16 glorious days in Europe, 2200 mediocre photos, and 2 weeks of post-vacation depression is all it takes to change the world. 

I sampled the Aperol in Venice, I scaled the bell tower in Bruges, and I beheld the Beefeaters in London. I went to the mountains, I looked to the children, I drank from the fountain, and I bless the rains down in Africa... And soon I'll beget the 3-part story of my journey. 

Stay tuned.

Technically this was only the second company to reach out to me for a review (Buckbean Brewing had contacted me some time ago, unfortunately I never received their shipment); and I did some quick preliminary research to make sure they were legit. Everything passed the sniff test, so I happily agreed to do the review. Something I didn't do - and I should have done - was warn them that my review would be entirely honest, and I would offer full disclosure to you all that the product was sent to me for review.

While any company should recognize this risk, and make the connection without being forewarned, I feel it was in poor journalistic practice on my part that I neglected to provide that disclaimer to the SLBC reps. The misleading factor about this site is that all of my reviews are positive. This is because I only review products that I recommend. While reviewing products that are shipped to me is a welcome change, it does introduce an awkward opportunity for disappointment - both on my end and on theirs.

This is the awkward story of disappointment - both on my end... and presumably on theirs.

The irony of "The Garden State" is the outsider's perception, which tends to stray far from the lush green fertile lands the title implies. I'm told the state does output a noteworthy volume of produce, and I know there are some rural spans, but really... that sort of thing isn't going on where I live. The scene by me is a dense suburban commercial haven, a destination for shoppers and restaurant-goers while home to thousands of New York City commuters.

Our commuters traverse a complex system of highways, bridges, and tunnels through our beautiful marshlands, scenic woodlands, and a mechanized industrial utopia. The central pipeline for the commuters' carnival? That, my friends, is a 122 mile stretch of rubber-scorched asphalt called the New Jersey Turnpike. 

Honoring our great home state, Flying Fish, New Jersey's largest craft brewer, offers the "Exit Series", each named after a different exit on the Turnpike.

For those of you who don't know The Beer Wench, (and I suspect this is very few of my readers, if any) I would encourage you to head on over to her site, pronto. Ashley is one of these people with such zeal and passion behind her work that her enthusiasm and love of the brew is most powerfully contagious. She has scoured the country in search of the finest beer, interviewed brewers, shaken up tasting events and torn up Twitter like no other. To borrow a phrase from her: She's a big deal #justsaying.

My thanks to The Beer Wench both for this posting and to the fine work she's done giving craft beer a good name. Now, ON TO THE INTERVIEW

While 52brews has been on hiatus, this is by no means an indication that the content will come to an end. Although the frequency of my blogging may be inconsistent, I do try to post more often to the photostream - so do check in there - and I have been brainstorming a little bit in terms of how to spice things up. I've been waffling on some design treatments but decided ultimately to switch back to the original site logo, however you'll get a glance at one of my wacky ideas with my next post (coming up later today).

Anyhoo - more to come, stay tuned, and have at it... for lack of something more intriguing to say. 

Thanks for checking in,

Chris

Mayhem ensued...

Okay, not really - but the beers were amazing and the company was even better.

For Cantillion, a small family-owned brewery located in Belgium's booming capital city of Brussels, tradition is upheld in the very literal sense of the word; and while "traditional" may suggest "sameness" in some circles, the lambic beers from Cantillon are among the most unique in the world.

While Cantillon was founded in 1900, many of the recipies and much of the equipment used today is original from inception. This is the only lambic brewery in Brussels of many that relocated from Payottenland in the 19th century, deemed "the most visitable Brewery in Belgium and for many the most memorable," by CAMRA's Good Beer Guide Belgium. 

With a 99 on RateBeer and an A- on Beer Advocate, Fuller's London Porter is generally regarded as one of the best in class when it comes to the standard of the style. This is a traditional porter, much milder and softer spoken than the Oflabrikken I reviewed previously. Tradition is, for all intents and puroses, sensible in this case - that London is the home of the porter.

Wikipedia provides some background on the style:

Porter or sometimes London Porter is a dark-coloured style of beer. The history and development of stout and porter are intertwined. The name was first used in the 18th century from its popularity with the street and river porters of London. It is generally brewed with dark malts. The name "stout" for a dark beer came about because a strong porter may be called "Extra Porter" or "Double Porter" or "Stout Porter". The term "Stout Porter" would later be shortened to just "Stout".