Short Pours

And it's the second week of the year

2012-01-14T17:32:00.002-05:00

Thankfully, my beer sampling slowed down a little in the week after New Year's.

I was pleased to discover four bottles of Sierra Nevada Torpedo IPA lurking among my wife's cider. I love this beer. It's a great example of the super-hoppy IPAs, and it doesn't do soapy like some of them do.

Thursday, I stopped by our local good beer store -- Minogue's on Route 234 in Queensbury, NY, to see their new growler-fill line. As an aside, it's excellent. They have some terrific beers up.
When you see one of your favorite styles made by one of you just have to pick it up.
Such was the case while at was at Minogue's and saw the Harpoon Chocolate Stout.

As I would have expected, the folks at Harpoon nailed it. Very chocolaty, though I would say it got better as it warmed up.
Today was a farmer's market run to Saratoga Springs, which of course meant a stop at EBI.

I am not a huge fan of Brown ale. I prefer beers on the extremes of the scale -- high-end IPAs and big porters and stouts.

But when I saw that Bear Republic from California had a Brown out, I figured it was worth a try, and I was right. Very full taste where you get the molasses and the malt. It was quite satisfying and easy to drink.

It's a whole new year

2012-01-07T19:46:00.001-05:00

Welcome to the New Year.

One of the things I decided to do for this year is to keep a list of all the beers I have tried.

Since I tend to ask for samples or order samplers, it may seem longer than it really is.

I am also going to start with New Year's Eve because, well that seems appropriate. I stayed in new Year's Eve and watched TV, since we were at my sister's house in Pesnnylvania (and she was out), and we do not have cable or anything at home.

I had two 22-ounce bombers, which IU had bought in Maine the week before. Heavy Seas Yuletide, a Belgian trippel, which was very complex and sweet. The advantage of a beer like that is that you have to drink it very slowly. It was very good.

The second was Rising Tide's Ursa Minor, a dark, thick weizen stout. Again, slow to go down, but it's a style I really like. This is a beer from a new brewery in Maine.

On New Year's Day, I took a quick ride to Union Jack's, which is in the same town my sister lives in and had two beers, but my were they serious beers. I had one of the grails, the Dogfish Head 120-Minute IPA. You may have heard of the 60 or 90 versions, but in this one, the hops are added to the boil for two solid hours. It has a ridiculously high Alcohol By Volume of 18 percent (think Bud at less than foru). But I love it, because I am big into high alcohol beers and the whole hop thing. They pour it in a nine-ounce glass, because of the alcohol.

The first beer of that afternoon was one of my all-time favorites, the Souuthern Tier Imperial Punking, my favorite pumpkin beer out of about 30 I have had. This was the oak-aged version, and I found that made it much more mellow and easier to drink. I actually had to slow myself down, because it was going down so easily.

Somewhere in there, I had a Joshua Chamberlain Ale from Shipyard (Maine). While I am not a huge fan of their English-style beer, I do like the taste of this one.

During the week, partly to get off to a quick start, I had the Coffee Stout, Smoked Porter and Wheat at Davidson Brothers, which is my local here in Glens Falls. I also tried a Southern Tiuer Harvest, because I really like Southern Tier, and it was very good. I had a short taste of the Sly Fox Pikeland Pils, which is excellent for the style, but not something a style I like. I had been within 30 minutes of Sly Fox at my sister's, but I could not make it there.

Finally, I discovered a Brooklyn Winter Ale in fridge. It's a good, tasty, malty beer.

Follow me . . .

2010-02-12T17:50:00.001-05:00

Short Pours has moved to new quarters at http://shortpours.wordpress.com/

We are still under construction over there.

Just a quick update

2010-01-11T12:05:00.000-05:00

Hey, all!

I am on haitus from beer for a little bit.

I do this every once in a while.

"Hiatus" sort of means, well now I'll only go out once a week.

Davidson Brothers Brew Pub in Glens Falls, NY, has put up a number of new beers over the holidays and has changed a couple of others.

Rick's offeringa Coffee Stout instead of the Oatmeal Stout, and the Cohan's Porter --named after the fella from The Parting Glass in Saratoga Springs -- instead of the Smoked Porter.

AJ has also brewed a Tripel (and the otehr night they had an older -- 11 percent version -- up. The Danish Lager, a dark beer that I really enjoyed, was also up.

The folks at Trampoline Design (www.designtramp.com) have completely re-done the designs for all of the beers, and the stuff is really sharp. Design Tramp is just a couple of storefronts up the street from Davidon's, above a very good Thai restaurant.

A rare case of "BeerFail." Well, two.

2009-07-26T18:52:00.001-04:00

I drink a fair amount of beer, so I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised when I find beers I just don’t like.

For the most part, I am pretty easy. If it’s well-made and tastes decent, I drink it, make a brief comment and move on.

Then there’s “BeerFail.”

I have had two beers, from a couple of my favorite breweries that I just don’t want to taste again. (I will, to make sure it was not a single-bottle issue, but I do not want to).

The first was a couple of weeks ago, the Cherry Saison from Southern Tier. I guess I expected it to be a little less sour and taste a little more like a saison. Hey, I love a lot of their other stuff, so I figure this is going to happen on occasion.

Today’s was more perplexing.

It was laundry day, and in the Liamverse, that means beer shopping. (Yes, there’s a lot of beer shopping in the Liamverse, and there would be more if I had a better income).

There’s a Vermont liquor store next to one of my favorite laundromats (beer store, bookstore, Shaw’s grocery, a good farmers’ market on the way, and I can buy the Boston Globe over there.

Anyway, this place sells singles, so I plunked down the $3 for an Oak-Aged Arrogant Bastard, from Stone Brewing in California. My friend Jason swears by the stuff, and Stone is, well, one of the best breweries in America.

My idea was: This stuff is $17.99 a six-pack and my readers oughta know if there’s a six-pack worth close to a $20 bill with tax and deposit.

Not this one. Not today.

Not nearly as good as the regular Arrogant Bastard. No oak that I could taste. No alcohol I could taste. Just bitter. I am gonna give it one more shot sometime.

