The other night we visited with some friends. I brought over a couple bottles of beer to share with them. One of those was a bottle of Dogfish Head Theobroma from the first batch. The beer had originally been a bit drier with the chili pepper coming through a bit more in the back. The aged version had changed quite a bit. The heat from the pepper had subsided, though was still there just enough to give you a slight tingle. The beer had sweetened up quite a bit. I remember when we first tried it, someone suggested that it wouldn’t be a good one to age. I disagree. It was nice and malty with a hint of cocoa and that slight tingle from the pepper. If you have some bottles of this, I suggest aging one or 2 of them. It’s a great beer and I thought it was even better aged. Susan did not like it at all when it was fresh, but she loved it aged. Of course, she doesn’t like peppers or spicy things, which would explain that.
Archive for the 'Ale' Category
Two nights ago, I decided it was time to finally crack open a couple of very special bottles of beer that I had acquired. They each stand near the top of their own specific styles of beer and, in my opinion, near the top of the beer world in general. They’re both from New England breweries, which makes them even that much more special to me.
The first beer was the famous Kate the Great from Portsmouth Brewery in Portsmouth, NH. This small brewpub in this small New England city first made headlines when they released their imperial stout a couple years ago. Since then, the hype has grown and the release day has become a national event. I attended it in February and bought my two bottles of the 900 available that day. While the beer on tap was simply amazing and beyond comparison, the bottled version at about 7.5 months old was just as amazing. This is easily the best beer I have ever tried (even when compared to Dark Lord Imperial Stout from Three Floyds in Indiana or Westvleteren 12, the rare Belgian quad only available at the monastery). It’s chocolate, roasted, dark fruit, and even a slight cognac flavors meld together to create a true work of art. The beer is thick, black with a slight ruby color and a small dark tan head. If you haven’t tried this beer, you should do yourself a favor and give in to the hype. The beer is better than the hype (unlike those other two I mentioned).
The second beer is a slightly lesser known beer from a lesser known brewery in Portland, ME. The beer is the 1260 Triple IPA from Stone Coast brewery. The brewery closed last August shortly after this beer was released to the public. The brewery was famous for its 420 IPA and 840 Imperial IPA, along with a host of other great beers. I was saddened when they announced they were closing as the 420 was my favorite IPA from the New England breweries. It was a New England beer with west coast flavor. The 840 was a great double IPA with big bold flavors and a hint of caramel mixed in. The 1260 built upon the 840 with an even bigger flavor, and even though the bottle is over a year old (it was a birthday present last year), the hops were still very present. Upon reading the bottle, you learned that the beer was actually brewed in 2007 and aged for a year before they bottled it and released it to the public. The hops and malt flavors in this beer were terrific and perfectly balanced, creating one of the best double IPAs I have ever tried. I’d take it over a Pliny the Elder any day (have never had the pleasure of Pliny the Younger). The beer is a red amber color with a nice fluffy head. It’s one of the darker IPAs I have seen. It had some of that caramel flavor from the 840, but the hops of the 420. It was perfect in every way, even after a year in my cellar. Stone Coast is the one brewery I will miss. They were one of my favorite New England breweries. Luckily, the Sunday River Brewing Co. is still alive and kicking in Bethel, ME. You can still get some of the Stone Coast beers there, including the 420 and the Alt, which is also fantastic.
I’ve made a decision that was probably a few years in the making. I’m gonna take a break from Stone beers for a while. This came to me after trying their 13th Anniversary ale. It was a boring beer. Did I enjoy it? Of course. I love hoppy beers. My problem is that it tasted just like every other hoppy beer that Stone makes. It was too similar to their IPA, Ruination, Arrogant Bastard, and one of my favorites, Double Bastard. The hop profile is almost exactly the same. Maybe I’m just tired of hoppy beers (not true), but besides from their collaborations and stouts, Stone has not made a beer worth buying, in my opinion.
I like most of the beers that Stone makes. They’re all great beers. Stone, however, has become such an overrated brewery that I don’t feel like supporting them until they can do something on their own that’s different. So I say to you, Greg Koch, cut the hops and branch out a bit. Stone 13th Anniversary is one of the most boring beers I have tried recently.
Now flame away…
I just wanted to link to this article from the Wall St. Journal on lambics. Lambics make up some of my favorite beers. I love the sour, musty, and funky flavors.
Tracking an Ancient Belgian Beer [wsj.com]
There’s also a great video to go along with the article.
