Hey all you Craft Beer Drinkers! I took a trip up to Portsmouth last night and stopped in at the Portsmouth Brewery, a brewpub that is a sister company to Smuttynose Brewing Co. They get a lot of acclaim for their Kate the Great Imperial Russian Stout, but I had to post something up, because there is so much more to that brewery than just that one beer!

Last night I had a 4-beer sampler, which was great. I had the American Mild, the Scotch Ale, the Winter Rye and the Winter Weizen (in that order from left to right in the picture).

The Scotch Ale was big and malty. This is definitely a beer that will knock your socks off! It had a solid malt backbone, with some good sweetness without being cloying. The booze definitely comes through, though, even though it's only 7.5% I definitely thought it had been aged in a barrel of some sort. Good, but a solid beer! A slow sipper.

The American Mild was so delicious, I got a full pint! At 4.5%, it's perfect for drinking when you just want a beer with your food. It's dry, crisp and full of hop flavor without being just hops. I also picked up a bomber from the gift shop.

The Winter Weizen was definitely an interesting beer! Think a hefeweizen with a lot more malt. It tasted a little thicker and more alcoholy than a typical hefeweizen, but you still got that wheat tang and it definitely had the banana and clove from the yeast. Just more body and alcohol. A winterized version of a hefeweizen, I liked it! Plus I think it would stand up to some of the heartier winter food very well.

Last, but not least, the Winter Rye was a really good beer! The rye spiciness definitely comes through. Also, there is a good amount of hops in the brew. Not enough to be an IPA, but it's got a very balanced taste between malt and hops with good bitterness. To top it all off, it was fermented with a Belgian yeast strain, so you get some of the fruitier phenols. All in all, it was a great beer!

For food I split two dishes with my girlfriend, so I had half a steak bomb and half of a grilled salmon sandwich. Both were phenomenol! I would get either again. We also got the flat bread of the day for an appetizer, it was fresh mozzarela, basil and tomato. Yum! Then for dessert, I took home a slice of the Stout Chocolate Cake, made with their own house stout.

On a non-food or beer note, one thing I really like about the Portsmouth Brewery is their blog: http://portsmouthbrewery.blogspot.com/. You can always check what's on tap, what's getting ready to be on tap and so much more information from the brewers.

So, all together, the Portsmouth Brewery is a great place to grab some beer and food. Plus their gift shop has bombers of most of their beers for $4.95 (some of the higher octane brews are more) or you can get a growler to go! They are so much more than just Kate the Great Imperial Russian Stout...

That said, though... there's a countdown on their blog until the next time Kate is being released. February 9th, 2009 at 1:14pm. It's going to be great!

This article is the second in a series, published once per year. To check out Craft Brewers Get Fresh With Your Hops, 2007 click here. 

Every year, once per year, is the hop harvest. This is a glorious time when the hops are at their freshest and most flavorful. Usually, to make beer, hop farmers will dry the hops so that they can be stored and used all year long. At hop harvest time, however, brewers can go through the extra effort of procuring hops before they're dried and use them to make a beer that is unique and a showcase of the many volatile aroma compounds lost when hops are dried. Oh yeah, and the brewers have to brew it within 24 hours of the hops being harvested.

So, loving the hops like we do at DrinkCraftBeer, we like to have a mini-contest each year. This usually entails us drinking every fresh hop beer we can get our hands on in a season and trying them back to back. It makes for an interesting night. But it tastes so good.

Last year's favorite, Great Divide Fresh Hop Pale Ale, was not distributed to Massachusetts this year, so we couldn't include it. We did, however, get quite a few new ones. So, that being said, let's get to the beer!

Sierra Nevada 2008 Chico Estate Harvest Wet Hop Ale

This beer is brewed with fresh hops that Sierra Nevada grew in their own hop field.

Appearance: Light tan head and dark amber liquid. Rocky heads that sticks around.

Smell: Smells very mild for the hoppiness.

Taste: Hoppy, but not very bitter. A lot of hop flavor... some oily fresh hopness, too. This really showcases the fresh hops. The head really sticks to the sides of the glass all the way down (technically, this is called lacing). Devon says it's a little sweeter than he likes. Jeff thinks it's right on with a very interesting hop profile. The hop oils really stick in your mouth. A couple minutes after the last sip, we're both still tasting the whole beer. It's not like an aftertaste, we're still tasting the entire beer!

Sierra Nevada Harvest Wet Hop Ale

Appearance: Looks the same as the Chico Estate: Light tan head and dark amber liquid. Rocky heads that sticks around.

