Growth of craft beer

Excellent growth in the craft beer industry...keep drinking good beer everyone!  Read the article

Peeper Ale from Maine Beer Company

Peeper Ale is my first experience with the up and coming Maine Beer Company.  Their uncomplicated labels and limited distribution area got me interested.  The numerous positive reviews I've read of their brews sealed the deal.  You also have to love a company that uses only wind power, donates their spent grains and yeast to local farmers and donates 1% of their profits to environmental non-profits.  OK, I guess you don't have to, but I do.  While still on the search for their heralded Lunch IPA, Peeper Ale had been described to me as an incredibly drinkable beer.  So, here I am.

As you can see in the photo, this is a very light, golden-colored ale, with an almost comically fluffy white head.  Stick your sniffer above the foam and you can smell the citrusy hops.  This is not going to be a hop bomb, by any stretch of the imagination.  At 5.5% a.b.v., it's not going to knock you on your butt either.  Yes, I'm not describing the kind of beer I normally drink, bold flavors and body, but I'm an equal opportunity beer lover.

Now, the taste.  The taste is pretty much what I expected.  It's a very tasty, average bodied ale with a nice, slight hop bite.  I can see why people like this.  This is a very sessionable beer (i.e. I could drink it all night long...if I had more).  It has enough bite and flavor to keep your taste buds interested, but not so much that they get tired.  Don't expect lots of complexity here.  It's as advertised...a craft brewed American ale.  But, for what it is, it's done quite well.  With this being their most basic beer, I definitely look forward to what else they pull together.

I would highly recommend Peeper Ale, if you're in an area that carries it (most of New England and PA I believe).  I think this would be great on a nice summer day.  I give it a solid A-

Shipyard Smashed Pumpkin

Let's take a break from the world of stouts and try something very appropriate for the first day of Fall.  Pumpkin beers are about as Autumn as you can get.  Many people, as far as I can tell, look forward to the pumpkin beers as much as they do the colorful leaves and crisp, comfortable evenings.  The problem is, I've never really been one of those people.  While I'll have a pumpkin beer here or there, I've never been one to seek them out.  They've never particularly stuck with me.  I tend to partake of my pumpkins in pie form.  So, I'll say right now that I don't have too much of a frame of reference for this particular beer.

You'll remember the review I did of Shipyard's Smashed Blueberry awhile back.  Smashed Pumpkin is another in Shipyard Brewing's Pugsley's Signature Series, their line of big beers.  Did I like their take on pumpkins as much as I liked their take on blueberries?  Let's find out, shall we?

The beer pours a "light coppery orange" according to the bottle.  You know they wanted to say that it poured a light pumpkiny color.  A tall, pale orange-ish head sits atop the beer, just begging to be smelled.  To me, so much of this time of year is connected with smells.  Smashed Pumpkin is no exception.  Getting my nose right into the glass, while carefully avoiding actually inhaling foam, I immediately smell spices...nutmeg for sure and perhaps cinnamon?  The rest of the smell is, well, I don't know how to describe it, but all I can guess is that it is the pumpkin.  I think pumpkin is so intrinsically linked with nutmeg and cinnamon that I can't quite recall what it smells like on it's own.

The taste is where I start to be a little out of my element.  Don't get me wrong, the taste is great.  The pumpkin and nutmeg stand front and center.  A nice hoppy crispness is present, but graciously takes a secondary role.  The 9% alcohol doesn't hit you over the head.  This really is a very tasty beer.  Where I have a problem is...I don't know if this is better or worse than some of the other good pumpkin beers out there.  I have absolutely had worse.  There are beers out there that just taste like the spices or they're sickly sweet.  Smashed Pumpkin is quite nicely balanced.  Not too sweet, not too spicy, seemingly just right.  But, I just can't say it's the best out there.

