McNeill’s Ruby Ale
July 25, 2010 by justin · Leave a Comment
I love McNeill’s brews and McNeill’s Ruby Ale is just on that long list of beers I love.
This is the hoppiest amber ale you might ever meet. Most ambers are more malt than hops. Ray flips that upside down and spins it around with this hoppy amber.
The colour, a ruby amber, seriously people. The bottle says it is the “winner of 13 national and international awards” is this like PBR winning awards? what are the awards it has won (just joking but seriously, say some of the awards. The aroma is of the more citrusy end of the hop aromas. An odd aroma for a ruby. It is even kinda grapefruity. Then the flavour, like I said, hoppyful (just made up this word). The hops are cirtus and grass in flavour. The malts back this up nicely and the moutfeel is smooth and crisp.
This beer was a bit too much to pair with my pizza from Colonial’s Pizza, but oh well.
Nice brew Ray,
There is a great article about McNeill’s on Wicked Local:Duxbury
Otter Creek ‘Otter Summer Ale
July 20, 2010 by justin · Leave a Comment
Nothing to end a beautiful day like BBQ Chicken and a local summer ale. Seriously perfect!
So, I am slightly confused. The new label seriously threw me off. I though it just said “Summer Ale” I was all wondering if it was really the ‘otter summer. Come on guys, you can’t just change the design on me like that.
The summer ale is crisp and light. Perfect paired with my ginger garlic bbq chicken that I fired up on ye old grill. M-Dog got a chance to meet the neighbour dog and almost destroy my hops (did not make me so happy) but the smoke kept the groundhog at bay for a bit which made the rest of the micro-farm happy (if anyone has a haveaheart trap I can borrow it would be greatly appreciated. I will humanly trap the beast and take it into vermont where I will shoot it at close range, j/k. People keep asking me if I plan to kill it, I don;t get what part of “Have a Heart trap” they do not understand).
So this beer, I actually drank right out of the bottle, I know, the horror. But, come on, it is a light wheat ale. The colour is a golden yellow colour, trust me, I drink beer for a hobby. The aroma, fine. It is grassy and sweet. Very floral. Not unpleasant for what it is, a bbq hot day light beer. I know, they don;t use the word “light” but that is what it is. There is a lot going on here if you see it like that. If you are expecting a bigger brew… don’t pick this one up. The Otter Creek Summer ale is lighter than most craft summer brews but more active than most macro brews. If you have friends who just love bud? Hand them this for a change.
I know, it is not the best that the Otter offers. But it is really all I was looking for with my BBQ chicken.
Magic Hat Blind Faith
July 5, 2010 by justin · Leave a Comment
I’m not a big fan of imperialism so the 4th of July isn’t really my bag. My friend and I joined the Williamstown parade and rolled down the block reading Frederick Douglass’ “The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro“. We also handed out excerpts from Douglass’ 1852 speech and Some Howard Zinn and a great piece by Rev. Irene Monroe. I don’t think most people knew what to make of us but adding some reality to this holiday was fun to me. Education is key, most people just follow blindly, listen to “the man” and bow to the oppressors.
Anyway, you are here to read about beer not oppression.
For the BBQ at my digs I picked up the Magic Hat summer sampler. I drank my favorite summer ale, Wacko, and then turned to Blind Faith, the IPA of the Magic Hat summer. See, I thought I’d reviewed Wacko this year, oops, I didn’t so look forward to that one soon.
The Blind Faith IPA is really not my fave. I find it a fine session IPA though and that is really what hanging out and eating some grilled meat needs. Magic Hat is doing this IPA on tour thing. Honestly their IPA’s fall short in the American Craft Beer lineup and they are trying to really market them with this limited edition crap. This is just the same old boring Blind Faith IPA.
Back in the day, the IPA was considered a hop-bomb. That was a long time ago, before the real hop-heads came out. It was July 4th so I drank this from the bottle. The aroma was slightly hoppy more on the grass notes than the floral. Smooth taste with the malt balancing out the hops. The balance is not all there though as I feel like the malt is a bit too strong. I guess it is an English IPA so maybe I’m a bit too harsh? The aroma and flavour are rather earthy with some fruit (very slight), and a touch of toffee. They say 60IBU but I just don’t get it. More like 40IBU to me.
Long Trail Brewmaster Series Coffee Stout
June 29, 2010 by justin · Leave a Comment
Well, the mother loves coffee so I thought the Long Trail Brewmaster Series Coffee Stout might be one that she might like, and man did she like it. I wasn’t as big of a fan as she was but it was a fine stout.
Pours black as night and the aroma is more dark chocolate than coffee. The head was very dirty looking, looked cool but like milk foam on dark coffee that has mostly dissolved into the coffee. There is some coffee there, don’t get me wrong, but it is more bitter than roasty toasty.
