Beer of the Month Club Review - December 2010 - Gourmet Monthly Clubs
If you're thinking of joining a beer of the month club you've found the right place. Each month we review a beer of the month club shipment to give you an idea of what you really get. This is from Gourmet Monthly Clubs.
Join this beer of the month club or compare other beer of the month clubs.
Woodstock Inn Brewery Red Rack Ale
Appearance: As a red ale, what color would you expect this one to be but... red? While it’s not brick red or anything, it’s definitely a red/orange color and crystal clear. There’s a super light brown, basically tan head that quickly recedes to a film.
Smell: A red ale is by definition supposed to have a mild aroma, and this one does. Notes of fresh bread and an almost caramel-like malt comes through, but you have to look for both.
Taste: Toasted barley is the major flavor here that fades into a bready, even slightly doughy finish. There are almost no hops to speak of, just a bit of mild sweetness that lingers through. This a great beer to share with friends on a social night as it one that doesn’t demand you sit and think, just drink and enjoy.
On a sidenote, the mildness of this beer makes it go great with much of the food that Woodstock Inn has at their brew pub (which Jeff has been to quite a few times). If you’re ever near Waterville Valley in New Hampshire, make sure to check this place out. They have a few variations on Beef Wellington that are delicious!
Woodstock Inn Brewery Pemi Pale Ale
Appearance: A dense, off-white head about a finger and a half sits atop this copper colored, crystal clear ale named for the Pemigewasset River that runs near the brewpub.
Smell: There’s a light, grassy note to the hops in this brew. In the English style of Pale Ale you also get some decent malt to this one, a bit biscuity.
Taste: While the aroma may be a bit English, the flavor is definitely an American Pale Ale. Hop bitterness leads, not enough to make it an IPA but at 56 IBUs it’s no slouch either. A nice, but understated, malt presence gives the hops some room to play but that’s their limit. There’s a mild citrus flavor, almost a hint of lime at times, to the hops. We dig this one. A tasty, sessionable pale ale!
Boulder Beer Company Never Summer Ale
Appearance: A ruby red ale with an oatmeal, beige head about an inch high.
Smell: The malt is definitely the star here, it’s a light and airy malt. Definitely not heavy, this could even be described as smelling fresh. Hops take a backseat but are there in a supporting capacity. The yeast provides a bit of a fruity aroma, almost cherry-like.
Taste: Again, malt is the main attraction. It’s a bit toasty and definitely quite bready while the hops just chill on the sidelines. The carbonation is light, just right for style and helps it go down smooth. While this beer is drinkable, the malt and the slight hint of alcohol let you know that this isn’t a beer to pound. This would be great to sip around a fire in the winter months.
Boulder Beer Company Flashback India-Style Brown Ale
Appearance: This IBA pours brown, as could be expected, with red tinges when held up to the light. The head puffs to about two fingers and then recedes to half a finger and lingers.
Smell: While a brown ale traditionally doesn’t have hops right up front, as an India-Style Brown Ale this one definitely has them right there. It’s not over the top, but they’re there. Piney cascades lead the way, but the brown malts are there as back up providing a toasty grain backbone to this Cascade craft beer.
Taste: The taste? Well it’s quite good! Cascadey, piney hop bitterness leads the way, followed by brown sugar malt. There seems to be almost a bit of maple in the finish of the malt, which goes great with the brown sugar and the piney hops. This beer is like sipping on an autumn day in the woods. While Jeff may be a bit biased (Boulder Beer Company’s Hazed & Infused was one of his first serious craft beers), we both agree this is one tasty brew that you should be happy to get a chance to try!
Flying Dog Raging Bitch Belgian IPA Review
After returning from Christmas at the folks' place in New Hampshire I came home to find a mystery package lying at my door. My first thought was that I had forgotten about a gift I ordered for someone (I'm quite absent minded). My next thought was that perhaps someone had sent me a gift. I picked it up the package, brought it inside, and began opening it. Within the small brown box I found cradled this bottle of Flying Dog Raging Bitch Belgian IPA courtesy of Flying Dog; there are few things greater in life than surprise beer.Appearance: Raging Bitch pours a golden copper color with crystal clarity. A large head forms on top and sticks around in all its eggshell white glory.
Smell: Really good! Not overwhelmingly Belgian with a hint of sweetness. The spicy yeast and the citrusy hops play together perfectly with neither overwhelming the other. It remind us of Houblon Chouffe, which is delicious.
