Barreled Souls Brewing Company in Saco, ME

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Barreled Souls Brewing Company, Beer, Beer Review, Beercation, Brewery Visit, Maine, New England

Last weekend my wife and I headed up north to Maine for a day to escape the snow and during our travels stopped in at yet another New England brewery, Barreled Souls Brewing Company in Saco, ME.   They had piqued my interest with all the stouts and darker beers they had listed on their website, especially considering that they use oak barrels for primary fermentation of all their beers.

The brewery has been open for about a year and a half now and occupies a very cool space on a lightly populated commercial road on the edge of town.  Upon arriving at the facilities, you first go through an outdoor seating area for warmer times (it was covered in snow and 15 degrees outside the day we visited) before walking in through the door into a cellar-like space.  You then pass by some brewing equipment before entering a good-sized taproom.  Inside the serving area, you are greeted by two shuffleboard tables to your left and a seating area the right with wonderful sets of tables and chairs made out of converted oak barrels.  Scattered about these tables are cribbage boards for those who prefer seated gaming while enjoying a few beers.  Of course you can also take the more traditional route and pull up a stool at the bar.

There were 12 beers on tap the day of our visit, and I ambitiously (perhaps a bit too ambitiously) was down to try them all.  They had a nice mix of styles available and I went through the list more or less ordering by color and potency.

My first flight, listed here from front to back, started me out with a Scottish ale called Half Shilling.  Checking in at 4.1%, this beer was light and easy to drink with a bready, caramel malt flavor.  I liked this one a lot and it was a great beer to start out with.  Next up was Eat a Peach, a 4.6% wheat ale brewed with roasted peaches.  Fruity and a little bit tart and sour, the wheat taste was rather subtle but blended in well with the peach flavors.  This was another nice little beer, though I imagine it being a bit better suited for warmer weather.  Following this came Space Gose, a 4.9% gose beer.  True to style, it featured a strong salty, lemony tartness mixed with an herbal coriander flavor which I did not really care for.  They accomplished what they set out to do with this one, this style is just not for me.  I did notice that it was a popular choice for growler fills so perhaps I am in the minority.  Rounding out flight number one was a 6.5% amber ale called Hoppin’ John.  Brewed in collaboration with Branded Horn Brewing Company, it was listed as a malty ale brewed with sprouted peas.  This was another one that I didn’t really care for.  There was an intriguing sweetness to it, but it also had a smokiness that dominated the flavor in a way that I did not really like. To each their own.

Things definitely picked up in my next pair of samples, though.  Starting it off was Quaker State,  a 6.3% oatmeal stout that drank nice and smooth with a nice mix of sweet and roasty malts in perfect balance.  It had a very pleasing aroma to match the taste and was a real pleasure to drink.  Following this was Mocha Grande, a 6.8% brown ale brewed with french roast from Katahdin Coffee in Wells, ME.  The smell was oddly a bit peppery, but the taste was very strongly and distinctly French Vanilla coffee.  It was a bit roastier than I usually go for in this type of beer, but there was such a creamy smoothness to it that I didn’t mind in the slightest.  This beer was so good it also made me really curious try out a cup of Katahdin Coffee (sadly not available at the brewery).  Excellent brews.

The next round of samples was a somewhat mixed trio (one late addition not pictured).  Starting it off was Canned Cran (on the left), a 7.6% amber ale brewed with canned cranberry sauce and smoked cherrywood malt.  This was another miss for my taste buds, again on account of the smoked malt.  Coming next was a 7.5% black rye IPA called Blackwatch which was probably my favorite beer of the day.  It showcased an experimental hop variety aptly referred to as “Pinefruit.”  It gave the beer a fantastic piney/tropical fruit bitterness (and smell!) that I really enjoyed.  The rye provided a slight bit of spice on the end that mixed in wonderfully with the hoppy goodness.  The not pictured late addition was American Pale Ale, a (you guessed it) pale ale dry hopped with Citra.  Checking in at 6.3% it had a light bitter and fruitiness to it, but overall this beer didn’t really stand out for me following the wonder that was Blackwatch.  Nothing wrong with it, I think it just got overshadowed.