Now to cleanse my palate with a Fuel Café coffee flavored stout from Lakefront Brewery in Milwaukee.

Live review: Brown's Brewing Co. Whiskey Barrel Aged Porter . . .

2009-07-25T19:57:00.001-04:00

Beer-tasting in progress: Sometimes I will review beers by tasting them and jotting down notes, then writing the results up later.

Sometimes, like now, it’s a live-blogging exercise.

I was checking out at Oliver’s Beverage in Albany, N.Y., this afternoon. It’s the best beer store – bar none – in the Capital Region of New York, say from Kingston, NY up toward the Canadian border and west to Utica.

I was chatting with the cashier-guy about Wolff’s Bier Garten, and he asked me if I knew that Brown’s Brewing (from Troy) had its Whiskey Barrel Aged Porter out. (It’s part of their “Seasonal Sessional” line.

I said I’d had it on draft (in fact, I had discovered it on draft at the Man of Kent Tavern in Hoosick, N.Y., after the brew pub had run out.)

No, he said, they have bottled it and sent someone to get a 22-ounce bomber ($7.95, I think). It nicely filled my box. It checks in at 5.75 percent alcohol (yay for hundredths).

It pours a very deep brown with very little head. You can smell the whiskey in the nose.

The whiskey is very strong at the top of the palate and into the sinuses. It’s got a very long finish and actually makes you salivate under the tongue at the end. The taste settles in very quickly. It’s not nearly as strong after the first several sips. It also gets a touch bitter as it warms up, but not to a great degree.

It’s a fairly medium-range porter – heavier than most but lighter than some. It tastes better when it’s colder.

Definitely a bomber to share with a couple of other people. It’s a tough one to drink by yourself.

A note for the local -- Upstate New York -- folks . . .

2009-07-25T18:20:00.001-04:00

For folks in the Capital Region of New York: (And probably other parts of the East Coast) It was strange to see in the middle of July, but I walked into Oliver's Beverage in Albany, NY, today and saw multiple cases of the Southern Tier Pumking Imperial Pumpkin Ale just sitting there.

I nearly dropped the $89 on a case, but settled for four bottles at $7.99 each, a dollar cheaper than last year.

For my money, this is the best commercially available pumpkin beer on the East Coast.

Also today came the discovery that Brown's Brewing of Troy, NY, has produced its Whiskey Porter in bombers.

An IPA and a barleywine . . .

2009-07-25T18:19:00.001-04:00

Two quickie reviews

Dogfish Head Squall IPA: It’s an unfiltered and bottle-condition 90-Minute IPA that includes six varieties of hops.

It’s hazy and the color of a light maple syrup, and the smell of hops makes your drool. Well, me at least. It’s got a slight head and is very carbonated going down. It’s got a full taste that lasts a long time on the tongue, and you get the alcohol rather thoroughly.

Flying Dog Horn Dog Barleywine: From the “Over The Top Is A Good Thing Department,” this is a good, smooth barleywine from a brewer that tends to push the edges and sometimes crash through them.

It hits high on the palate and strongly alcoholic, but, hey, this is a beer that checks in at 10.2 percent alcohol.

It is sweet and smooth. A solid barleywine.

Beer trades: What do I want?

2009-07-25T18:17:00.001-04:00

I wrote earlier about the camping event where friends and I trade beer from other parts of the country, and I listed what they usually ask for and what else I like to bring.

In the immortal words of Mr. Morden from Babylon 5, people ask me, “So what do you want?”

The first beer I request is from Three Floyd’s in Muncie, Ind., and it’s called “Gumball Head.” It’s an IPA and, yes, it tastes like gumballs. My second request is always Edmund Fitzgerald Porter from Great Lakes Brewing in Cleveland, Ohio.

My friend Henry is bringing the Gumball Head.

I’ve commented before on beers that have cool names and turn out to be excellent beers, too. This is a great porter.

The third request is from Michigan, for Founders Breakfast Stout, especially the oak-aged version. Another is the Fat Tire Ale from New Belgium brewing in Colorado.

We do get a lot of beer from across the country on the East Coast, so I don’t need to ask for Stone, Alaska Brewing or many of the other West Coast beers. We get Flying Dog from Colorado, too.

Beer trades: What people want . . .

2009-07-25T18:16:00.000-04:00

I’ve mentioned before that one of my other hobbies is Medieval re-creation, and every summer we go to western Pennsylvania for a week for two to camp with 10,000 other people as crazy as we are.

Since people are traveling from all over the country to get there (we also gets Brits and Aussies and the odd Israeli), it’s a great chance for beer-trading.

For the last couple of weeks, I have been in touch with folks, mainly from the Midwest, trying to figure out what I’d like them to bring and what I can bring for them.

The answer to the latter question is Saranac. For folks outside of the region, it’s a highly sought after beer, especially the mixed packs, because there are so many different beers in them. Also, I think Saranac’s one of those breweries that people feel is consistently good across different styles. One of the most asked-for varieties is the Black and Tan.

Another commonly requested brewery is Long Trail, and again I think it’s for overall consistency and for specific varieties, such as Blackbeary Wheat and Double Bag.

Magic Hat also draws a number of requests, especially for the No. 9.

One specific beer that folks ask for is the Ubu Ale from Lake Placid.

This year’s list from my friend Henry in the Midwest asked for Victory Wild Devil
And three from Troegs -- Flying Mouflan, Nugget Nectar or Dead Reckoning

If people say, “Pick what you think is best,” I will start with the 12-packs of Cooperstown Brewing (they are actually packing a 13th beer as a promotion. There’s a lighter-brewed pack with ales and the pilsner and the darker pack, which includes the stout, porter and my favorite from them – Pride of Milford, a strong ale.

I will also often pick up some Trout River, especially if they like the Oatmeal Stout. Wanting to promote very local beer, I sometimes bring Dacker from Davidson Brothers Brewing in Glens Falls or Brown Brewing from Troy.

In the next post: So what do I ask for?

Friends make tasting more fun

2009-07-25T18:14:00.002-04:00

We all have our hobbies.

Sometimes you want to be able to combine your hobbies.

