Malted Musings

Lagunitas Gives a Lotta Sumpin' To Heineken

2015-09-30T15:21:00.001-07:00

Earlier this month Lagunitas (in an effort to hold and expand market shares) sold majority shared to Heineken. Upon reading this, I braced myself, and then was not disappointed with the fusillade of angry beer fans raging on social media.

Some cried "sell out," some decried the ignoble death of the storied brewery, while still others began the mournful countdown to when Lagunitas would start watering down their beer. None of this surprised me. In fact it was more of a hilarious over-reaction that I had seen many times before, and (yet again) didn't fail to disappoint.

Let me explain. Merging for market share has become "a thing" for craft beers in the past five years. A brewery will get big enough to where they're pushing beer out around the local surrounding states, but not big enough to distribute nationally, and they get stuck. Couple this with the host of smaller breweries nipping at their heels, and medium breweries have to make a choice: sell out and get market share or circle the wagons and hope no young upstart knocks them down? Goose Island sold out. So did Blue Point. Both organizations did what they thought was best for the company and (from the evidence I can find for Goose Island) they seem to have made the wise choice with a huge uptick in sales, overall increase in quality (Goose Island now has a stand alone facility to take care of its barrel aged series!), and people trying their beer who never would have had the chance before!

Now believe me, I understand why people love to cry over sold out beer. For one, its an elitist thing. If Blue Point is MY beer, in MY hometown, and it sells out . . . why then its not special! Now everyone can try the beer that before only I could! A fine argument, though for the men and women who work at the brewery, I'm sure they agree that elitism doesn't pay the bills! The second reason is more logical, and that's the fear that the parent company just won't "understand" its recent acquisition, and end up destroying it. This is the same rationale that made fans cry out that Mickey Mouse would soon invade both Marvel and the new Star Wars.

Nightmare? Or salvation for a doomed franchise? Courtesy: The Guardian

Yet Mickey didn't invade. Infact Marvel is doing much better today then it was in the late 90s/early 2000's and it's for the simple fact that Disney knew what it was doing: it was bank rolling Marvel's creative force and letting what they already had shine out far and wide. The same logic applies to Blue Point's merger, Goose Island's merger, Lagunitas' recent sale, and (I hope) Star Wars episode VII. In other words, InBev is a juggernaut of brewing. They have the incredible power to produce beer that tastes exactly the same anywhere in the world at all times. Why would a company that has such stringent control over it's own process and ideology decide to up and change a winning recipe in Lagunitas' cult and critic favoritism? Put another way: for better or worse corporations love making money. The only reason InBev and Heiniken snapped up craft guys is to make more money. And how do they make money? By enabling the craft guys to keep making amazing craft beer, except now producing it wide scale.

I mean hey, I get the appeal of the whole "rail against the man/establishment/whatever" thing. It feels good to be the underdog! But if we really loved our craft beer guys (and gals), wouldn't we WANT them to be successful? To make more beer? To make it better, in more varieties, and never run out? Food (or drink, I guess) for thought. Let me know what you think in the comments and then follow me here on Blogger, Twitter and Faceb ook for more beer ravings.

Beer Style Guide: Farmhouse

2015-08-20T08:34:00.000-07:00

Even though it's hard to admit, summer is on its way out. Within another few weeks, temperatures will dip, the air will get crisp, and we will soon find ourselves bundling up and running to the comfort of the closest hearty stout or porter. It's with this idea that I thought, "What beer style do I love, is currently popular, and transcends seasonal boundaries?" The answer to this is (of many styles) the "farmhouse" style of beer.

The farmhouse beer style is often used interchangeably with the "saison" style, although the idea of a farmhouse beer refers specifically how these beers were brewed in farmhouses during the cold months, then stored during the summer and served to thirsty farm workers during the hot times of the year in Belgium. Thus "farmhouse" is more of an umbrella term, one that refers specifically to an unfiltered beer, usually Belgian inspired, mostly sessionable (read: low abv), featuring earthy malt tones that give the beer a "farm fresh" feeling.

A great take on the farmhouse style: Kent Falls Brewing Company's Farmer's Table

Ok, so a farmhouse style is usually earthy, maybe a little "gritty", unfiltered, and stars the more "wild" tastes of nature, but what does that mean to us, the drinkers? Well for one farmhouses are beers meant to be refreshing. Due to their history, this typically means refreshment during hot months. Despite this idea, I believe that the farmhouse is a great beer for largely any season due to the heavy earthiness and rich maltiness typical of the style. Maybe it won't warm your bones as much as a hefty Scotch wee heavy or winter warmer, but the farmhouse can reliably refresh you and give you a taste of spring/summer while still retaining a dense enough body. Also, despite traditionally being a lower abv style, the farmhouse usually has enough interesting tasting notes floating around (due to way that farmers would make their beer out of whatever crops they had growing at the time) to be an appropriately interesting beer year round!

If this has piqued your interest, and you're hankering for a delicious farmhouse/saison brew, may I direct you to Ommegang's Hennepin, Brasserie Dupont's Saison Dupont, or Goose Island's Sofie. If you want to try a farmhouse beer close to home, then check out Kent Falls Brewing Company, who brew exclusively farmhouse styles! Follow me here on Blogger, and on Twitter and Faceb ook for more beer style notes and general beer ramblings.

Eli Cannon's Holds Its Biggest Beefest to Date

2015-08-11T09:56:00.000-07:00

Last Monday Eli Cannon's held its 6th annual beerfest to a crowd that was the biggest one yet! This fest has been growing slowly but surely over its lifetime, and it was no different this year. Featuring five food trucks, over 70 different breweries, and 600 of the happiest, friendliest fest-goers you've ever seen, Eli Cannon's has once again proved why their fest is the one that easily makes my top three (if not top one) "must go" list every single year.

The crowds at the entrance: right next to the food trucks and the CT beer tent! Courtesy: CT Now.

New this year, Eli Cannon's hosted all the CT breweries in one huge tent at the entrance to the fest itself. When you walked in, you got to experience 20+ CT breweries, effectively making CT beer the star of this fest. More than just a very cool decision to push CT beer the most, this move also was a wise one in terms of crowd control; with everyone grouping at the front, it made the much larger crowd than last year feel very spaced out. That being said, you still ended up shoulder to shoulder with people the entire time, but then again this is the sort of vibe that is familiar and expected at Eli Cannon's.

An aerial shot of the crowd. Courtesy: CT Now.

As with every year, Eli Cannon's held this fest to promote a local charity. This year's charity was the Middlesex County Coalition on Housing & Homelessness. The Coalition exists to eradicate homelessness in the Middlesex area by 2018. They promote long term and sustainable approaches to house people, as opposed to trying to manage each case of homelessness when they occur. Through the beerfest, Eli Cannon's raised a remarkable $8335.57 for this very worthy charity, which is around quadruple times the donation from last year!

The crowds wrapped around the entire facility! Courtesy: CT Now.

This increase in donations was due to the extraordinary amounts of people that showed up. All 600 tickets were sold out for the event, a full 200 more than last year! Despite the higher amount of people, there was more general polish and organization to the event, as could even been seen with a ton more volunteers wearing the Eli's shirts, helping people out and ensuring that the fest ran smoothly. I spoke with Rocco LaMonica (the bar manager at Eli's and the man almost wholly responsible for this event) and he said that the Eli's staff really grows more confident every year. This confidence includes the great degree of trust that's placed in the skill of the Eli Cannon's staff, and the helpfulness of the community. Rocco emphasized that the staff went above and beyond, with almost the whole staff roster working the whole day on Monday (the day they all usually have off)! To top it off, the community really embraced this event, and that proves to be a huge help as well. The Middlesex PD and other town departments worked with Eli's for months in advance, and always sought to make sure that this event would go off in a big, fun, and safe way.

Only a small portion of the many volunteers on hand for the fest. Courtesy: CT Now.

Since the fest is getting so big, I asked where they could go next. That question, Rocco told me, was something of a conundrum. They could move to a different venue, but that would effectively loose the charm and vibe that holding the beerfest at Eli Cannon's gives off! This beerfest attracts not just beer fans, but a ton of repeat customers and Eli Cannon's fans. This makes the fest crowd very unique: it's almost more like a feeling of a family reunion, rather than a bunch of random people you don't know drinking under a tent. That is to say, most people at the beerfest are connected to Eli's, so you get a crowd that's laid back, friendly, and eager to share their day with 600 other people, many of whom they may actually know! Rocco (and Eli Cannon's) enjoys this closeness to his customers and stressed that they will most likely keep the fest where it is to preserve this uniqueness.