The final flight featured three of the brewery’s best and strongest offerings.  Leading off was Munro, a 9.0% Wee Heavy Scotch ale.  This is a style I always want to get into more and this particular offering gave me exactly what I have been looking for.  Pouring a deep brown body, it had a nice sweet caramel malt and dark fruit richness to it that I really enjoyed.  Key for me here was that the smokiness was dialed way down compared to other beers of this style.  The smell was sweet and just a bit hot, all in all a really great beer.  The penultimate brew, Dark Matter, was a big 10.1% dark ale that was a bit boozy with had a lot rich chocolate malts to give it a wonderful flavor.  It had a nice thick mouthfeel that made this a beer that could really be savored.  Last, but by no means least. came Deep Space, an even bigger 12.8% imperial stout to finish off the day.  This was another fantastic beer combining sweeter malts with delicious bourbon and barrel notes that led up to slightly roasty finish.  The mouthfeel was pleasingly thick and perfectly suited the big tastes.   Apparently this is the brewery’s flagship beer, so hats off to them for not playing around!  Very well done.  I came looking for big, dark brews and they without a doubt delivered.

So that concludes my trip to Barreled Souls Brewing Company.  I had an excellent time trying out some great beers, and they certainly had a variety of high quality offerings available.  If I had to pick a top three I would go with Blackwatch, Mocha Grande, and Dark Matter but you can’t go wrong with Munroe, Deep Space, and Eat a Peach either.  If you find yourself in the area, consider stopping in as there is certainly plenty of good beer to be had.

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A Visit to Boston Beer Works

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Beer, Beer Review, Boston, Boston Beer Works, Brewery Visit, Massachusetts

While running an errand the other day I found myself right around the corner from Fenway Park and the downtown location of Boston Beer Works.  The Beer Works have been in the back of my mind since reading about them last month, and while I was in their neighborhood I couldn’t resist stopping in for a quick flight.

With baseball season still a few months away things were pretty slow in this part of the city.  I pretty much had my pick of seats at the bar as there were only a handful of other patrons present – an experience unheard of during the spring and summer months when there are lines out the door on game days.  After perusing their lengthy tap list (I counted about 20 beers, all house creations) I decided on a flight to give me a good mix of their offerings.

I started out with a cask version of Hub Light (second beer from the left).  The original version of this beer sounds like your typical 4.4% light lager made as an accessible offering for the gameday crowds, but for the cask they jazzed it up a bit by adding mangos and gave it a Mosaic dry hop.  While this is not necessarily a style I get excited about, I’ve developed a love of cask beer and couldn’t resist giving it a try.  Turns out I made a good choice.  After a faint light malt taste to start the beer off, it went on to taste not entirely unlike lightly hopped mango juice.  The warmer serving temperature and thicker, less carbonated mouthfeel typical of cask worked really for this beer.  Clean and refreshing, it offered a promising start to the evening.

The next beer I sampled was an 8.2% Imperial Red Ale called REDeemer (second from the right).  No way I was not trying this one given my love of hoppy red ales.  It didn’t turn out quite the way I expected it to, but the beer was pretty good nevertheless.  It had a nice red/amber-colored body with a foamy head and started out with that piney hop profile I like so much.  The malts that followed threw me off a bit though.  Rather than the sweeter caramel tastes I had been expecting, there was more of a roasted coffee taste to it, with only a hint of sweetness mixed in.  Again, not what I was expecting but overall it was still a pretty good beer.

Beer number three was Big Boy, a 8.0% DIPA.  It looked promising enough with its pale golden body, but I didn‘t much care for this one.  The smell was very muted and the taste was mostly nondescript malt.  There were occasional hints of bitterness, but otherwise the hops never really showed up in this beer.  There was also something off about the taste I can’t quite put my finger on.  It’s hard to describe, almost like it came from a drastically different (and not as good) water source.  I tried reading up in my homebrew guide about off-tastes and none of those seem to quite cover it.  Anyone out there have any ideas?

