Bill's Beer Blog

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Wachusett Country Ale again

I did get a six pack of the Wachusett Country Ale and it's every bit as great as the first one I tested.

We had an Italian Festa at the local church down the street, and this brew goes well with sausage and pepper sandwiches. I wanted to be sure I had accurate results, so I tested it two nights in a row. ;-)

Wachusett - Country Ale

This is Wachusett Country Ale, the third of the assorted six pack I an trying. Their web site calls it a pale ale, and doesn't tell me the alcohol level, although it is called a "light pale ale." This sample was server at about 40F in a 0.5L mug.

On the pour

A nice yellow color, not quite as red as the image on the web site, at least as displayed on my color corrected display, but pleasing. The head is nice, about 1/4 inch (or a cm in Canada), mostly small bubbles but a few somewhat larger bubbles. I only mention this because I've been drinking a few other things which had all tiny bubbles, and the difference came to mind. The arome is a nice malt, not heavy but tempting and slightly sweet. My wife agreed on the aroma, but passed on a good opinion on the taste due to being in the middle of a glass of fruit juice when I asked her for a "smell and tell" opinion.

The first taste

A lot more hop than I would have suspected from the aroma, not big hop like an IPA, but there's no doubt that this is a pale ale. They don't identify the hops, I'm guessing Cascade or Simcoe, but as a former boss used to say, "I made that up." In any case, not enough hops to drive off any serious beer drinker, but certainly enough to be interesting. The aftertaste, or "finish" if you prefer, is a slightly swet malt flavor, very pleasant and refreshing on a warm day.

Overall impression

I added this to my shopping list after the first taste, this is the best brew I've tried so far from this brewery, and one I want to keep on hand to share with friends who enjoy robust brew with less hop character than my usual personal choice. I can't tell you how the head lasted, there was a trail of foam on the sides of the mug, but it was the first on a hot day, after a moderately active morning, and total drinking time was only a few minutes.

This is going on my very short list of brews to bring to a picnic or party when I want to wean people off megabrewed commercial beer. The only negative is that they currently distribute only in Massachusetts and New York State, so if you aren't here a specialty supplier may be needed.

Ommegang Witte - wheat Ale

At a recent tour of the Ommegang Brewery I had a chance to sample most of their current brews. I have to say that while the woman dispensing the brews was very competent, she was not provided with any means to keep each brew at optimal serving temperature, so I was not 100% sure I would like this in the 12oz bottle as well as I did her sample. Not to worry, this was my favorite of all the samples, and it is delicious at any temperature!

About the brewing process

This is a wheat ale, rather than a wheat beer. Some brewers use a lager yeast, bottom ferment, clarify the product with Irish Moss or similar and filtration as well, and wind up with something that looks like Budweiser® but has a totally different flavor, since Bud is made with rice. Ommegang uses an ale yeast, top fermenting, and that tends to make the resulting brew slightly cloudy. Because ale yeasts can be fermented at a higher temperature than beer yeasts (note "can be" not "must be"), the fermentation time is shorter, which is good for production, and the yeast often adds flavor, which can be anything from a fruit or citrus tang to the taste of moldy socks. Other brewers do use ale yeast in brewing Hefeweizen, a traditional European style.

On the pour

Great, cloudy but not murky, like pulp in orange juice you like it or you don't. Nice head, and a light "beer" aroma, hinting malt and hops, and perhaps a bit of fruity overtone. The head is nice, enough but not too much, and it lasts as long as the brew, which is often not long.

If you think Hefeweizen when you think of wheat beer, this isn't it. The flavors are different, and the use of spices is subtle but noticeable. I particularly like the way the flavor evolves in your mouth from the initial taste of the ale on the tongue to an aftertaste back farther in the mouth and throat. This 5.1% ABV, you will taste it, but it doesn't dominate the overall impression.

Overall

I like this a lot. I have another wheat ale in the queue, and summer is a great time to test how well a brew fares in fighting the heat. This is my personal favorite of the excellent Ommegang brews.

Brew Trip Announcement

We recently took a trip to Cooperstown NY, primarily to visit the three museums there. That's the home of the Baseball Hall of Fame, the Farmer's Museum, and the Fenimore Museum.

Also in the area are Brewery Ommegang and Cooperstown Brewing. I'll be doing a report on each soon.

Quinn's Amber Ale - label

I get the message!

People would like me to add a label scan to reviews. Noted, no more mail needed.
I am trying to get caught up on turning my notes into postings.

Enjoy!

