Blizzard of 78

The Blizzard of 78 lasted two days, dumped somewhere around 27 inches across New England, and shut us down. I wasn’t even a thought in my parent’s mind when this storm blew in, so I can’t say what it was like. What I can say is the storm changed the way New Englanders deal with snow. This is the reason I don’t go anywhere near a grocery store after a weather report with significant snow on it comes out. Everyone rushes out for bread and milk, sometimes in a fervor.

Honestly, I don’t get it. I mean, sure bread makes sandwiches. But there’s never a run on peanut butter and jelly to go with the bread. Does everyone have a stockpile of those jars in their cabinets? I feel the need to rethink what’s in my cupboards. I’m doing something wrong as a New Englander.

And milk, if the power goes out, you’ve got a finite amount of time to finish that gallon. I don’t know that even as a kid, we had a gallon of milk in the fridge regularly. Snowstorm gets reported- boom. A gallon of milk. I guess if you can open the door to put the carton in the snow, you’re ok. But, as the stories go, during that blizzard, that wasn’t an option in a lot of spots.

As an aside, there’s never a mention of eggs on this critical grocery list. Bread and milk but no eggs? Hello, you’re missing out on French Toast.

This might sound a bit ridiculous. Take your pick between the rush to get bread and milk or my problems with such a shortlist. This isn’t going to die out either. You’d think after the folks who lived through the event were past their grocery shopping days, there wouldn’t be a frantic push. But I know long after I’m dead, New Englanders are still going to be making the bread and milk run.

Uh, I was here to read about beer?

Right, right. Sorry. That Blizzard of 78. Whatever issues I have about the reactionary habits instilled in the regional zeitgeist, I do not have any about Wormtown’s Blizzard of 78. This is something I can absolutely get behind.

Wormtown Brewery, located in Worcester, Massachusetts, is a favorite spot of mine and CJs. The cozy brewery is a stone’s throw away from a plethora of delicious restaurants. They were founded in 2010 and are continuing to expand. Last year, they opened a satellite location in Patriot Place on Foxboro, Mass. I have to pause here for a second to apologize. I don’t think I’ve covered Wormtown yet in the Thirsty Thursday posts. How that’s happened, I have no idea. Mea culpa.

Blizzard, their winter offering, was what I was after a few weeks ago, the spring beer debacle. It’s an English style brown ale and comes in at 6%. The beer is a rich mahogany with a cream-colored head. Caramel and toffee notes from the malts hit your nose immediately when bringing the glass up to your mouth. At the very end, you get whiffs of coffee from the roasted coffee beans added to the brew from Acoustic Java, also located in Worcester.

Looking at the brew, you might think the beer will sit heavy in your mouth, but it doesn’t. Blizzard has a medium and smooth mouthfeel, allowing you to enjoy the flavors rolling over your tongue. The caramel and toffee from the nose follow down into taste. These mellow out, allowing the coffee to rise up. The drink ends in the very slightest of hop bitterness and then the malt flavors circling back around.

If I were to get stuck inside for a week with Mother Nature dumping tons of snow, I want Blizzard of 78 sitting in my fridge waiting for me to come inside from shoveling. It’s the perfect beer to sit back and let the outside world go on doing what it’s going to do.

Cheers Nerd Girls! Till next time.