A few updates...

Since my last review (which was back in...JULY?!?  I really need to update this thing more), I've got a couple of updates for you.

The first thing I want to mention is that my good friends at Upstate Brewing Co. have finally found a home for their microbrewery and we can expect to see their fine beers commercially available early next year.  I've been following these guys since I first discovered their website earlier this year and it's fantastic to see their plans coming together.  These guys are particularly notable for their Common Sense Ale, which is a revival of the old Kentucky Common style popular in pre-Prohibition days.  Looking forward to trying it!

I've also gone through a whole batch of homebrewed British bitter (with a little help from my #1 fan and some friends), which was good but a little on the hoppy side for my liking.  The instructions said to dry-hop - this may have been the cause.  I have a second batch of Belgian ale (The Muscles from Brussels, Mk II) - this time I halved the bittering hops and used Wyeast 1214 (Belgian Abbey) to ferment, it worked out pretty well!  I'll have a full post on that soon.  I'm also bottle-conditioning my Winter Spiced Ale, in 22oz bottles.  that should be ready just in time for Christmas.

All in all, it's been a busy, beerful few months!  Watch this space, Upstate Brews is coming back...

Sacketts Harbor Brewing Co - War of 1812 Amber Ale

When I think of the War of 1812, as a miseducated Brit, the first image that comes to my mind is not the Revolutionary War, but the Napoleonic invasion of Russia which inspired Tchaikovsky's overture.  I actually had no idea that anything particularly noteworthy happened this side of the pond in that year until I took a graduate course in history a short while ago.  That raised a few eyebrows among my more patriotically-minded classmates, I can tell you...

So, please believe me when I say that I hold no prejudices regarding tonight's featured beverage on account of its name - to me, 1812 is all about a bunch of garlic-wearing frog-leg eaters being royally kicked in the arse by a hardy people who inexplicably choose to live in a climate where you can buy milk in frozen blocks and store it on your front porch.  The Anglo-American War of 1812 is such a humiliating chapter in British history that it's conveniently skipped over by our embarrassed educators.  A lot of Brits still talk as if America's some kind of socially-backward colony - a behaviour which, in my estimation and experience, masks a deep-seated jealousy of the pride of place America still holds in world affairs and which was once held by the British Empire.  Limeys are generally sore losers.

But speaking for myself?  Like I said, in my mind 1812 is all about cossack-dancers.

Sacketts Harbor Brewing Co are based, unpredictably enough, in Sacketts Harbor, NY.  I've been in their general vicinity - it's right in the middle of the Thousand Island region, about halfway between Rochester and Montreal.  As far as I can tell, they make 3 varieties - 1812 Amber, 1812 Light and Thousand Islands.  I first tried 1812 Amber a couple of years back at the Scotch 'n' Sirloin in Brighton, and remember quite enjoying it.  So I was looking forward to reviewing it for the blog - oh boy, how poorly my memory sometimes serves me...

1812 Amber Ale pours a light amber, with a good white head - not too massive but it's there.  There's moderate carbonation, and the brew has a good clarity.  So far, so good.  Right?

It's when you get to the aroma that things get a bit nasty.  There are some strong phenols, banana-like but verging on the plasticky.  There's a sweet, toffee-like quality, and it's also slightly malty, hops are very restrained.  There's an off-flavour though, and the aroma is a bit artificial.

The flavour starts off pleasantly enough - there's a sweet malt to it which isn't bad.  But then you taste the same banana-ey phenols and there's also a buttery quality, which I think is excessive diacetyl.  It's like an attempt at an English bitter, but something's missing - the diacetyl is too strong and there's not actually enough of a genuine malty backbone to give it the rich quality of an English style.

The body is extremely light, considering the style, and there's low-moderate carbonation.  Not much to be said for the mouthfeel, to be honest.

Overall, it's a disappointing effort - I'm not sure what style they were going for.  It's certainly not an American Amber, the diacetyl is over the top, the plasticky, artificial quality in the aroma is unpleasant and my final impression is that it's a poorly-made attempt at an English bitter.  There are far, far better brews on offer in the Upstate region - none of which make me think of Napoleon, borscht or cultural humiliation.

Here are my scores, such as they are:-

Appearance - 3/5
Aroma - 1/5
Taste - 2/5
Mouthfeel - 1.5/5

Overall - 1.875.  Frankly, a bit of an embarrassment to the incredible craft beer scene we have in our area.