Wachusett - Quinn's Amber Ale

As part of a mixed six pack, I just tried Wachusett "Quinn's Amber Ale'.

First impressions

Nice head, good carbonation, slightly cloudy. Instead of the usual deep red color caused by carmelization in a red, this was more of a light cranberry juice hue. Not unpleasant, but lighter than I might have expected. The aroma was lighter than I would have expected, as well. Above the nice even layer of small bubbles was... not much. You could tell it was beer, but there was no malt, hop, caramel, fruit or sour character.

and the taste

was also lighter than I expected. There was no more than a hint of caramel, so little I have to wonder if the color comes from toasting the malt or just "something else" to add color. The flavor was a balance of hops and malt, but there was precious little of it.

Overall

Pretty pedestrian brew. It looks nice, it tastes okay in sort of a slightly watery way, it just isn't robust. Note: I like big character in my brew, big hops or big malt, or in certain styles big fruit or yeast impressions. I want balance in flavor, but lots of flavor to balance. People who like more subtle brews may be quite happy with this one.

Wachusett Nut Brown Ale

This is the 2nd of the six pack of Wachusett brews I picked up the other day. The style is a "Nut Brown Ale," a common brew in upstate New York.

On the pour

This brew looks great! It has a nice dark brown color and a rich creamy head, full but not not so thick it's all head. With a light behind the mug I see that the color is a dark amber rather than a true brown (which is more of a yellow if you're an artist or graphics person). And the aroma... was not right. Typically a nut brown ale will have some malt, some spice, maybe a wisp of hops. This had a sour smell, not a bad sour smell, but the aroma you get from some yeast used for lagers and hefeweizen, and other brews.

The flavor

Another surprise, this didn't have the big caramel taste I would expect from the color, and in fact didn't have much malt to be found. There was a bit of tingly hop on the tip of the tongue and front of the roof of the mouth, nothing in the back of the mouth, and essentially no aftertaste.

Overall

Terms like bland and boring come to mind. If looks make a beer, this was great, but unless your taste buds were shot off in the war, you are going to want more flavor and character than this brew delivers. I can't think of any foods or bar snacks which would improve or be improved by this one, I bought a bottle, several of us shared it, it got a unanimous rating of boring.

Sorry Wachusett, I give this one a failing grade, it lacks enough character to even seriously dislike it.

Wachusetts Summer Ale

This is the first of six new (to me) brews from Wachusetts. I'm going to try them over the next week and then write an entry from my notes on each.

the pour

A nice yellow color on the pour, lots of bubbles coming up, the head was just over a quarter inch (1 cm) and stayed until the mug was done. Serving temperature was about 40F, summer ales are supposed to be cold! This was nice and clear, and I have to say I looked hard at it, because the color is very much like a hefewizen and I expect cloudiness when I see that color. It's described as "a wheat beer with lemon flavor," and looks the way I expect a wheat beer to look.

aroma and taste

Nice sour aroma, but not strong. If you weren't looking for aroma you could just start drinking this without ever noticing that there was any. The taste matches the aroma, subtle to the point of being too subtle. I like big bold flavors in my brew, but my wife was in favor of it as a first "come in out of the heat" drink, The ABV is not obviously listed, but I neither tasted or felt any, so it's probably safe to down a few quickly when you're hot and thirsty.

impression

As long as you are looking for a drink which is identifiable as beer without too much character to gulp, and not enough alcohol to be felt, this is okay. It may actually qualify as a low alcohol beer, that's a legitimate thing to have around if you're keeping a very clear head.

Okay for what it's intended to be, I may keep a few around just to offer people in hot weather.

Saranac - Pomegranate Wheat

Since I seldom pass up a chance to try some new beer, and I respect the brewers at Saranac, when they released a Pomegranate Wheat Beer I had to try it. The mix of fruit flavors with wheat beer is one area of American brewing where even some of the more competent brewers have done a test batch, tasted the result, and then slapped a neat name and spiffy label art on the result and ignored the urging of their self-respect to pour it out.

So here's the label, with a black bear wearing shades and juggling pomegrantes, not a good sign, but the name is pretty direct, and no one can claim they didn't know what went into it.

On the pour

Cloudy, but not murky, I don't expect crystal clear from a wheat beer, even when there are no other organic molecules in play, so this isn't a fault. And the head was thin, although it did look smooth and inviting. During the 10-15 minutes I had this brew in my mug the head stayed thin but not gone. That's not unexpected for wheat beer, either.

