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The Boston Beer Company, Boston, MA
Blackberry Witbier

As Samuel Adams has increased in popularity, the Boston Beer Company has been forced to increase production to keep up with demand and they’ve been forced to introduce new flavors to try to grab more market share. As the “largest microbrew”, they unfortunately occupy an unenviable position because their older beers are wonderfully drinkable, yet somewhat pedestrian compared to the more adventurous or exotic micros, while most of their newest beers are contrived rubbish. The Blackberry Witbier is one of those contrived rubbish beers. Supposedly of the “Brewmaster’s Collection”, it is a “wheat ale brewed with blackberries and spices and natural flavor added” and uses Marion blackberries for Oregon. Yes, all this information was culled from the label of the bottle – I refuse to expend any more energy researching this beer. True, in the glass, it has a very deep and inviting copper color with a subtle purple-ish tint, but the head is very thin and of an eggshell white. There is a pleasant aroma of berries and yeast. And it goes downhill from there. The flavor is that of a thin wheat beer with a gentle berry flavor, slightly sweet yet without any real definition or character. Generally speaking, the flavor is very thin with a very thin body and some light bitterness on the aftertaste, but not much else. It is somewhat crisp, but overall has very little character similar to that of average, mass-produced crap. This is certainly a “boutique, craft beer” in name only; far worse than regular Sam Adams Boston Lager and reminiscent of Sam Adams’ other poor efforts, like their Cherry Wheat and Cranberry Lambic. It is sad to think that this beer, despite all the apparent effort to refine and brew this recipe, really is a waste of time and energy, and will probably meet an early demise. Then again, there still are some people who like disco.

M!dd13m4n’s rating – 2.5 Pints

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Tröegs Brewing Company, Harrisburg, PA
Nugget Nectar Imperial Amber Ale

It has been a while since I’ve reviewed anything by Tröegs, so this is a fine opportunity to rekindle my affection for this “independent craft brewery”. As I have said in the review for their IPA, they produce some of my most favorite beers (Tröegenator, anyone?), and this one is no exception. Pour a bottle of Nugget Nectar into your glass and you will be greeted by a deep copper color and a billowy thick, ivory-colored head. A subtle yeasty aroma will tickle your nose inviting you to the first taste. The first impression upon tasting this beer is that it is quite heavily hopped. The nearly over-the-top floral / citrus hop flavor is powerful, although it is not too bitter. Helping to subdue the bitterness while enhancing the rounded hoppiness is the thick, rich, creamy body, which seems to envelope your tongue in sensory near-overload. This is possibly one of the most perfectly balanced beers – there’s not one “clinker” in the flavor notes. Although there is some bitterness in the aftertaste, the bitterness never becomes cloying or distracting. I guess it could be said that this is a bit of a one-trick pony in that the perfectly balanced hoppiness drowns out most everything else, yet still maintains remarkable balance. That balance is rarely found in other beers, with hoppiness usually accompanied by harsh astringency. I can easily knock back 4 or 5 of these with a balanced flavor like that. Although with an ABV of 7.5%, after 4 or 5 beers in close chronological proximity, I find I have significant trouble balancing. Lucky for me, I am not a beer.

M!dd13m4n’s rating – 4.5 Pints

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Dark Horse Brewing Company, Marshall, MI
Crooked Tree IPA

I picked up this beer solely on the strength of Dark Horse’s Black Bier Ale. As the second beer from Dark Horse Brewery that I’ve sampled, I’m seeing a distinct pattern forming – they do good work. This is not a super premium IPA, and it doesn’t really separate itself much from the pack of all the other IPAs out there. It is an average IPA, but in light of it all, it is still quite good, and on par with, for example, Great Lakes Brewery’s Commodore Perry IPA. In the glass, it has a deep, rich amber color with a slightly reddish tint to it. There is a marginal head which tastes slightly creamy. There is an interesting floral-clove aroma, and those are punctuated by the citrus and grapefruit flavors that instantly meet your tongue. I’ve also detected some light grass and apple flavors lingering in the background. It is also very nicely balanced. There is some mild, milky bitterness on the aftertaste, but nothing that will drive you screaming from you bar stool. Finally, the 6% ABV is a bit lower than the other high-octane IPAs, so you can easily knock back a couple without worrying about walking into, or becoming, a crooked tree.