Besides drinking beer and writing about it, I am also involved in Medieval re-creation in the Society For Creative Anachronism. One of the things I do there is to raise money so the king and queen can travel to visit different groups.

I generally run auctions, and one of the “prizes” I have been using is a beer-tasting that I’ll run at a person’s camp at an event.

Over Fourth of July weekend, I did two of them, with my 22-year-old daughter, a veteran beer geek, as my assistant and with my wife as an observer.

It was really cool. I learned a lot about beer and about people.

Pete was the winner for the first night, and George won the second night. They are both good friends of mine. George had said he didn’t like Belgians, so I brought the two I had to Pete’s. Each person got to have three others taste with them, but in actuality, more people took part.

In both cases, the audiences were really interested in what we were doing. On Friday, I introduced Pete and his friend to a pair of Belgians -- a Saison du Pont and a quad called Gravitation from Smuttynose. We also had the Long Trail IPA and the Arrogant Bastard Strong Ale, from Stone Brewing.

Pete had never had Belgians, other than the Belgian Whites, which are citrusy and citrus isn’t so good for him. He really liked them. So did his friends.

The Gravitation, part of Smutty’s Big Beer series, was very sweet and was a big hit.

The Saison, much lighter, also appealed to folks. Two of the people who were tasting were fairly knowledgeable, but the others seemed really impressed by the different tastes.

At George’s on Saturday, after a wonderful meal, that he had cooked. We had Long Trail Blackbeary Wheat, Gritty McDuff’s Black Fly Stout and two strong ales – the Bastard and the Long Trail Double Bag.

I think the Bastard was probably the most popular on that night.

I used my spiffy new six-ounce beer-tasting glasses from Stone Brewing, but I found you cannot put them back in the box with the packing peanuts if they are the least bit wet.

Time to start catching up

2009-03-21T10:01:00.003-04:00

Sometimes, I find myself doing a fair amount of tasting, and not nearly enough posting.

Time to get back to sharing.

This oughta be good

I am headed to Wolff's Bier Garten, which just opened this week in Albany, NY. It will be a short visit, because I have a girls' state basketball tournament game to cover, then I have to pick up my wife at the airport.

Albany's a little over an hour away.

This place has done a soft opening this week and has engendered a lot of buzz. This will be a scouting visit, but I know I will get back there.

"I'll have the lager?"

If you read the blog or know me, you know that my tastes tend to be at either end of the beer spectrum -- high-end, hoppy IPAs or Porters and Stouts. That's not to say I don't enjoy the tastes in between, but those are where I look first.

So imagine my disappointment when I went into Davidson Brothers, my home bar in Glens Falls, NY and saw that the Brewer's Choice was a lager, of all things.

But . . . I had to try it anyway, and it poured a fairly dark brown. It's a Danish Lager, and, honestly, it tastes like a slightly thin Brown Ale. I like it a lot more than I expected.

Beer for breakfast?

I know this is a fairly local-focused blog today, but I also want to recommend the Brewmasters Series from Long Trail Ale. It's an Imperial Coffee Stout, and the Little Miss Short Pours The Younger says it's made of "shiny and win." It's really full and has the right coffee taste. No bitterness.

On the national level

I will admit it. I first picked up Flying Dog for the Ralph Steadman drawings on the labels. It's now one of my favorite breweries.

For tasting high-end beers, I recommend the Canis Major packs. They have a four pack of 12-ounce bottles and a case of seven-ounce bottles -- an Imperial Porter, a Barleywine, a Double Pale Ale and a Tripel -- all with spiffy names and great label art.

The beers inside are excellent examples of their style, and I will review each one in the coming week.

Today's meal . . . .

2009-01-01T18:46:00.002-05:00

A Stout, Cheese and Beef Soup

This one’s from my friend George, who is a professional cook, and therefore finds a recipe that requires a hunk of cooked roast beef to be an ordinary thing.

Ingredients

3 to 4 pounds of roasted beef (i.e. leftovers!), cut into chunks

2 to 4 whole cloves garlic

1.5 pounds. cheddar cheese cubes

Three pressurized cans Guinness or other stout (Murphy's, Beamish, etc), room temperature but unopened. (You get to drink the fourth).

Two small yellow onions, diced (optional)

Salt and pepper

Steps

1. Put cooked beef chunks and garlic into pot, adding just enough water to almost cove. .

2. Bring to boil, and simmer for about 20 minutes. Add more water a little at a time to keep from running dry.

3. Remove meat from water and let cool, then pull apart if possible or cut into very small pieces. Discard any visible fat.

4. Return meat to broth in pot and slowly add stout, foam and all. If adding onions, do so with this step.

5. Bring to a boil, then set on lowest heat or place in crock pot on medium high setting.

6. Add cheese cubes and stir to mix in.

7. If simmering on stovetop, simmer for about one hour, stirring frequently.

8. If using crock pot, after the initial stir, let alone for one or two hours then stir before serving.

9. Add salt and pepper to taste before serving.

NOTE: Even if you skim the broth ahead of time, the cheese will cause a layer of fat to form on top. Skim or not, your choice. This will get VERY hot, so eat carefully.

Nothing like beer with 22 of your closest friends

2009-01-01T18:22:00.002-05:00

Had a couple of good pub experiences while visiting relatives last week. (Yes, I check for brew pubs, breweries, etc. when I take a trip).

On a Saturday afternoon, about 23 of us went to the Nodding Head Brew Pub in Philadelphia. Mrs. Short Pours and I were there two years ago and remembered it as being a good place, especially for mussels. I had put the word out on the Internet, and I had called to reserve the table.

Excellent beer, service and food. They had us in a separate room with a great waiter. I love getting my friends together over beer. Some of them are beer geeks, others are trying the good stuff for the first time, and some drink soda, but want to be there for the shenanigans. We invariably have a great time, and this was easily one of the best.

Terrific food included the burgers, from what I could see, along with “nut crusted baked brie topped with mango chutney and served with freshly baked pita bread” and the Jerk Mussels, which were “steamed with thyme, scotch bonnet peppers, allspice, ginger and beer.” The waiter recommended those over the hot ones we'd had last time.