Overall, sipped it while watching the lamest movie ever, Serious Moonlight with Meg Ryan, not that she was ever a great actor but WOW, her acting skills have gotten considerably worse since I last saw her. The screenplay was good just the acting and casting sucked.
Fine beer, sucky movie
Brattleboro Brewers Festival
May 23, 2010 by justin · 3 Comments
What an amazing day! Headed out around 11am to hit up the Brattleboro Brewers Festival in Brattleboro, VT. Stopped off at Top of the Hill Grill, my favorite seasonal place in New England. Had a messy yummy “Shader” (Burger with Taco seasoning topped with with roasted peppers, grilled onions and Ranch dressing), man I miss Brat.
The festival was great. I got to meet Amy and Tim from Here For The Beer. They are so nice and I hope to do a video blog with them sometime soon. Amy and Tim were the brains behind the event, and from what I could tell they were some of the busiest people there as well. There was a major focus on Vermont beer and it was great to see, and taste, VT beers alongside some of the best US and International craft beers (ie Dogfish Head, BrewDog, and Stone) VT breweries came out and shared some of their newer stuff where most of the other breweries had their standard offerings.
The Red Giant from Element Brewing Company in Millers Falls, MA was bolder than I expected, in a very good way. There was some spice to this bready beer finished with a powerhouse punch of fruity hops. Very nice, very drinkable. I need to make a trip over to Millers this summer for sure.
The most talked about beer seemed to be the cask fermented Chinooker’d IPA from Lawson’s Finest Liquids in Warren, VT. This hoppy IPA stresses the pine and citrus flavours and was very tasty. More mellow that I expected it is not necessarily a hop head beer but a fine IPA strong on the hops. Lawson’s only brews in super small batches so you need to head to the Mad River Valley in VT to try one, do look them up if you are up north.
The stand out to me was Hill Farmstead Brewery‘s offerings. This brand new brewery up in Greensboro Bend, VT is so new that they have not even had their grand opening yet, it’s next weekend! Their Abner: Imperial IPA, pictured here and Edward: IPA made most of the IPA’s at the festival seem boring in comparison. I’m not joking, this stuff was the most balanced sweetly hoppy beers I had all day. The Abner Imperial was mellow and strong all at the same time. At 8.2%ABV the alcohol is well hidden. The floral hops stand out mellowed by the sweet malts. The Edward:IPA is a smaller version of Abner and just as amazing. The perfect session beer to me, I could have just stayed here and been happy as a clam. If you can get your hands on these new brews, please do. Rock on!
Also present was Grafton Village Cheese. I am a lucky guy to be able to get Grafton cheeses right down the road. I chatted with Kelly, their West Coast rep and was happy to find out that they are available out there, Whole Paycheck and if you are in San Diego, Henry’s Farmers Market. Kelly encouraged me to try the horseradish cheddar. I’m not a horseradish fan but it was good, she was right.
To top off an amazing beer day, I also got myself a new toy.
Otter Creek Spring Ale: German-style Kölsch
April 16, 2010 by justin · Leave a Comment
I know, what a slacker. I’ve been drinking and didn’t even tell you, my loyal readers, about it. That isn’t very nice of your dear blogger is it? I will try to not do it again.
So, to catch everyone up. On Wednesday I had a long hard day and picked up a six pack of Otter Creek Spring Ale: German-style Kölsch. This is one of the most drinkable beers I’ve had since starting this blog. So drinkable, I just drank a whole bunch of them. Don;t worry mom, I didn’t go too crazy, and though the ABV is not stated on the bottle it is fairly low compared to what I normally drink.
A Kölsch is a bright golden ale originating in Cologne. The Spring Ale is just that, bright golden colour with a white head and beautiful lacing.
The aroma is slightly bready with a bit of grass. The flavour is kinda like a hop pizza. I know that sounds odd but it really is. Think of a pizza dough with a hop glaze. Maybe a bit of citrus as well. The mouthfeel is dry with a slight sweetness to it. I like it a lot.
This is what session beers are supposed to be like.
Only available for a few more week, so pick some up soon.
The Vermonster
February 26, 2010 by justin · Leave a Comment
What is a Vermonster anyway?
According to Wikipedia: A Vermonster is a large ice cream sundae made by Ben and Jerry’s. The name is a portmanteauVermont (the company’s home state) and monster (indicating large size). It consists of standard sundae ingredients, but in such amounts as to (excessively) feed four people. It contains the following:
- Twenty scoops of Ben and Jerry’s ice cream
- 4 ladles of hot fudge
- Whipped cream
- 3 cookies
- A choice of 4 toppings
- brownies
- 4 bananas
- According to a Travel Channel show highlighting extreme foods (October, 2009), the Vermonster has 14,000 calories and 500 grams of fat.
The Vermonster is frequently used in fundraising efforts, where teams pay to compete against other teams in a race to complete the Vermonster. Even finishing a Vermonster is a feat; the attempt is an event and it often requires more than one person.
