My first experience pairing chocolate and beer was at a fundraiser beer pairing event in Portsmouth, NH. The Passport Beer dinner featured local restaurants and NH breweries in pairings of food items and one of their beers. I walked the grounds of the historic Strawberry Banke living history museum and tasted some amazing food. Smuttynose brewing company’s featured pairing was their Baltic Porter (a heavy, rich beautiful beer) and some Lindt Chili Dark Chocolate. I was caught on camera saying, “Beer… and chocolate… is amazing. This just made my day.” Something about the way the beer played with the creaminess, and the hot chilis cut the intense richness of the beer was divine – it was truly inspired.

Since then, the opportunities that I’ve had to sample great beer and great chocolate have been limited – but I was lucky enough to hear about an event atNovare Res – my favorite Belgian beer bar in Portland, ME. For Valentine’s day weekend, they paired up with a local chocolatier – Sweet Marguerites – to create custom beer and chocolate pairings. I was lucky enough to sample several of these.

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So I took the can (which is mostly silver with a nice wrapped label around it) and poured it into a glass. It took a long time to do this because the head was huge! It foamed up and threatened to overwhelm the glass, and I patiently waited and poured the rest in very slowly. The color of this beer is opaque black, and the head is nice and tan/brown.

The smell, too, is deserving of some focused attention. It is a little chocolatey, a little malty and has a little bit of that plum/cherry whatever that deep, sweet taste is that shows up in a lot of imperials. I should mention that the ABV on this is 10.5%, and that this is kidn of a special relative to their Black Noddy Lager (which I wish I could get my hands on.)

The taste is different than most beers in this style I’ve had before. It has a distinct sweet malt, but is also followed by an almost bitter twinge. It feels great in the mouth – very smooth and goes down quickly. This is complex, too. It starts out warm, sweet, syrupy and then bites a little in the end (in a really good way). There is a really subtle smokiness going on, too – something that I always like to taste.

This was a beer that I’d like to sip over and over just to see what tastes I could draw out of it. I also wish I had the Black Noddy Lager to compare it to, since there are probably a lot of common threads between them.  I highly recommend this. If you are in the CA/NV area, it is distributed locally and is probably a lot easier to obtain on the west coast. Check out their website for more information. I hope that I get an opportunity to check out more Buckbean brews soon.

Ginger can be a good palate cleanser and in beer can provide a crispness or a freshness that you can’t otherwise get. The aroma of this one is more like candied ginger than the picked ginger smell that I was expecting. Previous ginger beers I’ve tasted have taken on almost a savory quality, and this one does not seem like it will go in that direction.

The taste is sweet and crisp with a definite ginger note – a little bite. It reminds me of sugar coated ginger candies, but not in an overwhelming way. I would almost pick this as a dessert beer. After doing a little research I also found out that it uses local honey (from New Hampshire) and lemon to balance out the ginger flavor. I don’t taste the lemon, but the honey can definitely be responsible for taming the ginger’s bite in this brew.

The sweetness is really on point and delicious – I think it would pair well with anise cookies or Russian tea cakes. I highly recommend this beer, though leave your expectations at the door!

I mean, seriously. What’s a small beer? It comes in a medium sized bottle, looks normal-ish. Then I read the label. “The tradition of brewing two distinct beers from one mash has existed for thousands of years and for centuries the term “small beer” was used in English to describe the lighter and weaker second beer.” Oh, I see. What happens is that when a beer is brewed, the wort that’s left behind (in this case its from their Foghorn barleywine) has water added and out comes a thinner brew from the diluted wort. An interesting idea, and a historical one, too. So I had to see what happens when you take a barlewine and essentially put it through the ringer again. (Its kind of like making little tarts with leftover pie crust. Or something like that.

It pours a pale yellow (which I expected) but I will admit that I was taken aback by the smell of this beer. I can’t tell you exactly what it was but something in the aroma reminded me of what my grandfather used to drink – and of a half-stale can of beer left behind after a picnic in the backyard. Something about it – the bitterness, the breadiness or the bite of the smell is off-putting. But you know me… I’ll try anything.

The taste is really nothing like the smell (thankfully). I was expecting it to taste like Schlitz, but was pleasantly surprised to have that not be the case. However, the taste was still not what I imagined. It was bitter and a little flowery, very thin and light. The bitterness is unique – and it isn’t purely a hop bitterness. Its almost a biting/acrid bitterness (for lack of a better term) but without it being overwhelming. I am surprised that it isn’t more like its big cousin Old Foghorn, considering they come from the same stock.

Though I can’t say I recommend this, there may be those out there that can appreciate the historical brewing methods and maybe the taste will remind them of other small beers that they may have had in their lifetimes. For me, I’m not really into the aftertaste, and there are other low abv or light beers that I might enjoy a bit more than this. I’m all for history, but in the end, it really does just come down to taste.

Here’s a local news story on the collaboration: NECN – Red Claws Ale a Slam Dunk

I poured it out and was happy to see it was a nice bright red/orange. The aroma was light but malty, with kind of a molasses undertone. The head was there but quickly faded, and I wondered what it would be like to have this in a plastic cup at a game. (I’ll have to go at some point, though I’m a bit more interested in watching the Pirates play instead…)

The taste is that of a sturdy red ale, with some nice malt character. I like that this is a lot more tasty than some of the lighter beers that one can usually get at a sporting event, but isn’t too heavy if you wanted to drink several of them. It is smooth and drinkable, with no bitterness in it.