Custom Brewcrafters - Signature Series Mabel

I went to Custom Brewcrafters for my birthday a couple of weeks ago, with some family and friends.  It's an awesome place - with 20-odd craft beers on tap, what beer enthusiast wouldn't be happy as a sandboy there?  They also offer free brewery tours, and your $6 tasting ticket includes a free tasting glass to keep, and a $2 rebate if you decide to buy a growler from them.  They also have a pretty decent kitchen serving a limited menu which changes weekly.  

I was intrigued to see a case of cigars on the bar - I was very tempted to don my plummiest English persona, buy some Cubans, pull out my bow tie and tweed jacket, and retire to the drawing room with the men of our party to discuss the stock market.  

I soon realised this wouldn't work - I don't have a bow tie or tweed jacket currently, my apartment doesn't have anything resembling a drawing room, the stock market is about as interesting to me as a bottle of MGD 64, and frankly I have never even smoked a cigar before...oh well, it was a great plan for the two minutes I contemplated it.  

Then again, who needs cigars when you have genuine smoked beer available to you?

Allow me to introduce Mabel, a self-professed 'Imperial Breakfast Beer' from CB's Signature Series (a collection of limited-edition, high-end beers).  It's a strong, fairly dark smoked beer with a malty backbone and some rich, complex flavours which will keep you coming back for more, even with an ABV of 10%.  It's brewed with maple syrup from Mendon and smoked malts from Germany and Scotland.  

Mabel pours a deep copper with ruby hues (the photo doesn't do it justice) and a very good clarity.  Moderate carbonation is evident.  There's a small, off-white head, which is just fine with me - if you agitate the beer a bigger head will develop, but with a beer this strong you don't want or need a massive head.

Smoky malts and a strong, clean alcohol scent hit your nose with the first sniff.  There's even a touch of smoky Scotch whiskey about it - probably from the peat-smoked malt.  The maple is detectable underneath as a sweet note to the aroma.  

You can definitely taste the maple syrup - it's not exactly sweet but it comes through nicely.  The smoked malts dominate the flavour and that's what makes this beer so deliciously different - smoke adds so many layers of complexity to the flavour.  The finish is fairly dry, although I detected some sweet notes from the maple syrup and the smoked malts linger strongly.

The beer has a medium-full body, with a nice smooth feel, there's a fair amount of carbonation but the high alcohol content softens that, especially as the beer warms from the fridge (carbonation definitely felt higher when it was colder).  The alcohol also imparts a nice warmth that sits pleasantly on the palate.  

Overall, it's a damn fine brew.  The brewer's notes say that Mabel means 'lovable' - it's easy to see why they came up with this name for the beer, because it's a brew which will get under your skin and leave you wanting more.  Here are my scores:

Appearance - 4.5/5

Aroma - 4/5

Taste - 4/5

Mouthfeel - 3.5/5

Overall - 4/5.  I'm not sure whether I should recommend this as 'breakfast beer'!  But I can see this going down an absolute treat with bacon or BBQ, a perfect complement to those cured and smoky meats that we all know and love so well.  Thoroughly enjoyable and well worth a hunt to find it.

Upstate Brews Goes Downstate! Brooklyn Brewery - Local 2

Tonight, I'm defying convention in so many ways.  While Upstate Brews generally only covers beers from breweries in NY state but outside the NYC metro area, I reserve the right to occasionally bend this rule a bit.  Not least because tonight's ale is made by Brooklyn Brewery, a wonderful group of folks based in the Williamsburg neighbourhood of Brooklyn.  This part of New York has attracted a lot of artists, musicians, writers, foodies and general all-round awesome people who, like me, laugh in the face of strict self-imposed rules.

I'm also defying convention in that I've been given two brews: Local 1 and Local 2.  I'd normally go in numerical order (I'm a bit OCD like that) and review Local 1 first.  Thing is, Local 2 declared itself to be 'brewed with citrus peel and honey', and tonight that just sounded too good to pass up.  I'll review Local 1 very soon.

Speaking of defying convention, Brooklyn Brewery were also, in 2003, the first company in New York City to switch to 100% wind-powered electricity.  A microbrewery in the middle of one of the most fashionable areas of the Big Apple, with a commitment to environmental consciousness too!  This is starting to look really interesting...

