Ipwsich Ale Brewery Local Harvest 5 Mile Stock Ale [Beer Review]
This past weekend I attended an event to benefit Valley Malt’s Brewer Supported Agriculture (BSA) program (it works similarly to a CSA, except it provides malted grain to brewers) at Meadhall in Cambridge, MA. The event showcased craft beers from seven brewers that participated in this year's BSA program. One of the brews I got to try was Ipswich Ale Brewery’s Local Harvest 5 Mile Stock Ale. This is the first in the series of 5 Mile beers where each will be brewed using an ingredient from within five miles of the brewery. This one uses Cascade dry hops grown in Ipswich’s own hop yard. Also, the beer is brewed using malted barley from Massachusetts farms and malted by Valley Malt, one of the coolest beer related companies we know of! With that said, let’s try the beer!
Five Mile Stock Ale pours with a taupe, puffy, big-bubbled head about three fingers that quick recedes to one and hangs around pretty much throughout the drink. This sits atop a murky brown, orangey body of beer. This looks like something I’d expect to drink in Autumn. Appears to have some body and some weight behind it, but not the impact of an imperial stout or anything
While pouring, I couldn’t help but notice that this thing smells strongly! Even standing back taking pictures you can smell the malt that this brings to the table! Up close, there’s a nice biscuit aroma that sits just under piney, locally grown Cascade hops. Brewed with malt from Massachusetts farms and malted by our own Valley Malt in Hadley, MA, the focus here is on the malt for sure, though...as it should be in a stock ale. Overall impression? I want to drink it because it smells amazing!
And let me tell you, the taste does not disappoint! This is a great fall beer. Not that it’s a pumpkin beer or a fresh hop beer or any special theme like that. It’s just a delicious beer with some solid body that isn’t quite the beast of a brew I look for in winter. You can really taste the Cascade dry hops that Ipswich grew in their hop yard. And the malt! The malt is great! Every brew I’ve had so far using Valley Malt has had a minor similarity that I’m going to chalk up to the local character of the malt. It’s almost a spice to the beer, but not quite. This is a great beer, as I’ve come to expect from Ipswich Brewery. I’d suggest if you find it on tap or draft that you get some immediately as it’s a limited run and, because of the capacity constraints of Valley Malt, not a lot was made. It’s going to sell quick, too, because it’s delicious!
I picked this bottle up at Craft Beer Cellar in Belmont.
