glass, and this fits the bill.

The Shipyard glass is for tasting or trying a sample.  If you want to try a bit of something, you always can use a small glass, or fill half a pint.

The Einbecker mug I use for strong dark beers.  It can retain the cold a lot better and also is a good root beer float glass.

The red wine glass is requested by certain beers, like the Pangaea.  That beer has a lot going on, and the brewers want you to get the full experience.  This type of glass funnels the smell to your nose before you drink and can make the beer better.  A large snifter also can be used in place of a wine glass.

Finally, the solo cup is an old stand-by for many college students.  Chances are if you are still drinking beer from one of these, you won’t be reading this article.  Do yourself a favor and hit up Pottery Barn.

Having made simple syrups before, I knew that part of the recipe would be easy.  I decided that if I just added some peeled and diced pear and allowed it to simmer it would produce the desired result.  Luckily, I was correct.

Choosing to use a pear simple syrup instead of a pear liqueur had an extra benefit.  I could mix it with plain seltzer to create pear-flavored Italian sodas for the kids.  They found them to be quite tasty.

While it will take a little extra time and effort, it is worth it for this drink.  Of course, if you prefer to keep your drink making more simplistic, I am sure some pear liqueur would be a fine replacement.

Subtle & Bubbly Pear

1/2 oz. pear-infused vodka

1-1/2 tsp. pear simple syrup*

brut champagne

Pour vodka and simple syrup into a champagne flute.  Top with champagne, and stir well to combine.

Pear Simple Syrup

2 cups water

1 cup sugar

2 bosc pears, peeled & diced

Bring water to boil in medium pot over high heat.  Add sugar, and stir until dissolved.  Add pear, reduce heat to simmering, and cook for 30 minutes.  Remove pear cubes with a strainer, pressing back of a spoon against pears to release any remaining juice.  Allow syrup to cool to room temperature.  Then transfer syrup to a storage container, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

If you’ve ever been to a good sushi restaurant, you know they give you a few ginger slices to help cleanse your palate between bites.  Imagine that flavor with a little bit of lemon and honey, mix it with hops, barley and water, and you’d have this beer.

I’ve had beers that boast about the flavor being ‘up front’, this one can boast all it wants to.  Right off, you would think you are smelling Canada Dry, and the carbonation almost leads you to believe that this is ginger ale you are drinking. But, no, it is beer.  I enjoy ginger in any form, and now I can add alcoholic beverages to my list.

Harpoon figured out how to harness the essence of the ginger because I swear I could taste a piece of ginger root.  The lemon helps out plenty as far as balancing out the bite of ginger.  Believe it or not, ginger is pretty spicy, and the lemon juice brought that bitter taste down a good deal.  You really don’t notice the honey until the very end.  The sweet of the honey helped to create a smooth finish to this beer, not totally smooth though.  The ginger still managed to burn a spot on the back of my tongue like it always does.

This beer is part of the 100 Barrel Series that Harpoon has been working on and is entry 29 on the list.  I’ve managed to sample a few off of that list, and so far this is my favorite.  I really enjoyed the copper color and the big aroma.  If you a want a beer with bite that will bite you right back, trust me, find as many bottles of this as you can.

A few weeks ago, I found myself in Nashua buying a few Bavarian beers.  Considering I’m not too familiar with beers from this region, I picked up a few bottles to help educate myself.  You learn something new everyday, right?  That’s what I was thinking.

I decided to start with the lager, since I enjoy lagers and just made my own. I find lagers to be an easy beer to drink any time of year.  I had this beer chilled in a big glass, and I was very happy with the golden color.  I had a healthy swig and found that it was smooth, not bitter at all.  To be honest, this beer wasn’t complicated at all.  The label reads: water, barley, hops.  Simple, and that is what I like most about this style of beer.  Lagers don’t have to be crazy, and the Bavarians have been making them before there was water.

If you have a friend that is a Bud drinker, you may be able to talk them into drinking one of these.  Remember: Bud was brought over by a Bavarian immigrant, and the beer has just been ‘Americanized’ over the course of time.  If you wanted to try and convert a Bud drinker, give them something they might recognize with a twist.  The twist is, the original beer with all the calories in tact.  If you are too worried about the calories in your beer, then you should just drink water.  There are other places in my diet I could lose calories, but I’m not going to compromise taste for a lousy beer.

I spoke with a fellow that spent his childhood in Germany before coming to America, and he told me that his hometown had nine breweries in it.  One thing is for sure, at that rate I won’t be able to sample every Bavarian beer; I’ll do my best, though.

We had no set agenda, just got in the car and started driving toward the ocean.  After stopping at an antiques shop and a butcher shop, we decided to spend our afternoon in Newburyport.  We had been here once before and remembered that there were a number of interesting shops and restaurants.

After several hours of browsing, we asked for a recommendation for a restaurant at which we could find a good cocktail and possibly a snack.  Thankfully, we asked at the right shop and were directed to Ten Center.

We arrived at 3:50, which was the transition time for the restaurant.  Lunch ends and dinner begins at 4:00.  However, the hostesses assured us that the chef would be accommodating to whichever menu we chose.  (This was refreshing; we have been to several restaurants at which we have been told that we needed to order quickly off the lunch menu or we’d have to wait for dinner to start.)  To allow us freedom in choosing, we were given both menus.

We were served by Cory, who also was the bartender.  She provided excellent service:  giving us time to consider our drink choices, delivering the drinks in a timely manner, and checking on us at reasonable intervals.  We had plenty of time to talk without interruption but never needed anything.

As we were stopping for a late afternoon break, our order was small.  I chose the Strawberry Lemondrop, and my husband chose the Gin and Ginger.  My cocktail was a combination of house infused strawberry vodka, muddled strawberries, and limoncello served in a cocktail glass with a sugared rim. If you read my articles, you know that I have some preferences in my drinks: slightly sweet and not syrups; this cocktail was a perfect fit for me!  The sugared rim and strawberries provided a nice amount of sweetness, the limoncello added some tartness, and the ingredients were combined in such a fashion as to make the drink non-syrupy.

My husband enjoyed his drink; it was a cocktail not seen on many menus of restaurants that we visit.  Made with Tangueray Rangpur Gin, ginger beer, and lime, it had a definite ginger flavor.  Served in a highball glass over ice, it was refreshing and light.

We weren’t very hungry, so we only ordered an appetizer of Crispy Fried Calamari. They were delivered within minutes of placing the order and were delightfully hot.  Although fried there was no greasiness to the calamari.  They were served with two different sauces: a garlic aioli and a sweet and spicy pepper relish.  While the aioli was good, the relish was phenomenal.  Its flavor and texture complimented the calamari wonderfully.

Although we could have stayed and relaxed at Ten Center for longer, we wanted to do a little more shopping before driving home.  Our first dining experience at this restaurant was excellent.  I am sure we will return there on our next trip to Newburyport.