Craft Beer Update

I have been trying and tasting a number of new beers lately, as usual.  This time I made sure to document each one of them and I will give you a quick writeup/opinion/comment on each one.  So without further ado...



Berkshire Brewing Company - Goodnight Irene - I had mentioned tasting this at BBC's brewery before and it tastes just as excellent bottled.  For $3.99 with a portion of profits going to charity, the value can't be beat.  BBC specializes in English style ales, but this is an attempt at a West Coast (American) hop-forward IPA.  It is well executed, like the Franklin County Land Trust Preservation Ale.  I do, unfortunately, believe that the hops have faded, ever so slightly.



Full Sail Brewing - Elevation DIPA - This brewery is not one that I am particularly familiar with, although I have heard good things about their lagers which come in stubby Red Stripe bottles.  This Imperial IPA may be past best drank by date, as it is bottled in 2011.  I didn't see that while at the store picking it up, but hops had faded significantly, so I do not feel a review would truly represent the beer.  It looked nice though!



Sierra Nevada - Bigfoot (2012) - Fresh Bigfoot is one of my favorite barleywines.  The hops are right in your face, but taste fresh and delicious.  Don't get me wrong, I love a good aged malty alcohol laden barleywine, but this beer is superb fresh from being bottled!



Pretty Things - Lovely Saint Winefrede - Pretty Things of MA's newest brew is called a Euro Dark Lager, which is certainly not one of my most commonly sampled styles.  This beer really delivers though, the dark, roasted qualities, mix with a hoppy finish, and present a complex but extremely drinkable brew.  Pretty Things never misses, and I recommend picking up a bomber if you have access! (Whatup Stephen Colbert)



Ommegang - Hennepin - I have had this excellent saison many times before, but have not mentioned here on the interwebs.  It is one of my favorite, easily accessible, American saisons, it is in the mid 7% ABV so it packs a punch, but it is definitely a great thirst quenching beer.  I detect a lot more citrusy lemony zest than in other saisons, which is the only thing holding me back from saying this is a perfect saison.



Slumbrew - Porter Square Porter - named after Somerville/Cambridge's Porter square this local porter is one of my absolute favorite new beers.  Smuttynose' Robust Porter is still the best value on the market, but Slumbrew's offering is certainly superior, if not much more expensive.  They use local chocolatier Taza's cacao nibs to impart even more chocolatey flavor with the dark malts.  Excellent desert or cold weather beer.



Sixpoint - Resin DIPA - I had been looking forward to this beer a lot after enjoying all of Sixpoint's other offerings including Autumnation and Diesel.  This left a little to be desired.  I really enjoyed the Red Bull cans that the beer came in, and as a hop-head, the ~9% ABV hop loaded beer tickled my senses.  My issues were that I had expected a west coast style IPA, which is a lot lighter, as you can see this beer is dark and the malts are definitely present.  Maybe my hopes were too high, but I was slightly disappointed with this brew.



Peak Organic - Simcoe Spring Ale - I am a sucker for beers that display the hop type, especially if that hop happens to be Nugget, Simcoe, or Citra!  This is certainly a pale ale, not an IPA, but the delicious Simcoe hops still shine through.  I believe this is fresh as it is the first I have seen or heard of this beer, so that may be a factor.  It is nothing like an IPA or DIPA, so make sure to temper your expectations, but this is a solid offering from Maine's Peak Organic.

New Boston Craft Microbreweries

Boston is the capital of New England, a region with an extremely high concentration of craft beer drinkers, but always lagged behind as far as high quality breweries. Cities like Burlington, VT and Portland, ME have many more excellent craft breweries. There are a number of reasons for this, including the prohibitively high cost of real estate in Suffolk county and the surrounding area as well as local giants Sam Adams and Harpoon Brewery. However, since the summer, a number of new breweries have emerged and there are even more on the horizon.

Backlash Brewing is a new contract brewed company, which seems like the new business model for MA brewers, due to high real estate cost as well as the success of Clown Shoes and Pretty Things.  These guys are apparently brewing at Paper City Brewery in Holyoke, out in Western Mass, but distributing mainly in the 617 area for now, due to limited supply. Their first beer was Groundswell, a Belgian Pale Ale, and their second was Convergence, a saison.  I am hoping these guys do well, but I do not love their aesthetics, like the brass knuckles and the Russian Riveresque "Convergence" name.  I am a sucker for wax sealed bottles and the price points seem reasonable based on the quality.

Mystic Brewing is a production brewery located in an up and coming area of Boston that is still a bit industrial, Chelsea.  These guys seem to be the most ambitious of the new breweries, offering a Founder's Club, aiming to compete with places like The Bruery in LA.  They are currently brewing and distributing their Saison, which already has 25 reviews on BeerAdvocate (B+ rating) and several other beers are in the near future.  I am excited to try Entropy, which is a high ABV brew that should be complex and exciting.
 

Idle Hands Brewery is another brewery a little bit northeast of Boston, located in Everett, another industrial area.  They had a bit of an issue in getting their license, including the big issue with farmer/brewer licenses, which could have drastically affected the scene for small craft breweries in the Bay State, but ultimately was resolved favorably.  They call themselves a "nanobrewery" and like both Mystic and Backlash they seem to be focusing on Belgian styles.  Their two beers that I have seen offered so far are Pandora and Patriarch.  These guys are currently only doing growler fills ($10 + $5 for the glass) at odd hours.  Be sure to follow them on Twitter for more info.  I expect 22oz bombers in the near future.

SlumBrew is based out of the Somerville suburb that is the most rapidly gentrifying neighborhood near Boston.  Based on the colloquial nickname "Slummerville," hence SlumBrew.  These guys are about to have their first tasting on Friday Oct 28 at Craft Beer Cellar in Belmont, MA.  I really like the website, which obviously does not affect the quality of the beer, but it certainly suggests that they are thorough, which bodes well for the brand.  I heard that they are contract-brewing at Mercury in Ipswich and I am sure they would be happy to be as successful as Clown Shoes has been with a similar model, as well as receive the additional Somerville boost.

Trillium Brewing has not officially opened, but it is on the horizon.  The brewer wants to brew and open a brewery in Fort Point, and Boston is home to lots of yuppies, granola eating hippies, young professionals, and academia.  This is the perfect hotbed for an innovative microbrewery.  I will add more info as it emerges, but based on Trillium blog entries, this new brewery will focus on Belgian styled beers and ales, like many of the other new breweries.