Beers I Reach For

Caleb Ortiz

@boxscorecaleb

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Look, I drink like I watch games: I’ve got my go-to starters, my reliable role players, and a couple chaos agents that either win the night or send it straight to OT. These are the beers I actually order around Boston when I’m off the clock from spreadsheets and win shares charts — stuff you’ll see at bars near North Station, fridge staples, and a few nerdy picks that feel like finding a second-round steal. No style purity tests, no untappd-flexing. Just beers that have earned real minutes in the rotation.

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Beers I Reach For — 6 items
Name	Style	ABV	Brewery	Origin	When I drink it	My take
1Julius	New England IPA	6.8%	Tree House Brewing Company	Charlton, MA	Friday nights when everyone’s already talking playoffs in November.	This is the Tatum of hazy IPAs: smooth, flashy, and you kind of forget how strong it is until it’s dropped 45 on you.
2Harpoon IPA	English-style IPA	6.0%	Harpoon Brewery	Boston, MA	Pre-game near the Garden when we’re arguing about line changes more than life choices.	Old-school Boston IPA. Not hazy, not trendy, just a dependable veteran who still puts up numbers.
3Boston Lager	Vienna-style lager	5.0%	Samuel Adams	Boston, MA	Family stuff, work stuff, anytime I need a beer everyone at the table will actually say yes to.	If Boston had a default setting in beer form, this is it. Balanced, crisp, and never the wrong answer.
4Sip of Sunshine	IPA	8.0%	Lawson’s Finest Liquids	Waitsfield, VT	Snowy nights when everyone’s pretending they ‘might just do one’ and then we absolutely do not.	Feels like running a fast break in July. Huge tropical hop shot, sneaky strong — this one will dunk on you.
5Spaced Out	New England IPA	7.0%	Lamplighter Brewing Co.	Cambridge, MA	Cambridge nights when the conversation has already gone from the Bruins’ power play to outer space.	Juicy, a little dank, very ‘I swear we only meant to grab one round’ energy.
6Pilsner Urquell	Czech pilsner	4.4%	Pilsner Urquell Brewery	Plzeň, Czech Republic	Anytime I want something crisp that still has a little bite, like a good mid-range jumper.	The original pils. Clean, bitter, classic — like watching old game film and realizing the fundamentals still win.

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