nerax 2026

The New England Real Ale eXhibition (NERAX) was held again at the Lithuanian Club in South Boston. I went twice again this year, on Wednesday and Friday nights, but unfortunately, I lost my Friday notes somewhere between NERAX, dinner, and the uber ride home. 2026 is the 27th year of the NERAX, and the program points out that NERAX is the longest running cask conditioned ale festival in North America.

As usual, after the cover or entrance fee ($10  this year) and a $5 deposit for a glass (you can keep the glass, if they can keep the deposit) you're in. We got there early on Wednesday, but not as early as on Friday. On Friday we got into the hall before they rang the bell for the tap opening. Picture one of the older volunteers running around the room with a hand bell, like schoolmarms used to ring at the end of recess.

Lets get to it, and at the end, I've tried to cobble together some memories of what I tried on Friday night after reviewing the program, scribbled with Wednesday's notes, and some photos of the individual menu boards my son took. [Good thinking, son!]

American casks are listed in Blue on the white boards above the bar, UK casks are in Red, and ciders are listed in Green. No cider for me this year., altho they did have a lager or two! Up first, I went to the shortest line, and picked the lowest ABV beer on the UK list. The plan was to try as many as I could without falling over, so I sampled quarter pints (Imperial) so that about 5 ounces per sample, which were $3 each.

I tried 6. Well, 7 after I gave the 6th one back (see below for why). Most were from the UK, which is usually my goal, given that my opportunities for UK cask conditioned ales are limited. 

WEDNESDAY NIGHT 

The Taps on Wednesday Night

Guardsman - Windsor & Eton Brewery, Berkshire, England (ABV 4.2%) - Best Bitter

Clear, deep honey, maple syrup color. Bright, fresh bread on the nose. The taste kept that brightness with a sharp bitterness with smooth, dry breads and pizza crust finish. It was a great start!

Haggis Hunter - Harviestoun Brewery, Alva, Clackmannshire, Scotland (ABV 4.3%) - Amber Ale

I was going to try one from Amory, but the line was too long, so the name caught my eye! Huge, thick, foamy head with an almost undetectable scent of floral and fruit, Beautiful golden yellow color, which sparkled in the setting sun. Smooth and refreshing, with a pleasing sour bitterness that reminded my of the Belgian beer taint (basement) on the first sip, but which evaporated by the second sip. Soft and tangy mouthfeel, and a long, long bitter astringent finish. {this one kicked partway thru Friday's session, with a visit from the reaper.}

Not Now, Chief - Amory's Tomb Brewing Co. /Clover Road Brewing Company, Hudson, MA, USA (ABV 4.6%) - Best Bitter

The line was shorter so it was time for the Amory/Clover joint. Loose, lacy head on a deep gold, brassy orange cloudiness with a bread on the nose and is that musk? A second opinion from my kids and they agreed that the scent was that of a wet (but clean) dog. I'm glad that wasn't what I smelled. Lingering tang, semi-sweet with mango tartness and a sharp, bitter finish. After a short chat, I had one last sip--had it warmed a little in my hand?--the scent on the last sip: soup. What a ride!

Rowan - Deciduous Brewing Company, Newmarket, NH, USA (ABV 5.5%) - Irish Stout

Black. No head (ring of micro bubbles around the glass) on thus long pour [Thanks Bro!] Creamy, melted snow and malty molasses on the nose. Clean, dark chocolate, the 93% kind! Lush, velvety mouthfeel with a soft sparkle. Where is that carbonation hiding? Dark fruit, boiled cherries and preserves.

Fen Skater - Papworth Brewery, Earith, Cambridgeshire, England (ABV 4.0%) - Pale Golden Ale

Honey color with a fine, cream colored head. Bright fruit, lemon and pithy citrus. Clean and crisp, with a dry cracker and jam finish, balanced with a pithy bitterness.

Shere Drop - Surrey Hills Brewery, Dorking, Surrey, England (ABV 4.2%) - Best Bitter

No review 

I don't know if it was me, but I brought this back after one sip. There was a strong sulfur taste to this. When I'm making wine, that sulfur smell means something has gone wrong. I was looking forward to this one, but unfortunately, things happen with real ales sometimes. No review.

Black Grouse - Loch Lomond Brewery, Dumbarton, Dunbartonshire, Scotland (ABV 4.0%) - Black Forest Mild

Deep brown-black with glints of rose in the light and a fine, white head. Burnt caramel on the nose. Barbecue sauce which fades to Pepsi on the first sip! What sorcery is this? [That taste profile/description was confirmed by all three others in my party after a sip.] Fruits, sauce, glaze, molasses, and malty goodness. Clingy, juicy mouth feel with a syrupy, sticky finish, which then disappears in frost and snow. What a way to end. It was like dessert before dinner. Magic.