The beer was fresh and well-made, although they didn't have anything from the “big beer” department. I especially liked the IPA, which had a nice snap. The BPA was different, malty, and very good. Here's the tap list. (There was no Sledwrecker.

We did a planned reprise two days later at Kildare's, the King of Prussia location. Again, terrific food and a solid waitress. The tap line wasn't quite what I would have preferred. There was a good selection of British and English beers, including Victory Hop Devil, but not enough craft stuff for me. Then, I am picky. A great time was had by all.

"We're getting the blog back together"

2009-01-01T14:57:00.001-05:00

It's a New Year, and there are two resolutions here at Short Pours.

One is the usual: “Drink better beer.” That gets harder over the years.

The second is: “Post more!” That's always easy at first.

Today is in some ways a relaunch, because I am committing to regular updating and to adding more links and content.

Please, if you are new, take a few minutes to read the other posts. It will give you a pretty good idea of what to expect in this blog. I always appreciate comments and links.

The corollary to my first resolution is: “Always drink good beer.”

I went to bed early last night, after a sipping evening, and so far, the only beer this year is a Joshua Chamberlain Pale Ale from Shipyard Brewing in Portland, Maine.

Two interesting things about this beer:

It's one I got as a gift because of its name. I am a History teacher, and Joshua Chamberlain was the commander of the 20th Maine at Gettysburg. My friend thought I would like it. Oddly, even though it was bought for the name, I like it a lot. That doesn't always happen.

The second surprising thing is that I like it, and it's from Shipyard. Don't get me wrong, Great brewery. One of the best tours I ever got – from a very knowledgeable young man. But I tend to not like their stuff, because they use British hops. I grew up on the American craft beer movement, so I am all about American hops.

Unless, of course, it's Belgian Night.

OK, question: What is the one beer you think folks oughta try this year?

Pumpkin beers: Redux

2008-09-02T20:44:00.002-04:00

Still on the Oak Aged Yeti Imperial Stout

This is last year's pumpkin beer article.

Pumpkin beers are full and malty beers, very different from the mass-produced beers from Budweiser, Miller and Coors. But they are not so different that they will turn off someone who has never explored these ales before. The pumpkins offer a taste of the season and a chance to add some non-mainstream flavors to your football Saturdays and Sundays or your family meals.

The other similarity you will find is that almost all of them include the same rich spices you will find later this year in the holiday ales. Almost all of the brewers list their spices on the bottle. The differences come in how the pumpkin and spices work together, what color the beer comes out, how easy it is to drink and just what the pumpkin tastes like.

Saranac Pumpkin Ale, brewed in Utica, NY, is one of the best of the bunch, using cinnamon, allspice, cloves and vanilla. This pumpkin ale pours very dark, and you can taste it for a good 10 seconds after you finish. It’s malty and tasty, but the pumpkin hides under the surface.

Anheuser Busch, (yes, the one in St. Louis, Mo.) continues to try its hand at microbrew-style beers and comes through with a solid one in Jack’s Pumpkin SpiceAle. As you would expect from a big company, it’s a bit thinner than the others. It is more of a medium color and has a good spicy nose, mainly cinnamon. The spice mix here is “including nutmeg, ginger, cinnamon and clove,” according to the bottle. It has a very comfortable taste which is not too metallic and is very easy to drink. Again, you taste mostly spice, especially the cinnamon, and not too much pumpkin. Here’s the choice for a group of people who usually drink Budweiser and Miller.

Oddly enough, one of the old hands of the pumpkin genre is Harvest Moon Pumpkin Ale, a Coors product imported from its Canadian subsidiary, Blue Moon Brewing Company. This one lists clove, nutmeg and allspice and, again, is thinner than the micros. It’s darker and the spice dominates the smell. It’s more mainstream, not as malty as many of the others and has some citrus notes to it. The spices tend to clump together.

The folks at Shipyard Brewing Co., in Portland, Maine, have a steady competitor in Pumpkinhead Ale, but they play coy, not listing the spices. The pumpkin is there, though subtle most of the time. This is one of the lightest colored of the whole group and is easy to drink. There seems to be cinnamon and allspice high in the test. This Pumpkinhead – in fact all the Shipyard beers – have a non-traditional taste because Shipyard uses entirely British malts in its beers. The beer is easy to drink and a good introduction for those who are not used to microbrews.

Just over the Maine state border, in Portsmouth, N.H., Smuttynose Brewing – which is named after a harbor seal – puts out a golden-brown “Pumpkin Ale,” which is “ale brewed with pumpkin puree and spices.” The taste is not overwhelming and a little metallic, but not as much as some others. It’s not overly malty and, like the Harvest Moon, is a touch citrusy.

The nice folks at Brooklyn Brewery who make Post Road Pumpkin Ale are also coy with us, saying only that it is “ale brewed with pumpkin and spices.” This is a medium-dark ale that really does not have a strong taste of either pumpkin or spices. This is contract-brewed for Brooklyn in Utica and is not as well-made as most Brooklyn products. In some respects, it tastes more like an Oktoberfest than a pumpkin ale.

There are some microbreweries that specialize in more experimental beers, often higher alcohol and made a little differently than most brews. These are often available only in four-packs or the 22-ounce bottles called “bombers.” For reference, most mass-market beers are between 4 and 5 percent alcohol by volume (ABV).

The Dogfish Head Punkin Ale comes in at 7 percent and is, according to the label, “A full-bodied brown ale with real pumpkin, brown sugar, cinnamon & nutmeg.” It is well-made, as all Dogfish Head beers are, but the pumpkin taste is not very clear at the outset and only comes after the beer has been allowed to warm and you’ve had more than a few sips. Cinnamon is a toughie for brewers, and it does not quite work here. It also has a slightly metallic mouth feel. It’s a good beer, but more expensive per bottle than anything so far.

