The Half Pint, NYC

This past weekend Kelly and I were in New York City for a friends wedding. Best part is, the wedding was in a bar... a good beer bar. The location was The Half Pint at 76 West Third Street. The wedding took place in the function room to the side, replete with a large, classy bar and chalk board with tap list. Food was good, service excellent, and beer list extensive (if weighted on the lighter side of the spectrum.)

There were a lot of good beers on that night, including several that were new to me. Sixpoint Righteous Ale (9) is one of the best Rye Beers I have ever had. This beer made clear that I need more Sixpoint in my life. Duvel Single (6), better known as Duvel Green because of the color of the label, is Duvel's table beer. Too watery to get excited about though. Goose Island Pere Jacques (6) is a solid dubbel if a little bit much at 8% ABV.

Armsby Abbey

Armsby Abbey is a much recommended restaurant / craft beer establishment in Worcester. This past Saturday saw myself and a few friends finally make the trip out. I am glad we did.

This is not a big place by any mean, with maybe a dozen tables inside and a few out. The bar itself is pretty classy with plenty of glassware on display. The bottle list is comprehensive, and the tap list, while hard to see from some booths, is completely up-to-date. Being able to order sampler trays is a huge plus, and their menu is filled with interesting local options. (The pulled pork wasn't my favorite but their cheese platters were excellent.) I thought the service was quite good, starting with water on the table and his ability to keep straight some complicated orders. Having a TV but refusing to put on the Sox-Yankees game was a little pretentious, but I understand they are trying to create a certain environment here. Overall, very high marks.

Lagunitas A Little Sumpin' Sumpin' Ale, 9 is an American Pale Wheat that registers at a shocking 7.3%. Hoppy and smooth, I was blown away by this beer. De Ranke XX Bitter, 7 is a beer I have had but never rated. The grassy bitterness is good, but it is far mustier than I remembered. Victory Helios, 5 was a sufficiently dumbed down saison, with little of the funkiness you would hope for. Ballast Point Sculpin IPA, 8 is a beer that I have been searching for for some time now. It is usually hard to match those high expectations, and this was no exception. The sweetness was a bit too much for me, but very well put together overall. (I prefered the Smuttynose Big A IPA that followed with all of its grapefruit hops. I had to try North Coast's Old Rasputin on tap too. It was as fantastically smooth and flavorful as you would hope.)

Mikkheler Texas Ranger, 7 these guys have figured out how to name beers. They started with Beer Geek Breakfast and now this is what they come up with for their Chipotle Porter. Nice. Very roasty with the pepper working in the background and leading to a slightly spicy mouthfeel. Far more delicate and well placed than the chipotle peppers I used in my own homebrew... The Bruery Mischief, 7 poured surprisingly light colored for a beer with 8.5% abv. Surprisingly dull too though. De La Senna Taras Boulba, 5 was alright but had a funny note of antisceptic at the end. De Dolle Bos Keun, 9 was the beer I chose from the Abbey's extensive bottle menu, mostly for its semi-reasonable price of $10. Great aroma and complexity in this Belgian Strong Pale Ale, with a very well hidden 10%. Nice way to end a very enjoyable afternoon of drinking.

Moules et Frites

This past weekend we took in a new Belgian beer bar in Syosset, Long Island. My father-in-law had been excited to try this place ever since it was opened, and his excitement was entirely justified.

Moules et Frites is a nice looking place with open, upscale dining room and bar, and a couple of patios outside. Requisite Belgian paraphanalia up on the walls... although my favorite was actually some of the German stein glasses on display on the way in. Most all of the best known Belgian beers are on tap... which makes me wonder how often they rotate taps? Prices are not cheap but not unreasonable either -- flights of four 2.5 oz pours (which end up being much closer to 2 oz) are available for $8, while most pints are $9-10. Bottle list is very small for a Belgian bar with a few German bottles thrown in for good measure.

Palm Amber (6) seems to be everywhere I turn all of a sudden. Light, dry, mainly citrusy, and rather uninspired... Tripel Karmeliet (9) seemed to be the consensus favorite from our party of seven at the table. I couldn't disagree at all: fruit, hops, and funk are well-balanced and crisp... Het Anker Lucifer (6) was much more simplistic, with the yeast taking over... Chimay Tripel - White(7) had some bitterness and sweetness (from the raisins) present... Gouden Carolous Tripel (10) was my hands down favorite... and the one I ordered a snifter of, as opposed to the mini-sample, at that! Very fruity yeast and the alcohol is extremely well-hidden. Fantastic.

Menu is limited, but very interesting. Of course, I had to go for the mussels, which were as excellent as you would expect. Not sure I have had a better pairing than mussels and Beglains. Taken together, this place is a definite keeper. And big thanks goes out to our gracious hosts, Mr. and Mrs. Warch!