I went to a tasting of High and Mighty Beer Co.’s beers last week. They were definitely worth mentioning. The brewing company is owned by Will Shelton, of Shelton Bros. fame, and brews their beers at Paper City in Holyoke, MA. He was explaining each beer as he poured them and explained his brewing philosophy and where he hopes to take his brewery.
He explained that he didn’t want to brew the same thing as everyone else. In his age (which, based on looks alone, is no more than 50), he isn’t interested in drinking high alcohol beers and getting wasted off just a couple. He wanted beers he could drink all night and not get plastered. At the same time, he wanted something full of flavor, but different from what everyone else is brewing. Instead of brewing IPAs, pale ales, big stouts, or crazy Belgian-inspired beers, he brewed some original recipes that don’t stick to any single style.
He started us off with what he said was his favorite of his beers, Beer of the Gods. BeerAdvocate labels it an American blonde ale. Will described it as a cross between a German altbier and a kolsch. It’s an ale that he cold conditions. It’s a very tasty beer with a nice hop flavor from the German hops. It’s very refreshing and would be excellent on a warm spring or summer day. This was also my favorite of the beers we tried that night. I’m not sure I would have called it a blonde ale, but I can’t really think of where else I’d label it. It has similar tastes to a pilsner, though it’s a bit more malty and not as crisp. Not to mention, it’s an ale. It’s too hoppy to be a kolsch. American blonde ale is probably the only place it does fit, but it should not be reviewed as one.
The second beer, Purity of Essence, is what he calls an IPL, or India Pale Lager. It’s basically a hoppy lager. When I tried it, it reminded me of a toned down version of Sam Adams Imperial Pilsner. It tastes like an IPA but has a crispness to it that you can only get from a lager. BA classifies it as American Malt Liquor, but I would hardly put it there. It’s more of an American pilsner, going with the Imperial Pilsner similarities. As Will explained, he’s not brewing within any style guidelines, and it works. The beer is really good and definitely worth seeking out.
The third beer was my least favorite. It’s called St. Hubbins Abbey. Will described it as a saison brewed with coriander and orange peel, which are usually found in witbiers. The beer was good and the spices were evident. It didn’t taste much like a saison to me, but the flavors worked. Again, it was something original, but still tasty. BA classifies this one as a dubbel, but once again, it is most definitely not a dubbel. I would probably have classified it as a saison.
Finally, we had his chocolate stout called Two Headed Beast. This beer was excellent. The chocolate flavors were right on and it was well balanced. It didn’t taste overly chocolatey and it didn’t taste like chocolate syrup. It was a nice natural chocolate flavor. This is probably the only one we had that was brewed to a specific style.
It was very refreshing to try so many beers that were brewed outside of style and weren’t high in alcohol. I think the highest was about 6-6.5% ABV, which is nothing in today’s standards. The beers are all solid. They’re priced at about $5/22 oz. bomber. And they’re all definitely worth the money and your time. Will had mentioned that he hopes to have his own brewery at some point with a canning line. That would be awesome. Nothing better than more craft beer in cans. If you have seen these on the shelf and wondered what they were, try them. They’re good.
So, now you know the reason why I held off on my review of Portsmouth Brewery. I extended my vacation by a day and went up to Portsmouth for Kate the Great on Monday with a bunch of other beer geeks from RI. In fact, I was the designated driver of a 12 passenger van. I’m sure the question on anyone’s mind who hasn’t tried Kate the Great is “How is it?” Well… it’s awesome, but I’ll get to more on that later.
The final day of the Maine trip, we drove back from the Olde Saco Inn. Since we had a huge breakfast, none of us were hungry for a while. We decided it’d be a good idea to stop for lunch in Portsmouth, since it was already 2:00. We figured the Portsmouth Brewery would be the best place… and it was. We had to wait a little bit for a table, but it was worth the wait. Our hunger had crept up to us by then. We had a great waitress. The food was excellent. I had a chicken pesto sandwich with tortillas and salsa rather than fries. I was all fried out by then. I tried their Flanders Red with my lunch. The beer was great (though some disliked it on Monday, I still thought it was excellent). It was a bit tart and a little musty. Apparently, it’s not infected, but rather utilizes a sour mash to get that flavor. I still thought it was really good. Everyone else got their Oatmeal Stout, which is also excellent.