Weyerbacher Brewing Co. of Easton, Pa., presented its Imperial Pumpkin Ale, which the label says as an ale “brewed with Pumpkin and Spices (Cinnamon, Nutmeg, Cardamom, Cloves).” Imperial, by the way, is microbrewery short-hand for higher alcohol. This one checks in at 8 percent, which is pretty hefty. It’s also a pretty good beer. It has a very full taste with a slight metallic tinge but the pumpkin hides a bit. You can taste the alcohol clearly at the top of your mouth, and the cinnamon comes through strong at the end. The malt and the nutmeg are fairly clear, as well, and in all, it really tastes like pumpkin pie spice.

Perhaps the most fascinating of all was Imperial Pumking, “ale brewed with pumpkins,” from Southern Tier Brewing Company in Lakewood, NY. This is the real thing; as Mrs. Short Pours said. “It tastes like pumpkin, and it tastes like beer.” That’s it in this one, all pumpkin, no spices, and it’s the better for it. A caramel brown, this beer fills your mouth, without much of a metallic taste at all, and for a beer that is 9 percent alcohol, it doesn’t taste nearly as strong as the Weyerbacher. It is an excellent beer for a frosty autumn night.

In some areas, it’s easy to get fresh-brewed pumpkin beers on tap. In Salem, Mass., for instance, the Beer Works brew pub always has its own Pumpkinhead Ale up, and it’s easily one of the best of the breed. During the fall, it’s up at the BBWs near the Boston Garden and Fenway Park. The Littlest Short Pour lives at nearby Simmons College, and I believe we need to send her on a mission.

In my area of New York State, Brown’s Brewing in Troy has a very drinkable pumpkin ale that pours a golden brown. It has a good dose of malt, is less spiced than the others and is not very bitter. It is available only on tap or in 64-ounce growlers at the brewpub.

Kicking off another pumpkin season

2008-09-02T20:12:00.000-04:00

Today’s second “Beer to Drink While Posting” is:
Great Divide (Colo.) Brewing Co.
Oak Aged Yeti Imperial Stout

I spied the leaves beginning to turn as I drove home in western Vermont yesterday. That means it’s time to bring out the pumpkin beer review.

Last Fall, I drank as many pumpkins as I could find for a newspaper article. I will post it shortly

I have already started up again this year, having the Southampton pumpkin on tap at The Local in Saratoga Springs and bringing home a four-pack of the Dogfish Head version. The Southampton was a touch light, and the Dogfish was consistently good. I also picked up something new during the Vermont trip, Wolaver’s Certified Organic Will Stevens’ Pumpkin Ale, which is named after the guy who grows the pumpkins.

The Wolaver’s is brewed by Otter Creek in Middlebury, Vt., and I have not tried as many of the beers as I should have. This one I liked because it was more of a real “pumpkin” beer, rather than a spiced beer with pumpkins. The Dogfish Punkin Ale takes a chance and uses cinnamon, which sometimes does not translate well in the brewing process, and this is one of those cases.

Big, Extreme, Imperial and even Leviathan-like

2008-09-02T19:32:00.000-04:00

Today’s “Beer to Drink While Posting” Is:
Rock Art (Vt.) Brewery’s IPA (II) Double IPA

One of the things you never really notice until you start drinking craft-brewed beer is the alcoholic content of your beer. It’s beer, right? Drink more than one an hour and you start to get drunk. What’s more to know?

Take Budweiser and Michelob, for instance. Smooth, easy-to-drink (unless you don’t like the taste any more) and 5 percent alcohol. Miller Genuine Draft? It’s at 4.66, and the dreaded “Natty Ice” is 5.9 percent. Guinness (the tall can) is 4.2.

OK, so those are some numbers, and to be honest, many craft beers are right down there with them. But there are a number of movements afoot in the craft-brewing industry, and for several years there has been a move to push for “Imperial” beers, which basically means “high alcohol” beers. They are referred to as “Big Beers.

In fact, a number of craft breweries have separate series for their higher-alcohol beers. Smuttynose Brewing Co, in Portsmouth, NH simply calls its series the Big Beer Series,” and it includes a barleywine, a wheat wine and an IPA that range from 9 to 11 percent. (The measure is also called ABV or alcohol by volume.). There are other beers in the series, including an excellent Farmhouse Ale, which are down in the 7 percent range.

By the way, despite the name, barleywines and wheat wines are beers.

Stone Brewing from California is also at the forefront, pushing strong beers past 10 percent. These include Old Guardian Barleywine, Double Bastard Ale, Imperial Russian Stout, and Bitter Chocolate Oatmeal Stout (a recent and very happy experience). Some of the Stone beers, including Old Guardian, are released on a yearly basis, which each release being different from the others.

While the Big Beer and Stone beers – along with others -- have been around a good bit, Harpoon Brewery in New England is debuting its “Leviathan” series with a kicked-up version of the Triticus Wheat Wine that was one of the stars of its 100 Barrel series. This beer was designed by Jason and Todd Alstrom, the co-founders of my favorite beer site, www.beeradvocate.com, and the publishers of Beer Advocate magazine. The original Triticus – a personal favorite – was 11.4 ABV, but for the Leviathan series, it’s been pushed to 14 percent. Unfortunately, it is only available on draft and is released in a limited area that includes Boston and Windsor, Vt. The rest of the series will come out in 22-ounce bombers, the standard for many of the big beers.

Southern Tier from Lakewood, N.Y., is one of the great underappreciated breweries. They have done an Imperial series for a long time. Beers in that series., which has a range to 8 to 10 ABV, include my all-time favorite pumpkin beer – Pumking – as well as the obligatory Barleywine, a Wheat Ale, a Red Ale, a cherry saison and a Helles. These are all limited releases.

Southern Tier also has a Blackwater Stout series that is excellent and includes four beers at this point – an Oatmeal Stout, a Coffee Stout, a Chocolate Stout and a really intriguing Crème Brulee Milk Stout (think vanilla) that was part of the genesis for this post. These range from 10 to 12 ABV.

Rock Art Brewing, which has limited distribution in the Northeast, also has an “Extreme” beer series and also features a 10-percent ABV barleywine called “The Vermonster.” Yes, today’s posting beer is from the Extreme series. It’s a good, solid Double IPA at 8 percent. Not painfully hoppy, nor is there a strong taste of alcohol. It’s tasty and does not have the soapy aftertaste you sometimes get with this style.