The aroma, well it was pretty subtle to say the least. Many of these fruited wheat beers have an overpowering aroma of the fruit to assure you that "This is real fruit beer." Saranac did put in the fruit, but maybe it was the stealth pomegranate they used. Wheat beer generally isn't overpowering in aroma, so I didn't expect a lot of malt, or hops, and I was not sure what a pomegranate should smell like anyway, I didn't get much feedback by sniff.

The taste

Well, it was time to taste it, and I took a good gulp or two and then thought about the taste. The flavor hit me at the front of the tongue, and the back of the mouth. I could taste the pomegranate, but I think Saranac used too much subtlty here, the taste didn't really separate itself from wheat beers of any other competent brewer. I was prepared for too much fruit character, but this is a first, most brewers either get it right or get too much and hide the basic flavor of the beer.

Overall

I hate to say it but I was disappointed by this brew. I had another, and I let it warm a bit before opening, it still went down as well as any other wheat beer, but I still had no particular good or bad feature to note. It wasn't particularly filling, it would be refreshing on a hot day, so what? Saranac has made some brews I didn't like, but that was preference, not because the brew lacked enough character to make me care one way or the other. I didn't dislike it, but worse than that I didn't care.

I didn't like this one, and don't recommend it.

Saranac - Black Diamond Bock

When I saw that the Brewer's Choice earlier this year was "Black Diamond Bock" I had to try some. The label says the name comes from the black diamond (expert) ski trails, and of course here in upstate New York the big winter pastimes are skiing and shoveling (and drinking beer). Since I usually like Saranac brews, I got a six pack.

The pour

Not as dark as I expected. Very clear. Moderate head, although it kept a thin head all the way through the time I had it under observation. The aroma was malty, not a heavy malt like a stout or porter, but both malt and hops were detectable. Since this was brewed with lager yeast it isn't surprising that it looks like a lager, albeit a reddish one.

The taste

It's a lager. Very smooth, the label says aged for months, with light hopping which starts at the tip of the tongue and finishes on the back of the roof of the mouth. This is not a "bold statement" beer, as some brewers produce to set their bock apart from the rest, whoever that might be. If I was going to characterize this beer, I would say polite but not boring. The malt and hops are really well balanced, but it isn't bland for it. I think this one would go very well with food, almost any food.

I enjoyed this brew, although I tend to prefer a bit less balance if I'm just sitting down to mix beer with conversation. And if I was going to drink this as a thirst quencher in really hot weather, I like lager with a bit more bittering hop bite. But beers with lots of character frequently go with one type of food and not well with others. This bock seems likely to go well with almost any food, and will be used with meals until the supply runs out.

3 hoppy brews - Saranac Imperial IPA

In addition to their IPA, Saranac also offers an "Imperial IPA," with more and different hopping and a bit more ABV. Like the IPA, this brew is currently limited in distribution, although Saranac has given in and will brew it all year instead of occasionally. Unlike the IPA, this brew is for people who are into IPA, it's both very complex and moderately costly, about $9/six pack.

On the pour

Clear, good head, complex aroma of assorted hops. The aroma is inviting, but you might not guess from that alone that it's an IPA. If it seems that I give good marks on appearance and aroma to everything, it's because I rarely bother to review anything I don't like, not because I don't occasionally get a murky beer. Actually one being reviewed in a week or so.

The taste

Unlike many "Imperial" brews, this one didn't come from just adding more hops and malts to the IPA recipe and standing back while it fermented. This is the most complex hopping I have ever tasted, and the flavor is such that people, including me, comment that it tastes slightly thick and smooth, like diluted honey. It's all in the taste, however, a pour will show that the viscosity is the same as any other ale, it just fools and pleases the palette.

This is one brew I would would strongly suggest should be served around 50F, as the best part of the flavor is muted (not lost) if you over chill. I personally drink this IPA like brandy, it's the last beer of the evening, and I sip it carefully rather than drink it down. While someone will probably chug a bottle from force of habit (back to Budweiser, heathen), this is a brew to savor after your thirst is quenched and you have whatever level of alcohol you desire in your system.

Feel free to drop me a line and let me know how you like it!

3 hoppy brews - Loose Cannon Hop3 IPA

Being easily seduced by the promise of promiscuous hops in a brew, I bought a six pack of Heavy Seas Loose Cannon Hop3 Ale and gave it a test drive. It's interesting but I don't think it will grace my cooler again.

The pour

A bit much head but not excessive, slightly cloudy, a definite aroma of hops with a slight citrus tinge which can either be an aroma hop choice or "yeast behaving badly" in the fermentation. The neck label promises that there is yeast at the bottom of the bottle. Mine sat in a cooler for 48 hours and didn't have it, perhaps "what happens in suspension stays in suspension," and that was the slight haze I noted.