Let's see if I can wrap this all up.  Shipyard Smashed Pumpkin really is a tasty pumpkin ale.  Is it the best out there?  I have no idea.  Is it the best I've had in my very limited pumpkin beer career?  I'd say it certainly is.  If you're a fan of this style of beer, I think it's certainly worth a try if you can find it.  If you're much more of a pumpkin beer connoisseur than I am, I'd love to hear your thoughts on it.  How does it compare to others you've had?  Are there others I absolutely have to try?  I'm giving Smashed Pumpkin an A-.  While I'm not normally a pumpkin beer guy, I will certainly get this one again!

Founders Breakfast Stout

OK kids, have a seat and I'm going to tell you a story...

Once upon a time, there was a brewery by the name of Founders Brewing Company.  They created a magical elixir and dubbed it Breakfast Stout.  Many other breweries made beers that they thought were better.  They were wrong.  And beer lovers lived happily ever after.

Yeah, that was a crappy story.  I'm not much of the fairy tale type.  What I am, though, is a fan of big beers.  I've said it before.  I don't want to drink a 30-rack of swill and get drunk.  I want to sit around and enjoy a couple high quality brews.  I want something that makes my taste buds somehow grow vocal chords and say "wow".  Breakfast Stout is one of these beers.

My first experience with Breakfast Stout (and Founders themselves) was several years back at the Extreme Beer Fest in Boston.  While their other beers were all excellent, Breakfast Stout was in a league of its own.  It was something more than any stout I had ever tasted.  Everything about it was amped up.  How, you ask?  Well, let's dissect it.

First, the bottle.  How can you resist a bottle with a chubby kid eating breakfast from a Founders bowl?  Sure, this has nothing to do with the beer inside, but they really do have some amazing artwork on their labels.  The label itself does give you a hint as to what you're in for.  The description of the beer...DOUBLE CHOCOLATE COFFEE OATMEAL STOUT.  Did I need all caps?  Yes, I think I did.  Read it again.

I wish you could smell this beer through the internet.  It smells of smooth, rich coffee (they use Sumatra and Kona coffee...good stuff).  It smells of rich, dark chocolate.  It smells of roasted malts.  Hops?  Not a chance with those other smells.  As you can see, it also pours with a beautiful chocolatey head.

The taste?  Oh, the taste.  Wow.  In the words of Ferris Bueller, "It is so choice. If you have the means, I highly recommend picking one up."  That coffee smell...it's front and center in the taste as well.  It's not bitter coffee, it's smooth, rich coffee.  The chocolate?  Yeah, it's here too...intense, semi-sweet chocolate.  It's no secret how well chocolate and coffee play together.  Here, that fact is taken to the extreme.  The label mentions 60 IBUs and 8.3% ABV.  The 60 IBUs is middle of the road in terms of hoppiness in a strong stout like this.  They don't have the oomph to overcome the other flavors (I can certainly taste them though), but I guarantee I would notice if they weren't there.  They balance out the richness of the beer.  As for the 8.3%, you don't taste the alcohol, and remember, this is something you just have one or two of in a night.

Wait, what about the oatmeal?!  OK, when I created this blog, I said I wasn't going to use snobby-sounding words like mouth-feel.   Welllll...it's time to mention mouth-feel.  Oats do amazing things to beer.  Due to their protein and lipid content (I actually had to look this up), they increase the viscosity and smoothness of the beer.  This leads to an enhanced mouth-feel (how the beer feels in your mouth).  Breakfast Stout feels like it coats your mouth.  It's a wonderful thing indeed.

So, do I really need to sum things up?  Founders Breakfast Stout really is the stout I judge all others by.  Are there better stouts out there?  I've had a couple I put evenly on par with this, but they are few and far between.  Oh, and did I mention that they also make a couple special versions of this?  Kentucky Breakfast Stout (aged for a year in bourbon barrels) and Canadian Breakfast Stout (aged in bourbon barrels that have been recently aging maple syrup).  If you find a bottle of Breakfast Stout, promise me you will buy it and give it a taste.  You shall not be disappointed!  This amazing beer gets a definite A+ in my book!  Cheers!!!

