Sitting on my bed in the Hyatt Regency… a long day's journey through
many rainy flights to get here. Crazy to be in the Jet Blue Terminal
at Kennedy in NYC, very hip environment, from leather lounge chairs,
touch screen ordering of fast food, free WiFi, vending machines for
iPods, and a bar with 45 different craft beers on tap. Very Cool. But
now, of course, I have arrived in Boston!
Took the Silver Line Shuttle bus in from the airport, a very
inexpensive $2 ride. It goes right by the World Trade Center on the
way in, so I saw where I will be spending the next several days, the
hotel (Westin) is literally connected to it. Lucky me.
To get to the Hyatt for tonight, jumped on the Redline Subway line…
as the train pulled in the station to pick us up, I noticed that
the lighted sign on top read, "Alewife"… a small omen perhaps?
10:36
After an enjoyable evening at the Cambridge Brewing Company, I'm
retiring early. The CBC has an incredible assortment of beers on tap.
19 to be exact. They seem to have a 7 Bbl system, and they tell us
that they brew every day. We started with their Spring Training IPA on
cask: heavily hopped with Palisades and Ahtanum, this 6.3%ABV was
light bodied and easy drinking, despite the big hit of hops. We moved
on to the Charles River Porter, rich, chocolately, roasty, 6% ABV.
Served too cold, but as it warmed up, it was a delight to drink. I
finished off with The Colonel an authentic 19thC porter with hints of
Brett, aged in bourbon barrels for 15 months. Again, served too cold,
but WOW! What a beer. If this is any indication of the brews we'll be
sampling in Boston we should have a great week ahead of us. We noticed
(and talked to) other brewers arriving in town, who also dropped by
the CBC. It should be a very educational week…