M!dd13m4n’s rating – 4 Pints

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Dark Horse Brewing Company, Marshall, MI
Reserve Special Black Bier Ale

From the instant this one hit my pint glass, I knew I was in for something different. Categorized as a black ale, this one does not fit the clear-cut characteristics of a stout or a porter. It is dark, oh yes, dark in the glass. It is an opaque black, much like motor oil. There is minimal head, and what little head is there is of the color of caramel. Upon first approach, there is an aroma of light caramel, vanilla, and roasted coffee. The flavor does not disappoint, either, because it mostly tastes like it smells. The flavor is big – very big – and is truly similar to a porter, but not as sweet as the average porter. It is crisp and dry, but very smooth and mostly balanced, with a deep, roasted flavor. As the glass got warm, there was a pinch of over-roasted bitterness, but for the most part, that stayed in check. Also appearing, and this may have been a fantasy, were some very subtle floral notes in the flavor that were mostly drowned out by the roastiness, but poked out here and there. There is a slight amount of hop bite on the back of the tongue and a little bitter-vanilla aftertaste, but nothing that distracts from the overall experience. All in all, this beer tastes like a chilly, overcast autumn day, with a mountain of leaves on the ground and stiff gusts of wind occasionally swirling the leaves, and the first wood fire of the season blazing in the fireplace. Time to curl up on the sofa with a couple of these Black Bier Ales and a good book. Oh, yeah, and with the 7.5% ABV, I won’t be cold for very long.

M!dd13m4n’s rating – 4 Pints

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Redhook Ale Brewery, Woodinville, WA and Portsmouth, NH
Longhammer IPA Cask with citra hops, Double Black Stout, and Blackhook Nitrogenated Porter draft ales

There is an air of exclusivity to drinking beer at a brewery or brew pub. You can know for certain that the beer you’re drinking is the freshest it could possibly be, sometimes a few days old up to being in the keg only a couple of weeks, and we all know that fresh beer tastes far better than old beer. Secondly, in many cases, the beer you are drinking, especially in smaller brew pubs, is only available there, as if they made it just for you. Are there any better reasons to like brew pubs? I didn’t think so.

A recent trip to New Hampshire allowed me some time to visit the Redhook Ale Brewery in Portsmouth, NH. For those of you not in the know, Redhook started life in Washington state. After several years of increasing success, they opened a second brewery in New Hampshire. Having breweries on both coasts allowed them to increase their distribution significantly. Originally, their flagship beer was the ESB, until their Longhammer IPA (formerly just known as the Redhook IPA) took over as their best seller. Despite that, they have several other excellent beers, including the Blackhook porter, Copperhook, and SunRye. Keep in mind, I was really looking forward to visiting Redhook Brewery, and by the end, I was rather drunk – thus the reviews are a bit short.

Longhammer IPA Cask Ale with citra hops
This hand-pulled cask ale version of their best-selling Longhammer IPA is perfection captured in a glass. It has the fullest possible flavor without being unbalanced or overwhelming. It has a light aroma of fruit and yeast. It was served at the perfect temperature, about 55 to 60 degrees, and was almost flat with a creamy, velvety smooth body. Flavors of apple and grass mingle in and out of the hoppy, lightly citrusy IPA.
M!dd13m4n’s rating – 5 Pints

Double Black Stout
This stout is very similar in flavor and character to Lagunitas Cappucino Stout, complete with deep coffee flavor. The beer in the glass is completely black and opaque. This one is also very creamy, but not nitrogenated, as your typical dry stouts. Thankfully, this one is not very high in alcohol. As for flavor, there is very little hop bite to interrupt the very chocolaty, deeply roasted coffee flavor.
M!dd13m4n’s rating – 4 Pints

Blackhook Nitrogenated Porter
By the time I got around to the Blackhook, I was feeling pretty good. Two pints of cask Longhammer and then a pint of the Double Black Stout started to have a serious effect. Despite that, I was really looking forward to this one. The nitrogenated Blackhook can be described with only one word: wow! Much like a typical dry stout, this is a nitrogenated porter, so it is very creamy and almost flat in the glass. But that helps make the beer oh-so-smooth, oh-so-good, and oh-so-drinkable. Just like the Double Black Stout, there’s very little bitterness and a wonderfully sweet, chocolaty flavor. I may have been somewhat drunk, but this is simply the best dark beer that I have ever had. It is a bit of a shame, though – rumor has it that Redhook has decided to stop brewing it. Hopefully, they will reconsider.
M!dd13m4n’s rating – 5 Pints