 FRIDAY NIGHT 

After a look through the program, here's what I can remember trying. I know I had 6 samples again, but I don't recall the order, and whatever came to memory I put down here. Next time, I'll be prepared with a spot in my clothes to tuck the program away with my notes. It ended up hanging out of my back pocket, and was easily lost it seems. Again, mostly UK beers for me.

Moonshine - Abbeydale Brewery, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England (ABV 4.3%) - Pale Ale

Schiehallion - Harviestoun Brewery, Alva, Clackmannshire, Scotland (ABV 4.8%) - Lager

This was rich and deep colored, with a complex flavor that still had the bones of a nice lager.

Sneck Lifter - Jennings Brewery, Cockermouth, Cumbria, England (ABV 5.1%) - Dark Ale

Described as polished mahogany in color. Don't say that to a woodworker; it was maple syrup color at best. It was good, and we were sad when it kicked. My son more than I as he hadn't tried it yet.

Planet Caravan - Remnant Brewing, Somerville, MA, USA (ABV 5.5%) - Smoked Porter

Double Stout - Hook Norton Brewery, Hook Norton, Oxfordshire, England (ABV 4.8%) - Stout

Dark and chocolatey.

The People's Smoke - Idle Hands Craft Ales, Malden, MA, USA (ABV 5.9%) - Rauchbier

Something is on fire in Malden! More smoky than the Black Grouse from Wednesday night. Wet wood smoke flavors. It was wild, in a good way.

 

Don't Fear the Reaper!

We went to Capo to eat after BOTH nights. [Great idea, Alessia!] Its just across the street, and what a treat. Loud on Friday night however, when its more of a night club after 9 it seems, but the food was really good. On Wednesday night we sat at the back where it was quiet, near the stone fireplace, with a huge elk's head hanging there. The house made pasta alla Bolonese was great, as were the apps. The wine on Friday was also great. The chef there is just one degree of separation from my oldest, who went to school with his spouse, and knows them both. He wasn't in on Wednesday.

 

 

 

empire of gold

The last book of the Daevabad Trilogy is The Empire of Gold. I can always tell when a book, or in this case a trilogy, has me; I spend extra time reading. S.A. Chakraborty did a great job with this as a first time author. Since this trilogy was released, she's done some newer things--under her full name Shannon Chakraborty--and it was one of those newer books that turned me on to her writing.

Empire was a little longer (784 pages) than the first two books, and if I have any notes on this book its that it could have probably been edited down a little. Perhaps we could have had a little less of the travelogue. One of the things I liked about this book was the restraint in the romantic engagements. If you're looking for the bodice riper version of the Arabian Nights, you're in the wrong place.* The romance is more demure in this trilogy; think Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy. There is fair amount of wrist touching and shivers.**

I was impressed with Chakraborty's world building, and she has the politics and history nailed down, as well as how the existence of the djinn is folded into our own world in ways that you and i just can't see, which gives the existence of the djinn their mythical quality. Chakraborty has taken a cue from Tolkien's writing when writing about the djinn. Instead of them being the wispy figments we see in other tales, the djinn of Daevabad are real, like the elves of Middle Earth.

If you're a fan of fantasy, swords and sorcery, and similar types of speculative fiction, you'll really enjoy this one. 

Read this book. Read all three! 

 

* If you're a fan of Shahrazad, however, you won't be disappointed about the heroine in this story. 

** If, on the other hand, you ARE interested in bodice ripping,*** rumor has it that Netflix has acquired the rights to do a series, and I'm assuming it will be a little sexier, if that series actually happens.

*** For those of you offended by the use of the term bodice ripper, I'm using it here to refer to that more modern, scandalous type of romance novel where (consensual) sexy time takes center stage, and can get pretty graphic. The term does have some harder meanings when referring to older stories which seemed to celebrate more violent scenes, ravishment, or other code words for taking advantage of women. No means no. See what I'm talking about in this one minute read here.

 

 

 

in like a lion, a snow lion

Woof! Or should I say roar, March has been crazy this year. We had snow in the yard from the January 25-26 storm, that just melted out this week! Mostly, I still have snow on the curb that has THAT snow at the bottom. And this past Tuesday, the Dingo of March, it was 74 degrees F and sunny, and we all sat in the yard.

