Now, the problem here was we now had a number of different styles which made it rather difficult to equitably compare. So we just decided to enjoy the beers and comment on each without the need to rate one against the other.
First up was Saranac's Pale Ale in a can. Herb calls this his quintessential boat beer mainly because it's a good beer you can get in a can and cans are much more convenient on a boat. Although some craft beers are slowly making their way into cans, there aren't many. So it was good to see Saranac come out with their signature Pale Ale in a can. The BOTB guys are big fans of Saranac and their Pale Ale is a favorite session beer. Nicely hopped with a pleasant malt underpinning, it's one of those beers I like to have on hand. It's what I think of when I think Pale Ale. Hereupon a discussion over whether there is a difference in taste between bottled beer and canned beer broke out. It is an age-old debate and perhaps is the stuff of a future meeting (although there needs to be a larger selection of good beer in cans - I can't see us comparing Bud Light in a can to Bud Light in a bottle. Might as well compare bottled water to tap.)
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Next up was Mayflower Brewing's Autumn Wheat Ale. This is one that was picked because of its nautical theme. This is an interesting beer in part because it is a wheat beer which doesn't look or taste like a typical wheat beer. I have a perhaps unfair prejudice against wheat beers because my gut reaction when I see one is that it is a light, bland brew and I immediately pass it over for something else. It seems that wheat beer is the mega-breweries' default brew of choice when they want to pretend to be making a craft beer. Having said that, Mayflower's Autumn Wheat Ale is a pleasant surprise. First off the color was a surprise: a deep, dark rich charcoal hue. Coupled with a nice, full caramel-colored head it quickly became clear that this was not your typical wheat beer. And indeed it isn't. It has a very distinctive taste which we all struggled to nail down. The best description is that it had a kind of burnt malt flavor ("burnt" is not a negative here - it was quite pleasing) with a hint of coffee. A very drinkable beer.
Third was from another of our favorite breweries, Great Lakes. Commodore Perry IPA fit in with the boat beer motif thematically if not practically (at 7.5% ABV it is not exactly a "small" beer.) The first sensation is the bite of hops on the tongue that just sits there. Great staying power. This one elicited a number of comments. A few: "Ahhhhhhh!" "Too much malt compared to Middle Ages." "Has lingerie lace."An excellent brew, you can't go wrong with Great Lakes." "I can drink this, I'll tell you what!"
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Another Great Lakes brew, Dortmunder Gold Lager, followed. It is unusual for us to include a lager in our tastings. We tend toward Ales. However we took a chance on this since it was brewed by Great Lakes and it turned out to be a pretty decent brew. Though some of the comments may fall into the category of "damning with faint praise," most everyone found this to be a good boat beer. A sampling of the comments: "If I hadn't had two IPA's before, I'd have really loved it; I've never had a lager with so much hops; Again with Great Lakes - It's good. I've never had a Great Lakes I haven't liked, but I haven't tried Holy Moses (their wheat beer); Not bad for a lager - consider Bud, Miller, PBR, and Coors."
Heavy Seas' Loose Cannon Hop3 American Pale Ale was up next. This is a really tasty, hoppy beer. You smelled the hops right off the pour and they were a strong presence throughout. This one was one of the favorites, eliciting the following: "Immediate smell, attacks you straight up the nose; Arrgh matey!; I love this - I could drink this; It's a West Coast style beer; Great, a really good beer; Grapefruit hoppy more than orange."
-ASIDE-
And an unsolicited endorsement popped up here as someone commented: "Wegman's is the Barns and Noble of beer!" I thought that was an interesting comment. Truth is it's hard to beat Wegman's when is comes to beer selection. I've been to a lot of chain grocery stores in a lot of places and no one comes close. I was recently in the Orlando are and it was slim pickin's for craft beer. I checked out Publix and a few others, many of which had huge beer sections. 90% of the space would go to the Imbev / Miller-Coors family of beers. The remainder would be reserved for a couple of imports and usually Sam Adams Lager and maybe Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. Ditto most bars in the area. Did find one near the UCF campus called Moats with a terrific beer menu, but that was by far the exception. I was in Wegman's yesterday and saw some guy loading up on Saranac, Ommegang and Middle Ages beers. He said, "I'm living in New Jersey now and you just can't get these beers there. So whenever I'm in the area I hit Wegmans and stock up."Anyhow, cudos to Wegmans for maintaining such an impressive array of beers."
-Back to the Beers-
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" Kind of a musky, burnt taste; Different, like a dark, almost perfectly roasted malt. Not over-roasted as in Mayflower; Nice finish for a porter; It looks almost black. I can't see light through it; It is sweeter than hell; Has a cocoa or dark chocolate thing going; I like this a lot."
Finally we had Shipyard IPA, our last tasting of the evening. This one is more of an English IPA than American, meaning that the hops presence is a little more subtle. For most of us, it was an okay beer but lacked the strong hoppiness we look for in an IPA. One of our members commented, " This is differently hopped. I think it's Fruggles hops." Indeed it is Fruggles hops. I checked it out on their website. Actually, this would be a good boat beer by both definitions.
Another successful BOTB meeting came to a close with outstanding food and entertainment by the BOTB Trio (and a rather caterwauling chorus of beer tasters joining in.)
The Whaling Company - Good Beer, Good Food in Williamsburg
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The food at the Whaling Company was also excellent. Sounds like a good place to stop next time we're in the area.
Up next: Seasonal Beers - Oktoberfest, Harvest Ales etc.
Sounds like fun. Wegman's does have a great selection, it makes me want to become more of a beer drinker - except here it also has a wonderful wine selection. ;)
ReplyDeleteI would think that the Saranac or Dortmunder Gold make the best boat beers.
ReplyDeleteI've been seeing that Loose Cannon stuff around for months now. Thanks for the description, I think I'll give it a try!
Greeat read
ReplyDelete