My fourth and final beer of the evening was one of their seasonals, the 9.5% BW Imperial Stout.  This one brought us back into the realm of good beers.  It looked pretty much the way you would expect it to with a solid black body and a nice fluffy tan head.  The smell and taste both imparted smooth lightly roasted malts and just a hint of dark chocolate on the finish.  Mouthfeel was right on point for the style with a great creamy thickness.  While this may not have been the most exciting big stout I’ve had lately, there’s no denying it was a good, quality brew.

And that was all I had time for on that particular day.  It was nice to get into Beer Works and have a chance to sit quietly and think about the beers.  It had actually been a few years since my last visit, which was after a night game when the place was wall-to-wall people.  I was happy to find some good, solid brews (Big Boy aside) and enjoyed my visit.  While it might not be the number one destination in Boston for hardcore beer enthusiasts, I certainly was pleased with my time here and it is easily one of the better brewpubs I’ve been to lately.  Good times.

Burlington Beer Company: Coffee and Cake

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Beer, Beer Review, Burlington Beer Company, New England, Vermont

This time we’re looking at a couple of beers from Burlington Beer Company.  These came to me two weekends ago from friends we had in town, so to start things off many thanks to them!  I didn’t know much about this brewery going in other than that they are fairly new (opened in 2014) and have some pretty cool can designs.  Let’s start exploring!

First up was Barista, a 7.3% coffee porter.  Appropriately enough, I took out some different glassware for a change and poured this one into my Bean Porter mug.  The can was dated 12/2/2015 and had a FRESH POTS message stamped on the bottom.  Right off the bat this beer reminded me of my morning coffee.  It poured a deep brown body topped off by a quick to dissipate tannish head.  Smell was light roasted coffee all the way.  As you probably expect, the taste kept this trend going, blending a  creamy light roast coffee flavor with a little bit of cocoa.  The finish is roasty and bitter with occasional hints of booziness.  The mouthfeel was pleasantly smooth and on the thicker side, though there was a bit more carbonation than I might have expected.  Not a large amount mind you, but more than I would have thought. While this wasn’t the biggest or the boldest coffee porter I have ever tried, it certainly was enjoyable.  Great representation of the style and well done.  I’d seek this out again if given an opportunity to do so.

Up next was Strawberry Whale Cake, a 5.5% cream ale brewed with strawberries (at rate of one pound of fruit per gallon of beer).  Date on the bottom of the can was 07/08/2015 and a (presumably) tongue-in-cheek WHALEZ BRUH message printed below it.  Call me easily entertained, but I liked the messages.  Pour on this one was a deep, golden-yellow body with a fizzy white head that lingers for a little bit before bubbling away.  Smell was slightly yeasty with light malts and a hint of fruit.  The taste picked up right where the smell left off.  The beer had a crisp, almost pilsner-like backbone paired with doughy, light malts.  Topping this off were sweet and slightly tart strawberries that take over through the finish.  Medium bodied and fairly bubbly, I wouldn’t quite call this dessert in a glass but it did come pretty darn close.  The difference in my mind was that the beer was ultimately more light and refreshing than rich and decadent, but your gauge of things like this may differ.  Overall I found this beer really interesting, but think of it more as a novelty than something I would want to regularly drink.  Still pretty good though and worth a try.

So there we have it.  Two solid brews from another up and coming Vermont brewery.  Cheers!

2015 Night Shift Barrel Society Release #7: Kahlo

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Beer, Beer Review, Night Shift Barrel Society, Night Shift Brewing

Well here it is, the final beer of the 2015 Barrel Society lineup.  The year sure went quick, so quick that I didn’t even get a chance to try this one Bruntil recently.

Beer Name: Kahlo

Brewer: Night Shift Brewing Company

Style:  Wild Ale

ABV: 8.8%

Description: Release notes described this as a 100% Brett fermented ale, aged in oak barrels with blackberries.

Pour Info: On tap at the brewery, filled in a flute glass.

Appearance: Poured a pink/amber brown body with a foamy, off-white head.

Smell: Definitely smell the oak influence, mixed with a slight tartness.