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Portsmouth Brewery, Portsmouth, NH
Dirty Blonde Ale, Bottle Rocket IPA, and Black Cat Stout draft ales

There is an air of exclusivity to drinking beer at a brewery or brew pub. You can know for certain that the beer you’re drinking is the freshest it could possibly be, sometimes a few days old up to being in the keg only a couple of weeks, and we all know that fresh beer tastes far better than old beer. Secondly, in many cases, the beer you are drinking, especially in smaller brew pubs, is only available there, as if they made it just for you. Are there any better reasons to like brew pubs? I didn’t think so.

A recent trip to New Hampshire allowed me some time to visit the Portsmouth Brewery in Portsmouth, NH. For those of you not in the know, Portsmouth Brewery is the sister brewery to Smuttynose. Smuttynose bottles their offerings. Portsmouth just pours them down your throat. Not that there’s anything wrong with THAT! Plus, these beers were only $4.25 a pint – not bad for a quality microbrew. These folks have been one of my favorites for a long time.

Dirty Blonde Ale
Any good beer drinker will tell you that you must start with the lighter beers and work towards the darker beers. Thus, I started with the Dirty Blonde, a light ale that is almost medium amber in color, or in my dialect, “slightly darker than the average cat-piss yellow pilsner”. It is also somewhat hazy. It was presented with minimal head – a bummer for a beer with a name like “Dirty Blonde”, eh? There’s a fruity aroma, something on the order of apple and/or cherry. The flavor is very grainy, with strong wheat notes and some subtle hints of fruitiness, like cherry and plum. There’s also some spicy hop notes in the flavor pallet, too – almost a black pepper zing. This is a very crisp beer, with just a hint of bitterness. Yes, very crisp, very un-velvety, and very un-smooth. Finally, the flavors tail off to a soapy, slightly bitter, grainy / grassy aftertaste. This is a drinkable beer – good, but really unrefined… like your average dirty blonde. But I’m sure no blonde anywhere goes down this easily.
M!dd13m4n’s rating – 3.5 Pints

Bottle Rocket IPA
The second beer of the night, the Bottle Rocket IPA, appeared at my table. It looked very promising in the glass, with almost no head at all. It also beckoned with a lightly fruity, yeasty aroma. This one is similar in color to the Dirty Blonde, but slightly darker, and somewhat cloudy. I guess you could say that this is a true medium amber color. And then the first taste dashed all hopes of anything. I was struck – yes, STRUCK – immediately by the very bitter grapefruit flavor. YIKES! There was some roastiness, if you searched for it, but most every other flavor was drowned out by the astringency and bitterness. The flavors hit you square on and then everything just drops off quickly. The one word that comes to mind is “unbalanced”. There was some light aftertaste notes of apple and lemon, but who is going to wait that long for some interesting flavor cues? Because of the general lack of character and balance, I must admit I cruised through this beer and didn’t take many notes on the flavor. And typically, IPAs tend to be somewhat smooth in their overall delivery… Not so much with this one. This one really made me want to shoot my mouth off, but not in a good way… perhaps that’s the story behind the name.
M!dd13m4n’s rating – 2 Pints

Black Cat Stout
The whole time at Portsmouth, I was looking forward to this beer. I know this one well, and this was like getting reacquainted with an old friend. The Black Cat is a nitrogenated stout, much like Guinness, and it was presented to me with a healthy half-inch head. It has a very light, milk-like aroma, and is also completely opaque black. You are immediately greeted by a bitterness that bites on both sides of your mouth while the roasted goodness molests the middle of your tongue. The flavor is a deep, bittersweet chocolate-like roastiness with some mild alcoholic astringency. The best part of this beer is the very creamy, smooth, velvety mouth-feel. The chocolatiness also lingers in the back of your throat for a good long while. This is certainly the perfect beer for dessert since it is very creamy, gently sweet, and completely satisfying. Overall, the flavor is a bit rough and grainy, but it is also dark and mysterious, and silky and purposeful. Just like a Black Cat.
M!dd13m4n’s rating – 4 Pints

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