After a long day of spending way too much to keep my poor 10 year old car running and and mowing the dirt-patch I call my lawn, It's now time (at 8:30 PM mind you...)to sit down and relax.
My local Packey has a fairly wide selection of seasonal beers and in addition, they sell a lot of the micro-brews by the bottle. For someone like myself who likes to experiment with a variety of beverages, this place is spectacular. Tonight, I've picked out two beers, and for once, I grabbed them partly because their packaging made them stand out from their competition. I didn't buy these beers particularly for the taste or because I had heard anything about them in any of the beer press. Having been a marketing major in college, I do have a natural tendancy to take into account packaging so today, I'm running a little experiment. Does the beer live up to the extensive work that was put into making the beer even MORE appealing? In addition, I'll be doing a first for Brew n'Music, I'm going to give you an "As it happens" review: from Pop of the cap to the last schwag at the bottom of the glass, you'll get a play by play of my impressions as they happen.
The first beer, I'll actually not be reviewing this week... althought I've heard a LOT about it. "He-brew" is a beer that has gotten a lot of press and next weekend, I'll see if it lives up to the hype. Stay Tuned!
The beer I WILL be reviewing this week is the Arcadia Brewing Company's Hopmouth Double IPA. This is, based on the label made by the "Brew Crew" and is part of their Big Beer Series. We'll see... I'm to assume that the "Double IPA" is simply a result of a LOT of additional hops being added during the brewing process and perhaps dry hopped at a later date. Either way, this should prove to be an interesting challenge.
Packaging: Green label, Celtic Designs and a "hop monster" face adorn the label. Ooooooo! Spooooky! I can only assume this to be the "Hopmouth" monster that the villagers have been grumbling about. I will do my best to vanquish this beast... and perhaps it's brothers and sisters!
Initial Pour: The beer is well carbonated, small bubbles percolate to the surface, making a pleasant, white, however not overly thick head. The head opens in a way I found to be somewhat perculiar... It seemed to spread almost from the center out both up and down instead of growing from the water line up... weird. Color is a dark deep tan/amber and considering that it's an IPA, it seems fairly dark for this type of beer.
Smell: Hop notes are clearly evident, however not overpowering. There's a hint of caramel as well. Interested to see what the first sip brings.
First Taste: Oddly sweet at the first note and then bitterness hits the tongue with a crisp and hoppy freshness. The Hopmouth has a thick mouth-feel without being syrup-like in consistancy.
Second Sip: (no I won't be doing EVERY sip...) Whooo! Put some STANK on it, Ike! My tongue just took a quick whoopin' of hops. If you're a hop head, this is a beer for you. In general, despite its hoppiness, it does have a balance which again, the sweetness makes this a pleasure to drink.
I don't think I can tell you much more about this beer from here. It's a slightly heavy beer. Hoppy bitterness counterbalanced with a sweet grain flavor. Bottom line, it's a good beer. I would say that you should be EXTREMELY ready for the kick this thing's got.
Food Pairings: Hmmmm... Still trying to figure this one out... You could go one of two ways with this. Pair it with something sweet and subtle OR fight BACK with equally strong flavors. Lemon Rosemary Chicken for some reason keeps hitting me as appropriate. There's also a recipe for baked chicken with a brown sugar breading that could hold up well enough to a powerful beer like this. My wife experimented with this recipe the other day and it was top notch. This beer would also be well served against appetizers such as a strong sausage, salami or pepperoni, and a sharp maple cheddar. Long story short; a STRONG beer like this needs strong flavors to match up to it.
Overall impressions of this beer are good. The beer stands up to its packaging and certainly makes good on it's claims of A. Being a "Hop Monster", B. Being a BIG beer and C. CERTAINLY "Goes Big".
If you have a chance, check this one out, you'll not be sorry!
The Arcadia Brewing Company
Battle Creek, MI
www.arcadiabrewingcompany.com
Brew Well, Be well,
-Rob Anderson
Next week: He-brew!
Showing posts with label Breweries. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Breweries. Show all posts
Saturday, May 9, 2009
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Wachussadisappointment
Well Ale-merica... I'm filled with a nagging sense of "Meh...". I want to start out by saying that it honestly pains me to write this post. However, I've been underwhelmed by my first beer (or in this case beers) since starting this blog. I think I'm even more dissappointed since the brewery is generally a hometown favorite of mine. It's not that they're bad beers, I think I just expected more from them. Dear God, I really AM turning into my parents!!
The Wachusett(pronounced like it is spelled Wah-Chu-Set)Brewing Company like I said generally puts out some tasty beers. The Blueberry Ale and the Black Shack Porter are two of my personal faves and I'd definitely put the Blueberry in particular in my top 25. However, over the past two weeks, I've had some of their other inventions which frankly, in my opinion fell a bit flat.
I bought Wachusett Nut Brown Ale when visiting a friend, selfishly of course wanting to try one myself! I was excited I hadn't seen a new Wachusett beer in my local liquor store also known as a "packey" here in MA, in a VERY long time. The Nut Brown Ale was not a bad beer, it just wasn't what I was expecting. I have high expectations based on my previous encounters with the WBC. Drinking this was sort of like picking up a glass of water only to find out all to late that it's really filled with rum. Not unwelcome, just not what you were looking for and certainly not what you were looking for to slake your thirst. The almost $10 I THOUGHT was worth it considering the quality I had come to rely on. Sadly, I feel that it was grossly overpriced. The body was somewhat watery, the taste was somewhat flat and lacking in both Maltiness and Hoppiness. Again, not a truly terrible beer, but certainly not worth the $10 a six-pack price tag. Perhaps the theft of their extremely expensive brass overflow a few years ago or the recent hop crisis has hit them harder than I thought, but let's all be frank... dropping a Hamilton for 6 beers is a bit steep even for the Commonwealth...