Despite having very successfully pulled off this massive beerfest, Rocco and the Eli's crew aren't ones to rest on their laurels. Rocco says that in the future he would like to maybe try doing more "fest" inspired events, such as maybe a limited release fest where all the beer on is a very limited run from each brewery present. Whatever Eli's is going to do next, you can bet that it will be well thought out, big, and fun as hell. All pictures above are courtesy of CT Now, visit them to see over a hundred pictures from the event! Don't forget to add Eli Cannon's on Facebook to see what they're up to next, and then follow me here on Blogger, and on Twitter and Faceb ook for more beer events, news, and ramblings!

Stony Creek Celebrates Summer and Sun Juice in Sizziling Louisiana Style

2015-07-28T16:26:00.002-07:00

This past Sunday (the 26th) Stony Creek Brewery held their first Sun Juice Crawfish Boil on the River. Featuring a delicious crawfish boil put on by Clambakes of Connecticut, funky Louisiana-inspired jazz music played by the Funky Dawgz Brass Band, cupcakes by NoRA Cupcake Company, and (of course) full lines of beer from the Stony Creek itself, this event served (according to Jamal Robnison, the Director of Sales) as a farewell love letter to Stony Creek's Sun Juice (whose summer run has reached its end). The event also focused on celebrating all things summer and the vibrant Stony Creek community itself. Always seeking to connect with the community and clientele, Jamal and Andy Schwartz (the brewmaster) were both more than eager to talk about the event and their upcoming beer.

The parking lot was a little filled. Yes, that's all street parking on the left.

First let me set the scene. It was a packed day; before the event even started, the brewery was filled with people hanging out and enjoying their Stony Creek beer on the beautiful waterfront, and even more people packed themselves into the Stony Creek campus once the tables opened up for the crawfish boil. 120 people turned out for the event itself, filling out a huge chunk of the waterfront seating. The Lousiana theme was amped up the muggy (yet pleasantly breezy) weather, and made complete by the music stylings of the Funky Dawgz Brass Band (a New Orleans-style jazz band) and the pungent, delicious smell of boiling crawfish. This is the first big summer event in the life of the relatively-young Stony Creek, and they managed to put together a big, exciting event that also perfectly captured their motto: "aggressively laid-back beer." In other words, the entire event was intentionally built for people to slow down the busy pace of their life, drink a beer or two, and just enjoy everybody's company.

A large crowd outside, not uncommon for any given weekend!

After dining on a great portion of crawfish, shrimp, clams, corn, and potatoes, the gathered crowd eagerly attacked the NoRA cupcakes for dessert! To commemorate the day, NoRA brought their own interpretation of the Sun Juice in cupcake form. The Sun Juice cupcake was a vanilla cake infused with Sun Juice, boasting orange curd inside, all while topped with grapefruit buttercream, and a great-looking sugared logo of Stony Creek on top.

The Sun Juice cupcakes.

As if the delicious seafood fare, perfect summer beer, and delicious cupcakes weren't enough, the Funky Dawgz Brass Band brought the event alive with an electrifying performance that channeled the spirit of New Orleans through personal musical creativity. Speaking to the band during their dinner break, they informed me that they all graduated from UConn at the same time, and have been playing together for over three years. Since they've formed as a group they've seen great success; they have traveled and performed in New Orleans a number of times and even opened for Dispatch recently. Their sound is part jazz standards and top-40 covers, part original compositions, all wrapped together with an infectious high-energy attitude that had the whole place tapping their feet, dancing in the sand, and generally getting into the proper New Orleans party spirit.

The Funky Dawgz Brass Band.

As this party was being thrown for the end of the Sun Juice run, I inquired about where the brewery was going next for the fall. Andy and Jamal were more than happy to fill me on their upcoming autumn seasonal: Crum. Crum is an apple cinnamon oatmeal amber ale that is brewed to be medium, sweet, yet well balanced to really accentuate that brisk "bite" of fall. Andy is very excited for this beer, as he'll be using RIPE (a CT local juice company) cider and sweet cinnamon to explore the taste of fall in a different way than most beers do. As this will be the big seasonal release, there will be no pumpkin beer brewed by Stony Creek, Andy told me laughing. NoRA will also be joining in on the Crum fun, as they plan on putting out a Crum cupcake. The Crum beer will be making a huge arrival with a Middletown Crum Crawl on August 6th, when Jamal and the team will be going around the main street bars and pubs giving out samples of the sumptuous-sounding new fall seasonal.

A close view of the crawfish!

This event went off great, with a sea of smiling faces and crowds of people that didn't seem to want to leave. According to Jamal, events like this only end up coming out of Stony Creek every couple of months or so. The reason for this is that Stony Creek wants to make sure that every big event really feels like a major party (not just an event for the sake of having a random event), and is exciting, different, and ultimately fuels peoples' passion for good beer and great company. In other Stony Creek news, they are working on a new big special beer: Reposado Negro. This will be a black wheat wine aged in tequila barrels and due out towards the end of October.

I had an incredible time at the Crawfish Boil, and I cannot wait to see what Stony Creek comes up with next: both in terms of events and beer! Stay tuned to my blog for more beer and event coverage, and hopefully I see you at the upcoming Eli Cannon's Beerfest!

Summer Beer Roundup 2015: Part 1

2015-07-12T10:24:00.001-07:00

Now that summer is in full effect, it's time to start thinking about what beers we want to bring to the beach, drink after mowing the lawn, and enjoy at those hot summer picnics. For part 1, I bring you three beers that are both on tap at Eli Cannon's Tap Room and readily available at any decent package store near you!

Clown Shoes Mango Kolsch

First up is the Clown Shoes Mango Kolsch. This beer pours out with a murky golden opaque, paleness and sits with a robust, fluffy head on top. This beer smells immediately of sweet mango and slight citrus overtones. At first sip the kolsch is bright and sweet. Swiftly from here, the mid taste moves to a semi sourness that then gives way (rapidly) to a mango sweetness. This sweet mango note mingles with a bitter hop citrus note at the height of the taste that then leaves the beer sitting mild and slightly sour (with some bitterness) on the back of the palate. A light to medium beer due to how the mango sweetness is cut with the bitter hops, this a refreshing beer that retains the trademark Clown Shoes bite, despite the fruit overtones. The mango kolsch is a beer that can agree with people looking for a little sweetness in their beer, but still want a certain depth of flavor.

Ithaca Cayuga Cruiser

Next up is the Ithaca Cayuga Cruiser. This beer pours out a pale translucent gold, murky with barely any head and smells very faintly sweetness (though its hard to get a nose on this one). The initial note is a sour taste that quickly gives way to a slight sweetness. This moves to a tart, almost lemony, bitterweetness that bursts abruptly at the pinnacle of the taste note, then rests sweetly and lightly on the tongue. This is a light and sour beer, but the sour tartness has the same refreshing qualities as a glass of crisp fruit juice. This beer serves as a great indicator of the Berliner Weiss style. It may be a but weird for some, but given a chance I think most will fall in love with the easy style of the beer and the great slightly-sour "kicker" on the back end. As a side note, this beer is a great primer for those interested in trying out the Belgian "sour" style, but aren't ready to spend big bucks on a beer they're afraid they may not fully enjoy.

Black Hog S.W.A.G

Third and last in my first round up, we have the local favorite: Black Hog S.W.A.G! Standing for Summer Wheat Ale with Grapefruit, this beer pours a rich golden translucent color, with a spritely head on top, and a very faint semisweet nose.This beer starts very dryly sweet, but suddenly bursts to life with a blast of bitter hops. As quickly as the hops kick in, the taste fades with a kiss of bitter wheat and ends up on the palate dryly, awaiting the next sip to pipe in more sweetness and another burst of wheatiness. This beer had the biggest body of the three summer beers, standing solidly medium due to that wheaty/ citrus hop burst. Even with the bitters, this is a refreshing beer. Whereas not an IPA, this beer tickles the same fancy of the IPA lover while being more dry, flavorful, and slightly less hoppy due to the wheaty semisweetness. If you have guests coming over for a BBQ who are hop heads, but you don't want to bust out the big gun IPA's in 90 degree heat, or if you just want a semi-bitter alternative, then S.W.A.G is for you!

I will be releasing a few more rounds of the "summer beer roundups" over the next few weeks. Until then, follow me here on Blogger, and on Twitter and Faceb ook for more beer tasting notes, trends, and styles to check out!

