It’s Monday. The day that always gets people in a grumpy mood. So you’re back at work… sipping your coffee… thinking about all the fun you had over the past weekend. Maybe you tried some new-to-you craft brews. Perhaps a new-to-you board game hit the table. Well, the weekend is over, so get to work (after you finish reading, of course).

Before we jump into the Boards & Barley I needed to share this with you. It’s Tom Vasel’s Dice Tower review of Scoville, and it ends with a bang!

It already has been viewed 6500+ times since being posted on Friday! I will not admit how many of those views are from me.

And now let’s check out the Boards & Barley I’ve enjoyed over the last couple weeks…

The Barley:

Beautiful can art – Image via binnys.com

BARLEY SPOTLIGHT:
NEW! Destihl Abbey’s Single

I cannot recall ever drinking a Belgian Single before. I’ve had Dubbels, Tripels, and Quadrupels, but never a single that I’m aware of. So when a friend cracked a can of this I thought I would enjoy it as well. It tasted very nice and had a more crisp character than the other Belgian beers I am used to. It was light in color and simple in character while possessing a Belgian flavor and style. I’d drink it again. Also, the can looked beautiful!

• Capital Supper Club
• New Glarus Spotted Cow
• Tallgrass Vanilla Bean Buffalo Sweat
• Homewbrew – Rolling Dubbels (Belgian Dubbel)
• New Belgium Slow Ride Session IPA
• NEW! Sand Creek Badger Porter
• Ale Asylum Mercy Grand Cru
• NEW! Smuttynose Durty: Mud Season Brown Ale
• Chimay Bleue Grand Reserve
• NEW! Left Hand Brewing Fade to Black Foreign Export Stout
• NEW! Island Orchard Brut Apple Cider
• Tyranena Fatal Attraction Imperial Black IPA
• NEW! Vintage Brewing Woodshed IPA

NEW BEER COUNT FOR 2015: 8

The Boards:

Makes me wish I had a beer!

BOARDS SPOTLIGHT:
NEW! Brew Crafters

My friends and I played this one in prototype form at Gen Con 2013 and really enjoyed it. It has an Agricola feel without the stress of feeding your family. The other main difference is that each round has two portions. The first utilizes workers to gather ingredients and the second utilizes brewers to brew beer or upgrade the brewery.

The thrust of the game is about brewing beer. Each game has nine different brews available, but they are different every time. Hooray for replayability! Players try to obtain ingredients so they can brew those to the best of their ability. Each brewed batch of beer provides the player with points. The winner is the player who brewed the most points!

• NEW! Legacy: The Testament of Duke de Crecy  – I really enjoyed the game. The engine building was very interesting because rather than being a game-long engine I found I built a few round-to-round engines instead
• NEW! Deus  – Another “engine builder” of sorts with interesting use of cards. I thought the game was good but I didn’t love it. I’m not sure why. I’ll have to play it again to get a better feel for it.
• Qwirkle
• Kingdom Builder
• Imperial Settlers
• Le Havre

NEW BOARD GAME COUNT FOR 2015: 5

So what Boards & Barley have you been enjoying? Anything new that really hit the spot?