Anyway, back to Kate the Great Day… We got up bright and early and met at 6:00 to head up to Portsmouth that morning. We arrived around 8:30 to find that they had already started handing out calendar dates. They use page-a-day calendars as their numbers for the beer and call everyone up a month at a time. It actually worked out really smoothly and there weren’t any problems. By the time we had arrived, they were up to the beginning of July. We knew we would get our bottles because they released 900 bottles and there was a 2 bottle limit per person. After we got our bottles, we headed to the Friendly Toast for some breakfast. The place had no idea what was coming. They had 1 waiter on and a line of people out the door. They ended up calling in more and things started to calm down a bit. I had french toast, which was huge, and pretty good, but nothing overly special (the breakfast at Julian’s is much better).
Once we were nicely stuffed with food, which many of us failed to finish due to the sheer quantity, we headed out and wandered around Portsmouth while we waited for the brewery to open at 11:30. Around 11, we got in line outside the brewery and waited for the doors to open. As soon as we made it to the door, we headed to the downstairs bar, which I had no idea existed, and sat ourselves down right at the bar. It worked out great as a bunch of people we knew who had heckled us for waiting in line were without seats.
We hung out, chatted with various people, drank some beer, and killed some time before 1:14 when they tapped Kate. They had some great beers on, including their Oatmeal Stout dry-hopped with Columbus hops on cask, which we killed and was followed by their Dubbled dry-hopped with Saaz hops on cask. Both were excellent. Being the designated driver, I drank mostly water throughout the day.
As 1:14 arrived, the place went nuts, the bartenders went crazy filling glasses, and we were the first to get to try Kate the Great. The beer is a very thick black imperial stout. It has a lot of chocolate flavor to it, similar to, but not quite the same as, Southern Tier Choklat. There are some roasted undertones, a little coffee bitterness, some fruitiness, and a slight alcoholic warming. The beer, according to the bartender, is about 12.5% ABV. It drank like it had 9%. It was very heavy and I’m not sure I could have drunk more than one of them if I wanted to. While the party was going on, we all eventually got up and bought our 2 bottles and kept chatting with other beer geeks from RI and CT and all over New England and some from around the country.
By 3:30, it was time for more food. I ordered the steak and cheese, which was phenomenal. I don’t know that I’ve ever had a steak and cheese sub that was this good. It was juicy, full of flavor, and completely hit the spot. I washed it down with their Dirty Blonde Ale, as I was looking for something a bit lighter. The beer was an excellent blonde ale with a nice flavor and finish, but not heavy. The others ended up getting food and as things started to wind down, we decided it was time to head out. We made it back to RI around 7:00, but decided to head to Julian’s because they had Abbaye de Saint Bon Chien on tap, an expensive beer and supposedly the most expensive keg ever purchased in RI. That beer was also excellent, though in quite a different manner. It had a nice vinous quality to it and tasted like a cross between a gueuze, a Flanders red, and a biere de garde. At 15% ABV, it was strong, but the alcohol stayed hidden. The beer also changed quite a bit as it warmed up. It was a nice finish to a great day.
If you’re in New England and driving along 95, stop by the Portsmouth Brewery. It’s easy to find and the food and beer make it worth a stop. Portsmouth is a cool little town. It reminded me quite a bit of a smaller version of Burlington, VT. If you were at Kate the Great Day and got your 2 bottles, here’s a little tip. One of the guys in our group was chatting with Tod Mott, the brewer. He suggested you set the beer down for a year before opening it. That’s likely what I’ll do, though it will be very tempting to open. It’s a really good stout, deserving of the hype, and, in my opinion, the #1 spot on BA. Westvleteren 12 isn’t quite as deserving.
No vacation would be worthwhile without beer involved. So, since we had 4 beer geeks in the car, there were a few stops.
Gritty McDuff’s Brewpub, Freeport, ME
On our ride up to Sunday River, we stopped in Freeport to visit the flagship LL Bean retail store(s). Since it was lunchtime, we decided to stop into Gritty’s Brewpub just down the street. The place is big and pretty open. There are 2 halves, one with a bigger bar than the other (it’s got the casks). The side we sat in had the smaller bar with just some taps and regular drinks. The tables were mostly picnic style tables, kind of like a German bar. The food was excellent. I had a burger that was fantastic. The others in our group also really enjoyed their food. They had their IPA and Scottish Ale on cask. I got the IPA, Susan got the Scottish. The IPA was awesome, but the Scottish was way off. They also had the Black Fly Stout on nitro, which was also excellent. We stopped by the gift shop, picked up a mini-keg of the stout and got some t-shirts.
