Beer #153 - Coal Porter, Atlantic Brewing Company, Bar Harbor Maine

You gotta love it when you can match your glassware to your beer! Our next beer, a porter, comes from the East Coast - Bar Harbor, where a dark drink is necessary on those stormy coastal nights! Let's give it a try!

It pours opaque with a thin tight head.

The aroma is nut malt with mild chocolate tones. There is a very mild sweetness.

The initial taste is nut malt, but the chocolate tones quickly take over. It has a medium body and is fairly rich, though it finishes fairly clean. Vanilla builds while drinking, but the bitterness from hops and the nuttiness of the malt keep it from gaining too much sweetness.

The aftertaste is mildly hoppy, but mostly malt and vanilla - the palate clears quickly.

It's hard to get ahold of, but a nice porter to enjoy if you get it...and you gotta love the name!

Cheers!

Blue Finn Stout, Shipyard Brewing, Portland Maine

Happy 4th of July! Well I'm sure we'll all be out there enjoying our BBQ's and there are plenty of great beers to enjoy with them - The Terminal Gravity ESB, Spring Reign from Ninkasi, Shine Bock, Hop Stoopid from Lagunitas, Independence Hop Ale from Rogue and sooooo many more! Me, I'm going to use this holiday to kick off my "Christmas in July" tasting. Although I am still trying to catch up from May and June's beer tasting adventures which will be interspersed throughout the month, I will use July to taste some of the Barleywines and stouts that I held on reserve... Let's start it off with the Blue Finn Stout from Shipyard. Located in the "other" Portland (Maine) it is available throughout the Northeast in 12oz & 22oz bottles...

It pours opaque with a big caramel colored head.

The aroma is deep chocolate and roasty malt.

It has a big full body with chocolate and sticky mildly smoky notes at the end. Hop bitterness builds near the finish and keeps it lively on the palate. This also helps it from getting too sticky at the end.

The aftertaste is roasty chocolate and malt that hangs around, but again, doesn't get overwhelming.

So you may wonder why you'd want to enjoy a sticky heavy stout or barleywine under these beautiful summer skies? Well, wait until the sun goes down, the stars make their best attempt to shine through the haze of the city or blaze in the country skies. Sit back and sip on one of these upcoming beers and like enjoying a fine bourbon or cognac, take the time to contemplate the complex notes while reflecting on these summer days! For me, it's a great summer additive, a relaxing evening, enjoying friends, warm weather and maybe a little Chet Baker on the stereo...

Cheers!

Allagash Four, Allagash Brewing, Portland Maine

Our next fine, fine beer comes as a wonderful Valentine present from my wife (amyolsonjewelry.etsy.com)! The Allagash Four from Allagash Brewing is an apex of ales....4 hops, 4 malts, four sugars and 4 Belgian yeast strains.....fermented 4 times! It sounds complex and is good to sample by itself. Allagash has continued to prove itself as one of my personal favorite breweries....ever! I visited it nestled in the woods and grocery stores of outer Portland (the other Portland), Maine. It's in a bit of an odd place and there is no brew pub, but they offer all their fine ales, swag and tour. Allagash is available all over, some of their rarer ales are a little more difficult to hunt down - but there's joy in the search! They also have the distinction of having 100% of their power obtained from wind power.

It pours a cloudy amber/caramel color.

The aroma is hoppy at first, which then gives way to a sweet malty alcohol.

The beer is, of course, complex. It starts mellow and the body is slightly creamy. That's where the tastes really begin to develop. The creaminess gives way to a crisp hop brightness. This is immediately combined with a sweet oak malt that arrives at the back of the tongue. It finishes with molasses and burnt sugar tones.

The aftertaste is dominating. It is alcohol and oak with bold sweetness that lingers nicely for awhile before giving away to sugary - but not too sweet, more molasses.

From their website, I've learned that they use Date Sugar in the mashing process. In the boil, Light Candi, Dark Candi, and Light Golden Molasses are added. The final (forth) yeast is added for bottle conditioning in their cellar!

It is 10%, sip well!

Cheers!

Allagash Black, Allagash Brewing Company, Portland Maine

As is evident from previous postings, Allagash is hands-down one of my favorite breweries....ever.
This is my first tasting of their Belgium style stout...Let's dive right in...

It pours opaque with a big head.

The aroma is big chocolate malt, very roasty with mild smoke.

The taste is big smooth malt. There is chocolate evident in the full body. I also taste mild coffee.

It finishes roasty and a little smoky. It is a little biscuity at the end and lingers nicely.

If you are looking for a big stout with lots of girth, this is your beer. I thought it delicious, especially with the cold weather out there. It holds to their reputation (in my book) as another great beer.

I've seen Allagash here and there, at Whole Foods and specialty beer stores. I got mine at Belmont Station here in Portland. Their Dubbel and Tripel are usually more common, but I've seen the stout out there. Happy hunting for it and happy drinking it!

Cheers!

Fluxus, Allagash Brewery, Portland ME

As their anniversary release, Allagash comes out with a "Fluxus" beer each year to celebrate. Each year it's different, and this year, I was able to buy a bottle on the day of it's release from their brewery in Portland, Maine. The brewery is located as you are heading out of town and offers a tour and has a small, but well-equipped gift shop. I highly recommend visiting!

