I had too many beers. On my kitchen table, that is. So I invited over some neighbors: Tom Merryman, from across the street, who's been here since we moved in, and Chris Reilly, from up the street, who's one of the Chris's at Weyerbacher. We're out on the deck now -- in the heat, yeah, but there's a breeze, and beer -- drinking up some samples.
First was Wasatch Summer Twilight kolsch. Nice beer, with a good amount of grainy mess to it, reminded me of Malzmuhle in Cologne. Great start to the night, and a cooler.
Second, drinking now, is one Chris brought from the brewery, a new Flanders Red type, coming out once they get label approval: Rapture. Assuming that's approved, so cross your fingers. It's good stuff: not overly acetic, the barrel character is there (but again, not overdone), dry but not puckering, and a great sour cherry character...and no cherries. It was aged in some Chaddsford Winery barrels. Thanks, Chris, nice!
Next up: the upcoming Patriot Homebrew for this football season at Gillette. Boston Beer does a contest...oh, hell, I'm not going to explain it again. Here, read about it. So this year...it's a Baltic Porter, and it's pretty tasty stuff. A little smoky raunch, rich, tasty, but not huge. Should do well, especially when it's cold at the stadium, eh?
Okay, a real fresh one: Stone Japanese Green Tea IPA, a collaboration with Ishii and Baird breweries in Japan as a fund-raiser/solidarity thing with Japan. The aroma is very fresh, like a meadow, and just as multi-variate. 9.2, and bitter, but the green tea/herbal quality keeps it fresh and lively. We're liking this; nice work!
Last one: Samuel Smith Yorkshire Stingo. Wow, so nice. Very smooth for an 8% beer, and less dark than I expected. There's wood coming through, and a lot of Yorkshire yeast, and even a bit of bitter/dry curl at the end. Wow, again. And on a hot, hot night? It works.
Have to do this again. Soon. Good times!
5 comments:
Beers on the deck -- one of my most favorite past times.
-- didn't know Stingo was that strong.
That's exciting about the Weyerbacher Flanders Red. I've been hearing about it for a while now and hope to get to try it at some point.
Good to have those notes, Lew. The Stingo is long-aged in wood and your take on it seems to bear that out. It's an 1800's-style old ale, is my understanding.
Gary
1800's-style olde ale my arse. And I should know. (Incidentally we just called them "ales" in the 1800's.)
As one of the judges who sent the Baltic porter to the BOS round, I'm very happy to see it in the winners' circle. We speculated that SA would not serve a high ABV beer at a Pats game and assumed this entry had little chance in spite of its obvious superiority. Very happy to see I was wrong
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