Jah*va Imperial Coffee Stout by Southern Tier

Each time I peer into my fridge, searching for the next beer to review, it's an exciting hunt.  Sometimes I grab one I've tasted before.  Sometimes I pick one that I've been wanting to try, that I bought specifically to review.  Other times, like tonight, I happen upon a beer I completely forgot I had bought.  Tonight's beer, to be enjoyed by yours truly for Stout Week, was brewed by Southern Tier Brewing Company.  I'm not sure where I thought Southern Tier was from, but I certainly didn't think it was Lakewood, NY.  The Southern in the name threw me...but that's neither here nor there.  Anyway, if you've never had any of their beers, I highly recommend you check them out.  Southern Tier makes some seriously tasty beers of all kinds.  Not remembering when I bought this, I can't guarantee it's still in the stores, but if it isn't, peruse their other beers.

Tonight I have a stout for you coffee lovers out there, Southern Tier's Jah*va Imperial Coffee Stout.  I don't know about you, but just the name makes my mouth water.  Imperial Stout AND coffee?  Excellent.  While many stouts have coffee flavors to them, which come from the types of malts used, there are ones such as this that are brewed with actual coffee beans.  The experience is completely different.

Jah*va pours with a beautiful frothy tan head, which lingers nicely.  One whiff tells you this is a coffee stout, and one sip confirms it.  This is a huge beer.  Alcohol tips the scales at 10.6% (though you don't taste it that much...it just hits you after awhile).  The flavors are intense (but wonderful).  And it is a seriously viscous elixir. 

It seems silly to describe the flavor more, but here it is...coffee coffee coffee...with a bit of dark chocolate thrown in for good measure.  There are hops in their, but they're completely overshadowed.  They no doubt take the edge off of some of the richness, but not by a lot.  But really...coffee.  I'm a huge fan of coffee and dark chocolate and beer, so a coffee stout is always a good thing in my book.  Obviously, if you're not a fan of coffee, this isn't for you...not that you would probably even give it a second glance in the store.

My final words are this:  If you like coffee, stouts, and beers which combine the two, this is definitely worth checking out.  Southern Tier's Jah*va Imperial Coffee Stout gets an A in my book.  Cheers!!!

Moo Thunder Stout by Butternuts Beer & Ale

Tonight's installment of Stout Week is brought to you by Butternuts Beer & Ale.  You'll remember that several weeks ago I reviewed their PorkSlap Pale Ale.  I wasn't overly impressed.  But, a friend pointed out that their stout was much better.  Enter...Moo Thunder!  Seriously, look at the picture below.  These people know how to market their beer.  I must say though, marketing can only get you so far.  The stout will have to beat out their pale ale if I'm going to try other styles.

As with all of their beers, Moo Thunder comes in a graphically fantastic can.  While they still make up a severe minority of the beers  at Julio's Liquors, their aluminum presence is growing.  I hope to some day be able to do a side-by-side comparison of the same beer in a can and a bottle and decide for myself, once and for all, whether cans affect the taste.

This stout pours a deep, dark brown, letting only the slightest amount of light through.  Getting your nose right down to the fluffy tan head rewards you with roasted malt melded with chocolate.  This is quite promising based on smell alone.

The taste?  In a word...yum.  Like the smell, the taste is deep, roasty and chocolatey.  While many stouts have both a chocolate and coffee flavor, I only taste dark chocolate here.  It's very rich, but not too rich.  Their website says they use lactose sugar in making this beer, to add to the body and mouth feel.  I have no idea if that's really the case.  All it leaves me wondering is if someone who is lactose intolerant could drink this?  Yes, these are the places my brain goes. 

I must quote part of their description on their website.  I'm really starting to like these people!  "Unlike a true bovine it has a malty, roasty aroma and a dry finish but no tail or teats, and leaves no unsightly cow pies laying around the yard for you to step in." 

