Summer Session: Other Half Brewing Company – Baby Diamonds

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Beer, Beer Review, Craft Beer, New York, Other Half Brewing Company, Session, Summer Session

With the unofficial end of summer approaching I wanted to make sure I got in at least one more session beer before the season changed and fall seasonals take over the shelves.  This next one was a very timely gift from friends that just so happened to have a very relevant name.

Beer Name: Baby Diamonds

Brewer: Other Half Brewing Company

Style: Session IPA

ABV: 4.8%

Description: Listed as a smaller, session version the brewery’s Green Diamonds double IPA, this offering features Galaxy and Amarillo hops.  I gave it the usual snifter glass treatment, with a few leftover sips coming right out of the can.

Appearance: It poured a hazy (but of course) golden-yellow body with some tinges of amber underneath a thin layer of white foam.

Smell: Bursts of sticky sweet tropical fruit the instant the can was popped open.  The aromas were more subdued in the glass, but pretty intense upon first opening the can.

Taste: The taste continued where the smell left off, starting out with tropical fruits that quickly blended into a strong mixture of earthy and piney bitterness.  Going into the finish the beer picked up more of a bready malt and grapefruit character that subtly changed the nature of the underlying sweetness.  The hops lingered throughout, so much so that they left a lingering aftertaste.

Mouthfeel: Medium sticky body with a moderate amount of carbonation.

Hype Factor: I always hear a lot of great things about Other Half, but I so rarely get to try any of their beers.  It sounds like their releases can be in pretty high demand as well, so additional thanks to the friends who hooked me up with this.

Overall: An aggressively hopped beer that had all the taste and mouthfeel of a much larger DIPA.  As such, I’m not sure how sessionable I would consider this on my palate, but it definitely was tasty.  All I can say is that it’s bigger brother, Green Diamonds, must be one hell of a beer.  I recommend this for sure if you can get it, though I wouldn’t plan on making a day out of drinking these unless you need to fulfill a serious hop fix with your session brews.

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Summer Session: New Brewery Edition – Bone Up Brewing Company, Part 2

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Beer, Beer Review, Bone Up Brewing Company, Craft Beer, Massachusetts, New England, Orange Line, Summer, Summer Session

I finally found a good time to open up that second growler from Bone Up Brewing Company I picked up the other day.  After really enjoying the first one last week, I was eager to taste what this one had to offer.

Beer Name: Black Witow

Brewer: Bone Up Brewing Company

Style: Dark Wheat Ale

ABV: 4.7%

Description: The brewery’s take on a Belgian Wit, only made dark for, well, reasons.  You can read up on the brewer’s notes and thought process here.  For my side of this exchange, I opened up the sealed growler and poured myself a drink into a snifter glass.  As with the previous beer, the growler cost $8.49 (plus a $2.50 deposit) and was filled on 7/22.  I had my first taste of this beer a week later on 7/29.

Appearance: Poured a dark black body with just about a finger of tan, foamy head.  At a glance it was deceptively similar to many imperial stouts.

Smell: Smelled a touch wheaty with a hint of zesty citrus fruit.

Taste: Light and crisp, the beer featured toasted malts upfront before picking up some of the more expected characteristics of the style.  Following the initial taste came a blend of orange zest, mild herbs/spices, and a wheaty/yeasty presence that picked up some banana esters on the finish.  An intriguing and well-balanced blend of roasted malt and traditional wheat ale fixings.

Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with a slightly more than moderate amount of bubbly carbonation.  Feels nothing like one might have expected based on appearances alone.

Hype Factor: No hype, just more curiosity.

Overall: I liked this beer, but wasn’t really blown away.  Perhaps I just don’t get overly excited by wheat ales.  It was definitely intriguing and different, but I can’t quite put my finger on whether or not they did that for some higher purpose or the sake of being gimmicky (see again their quirky descriptions).  Either way, based on my experiences with Black Witow and Key Lime White I would definitely try out more this brewery’s offerings, though preferably without having to acquire any additional growlers (I’ll have to look into that).  I’ll also keep an eye out for when their taproom opens so I can experience what they’re about firsthand.  So far, they definitely seem like another solid addition the local brewing scene on the north end of the Orange Line.

Summer Session: Jack’s Abby – Leisure Time Lager

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Beer, Beer Review, Jack's Abby Brewing, Massachusetts, New England, Session, Summer Session

Leisure time, what’s that?  Here we go with another session beer from a brewery with “Jack” in the name.

Beer Name: Leisure Time Lager

Brewer: Jack’s Abby Brewing

Style: Pale Wheat Lager

ABV: 4.8%

Description: Listed on the brewery website as a lager brewed with “wheat and a blend of spices including lemongrass, coriander, orange peel, and chamomile.”  I emptied a 12 oz. can into a pint glass for this review.

Appearance: It poured a cloudy, semi-see through straw yellow body with a frothy white head that dissipated rather quickly.

Smell: Slightly sweet, mixed with lager yeast and a faint bit of tea on the finish.

Taste: A little bit of sweetness upfront, primarily in the form of orange and lemon zest.  From there the beer picked up a wheaty, yeasty taste before finishing with a subtle mix of light malt, chamomile, subdued floral hops, and just a bit more citrusy sweetness.  Really nice blend of flavors that complimented each other well.

Mouthfeel: Just barely medium bodied with a decent amount of carbonation.  Went down nice and easy.

Hype Factor: No particular hype here, I simply picked this one up to get re-acquainted with a core offering from another one of my fantastic local breweries.  

Overall: Very tasty and really easy to go through quickly right from the start.  It had a  great blend of flavors and was both refreshing and relaxing to drink.  I could see this being an excellent beer to have in quantity for some outdoor day drinking on a hot summer day.  Nicely done, one of my favorite session beers so far this summer.

Summer Session: Brewmaster Jack – Jan

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Beer, Beer Review, Brewmaster Jack, Massachusetts, New England, Summer Session

This was a special beer for me.  No, it’s not an elusive whale or some crazy Untappd milestone.  This is the first I’ve had since my son, incidentally named Jack, was born last week.  With sleep at a premium, let’s continue on with my summer of session beers!

Beer Name: Jan

Brewer: Brewmaster Jack

Style: Czech Pilsner

ABV: 4.5%

Description: Described on the brewery website as a light and delicate traditional lager made from their favorite yeast strain offering a “crisp, clean, and refreshing” taste.  It came in a 12 oz. bottle which I poured into a snifter glass.

Appearance: The body poured a nice golden amber color, topped off by roughly a finger’s worth of foamy white head.  Lots of lively bubbles running up from the bottom of the glass.

Smell: Sweet, with a light malt base underneath.

Taste: Similar to the smell, the beer was sweet up front, with a bit of a tangy apple presence giving this flavor added prominence.  Transitioned to grainy, light Pilsner malts with an extremely subtle hint of earthy hops towards the finish.  The aftertaste was slightly tangy again, with light malt and yeast mingled in.

Mouthfeel: Thin, light body with a pretty heavy level of carbonation.  Happy little bubbles throughout.

Hype Factor: Not a lot of hype attached to this beer, but it was consumed under some pretty special circumstances.  It was also nice to open up a cold beer on a warm day after going without for a few weeks.

Overall: Despite having a similar flavor profile to the brewery’s Stray Dog amber lager, a brew I was somewhat ambivalent about, I kind of liked this beer.  Once again, I’m not entirely sure if the tartness was intentional or not, but it did work out pretty well in combination with the lighter malts.  I’d drink this again, but wouldn’t go out of my way to do so.  I think for this brewery I far prefer their more hop forward offerings and rye porter though.