Julian's

Julian's
318 Broadway, Providence
Julian's is a highly recommended beer bar that has escaped me until now. I suppose "eclectic" is the first word that came to my mind upon entering with its brightly colored tapastries, purposely chipped mirrors and worn floors, the odd chandelier, and huge neon sign exlaiming OPIUM. The bathroom, however, is downright bizarre with its collection of GI Joe's and cartoons playing on a small TV. Very Portland, Oregon. They even played the same sort of hippster and trance music I would hear out west. The food was leagues beyond pub food, with interesting ingredients and an obvious focus on presentation. Most importantly, the selection on tap was a great mix of foreign and domestic, and clearly rotated regularly. A cooler behind the bar had some pretty intimidating rare Belgian beers going up as high as $60! I am a pretty simple guy though and they had me at proper glassware and our own water pitcher at the table.
Score: A-

Oskar Blues Gordon
Tap -- Julian's
not from a can today -- i jumped all over this when i saw it on tap. served in a tulip glass, but too cold. very hoppy and sweet, without being cloying.
Score: 9

Offshore Hop Goddess
Tap -- Julian's
called a belgian pale ale. probably wasn't a fair comparison coming from the gordon, but i found the hope to be quite pungent and the malts to be somewhat skunky. i liked this as much as any of their other offerings though.
Score: 6

Baladin Elixir
Sample -- Julian's
this was very tart, to the point of wincing as you drink. absolutely unpleasant. have to say, i haven't had a good beer from italy yet.
Score: 3

Delirium Nocturnum
Sample -- Julian's
alcohol and liquorice on the nose are what i remember best from this beer. bears unmissable similarities to a shot of jameson. not bad though.
Score: 7

Gouden Carolous Noel
Sample -- Julian's
malty and alcohol are kind of all over the place. meh.
Score: 5

Best in show:
St. Louis Gueuze Fond Tradition
Sample -- Julian's
oh, i liked this a lot. slightly sour nose while flavor is very tangy, spicy, and hoppy. 5% abv was a welcome contrast to those other monsters. fantastic.
Score: 9

To the top of my to do list

Ebenezer's of Maine has been on my radar for a couple years now, but this glowing article may give me the kick in the butt I need to finally make it happen.

Nowhere like here for beer
Interest became expertise; now the world points to Lovell if you want a best of brew
By Steve Greenlee, Globe Staff January 17, 2010

LOVELL - Once you get through the town of Fryeburg, you keep heading north on Route 5, through several miles of dense white pines and ramshackle houses with RVs parked out front, past The Wicked Good Store (breakfast, lunch, take-out pizza, 12-packs of Miller and Coors Light), past the local self-storage facility, past Lovell Hardware and not much else, and there it is - whoops, you passed it - down a dirt road but barely visible from the main drag: Ebenezer’s Restaurant & Pub.

Ebenezer’s is a world-renowned bar, but it looks like any other house in the area. If not for the carved wooden sign hanging from the tree out front, you would think it was just a house. Once you step inside, you can hardly believe you’re deep in the woods of western Maine.

The restaurant seats a few dozen people, and the bar is so tiny it would be crowded with 20. But this is beer heaven. Ebenezer’s has 35 Belgian ales on tap and several hundred varieties in bottles, most of them stored in an astonishing beer cellar.

Belgian glasses - tulips and goblets, each tailored to a specific beer - glisten from racks above the gleaming copper-top bar. Behind the bartender is the huge array of tap handles. Dozens and dozens of bottles sit on shelves in the glass case to the right. The iconic pink elephant that is synonymous with the Delirium Tremens strong pale ale, one of the finest beers in the world, sits on a tap at the front of the bar, there in a class by itself.

People come from all over, even from the West Coast, just to sample the selection here. Devotees have been known to plan vacations around a trip to Ebenezer’s. It is no wonder the place has been named the No. 1 bar, beer restaurant, and beer destination in the world by the likes of Beer Advocate magazine and RateBeer.com. (A sign over the entrance boasts about these superlatives.)

So what is the world’s greatest bar doing in the middle of nowhere? Chris and Jen Lively bought the place precisely because of its location. They were living in Los Angeles - a trained chef, Chris was a food and beverage consultant for a hotel chain - and they decided to get out. They came to Maine, where Jen’s parents lived, to have a go at running a restaurant. In 2001, they stumbled across Ebenezer’s, which was up for sale.

“My wife found this place, this restaurant that had this house attached to it, with 3 acres of land, and it was basically the same price as a two-bedroom house in the ghetto of Los Angeles,’’ said Chris Lively, 36. “We took this over, and we never expected it to become what it did. It had Coors, Bud - it was a redneck bar. . . . We wanted to build a restaurant. That was the dream, the restaurant. We wanted to have a few nice beers, too; we brought in Westmalle, Chimay, whatever we could get our hands on.’’

But Lively’s interest in fine beer was growing, and it didn’t take long for word to spread that a bar with A-class beers had popped up in tiny Lovell (population 974), far, far from any city. Lively got more Belgian beers, rare ones that can be difficult to find in this country.

The Boston area’s finest pubs can’t match Ebenezer’s offerings. The selection is said to exceed even those of Belgium’s best bars. On a recent Saturday night, I tried a De Ranke XX Bitter Belgian IPA, a rare Pannepot Grand Reserva quadrupel, a Gulden Draak dark ale, and a Struise Tsjeeses pale ale, which is nearly impossible to find in the United States. The beers on tap included such unusual ones as Balthazar, a strong ale brewed with coriander, ginger, and cardamom; and Cantillon Rose Grambinus, a sour ale made with raspberries. Unfortunately, on the night I went, Ebenezer’s was out of one beer for which it has become famous: Black Albert, a Belgian royal stout brewed specially for Lively by De Struise Brouwers.

Some people come here for the low-key atmosphere, some come for the amazing selection of brews, and some come for both.

“They have a better beer selection than anyplace I can think of in a 200-mile radius,’’ said Anna McGreavy, 26, of Brownfield, who was seated at one of the eight stools at the bar and drinking a dark Belgian ale. “And it’s a nice, mellow, local scene.’’ The lack of pretense is important to people here. Drinking a Trappist ale or a Coors Light, you are equally welcome.

The food impresses just as much. This is no run-of-the-mill pub grub. There are salads and burgers, sure, but the menu also features appetizers like lobster quesadilla and coconut shrimp in sweet chili sauce and such entrees as mussels cooked in Belgian beer as well as a gourmet version of seafood scampi.