This year, the Fluxus is a double white ale.

The Fluxus pours a bright amber with a big head.

It has a mild aroma, mostly yeast and mild spice.

The taste is mostly yeast, but also has a nice brown sugary taste to it as well. It is very very well balanced, though a little on the strong side, which settles nicely with it's crispness. The slight spice is there (from their website, I learned that it's been brewed with grated ginger). It is a little sweet and very refreshing. It has a fairly light body and cleans the palate easily.

The aftertaste is mildly sweet and mildly bitter. As I said, it's very refreshing and a well crafted brew!

I've seen Allagash beers all over this great beer nation, but mostly just their main standards: Dubbel, Tripel, and Grand Cru. These are all great, but their other beers are extremely worth getting your hands on!

8.7%

Pumpkin Head, Shipyard Brewing Company, Portland ME

So I was indeed excited to see Shipyard beers available here on the West Coast. They are from Portland, Maine and if you are near that area, they have tastings and a great store with a full stock of their beers available. Most of their brews are only available on the East Coast, but I have found Pumpkin Head at several stores around the Northwest. Let's give it a try....

It pours a pale amber color, and on their website, that it is a wheat beer.

The smell is definitely pumpkin pie, with cinnamon and nutmeg are noticeable. It definitely has a fall aroma.

The taste is predominately nutmeg with a little cinnamon. It lingers nicely on the palate. It is a crisp and refreshing beer. It has a light body and is very drinkable. The spice might be a little strong for a newcomer of pumpkin beers, but it settles nicely over the course of the beer.

The aftertaste is all spice, which lingers for a bit.

All-in-all, a great fall beer! Crisp and refreshing!

Cheers!

Shipyard IPA, Shipyard Brewery, Portland ME

Well, studying is only so much fun. Let's deviate from our beer lessons with wild abandon and take a look at another IPA, the Shipyard IPA...

And just so we don't loose all of our geekiness, IPA (India Pale Ale) is a beer from the 17th Century and was developed with the beer trading between Britain and India. American IPA's tend to be more extreme with their hoppiness. Okay, more about that in a later beer lesson, let's drink...

The Shipyard IPA pours a mellow amber with a creamy head.

The smell is of mild hop, not too florally. It has a little spicy aroma to it.

The taste is quite mellow and mild. It's a little on the bitter side, but nothing extreme here. It is crisp and refreshing. I think it goes well with the fall weather outside, which feels the same. From their website, I learned that this is a single hop beer (made with Fuggles hop, which is a traditional English hop). So, that explains it's balanced character. It is a medium body and fairly smooth.

The aftertaste is mild hop and slightly bitter, but dissipates quickly.

So, if you are a reader of this blog, you will notice that I try not to pass judgement on ranking beers. I am tempted at times, but I think it is important that all beers, like everything, have different purposes and different intents. Some align with my taste, some don't. What I am interested in, is understanding the intent of the beer along with it's history. So, I will continue to try to be as impartial as I can....but I do have my favorites!

Shipyard is available all around the Northeast in beer stores and bars. The gift shop at the brewery in Portland, Maine is massive and they have their beers available with lots of other swag. On an interesting note, I did find Shipyard's Pumpkinhead beer out here on the West coast last week and will blog about that in the upcoming days.

Cheers!

S.O.B., Atlantic Brewing Company

Our next beer is, again, an import from the East Coast's Atlantic Brewing Company - The S.O.B or Special Old Bitter. I found it at the brewery, which is a little off the beaten path, but well worth the detour.

The smell is very mild, very subtle with slight malt and a bit sweet.

The beer pours a dark amber and a full head.

The taste is a little hard to pin down. The back of the bottle touts it as a Crisp Ale, and at first I would agree. After a few tastes, though, I felt it was a little more creamy - which I liked. The bitterness doesn't overwhelm you with first taste. It builds, but remains smooth and on the light side. It finishes very clean and doesn't leave a lot of taste hanging around in the mouth.

The bottle mentions that they use Northern Brewer Hops and pale, crystal, black and Munich malts. They mention that it has an "assertive hope body, balanced with enough maltiness to make this a wonderful afternoon beer." While I don't feel that it is necessarily assertive, it does hold good body and I certainly agree that it is well-balanced. I would also agree that it makes for an excellent afternoon beer, especially given the relative lightness and balance it carries.

Happy drinking!

Bar Harbor Cadillac Mountain Stout

Our next beer is one of my imports from the East Coast - Bar Harbor's Stout. Right to it.... It pours with a caramel head and is extremely opaque. The smells are subtle - with mild malt and roast. The taste is noticeably chocolate with a roasty malt. The body seems to build as you drink. The aftertaste is slight bitterness and leaves a roastiness in the breath. I think it would be a good addition to dessert - especially with vanilla ice cream (if my inherited cholesterol problem didn't bar me from such a delicious combination!)

Bar Harbor is an interesting place, a good afternoon place to check out - way too touristy for an extended stay - but a beautiful place to see in Maine. And some of my favorite beers are from Maine! I will be interested to try and retry more stouts to compare with the Cadillac Mountain... Cheers!