Taste: Like most of these beers, it had a very complex flavor profile.  The beer starts out with a slightly fruity blueberry and Brett-influenced tartness.  It then turns oaky, with a champagne/white wine dryness.  As the beer warms, the blueberries come out just a bit more, but the dry oak remained the defining character of this beer.

Mouthfeel: Slightly bubbly and medium bodied.  Fits the style and tastes well.

Hype Factor: The last few beers in the 2015 lineup had been among my favorites, so I was curious to see how they would end things.

Overall: A good beer, but not my favorite of the year’s lineup.  The oak and overall dryness aren’t really my ideal combo.  Curious to see how this one does with some age on it.

Back to the Books: Timothy Zahn’s Star Wars: Grand Admiral Thrawn Trilogy

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Book Review, Expanded Universe, Grand Admiral Thrawn, Sci-Fi, Star Wars, Timothy Zahn

After writing up my initial impressions of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, I was inspired to go back to a series of novels I haven’t read since I was a teenager: Timothy Zahn’s Grand Admiral Thrawn Trilogy.   Published in 1991, these three books, Heir to the Empire, Dark Force Rising, and The Last Command were among the first entries in what became known as the Expanded Universe (EU), and were easily among the best as well.  They were extremely influential in shaping the mythology of the novels that followed and served to carry on the spirit of the original movies until Star Wars was once again thrust into the mainstream.

The trilogy takes place five years after the events depicted in the Return of the Jedi film. The Rebel Alliance has established a government of its own, the New Republic, and has been steadily pushing back Imperial forces to only a quarter of what they once were.  The Republic, however, faces a number of challenges as it struggles to establish its legitimacy.  Internal factions pushed aside during the Rebellion are causing divisions that threaten the stability of the young government.  Meanwhile, a formidable new opponent has emerged in the form of Grand Admiral Thrawn, the last of the Emperor’s master strategists, who has come out of the shadows with a bold plan to unite the remaining Imperial forces and launch a crippling attack against the New Republic.  Caught in the middle are a powerful smuggling organization, a deeply troubled Jedi Master come out of obscurity, and a fleet of long-lost warships that could be the difference between victory and defeat in the battles ahead.

Worth noting of course, is that these books, along with the rest of the EU, are no longer considered part of the officially licensed Star Wars story, per Disney.  This series predates not only the current film franchise, but the prequel trilogy as well, and there are instances where it comes into conflict with what is now cannon.  For example, it makes several references to the Clone Wars that are not easily reconciled with the prequel series.  It also does not fit in with the events of The Force Awakens either.  

So then, why care about these books?  Because they make for a good, fun read.  Zahn did a fantastic job in telling an engaging new story that allows the reader to explore the galaxy far, far away in a manner that feels authentic to the original movies.  Since the EU was still so new at the time these books were written, Zahn had a wide range of possibilities to work with and used this freedom to great effect.  He takes the reader through a variety of settings and locations that you can picture being right out of the movies; with the new locations fitting in perfectly with what is already familiar.  They fit in so well that one of the planets Zahn introduced, Coruscant, ultimately made its way into the Special Edition release of The Return of the Jedi before being featured prominently in the prequel trilogy.

Just as importantly, Zahn populates this universe with an excellent cast of characters.  He certainly did justice to the originals characters, all of whom were developed in ways that flow seamlessly and believably from their on-screen personas.  Han, Luke, Leia, Chewbacca, the droids – they’re all there.  Secondary characters like Wedge, Admiral Ackbar, and Lando Calrissian were also included to good effect and make the story that much more interesting as a result.  

Joining our old friends is a superb mix of newcomers.  Grand Admiral Thrawn made for an excellent adversary and was an interesting departure from the usual Star Wars villain.  He was a ruthless yet brilliant strategist that relies on his skill and uncanny intelligence as opposed to any Force sensitivity to carry out his goals.  He is also pretty much the only non-human directly aligned with the Empire that we encounter.  Smuggler Talon Karrde, a genius in his own right, provides a glimpse into the galactic underworld post-Jabba the Hutt and delivers a lot of the rogue charm originally provided by Han Solo, only with an entire smuggling organization at his command.  The most popular and enduring character from this series though is no doubt Mara Jade.  I will refrain from posting any major spoilers for this series or beyond and merely say here that she is a character with a very interesting back story and is an excellent foil and potential ally for Luke.

