Wow! A busy month and there's a lot to talk about. The latest Beer Club meeting battled it out with Stouts. We traveled to Italy where wine is king and good beer is, well, hard to find. Also we're looking into moving away from our current format to something a little different which I think will be quite interesting. So let's kick it off with our War Between the Stouts.
The winner?
Us.

Give Me Some Beers That are Stout-Hearted Beers...

Since we looked at Porters last time, we thought it might be a good idea to take a look at Porter's most famous offspring: Stouts. Guinness coined the term Stout when the called their Porter a Stout Porter. Soon "Porter" was dropped from the name and it became known as simply Guinness Stout. The classic Stout is a deep black in color with a very full, creamy head. Guinness has a rich, nutty, malty taste with pleasant bitter undertones. Though not heavily hopped, Guinness has a stronger hop presence than it's Irish cousins: Murphys, Beamish et. al. Most Stouts have notes of coffee and chocolate in varying degrees. Guinness is very balanced. It is not highly carbonated and, contrary to popular belief, it is relatively low in alcohol, weighing in at around 4.1%, which is the case with most Stouts.

Alas, No Guinness, For We Know it Well

In our head-to-head comparisons, we did not include Guinness primarily because it is so iconic we were afraid it would be too easily recognized, thus skewing the blind taste parameters we try to stick to. I am, however, enjoying one as I write. Ergo, Guinness shall be my Muse as we explore the results of our head to head comparisons.

Beer Bracketology

We decided to have a little fun with our competition this month. We choose to set up our competition Bracket style, ala the NCAA Tournament. Thus the beers would go head-to-head and then advance. We ended up with nine beers, however, so we decided on a play in match to get the requisite 8 necessary.

The Play-In Round

This first round set the tone. Deadlocked after six votes, I had to step in for the tie-breaking vote. My house, so I only voted if there was a tie since I was the only one who knew which beers were competing.

Great Lakes Brewery's Blackout Stout - 9.0% ABV - Great Lakes from Cleveland has been a real comer in the Craft Brewing world. They have established a presence through clever appellations evoking iconic historic events and characters associated with the Great Lakes regions, such as Eliot Ness Amber Lager, Commodore Perry IPA and Burning River Pale Ale. More importantly, they have created a number of excellent beers, and their Blackout Stout is no exception. A rich black in color with a dark, full head, Blackout Stout has a solid hops presence balanced by a malty smoothness. There is an interesting spiciness, and a sweet, malty quality as well.

VS.

Shipyard Brewery's Blue Fin Stout - 4.7% ABV - Shipyard Brewery is out of Portland, Maine. They have a solid line-up of beers including Shipyard Export, Shipyard IPA, Old Thumper ESB, and Chamberlain Pale Ale. Their Stout is a classic Irish Stout with a bit more carbonation than would be normally found in Guinness or Murpheys. Pitch black in color with a rich head and rich malty nose. Caramel and malt flavors dominate with a roasted malt finish.

The Winner is...

Great Lakes Blackout Stout - In a close 4-3 overtime decision.

-ROUND 1 -
Game 1

Blackout Stout - Described previously

VS.

Paper City's Riley's Irish Stout - 5.5% ABV - Paper City Brewery is located in Holyoke, MA and has been in operation since 1996. They produce a wide variety of European influenced beers including Holyoke Dam Ale (an English style ale), Ireland Parish Golden Ale, and Winter Palace Wee Heavy. Their Irish Stout is classically black in color with a rich tan head. Distinctive chocolate notes predominate with many noting an undertone of coffee and tea!

The Winner -
Paper City's Riley's Irish Stout in a 4-3 decision

Game 2 -

Middle Ages Black Heart Stout - 6.6% ABV - Middle Ages Brewery in Syracuse, NY is fast becoming one of the premier craft breweries certainly in New York State. Using the Middle Ages as a theme, they create an impressive array of distinctive, British Isles-inspired brews, with their own unique spin. From their flagship Syracuse Pale Ale to their aggressive Dragonslayer Imperial Stout, Middle Ages beers are always bold and unique. Black Heart Stout was described variously by our judges to have coffee and chocolate overtones, a full taste, sweet with a slight hops presence.

VS.

Murphy's Irish Stout - 4.0% ABV - Murphy's was the only beer produced in Ireland in the competition and it did not fare well. It was not as deep black as the other, more of a dark brown. The head was not as full and it was described variously as "weak, watery, disappointing, bland and flat." A bit surprising, but having tasted it myself, I agreed. At least in comparison to the other contestants, it was a disappointment. Not surprisingly...