The flavor

Let me start by saying that there was no hint of yeast in the brew, as there often is when you pour a bottle conditioned brew and stir up the yeast. The taste was hops, with three pounds per barrel how could it not be? But more complex aroma hops than strong bittering hops, although that's related to balance rather than implying a lack of bittering. The overall effect was not unpleasant, but my impression is that it was a good idea poorly executed, and the "more hops" were not balanced to my taste.

I didn't find anyone who really liked it, people who drink IPA frequently had a "drinkable but don't buy more for me" reaction. If you want to try a really hoppy brew, perhaps this one should be down your list below a lot of other brews. It's a B- on my grading.

3 hoppy brews - Saranac IPA

I am an IPA (India Pale Ale) lover, and recently found that the Saranac IPA "Limited Release" product will be available all year in my area (near the brewery). So for all the folks in upstate New York, and anywhere else this brew is sold, here is the ideal IPA to have in your cooler. Here's why:

On the pour

You can pour this one in your best clear mugs, it's crystal clear, has a nice head which lasts well, and a great IPA aroma, with various hop esters evident. The head will thin but not vanish over the reasonable drinking time of the mug, (until it gets warm - what a waste that would be). I like to serve at 52F, it's tasty enough to hold it's character colder, and doesn't become unpleasant at anything I would call drinking temperature (up to say 65F) as it loses the first sensation of coolness. But if you have a fridge which is 40F or colder, you may find that letting the bottle warn for a bit will improve the experience.

The taste

The reason I call this perfect is that it is a balance of enough hops to be clearly an IPA, while not making lager drinkers wonder where their taste buds landed. And the balance of bittering vs. aroma hops is perfect to my taste, neither is overpowering, but no one will complain that hop character is missing.

Hairy Eyeball Ale

I recently tried The hairy EYEBALL ale from LaGunitas Brewing Co. On the pour, the head was solid but not excessive, perhaps a half inch in my mug, and the color was a dark red and very clear. Not what I expected in an ale. The aroma was malt and perhaps a touch of citrus, although testers were not totally sure it was there.

On first taste my immediate impression was porter rather than ale. The smoky flavor was there, the taste lingering on the tongue was what I expect of a porter, and a good one at that. The head and carbonation held up through about a half hour of sipping, and no defects were noted. The flavor was not as smoky as the Otter Creek Stovepipe Porter I tasted several years ago, but that's probably a good thing for most people. I like Stovepipe, but it is pretty smoky.

With food: goes with cheese, okay with knackwurst and sauerkraut, not optimal with apple pie. Not optimal at all, I suggest you leave that pairing to the imagination. The smoky character does not play well with the sweetness of an apple pie.

Beer blog is back

I going to cautiously going to say that the beer blog is back after hiatus. Some things changed in my life, and I took most of a year off from writing anything but code. I'm not going to try to do something every day, I'll guess that three posts a week are about what will happen. Enjoy, drop a line if you wish.

And look for some minor cosmetic changes in a few weeks, I will be updating the "look and feel" soon.

Revolutionary beer - Sam Adams Dark Wheat Ale

Sam Adams has a new four-pack of brews in the styles of Colonial times called the "Patriot Collection." It's a collection of one brewery's view of old brewing styles.

The Dark Wheat Ale tells us it's Wheat ale brewed with hand smoked malted barley. Not to knock Samuel Adams, but wheat and barley are two separate grains... The label goes on to tell us that James Madison was a very serious brewer, and considered establishing a national brewery. Thankfully that idea was dropped, and we have local breweries providing good craft beers, as well as some privately owned "national breweries" turning out mass produced mediocre beer.

Let's look at the neck label:

The slight tartness of malted rye balances sweeter roasted malted barley
notes of cocoa and toffee in this deep mahogany brew. Hand smoked malted
barley adds a subtle smoky finish common in colonial brewing.

So this "wheat beer" is made with rye and barley.

Enough on the label, how's the beer? Okay. Not one of my favorites, but as the label says, there's a bit of smoky finish, nice color, good head, and a complex taste leaning to malt but well balanced. This wouldn't be a bad session beer, I can see several of these going down keeping each other company.

As I often note, don't over-chill! To the extent that this brew uses colonial brewing techniques and recipes, remember that the cooling technology of the time was the ice house, and beer by the barrel was often served at cellar temperature, in the 50-55F range. There is a lot more in this brew at 55F than 40F, if you want to get the flavor you paid for, serve it right. End rant.

