Deadwood Nut Brown Ale

This weekend my parents and I went to Boston to see the Red Sox play the Orioles. We stayed at a Comfort Inn not too far from downtown. Inside the inn, there were signs for a Deadwood Cafe and Brewery so, being me, I twisted everyone's arm into going.

When we arrived, the place wasn't exactly what we expected. It was in a bowling alley but who am I to judge? This could be some fantastic beer that no one knows about. Unfortunately, this was not the case.

They were out of their stout but the replacement offering was a nut brown ale so I ordered that. On the website, it's described as a blend of a Pilsner and a Stout. The beer came out a dark brown, nearly black color. There was a small head that was cream to white in color but it dissipated very quickly to a very thin layer of foam. The nose was muted but a few floral and hop notes were present. The flavor was thin and overhopped for the style of beer. It was nearly identical to my dad's IPA in the amount of hoppiness. It was very disappointing since malty beers are my favorite and that's what this was supposed to be in part. There was no real aftertaste which was good but the beer overall was lacking. I'm sorry to say I won't be recommending this to anyone because I wouldn't want them to face the same disappointment that I faced here. 

Buffalo Bill's Blueberry Oatmeal Stout

The quest for the elusive blueberry beer I had two summer ago continues. This time I decided to get out of the ales and try a stout. Unfortunately, it still wasn't a success in finding the magical purple beer but in any case, this one was still very good. Buffalo Bill's Brewery was the source of our most recent blueberry beer in the form of their Blueberry Stout. 

Their label held a lot of promise for my search which is why I bought it. I mean, look at all the berries on the label! Needless to say, that while the beer wasn't purple, it certainly did not disappoint in blueberry flavor. Even though this wasn't the beer I was looking for, I would certainly look for it again. 

Dad wanted to be fancy since it was a tulip glass

I poured the beer into a tulip glass from the Spiegelau collection that I have. The beer poured a deep brown, nearly black, color with a tan head that dissipated rather quickly. The nose of the beer was full of blueberry notes with just a hint of toasted malts and chocolate. The flavor matched the nose wonderfully with the classic stout flavor standing up wonderfully to the sweetness of the blueberries. The finish was clean with no real flavor lingering. There were a few hints of chocolate. The beer was remarkably smooth with little carbonation. It was overall a very good experience. As I said earlier, I strongly recommend this to anyone who enjoys both blueberries and oatmeal stouts. 

New Planet Off Grid Pale Ale

So for this post I did something a little different. My mom recently found out she is gluten intolerant. She, like many of us, enjoyed a good beer from time to time but no longer can. I've been on a bit of a mission to find a decent gluten free beer and this one caught my eye on my last trip to the beer store.

New Planet's Off Grid Pale Ale boasted a higher hop rating from the store I was in than other beers I usually drink. So considering they also boast being a gluten free beer, I was very much intrigued. I bought two, one for myself and one for my mom to see if it satisfied her craving for real beer. Neither of us were disappointed. 

As you can see, the beer is a dark amber color and poured with a nice, cream colored head. The nose was light but fruity with a few malt notes evident across it. The mouth feel was very similar to a regular beer. It wasn't thin like some other gluten free beers I've had. The flavor was what really sold it though. While not identical to beer, it did bear a strong resemblance to beer. It had a hoppy, slightly bitter flavor to it with a strong hop finish. There was a slightly unpleasant aftertaste to it but it wasn't unpalatable. It was on par with a normal beer's finish. So for any one out there looking for a good gluten free beer, I would strongly recommend this one. 

I found it at Half-Time Beverage store in Poughkeepsie, NY. It was $2.59 a bottle which is on the pricey end for beer for them but definitely worth it as an alternative to regular beer for those who can't have. 

Brooklyn Summer Ale

So life got a little crazy these past few months and despite the fact that I tried some wonderful beers, I just didn't have the time to write about them. Things are calming down now so we're going to try to start things up again here.

About a week ago, my sister and I were on our way to get some beer for a party we were going to when we got distracted by a display of this year's summer beers. Among them were several cases of Brooklyn Brewery's Summer Ale which we scrambled to purchase. This is a beer we both enjoy a great deal and look forward to every year.

Brooklyn's Summer Ale is an English style Pale Ale which tends to have more malt notes than its American and Indian counterparts. Brooklyn's holds true to this in the actual flavor of the beer. I put this beer into my standard pint glass and it poured a gold color with a bright white head. The nose of the beer was hoppy and floral with just a hint of fruitiness. The flavor of the beer was surprisingly mild with a good mixture of hop and malt notes. There was a bit of citrus to it as well giving it a very crisp texture. The finish was clean and left you looking for more.

A very solid beer, in my opinion, that is accessible to both people who enjoy and do not enjoy the hoppy IPAs. A great start to summer and I look forward to continuing this blog for awhile to come.

Smuttynose Star Island Single

So for Christmas this year, I asked for fancy beer glasses because I was trying to be a little bit cooler this year. Put the beers I try in the correct type of glass when I try them to give them a proper chance when I review them. The set I picked out was from Spiegelau and my aunt got them for me from Amazon. I got them about a week and a half ago and was very excited to use them. Turns out, the jokes on me and I put this beer in the wrong glass, but alas, I digress.

Last week I had the opportunity to try a beer from Smuttynose Brewing Co., their Star Island Single. This is a Session Ale. I've also seen it listed as a Belgian Pale ale and at first glance, tomato tomato (which works much better when said aloud). However, after a bit of research I discovered that session ales are beers that are very drinkable with an alcohol content that is below 5.0% ABV. This definition disqualifies Star Island Single as a session ale by just a touch as its alcohol content is 5.1% ABV. Almost only counts in horseshoes and hangrenades, after all. The other part of the definition, however, is a beer that is well balanced in both malt and hops making it very drinkable to all parties. In this, Star Island Single succeeded.

This beer, on a whole, was unoffensive. I don't like coriander much as a spice and I could definitely tell coriander was used in this beer so it took away from what could have been a perfectly fine session ale for me. The beer poured a very pale gold color with a bright white head. The new glass I used was the lager glass instead of the tulip glass which was a rookie mistake (I'm sorry). The glass did show off some very nice lacing of the head, which was well retained throughout the beer's duration. The nose was very yeasty with some light floral and citrus notes. The flavor of the beer was very well balanced. It drinks a bit like a pilsner. It was also very yeasty and the coriander notes were evident here in the citrus notes of the beer. The finish was clean, no flavors really lingered.

Sorry for the fuzziness, it didn't look like this on the camera

As we all know, I can take forever to finish a beer. This beer was the same in flavor from start to finish with no remarkable changes as the beer warmed up. Overall, it was a solid beer. I didn't particularly care for it because of the coriander but I think its a very accessible beer otherwise. This beer I bought at Half-Time Beverages of Poughkeepsie. Their address is linked in the location and their website is in the name.