The first thing I noticed about both of these beers that the labels stated the beer is '100% bottle re-fermented'.  Their website goes further, stating that bottle re-fermenting is 'now rare even in Europe'.  Not entirely sure what they mean by that - do they just mean it's bottle-conditioned?  Hardly rare by any means.  I tried to look around some of the online homebrewing sites I frequent, but none of them could help - I may just have to contact the brewery directly to see what this mysterious technique involves.

The ale, a Belgian Strong Dark Ale, pours a deep copper, with a thick and creamy off-white head - good retention, good lacing too.  It was slightly hazy, with high carbonation evident.

The initial aroma was a slightly bready malt, with some citrus and fruity esters detectable and the honey is fairly prominent - it's a sweet aroma of the kind you'd usually associate with Belgian beers.  That being said, you can also detect a fair amount of slightly spicy alcohol in the aroma too.  There's little to no hop aroma detectable.

When I took the first sip, a prominent alcoholic warmth is the first thing I noticed (this baby packs a 9.0% ABV punch!), and then some plum and raisin esters which make for a rich, fruity taste.  It's a complex but thoroughly pleasant and drinkable ale.  Bitterness is at a minimum, though there's some slightly bitter hop flavour in the finish.  In the aftertaste you also pick up prominent malts and there's a medium-sweet impression overall.

Mouthfeel is medium-full bodied, and there's fairly high carbonation but the alcohol smooths out a lot of the effervescence.

A great, strong, fruity Belgian Dark.  Because the ABV was so high, I've only had half of the 25oz bottle - I will thoroughly enjoy the rest over the Independence Day weekend!  It's a lot like the Trappist and Abbey ales I tried as an undergrad at UK beer festivals - I'm pleasantly surprised that they captured the style so well.  So here are my scores:

Appearance - 4.5/5
Aroma - 4.5/5
Taste - 4.5/5
Mouthfeel - 4.5/5

Overall - 4.5.  I love Belgian styles, and this is a fantastic example.  I'll be interested to see how this compares to Ommegang (Upstate's official Belgian brewery), but Brooklyn have set the bar pretty high with this one.

Southern Tier Brewing Co - Raspberry Wheat

Ah, fruit beer - I've tried and reviewed a couple of examples of this style recently, and they've all, without exception, been very refreshing and simple beers.  The kind of drink that goes just brilliantly with a light riverside meal or picnic on a balmy summer's day such as we've been experiencing (a bit more sporadically than I'd have hoped) recently.  The kind of beer which, for some inexplicable reason, often gets labelled as a 'malt beverage' rather than a true beer, as if it were some kind of processed, manufactured alco-pop - a really unfair label, as these beers are just as worthy of the name as the IPAs or stouts which connoisseurs are more inclined to praise.

I guess there's understandable reluctance on the part of some hop-heads to fully accept fruit beer - generally these styles are very low in IBUs, so any hop aroma is usually very restrained, and hop bitterness is at a minimum in order to let the fruit flavour through.  But really, I say there's nothing wrong with a well-crafted, uncomplicated fruit beer to celebrate the season.  Particularly when they're as well-made as the ones we have on offer in Upstate.

Tonight's example comes from Southern Tier - I've already reviewed a couple of their beers and have been very impressed with both.  So here's hoping this one is true to form!  Oh, and by the way, the glass in the photo is my commemorative sample glass from the Real Beer Expo.  It's a much better glass than the ones I've been using (yes, the kind of glass you use really does make a difference!).

This brew pours a light, straw colour, with low to moderate carbonation.  Although you can't really see it in the photo, it had a good-sized white head with decent lacing (poor retention, though I'm not going to hold that against them too much).  It's brilliantly clear, with no haze that I could see.

The aroma features prominent, tart and fruity raspberries, with some faint hops detectable underneath.  It's great when a fruit beer smells of the real fruit rather than an artificial syrup.

It tastes a little sweet, with the raspberry featuring prominently and sitting at the back of your mouth.  It's got that lovely sweet and tart combination which I always love about summer fruits.  There's also a very mild hop bitterness detectable in the taste, which complements the fruit nicely and doesn't clash.  It's almost as if it's there to gently remind you that you're drinking a real beer.

The mouthfeel's smooth with a fairly low carbonation level, possibly a little low for the American Wheat style.  The body's pretty light, just as it should be for a summery fruit beer.  The finish is slightly sweet but not cloying.

