Browse Tag

beer

Brew brew

Berkshire Brewing Co. Coffeehouse Porter (Massachusetts) – Deftly done, in that the coffee is quite apparent yet does not overtake the porter that it is supposed to support rather than dominate. Still, the blend adds a sort of overall caramelization…a sweetness…that not everyone will like. In smaller quantities than the large bottle format in which this comes, I think I’d like this a lot. (8/12)

Huddie Ledbetter

Berkshire Brewing Co. “Good Night Irene” West Coast Style IPA (Massachusetts) – One of the most confident IPAs I’ve tasted in a long time, relying not on extremity or amperage for attention, but instead presenting itself with utter clarity of purpose. Also, as a part-time resident of Vermont I can say this with conviction: F you, Hurricane Irene. (6/12)

Wwhhiittee

Long Trail “Brewmaster Series” Double White (Vermont) – Herds the fresh, spicy froth of white ale into realms it doesn’t wish to go, at least in this guise. “Heavy” isn’t the word for what’s wrong with this. Perhaps it would be most accurate to say that it’s too pushy. (7/12)

Gilligan’s grain

Harpoon “100 Barrel Series” Ginger Wheat (Vermont) – An only-just-decent wheat beer whose ginger is almost entirely delivered on the first tingly sip, after which the palate becomes entirely immune and this beer lacks any sort of point whatsoever. (6/12)

100 whales

Harpoon “100 Barrel Series” Black IPA (Vermont) – What it says is what you get: IPA bitterness, amped up just a bit by the blackness but by no means overwhelming, with a char and liquid smoke envelopment. Impressive. I wouldn’t want to drink a lot of this, but some is very good. (2/12)

False

Trumer Pils (Berkeley) – Clean, basic, internally-frothy and true to style, though it’s my ongoing impression that West Coast breweries do their representatives of each style in a lighter fashion than their East Coast counterparts; since I’ve “come up” drinking the latter, as it were, the former always seem a little wan. (11/11)

Corsendonkadonk

Corsendonk Christmas Ale (Belgium) – This is a style I sometimes struggle with, because the results are so often more like someone fermented a fruitcake than anything beer-like. But while there’s plenty of spice and cooked-down fruit here, it’s still ale-like. No one would deny how thick it is, but there’s enough freshness to support the weight. I like this a lot, and the appeal increases as the nights grow colder. (12/11)

Almanac

Yards “Poor Richard’s Tavern Spruce” (Pennsylvania) – Tastes like something you’d expect to flow, darkly, from a tap in a locals-only joint somewhere where they actually enjoy beer. Like drinking a tangled forest at twilight. Really quite good. (12/11)

Retort

Ellicottville Brewing Company Winter Witte (New York) – By-the-numbers white ale, with a little bit of prettified orange blossom going on in the background. Nice enough. (12/11)