All this combines into a trilogy that is well executed and a lot of fun to read.  It was everything that you would want and expect in a Star Wars novel and is the absolute best of what the EU had to offer.  I recommend it to Star Wars fans, if only as an example of what could have been and to get a taste of what some of us older fans were into when all we had was the original trilogy.  To me, this is the true fate of the original characters, no matter what may come of them in the Force Awakens timeline.  Let the future films give Rey, Finn, and Poe their turn; I already know what happened to the old heroes.

Trillium Brewing Company: Pier

Tags

Beer, Beer Review, Massachusetts, Trillium Brewing Company

When I decided to swing by Trillium’s Fort Point location on my lunch break the other day for a growler fill, I was pleasantly surprised by all the great options that were available.  Now that the Canton facility is up and running they seem to consistently have a much greater supply of beer on hand than they have in the past.  After some brief deliberating I opted for something I hadn’t had before, choosing a Pale Wheat Ale named Pier.

Beer Name: Pier

Brewer: Trillium Brewing Company

Style: Pale Wheat Ale

ABV: 6.7%

Description: Plenty of specifications are provided here, but put briefly it was a Wheat Ale dry hopped with brewery favorites Galaxy and Citra.

Pour Info: Poured from a day old 32 oz. growler into my usual drinking glass.

Appearance: Body was a slightly hazy pale straw yellow with a thin white bubbly head.

Smell: Smell was a burst of sweet, slightly tropical, fruits.

Taste: Coming in right off the smell there was a big tropical fruit presence upfront.  The taste then turned a bit wheaty in the middle and came to a piney grapefruit finish.  The bitterness was actually pretty moderate overall, consistently there but definitely sharing the spotlight with the fruits and wheat.  Balanced and delicious.

Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with a bit more than moderate carbonation.  Finish was bubbly with a resinous, sticky feeling.

Hype Factor: Just the usual excitement of trying a new Trillum beer.

Overall: Another excellent Trillium offering.  Probably not my favorite offering of theirs, but still very good.  It’s got some really tough competition.

Spanglish Ales – La Facil Grand Cru

Tags

Beer, Beer Review, Night Shift Brewing, Spanglish Ales

While visiting Night Shift the other day, I noticed Idle Hands wasn’t the only brewery with a guest tap.  Joining the party was an offering from newcomers Spanglish Ales.  My curiosity was piqued and I had to investigate further.

Beer Name: La Facil Grand Cru

Brewer: Spanglish Ales from Miami, FL.  There does not seem to be a lot of information out there about them yet other than this tweet, but one of the bartenders mentioned that Spanglish Ales needed help getting a beer released to keep their name.  Night Shift gave them a place to make that happen, which I thought was pretty awesome of them.

Style: Belgian Ale

ABV: 6.9%

Description: Described on the draft list as a Belgian styled ale featuring camomile, coriander, and citrus.

Pour Info: Something told me to go for a full pour of this, which turned out to be 16 oz. in a very nice pint glass.

Appearance: It came out with a foamy, two finger, slightly off-white head atop a brownish/tan body.

Smell: Not much to say here.  Very subtle tea and bubblegum.

Taste: Hints of Belgian yeast quickly got covered by a strong chamomile tea presence mid sip.  Mixed in towards the finish was a touch of citrus zest and bubblegum.  The best description I can give is that this tasted like an unsweetened iced-tea-Belgian-ale.  Very refreshing.

Mouthfeel: In keeping with the iced tea theme, this beer was served cold and seemed intent to remain that way to the very end, despite my warming efforts.  It had a medium body with a low to moderate level of carbonation that made it incredibly easy to drink.

Hype Factor: Definitely a curiosity, but I can’t say there was any hype attached to this.