Smells: Hoppier than the Chico, you really get a bit of citrusy hops. You also smell a solid malt body.

Taste: First observation: this beer doesn't coat your tongue with hop oil the same way as the Chico does. Both less sweet and less bitter than the Chico. This is still quite a hoppy beer that shows off the fresh hops.

Devon chooses: Harvest Wet Hop Ale
Jeff chooses: Chico Estate

DrinkCraftBeer tip: Combine them 50/50... it's great! Both of us agreed!

Port Brewing High Tide Fresh Hop IPA

Appearance: Hazy with hops. Very pale. White head.

Smell: Citrusy hops and malt sweetness.

Taste: Devon says, "Holy hop, that's bitter! It's like a mini hop-ninja kicked me in the teeth!" Yup! A hop-ninja. This is one of the founders of this site. And some of you listen to us about beer.

Jeff says, "I don't think it's that bitter. Crisp hop bitterness, decent malt behind it. Good hop flavor. No hop-ninjas here. I'd like a little more hop flavor for a fresh hop beer, but this is good."

OK, for real. Starkly different from the Sierra Nevadas. Much less hop flavor or malt sweetness. Pretty bitter. Coats the tongue, but not as much as the Chico.

DrinkCraftBeer tip: Combine them 50% High Tide, 25% each of the Sierra Nevadas... It's real good, perhaps even better than the previous mix. Do notice a pattern?

Two Brothers Heavy Handed IPA

Appearance: Light tan head, dark amber liquid.

Smell: We can't smell hops anymore! But yeah, this one smells hoppy.

Taste: Good hop flavor without much bitterness. You can taste the fresh oily hopness. Decent malt backbone, but not overpowering the hops. Crisp hoppyness. Quite dry. One of the lighter flavors hop-wise. It's good. Earthier hop flavor. More complex than some of the others and builds as you drink it. We approve!

Founders Harvest Ale

DrinkCraftBeer Note: We're really stoked to see this bottled and distributed! We were in Michigan last September and got to try it out of the fermenter right after dry hopping (thanks Dave Engbers! Check out the interview here.) and it was great! Now we get to try the final product!

Appearance: Heads up, this beer is super foamy! Pour lightly. About six inches of foam right away. Very pale for this tasting. White fluffy head. Hazy.

Smell: Very American citrusy hop smell. Complex hops, which is expected for a fresh hop ale. It's the whole point of not drying them first.

Taste: This beer is great, it's everything we want a fresh hop beer to be! It's aggressive and fruity! Easy drinking but yet still a crazy IPA. Bitter, but not too bitter. Great hop flavor. Yeah, this is the one we could drink a ton of. It makes us forget that we've been drinking a ton of beer already, it revives our tastebuds and makes us want to drink more beer. Even as it warms up, the hops are delicious. This is a great beer for the ages. We look forward to it every year now.

Verdict

Founders, by a mile! It showcased a perfect balance of bitterness, hop flavor, malt and drinkability. It revived our tastebuds deep into a tasting and all we wanted was more. Some of the beer we liked but were sick of half way through. Founders wasn't over oily, overly bitter or overly anything. It was just a great showcase of fresh hops. Wow! Well done Founders! We only wish Great Divide Fresh Hop Pale Ale had been in Massachusetts this year to give you a challenge (as they were the 2007 DrinkCraftBeer Fresh Hop Champions).

Hey all you craft beer drinkers! It's that time again! What time? New Beer of the Month from Gourmet Monthly Clubs time! Yeah... I know, it doesn't exactly roll off the tongue. But the beer... The beer tastes good. So let's get to it!

This month, we got beer from Saranac and Atlanta Brewing Company. Saranac was represented by their Pumpkin Ale and their Oktoberfest, while we drank the Atlanta Brewing Company Brown Ale and Pale Ale.

If you want to get the same club as us go here: Click to Join

Atlanta Brewing Company Red Brick Brown Ale

Appearance: Tan stable head, about an inch and a half. Appropriately, the beer is brown.

Smell: A little bit of roastiness and some molasses sweetness. But fairly mild.

Taste: Smooth, slightly sweet. Almost creamy. A hint of hazelnut. Delicious! We would definitely drink a bunch of this. This has a great complex malt taste, quite nutty at the end. Still exceedingly drinkable!

Saranac Oktoberfest

Appearance: Bone white to tan head. Fluffy and sticks around. Looks much lighter than most oktoberfests... Copper.

Smell: Light, a little bit of malt. Not much smell to it.