Two Great Summertime Beerfests Coming Soon

2015-07-02T06:37:00.000-07:00

Tis the season of warm weather, cool beers, and (of course) awesome outdoor beerfests! Though there already have been a stellar selection of fests this year, there are still many more fests coming along. Today I'm going to take a look at two upcoming beerfests that should go along way to make your summer a bit more exciting!

First up, on July 18th, Warsaw Park (located in Ansonia, CT) will play host to the first annual Freedom Fest Craft Beer Festival! This festival will boast over 70 different breweries, six food trucks, and a bunch of specialty vendors and live music on site. Proceeds from this event are going to support the Wounded Warrior Project, and the event itself is being organised by Valiant in the Valley, Inc, which is a non-profit that seeks to host events that are beneficial to the overall community. As the event is taking place in a picturesque park and presenting a wide variety of tasty beers, I'd say this event will benefit not only a great cause, but also your taste-buds and personal well being! Tickets for this event are available on the Freedom Beer Fest website.

The other event that should be sure to please is the Eli Cannon's Charity Beer Fest, which kicks off August 3rd. Every year that Eli's has held their beer fest its gotten nothing but bigger and better, and this year is looking to keep that momentum going. Featuring over 60 breweries, 4 food trucks, and a host of specialty vendors, this year the beerfest will benefit the Middlesex Coalition for Housing and Homelssness. Despite being in my backyard, the Eli Cannon's fest is one that I look forward to every year. Packed with vendors (and people) this is fest is massive in terms of beer per square foot, with you having to only step once or twice to be offered another sample from another great brewery. Tickets are available online, be sure to act fast as the event did sell out last year!

I will try to stay on top of updating you all on of the big fests and smaller gems that are coming down the line this year. Check out the CT Beer Trail for MANY more events, and then follow me here on Blogger, and on Twitter and Faceb ook for up-to-date beer news, trends, and information!

Beer Style Guide: The Shandy

2015-06-24T06:16:00.002-07:00

The shandy is a particular "fruity" style that's been hitting the markets for the past few years, but gaining the most traction within the past summer or so. Popular examples include Leinenkugel Summer Shandy, Curious Traveler Shandy, and (my personal favorite) Narragansett Del's Shandy. Just in time for the early days of summer, I'm going to take a closer look at this uniquely refreshing style.

The shandy is characterized as a beer that has been mixed with fruit juice or carbonated soft beverage (such as ginger beer or ale). Though you may think this is a uniquely "American" sounding invention, it turns out that the idea of mixing beer dates far back to the European tradition.

One of my favorite "shandy" styles.

In western European nations in particular, it is popular to mix beer together in a variety of different cocktails, most notably lemonade, orange soda, and coca cola. This refreshing mix has a low enough yield of alcohol to be exempt from some laws governing alcoholic beverages in Europe! Another perk of mixing beer with soft drinks is that it ends up being very palatable, light, and ultimately different than your average draught pour.

Though it may be tempting (especially for beer 'hipsters') to discount the shandy style as cheap, it pays to mention that the style has been around for many, many years. The main tasting notes to look for in a good shandy include: a dry or slightly sweet body (you don't want it to be overpoweringly sweet), initial taste of sweet fruit juice (or soda) followed by slight bite of alcohol, the mid taste is usually dry and semi-sweet (or slightly sour with juice), but then quickly fades to a neutral aftertaste that may sit with the slightest hint of a bite on the back end.

Don't be "too sophisticated" to try a shandy! It is an amazing style for this time of year: refreshing, easy sipping, and pleasant to drink out in the heat. I'm glad that the style is catching on state side, then only thing better would be for shandy styles to be served from draught at a bar or table side (a guy can dream)! Follow me here on Blogger, and on Twitter and Faceb ook for more beer news, trends, and information!

New State Budget Includes Exciting News for CT Beer Fans

2015-06-06T06:16:00.000-07:00

The recent passing of the new CT state budget may have slipped under most of your radars (as it did mine, at first); however, a closer look of the budget yields an interesting line item:

§§ 78-82 — ALCOHOLIC LIQUOR POLICIES, under Subsection Beer Growlers (§§ 78-80)

The bill allows restaurant, café, and tavern alcohol permittees to sell at retail permittee-provided and sealed containers with draught beer for off-premises consumption. In the case of a restaurant permittee, the bill (1) additionally requires that the containers be filled by the permittee and (2) prohibits manufacturer, out-of-state shipper, and wholesale permittees from supplying the restaurant permittee with the authorized containers or any draught system component, other than tapping accessories.

These retail sales are limited to (1) four liters of beer per day to any individual and (2) the authorized hours for off-premises alcohol consumption sales (see below).

EFFECTIVE DATE: July 1, 2015

In other words, growler fills are no longer just reserved for visits to breweries! For any bars & pubs who want to offer this service can now fill up two of your standard sized (64 oz.) growlers, equaling four liters a day. Now, these growler fills must take place during liquor store hours, which are now 8 AM - 10 PM from Monday - Saturday, and 10 AM - 6 PM on Sunday thanks to the new budget.

This measure has been debated for quite some time now, both in legislation and by bar owners and beer drinkers. Proponents don't see anything wrong with this: at last stingy CT is "loosening it's belt" a little bit! Now instead of trekking out to a brewery to fill that growler, you can support your favorite brewery by heading out to your local taphouse or tavern and getting their brew there. In addition, if you like a rare beer on tap at a bar, now you can take some to go!

Opponents are a bit more hesitant about the new measure. Some folks who run bars have expressed reservations about having a new influx of people coming in just to fill growlers. What if the growlers are damaged in some way? What if the people illegally try to drink their growlers at the bar? How can an already-busy pub fulfill the demands for growler fills while tables need to be cleaned, bar glasses need to be bused, and eight people are waiting to order their next round?

Only time will tell how this new rule affects the CT beer scene, but I for one am cautiously optimistic. If anything, this should allow more local breweries to move more product via a variety of outlets instead of just primarily from the brewers' location. Who knows? Maybe this also puts us one step closer to package stores that do growler fills!

Follow me here on Blogger, and on Twitter and Faceb ook for more beer news, trends, and information! Also, as I've been promising on social media, I do have some big-ish news on the way. Stay tuned!

Current Beer Trends: Nitro

2015-04-29T17:21:00.000-07:00

Now that the year is a quarter over already, lets take a look at a brewing trend that is blowing up all over the CT beer scene: Nitro. With the advent of Left Hand Brewing Company coming in with their Sawtooth and Milk Stout Nitro, and the label of "nitro" being applied to beers everywhere from the tasting room of Shebeen Brewing Company to the expansive bar at Eli Cannon's Tap Room, the question you may be asking yourself is: just what the heck is nitro anyway?

Left Hand's Nitro Lineup. Courtesy: Left Hand Brewing Co.

First a disclaimer: I'm going to try to break down a fairly complex chemical process in the simplest way possible. Also, to clear up any confusion, nitro stands for the word nitrogen. Now most beers are tapped into a keg with CO2, CO2 being a gas that occurs everywhere from our atmosphere to our own bodies. CO2 makes beer lively. It's what gives IPAs a brisk bite, stouts a richer body, or an ale and lager a more flavorful mouth-feel. If you've ever had a beer that tasted "flat" (especially a traditionally casked beer), then you've tried beer that is not amped up with CO2.

Nitrogen is a different gas that behaves similarly to CO2, in that nitro is used to give a beer body and keep it "lively" (for the lack of a better term) when a beer is kegged. The major difference between CO2 and nitro, is that nitro has a noticeably lighter, "fluffier" body to it, then the more heavy mouthfeel in CO2. If "fluffy" is too vague, lets take an example of a nitro beer that everyone in the world (should rightfully) have drank.

The classic nitro beer. Courtesy: Guinness.

That's right, our old friend Guinness has been using nitro for a long, long time! So take the mouth-feel of a Guiness draught: it's light, airy, faintly creamy on the tongue, and it seems to easily dissipate off the palate rather then sticking around for awhile. Now, using this lighter mouth-feel, think about all the crazy flavor pairings you could stick with such a noticeably different body. Its this idea, mixing a light body with new and interesting flavor combos, that's currently taking our beer scene by storm.

I suspect that as the year commences, more and more breweries will start playing with nitro, and I for one am excited to reap the outcome of this deliciously different beer! Follow me here on Blogger, and on Twitter and Faceb ook for more beer factoids, trends, and information to impress you friends and family with!

Tasting Notes: Welcome Spring With Two Fresh-Tasting Beers

2015-04-17T10:49:00.000-07:00

For my semi-regular tasting notes this week, I have two beers that do a great job of ushering in spring! Both were tried at my home away from home: Eli Cannon's Tap Room.