Sunday River Brewing Co., Bethel, ME
At the end (or beginning, depending on which way you’re going) of Sunday River Rd. is the Sunday River Brewing Co. This brewpub used to be owned by Stone Coast, before they went out of business. It’s now the only place you can still get fresh Stone Coast beer, and what good beer it is. I had the Alt and the IPA (still the good old 420 IPA). Others in the group got the Red, which was also very good. Their food is excellent. They do a great BBQ and their house-made pastrami is awesome. It’s also really cheap. Pints are normally $3.50, but on Wednesdays from 3-7, they’re just $1.50. If you’re in the area, SRBC is a “don’t miss”.
Shipyard Brewhaus, Whitecap Lodge, Sunday River Resort, Newry, ME
While this isn’t an actual brewpub or brewery, Shipyard has a bar at the Sunday River resort. It serves beers other than Shipyard. It’s a little on the pricey side with regards to the food, which is pretty good, but nothing special. However, they have pretty much every Shipyard beer available (with the exception of the Pugsley’s Signature Series). The beer is good, and pretty cheap. Pitchers were just $15. They had the Brown Ale, which is a special one, and it’s a good one. They also had their Bluefin Stout, which was also excellent. If you’re at Sunday River, you should stop by the Shipyard Brewhaus at Whitecap Lodge for some beer (though you can skip the food here).
And now… last but most certainly not least… (in fact, I saved the best for last)…
Ebenezer’s Pub, Lovell, ME
Note: I’m going to include a review of an inn here as well, because it’s necessary to spend a night if you plan on visiting Ebenezer’s.
The last night of our trip, we stayed at the Olde Saco Inn in Fryeburg, ME. The inn is off Rt. 5, but way back in the woods. In fact, the street wasn’t found on my GPS, probably because it’s really just a driveway for the inn. The inn is gorgeous and the innkeepers are super nice and friendly. They were very welcoming and accommodating. The rooms were nice. There was a huge fireplace in the middle of the first floor, which kept the whole place nice and warm and smelled fantastic. They were baking cookies when we arrived. The morning after, we woke up to the great smell of maple and bacon. Since breakfast was included, we also got a huge meal. It was well worth the cost. It should also be noted that they run a shuttle service in conjunction with Ebenezer’s. You drive to Ebenezer’s, drink a lot of great beer, someone from Ebenezer’s will drive you back to the inn, the next morning, the innkeeper will bring you back to get your car.
Now onto the stuff you wanted to know… Ebenezer’s!
Ebenezer’s Pub is a small restaurant and bar also set back in the woods (apparently, it’s on a golf course, but in the middle of the winter, you can’t see anything but white). A lot of their business was snowmobilers, for whom they kept the heat down (my only complaint as it was quite chilly in there). It was packed when we arrived, so we ordered some beer and waited for a table (Susan wasn’t able to sit at a bar height table because of her knee). The tap list looks like you’re at a bar in Belgium that also serves a few American craft beers. It ranged from the common Stella Artois (which I doubt he carries often) to the rare Black Albert and Cantillon St. Lamvinus. In fact, the only non-craft beer on the list was Stella. He did have bottles of Bud and Corona, probably to keep him in business. Most of the people in there were drinking something other than the great draft beers they had. After we ordered food, one of the waitresses started talking to us and bringing us samples of some of the great beers on tap, including Black Albert and a couple Cantillon lambics. We drank a lot of beer, more from samples than actual orders. They had Samichlaus Helles on draft as well as a 2004 Stone Old Guardian Barleywine. Both were excellent. The 4 Cantillons I had (2006 Framboise, 2006 Kriek, Rose Gambrinus, and St. Lamvinus) were excellent, though not quite as sour as they are from the bottle. The Black Albert was simply amazing. It was a little light in body, but the flavor was awesome. The bartender had also brought us a bunch of samples. The staff couldn’t have been better.
Ebenezer’s is a must visit for anyone who loves beer. While they may not have the most taps or the biggest bottle list, they make up for it 10 times over with their staff. We didn’t even get to meet the owner, Chris.
This doesn’t include all the beer we drank at the condo (Shipyard Export Ale, Geary’s Pale Ale, Geary’s HSA, Sebago Frye’s Leap IPA, Schlafly Bourbon Barrel Imperial Stout, and more…). It also doesn’t include the stop we made for lunch at the Portsmouth Brewery on our drive home. I’ll write more about that next as it’ll include a bit more than just that lunch stop.
It was short lived, but I recently learned that a brewery had opened in my hometown of Branford, CT. When I was down for Thanksgiving, I decided to check Coastal Wine & Spirits for some beers I can’t get in RI. I discovered Carlson Craft Brewery. Upon closer inspection, I saw that they were from Branford.