Now undeterred, I thought to myself, "this is a fluke, This is Wachusett we're talking about! Hometown heros, farm freshness, pride of the Nashoba Valley area! Surely this HAS to be a one time event." So this Friday, while hanging out and watching the Sox with my Dad in "The Pub" aka "Jack Sheehan's Pub" aka my parent's basement (it's a lot cooler than it sounds... Pool table, several flat screens and one in the bathroom... saaweeet.), I decided to grab a beer. My parents, living in close proximity to the brewery seem to always have a 6er of one of the Wachusett beers on hand. The Green Monsta Ale is what is currently on deck at at Jack Sheehan's. This beer gets its namesake clearly from a colorful play on our lack of ability to pronounce the letter "R" here in MA. It's an efficiency of language thing and closest to the King's English I'll have you know...At least that's what the History Channel said... TV's never lied to me before! So as far as cleverness in marketing, kudos. The beer is not terrible. However, the Monsta was not exactly 40 ft tall certainly not crushing the denizens of downtown Tokyo, much less greater Boston... The Monsta failed to wow me and I felt did not perform as I felt it should. I expected a hoppy IPA-ish beer and I was met with a beer that had an initial flavor of light malt, a bit of a grainy mouth and then a finish that tasted, honestly, like grass. While I was reminded of Fenway... I don't think I've ever had a yen to EAT the outfield! The flavors beyond freshly mowed sod were a bit flat and I surprised even myself by not finishing the beer.
Look... I know that they're not all going to be winners and that perhaps my palate differs from everyone elses. I'm still going to enjoy my faves from the WBC... and like the Red Sox, it's exciting when you win and it's disappointing to watch a loss, but I'll stick by ya regardless. Best of luck Wachusett. Despite these experiences I've loved other beers you put out and am honestly looking forward to trying whatever you've got coming down the pike.
Visit the Wachusett Brewery at:
http://www.wachusettbrew.com
The Wachusett(pronounced like it is spelled Wah-Chu-Set)Brewing Company like I said generally puts out some tasty beers. The Blueberry Ale and the Black Shack Porter are two of my personal faves and I'd definitely put the Blueberry in particular in my top 25. However, over the past two weeks, I've had some of their other inventions which frankly, in my opinion fell a bit flat.
I bought Wachusett Nut Brown Ale when visiting a friend, selfishly of course wanting to try one myself! I was excited I hadn't seen a new Wachusett beer in my local liquor store also known as a "packey" here in MA, in a VERY long time. The Nut Brown Ale was not a bad beer, it just wasn't what I was expecting. I have high expectations based on my previous encounters with the WBC. Drinking this was sort of like picking up a glass of water only to find out all to late that it's really filled with rum. Not unwelcome, just not what you were looking for and certainly not what you were looking for to slake your thirst. The almost $10 I THOUGHT was worth it considering the quality I had come to rely on. Sadly, I feel that it was grossly overpriced. The body was somewhat watery, the taste was somewhat flat and lacking in both Maltiness and Hoppiness. Again, not a truly terrible beer, but certainly not worth the $10 a six-pack price tag. Perhaps the theft of their extremely expensive brass overflow a few years ago or the recent hop crisis has hit them harder than I thought, but let's all be frank... dropping a Hamilton for 6 beers is a bit steep even for the Commonwealth...
Now undeterred, I thought to myself, "this is a fluke, This is Wachusett we're talking about! Hometown heros, farm freshness, pride of the Nashoba Valley area! Surely this HAS to be a one time event." So this Friday, while hanging out and watching the Sox with my Dad in "The Pub" aka "Jack Sheehan's Pub" aka my parent's basement (it's a lot cooler than it sounds... Pool table, several flat screens and one in the bathroom... saaweeet.), I decided to grab a beer. My parents, living in close proximity to the brewery seem to always have a 6er of one of the Wachusett beers on hand. The Green Monsta Ale is what is currently on deck at at Jack Sheehan's. This beer gets its namesake clearly from a colorful play on our lack of ability to pronounce the letter "R" here in MA. It's an efficiency of language thing and closest to the King's English I'll have you know...At least that's what the History Channel said... TV's never lied to me before! So as far as cleverness in marketing, kudos. The beer is not terrible. However, the Monsta was not exactly 40 ft tall certainly not crushing the denizens of downtown Tokyo, much less greater Boston... The Monsta failed to wow me and I felt did not perform as I felt it should. I expected a hoppy IPA-ish beer and I was met with a beer that had an initial flavor of light malt, a bit of a grainy mouth and then a finish that tasted, honestly, like grass. While I was reminded of Fenway... I don't think I've ever had a yen to EAT the outfield! The flavors beyond freshly mowed sod were a bit flat and I surprised even myself by not finishing the beer.
Look... I know that they're not all going to be winners and that perhaps my palate differs from everyone elses. I'm still going to enjoy my faves from the WBC... and like the Red Sox, it's exciting when you win and it's disappointing to watch a loss, but I'll stick by ya regardless. Best of luck Wachusett. Despite these experiences I've loved other beers you put out and am honestly looking forward to trying whatever you've got coming down the pike.
Visit the Wachusett Brewery at:
http://www.wachusettbrew.com
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