So I haven't had the heart to write this until it started looking up a little, so even tho we rolled out the new format last year, and we're calling this the planning guide, its nearly the Ides so planning for the first part of the month was presumably don't without this guide. Not sure how you all managed! all three of you who actually read this

Year of the Horse this year, the Fire Horse more precisely. So plans for a cookout on Sunday, the 22, the Horse of March? Just two days after the Equinox, seems like a great way to celebrate Spring! Sun sets at 6:58 PM in Boston, not bad!

Today is Friday the 13th, or the Bat of March. Yes, I believe that is fitting. 

Here it is...

MARCH 2025

March 1, Sunday - Lion: Snow lion?
March 2, Monday - Tiger: 7 different sub-species of panthera tigris
March 3, Tuesday - Bear: Polar bear this year 
March 4, Wednesday - Shark: Surprised the ocean wasn't frozen this year
March 5, Thursday - Wolf: Hunted near to extinction mainly because of their feeding on livestock
March 6, Friday - Bull: Long-horns can have a 6 to 8-foot horn span
March 7, Saturday - Moose: Moose antler can span 4 to 6 feet
March 8, Sunday - Eagle: Bald Eagle wing spans to over 7-feet. Wedge-Tail (Australia) to over 9-feet. Womens Day!
March 9, Monday - Scorpion: The little ones in Italy are jet black, and IN YOUR HOUSE
March 10, Tuesday - Dingo: Are they just feral strays? 74-DEGREES today!
March 11, Wednesday - Hawk: Smaller than eagles, not as slim or pointed as falcons
March 12, Thursday - Lynx: They have tufts of hairs on their ear tips to help fine tune hearing
March 13, Friday - Bat: flying mammals. Like dragons, but dragons are lizards, so... like nothing else?
March 14, Saturday - Monkey: Monkeys have tails, apes don't. HBD Coleen!
March 15, Sunday - Snake: Boas and Pythons still have vestigial pelvic bones.
March 16, Monday - Ox: The plural of Ox is Oxen
March 17, Tuesday - Elephant: According to my son, trunks come in left- and right-handedness
March 18, Wednesday - Raven: Largest of the passerines; perching birds
March 19, Thursday - Stag: Hart, or buck
March 20, Friday - Crab: They got 10 legs! Doesn't seem right. First day of spring! 
March 21, Saturday - Goat: Goat headed  Pagan or gnostic idol Baphomet is the origin of the goat-satan connection
March 22, Sunday - Horse: Part of the Equidae family, along with zebras and asses
March 23, Monday - Pig: The magical animal
March 24, Tuesday - Dog: There are about 200 different dog breeds
March 25, Wednesday - Dolphin: Flipper was a bottlenose dolphin, played on the TV show by 5 different animals
March 26, Thursday - Rooster: One rooster for every ten hens is the rule. Harem say what?
March 27, Friday - Turtle: Leatherback sea turtles can reach 8-feet and 1100 pounds, in metric that's a lot
March 28, Saturday - Toad: they spend more time on the ground but they do like the mud
March 29, Sunday - Robin:  American or Red Breasted Robin (orange!) is a thrush
March 30, Monday - Rabbit: SO much rabbit poop after the snow melted. So much. HBD Kelton!
March 31, Tuesday - Lamb: Easter is just 5 days away! Light the grill

kingdom of copper

This is book 2 of the Daevabad Trilogy by S. A. Chakraborty. I had taken this book out a few weeks ago by mistake, not knowing it was book 2, so I returned it and got the first one. By the time I read that one and returned it, this book was lent out, but through the magic of the inter-library loan program, I got an email a day later that this book had arrived from one of the other libraries in the North of Boston Library Exchange (NOBLE) network. if you haven't been to the library, then go--a few times--and see what they can do

Sometimes the second book in a trilogy feels like filler, or just a bridge between the intro in book 1 and the climax in book 3, but this one didn't feel like that, and I think that is especially nice given that this is the first work of this author, who now goes by her given name Shannon Chakraborty. 

Any great adventure story has something difficult for the protagonist(s) to overcome; the big baddie, the evil plot, the end of the world, and this one is no different. The Kingdom of Copper fleshes out the personalities of the main characters, tests their resolve, and uncovers parts of their personalities that didn't come to light, or at least not so clearly, in the first book. This volume also introduces the big problem. And its much bigger than we were lead to believe in the first book. 

This one ends in an almost literal cliffhanger, so while the idea is that each book in a trilogy can or could be read independent of the others, this one does leave you hanging. But I was also left looking forward to the last book in the trilogy (which I took out from the library at the same time, and I am currently reading!)