OR, It is a BIG BEER!! The Rock Art Brewery’s Vermonster is a BIG FUN beer, also quite strong on the alcohol level (as I’m getting a little buzzed as I write this).
Jason at the Beer Basement, a blog I typically like and agree with, said that there was no head, well I had head, look at the picture! Dude, what were you pouring? He was correct about everything else, and cellaring this baby is a fine idea.
So, the hops overpower the malts. Interesting that the advertising of the beer talks more about malts than hops. This is a problem, you know I keep talking about the balance of beers. This beer is not balanced. It is a barleywine, it is supposed to be strong, and it is.
Well, try it, you might like it.
Also, just so you know, the Vermonster was under legal attack. Seriously Rock Art was sued! They won (settled), POWER TO THE PEOPLE! but the issues of trademarks are a big problem. Rock Art has stepped up to the movement of trademark reform. They are fighting against big corporations stepping on the “little people”
Rock Art Stump Jumper
February 22, 2010 by justin · Leave a Comment
Came home late tonight with some finger food. Sausage, cheddar cheese, bagel chips and fig orange spread. All together with this beautiful stout. Rock Art Brewery in Morrisville, VT brews some good stuff, this stout is one of their good brews.
It pours a nice thick black with a big foaming tan head. The toasted malt is sweet and you can smell it a mile away. The coffee tones are faint in the aroma but really come out in the flavour.
Matthew Nadeau, according to Vermont Guides, enjoys developing recipes for his beers. “I love to cook,” he says. “I use a little of this, a little of that, but by doing that you learn to know when to add a certain amount of a certain ingredient to get a certain result.” In the end, it comes down to math formulas, he says, “and you start hammering out the numbers to get the weights, how many pounds of this grain, that grain, how much hops, and then you brew this beer, ferment it, age it and try it.”
This tasty beverage is perfect with my extra-sharp cheddar and sausage.
Otter Creek Stovepipe Porter
February 1, 2010 by justin · Leave a Comment
Well I have leftovers tonight so this is kinda fun, pairing the same dish twice! I decided to go with one of my favorite session beers, the tried and true Stovepipe Porter from Otter Creek, just a coincidence that I am drinking 2 Otter Creeks it has actually been a while for me. Anyway, I love this porter. The malty goodness is so sweet and crisp, who could ask for much more. This is a beer that I have to watch myself on, I could just keep drinking it. I feel like tonight I am saying goodbye to a good friend, as I doubt I will get a chance to imbibe on this one again for a year (good thing I have 3 bottles on hand for tonight… don’t worry it only has a 5.4%ABV). I always drink this porter a bit warm, say 55 instead of 44 degrees it is a bit smoother and I like that. The stovepipe pours nice and black with amber hues. Contrary to its name, which brings up thoughts of opaqueness for me, you can see through this one, it is dark but not thick like a stout. The flavour is malty and toffee/espresso. Since I tend to be a hophead I rather like the hoppy flavour that it kicks back at you at the end of the sip. Varying smoke flavours throughout the experience.
This porter makes me think of the beginning of the porter style. A drink for the common person, something to pop open when you come home from a long chilly day of work. Porter is my favorite style, I must admit, and this is a solid example of the style. Don’t look for anything exciting here. Expect a solid consistently fine brew, nothing more nothing less. There is a slight carbonation fizzle on your tongue but no alcohol flavour. I have had this beer with a variety of dishes and it usually works out just swell.
Try it with BBQ or hamburgers, an amazing pair!
Long Trail Winter White
January 30, 2010 by webadmin@brainspiral.com · 2 Comments
So tonight I will start discussing pairings. A pairing is a beer that is chosen to go with a food dish. I will probably talk a lot about pairings on this blog so no better time to start than now.
Tonight I am having one of my favorite dishes to make at home, Pumpkin Polenta with sausage. This dish was introduced to me by some dear friends who saw it on Rachael Ray’s website. It is really simple to make and as you will see if you keep reading, I don’t measure things when in the kitchen.
Basically:
- make polenta (boil water or chicken broth, I make my own chicken broth to make this dish richer, and then add cornmeal till it is a cream of wheat consistency)
- add some canned pumpkin. Wild Oats Co-op was out of pumpkin so I boiled and mashed up a fresh one I had from my fall garden.
- In a pan lightly brown some chopped up sausage (or brats or in my case tonight, chicken sausage) and onions
- Mix in a bowl with a big handful of grated cheddar cheese and some chopped fresh parsley or cilantro
Paired with this dish is the Long Trail Winter White. This Belgian style witbier is brewed right up the road in Vermont. Witbier is an easy beer to pair. Often admired with salads and fish, this winter white’s strawberry orange aroma and flavour were amazing with the smooth pumpkin polenta. I am very pleased with my first official pairing. This worked out well and the food and beer balance themselves out smarvelously!