Some months, getting a table in the dining room or a seat at the bar is not much of a problem. The Saturday night in December when I visited, maybe 20 people came through the doors between 6 and 11 p.m. Several stayed by the bar, but others had come for the food - a family with a 3-year-old boy, a pair of elderly couples, another couple in their 20s. Other times of the year, the wait can exceed two hours. At the height of summer and especially in snowmobile season (the pub is on a popular trail), the place is often packed. During the pub’s Belgian beer festival in August, visitors camp out in tents on the adjacent golf course - despite the $250 per person prix fixe menu. (“It’s the greatest beer dinner in the history of mankind,’’ Lively said, laughing, though seeming not to be joking.)

Lively’s timing was fortuitous. Ebenezer’s rise has coincided with an explosion in the craft beer movement in the United States, which has in turn generated a surge of interest in Belgian ales, which are widely regarded as the gold standard. Websites run by beer aficionados point readers to Ebenezer’s. And Lively is building on his success: Last year he opened a second pub, the Lion’s Pride, in Brunswick, which has just as many beers but a more upscale menu. He says he’d like to expand further.

Yet Ebenezer’s doesn’t owe its success exclusively to beer geeks. The pub may be making its name by drawing people from all over the country, but something just as interesting has happened in Lovell itself. The locals were stopping by Ebenezer’s for an American lager and ended up sampling the Belgian ales.

“I was so pigheaded,’’ said Joe Davis, who lives in town and says he comes to Ebenezer’s every weekend. He drank Budweiser for two years here before Lively could persuade him to try a Belgian brew. Now that’s all he wants. “It took a long time, but it’s better quality - all these different flavors and everything.’’

Cambridge Common Revisited

This was only my second visit to Cambridge Common, the first coming this past summer. I have kept an eye on their rotating taps though, and have been very impressed with the sort of brewers they bring in. My trip their tonight was no exception. Honestly, at this point I would have to give them the title of best taps in Boston. Keep it up, Cambridge Common!

Ithaca Flower Power IPA
Sample -- Cambridge Common
honestly, my beer overall experience with beer from upstate new york has been very lackluster so i avoided these guys for a while. looking at some of their scores on beer advocate though, makes me think this may have been unfounded. this was an excellent ipa, i thought. name is fitting since the hops are very floral and citric. nice to drink.
Score: 8

Stone Leviathan
Sample -- Cambridge Common
never ponied up for this one before since amber's often fail to excite me. definitely has a hoppy edge around the malts. not bad.
Score: 6

Stone Cat IPA
Sample from cask -- Cambridge Common
stone cat has never impressed me as an overly serious brewer, but this was pretty good. it probably helps that i like most anything served from a cask at the right temperature. nose makes me think these are cascade hops, with a really grassy characteristic. sticky and light. surprisingly good.
Score: 7

Most exciting find:
Element Brewing Dark Matter
Sample -- Cambridge Common
ah ha, element brewing! i wrote about this new brewer back in october and have had an eye out for them ever since. cambridge actually had three of their beers on tap, but i had to try this one for its awesome name. it was described as a cross between an ipa and a schwarzbier, which actually seemed pretty accurate to me. dark pour but there without any trace of heaviness or burnt malts you may implicitly expect. bitterness really does come through, making it drink much like an ipa. very interesting.
Score: 7

Novare Res Bier Cafe

Novare Res Bier Cafe
4 Canal Plaza, Portland, ME
This beer bar has been on my to-do list for a little while now. Nate sold me for good on it when he said it had the best selection he had seen. They would definitely be considered a Belgian beer bar with its huge walk-in refrigerator of big bottles. The beer menu is as thick as any I have seen (although they were out of every easy drinking pilsner we asked for...) That said, while we were there they were in between brewer dinners with Rogue and Dogfish Head! That's right, 22 Dogfish Head beers on tap! Fantastic. There is nothing like being able to have some of my favorite beers like the 60 Minute and Palo Santo Marron on tap. (Below are the notes on a few of the other beers I had.) The bar itself is pretty great with a dark and comfortable vibe with lots of cool beer memorabilia on the walls. There is even a patio too (which was jammed when we were there.) Servers were fine, if busy, and quality seemed beyond reproach with proper glassware and such. Food is unique with a very limited menu, mostly made up of cheese and meat platters. Next time I look forward to trying some with some of those Belgian beers. Best beer bar I have found in some time.
Atmosphere: 5/5, Selection: 9/10, Quality: 9/10, Service: 4/5, Overall: 17/20, Total: 44/50
Total rating: A

Dogfish Head ApriHop
8 oz glass -- Novare Res
sweet apricot taste checks hop bitterness. very unique having something other than malts balance a beer. extremely easy to drink and my glass was empty in a few swills. the girls also loved this beer.
Score: 9, Original Score: 7

Dogfish Head Chateau Jiahu
8 oz glass -- Novare Res, Portland, ME
this was new to me. but another Dogfish Head beer with an interesting story: "Inspired by a beverage found in clay posts in China around 9000 years ago. In keeping with historic evidence, Dogfish brewers used pre-gelatinized rice flakes, Wildflower honey, Muscat grapes, barley malt, hawthorn fruit, and Chrysanthemum flowers." white grapes and sweet honey i got. alcohol comes through too, reminding me of dogfish's 90 minute in a way. interesting but not my favorite.
Score: 6