Southampton revisited

Just retried two brews from Southampton bottling, and found them to be very fine summer brews, indeed. The bottled brews come from Southampton Bottling in Saratoga Springs, NY. But the brewer is listed as Southampton Public House down on Long Island. In any case, nice stuff.

First thing I tried was the Secret Ale. They tell me

Secret Ale is a faithful re-creation of Dusseldorf-style Altbier.
Its clean malt flavor & crisp hop character make it a most
original brew.

Other than some question about the use of "faithful re-creation" and "original brew" regarding the same liquid, it's really good stuff!

The color is clear and red. Make that clear and red, not a speck of anything disturbs the appeal of this in a good glass. The head is generous but not excessive, about 1/4in on a fairly quick pour, with lots of active bubbles which lasted until the mug was empty.

The aroma is hard to describe, I'll just say it smells inviting and like beer. A bit complex. On taste the flavor is complex, with a lingering aftertaste with a bit of hops, and malt without a load of caramel which you might expect from the flavor.

The other brew is the Southampton IPA. This one is cloudy, more so that perhaps is really desirable for best appearance. There is a definite aroma of finishing hops, but without that perfumey smell which some IPAs present. The taste definitely shows the use of bittering hops, which is the way I like my IPA. Not some bitter that my wife didn't like it, but enough so that the character is obvious. There was enough malt used to give it a good complex flavor, as it should be.

The brewer says:

Southampton IPA is inspired by the heavily ales once shipped from Great
Britain to India by Clipper Ship. We brew our "India Pale Ale" with
domestic malts and five varieties of Pacific northwest hops.

Good stuff both, I intend to get some more.

Prize Old Ale - George Gale & Co, Ltd

I bought this Prize Old Ale because it was the "Champion beer of England 1992-1993," because it was corked instead of capped, because it's bottle conditioned, and because it was five years old. A combination of factors which led it to my table.

Perhaps I should have guessed that no matter how fine the contents, over five years in storage and shipping from England are not conducive to optimal aging of beer. This in fact was one of those things which is "almost very good," a good but not exceptional performance punctuated by flashes of greatness. This brew could have been, and probably was at one time, great.

When I opened the bottle, the aroma was much like a really good old port wine. In port wine that's excellent, in beer it's unexpected. I doubt the brew was "skunked" by UV light, the bottle is very dark, and anything short of outright neglect regarding direct sunlight would be unlikely to be a problem. Temperature is a problem, though. It's hard to make a good beer which will still be good after getting warm, and this may have been warm enough to kill the yeast.

Overall it was interesting, but I won't describe it in detail because I'm sure it should be better. The flavor was complex, malt and hops were there, but I can only guess what the brewer intended and might have achieved. It was good enough to finish and enjoy, but if you see a bottle, check with the retailer about storage, aged beer and old beer aren't the same thing.

The next time I'm in England this is on my list of things to try if I can.

Beer by the Pale - India Pale Ale, that is

I had a chance to try a pair of India Pale Ales in a sitting recently, so let me tell what what I thought. The brews were Long Trail IPA and my current choice Saranac India Pale Ale. I'm not getting sloppy here, Long Trail labels theirs as IPA, and Saranac spells theirs out. The Long Trail is labeled "All natural" and "Unfiltered," and the label says it's "naturally carbonated just as it comes out of our fermenter." It was carbonated, and tasted fine (more on that), but I didn't find any yeast at the bottom of the bottle, so I'm guessing that it was fermented close to completion before bottling, because there was no evidence of secondary (or tertiary) fermentation, aka bottle conditioning. So... it looks nice, has a head, and it tastes pretty good. It's light on bittering hops for my taste, but I believe that hops are our friends and therefore prefer quite a bit of bittering. A few people said it was "sour" but it didn't strike me that way. The Saranac had a far greater load of bittering hops. That might strike some people as unbalanced, and that doesn't make it better, I just like it better. Since the object of gourmet beer consumption is to enjoy the brew, take your pick and drink your favorite. Bittering in IPA is like hot in hot peppers, it's not a test of manhood, it's finding the right balance to enjoy, and depends on the food it enhances. ABV - neither of these brews listed ABV on the label, but you can't fool me, it's in there. Long Trail tells me they use 56 IBU of hops, but the ABV is missing from both the label and the web site. The Saranac site requires flash, which I have turned off for security reasons. If they think they need glitz to get people to read their site, maybe the content isn't interesting enough. I don't like their web site, but I like their brews, I guess that's the important thing.