A really nice fruit beer with some subtle hoppy touches.  Here are my scores:

Appearance - 4.5/5
Aroma - 3.5/5
Taste - 4/5
Mouthfeel - 3.5/5

Overall - 3.875/5.  It's a really great summer brew, perfect for the hot summer days ahead.  The balance of hops and fruit was particularly unusual - in the best way possible.

An invitation to Nathan Berrong

Yesterday, Nathan Berrong of CNN posted an article where he extolled the virtues of West Coast beer.  It's caused a bit of a stir in the blogosphere because he states 'there's no debating that the best region for beer in the United States is the Pacific or West Coast region.'

No debating, huh?  Well, if that's the case, he clearly sparked some kind of non-debating argumentative social discourse, because there are currently 618 comments (and counting) on the article, many of which express very sharp disagreement with Mr. Berrong's bold assertion.  

I think that he's rather missing the point of craft beer - in his opening paragraphs he only mentions the hop-heavy IPA and Pale Ale styles as if they're the epitome of beercraft.  Not so, say I!  Bucketloads of hops do not a Great Beer make.  Here in Upstate alone, we've got awesome breweries making fantastic examples of a broad range of styles, some of them aggressively hopped (like CB's Caged Alpha Monkey, or the IPAs made by the lads at Three Heads Brewing), others not so much, because they realise how to use them appropriately!  The base ingredient of beer, believe it or not, isn't hops, it's malted barley; hops are added to balance the sweetness of the base malts.

So, Mr. Berrong, I'd like to issue you an invitation: come to Upstate New York, and I'll personally guide you on a tour of the fabulous breweries and brewpubs we have here.  I'll show you how our moderate, mid-European climate creates a fantastic environment for growing hops, barley and adjunct grains.  Please, see how it compares to the West Coast, and I think you'll find that Upstate Brews are some of the finest you'll find in the country.  

Three Heads Brewing - Blimey English-Style Pale Ale

One of the neatest things about being a Brit in Upstate NY is that you get to critique the attempts that people make at imitating your own accent and culture.  From Renaissance festivals to Cockney reptiles selling insurance to those God-awful accents that well-meaning Hollywood actors put on, there's plenty of opportunity for a proud Englishman to smirk at the Yankee perception of his way of life.  I also thoroughly enjoy it when locals refer to me as 'that Australian guy'...oh my, oh my.

When it comes to beer, however, Upstate practices the sincerest form of flattery by emulating very closely a lot of the great British beer styles I've known and loved.  Frankly, you're probably better off getting an Upstate-brewed British-style beer than an import, because English ale doesn't travel well, even when bottled.  More than once I've bought a bottle of a well-loved British ale, only to find that it tastes skunky, or stale.  So I've been exploring some of the local ale offerings, and I'll be jiggered if they're not a damn fine impersonation of British Best.

Tonight's review is of Three Heads Brewing's Blimey, a cheekily-named Extra Special Bitter which boasts a respectable 6.0% ABV and whose label shows a stereotypically buck-toothed Queen's Guard with an old-fashioned London Routemaster bus in the background (this got me all nostalgic, because you rarely see those buses in the city these days).  I couldn't help but raise a smile at the picture - though I hasten to add, I pride myself on having the most un-British teeth imaginable.  My wife will back me up on that.

The beer pours a light copper, with a slight head and low-moderate carbonation.  It's very clear, which shows it's been filtered well.

Bready malts dominate the aroma, with a balance of mild UK hops.  There's a slight alcoholic warmth that hits your nose, and very low fruit esters are detectable.

When I first tasted it, it was fresh from the fridge (I should have really known better - British styles are usually best served at around 54-58 degrees Fahrenheit).  Served from the fridge, it had an aggressive hop bitterness which clashed with the malty aroma.  As I let it warm slightly, however, the malt had more of a chance to show itself over the hoppy bitterness.  The bitterness remains fairly strong, as one would expect (this brew has 60 IBUs).  Served on cask at cellar temperature, I can imagine this beer comparing very favourably with UK standards like London Pride.  There's a slight toasty quality to the aftertaste, which is subtle and quite pleasant.

As far as mouthfeel's concerned, there's a low level of carbonation, and a medium body.  The brew finishes fairly clean and dry with some bitterness.

It's a great beer, and I like it a lot.  So here are my scores:

Appearance - 4.5/5
Aroma - 4/5
Taste - 4/5
Mouthfeel - 3.5/5

Overall - 4/5.  Great strong British ale.