Dogfish Head Punkin '09
8 oz -- Novare Res
not sure if it was the '09 version or the fact it was on tap but this was better than i remembered it. kelly loved it too. solid malt profile, well-placed pumpkin and brown sugar... typical over-the-top nutmeg spice is not present -- which is not the worst thing. i am looking to brew a pumpkin beer this fall and this may not be a bad one to patent.
Score: 9, Original Score: 7

Lighthouse Wine & Seafood

Lighthouse Wine & Seafood
928 Western Ave, Manchester, ME
I finally got a chance to visit this beer store on a trip back home to Maine last weekend. This visit was something I have really been looking forward to since they recently expanded their beer selection and have been supplying my Dad with some of his favorite local beers. (Sebago Lake Trout Stout, Oak Pond Storyteller Dopplebock...) It has even gotten to the point that the owner, Jim, has been consulting my beer ratings -- awesome! This place didn't disappoint either. A small store, Jim and his wife Bridget have managed to carve out a decent space at the front of the store for craft beer. (The other 3/4 is devoted to wine, cheeses, and some really fresh looking seafood.) I was really impressed with the selection: your requisite Allagash and Dogfish Head, local favorites Andrew's and Bar Harbor, and some farther flung beers from Jolly Pumpkin and Rogue. They really did have all the best available brewers covered with some beers I haven't even seen in Massachusetts. I would say the split is close to 50-50 between domestics and imports, with some really exciting international beers (I picked up the UK's Meantime IPA and Peche Mortel from Quebec.) Store is very clean and welcoming, if somewhat disorganized. Jim is exactly the kind of guy you want running a beer store -- he is very passionate about each of his beers, and we must have spent 30 minutes just discussing some of our favorites. He went so far as to let me have a bottle of the rare Black Albert from Belgium that he had out back! I can't tell you how nice it is to finally have a source for great beer in central Maine, and owners that will go above and beyond for their customers! This place comes highly reccommended and borders on being a beer destination all on its own.
Total rating: A-

Black Albert
Bottle -- Lighthouse
from de struise brewery, served close to room temp in an oversized wine glass. beautiful black pour with pretty thick tan head. big appealing aroma of roasted coffee, chocolate, and dark fruit. creaminess of mouthfeel strikes you first; very soft texture. flavor is sharp at first, alcohol and charred malts. strong taste i can't quite place... charred malts, i guess. and earthy. mellows as you drink. a fascinating russian imperial stout, and a big thanks to jim and bridget for finding this one!
Score: 9

Canterbury Ales

Canterbury Ales
46 Audrey Ave, Oyster Bay, NY
This well-regarded beer bar is just down the street from Kelly's home in Long Island, but this was the first time that I actually made it here. Hard to judge the atmosphere since this place was empty when we arrived at 11:30pm, but I liked the rustic/outdoorsy sort of decor they were going for. They boast of having 100 world-class beers and ten taps (although most of the more exciting options were in bottles...) Beer menu's were readily available and the bottles in the refrigerator were both easily visible and even alphabetized! Brewers included, Lagunitas, Legacy, Oskar Blues, and Paper City. Service was very slow with just one bartender, but she actually knew the beers. Not sure how often they turn over those bottles though... Glassware was appropriate. Didn't try the food, but I will definitely be returning soon.

Atmosphere: 4/5, Selection: 8/10, Quality: 7/10, Service: 3/5, Overall: 13/20, Total: 35/50

Total rating: B+

Captain Lawrence Liquid Gold
Tap -- Canterbury Ales, Oyster Bay, NY
a belgian pale ale with a pretty cool name. served too cold but is a clear golden in glass. aroma is expected banana and cloves while taste is sweet, yeasty, with a few mild hops. seemed a little rudimentary to me.
Score: 7

Uinta Angler's Pale Ale
Bottle -- Canterbury Ales, Oyster Bay, NY
utah, huh? kind of thought that was a dry state or something. nice fresh hop aroma. well balanced flavor and medium-balanced. was surprised to find out after the fact that this weighs in 5.8%. i like well-balanced pale ales, and this definitely qualifies.
Score: 8

Blue Point Rastafar Rye Ale
Tap -- Il Piatto Italian Steakhouse, Oyster Bay
i was surveying some pretty dismal taps at this lounge around the corner from canterbury when i saw one tap handle with a carved lion on it. hearing it was a "rye" was good enough for me, i figured out the rest later. really sloppy pour from the barkeep... should have sent it back but wasn't in the mood. flavorful grain and light hops and definitely drinkable -- nice.
Score: 7

Battleship Brewhouse, Fall River?!

I once referred to Fall River as the Saharan Desert of the microbrew world... and if I didn't, I should have. I couldn't even find the subpar local microbrew (Buzzard's Bay) anywhere on tap in town. Maddeningly, weeks after I moved out of Fall River, a beer bar with 80 plus beers opened a couple of blocks from my old apartment. Unbelievable. But I am happy for Fall River because it desperately needed a place like Battleship Brewhouse.