The winner is...

Middle Ages Black Heart Stout - In a unanimous blowout.

Game 3 -

Sam Adams Imperial Stout - 9.5% - To call the Boston Brewing Company a craft brewery stretches the definition a bit. It has grown to be one of the larger breweries in the country after the Big 3. Nonetheless, they brew some excellent beers. Sam Adams Lager and Ale are excellent session beers and are often life savers. In a bar or restaurant with taps dominated by Light this and Lite that, Sam Adams often can be found as the lone voice for a flavorful beer. But Sam also produces an"Imperial" series of big, assertive beers. Their Imperial Stout is an impressive beer. It has a "take no prisoners" bold flavor that either you're going to love or hate. It was by far the most distinctive beers in the group. It created quite a buzz (literally and figuratively) with comments like: "Wow! I'll remember that. Odd. Distinctive. Too sweet. Large. Strong. Malty." I personally was impressed with it and loved its unique character.

VS.
Watkins Lake Effect Imperial Stout - 10% ABV - Created by one of our members - master home brewer Mike Watkins, he wanted to enter this to see how it fared. Mike brews his beer from hops he grows himself and his motto is "There's no such thing is too many hops!" As a result, his Imperial Stout had a strong hops presence which was surprisingly well balanced with a rich maltiness. Though one reviewer considered the beer weak, most took note of the hops.

This was a bit like having a couple of number 2 seeds play each other in the first round - not really fair to either, nonetheless...

The Winner is...
Watkins Lake Effect Imperial Stout in a nail-biter.

Game 4 -

Heavy Seas Peg Leg Imperial Stout (Brewed by Clipper City Brewing) - 8.0% - Heavy Seas out of Baltimore, MD is another fun brewery that follows a theme (in this case the sea and pirates) and creates an impressive number of brews, from their Red Sky At Night Saison Ale up to their Mutiny Fleet series of big beers. Peg Leg falls in the middle, though 8.0% is a solid middle. A deep mahogany in color with a rich brownish head, this beer drew raves all around. It has a deep, nutty flavor described by one of the judges as a "full, malty robust taste," which I think nails it. Some described its taste as "spicy" while one said "buttery." We noticed sediment in the bottom of the glass, to which Dan said, "Awesome!"

VS.

Victory Brewing Company's Storm King Imperial Stout - 9.1% ABV - Victory Brewing Company is located in Downingtown, PA. Best know for their Hop Devil, Prima Pils, Golden Monkey mixed 12 packs, Victory produces at least nine other beers on a regular basis plus an array of interesting seasonals. Never ones to shy away from good, flavorful brews, their Storm King Imperial Stout scored well with our judges. A very flavorful beer with a strong initial hops bite followed by a deep roasted malt that would warm the cockles of any beer lover's heart.

The Winner Is...

Victory Brewing Company's Storm King Imperial Stout - in a last second buzzer beater.


-ROUND 2 - THE FINAL FOUR - THE SEMIFINALS-
game 1

Riley's Irish Stout vs. Blackheart Stout
The winner...
Middle Ages Black heart Stout

game 2
Watkins Lake Effect Imperial Stout vs. Victory Storm King Imperial Stout
The winner
Watkins Lake Effect Stout

-Round 3 - The Finals-

Watkins Lake Effect Imperial Stout Vs. Middle Ages Black Heart Stout

The Champion:

Middle Ages Black Heart Stout

In Italy There is No Beer - That's Why We Drink it Here...

Okay, a bit of an exaggeration, but Italy is not really known for its beer. Wine, yes. Coffee, yes. Beer, not so much. Peroni and Nastro Azzurro are the predominant brands and both are essentially light (in the traditional sense of the word, as opposed to dark) lagers. If you're looking for something with hops, or even something with a solid maltiness, you'll be hard pressed to find it here.

So why bring up Italy? Well, a bunch of us (several members of the Battle of the Beers club) and wives traveled to the land of Michelangelo for a whirlwind tour. We booked through Trafalger Tours, which meant we traveled by bus from Rome to Venice to Verona to Florence to Sorrento to Capri and back to Rome. The success of such a tour is greatly dependent upon your tour guide and here we struck gold with Maria. A vivacious and tireless guide, Maria has a seemingly bottomless well of knowledge about all things Italia. Whether it was geographic, historic, artistic, linguistic - or any other -ic - Maria had the info.