Taste: Wow! That’s really good! The mouthfeel is creamy without being thick. The beer is a little fruity with great hop flavor and a medium bitterness. The hops might cover a little of the Belgian-ness and might walk the line of over hopped. The hops might cover a little of the yeast flavors, but it’s so good that we’re not that worried about it. This is first and foremost an amazing IPA, and it just happens to be fermented with Belgian yeast. A great brew for those who like or don’t like Belgian beers. This is tasty. Go get some!
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Beer of the Month Club Review - November 2010 - Gourmet Monthly Clubs
If you're thinking of joining a beer of the month club you've found the right place. Each month we review a beer of the month club shipment to give you an idea of what you really get. This is from Gourmet Monthly Clubs.
Join this beer of the month club or compare other beer of the month clubs.
Atwater Block Brewery Michigan Lager
Appearance: Michigan Lager pours a mildly hazy, straw color. A big, puffy white head full of big bubbles forms that sticks around for a few minutes before receding to a thin, but still substantial, layer.
Smell: There’s some noble hop aroma in the nose that is the first thing you smell. Some mild, biscuity aroma comes through towards the end... not predominantly, but cleanly in the end.
Taste: This is a dry, crisp beer right up front with A LOT of carbonation dissolved in the beer ever after pouring it pretty hard and releasing a big head. A good swirl raises a two finger head so either use an oversized glass and pour hard, or pour and swirl in the glass. After cutting the carbonation, it’s a clean pilsner with a great, bright hop bitterness. Some clean malt comes through right after the hops, giving a great backbone for the taste of the earthy noble hops that come through. All in all this is a very tasty pilsner style beer that just has too much carbonation. If the brewery could get a handle on that, this would be wonderful!
Bison Brewing Company Organic Gingerbread Ale
Appearance: The Gingerbread Ale pours much like the color of gingerbread itself, a dark brown... unlike gingerbread, though, light shines through at the edges rendering the beer a ruddy reddish-brown. The head is a dark cream color and doesn’t form that high before it quickly disappears.
Smell: It smells like gingerbread! A little bit of warm winter spice, this beer seems super appropriate for Christmas and the holiday season. Through the spice you can get some dark malts that are more toasty than roasty.
Taste: While the brew smells quite strong, the flavor is much less spiced than expected which is very good. There’s nothing worse than an overspiced mess of a beer. Just a hint of gingerbread comes through; it ends up being more like a mild pumpernickel or other dark bread. There are definitely some stout characteristics to this one, some mildly sweet roasted and chocolate malts.
Atwater Block Brewery Vanilla Java Porter
Appearance: This beer pours a super dark, but not opaque, color that looks dark, deep garnet at the center when held up to the light. A thin, dark cream colored head barely shows itself on top then disappears into the darkness.
Smell: Yup! Coffee and vanilla are right! They’re both definitely here in this beer. They pretty much take over the beer and it smells like something you’d buy at Starbucks.
Taste: While the beer smells big, bold, smooth and thick the beer doesn’t quite come through like that. The body is actually quite light and it’s an easy drinking brew. The mid-palate is almost non-existent, which is quite a strange sensation, with the vanilla providing a light sweetness on the finish. The coffee and vanilla are here, but seem to disappear after the aroma that is inherent in lifting the glass to your mouth and near your nose. While this may not seem like the best thing, we thing this actually is great. A lot of vanilla beers really overdue the flavor. This is done in a very balanced manner with the vanilla integrated very well into the roasty coffee and chocolate of the porter.
Bison Brewing Company India Pale Ale
Appearance: This IPA pours an orangey, copper color with one and a half fingers of bone white head.
Smell: Perhaps our noses are just shot, but we only get a mild citrusy aroma from this one. Malt is pretty quiet, as are the hops, which you wouldn’t necessarily expect from an IPA.
Taste: Some solid but understated bitterness in this IPA, it’s definitely not west coast style... but not all IPAs have to be, or should be! There’s a great orange flavor that comes from the hops in the finish of the beer that is interesting. Normally people get grapefruit or citrus like that, but this is decidedly orange. The malt in the beer is clean, but gives a great mouthfeel and solid sweetness to keep the hops in check. This is definitely a tasty IPA for a cool day, as the sweetness gives it a good bit of body but it doesn’t have the heft of an Imperial Stout or Barleywine for winter.