Battleship Brewhouse
101 Presidents Ave, Fall River, MA
this place used to host one of kelly and my favorite mexican restaurants (that was byob -- which is awesome.) they opened the place up a bit, put in some attractive metal furniture, a fireplace and spot for bands, and, of course, the bar. only fruit flavored liquors for now, but their beer selection is awesome. 16 taps with 4 more on the way. allow me to list just a few: dogfish head 90 minute ipa, allagash white, widmer hef, anchor porter, pbr. nice. 4 4oz samples are available. good bottle selection too. food is above-average too, with huge portions. they had a "hell dinner" coming up with all kinds of spicy food... which sounds pretty awesome. i probably just got the right guy, but the service was without question the best i have found yet. he seemed to actually enjoy all of my dorky questions about rotating seasonals and such, and knew their selection inside out. i know fall river is a hike for most people, but it is totally worth it. great place.
Atmosphere: 4/5, Selection: 9/10, Quality: 8/10, Service: 5/5, Overall: 14/20, Total: 40/50
Total rating: A-

Abita Purple Haze
Sample -- Battleship Brewhouse, Fall River
served too cold to pick up much of an aroma, but i certainly won't hold that against the beer. very unique appearance, that is closest in color to that of a fuzzy peach. flavor is fruity: supposedly raspberry, but seemed closer to cherry to me. or even bubblegum flavor... but not necessarily bad. light drinking as you would expect. not bad for a fruit beer.
Score: 6

Blue Point Toasted Lager
Sample -- Battleship Brewhouse
pours a light copper... minor malt aroma... you have to reach to pickup on any toastiness in the taste. dull, and very similar to one of the macro brews.
Score: 3

Legacy Midnight Wit
Bottle -- Battleship Brewhouse
very light and cloudy... yeasty nose with citrus/spice... taste is quite zesty, and probably closer to a lemon than an orange. i liked it.
Score: 7

Wachusett Green Monsta
Sample -- Battleship Brewhouse
i'll be honest, i wrote this one off as soon as i heard about it due to its stupid name. its an american strong ale weighing in at 7.3% abv, which i did not realize beforehand. translucent copper... fruity hop aroma... hops are sweet in flavor... pretty drinkable for a strong ale. balanced too.
Score: 7

Night out in Newport

Last weekend I spent my birthday out on the town in Newport, RI. Now, Newport has plenty of upscale nightclubs and trendy Irish bars, but if you are looking for good beer there are really only two bars worth spending your time at: Pour Judgement and Yesterday's. An evening in these two bars yielded a few new beers for me to report back on.

Berkshire Cabin Fever Ale
Sample -- Pour Judgement, Newport, RI
a winter warmer, that at 6.8% is really a strong ale. murky brown... breathy alcohol in aroma... malty flavor you would expect but not too heavy. good.
Score: 6

Harpoon Imperial IPA (Leviathan Series)
Draft -- Pour Judgement
served too cold, and even though i waited a solid half hour to warm, the carbonation continued rapidly throughout. sharp sweet bitterness you would expect in aroma and taste is very sweet. hops are citrusy in nature. too extreme for me. kelly agreed: "it's like chewing on a hop."
Score: 3

Newport Storm Rhode Island Blueberry
Sample -- Pour Judgement
i haven't ranked this beer before, but pretty sure i have had it a couple of times. translucent pour, medium bodied. rich, sweet aroma of blueberry cake. pretty amazing really. blueberries are pretty tasty too, only slightly chemically. pretty good, honestly.
Score: 7

Newport Storm Chocolate Porter
Draft -- Pour Judgement
see-through brown... smell of chocolate and roastiness is minor (more because of the temperature served than anything)... heavy roast and following bitterness in flavor. good, not great.
Score: 6

Wolaver's Farmhouse Ale
22 oz -- Vickers' Liquors, Newport
found this at a little liquor store after a walk around newport. pour opaque yellow... very fresh, fruity nose, with non-overpowering yeast... full flavor with sweet malt up front, sour yeast, and stealthy hops. smooth, yet textured. this was a good beer to start the night.
Score: 8

Beer road trip

Ah, beer road trips! This winter I have sat down and planned three different beer road trips: beer and cross country skiing in the midwest (next winter?), beer and my honeymoon in Oregon (this May), and beer and hockey in Maine (this past weekend.) If I make this sound like a chore, its not. The good news is the first beer road trip was a success!

The plan was simple: four friends and myself would drive up to Orono, Maine to watch a college hockey game, stopping at several great breweries along the way. We started our trip on a Friday night at one of my all-time favorite beer bars, The Great Lost Bear in Portland. With 60+ beers on tap, the GLB has a great selection of Maine beers and beyond (although to be fair, it seemed like they were out of about a quarter of them...) With flights available, you can cover a lot of Maine brewers in a short period of time, or even different Belgian beers! (Tip: for $10 you can sample 5 different Allagash beers that would cost you $75 if you bought all those different bottles!) A great place for an introduction to Maine beer.

We started the next day at Shipyard Brewery in Portland's Old Port. The good people at Shipyard have been taking great care of me lately, and this weekend was no exception as they showed us around the whole brewery after the standard introductory video. This is a massive facility, and they deserve kudos for staying in the Old Port when it would no doubt be cheaper to move somewhere else. Our guide took us through every floor of the facility, from the mash tun to the bottling room to the tasting room! Two of them were new to me -- the Light and the Brewers Choice Brown Special Ale (I bought a bottle to be reviewed at a later date...) -- but many were new to my friends and a big hit. The gift shop is really extensive with lots of cool merchandise too; I bought my first tulip glass, Pugsley's Signature Series! This was my personal highlight of the weekend.

And then there is northern (i.e. central) Maine. Good beer is few and far between up here, but I targeted a small brewery in Skowhegan, Maine that is close enough to my house for my father to join us. Oak Pond Brewery may be located in an old chicken barn, but they make some mighty fine beer! The owner Don Chandler was kind enough to show us around the surprisingly clean facility and we each left with growlers and bombers in tow. Needless to say, this is what I aspire to.

Our last stop at the Bear Brew Pub in Orono was a bit of a bust as they were out of beer! So that is unimpressive. And UMaine did lose the game to the hated Catamounts of Vermont, but we took solace in the fact that they have to live with their stupid nickname. Long live the UMaine Black Bears! And long live delicious Maine beer!