We were in Rome on Easter Sunday and it was a bit of a zoo. The Pope addressed an enormous crowd. Unfortunately the weather was dreary. Because it was Easter Sunday, the Sistine Chapel was closed to tours so we would not see that until the end of our tour. It was worth the wait. It's one of those things you just can't appreciate until you see it first hand.
Rome is a strange city. Some of the most amazing art work in the world resides there along with the ancient ruins of the Colosseum and the Circus Maximus. But at the same time, I have never seen more graffiti in my life. It seems every square inch of available space is covered with it. And it's not artistic graffiti either. It's just random scribbles. It's as if some strange graphic virus ran rampant through much of the city. It's unfortunate.

This is a beer blog, so I do want to return to potables. In Italy that means wine not beer. Many of the meals we had included vast amounts of wine. Generally that meant a choice of a dry red wine or white wine. And it was delicious. My preference is for dry reds, but I found the whites to be tasty as well. Often the wine was served in large earthen pitchers (see photo to the left).
Maria pointed out that Italian wines were much lower in sulfites than wines sold in America and therefore we were likely to not experience headaches from overindulgence often brought on by the sulfites. We may have put this theory to the test once or twice simply in the name of science, of course.













Shelly took full advantage
of the seemingly limitless supply of wine,
bless her heart.


Pompeii

Venice

The Porter Quandry - How do You Rank 8 Great Beers?

The latest meeting of the Battle of the Beers club presented us with a real dilemma: if all the beers are terrific, how can you rank them? In the past we have tried to rank the beers from favorite to least favorite. But when we got about half-way through the porters at Hal's place on a fine Sunday afternoon (still basking in the glow of the SU win over 'Nova on Saturday!) we began to question how we could possibly do that. We found we had eight outstanding beers, each with their own unique qualities. There was not a bad beer in the bunch. Though we have said that before, this was a case where all would be rated as top notch.

The problem was the original concept of our beer club and this blog was to create a kind of head to head competition between beers. After much discussion, we came up with a slightly different system this time. We decided to give each beer a rating of 1, 2, or 3, with the caveat that we could award no more than 3 1's. An imperfect system to be sure, but a bit more equitable.

The thing is, even though all of the beers were porters, each one had its own unique character. Because they were porters there are certain similarities - the maltiness, the hint of chocolate etc. But within those confines, each brewery has come up with its own take on the style. And that's what I love about craft brewing. I mean, compare Miller, Bud, Coors etc. Do a serious blind taste test there and try to tell them apart. It's all the same beer trying to appeal to the masses, afraid of offending anyone. Craft brewers take chances - some work, some don't. But they don't try to please all of the people all of the time - it can't be done. Personally, I liked every one of the beers we sampled, and I wasn't sure that would be the case. I have said this before and I stand by it - American craft brewers are producing the best beers in the world right now. These eight beers are perfect examples of that.

Anyhow - the competing Porters were: Flying Dog Road Dog Porter, Harpoon's Baltic Porter, Mayflower Porter, Otter Creek Stovepipe Porter, Rock Art Double Smoked Porter, Rogue Mocha Porter, Southern Tier's Don't Be Afraid of the Dark Porter, and Stone Smoked Porter.

With two members unable to attend (Gerry and Herb) we ended up with five of us rating 8 brews - a tough job, but we were up to it. Harpoon Brewery kindly donated a 4-pack of their Baltic Porter which we greatly appreciated - thanks to Ed Valenta for coming through.

Here's how the Porters finished (along with comments from the judges):



1. Mayflower Porter - In a bit of a surprise, this small regional Plymouth, MA brewery's porter scored well with all of us (given a "1" by all but one judge). Comments were: Very drinkable, stronger than average, smooth, great color and finish, dark and heady, alittle hoppy with a bit of a bite, stornger chocolate notes, sweet/bitter balance.



2. Flying Dog's Road Dog Porter - From Frederick, MD - this was another excellent porter with a very distinct taste. Comments: Red coloration, most hops of all those tasted, thick creamy head, smooth, burnt malt, balance of malt/hops/bitter. Mellow.