Jack's Abby House Lager

First up we have the flagship lager from the relative newcomers: Jack's Abby. I've been digging this Massachusetts brand since they expanded into the Connecticut markets last summer. This beer pours out crystal clear, bright and golden with a spirited head. The lager smells of light malts and vague sweetness, and at first sip I get a mouthful of smooth, bright carbonation. From here the beer builds to a semi-sweet, malty note. The beer then builds to a bubbly and very mild (almost indiscernible) hop note that ushers the lager into a crisp, smooth finish. The aftertaste rests ever so slightly on my palate, lingering with the smooth carbonation and the crisp, sweet malty taste. This is a light to medium beer that is semi-sweet, slightly wheaty through the body, but overall is mild, crisp, and refreshing. Despite being so crisp and bubbly, this beer has a lot of that great lager flavor that Jack's Abby is so good at teasing out.

Black Hog Coffee Milk Stout Nitro

I wanted something local next, so I went with a newer CT brand: Black Hog Brewing Company's Milk Stout Nitro. Nitro is the big craze settling into the CT beer scene this year, and Black Hog proves why with this super smooth and refreshing milk stout. This beer pours out with a deep and dark, rich, opaque chestnut color. The beer smells rich and sweetly of malty coffee. At first sip the stout is silky, sweet, and rich with smooth coffee overtones. The flavor (carried along brightly by the Nitro process) develops into more of a thick, malty tapestry until a small speed bump of mild hopping evens the flavor out to creamy, sweet and balanced taste tinged with light coffee overtones. The flavor breaks down slowly from here, until I'm only left with that creamy semi-sweet coffee lingering on my palate long after the hops and majority of the malting have faded away. This is a solidly medium beer due to its coffee richness, but it is sweet and ludicrously smooth! Black Hog adheres to the stout denseness, but makes a beer that is almost fluffy on the palate, well textured, and highly drinkable thanks to the Nitro process.

I would highly recommend either of these beers for the new batch of warmer weather that we've been having recently! Stay tuned here for more tasting notes, beer recommendations, and more; also don't forget to follow me on Twitter and Faceb ook.

Local Beer Spotlight: Stony Creek Brewery

2015-04-08T16:01:00.001-07:00

Driving up to Stony Creek Brewery in Branford, CT, I was first struck with just how jammed packed the parking lot was on this rainy Friday afternoon. Shuffling inside through the cool mist, I was met with a lively, colorful tasting room that was filled wall to wall with cheerful beer drinkers, a crackling fire, and decor that smacked to me of a hip new gastro-pub (rather than a brewery's tasting room). Moving through the crowd I met with Andy Schwartz and Ed Crowley (the headbrewer and the owner, respectively). Chatting for a minute before Andy took me off on a tour of the sparkling new brewery, Ed told me that Stony Creek has been officially open since March 14th. It took a year to build and, though it was only promoted heavily through bar events and Facebook posts, it's been standing room only since.

The packed tasting room.

Ed and Andy also showed off several of the nifty accouterments tucked into this rather professionally crafted tasting room. There were two draft pouring areas with six different in-house beers on, with plans of four more taps to go in that will feature other CT beer on a rotational basis (we're all about the CT community here, Ed told me). Tucked at one end of the bar is a wet bar/growler filling station, then front and center sat the "Crowler." This device (slightly reminiscent of a waffle maker) takes a 32 oz can that gets filled with the beer of your choice, seals it with a poptab, then gets the appropriate sticker slapped on the side of the can: giving you a to-go 32 oz can. Cool. Ed had to take off at this point (probably to, you know, actually run a brewery) so Andy whisked me away on an indepth look of Stony Creek's brand new brewing facilities.

Gloomy day, great sign front.

Before we began, Andy pointed out that the entire company is build on professionalism. The whole team has come from serious brewing backgrounds, such as Andy himself who has been brewing professional since 1995 and Del Morel (Packaging Manager) who planned the layout of Redhook Brewing and now has created the brewing area at Stony Creek. This is a similar story to most of the other members of the team as well. Stony Creek, as Andy said, offered beer-insiders a chance to get in on the ground floor of a big brewery that gives them carte blanche in terms of creative expression and development of beer. This pull is powerful as they've attracted big time players, assembling a virtual dream team of brewing expertise (which you can check out on their site here).

The upstairs celebration room.

The facility itself houses a large upstairs celebration room that can host many different events, a large bar/tasting room downstairs, and a wrap-around deck overlooking the bay outside. The brewing area itself is impressive and as professionally designed as the rest of the building. Featuring ample room for more brewing equipment, Stony Creek already has fully operational brewing capabilities (with a 12k capacity right now), a bottling line, canning line, the ability to move the barrels around the brewing floor, and room for 21 more tanks and fermenters as well. This was a place, as Andy said, that's been designed to expand. Andy proudly pointed out that this is their home; it's been built to expand as the brewery ramps up production.

Aerial view of the bottling line.

You'll notice I keep repeating the word "professional," and that's because, honestly, it's the one word that kept reverberating in my head as I toured the facility. There are tons of little touches that just scream "professional," such as safety stations set up throughout, a growler station that is out of the way of the main bar crowd, and a bottling area that opens up directly into the loading dock. The brewing area even has a fully stocked laboratory on site with full time lab techs on the payroll to ensure that the beer is perfectly uniform on a base chemical level. Stony Creek has done their homework and has established a brewery that loudly proclaims that they know what they're doing.

They have a LOT of room.

As for beer, Andy expressed that (unsurprisingly) Stony Creek has done a LOT of homework when it comes to their styles. They are aiming to hit the largest flavor profiles and tastes with very satisfying, drinkable beers, as well as having the flexibility of brewing whatever crazy style that Andy can come up with. The IPAs (Cranky) will always come in cans. Different versions of IPA will come eventually, and all other beers will come in standard sized bottles, with larger format bottles coming soon. Stony Creek's overall style is in their motto, "aggressively laid back." Andy has had a ton of brewing experience from Colorado, to the west coast, to New England, and he brings it all home to create beer that's drinkable, with a bite, but (most important of all) supremely well balanced. As Andy said, he wants a beer that finishes balanced everytime, no matter which of their styles you try, at any time; in other words Stony Creek beer is modeled to always be consistent and clean. This is the "pure vision" as Andy put it, and the one viewpoint he holds most dear.

More tanks

Stony Creek is all about community involvement, and already has plans to work with NoRA Cupcake on a special beer. Something that Andy kept reiterating is the fact that Stony Creek wants to work with other CT businesses whenever possible. They worked closely with Two Roads while Stony Creek was still developing their own brewery. Andy specified that Two Roads was very helpful, and they are close friends of the brewery to this day. The Stony Creek logo (a psychedelic blue heron) was concepted and created by a local artist. Even the location Stony Creek chose ended up helping the community: as the lot was essentially blighted before it was reclaimed and built up by the brewery.

The cool logo.

Andy wanted to be absolutely clear that Stony Creek has the opposite of an identity crisis: they are laser-focused on a strong flagship lineup, brand, and flavor profile moving forward. Andy told me that the most important thing for a beer company is that people trust their beer. In other words, people need to be able to enjoy the beer once, then be able to recapture that taste again anytime, anywhere. Stony Creek Brewery is poised to deliver this promise, as they have one of the most impressive facilities, all-star lineup, and well-balanced beers that I've ever seen. But don't just take my word for it, check 'em out for yourself (see their Facebook page for updated hours).Then follow me on Twitter and
Faceb ook, for more local brewery updates and info!

Kick Off Spring With Some Killer Homebrew

2015-03-25T16:09:00.000-07:00

Ok, yeah, I know it really doesn't seem like Spring yet, but hear me out! I've been very lucky to be included in an awesome Middletown event that I think is worth checking out: Brew With a View.

For $10 you can get a TON of high quality homebrew with the best view in town, right on the roof of the Community Health Center in the North End of Middletown (right next to my beloved Eli Cannon's). This event, sponsored by the North End Action Team, is being used to help fund NEAT and all of the great, community-centric work that they do within the Middletown area.

The promo poster.

Another reason to come down, besides a chance to get out of your cold house and experience homebrews that will knock your socks off, is that yours truly will be on the judges panel for the competition! Yes dear readers, it looks like ol' Malted Musings has finally hit the big time. In hindsight, though, I'm not so sure why that last fact would make you come out, but just ignore that and head down on Saturday anyway; you'll be drinking good beer, for cheap, and all for a great, local cause. I hope to see you all there, be sure to say hi when you get in! For more great event previews, reviews, and suggestions, follow me on Twitter, Facebook, and G+.