I picked up a bottle of each of their 3 main beers (Coastal didn’t carry their Yule Ale) – Gamma Öl (Old Ale), Bärnsten Öl (English Ale), and Vëte Öl (Wheat Ale). I have since tried the Old Ale and the English Ale.
The Old Ale, at around 5% isn’t like most Old Ales. In fact, I’d classify it more as a Scottish Ale. It’s tasty, a little smoky, but not much of an Old Ale. Regardless, it’s good and worth trying if you can still find some.
The English Ale was fantastic. It’s an English Pale Ale and tastes just like it came out of a cask (assuming you let it warm to the proper serving temperature). It’s got low carbonation, but lots of flavor.
Upon further investigation, I learned that the brewery is a 1 barrel brewhouse, basically converted from the brewer’s homebrew system. He kept it at 1 barrel to make taxes easier (taxes are based on the number of barrels). Unfortunately, because of the economy and some issues with the landlord, the brewery closed shortly after the first of the year. It had only existed for about a year or so from what I could tell. I wish Andrew Carlson the best of luck in his future endeavors and can’t wait to see what he does next in the beer industry. He’s a talented brewer.
I’ve had some aged beers recently and thought I might write a little about them. I will add that my beer closet is the perfect temperature. I put a thermometer in there and the temperature is always between 46 and 53. I couldn’t ask for a better place to keep beer. I just hope it doesn’t get much higher than 60 in the summer, though I don’t expect it to except on really hot days.
Tonight, I had Jefferson’s Reserve Bourbon Barrel Stout from Bluegrass Brewing. I happened upon these at Coastal Wine& Spirits in Branford, CT. I picked up a 4 pack because it sounded good, and was a 2006 bottling. With almost 3 years on the bottle, I have to say it was pretty good. It wasn’t mind-blowingly awesome, but it was good. I’m not a big fan of hot bourbon flavor in my beer, this had just enough. I think it was the stout part of it that didn’t do much for me. Regardless, it was worth buying the 4 pack. I gave 1 away as a gift and I’ve got 2 more. They’re tasty, but nothing special.
I have also recently had a Great Divide Hibernation Ale from last winter. It aged nicely, but seemed a bit lacking. I don’t know if they just need more age, but it had a bit more flavor fresh. I’ve got a couple more in the cellar. I’ll have to try another and decide if I really like it or not.
I also got to try the most recent Sam Adams Utopias, from 2007 I believe. This is one amazing beer. It’s different and nothing like a beer, but it’s still a beer. Lots of fruit flavors, like cherry, some maple, a little burn from the alcohol (no surprise, at 25%). Each sip had something different going on. Next time they release this, I’m picking up a bottle.
Here “noteworthy” does not necessarily mean it was good. It also means it was notably bad. Since this is a re-cap of a lot of beers I’ve had, but failed to review, don’t expect full reviews other than some brief notes.
I’ll start out with one of the better beers I had, Jolly Pumpkin Bam Noire. This is the first beer I’ve tried from Jolly Pumpkin, a brewery for which I have heard and mixed reviews. The bottle calls it a dark farmhouse ale. It’s basically how it tasted. My bottle was aged a bit and the beer was fantastic. It had a nice funky flavor with some sour notes. I’ll likely try to seek this one out again.
We’ll come back to New England for the next one, Rock Art Double Smoked Porter. This, as it tasted, is basically a beefed up version of their Midnight Madness Smoked Porter, another excellent beer. The Double Smoked Porter is part of their Extreme Beer Series and it’s got quite the flavor. It’s not quite as smoky as the Midnight Madness, but it’s full of flavor. My bottle was probably almost a year old, and maybe some of the smoke had disappeared in the aging. Lots of nice roasted flavor, some coffee and chocolate notes, and some dark fruit. I need to get myself more of this one.
I’ll put the biggest disappointment in the middle. Harpoon had announced a Chocolate Stout as part of their winter variety 12 pack. I was very disappointed by this one, though Susan liked it. It tasted like Hershey’s syrup with alcohol, only it was a very astringent Hershey’s syrup. I managed to drink the whole bottle and it was, a bit better warmer, but I was not impressed. That being said, I have heard from others who really liked it.
I’ll leave off on a high note with another good beer from Vermont. Magic Hat Roxy Rolles is a great Amber Ale and a great winter beer. It’s got a nice hops/malt balance. It’s really just a simple beer, but nice and flavorful without being overpowering. It’s nice to see Magic Hat brewing some better beers again.
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