3. Tie listed alphabetically. Harpoon's Baltic Porter - From Boston, MA and Windsor, VT this very strong and distinct brew was bound to garner a wide range of scores - which it did. A full bodied, big brew from Harpoon's Leviathan series. Comments: Strong with a little sweetness, complex tastes on the side of the tongue, bitter, cloudy, coffee color, nice bite, strong hop presence, strong chocolate notes.


3. Rogue's Mocha Porter - From Newport, OR - Once again, a delicious beer and distinct. Comments: Slightly smoky, coffee overtones, dark/opaque, full-bodied, roasted malt, balance, smooth.


4. Tie listed alphabetically. Otter Creek's Stovepipe Porter - From Middlebury, VT. A very tasty brew. Comments: Lighter than expected, more carbonated, almost an ale, malty with complex overtones, nice strong finish, nice bitter end, pleasant, burnt, definitely a porter.


4. Stone's Smoked Porter - Out of San Diego - Stone's Arrogant Bastard is one of my all time faves. First time I've had their porter - another very good brew. Comments: Big, very dark, powerful, strong, burnt malt flavor, sweet, warm, full mouth feel, sharpest flavor, good.




5. Rock Art Double Smoked Porter - From Morrisville, VT - even though it is down on the list here, it received a "1" rating by at least one of the judges (that may have been me - I really liked it). Comments: Sweet but good, malty, complex, smoky, cloudy appearance, distinctive, strong, wow!, light in color.


6. Southern Tier's Don't Be Afraid of the Dark Porter - From an excellent brewery in Lakewood, NY - this was probably the closest to a truly classic porter. Though it scored at the bottom, all agreed it is a delicious beer nonetheless. Comments: Dark, full-bodied, chocolate, balanced, malty sweet, smoky.

We also tried a Russian Porter which, by comparison to the American brews, was very sweet and malty with little hops presence. Most of us preferred the American cousins.

Featured Brew - Vermonster!

As an added treat, we had a bottle of Rock Art's Vermonster Barleywine. This is a big, strong (10% ABV) knock your socks off brew. With an impressive 100 IBU's there is a very strong hops presence here. Good nose right off the bat with deep malt and hops jumping out at you. Very hoppy - often categorized as an Imperial IPA. Nice deep ruby color, full creamy head with good retention. Delicious brew.

Interesting, Rock Art was sued by Monster Energy Drink for copyright infringement over the use of the word "monster" in their name. Were they afraid someone would mistake this tasty, rich brew for one of those god-awful sweet concoctions that are about one step away from Kool Aid? Anyhow, Rock Art won. Way to go!

Once again, the real winners were - Us!

Slainte!

Coming Up: Porters Step Into the Ring

Sunday, February 28th is the date for the next Battle Royale. This time Porters from across the country will duke it out in a slugfest of malty delight.

THE BREWERIES:

A BIT ABOUT PORTERS

First off - what is a Porter? In fact Porter is the father of Stout. Porter originated as the first engineered beer. It was a mixture of old ale, either sour or stale, new Brown or Pale ale, and a mild ale. It's name is supposedly derived from its popularity with transportation workers in Central London. Porter requires a longer aging process. Baltic Porters are somewhat stronger in much the same way as IPA's are and for the same reason - to survive extended sea voyages. In 1820, Sir Arthur Guinness rechristened his XX Porter - calling it Guinness Extra Stout Porter. Soon, however, Stout became a style unto its own (and one we will explore in March). Thanks to Beer Advocate for the above info, by the way.

WHAT TO EXPECT FROM A PORTER

Porters are dark, hearty beers, with a roasted malty taste, often with notes of chocolate or coffee. The formula varies from brewery to brewery and some have a more pronounced hop presence than others.

THE CONTENDERS (LISTED ALPHABETICALLY)

Flying Dog Road Dog Porter - From Frederick, MD, Road Dog Porter is a rich, dark, malty beer, with hints of chocolate and licorice, resulting from the use of four prized malts. 6% ABV

Harpoon's Baltic Porter - Located in Boston, MA and Windsor, VT From Harpoon's Leviathan series of strong ales (9.5%!), this is a beer with notes of dark fruit and bittersweet chocolate blending into a spicy finish. 38 IBU's.



Mayflower Porter - From Plymouth, MA - Embracing the tradition of "three threads" (combining of three distinct ales) this brew is smooth and full-bodied, with distinct notes of roasted coffee beans and chocolate. Using Pilgrim and Glacier hops, Mayflower Porter weighs in at 5.5% ABV and a respectable 33 IBU's.
Mayflower beers currently are distributed around the Plymouth and South Shore areas, but are hoping to begin expanding.