Brewery Snapshot: Left Hand Brewing Company

2015-03-18T17:19:00.002-07:00

The other week I got a chance to sample some beer from a company new to the Connecticut scene: Left Hand Brewing Company. Though new to CT, Left Hand Brewing Co. has been brewing award winning beer in Colorado since 1993. I had the chance to sit down, have a beer, and discuss the biz with Brian Sweeney, the Eastern Regional Sales Manager when he represented their tasting at Eli Cannons the other week.

The logo. Courtesy: Left Hand Brewing

According to Brian, Left Hand launched to instant success. One of their flagship beers, the Sawtooth Ale, won gold at the Great American Beer Festival the first year the brewery opened, and just won gold again this past year at the World Beer Cup. Their rather impressive list of awards aside, Left Hand can now boast being distributed almost coast to coast. They have been up in Massachusetts for the past seven to eight years, but they just expanded into Connecticut as of this month. They are going to expand soon into Rhode Island, Vermont, and Maine soon, as well as looking at possible options to open up into California as well. Not bad for a brewing company that was started by two buddies hacking a homebrew kit back in 1993!

Exterior shot of the tasting room. Courtesy: Left Hand Brewing.

I had to know where this name came from, and Brian filled me in that the name "Left Hand" connects directly with their hometown: the section of which was named after a local Native American chief. This mystery solved, I needed to know the secret to their success. Again, Brian was more then happy to fill me in.

"Though it may sound cliche," Brian prefaced, "we are very focused on quality."

Indeed, this is something I've heard before, but Brian continued and I found myself impressed. Left Hand Brewing Company actually employs four full time laboratory technicians whose job it is to test, inspect, and otherwise manage the nitty-gritty elements of the beer itself. Besides that, Left Hand employs full time quality control reps that go around the country inspecting warehouses and distribution centers to make absolute certain that all the beer is up to snuff. As if all this wasn't enough, Left Hand has a team of approved beer tasters that approve the beer as it goes to market (undoubtedly a grueling job). Brian boasted that two out of six need to check off every beer.

Interior of the tasting room, over in Colorado. Courtesy: Left Hand Brewing.

In addition to their fanatical devotion to quality control, Left Hand also have been pushing the Nitro before it was cool. Now Nitro is short for 'Nitrogen', and it's a way to make the beer silky (basically); think Guinness' super smooth body, for instance. While many CT brands are starting to dabble with Nitro, Left Hand has made Nitro a staple for well over the past decade or two. They currently have three Nitro beers for distribution (the Sawtooth Ale, Milk Stout, and Wake up Dead Imperial Stout), even going so far as to pioneering and perfecting a method of bottling Nitro beers with no widget. Impressive stuff.

Let's break it down. Left Hand Brewing Company has been around forever, has won ridiculous amounts of awards, is crazy for quality control, and is amazingly forward thinking when it comes to brewing technology. I also rather enjoy their beer (if that counts for anything). Needless to say I encourage you to go check these guys out, pronto. If I may be so bold, I suggest starting with their flagship: Sawtooth or Sawtooth Nitro. Let me know what you think, and in the meantime follow me on Twitter, Facebook, and G+ to stay up to date with the CT beer scene!

Tasting Notes: Two Refreshing Malty Beers to Get You Ready for Spring

2015-03-08T13:31:00.002-07:00

I've been on a real "fresh, lightly malted" beer kick recently. I think it's a recursive effect of having a mass amount of amazingly heavy, malty beers and super bitter IPA's to celebrate winter. Now that spring is right around the corner (it is . . . right?) I'm warming my tastebuds up to the warmer, lighter tastes of spring, all kissed with just a hint of bitters. The other night at Eli Cannon's I filled that niche perfectly with two great, mediumly malted beers.

Broad Brook No BS Brown Ale

First up I went in for the No BS Brown Ale from Broad Brook Brewing Co. This beer pours out a softly opaque brown shade with a fizzly carbonated head. The beer has a distinct light coffee smell with a hint of some sweet malting. At first sip I get hit with a lot of light, bright carbonation that works into a bright, coffee tinged mid-note. From here the beer terminates with bright, sparkling carbonation and some more of that medium warm maltiness on the back end. This beer is a light to medium bodied ale that tastes a little on the lighter edge of the "brown ale" style (which usually has a beefier body due to more prominent hopping). Despite that lightness, the "No BS" is evenly balanced and has a very warm, malty note that builds the body up modestly. A good beer to remind you of warmer weather, it would be easy to drink a few of these fairly quickly, as the carbonation makes the beer go down very smooth!

Left Hand Polestar Pils

The next beer I tried on my "hoping for spring" tasting kick was the Left Hand Brewing Company Polestar Pilsner. This beer pours out a light, transparent goldish amber, complimented with a fluffy, bright head. At first sniff this beer has light, bright floral sweet notes on the nose, and at first sip I taste a mild, even hop note that mixes with a slightly sour note. From here the taste builds to a slight burst of hops that mingles with that sweet/sour malting. The taste settles in on this note and gently eases off the palate, leaving only a shadow of that sweet, semi-sour maltiness. This is a light to mediumly built beer that is almost solidly medium thanks to that sharp hop burst. The Polestar boasts an amazing wheaty aftertaste that mingles with the sour kiss on the back end that creates a very interestingly well-rounded taste profile for this pilsner. Really a great beer for spring, this beer is a good indicator of a pilsner style while being unique and fun in its own right. On a side note this beer's hop signature is such that I think even IPA-heads would really enjoy it.

Are you looking forward to the warm weather like I am? Keep your eyes peeled on my blog as I uncover more beer to get you in the mood for spring and (eventually) summer! Check back here soon to see my initial thoughts and interview with Left Hand Brewing Company, and then follow me on Twitter, Facebook, and G+ to stay up to date with our beer world.

Tasting Notes: Two Big Malty Beers from Dogfish Head

2015-02-21T11:00:00.001-08:00

The snow has been slowly killing me this month, so when I heard that the tasting coming to Eli Cannon's this week was none other than Dogfish Head, I decided to heed my own advice and head out to enjoy some high quality beer from our friends out of Delaware.

First up is their Olde School Barleywine. I've heard of this from several of my friends, but I've never had the occasion to drink one myself.

Dogfish Head Olde School: Courtesy: Me

This beer pours out an opaque, murky deep amber color and smells slightly sour, with hints of rich currants on the nose. At first taste this beer has a faint tone of currants that gives way to a much, much richer date/fig sweetness that pervades the entire taste. From here a hop note cuts through and ushers the taste profile through it's apex, then into a slight strain of alcohol that gives way to a gentle playing of that thick, rich mulled fruit flavor on the back of my palate. This is a decidedly heavy and thick barleywine that boasts a dense fruity core with a peripheral mouth taste of slight sourness, bright carbonation, and a lingering spiciness. A dense sipper that is well formed and complex without being too overpowering, the faint notes of Belgian malts make this barleywine one to relax with and truly enjoy every sip.

The next beer up is from on Dogfish Head's ancient beer line: the Theobroma. Based apparently (according to the website) on an ancient Honduran recipe, this is a beer that boasts ingredients such as mild chilies and cocoa.

Dogfish Head Theobroma. Courtesy: Me

If you're looking at that beer above and saying, "Hold on, that don't look like no chocolate beer I've ever seen," then I guess your initial surprise is understandable: as with most things Dogfish Head, this beer is a very unique take on both chili beers and chocolate beers. Theobroma pours out a golden yellow -- opaque and murky. This beer smells slightly malty, with a very faint hint of spicing. At first sip, this beer is light and malty (shockingly so for a beer boasting an 8 - 9% AbV). The taste builds to a light wheaty note that swells to a bright, almost citric note. From here light hopping kicks in and then quickly winds down with a very, very mild spiceness, and a whispering hint of sweet chocolaty malting. This beer is light to medium, sweet & airy. The only thing tethering this beer concretely to the taste buds is a strand of mild hopping and a super mild spicy kiss. Sweet, on the light side, and very enjoyable side, the balance in this rather large beer is frankly shocking. I highly recommend this beer as good for any time, but be warned: its sweet, balanced nature will leave you wanting more than one!

I've thought of Dogfish Head as primarily the "guys with the outrageously hoppy beer," but that assessment is unfair, and I'm glad to give them a revisit and really delve into some of their other styles. Dogfish Head is truly a brand that can put out a variety of styles that are all extremely differing, running the gamut from outrageous hops to super sweet and balanced beers. Though you do pay for such wild creativity (as the sticker price is a bit steep) Dogfish Head's high standards of quality will ensure you never regret your purchase. Follow me on Twitter, Facebook, and G+ for more beer news and coverage!