What I can tell you with all certainty is that Moo Thunder is an excellent chocolatey stout.  Butternuts has redeemed themselves in my eyes.  Moo Thunder is a keeper, gets an A- from me and will no doubt make it into my rotation again.  Cheers!

6288 Stout from Tuckerman Brewing Company

In case you haven't figured out by now with this blog, I like big flavors.  I like beers that make themselves known.  Sure, sometimes on a hot day, when you need something really refreshing, a less assertive beer can be the way to go.  Most of the time, though, I go for something more akin to a meal in a bottle (or can...or tap).  Logically then, stouts are up near or at the top of my various beer lists.  Stouts are as much of a meal in a bottle as you can get.  They also often have some of the deepest flavors.  IPAs and the like can be much more assertive, but the flavors that show up in a stout are, in my mind, more complex and interesting.


To start off my self proclaimed Stout Week (might last longer...no clue how many stouts I have in the fridge), I opened an old favorite, 6288 Stout from Tuckerman Brewing Company.  I happened to stumble across a 4-pack of 6288 at McKinnon's Meat Market in Salem, NH.  They have a surprisingly good beer selection, especially for a supermarket.    I wasn't even looking for this, as recently I had been wondering if they were even still producing 6288.  I felt like I hadn't seen it in years.  Then there it was, right there at toe level!  As soon as I got my basket low enough, it just jumped right in...really...you should have seen it!

For those not familiar with the White Mountains of New England, Tuckerman Brewing is named after Tuckerman Ravine, and 6288 Stout is named after the height of Mt. Washington, the highest peak in the northeast.  Further, part of the proceeds from 6288 Stout actually go to support the Mt. Washington Observatory.  Drink a beer and support science.  How can you lose?!  As a side note, if you're ever in Conway, NH, check to see if the brewery is open and go for a visit.  It's not a big place, but the people are great, the samples are always tasty, and did I mention it's a brewery tour?  Why wouldn't you want to go?

According to their website, 6288 Stout is brewed with 5 types of malt, along with American and French hops, and is bottle conditioned for 3 months.  You're probably asking yourself "Self, are those all good things to have when it comes to beer?"  While it obviously demands some serious skill from the brewers, the answer is definitely yes, yes and yes in this case.

6288 Stout pours jet black with a good size tan head.  That head disappears fast though.  Not really a problem in my book, just an observation.  While many stouts have huge coffee or chocolate smells, this beer smells of malty goodness.  It's a wonderful roasty, grainy smell.  Maybe you'll pick up a bit of coffee or chocolate due to that roastiness, but I just smell wonderful beer.  The use of the 5 malts probably lends itself to that nice even roasted smell, but it definitely leads to the richness of flavor.  This is a deep, dark beer.  Those roasted malts are the main flavor.  The hops are a bit noticeable, but they mainly help balance out the richness.  Nowhere that I can find do they say what the alcohol content is, but this is not a hard hitting beer.  It seems to have a good, average alcohol level.  I think what really helps this beer though, is the bottle conditioning.

Bottle conditioning involves letting the beer continue to ferment through one of various different processes inside the bottle.  What does this do?  Well, when it comes to flavor, the beer tends to get somewhat smoother and the various flavors meld together better.  From what I've read, the yeast, as it ferments more sugars, basically counteracts and disrupts some bad chemical reactions that happen in beer once its bottled.  A nice side effect of that is that bottle conditioned beers also last much longer.  If you see that a beer is bottle conditioned, there's a good chance you can age it rather well.  You never really know what you'll get, but some beers just get better and better with age.

Really, when it comes down to it, 6288 is a very solid stout.  You won't be disappointed in the least, if you're a fan of stouts, and I bet you even go back for a second...or third...or fourth.  This excellent example of what a stout should be, gets an A- in my book.  Go grab a 4-pack while it's still available.  You'll thank me.