There are many others to look at, but the last one I will mention is the Pompier, from Pennichuck Brewing Co. in Milford, NH. It is an English Style barleywine aged in oak whisky barrels. It’s an excellent beer and comes in a swing-top one liter bottle and checks in at 12.1 percent. A “pompier,” as the label tells us, is a person who works at the fire brigade.

These beers are very different and are a challenge for even experienced craft beer drinkers. You also have to consider that a bomber of an 11-percent beer has more alcohol than four cans of Budweiser. Be careful with these. I generally drink them at home or have no more than one or two in a bar. Many establishments serve this in half-servings because of the alcohol.

The Omnivore's 100 and good, strong beer

2008-08-16T20:26:00.000-04:00

If you use any of the Internet networking sites, you are familiar with “memes,” those insidious “Hey, look at this” lists or quizzes in which your friends tell you their results and encourage you to share yours.

One of the better ones going around right now is The Omnivore's 100, which comes out of a British food blog – a pretty good one, by the way – and is one person’s list of 100 foods and drinks everyone should try in their lifetime.

It is a well thought-out list and includes items such as carp, calamari, raw Scotch Bonnet pepper, curried goat, a Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut, poutine and haggis.

Among the drinks were four that I think establish a good theme – Lapsang Souchong tea, Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee, Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more, and beer above 8 percent ABV.

Being a connoisseur of all of those things, I was tickled, especially by the beer.

My immediate thought was, well if my friends wanted to do that, what beer would I serve to them.

First of all, if they were your basic Bud drinkers, I would ease into it, maybe giving them a heavier beer, but one that was still in the 5 to 6 percent range. Maybe an easy Porter or Scotch Ale. I would explain to them that when we tried the stronger beer, they might actually taste the alcohol. I would work from a 22-ounce bomber and would assume I might have to drink a good deal of it myself. (Oh, well). Yes, this could be done at a good brew pub, too. Another thought: Arrogant Bastard is 7.2 ABV, and people get a kick out of the name. It’s a good lead-in.

For barleywines, I would go with Sierra Nevada Bigfoot, Great Divide Old Ruffian, Flying Dog Horn Dog or Stone Old Guardian.

I would be interested in what you think.

The Man of Kent Tavern -- Hoosick Falls, NY

2008-08-16T19:15:00.001-04:00

Sometimes a restaurant just happens to be in the right place at the right time. When that restaurant is consistently good and inexpensive, so much the better,

We travel fairly regularly on Route 7 between or home in Salem, NY, and Albany, the gateway to the NYS Turnpike the rest of civilization. This route takes us past The Man of Kent Tavern in Hoosick Falls, and all in all that’s a really good thing.

A month or so ago, we were in the middle of a five-hour drive home, and we wanted to eat before we got home, so I suggested The Man of Kent to my wife, who had not been there, but lived in London for two years and would enjoy the feel of the place.

We’re talking a small place, festooned with sports decorations from European football scarves, rugby and European soccer jerseys, golf tea flags and a corner shrine to horse racing at nearby Saratoga. Yes, there are even a few American football items thrown in. All this and a view of the woods with a stream below, plus an outdoor patio.

Did I mention one of the best tap lines near the Northway, with a huge variety of British beer? Plus an excellent bottle selection? Those are things that really appeal to me, especially the fact that they still have Brown’s Brewing’s Whiskey Stout up, and I do not think I saw it at the restaurant the last time I was there. They do it right, using the right glasses for the specific beers. One nitpick: My wife would have liked to have seen a cider on draft.

Still, for all that terrific atmosphere -- and the beer – for this restaurant to be as good as it is, it needs the outstanding type of food that the kitchen produces. What’s important to remember along with the quality of the food is that the cost is quite low. The Man of Kent has some of the lowest-priced pub burgers I have seen, and they are excellent.

We pulled in, extremely hungry and tired, an hour from home, and it turned out to be one of those perfect stops. I had a reuben sandwich, and my wife had a roast beef sandwich that she said had clearly come from a recently roasted beef. Both came with chips. The waitress was attentive and knowledgeable about both the food and the beer. She was having a good time, as were the other folks there. I had a couple of beers – including the aforementioned Whiskey Porter – and my wife opted for ginger ale. We decided to share a chocolate dessert, and she had tea – real English tea – and I had coffee. The bill before tip? $30. Well worth it.

For those who may have visited before, the tavern was sold in July 2007, by John Stoate, an Englishman who had established the pub in the 1980s. In talking to folks and reading reviews, there does not appear to have been any major changes. The friendly atmosphere and the care of the staff are still outstanding.

Green Flash's Imperial IPA a real bright spot . . .

2008-05-08T19:02:00.003-04:00

It’s not often at all that I pour a beer and say, “Wow, that’s a good looking beer.”This one was was the color of amber, clear and clean and sported a quarter-inch head of white-turning-to-ran foam. It was a good omen.

That just heightened my hopes, because this was from a San Diego-based brewery that had been getting a lot of word-of-mouth on the East Coast. We’re talking about Green Flash Brewery and its Imperial India Pale Ale. I had heard good things about the brewery, and I am always looking for a good Imperial IPA. It came in a 22-ounce bomber for $5.99.

I may always be looking for a good example of the high-alcohol style, but I rarely find it. Even more than regular IPAs, the high-end variants tend to taste very soapy at times. Oh, the hops flavor is there, but so is a soapy – or tinny aftertaste.

But not this time!

I took a good healthy sip – the label amusingly refers to it as “highly quaffable." The hops were high in the nose when I sniffed it, but now overpowering. They were quite evident in the taste, too – high across the bridge of the mouth. The alcohol was evident, too, at 9 percent, but the soapy taste never came. Instead, I could almost feel my mouth pucker, as if I had sucked on a lemon. Trust me, this is a good thing. The bottle says it rates 101 on the International Bitterness Unit scale, but my friends who know such things tell me that’s not overly scientific when you get over 70 or so.

What matters is that it tasted terrific all the way through the bottle. It gave me a nice, warm tingle, and since I will be back near that package store this weekend, I know it’s not going to be the last bottle I try.