Otter Creek Stovepipe Porter - Middlebury, VT Ruby black in color, rich palate and roasted hoppy aroma. Traditional Porter. 5.4% ABV





Rock Art Double Smoked Porter - Morrisville, VT At a solid 8% ABV, this beer is not fooling around. Sweet caramel malts, roasted malts, a big mouth feel and smoked grain.









Rogue's Mocha Porter - From Newport, OR - This beer is ruddy brown in color, with a bittersweet balance of malt and hops. All with a nice cream finish. With an impressive
54 IBU and a 5.3% ABV.







Southern Tier Don't Be Afraid of the Dark Porter - From Lakewood, NY - Richly complex with overtones of chocolate and espresso beans with the subtle flavor of hops. 5.2% ABV






Stone Brewery Smoked Porter - San Diego, CA - Dark, smooth and complex with rich chocolate and coffee flavors balanced by a subtle smokiness.
5.9% ABV






There you have it. May the best beer win!

Harpoon Beer Dinner at Kitty Hoynes

We recently enjoyed a fine evening of food and drink at Kitty Hoynes, a pub and eatery located in the Armory Square area of Syracuse, NY. Periodically, Kitty Hoynes puts on beer pairings dinners which highlight a particular brewery (not to mention the tasty offerings by Chef Damien Brownlow). January 26th saw Ed Valenta of Harpoon Brewery out of Boston come to town with several of their excellent brews in tow.

Kitty Hoynes Irish Pub located at 301 West Fayette Street in Syracuse is a great place to eat or drink whether or not there's a beer dinner. The pub area is dominated by a massive oval bar with the requisite Irish themed decor. While their selection of beers can't rival nearby Clarkes' Ale House or the Blue Tusk, they always have a nice variety on tap. Guinness, Bass, Harp, Boddington's and Smithwick's are always available (as well as the usual yellow fizzy beer if you so choose), but they also have a rotating selection of excellent craft beers. On this particular night they had Great Lakes Burning River Pale Ale and the featured brew was Harpoon's Celtic Ale. Their drafts are served in generous 20 oz. "pint" glasses. We arrived early and were able to imbibe in a couple of pints before the main event.
Kitty Hoynes' food is always excellent and on this night the choices were superb.

We started the evening off with Potato Croquettes with honey mustard horseradish sauce. This was paired with Harpoon's wheat beer, UFO White. This beer is a light Belgian wheat beer with a citrusy tang. While I must admit citrusy wheat beers are not my favorite, it was a decent beer to start off with.

Next came the appetizer course: Pan roasted apricot glazed Cornish hen atop a zucchini nest (again, delish). With this we had Celtic Ale. Like most Irish Ales it is a malty brew, medium bodied with a bit of a hop finish. Very good beer - nice nose, rich amber color with a bold yet balanced taste.

The salad course (arugula, radishes, tomatoes, onions, spicy almonds and goat cheese in white balsamic vinaigrette) brought with it Harpoon IPA. We hopheads smiled. At 42 IBU's it is a nicely hopped beer (consider a typical American Lager such as Bud or Miller is around 10-15 IBU's). Wonderful hop aroma jumps right out at you. Real nice bitter finish that lingers nicely on the palate. This is Harpoon's flagship brew and it shows. There's a nice toasty maltiness that works nicely with the hops. An excellent all-round beer.

Next was the soup course, a delicious Irish Seafood Coddle. With this we had Harpoon's UFO Pale Ale. This is an unfiltered pale ale in the style of English Pale Ales. While not as hoppy as the IPA of course (34 IBU) it nonetheless retains a nice bitter finish. Overall a lighter, more balanced beer. Very pleasant nose - floral, hoppy.



The entree for the evening was beer brined pork chop topped with a poblano and tomato chutney served with mapel yams and a vegetable bundle (yum!) For the beer, Ed brought out the big guns. From their Leviathan series of big, strong beers we had Leviathan Baltic Porter. At 9.5% ABV it is a solid take-no-prisoners brew. This is a full-bodied beer with dark chocolate notes. We will visit it further at our next beer club as it goes head to head with selected Porters.




We ended the evening with Sweet n tart Apple Surprise paired with Harpoon's Apple Cider. The cider was nicely dry and made for a pleasant complement to Kitty Hoyne's excellent dessert.