12x12 Review: Great Lakes Eliot Ness

Beers included: Eliot Ness

Purchased: 15 March 2025

Purchase Price: $17.99 

Initial Impression: When I first started really getting into craft beer one of the things people would get excited about was when a brewery started distributing in their state. This was before there was a taproom on every street corner and almost all packaged craft beer was bought at a store. 

Then by the late 2010s as the growth in craft beer began to slow, a regional brewery entering a new state became a red flag. Dumping liquid in a new market could provide a sugar high for a brand struggling for growth. Two large out-of-state breweries I worked with sent beer to Massachusetts; both have since been sold or merged. 

In that context, it was interesting to me to see Great Lakes Brewing on store shelves late last year. I almost pulled the trigger on Great Lakes Christmas Ale when I saw it late last year. For March I picked up Eliot Ness Amber Lager. 

Tasting Notes: Five commercial dry Irish Stouts

Inspired in-part by a recent video on Tree House Brewing’s YouTube channel, I decided to do my own Irish Stout tasting. That and finding a bunch of singles at my local Total Wine. 

I intended to make an Instagram reel or maybe even a TikTok video of the tasting. I ended up talking about each beer for 3-4 minutes which was way too long for either platform, so I posted the full video to my Facebook page and to YouTube.  

Off camera I jotted down some quick thoughts in a BJCP format like I do with my commercial beer and homebrew side-by-sides. The difference here is since I wanted to choose a favorite is I actually scored the beers using the BJCP 0-50 scale. Since these were all commercial beers, my scoring was probably harder than it would be for a homebrew competition. 

12x12 Review: Bent Water Thunder Funk

12x12 is a new series dedicated to reviewing 12-packs of 12 ounce cans or bottles. Inspired by my guide to garage beer, 12-packs are often the workhorse of the beer fridge. The beer you bring to a cookout or grab on the way to a party. This series honors craft flagships, seasonal classics, and imported examples of classic styles.  

Beers included: Thunder Funk IPA

Purchased: 1 February 2025

Purchase Price: $19.99 

Initial impression:  After reviewing a sample pack for my first 12 x 12 review I wanted to review a 12-pack of one beer. I picked this 12-pack up at a liquor store in Salem with a modest craft beer selection. I was on my way back from Notch. Having some IPAs in the fridge would be a nice contrast to the cans of lager I had just picked up.

When to rack to a secondary

As part of my Brew Year's Resolutions, I wanted to grow the site's social media presence a bit. The Facebook page is handicapped a bit since it is marked as "Alcohol Related" which means the page can't join groups. Instead I have joined a couple groups under my personal profile, where I will occasionally share content from the site or the site's pages. 

Racking a recent batch to a secondary.

In one of these groups I recently joined, a new brewer dared to ask about racking or transferring your beer to a secondary fermenter. Racking, or transferring beer out of a primary fermenter into a secondary vessel is one of those traditional homebrewing practices that fell out of favor. Now the prevailing opinion is that racking to a secondary accomplishes very little if anything, while exposing your beer to oxygen and a greater risk of contamination. Most of the replies to this new brewer rejected the practice out of hand.

That gave me an idea to link to my post about the topic. Then I realized this is never a topic I touched on in this space. I have the Mandella Effect even with my own work sometimes.

In 2025 is there ever a need to rack to a secondary? My answer: sometimes!

Brew Day & Taating Notes: North Shore Brewers Q4 2024 Sweet Stout

61 Would-be extract recipe kits

When I worked for Muntons’ since closed US Sales Office, almost all of my efforts were to grow our presence in the craft beer market. I did exhibit and speak at some homebrew events, most notably Homebrew Con, but otherwise I didn't focus too much on the homebrew side of the business.

One homebrew-related project I spearheaded that never really got off the ground was a range of recipe kits for the American market using Muntons range of malt extract. As opposed to hopped extract kits, these kits are the type of recipe kits an American brewer would buy at a local homebrew shop. 

The "iconic" Red Can Range.

The kits would have included a mix of liquid and dry extract, most would included steeped specialty malt or grains for a partial mash, as well as hops and style-specific dry yeast. 

Brew Years Resolutions for 2025

The since-past 2024 was certainly an eventful year. The first four months of 2024 I barely had time to brew at all. I brewed one very mediocre all-grain batch and a couple no-boil batches. Coming up with New Beers Resolutions was the furthest thing from my mind. 

At the time I was freelancing for TBI Pro Brew Supply and slowly building up my book of business. If I gave it more time, I very well could have made it work. Right before I left I hooked a big account, but I also lost a big account when that brewery was bought out, so who knows. It was the grind from all of my side-hustles that broke me. I couldn't imagine doing Amazon delivery in the middle of July. Driving an Uber fare to Boston and having my engine start to misfire, which required a $1200 repair, wasn't fun either.

Exiting the beer industry and going back to insurance has been harder than I thought it would be. I joked with one brewer friend that I was the only person to leave the beer industry and make less money. Going back to insurance after seven years away I felt like a defrosted caveman. If my body wasn't frozen like Ted Williams' corpse, my career certainly was. Seeing where my former peers are at in their carriers seven years later and where I am now is something I try not to think about. The only reason to work in insurance is money and advancement. 

One silver lining is I do have my weekends back, which enabled me to focus on brewing again. I had a second-place showing at Ales over ALS and the North Shore Brewers Q4 in-club competition (post forthcoming). I also made a batch of cider I was quite happy with, and had a couple of misses as well.

Looking ahead to 2025 I already have half a dozen beers in the pipeline. After skipping 2024, here are my Brew Year's Resolutions.

12x12 Review: Jack’s Abby Winter Fest Variety Pack

12x12 is a new series dedicated to reviewing 12-packs of 12 ounce cans or bottles. Inspired by my guide to garage beer, 12-packs are often the workhorse of the beer fridge. The beer you bring to a cookout or grab on the way to a party. This series honors craft flagships, seasonal classics, and imported examples of classic styles.  

Beers included: House Lager, Post Shift Pils, Extra Layer, Dark As Hell

Purchased: 16 December 2024

Purchase Price: I forget 

Initial impression: Looking forward to circling back to two of Jack’s Abby’s core beers, two classic lager styles, and trying two new winter lagers