Allagash FOUR
Sample -- Great Lost Bear, Portland, ME
disclaimer: not sure i have had a quad i liked yet. dark fruit, figgy namely. dry and quite clean. quality is as good as any allagash beer, but not my favorite.
Score: 6

Marshall Wharf Tug Pale Ale
Sample -- Great Lost Bear
this is positively rated tiny maine brewer that i have been seeking out. but grassy hops and peanut taste did not work. odd texture too. i am going to give them a pass on this one; i want a do-over.
Score: 3

Oak Pond Brewing Pilsner
Sample -- Oak Pond Brewer, Skowhegan, ME
a new beer that had just been tapped that day. pours a light brown. flavor is of what i can only assume is these same toffee malts. not bad at all.
Score: 6

Sebago Runabout Red Ale
Sample -- Great Lost Bear
very nutty all around. not a lot else going on. an average red/amber.
Score: 5

Sheepscot Valley Boothbay Special Bitter
Sample -- Great Lost Bear
sweet bread, which was expected. cherries and bugspray was not. hard to drink.
Score: 2

Shipyard Light
Sample -- Shipyard Brewery, Portland, ME
somehow i don't think i have ever seen this before. they call it a blonde ale, but think something closer to miller lite. not much flavor. slightly better that your average light beer.
Score: 3

Best in show:
Allagash Fluxus
Sample -- Great Lost Bear
now this is a great maine beer! a witbier with expected cloudiness. a big flavor: banana, pineapple, and cough syrup. if that doesn't sound good, than i am not doing it justice. highly recommended.
Score: 9

House Brews

I will never pass on a house tap when I find one at a bar or restaurant. One, I want to encourage this kind of behavior. Imagine, if all bars did this, every homebrewers could find a tap for their beer! Two, there is always the hope of finding a hidden gem. The IPA I found at Paddy O's came awfully close...

Beer Belly Ball and Chain IPA
Tap -- Paddy O's, Newton
i found this at an irish pub in newton. overall their tap selection was pretty unexciting (flat sierra nevada pale, harpoon ipa, sam...) except for a big fancy tap of murphy's irish stout, which i found out was just ornamental! fortunately in that tap they did have an ipa from "a couple of locals." all bars should do this. it was a really good brew too: nice up-front bitterness with balancing malts that make this sessionable. bravo!
Score: 8

Fresh Catch Amber Ale
Tap -- Fresh Catch, Easton
yeah, this wasn't good. fairly dark pour for such a watery, flavorless beer. they must have used a few black patent malts to artificially darken this beer up because there is very little substance to it. as much as i love getting the house brew, i can't really recommend this beer.
Score: 2

Loco Pilsner
Tap -- Loco Restaurant, Easton
first thing that strikes you are the similarities to bud light. fortunately, there is more to this beer than that. flavor of light toasted malts does come through to taste. hops take on an almost fruity nature in aroma and flavor. an easy drinker as you would expect. pretty good actually.
Score: 6

Christmas in New York

Blue Point Winter Ale
Bottle -- Long Island
an amber, which seems unusual for a winter. little gets past the sweet malts in the aroma. mouthfeel is light and flavor is watery. blah.
Score: 3

Chelsea Checker Cab Blonde Ale
Sample -- House of Brews, NYC
a kolsch. light, golden color. smell and taste toasted grain, and maybe some lemon hops. crisp. both sessionable and flavorful. if you are thirsty, check this one out.
Score: 8

Chelsea Hand Pumped Cask Ale
Sample -- House of Brews, NYC
cask ales are always exciting to find... especially when served at room temp like this one. i couldn't find this beer on beeradvocate, but i believe that it is chelsea's standard ale, an english mild. nutty, chocolate malt aroma, while malt taste is more of delicate coffee. complex and a little sour. sticky/cloying mouthfeel. very interesting, but i wasn't digging the flavor.
Score: 6

Sixpoint Brownstone Ale
Sample -- House of Brews, NYC
my first beer from sixpoint, a new york brewer i have been seeking out. sadly, all they had was a brown, not my favorite style. great looking pour with big sudsy head. mild, yet appealing smell. roasted chocolate malt, with some balancing hops as well. honestly, this didn't excite me, but seemed well brewed.
Score: 7

My favorite:
Captain Lawrence Captain's Reserve Imperial IPA
Sample -- House of Brews, NYC
had not heard of these guys until now. aroma smells entirely like a ripe peach. flavor is of very smooth, fruity hops. bitterness comes at end of taste, but is not puckering in the least (as many double ipa's are...) great balance, heavy mouthfeel. simply wow.
Score: 10

Watch City Seasonals

The activity of the weekend was trying tapas for the first time at Solea Restaurant and Tapas Bar in Waltham. It was quite fun, and definitely recommended. Most shockingly, it was even the highlight of the night over one of my favorite local breweries: Watch City. While the brewery had a new range of seasonals as always, each beer fell a little flat...

Watch City Biking Bob's Bohemian Pilsner

Sample -- Watch City Brewery, Waltham

dark color for a pilsner for sure. aroma is of sweet, candied apples. flavor is mostly sweet grains with some light grassy hops. i found nothing really appealing about this beer but it is worth noting that my friend dan had this rated significantly higher.

Score: 4

Watch City Bombed Blondeshelle Belgian Strong Ale

Sample -- Watch City

note: sold to me as a belgian strong ale, recorded on beer advocate as a tripel... appearance is a hazy orange and aroma is floral hops and again candy-sweet malts. yeast and skunky wheat form backbone of flavor, but powerful alcohol overwhelms both. 10% plus was too much for this brew...
Score: 5

Watch City Pie Eyed Pumpkin Ale

Sample -- Watch City

if you like heavily spiced pumpkin ales, this is a pretty good standard for the style. cinnamon, nutmeg, even ginger (i think) make their presence known in both aroma and taste. pumpkin is pushed to back of taste but is there. drinkable, as most pumpkin ales are.