Tasting Notes: Narragansett's Lovecraft Honey Ale

2015-02-09T06:52:00.002-08:00

On a snowy night, when the dread waxen moon hung like a rotting cyclopean eye suspended in yawning ether, I found my soul longing for some cold comfort against the onslaught of leering melancholy. Approaching the ice box, I abruptly heard a reedy, tremulous chattering winding its way out from behind the door. Was it some mad piper from across the forbidden dimensions, or is it my own mind finally addling under the blighted, oppressive New England winter? I ignore the blasted sound, grit my teeth, and open the refrigerator. What should be light inside instead seems as a chasm of inky black. My eyes struggle to adapt to the hateful denseness when, all at once, shambling from some forbidden plane of beyond, six strange cylindrical shapes appear. My shaking hand reaches out to grasp on of the alien, foreboding artifacts, and just before all sense is blasted from my mind I make out the printed words: Narragansett Lovecraft Honey Ale.

That's right folks, Narragansett, in honor of famous horror author and Rhode Island resident HP Lovecraft, have released the first (of supposedly three or four) limited edition beers that play with a unique style while calling back to the famed Rhode Islandian himself. As a beer, Narragansett, and Lovecraft fan, I've been looking forward to this beer since I heard it was coming down the pipe and was psyched to get my tentacles, er, hands on it the other day!

The beer in glass. Courtesy: Me

This beer pours out a deep, coppery reddish hue with a slight tinge of orange. Smelling rich, malty and slightly sweet, this beer tastes initially of that rich, dry fruity malting. From here the taste builds to a slight hoppy note that swells and rises to a sharp burst. This bitter burst is the apex of the taste and from here the profile mingles with the tang of sweet honey malting. After this sweetness, the beer fades and lingers sweetly, with hints of dark, sweet honey malting tinged with dry fruit. Weighing in at around 7%, the overall feel of this beer is solidly medium with out getting too weighed down with either cloying sweetness or super sharp hopping. What this beer does well is showcase a kind of "red ale" style in which I get a little dry sweetness, and a little sharp bitterness, all kind of wrapped up together in a fairly well-balanced fashion. This beer is a sipper, and is honestly a good one to drink by itself, or towards the end of a tasting to give yourself a nice, relaxing, and surprisingly complex beer.

I really enjoyed my time with the Lovecraft Honey Ale and I look forward to what they're putting out next in the Lovecraft line. As a note, this beer is good on the scale of "every beer I've ever had," but on the scale of "beers that were around $11 for six tall boys" this beer quickly rockets to amazing: proving that you don't need to spend an arm and a leg for a decent pull of beer. Follow me on Twitter, Facebook, and G+ for more beer news and coverage! Until next time, keep the lights on, and beware the voices from beyond (ok I'm done now)!

Why Not Go Out? 5 Reasons to Brave the Cold for a Beer

2015-01-22T16:56:00.000-08:00

Now that winter's fully set in, it's all too easy to sit back, crack out the thick, malty winter seasonals (which are my favorite), and hibernate. But I'm here to encourage you to embrace the bone-chilling New England weather, brave the cold, and try to leave the house every once in awhile. In fact: I'll give you five good reasons why you should!

That's a cold beard. Courtesy: Creative Commons.

1) Because beards are in: Ok so you're on the couch. You're letting the beard grow out because it's cold outside, making the number one excuse, "Well, I don't want to look like a slob." If that's the case, then the joke's on you! Beards are totally in right now so even if you're fashion adverse, you can pretend you're "in the know" as you walk around with a few weeks growth on your face.

The appropriate facial expression for winter. Courtesy: Creative Commons.

2) Everyone knows it's cold, so who cares?: Going along with the first point, you may not want to leave the house because you're swaddled up like a newborn baby. But head out to your local watering hole, and you may be surprised at how equally bundled everyone is. After all: it's winter, it's damn cold out! Anyone looking at you weird for wearing 30 layers of clothes on a 3 degree day probably isn't worth your time anyway.

*Sad trombone noise* Courtesy: Pixabay.

3) It is more fun than being alone: Let's be honest: it's easier (and cheaper) to drink at home. So why do you go out then? Mostly to not be at home. Changing up the scenery helps immensely to beat the winter doldrums. It gets dark at like 5:00 these days, which coincidentally is when it's socially acceptable to go out for drinks, so go out there and soak up some rays by the neon (or whatever swank lighting you may have at your local drinkery).

Let's be honest, he'd be fun to have a drink with. Courtesy: Creative Commons.

4) You can meet interesting people: I'm not talking about "new life-long friends" (although it is possible), moreso at a bar/club/whatever people are forced to talk to you as you wait in lines for a drink, jockey for a seat, and brush shoulders with those around you. Want to complain about the weather? Sure! Make some witty insight? Why not! After all, you most likely won't see the people around you again so do it: vent your spleen for all to hear!

Makes you thirsty, eh? Courtesy: Jere Adametz

5) Beer tastes better off tap: Enough said about this. It's totally true. Any beer tastes better off tap. You can make a case for a bottle-conditioned Belgian or something, but 90% of the time any beer you have in your fridge right now would taste better off of a tap.

There you have it! Five perfectly good excuses to get out of the house, change it up a bit, and beat the winter blues. But wait, whats that? You actually want a super fun event to do? You're in luck! The CT Beer Trail will be featuring a movie night at Shebeen on the 24th. Movies, open tap lines, fun people, what more could you possibly want? Keep your eyes on the CT Beer Trail for more events, then follow me on Twitter, Facebook, and G+ for more event ideas and mumbling malted musings.

Bikes & Beer: Winter Edition

2015-01-20T15:31:00.000-08:00

This past Thursday, I heard about a "mini beer-fest" kicking off at Pedal Power in Middletown, CT. Intrigued, I tagged along with Bryon Turner (of the CT Beer Trail), poured some beer, and got the scoop on the Bikes and Beers: Winter Edition Beer Fest.

There were three breweries in total present: DuVig, Stubborn Beauty, and Thimble Island. We ended up pouring for Thimble Island as the guys couldn't make it out. Food was provided by Krust Pizza and NoRA Cupcake, with the whole event planned to promote CT Beer Trail's Bike and Beers, and also raise awareness about Bikes for Kids: a non-profit that gives bikes to needy children (and adults too).

The store was packed! That pizza didn't last long.

Bikes for Kids has given away almost 17,000 bikes, as close as Middletown, and as far away as Tanzania. The next big step for the group is to buy a bigger building to expand their giving capacity. Dave Fowler, who runs the organization, was on hand and I had the chance to talk to him about this cool charity group. The organization was started in 1989 by Chuck Graeb, whose philosophy was that all children should have a bicycle of their own. Dave's connection started when Chuck gave bikes to some kids in Dave's school. Though Chuck unfortunately passed in 2009, Dave has since taken over to carry on Chuck's dream. According to Dave, bikes area life changer. They are, as he said, the type of thing that, until you go without a mode of transportation, you don't realize how long it takes to get around. Bikes solve that for people, whether it's the families in Tanzania who can now travel back and forth to work in a fraction of the time, or the homeless and the struggling veterans that the group has given bikes to, who can now bike out of their neighborhood to find work.

What goes great with beer and pizza? Cupcakes, duh.

Bryon Turner agreed with the viewpoint of Dave, saying (without any prompting from me) that in his mind every child should experience the joy of having a bicycle (and a dog he said, though canines weren't part of this event). Bryon was thrilled with the turnout and impressed with the three small breweries who came out without a fuss to help out the community. This is the 5th year of Bikes and Beers, and if you'd like to know more about this and other exciting CT beer events, check out the CT Beer Trail! Then follow me on Twitter, Facebook, and G+ for more beer event coverage and tasting notes.

Super Snooty Beer Reviews: Narragansett Lager

2015-01-14T03:43:00.000-08:00

As I track my beer blog, I realize that I've blogged about Narragansett beer probably more than any other beer. As such, I've decided to give the Rhode Island beer my coveted "Best Cheap Beer of the Movement" award, and then bestow it with the full "pro beer taster" treatment. Enjoy.

Narragansett as it's MEANT to be imbibed.

I poured this niche craft beer out in a chalice to fully experience all the aromatics. Smelling dankly sour and slightly sweet, this traditional American lager shines with a transparent/bright gold color and a frothy, happy thick head perching on top. At first taste I get a mouthful of bright carbonation; the taste then builds to a grainy sweet malting flavor which grows slowly to a more bright, slightly hoppy apex. After this the beer fades to a more earthy sweet malting that lingers on the palate with a faint hint of sour hopping. This is a light/medium beer which has a grainy sweet malting and just a hint oflight (maybe honeyed?) malting. A true summer beer, this brew has a simple grainy complexion that is served best cold.