I’d say that this is a smart move for both Gritty’s and the Red Claws alike – because pairing beer and sports is usually a fruitful venture. Its the type of craft beer that i wish I could get at every sporting event. The price is right, too – for a 22 oz. bottle, the beer is under $4.00 – which is just about the right price for tailgaiting. I wouldn’t be surprised if this ends up at a few Superbowl parties, either. So keep your eyes peeled for the Red Claws both on the court and off. Cheers!

Everyone has a laundry list of resolutions, I’m sure. Lose weight, finish the novel, donate more to charity… I made up a short list of my own as far as my own beer drinking was concerned, and one stuck out to me – “support local beer.” In the days of this economy, where each little business is hanging on the hopes of their customers, it seems more important than ever to me to take a step back and look back into our own neighborhoods. Let’s face it – national craft beer distibution is a wonderful thing, and there are some fabulous beers from “away” that I enjoy very often. But I started to wonder if this national distribution was keeping me from truly enjoying the local flavors around me. [read more]

This pours out a nice deep brown, with a big,  fluffy white head.  The smell is a bit malty, with a little bit of lightness and balance – very inviting smell. This seems to be exactly what I was seeking. Its a little spicy and warm (maybe a little citrus note, like a mulled cider?) and malty without being too nutty or bitter. Its an ale that could warm anyone on a cold day. The taste of it also lingers long and ends slightly sweet. I could drink many of these in a row, its aftertaste is worth waiting for.

Do you have a favorite apres ski beer? Let me know at askthebeerbabe@gmail.com

I received the Impact Pale Ale in a 20 oz glass because I forgot that Tuesday and Thursday nights are “order a normal beer and get a 20 oz one” nights. Its color impressed me though. A dark orange, a lazy and lacy head. The aroma is an assertive hop – but not quite to the fresh grass-clippings smell that some really strong IPAs have. I’d say that the smell is quite inviting, yet distinctly hoppy. I wish I knew what kind of hops this uses – because it smells very familiar.

The taste is something special, really. It is hoppy without being harsh, and the nutty maltiness is a welcome addition. I like this – a lot – and could probably drink these all night. Its like a dialed-down IPA, but not “weak” enough to fall into the category of pale ale. The malts are very likely giving this its distinctive color as well, which I can view as only a positive thing. The balance of the malts makes this one special. It definitely makes me want to take a trip out to Saco… even though I don’t really know where that is yet! I’m not sure if this is their flagship beer, either, but I do heartily recommend it to nearly any beer drinker. Cheers!

I must note, as a post-script, that in addition to being a great local beer bar, the Great Lost Bear has some amazing wings. I mean seriously awesome. Tonight I sampled the Cajun, BBQ and Jamacian Jerk wings… the Cajun – with a dry rub – is definitely my favorite, but all were perfectly cooked, succulent and tender. The BBQ sauce was awesome, the Jerk wings a nice balance of sweet and hot. I literally ate chicken wings for dinner… and I’m not at all ashamed

The beer is brewed in a spirit of collaboration – and has elements of the west & east coasts, of family heritages and heirloom ingredients. According to the Dogfish Head website, its Life & Limb is “a 10% ABV strong, dark beer that defies style characteristics- brewed with pure maple syrup from the Calagione family farm in Massachusetts and estate barley grown on the Grossman “farm” at the brewery in Chico, CA. The beer is alive with yeast-a blend of both breweries’ house strains-bottle conditioned for added complexity and shelf life, and naturally carbonated with birch syrup fresh from Alaska.” After reading the description there and on the bottle – I was intreigued. I don’t think I’ve ever tried a beer with birch and maple elements but I anticipated that they would be a great addition for the right malt and yeast.

It pours out a dark brown (almost like a deep cherry or mahogany) with a white head. The aroma has a lot of alcohol, yeast and the smell of the flavor of a good brown ale (remind me a little of the smell of Paolo Santo Marron, another Dogfish Head brew). The taste on this is complex. It seems based in some kind of a brown ale, but that’s where the definability ends. It has a roasty finish with a definite aftertaste of maple. I think the birch adds some kind of spice to the brew, too, though it doesn’t taste anything like birch beer. The subtleness of the maple/birch flavors is a good thing here, and I think they both are such strong flavors that it would be possible to quickly overwhelm the other flavors in the beer. That being said, it does taste WONDERFUL with a maple sugar candy on your tongue. (I just happened to have some laying around – hey, I’m in New England after all…)

All and all I highly recommend it – though its fading from the shelves quickly. I feel honored to have had the chance to sample it, and I wish it was something I could get often. It works very well for the beginning of the year – its spirit of sharing and working together while cherishing the local and one’s own heritage seems like it is a sentiment worth embracing.

So, to all my readers – cheers, and happy new year!

It pours a muddy mahogany color – very cloudy and light-eating.  The smell is distinctly cherry – like the aroma of the black forest trifle (made with dark chocolate and real cherries) that I had for dessert the other day. It isn’t fake or cough-syrup smelling, which is a big plus. I’m sensitive to that cough-drop cherry taste, so I was happy to get no hint of that in this beer.

The taste was surprisingly, yet pleasantly sour. The sweet cherry taste isn’t there, but there is an earthier taste there that I like. The aftertaste is a little bitter, but seems to go with the almost gritty taste of this brew. It isn’t sweet, isn’t particularly smooth, but is interesting – and maybe that’s why I’m digging it. It reminds me of several lambics I’ve had that I liked.

I look forward to several more beers on the horizon from this “reserve” series. If the quality of this beer is any indication, there may be some other very interesting brews on the way from the bothers Windmer.