Score: 6

Portsmouth Brewery

After a great morning of knocking doors for Obama in New Hampshire with my friend Heather, I made my first visit to Portsmouth Brewery. Portsmouth Brewing has been on my to do list for some time now, and the good things I heard were all true. Cool decor, solid food, and nine fresh beers on tap (five of their own, three from their sister brewery, Smuttynose, and the last from another small, local brewer.)

DISCLAIMER: In the past on this blog I have rated beers from 3 oz. samples. This is not ideal since beers do change as you drink them (and as they warm to room temp), but I have always used this blog as a point of reference -- both for myself as well as for you -- not an official rating. Anyways, I say this since the sampler paddle at Portsmouth was in large shot glasses, probably 1 oz. Point being: there is even greater margin for these ratings than usual.

Portsmouth Bottle Rocket IPA
Sample -- Portsmouth Brewery
powerful, citrus hops really linger in your mouth. still quite balanced and drinkable. i really enjoyed this beer, but probably would only recommend it to hop heads.
Score: 8

Portsmouth Dirty Blonde Ale
Sample -- Portsmouth Brewery
yup, cloudy blonde appearance with lacing that stands up. nice aroma of wheat and grains come through in taste as well. i think i liked this more than most people. a tired name, but a solid beer.
Score: 7

Portsmouth Oatmeal Stout
Sample -- Portsmouth Brewery
a black beauty, with appealing aroma of coffee and chocolate. taste is sweet, with molasses and general roastiness shining through. appropriate 6% abv. biggest flaw is mouthfeel; very weak carbonation and body is thin. otherwise, nice take on one of my very favorite styles.
Score: 8

Portsmouth Smoky Dunkelweizen
Sample -- Portsmouth Brewery
so opaque i thought for a moment that they had served me the cider on tap. i may be on my own here, but aroma and taste was defined by a cough syrup / bubblegum sensation. i am only going to give them credit for a little smokiness too, no more than you would find in a scotch ale. obviously, i wasn't feeling this one.
Score: 5

Moat Mountain Hoffman Weiss
Sample -- Portsmouth Brewery
guest tap at the brewery. a hefeweizen and my first beer from this previously unknown brewer. aroma is sweet and yeasty... taste is more in the banana / spice mode. chewy in body. impressive.
Score: 8

My Favorite:
Portsmouth ALTernator
Sample -- Portsmouth Brewery
the brewery called this a double alt (beer advocate, just an altbier...) deep malty, nutty aroma. flavor is sweet, dark fruity... at 7.5% abv has a well-hidden kick. i don't usually like these heavy malt beers, but i found the alternator to be very well crafted.
Score: 9

Nashoba Valley

A few weeks ago I went on an outing with a few friends to Nashoba Valley Winery in Bolton, MA. I thought it would offer something for everything: apple picking, a winery tour, and even some microbrewed beer. The wine was too fruity and sweet for me, and the crowds were pretty crazy, but I would still recommend it on a fall afternoon. Their beer... not so much. To be fair, they just started brewing and did resist the temptation to put fruit in all their beers too... which is a good start.

Nashoba Valley Bolt 117 Lager
Bottle -- Nashoba Valley Winery, Bolton
sweet grain and some yeast in aroma... taste is very similar, with some sour fruitiness as well. taste isn't the most appealling, but fairly refreshing.
Score: 4

Nashoba Valley Heron Ale
Bottle -- Nashoba Valley Winery, Bolton
an american pale ale, but this seems much more like an english pale ale to me. buttery aroma, few hops, and a rather weak, muddled taste.
Score: 5

Nashoba Valley Oaktoberfest
Bottle -- Nashoba Valley Winery, Bolton
flavorless malts... a little oakey i guess. a one-dimensional beer. kind of clever name.
Score: 4

Nashoba Valley Wattaquadoc Wheat
Bottle -- Nashoba Valley Winery, Bolton
nose, taste: it's mostly wheat with some cloves and spices. effervescent mouthfeel. very light and surprisingly good.
Score: 6

New Brewers

You probably have noticed the list of "Bottle Stores" on the left side of this page. To drink 500 different beers you have to visit a few liquor stores... and I have found some really good ones in my travels. My favorite stores usually have a large selection of craft beers from a range of domestic brewers. I really like it when you can purchase singles. And reasonable prices are a good thing too.

One of the most recent additions to the list is Luke's Liquors in Rockland. This may have the largest selection I have ever seen and singles are no problem. And I was even able to find a number of new brewers there, which is especially exciting. So no surprise, my latest list of new brewers is dominated by offerings from Luke's. Check it out if you are ever in the area, as well as any of the other fine stores on that list.

Mad River Steelhead Extra Pale Ale
Bottle -- Kappy's, Malden
my first beer from mad river -- a few local stores recently started carrying this california brewer. cloudy, golden... malty aroma... citrus hops... very sessionable.
Score: 7

Oxford Hefeweizen
Bottle -- Luke's, Rockland
bavarian style unfiltered. aroma and taste of wheat/yeast. not especially good.
Score: 4

Riverhorse Tripel Horse
Bottle -- Luke's, Rockland
golden pink in appearance... fruit in aroma and taste... apple champagne really, and quite sweet. not exactly a sophisticated tripel, but not bad.
Score: 6

Two Brothers The Bitter End
Bottle -- Luke's, Rockland
a pale ale from illinois. overly carbonated out of bottle... sweet, malty aroma... mild grassy hops in taste, with slight tanginess... not bad.
Score: 7

Best New Brewer:
Speakeasy Prohibition Ale
Bottle -- Luke's, Rockland
nice fresh aroma of hops. taste of caramel and floral hops. well balanced. cool bottle. i am impressed.
Score: 9

What I've Been Drinking -- September

Double IPA's, porters, a stout, a bitter, a wee heavy, a red -- we've got it all this week!