I feel like this beer is almost too good for the Chimay chalice glass I poured it into! In all seriousness though, 'Gansett has always been my go to party beer and really a great all-rounder that can shine in any number of circumstances (mowing the lawn, watching a movie, aimlessly wandering around the house on a lazy Saturday, etc). Besides that I've been super impressed with the efforts 'Gansett has been making recently to reclaim their old brewery and turn out a surprising number of seasonals (like the Dels Shandy which killed it this summer for me) which are all pretty tasty and very affordable!

Narragansett's Lovecraft Honey Ale. Courtesy: Narragansett Beer

Speaking of which, be on the lookout for 'Gansett's newest offering coming in the next few weeks: their Lovecraft Honey Ale. Yeah, that HP Lovecraft: influential cosmic horror writer circa the 1920's (as well as one of my favorite horror authors period). I swear these guys must have an direct avenue into my brain of "favorite things", or maybe all of us New Englanders are just more or less on the same page. Follow me on Twitter, Facebook, and G+ for more malted musings and beer reviews of the dark and unspeakable!

Lawson's Finest Liquids Launches in CT

2015-01-03T06:50:00.001-08:00

The other day I the opportunity to head over to Eli Cannon's Tap Room and check out the CT launch (or expansion) of a small Vermont brand called Lawson's Finest Liquids. Little did I know that by the end of the night I'd have drank one of the best IPA's I've ever tasted.

Lawson's Logo: Courtesy Lawson's Finest Liquids

But I get ahead of myself. First: what's a Lawson's Finest? Well according to the website and the general gabbing I did with folks on the launch night, Lawson's Finest Liquids is a small brewery that focuses on brewing limited batches of finely tuned beer (think New England Brewing Co, except it's in Vermont). Launched by Sean Lawson, this brand focuses on unique taste combinations and very specific tasting notes for each beer they put out. They have maxed out brewing capabilities in their current location in Warren, Vermont, but in order to preserve the "family-run business style" (as their website says) that the brand is built on, they remain in a relatively small brew house.

Sip of Sunshine Logo: Courtesy Lawson's Finest

Though I couldn't catch Sean to talk to him about the brand (as there was a crush of people there on Monday to try and taste this new beer to CT) I did try the highly regarded Sip of Sunshine IPA. It pours out a reddish gold, rich and slightly murky. This beer smells hoppy and bright with a very strong nose of grapefruit citric notes. At first sip I get a smooth tangy stab of bitters that builds immediately with a malty, flavorful grapefruity note that lingers on my nose. From here I get a high bitterness creeping through the sweet fruit that mingles with the floral aroma and is kissed with an almost honey sweetness. This bittersweetness terminates with a splash of citrus high notes that linger on my palate, honestly feeling like I've taken a big bite of grapefruit. This beer stands at 8%, and yet is solidly medium bodied without being overwhelming. The main notes are bitterness mingled with a fruity/tangy sweetness that all combines to make this a very unique IPA that has methodically singled out a few taste notes which elevate the style far above what most people produce.

Sip of Sunshine. Courtesy: Me

The best part about this beer is that as the beer slightly warms in your hand, it doesn't get more astringent (as most big IPA's do), but rather it mellows and brings out more of those amazing tropical fruity overtones that give this beer its big character. I came to this tasting getting ready to try just another IPA, but all my expectations were defied with this one. Not only does Sip of Sunshine set itself apart, it moves into a whole different level than 80% of the IPA's I've tried. Obviously, then, this beer is highly recommended! For more beer ramblings and malted musings, be sure to follow me Twitter, Facebook, and G+. May your new year be hoppy and filled with spirits!

On the 7th Day of Chistmas: Malted Musings Tackles Two Biggies

2014-12-16T03:42:00.000-08:00

As a collaboration with Beer 411, I'm proud to present my entry into the "12 Beers of Christmas"! To help celebrate the holiday season, I decided to take a look a two beers: one focused on hops, one on malt. Despite the style differences, both beers have been made for the winter season.

First up is a beer from a new CT brewery: Charter Oak Brewing Company. Their "Lights Out Stout" smells deeply of heavy malting along with faint caramel and bittersweet chocolate, resembling super dark mahogany in the glass. At first sip this stout has a smooth initial taste with an under-bite of dark chocolate. The flavor profile quickly builds with a smooth crescendo to a high note of slight bitter hopping that is quickly balanced out with dense, semi-sweet dark chocolate bitters. The flavor is ushered out with exceptionally smooth, robust coffee and chocolate notes that slowly, serenely wind down into a heavy malting that sits, slightly bitter, on the back of the palate. This is a large beer, but with no flavor spikes to ruin the smooth transition from potent bitter hops to deep, rich, heavy malting. The malts and chocolate flavor is not overwhelming, and yet manages to sit warmly on the palate and warm you up for minutes after you finish your sip. A beer that can easily stand toe-to-toe with other stouts that are twice as expensive, this is a must buy for those cold winter nights. I've been super impressed with Charter Oak Brewing, and they keep managing to astound me with every one of their beers I try.

For the next beer I went with a brew from one of my favorite breweries, Southern Tier Brewing Company (a New York based brewery). This is their seasonal beer that focuses more on hopping than malting. The Krampus pours out a rich gold amber, smelling mildly of floral/piney hopping. At first sip I get bright, high hop notes that smoothly develop into a mid-high piney tone. The taste then fades gradually into a high and smooth hoppy taste that slowly winds down into a pleasant wheat malty taste. This hop-kissed malty note lingers on the palate with the dull piney notes of the sharp hops. This is a medium-bodied beer with a fairly high AbV. Highly hoppy notes develop warmth and texture, which sit smoothly on the palate. Overall this is a good beer for those brisk winter days, as the piney notes really cut through and get you in the mood for the cold winter weather. Though personally I prefer more heavy malting in a winter beer, Southern Tier has made a rich and flavorful beer that remains well-balanced and still leaves you feeling warmed up.

All in all the Charter Oak Lights Out Stout is a wonderful beer for the stout/porter fan in your life and I feel may be generally a little more accessible. The Krampus is a beer that truly takes after its namesake and is unabashedly sharp, but altogether warming despite the high piney hopping. Therefore, the Krampus would work well as a gift for an IPA fan to expand their universe a bit without sacrificing high hoppy notes. I want to thank Beer 411 for this collaboration once again, and remind all of you to also follow me on Twitter, Facebook, and G+. Finally, to end, Merry Christmas and a Happy Holidays to everyone!

Tasting Notes: Two Winter Beers From Harpoon

2014-12-01T03:42:00.000-08:00

Harpoon Brewing Co. was fully represented at Eli Cannons recently with almost a dozen tap lines running brew. I took it on myself to try a couple, and come up with two winter seasonals that you guys should definitely try!

Harpoon Maple Tap Imperial Porter

The first is the Maple Tap Imperial Porter. This beer pours out a super dark brown, with a slight hint of a pale head. The beer smells of dark coffee and slight toffee overtones. At first sip, I'm assailed with hefty malting tinged with the taste of milk toffee. From here the taste gives way to maplely sweetness that grows to a gradual bright hop burst. The beer then fades quick and darkly to a thick maple taste that lingers like fresh tapped syrup on the back of my palate. This beer is hefty, darkly sweet, and slightly hoppy: making it a good indicator of a porter and a truly nice beer to drink in the winter. Sipping this dense beer reminds me of roaring fires and piles of delicious pancakes. All in all the beer has the nice body to compliment the sweetness of the maple without overwhelming you.

UFO Gingerland

The other beer that I encourage all to find for winter is the Gingerland from UFO (Harpoon's unfiltered offshoot). This beer pours out a a murky yellow-amber and smells faintly of sweet ginger. At first sip I detect the beer's slight malting that then rockets quickly to a high (but not spicy) gingery sweetness. From here there is a slight hoppy note that is then overwhelmed by dense, gingerbready malted sweentess. The beer ends with a kiss of cinnamon to balance out the palate and keep the flavors even. As commented on by my buddy, "This beer tastes like grandma baked a gingerbread man . . . in my mouth." The sentiment being that the beer has the nose of sharp gingerbread, but the taste itself is warm and sweet without being overwhelming. This is a wonderful holiday-time beer with just enough heft to beat the cold and delight the senses with gingerbready sweetness. It's not too big that you can only have one, but it's not too light that the taste seems watery; all in all if you like the "holiday flavors" of ginger, then you'll love this beer.