Taste: Drinkable! Very smooth. Crisp even. Very light on the palate. Lacking the malt body normally expected from an Oktoberfest, but we like it. This would have been a great beer for our Oktoberfest party. Reminds us of Weihenstephaner Festbier. This gets better as you drink it. A bit bitter, but not hoppy. We approve!

Saranac Pumpkin Ale

Appearance: Off white head. Coppery orange color.

Smell: Spicy. It smells like pumpkin pie.

Taste: Quite spiced with pumpkin pie spices. Not very pumpkiny, really. A bit thinner than normal pumpkin beer. We may have been a little harsh earlier in our Pumpkin Beer Tasteoff. We still think it lacks a little of what we look for in a pumpkin beer, but it's quite a good fall spiced beer. This could go well with pumpkin pie or Thanksgiving dinner. In the context of a Pumpkin Beer Tasteoff, this is a little lacking when compared to others. But as a spiced beer, it's pretty good.

Atlanta Brewing Company Pale Ale

Appearance: White head. Not to fluffy, but it sticks around. Light orangey coppery amber.

Smell: Crisp hop goodness! Mmmmm... We could smell it just pouring it into a glass. The hops are almost orangey, like orange zest.

Taste: Dry and crisp with a great hop bite. Nice bitterness for a pale ale, a lot of smooth bitterness, they were not shy on this front! The hops taste great, too... still some of that orange zest. And, to round it all out, the malt backbone of this beer really complements the hops. This is a very well put together pale ale. This is probably one of the best beers we've received from Gourmet Monthly Clubs. We were told the hop shortage is making it harder to acquire hoppy beers for the club, so we're extra glad they were able to send this one out!

This is a great article from the New York Times about craft beer being brewed in Brooklyn. They focus a lot on Shane Welch (left side of the picture) and Sixpoint Craft Ales, but also mention Brooklyn Brewing Co. and Greenpoint Beer Works a little bit.

Some of the highlights include:

 - Sixpoint bought a bottling line
 - Sixpoint bought a new brewing system
 - This should allow Sixpoint to increase production to 60,000 barrels per year
 - They're looking to close soon on a building in Williamsburg to house this new equipment

The article also talks about Sixpoint's beers, how they like to experiment with new brews a lot, Brooklyn Brewing Co.'s desire to expand and more. Check it out here!

It's always an exciting day when our beer of the month club comes in. It's sort of like a mini christmas each time, you don't know what you're going to get as you open the box only to discover exciting and interesting new beers. Once again we got a shipment of beers we'd never tried before and given we've tried a lot of beer and we mean A LOT that's saying something.

 

If you want to get the same club as us go here: Click to Join

Woodstock Inn Pig's Ear Brown Ale

Appearance: Brown, light tan head... decent size head.

Smell: Mild, slightly sweet. Smooth

Taste: Very smooth and easy to drink. Good malt flavor, light hop bitterness, but enough to keep the beer very well balanced, if not on the maltier side. A very drinkable session brown ale. Got enough flavor to make it tasty, with a god bit of roast to it. Not too flavorful to make it tough to drink a lot of it.

Woodstock Inn Red Rack Ale

Appearance: Well, surprise surprise, it' red-ish. White head that dissipates real fast.

Smell: Earthy hops... light smell to it, nothing overwhelming. Almost a little smoke in there.

Taste: Light tasting, with a nice hop bitterness to it. Balanced just like the Pig's Ear, but on the hoppy side rather than the malty side. Very drinkable, another very good session ale!

Tommyknocker Butthead Bock

Appearance: Deep brown with some amber hues and a rich but light brown head.

Smell: Malty. Brown sugar and mollases. Smells sweet.

Taste: Sweet. It tastes like a sweet Oktoberfest. Maltiness coats your mouth, it's a pretty thick beer. Definitely a tasty one to enjoy on a cold night!

Jeff Says: It's good for what it is. A bock. I just don't love sweet beers that much. But it is a good example of the style. I like it, but wouldn't seek it out.

Devon Says: I like it. It tastes like a sweet marzen, which for me worked well. Bock's are actually normally a style that I don't care for but I'd definitely drink this again.

Tommyknocker Pick Axe Pale Ale

Appearance: Dark golden with a white head

Smell: Smells good even just pouring it into the glass! Piny hops. Ryan says it smells like Christmas.

Taste: Dry, hoppy, piny and very tasty! Not overly bitter, but great hop flavor with just enough bitterness to make it crisp. This is definitely the winner of the bunch. A great session ale that we could drink all night long. This one is definitely recommended.