Arcadia IPA
Bottle -- Supreme Liquors, Quincy
an english ipa. ridiculous head, overly carbonated. mild malt aroma. malty, with a little closing bitterness. honestly, i haven't had too many english ipa's, but the hops seemed to fall kind of flat. i doubt that is what the style is all about.
Score: 5

Arcadia Scotch Ale
Bottle -- Supreme Liquors, Quincy
unusually dark. sweet malts capture nose and a little spice. not a bad taste, but a little muddled: bready, spiced, molasses. medium bodied, very lively in mouth. but a pretty dull wee heavy.

Score: 4

Avery Ale to the Chief
750 ml -- Luke's Liquors, Rockland
an imperial ipa. dan and i ordered this at a new british beer company bar in natick, only to be served a different avery beer without being told they were out of ale to the chief! a mortal sin. but anyways, i am glad i finally did get to try this one. lots of fruit and malty sweetness. quite bitter, but manageable for a double ipa. the best imperial ipa i can remember.
Score: 9

Cisco Moor Porter
750 ml -- Cork's Fine Wine & Liquors, Mansfield

very dark and frothy -- no light escapes here at all. smell of molasses and alcohol. harsh, spicy taste at first... think bugspray. it mellows though, to a slightly sour, chocolatey brew. mouthfeel is very lively/fizzy, kind of acidic, yet creamy and smooth. interesting, but i don't know that i would search it out.

Score: 6

Left Hand Black Jack Porter

Bottle -- Kappy's, Malden

odd aroma of cola, molasses, and cocoa powder. sharp java flavor. a little watery. this makes me think i may have overestimated left hand brewing...

Score: 4

Legacy Hedonism Ale
Tap -- British Beer Company, Framingham

reddish-amber hue... aroma of piney hops and fruit... malt taste is quickly overtaken by lingering, almost spicy, hops. not bad at all. points for a unique name too.

Score: 7

Rogue Brutal Bitter

750 ml -- Luke's Liquors, Rockland

a very dry bitterness... hops are mostly grassy in nature... quite light. not bad, but another overrated rogue beer in my opinion.
Score: 5

Stone 12th Anniversary Bitter Chocolate Oatmeal Stout

750 ml -- Cork's Fine Wine & Liquors, Mansfield

first off, what an awesome sounding beer: bitter... chocolate... oatmeal! i love all of those things! at 9.2% abv, this almost drinks like an imperial stout. chocolate in aroma is overwhelmed by alcohol. it is bitter (more from bitter chocolate than bitter hops i think), but again alcohol defines flavor. beer definitely changes as it warms; you can really drink it at room temp.

Score: 8

Stoudts Double IPA

Bottle -- Supreme Liquors, Quincy

glowing amber-orange in color with nice, thick head... pungent hop aroma, but appealing, don't get me wrong... hops emerge as fruity in taste: grapefruit and citrus mainly... 10% abv blends in nicely... sticky mouthfeel, and surpringly heavy... very good.

Score: 8

Victory Baltic Thunder

750 ml -- Gordon's, Waltham

thick aroma: molasses, fruity overtones, and a general sourness. contrastingly, the taste is sweet, roasty, with dark fruit flavors. my first baltic porter and i liked it very much.

Score: 9

CBC Summer Seasonals

As you will see in my list of Best Brewers I fell in love with Cambridge Brewing on my very first visit. My second visit to sample their summer seasonals was just as good... despite the poor bartender's head exploding when Dan, George, and I all ordered a sampler of all their seasonals. I'll rate these in the order that I drank them, from weakest to strongest.

CBC Half Wit Belgian Style Wheat
an unusual cloudy peach color... typical belgian smell of banana and cloves, but also a strong citrus aroma... fruity taste with both citrus and something resembling a peach flavor... grainy mouthfeel -- i liked it. (george did as well, dan did not.)
Score: 7

CBC Hefe-weizen
yeasty aroma... taste of banana and wheat, and also quite tart... smoothness you would expect in a hefeweizen... 6% abv is something you might not expect... a slightly unique and very well crafted hefeweizen. the best of their summers. (george agreed, dan seemed less excited.)
Score: 9

CBC Bitchin' Bitter
a copper amber beer... sweet smelling, but aroma is more buttery than anything else... taste is of grassy hops and something else i cannot place... very true to style. (dan agreed, george seemed less sold.)
Score: 8

CBC Tripel
slightly cloudy, golden appearance... aroma is singularly of malts... bready malts bury anything else cbc was going for here... i prefered their tripel threat. (dan and george liked it more than i did.)
Score: 6

CBC Arquebus
a "summer barleywine"... sickeningly sweet in both aroma and flavor, honey and green apple... this strongly reminded me of a white wine... not pleasant. the blunderbuss was far superior. (dan and george strongly agreed.)
Score: 3

CBC You Enjoy My Stout
an imperial stout, and another sweet offering from cbc... molasses and alcohol register presence strongest... pretty good, but i guess i was expecting something more here. (dan liked it, george did not.)
Score: 7