Her cold, cold heart . . .

2008-04-26T20:45:00.001-04:00

More on the Belgian White front . . .

2008-04-26T20:35:00.005-04:00

Yes, the sacrifice goes on.

Still on the Belgian White Trail and hitting two more , as I continue to try to figure out just how good I think the Long Trail Belgian White is.

One minor point, the distributor here in the North Country of upstate New York are not getting it yet, so I continue to ask package store owners to see what they can do. The nice thing is that I am on the Vermont border, and so can take a run over there if needed. I heard from sources it’s not in central Massachusetts yet, either. This is their Spring seasonal, so I hope it will be out soon.

First up is Allagash White, one of the more common Belgian Whites on tap, at least in the Northeast. It’s made by a terrific brewery in Portland, Maine, and I have always been a big fan. It’s a little more expensive than most of the others I’m trying, given the fact that it comes in four-packs rather than the six-packs that most others come in. (Note: The Southampton White I reviewed recently came in a 22-ounce bomber.)

This is a fine beer. A little more lemony than most, but it doesn’t have quite the peppery flavor that some other beers in this style have. It’s also a touch lighter than most. It’s definitely one of the better examples, but I still like the Long Trail better.

The second one is, believe it or not, a Coors product. A lot of people do not know that Blue Moon, one of the first mass-market Belgian Whites. Coors did a number of the Moon beers – including an early pumpkin ale. Anheuser Busch is finally getting the idea. (See the new blueberry ale they have out).

Anyway, I always liked the Allagash better than the Bllue Moon, and that’s still the case. The Blue Moon is thinner than the others and has, a bit of an aftertaste. It’s very light compared to the others, and does not carry a lot of fruit taste.

I did get a chance to visit Long Trail again today, because my daughter -- who just turned 21 -- was visiting. The Belgian's still as good as ever, and so is the Imperial Stout, which will nor be up much longer.

Unexpected pleasures

2008-04-19T23:39:00.002-04:00

One day in January, I had to take my wife's car to work, and I discovered a small stash behind the seat -- a couple of 22-ounce bombers we had picked up at the RSVP package store in Portland, Maine, during our Christmas travels. Great location, they have. Just up the street from the Great Lost Bear, one of the country’s top beer bars, and quite close to a couple of breweries, including Allagash. I was glad to bring it in, because it was supposed to get really cold that night.

Anyway, unexpected beer is a good thing, and unexpected good beer is even better. I found a Chamberlain Pale Ale from Shipyard Brewing, and Cadillac Mountain Stout from Bar Harbor (Maine) Brewing Company.

The Chamberlain is interesting, because I first got it from friends who know I am a huge fan of Col. Joshua Chamberlain and his 20^th Maine regiment, some of the heroes of the Battle of Gettysburg, Funny thing is, for a beer with a cheesy name, it’s not bad at all. It’s a pale ale, usually too basic a style for me, *and* it’s made by Shipyard, which I don’t generally like because the brewery uses hops only from the United Kingdom. But this is a flavorful, easy-to-drink beer.

The Cadillac Mountain is one of my favorite stouts. (No. 1 is Big Bear Stout from Bear Republic from California. The Cadillac Mountain is one of those dark, chewy stouts that require a real commitment to drink.

You’ll notice, as I recount my travels, that I tend to buy local beers. Sometimes you can get lesser-known out-of-state beers near home. But I always like to pick them up when I travel.

Review: Southampton Double White

2008-04-13T21:41:00.003-04:00

One of the most common clichés you’ll hear from beer writers is “Oh, the things I do for my readers . . . “

In this case, it’s going to involve drinking good Belgian Whites.

I decided that since I am enjoying the Long Trail Belgian White so much, that I oughta do fresh tastings on the other top-end Belgian Whites, including Hoegaarden, Allagash White, Sam Adams White and Southampton Double White Ale, which is rated No. 1 among Belgian Whites on www.beeradvocate.com .

I was fortunate enough to stop for beer on the way home from a weekend trip and picked up a bomber of the Southampton Double White Ale, which is described as “ale brewed with spices.”

It’s a really good beer, as would be expected. Thin white head and has the hazy yellow/golden color of the style. The lemon stands out in the nose when you sniff it.

It’s clearly not as sweet as the Long Trail and has more lemon and pepper notes. Some folks get the taste of orange, but I don’t. This beer sits for a long time on the roof of your mouth. Very drinkable.

Yes, it’s something I will drink again. It’s an excellent beer, but at this point, it’s my second-favorite Belgian White of the year.

Two from Southern Tier . . .

2008-04-06T21:11:00.005-04:00

One of the cool things about drinking a variety of beer is finding breweries to add to your list of "I will try anything they make.

Southern Tier Brewing Co., in Lakewood, NY, has rapidly reached that level. It's not just the brewery's usual offerings that do it, but their Black Water big-taste series in 22-ounce bombers produced one of my favorite beers of last year.

I tried the following two as part of writing an article on pumpkin beers and another on chocolate beers. I hate to say this, but the pumpkin beer is not available right now, but I would expect it to be back in the Fall.

Perhaps the most fascinating of all the pumpkins I tasted last Fall -- and it was 10 at least -- was Imperial Pumking, “ale brewed with pumpkins,” from Southern Tier. "This is the real thing; as one intrepid taster said. “It tastes like pumpkin, and it tastes like beer.” That’s it in this one, all pumpkin, no spices, and it’s the better for it. A caramel brown, this beer fills your mouth, without much of a metallic taste at all, and for a beer that is 9 percent alcohol, it doesn’t taste nearly as strong as the Weyerbacher Imperial Pumpkin Ale. It is an excellent beer for a frosty autumn night.

Later, into the Winter, there was Southern Tier Imperial Choklat Stout, described as "a stout brewed with chocolate."

I have to admit, I had very high hopes here, because their Pumpking, also from the Black Water series, was the best of the many pumpkins I had – so good in fact that my wife, who does not like beer, asked me to get more so we could drink and cellar.