The weather is getting colder and the days are getting shorter, but that doesn't mean there are no new beers or beer events on the horizon, in fact quite the contrary! Follow me on Twitter, Facebook, and G+ to keep track of what goodies this winter has in store for us.

Brew News: Shebeen Releases the CT Beer Trail Ale for CT Beer Week

2014-10-24T03:36:00.001-07:00

CT Beer week may be over, but it ended with a bang when Shebeen Brewing released the CT Beer Trail Ale this past Saturday. This particular style is an ESB (a woefully under-released style). In typical Shebeen Brewing fashion, though, the beer has been spiced up a bit with a little more malting to give it a slightly more sweet tinge than one would normally associate with an ESB. Regardless, the beer maintains Shebeen's high-level of quality as it features moderate biting hops that get balanced out with that sweetness. The result is a smooth ESB that peaks with bitters, then levels with some great thick sweet notes.

Bryon Turner, beer guy & all around cool dude. Courtesy: Me

While I was at the release, I had a chance to talk to Bryon Turner, the owner/operator of the CT Beer Trail. Bryon was thrilled with the opportunity to put out a CT Beer Trail-themed brew, and said he was looking forward to more small releases in the future. In addition to the beer, Bryon also talked a bit about his Trailblazer card, which is basically a beer-discount card that's being accepted in pretty much every quality beer-bar and brew-related business. The new CT Beer Trail shirts were also in, and looking pretty fly, sporting a fresh retro look (is that an oxymoron?).

The bottle of CT Beer Trail Ale. Courtesy: Me.

After I was done gabbing to Bryon, I turned my attention back to the many other brews on Shebeen's line. Doing due diligence, I tried them all! Their Pumpkin Scotch quickly emerged to be my personal favorite of the tasting (followed closely by the the CT Beer Trail ESB and the Concord Grape Saison and, really, all the rest which were pretty great). The Pumpkin Scotch boasts dense malting and a thick taste with only a hint of (true) pumpkin flavor. If you go to this beer expecting super-sweet pumpkin pie spice, you'll be disappointed. But I'd say that it's a good thing, as the Pumpkin Scotch is one of the few (only?) "pumpkin" beers that really capture the essence of the pumpkin: a big, heavy gourd. In any case the CT Beer Trail ESB is still around as of the typing of this, so get on down to Shebeen, try all their beer, and see if you agree with me or not!

The beers on last week over at Shebeen Brewing. Courtesy: Me.

As I said above, this event was on the last day of CT Restaurant and CT Beer week. This event was massive and featured many different eateries and breweries across the state putting out specials all week. The gargantuan influx of beer was staggering, and if you missed my coverage on some of it, it's probably because you don't follow my Twitter! Fix that now, follow me Twitter, Facebook, and G+, and then check out the CT Beer Trail and Shebeen's websites respectively to keep track of what those great guys are up to.

Beer Rant: How Pumpkin is Your Pumpkin?

2014-10-09T05:08:00.001-07:00

It's around this time of year (well actually it started around two months ago) that pumpkin beer is unleashed upon the beer world. It seems that before there is a bitter bite in the air or before any of the leaves begin to change, we visit our local package store and see the regular run of beers replaced with row upon row of pumpkin lagers, ales, and porters. For some this is a great moment in the year: the time when we can tickle our fancies with beer that we only really get once a year. For others this time is loathed; what normally may be a time of fresh and different styles is replaced by droves of beers that (some may say) taste largely the same.

For me, I fall somewhere in the middle of this love/hate spectrum (and I will have some pumpkin suggestions of mine at the end). This blog, for the most part is picking a bone with the term of "pumpkin beer". You see, a "pumpkin" isn't necessarily that one can taste. While pumpkin can serve as a base to brew with (similar to a grain, I suppose), eating a pumpkin is a lot like eating a bland, slightly nutty squash.

Whose idea was it to drink these? Courtesy: Wikipedia Commons.

So in that case, what exactly are we tasting when we suck down all these pumpkin seasonals? Mostly allspice, cardamom, nutmeg, and pretty much all the other stuff your granny has to throw into a pumpkin pie to make it palatable and delicious! Now the real question: is this a bad thing? Well if you like "pumpkin" beer (or, more accurately the taste of beer mixed with autumnal flavors) then no, I guess. I suppose the only "issue" I take with it personally is the snobby satisfaction of knowing that "pumpkin" beer is really more of a confectionery malt beverage that heavily showcases (essentially) pumpkin pie spice.

A solid pumpkin. Courtesy: Me.

Ok so now that I've given you a talking point that you can impress (or alienate) your friends with, let me give you some of the pumpkin beers that I have enjoyed this year so far. Now, as mentioned above, I stand very much in the middle of the pumpkin conversation. Honestly I do think that many are more or less "cash grabby" and end up tasting largely similar to every other pumpkin beer on the market. However there are exceptions to this rule, and this year I've had several good to stellar pumpkin beers. In terms of base level approachable I really liked Long Trail's Pumpkin Ale. It's the staple Long Trail ale that is quite solid to begin with, but kicked up with pumpkin-spice I get a dry beer that's not too busy, but also a bit sweet. The other one I've particularly enjoyed this year is the Red Hook Pumpkin Porter. It's dark, rich, super malty, and off-set just enough with some great mild sugary sweetness. A rather refreshing entry into the crowded market of pumpkin beers, and one I'd be sure to drink again.

Courtesy: Red Hook

Although there have been many good entries this year, my two favorites still (two years running!) are the Southern Tier Imperial Pumking and the Warlock. Seriously: if you doubt that pumpkin beers can be good, give one of these a shot and you may be a convert! In terms of a favorite runner up, I would definitely lean towards Two Roads Roadsmary's Baby. This is a sweeter beer, but tinged at the back end with enough of those signature Two Roads hops that you end up with a beer that is more interesting than most pumpkins on the market. I may do a pumpkin round up one of these days, but I feel like it's kind of been done many times already. I'f you're interested in one, though, let me know. Then follow me on Twitter, Facebook, and G+ for more up-to-date CT beer news and event info!

Local Brewery Snapshot: Stony Creek Beer

2014-09-20T06:47:00.001-07:00

The other day at (where else?) Eli Cannon's Tap Room, I got a chance to be introduced formally to one of CT's newest breweries: Stony Creek Brewery. It was there I got a chance to talk to Andy Schwartz (the Brewmaster) about all things Stony Creek.

The logo. Courtesy: Stony Creek Brewery.

This is a brewery centered in Branford. Now the greater Branford area has several breweries already but, according to Andy, the Stony Creek facility will be something truly special. Built directly on the waterfront, the brewing facility will capture the simple beauty of the surrounding Branford Harbor waterway while serving as home for the "aggressively laid back" craft beer (as their unofficial motto goes). The current aim is for a tasting room that reflects beer as an industry using an overall post-industrial nautical theme. The brewery will start producing in house around January or February; Stony Creek beer is currently being contract brewed through Thomas Hooker Brewing Co..

A waterfront rendering. Courtesy: Stony Creek Brewery.

Andy himself is no stranger to brewing. He has been brewing for 20+ years, most recently for the Craft Brewers Alliance. Andy was enticed over to the Stony Creek brand by the promise that he could brew as he wanted. Basically the owners hired Andy (a super experienced name in the craft beer world) and Jamal Robinson (a well known figure in the CT craft beer world for his impeccable marketing/repping talent) and are giving them a super-sophisticated facility to brew what they want!

As of now the plan is to roll out around twelve beers a year: five year round brews, three seasonals, and then some production room to brew special one-offs. There is no flagship yet, but Andy is particularly proud of the lager. This (as Andy describes it) is a brew that appeals to the beer geek, but remains easy drinking throughout. Andy's overall style is like a map of where he's brewed. He has a strong sense of balance and unique taste from his time spent brewing out west, but also a strong aggressive undercurrent of bold flavors from his experience here in New England.

Another external rendering. Courtesy: Stony Creek Brewery.

Andy (and Jamal, who was also on hand) is very excited to set down roots with Stony Creek. He describes the crew and the area as "classic New England small town." That is, the whole business is brewed with the neighborly, genial attitude of people who like working together and really love what they're doing. Between this, a great location, and very interesting tastes on tap so far, Stony Creek is shaping up to be a real up-and-comer for 2015. Keep your eyes peeled on their website for future info, and check back here soon for my personal tasting notes on their "aggressively laid-back" beers! Then follow me on Twitter, Facebook, and G+ for more CT beer tidbits.