Overall: This was a pretty good beer.  As I was drinking it, I recall wishing that I was having it outdoors on a warm summer day.  When I found out the brewery was from Florida, I figured that they probably got exactly what they wanted with this one.  At 6.9%, it might be a bit big for day drinking in the warm sun, but that doesn’t mean it wouldn’t be enjoyable either.  Nicely done.  I don’t know if I’ll ever come across this brewery again, but I would certainly try more of their beers if given the opportunity.

Stout Season: Grimm Double Negative

Tags

Beer, Beer Review, Grimm Artisanal Ales, Grimm Artisanal Brewing Company, Stout

This next stout was a gift beer that had been sitting in my refrigerator for a month or two before I got around to it.  Good things come to those who wait, right?

Beer Name: Double Negative

Brewer: Grimm Artisanal Ales

Style: Imperial Stout

ABV: 10.0%

Description: Bottle date was dated November 2015 (though I acquired at the end of October).  The label also made note of the roasty chocolate goodness to come.

Pour Info: Refrigerated bomber into my usual glass.

Appearance: Dark black body.  A thin tan head formed on the pour, but disappeared fairly quickly.  Left behind some nice lacing on the glass though.

Smell: An inviting blend of dark malts, chocolate, and a light roastiness.

Taste: Picked up where the smell left off.  The beer had just the right amount of moderate roastiness.  Enough to make its presence known, but not so strong that it dominates over everything else.  Dark chocolate and sweet malts also came out to varying degrees in the middle before just the tiniest bit of heat on the finish.  As the beer sat in the glass and warmed up, it took on more of a hazelnut roast coffee-list like flavor with a roasty, bitter dark chocolate finish.

Mouthfeel: On the thicker side and almost, but not quite, creamy.  Low carbonation levels kept this drinking smoothly.

Hype Factor: None in particular.  I’ve had good experiences with this brewery but didn’t know much of anything about this particular offering.

Overall: A good stout.  Well made and satisfying to drink, it has some really big tastes going on.  Worth picking up.

Stout Season: Avery Vanilla Bean Stout

Tags

Avery Brewing Company, Beer, Beer Review, Stout

This next stout was another one of my Christmas gifts that I was eager to properly unwrap.  Also gave me the opportunity to test out a new bottle opener.

Beer Name: Vanilla Bean Stout

Brewer: Avery Brewing Company

Style: Imperial Stout

ABV: 10.8%

Description: Described on the brewery’s social media as an Imperial Stout aged in bourbon barrels with three types of vanilla beans.  Added in for good measure were essences of chocolate, caramel, and molasses.

Pour Info: Poured from a refrigerated bomber into what apparently became my official glass of 2015.  We’ll have to see what 2016 brings.

Appearance: Body was a very deep brown/black with a thin off-white head that dissipated not long after the initial pour.

Smell: The smell was slightly sweet, but mostly carried by medium roast vanilla coffee.

Taste: Largely follows the smell.  At the start it was dominated by a subtle yet distinct vanilla flavor with some nice accompaniments; namely sweet malts, roasted coffee, and a hint of bourbon.  It drinks dangerously smooth and offers pretty much no hint that the beer is almost 11%.  As it was left to sit and warm up, the beer took on a more distinctly sweet vanilla character, with coffee bitterness and a slightly more pronounced bourbon presence rounding out the finish.

Mouthfeel: Mouthfeel was smooth and on the thicker side.  Not as heavy and thick as I think it could have been, but pretty on point.  Trace carbonation was also right one for the style and tastes.

Hype Factor: I had heard some buzz surrounding this release so I was happy to get a  chance to try this.

Overall: A well made and satisfying beer.  There was a lot to like about this one and it certainly delivers on promise of vanilla.  That said, your enjoyment of it will really come down to how into the primary flavor you are.  If you’re someone that loves vanilla stouts, seek this one out immediately.  If you’re on the fence about it, I would still say this beer is still worth trying, though you may want to split the bomber with a friend.  For the vanilla adverse crowd, this may not be for you as it does get a bit intense after sitting for a bit.  Cheers and stay warm out there!