Well, it’s not quite as exceptional as the pumpkin, but still the best of the chocolates so far. Very dark, as you would expect, with a thin head. Drinks easily for an “Imperial Stout.” Not as heavy as many others. Chocolate taste is smooth and clear right from the top. Kind of a milk chocolate, although it’s made with bittersweet Belgian Chocolate.

This is high-end stuff, 11 percent alcohol by volume, but it does not taste too much of alcohol. There is a touch of bitterness in the aftertaste, but it goes away as you continue to drink it.

I have had just about everything they produce, and I would drink anything new they come out with.

Why are all the hops gone?

2008-04-06T20:59:00.003-04:00

It looks as though the initial reports were right, and the hops shortage is going to be with us for a while, and is going to affect what we’re drinking. The combination of bad growing weather and brewers' shifts toward using more -- and specific -- hops have combined to cause the problem. Brwers who are locked into contracts are OK, but those who don't have contracts will either pay more or be unable to find what they need. This means fewer styles and more expensive pours.

I have run into it myself at the closest brew pub to my outpost here in New York’s North Country – Davidson Brothers in Glens Falls. The Scotch Ale has been out for a while, and the Stout was also out, along with one other beer. There was no “Brewer’s Special” for a bit, until they put up a nine-year-old Strong Ale, which the hardy patrons sucked down in about 10 days. Word is everything will be back up soon except, of course the Strong, which was a one-shot deal.

Many local newspapers here and elsewhere have reported on how the hops shortage is affecting local brewers. The Rutland (Vt.) Herald had an excellent report on the rising prices – and the changing beer choices – of local brewers.

For instance, Otter Creek will release a Kolsch-style beer – fewer hops – this Spring, instead of its usual Extra Special Bitter. Ray McNeill at McNeill’s in Brattleboro, Vt., was quoted as saying his Imperial Stout and Imperial India Pale Ale will not be available in bottles until next year.

As you most likely know, beer is generally made from four ingredients – water, barley, hops and yeast. There’s been a real reduction in the hops crop, and many brewers have either not made specific style or have changed recipes. The trouble for me is that high-end IPAs are one of my favorites as are Scotch Ales, both of which are affected. The light middle-of-the-road beers, such as lagers, pilseners and some ales – not my favorites – are not as affected.

A little more "business"

2008-04-01T20:37:00.002-04:00

I don't review everything I drink, although I usually jot myself some notes just for comparison. I was struck by how different this beer was. That's not surprising because Dogfish Head is a particularly inventive brewery.

The new Festina Peche from Dogfish Head is likely to draw comments from your friends. It even draws comments from the folks behind the counter in the beer store.

“I ought to tell you, that’s kind of sour,” the beer guy told me, pointing at the four-pack of the peach-flavored wheat beer on the counter. I smiled and said this was my second go-round with the beer and that I liked it. “I just wanted to make sure,” he said, establishing the place -- EBI in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. -- as somewhere I will happily recommend.

The conversation continued, as beer conversations have a way of doing. “I have some non-beer geek friends who really liked this,” I told him. He responded by saying that one of his colleagues at the store – who doesn’t particularly care for beer – reacted the same way. (We won’t get into working at a beer store and not liking beer).

Anyway, to the beer.

The concept of fruit beers is one that’s always ripe for discussion. There are those who are drawn to them and others who say fruit is for pies and cobblers. In this particular case, the fruit is not the main focus of the taste. While my friend at the beer store called it sour, I found the high-end taste of the wheat used in the beer to be a wakeup call. It’s the first thing that hits you, and it’s followed by a subtle peach flavor that fills your mouth but doesn’t overwhelm at all.

Another interesting aspect is that it tastes like a high-alcohol beer, but at 4.5 ABV, it’s actually slightly less alcoholic than Budweiser. It’s basically the same color as Bud, but much more cloudy (as a result of the wheat). It does have a decent bite to it, and it's a beer to savor, not to bang down. Like many of the more expensive craft brews, it comes in a four-pack and usually runs $8 to $10, but it's worth it.

Let's get right down to "business"

2008-04-01T20:10:00.005-04:00

Rather than worrying about all the introductory niceties , I'll kick things off with a review and commentary.

Call this "Best of the Year So Far." Should be interesting how that gets bounced around.

The beer in question is Long Trail Brewing's Belgian White, a beer so new that my local package stores do not have it yet.

Fortunately, I live 90 minutes from the Bridgewater Corners, Vt., brewery and its very spiffy brew pub, and I have been there twice in the last 10 days sampling it and bringing a couple of 12-packs home.

So I have had it on draft and in the bottle, and I am really enjoying it.

I am also fascinated that Long Trail has jumped in so late in the game. The brewery is listing this its summer seasonal, but like many brewers, it it's a hit, Long Trail will make it permanent, as it did with Blackbeary Wheat.

For the record, Belgian Whites -- or witbiers -- are wheat beers that are unfiltered and therefore cloudy. The look is different, but the taste is comfortable, and they are a good way to transition to craft beers.

Coors knew this years ago when it came out with one of the first mass-market Belgian Whites -- Blue Moon -- which has spawned a number of other Coors' specialty brews. Anheuser-Busch has recently jumped in with Shock Top, one of its craft-style beers. Allagash in Portland, Maine, has long been a craft leader in this style with its Allagash White. Many folks are also drinking Hoegaarden's Original White Ale, an actual Belgian of all things.

The Long Trail pours the requisite hazy yellow – but not too hazy or too yellow, and has a thin white head and a light nose. The taste takes longer than you’d expect to develop, but it’s extremely easy to drink, and the spice – coriander that’s ground freshly at the brewery – comes through clearly after several seconds. It also has some of the traditional fruit tastes associated with a wheat beer, including a light flavor of banana, but it clearly establishes its own place among American Belgian Whites against the three previously mentioned beers, as well as Sam Adams White Ale and Saranac Belgian White.

The taste is reminiscent of a custard topped with spices, although those not used to the style might catch it as a little sour. It’s clearly a session beer. You could knock down three or four of these on a summer afternoon, and not realize it. Yet, it’s the kind of beer you savor while you drink it.

It’s equally good on tap and from the bottle, although the coriander is even sharper on tap.