Gritty's 21 IPA

I've been drinking this stuff for a month now without writing about it because I just can't take the time. Who wants to slow a great drinking experience by taking notes? Plenty of people, I suppose.

This is definitely an English-style IPA, with toffee/caramel flavors competing with the piney/grapefruit taste of the hops. It's a balanced, complex IPA, and my favorite Gritty's offering to date. A hell of a way to celebrate their 21st anniversary.

I didn't like Gritty's when I first got into craft beer. My palate immediately picked up on the toffee flavors that seems to be prominent in all their brews, and that's all I'd taste until the bitter finish. Besides my immature palate, I think a big problem was that I was buying the beer close to its expiration date up in Old Town, and that's no way to enjoy beer, especially beer in a screw-top bottle.

Drinking at the pub in Auburn definitely changed my opinion, and Gritty's has become a sort of comfort food to me. As soon as I taste a Best Bitter or a Pub Style, I feel relaxed. I'm sure I've has more meals at Gritty's than any other restaurant, never mind any other brewpub.

I do have one qualm with the 21 IPA, though: I'm already done my 4-pack. This should come in 6-packs, or 8-packs, or 12-packs. It's not fair to just leave me hanging like this.

Peak Organic Espresso Amber Ale

They say the main difference between beer tasters and wine tasters is that beer tasters swallow. Guilty as charged. But we don't do it to get drunk, although I like to imagine beer drinkers have a better appreciation of inebriation than the wine crowd.

We do it because beer is complex enough that our tongues detect different flavors as it passes across. The tips of our tongues are more prone to pick up the malty flavors, while the backs detect bitterness. So beer has a 'finish,' the taste we get as we swallow. EDIT: I have been contacted by someone quoting science, saying that the tongue taste map has been debunked. So I'll search for a more plausible reason that the taste of complex foods/drinks changes and post back here when I find it.

So for tonight's featured beer, I decided to draw a diagram of the tastes encountered drinking Peak Organic Espresso Amber Ale. It's a relatively simple beer with three waves of taste: the maltiness at first, the huge taste of espresso as it passes through the mouth, and a pleasant, lightly hoppy finish.

So here it is:


I know it looks like a floor tile sample here, but it tastes delicious. I thought it was novel of Peak Organic to make an amber coffee beer, and this beer exceeded my expectations. Although one can't drink too much because it clocks in at 6.8% abv, I could easily drink 2 or 3 of these in a session. I've seen complaints that the espresso flavor is overwhelming- that's true only if you're serious about the German Beer Purity Law, or you just don't like espresso.

Otherwise, you'll see this, as I did, as a huge step for Peak Organic. I've always respected their beer - the maple oat ale was pretty good - but it was nothing remarkable until this bold, beautiful creation. Definitely check this one out.

Maine Coast Brewing

Maine Coast is a brewpub I didn't know existed until recently. So, my girlfriend Pattie and I drove to Bar Harbor the other day to check it out.

Going to Bar Harbor in the winter is kind of a waste of time, as the town is about dead. But I saw online that Maine Coast was open year-round and I was anxious to try a new brewpub.

It's a pretty little restaurant with a nearby building where the beer is brewed. The brewery looked closed for the season, and there were only two other tables with diners. On tap, they had a stout, a brown, and IPA, and what I suppose was an imperial IPA called "Armstrong Ale."

I ordered a brown and Pattie got the IPA. The biggest aspect of the beer was the ocean water taste. Seriously, this beer tastes a bit like sea salt, which makes me think seaweed was added to the mash. I'm thinking this because I bought the "Historic Ales from Scotland" giftpack recently, and it includes a seaweed ale. Here's how the brewer describes it:

Prior to the 1850’s there were many Scottish coastal ale-houses which brewed their own ales, these ales were made from local malted barley which was grown on fields fertilised with seaweed. This environment gave the barley a very specific flavour which we have recreated by the inclusion of fresh seaweed in the mash tun.

The brewer wasn't around, and I didn't think to ask the waitress if she knew. But I'll say Legends' Kelpie Ale is a lot more subtle than Maine Coast's beer, where the 'ocean' taste can make it a challenging drink. Like a heavily-smoked beer, it takes a little time to adjust to it.

It mixes easily with the brown ale, but when combined with hops in the IPA Pattie ordered, the result is a strong tang. Pattie said it tasted "like dishwater," but I thought it was interesting. I wanted to buy some to bring home, but our waitress said they didn't have any at the time. Lesson: Don't go to Bar Harbor in the winter. I do plan on heading back sometime to buy some bottles or a growler. God knows how much they'll cost, though- a pint glass there is $9.

The season for new beers

OK, time to get back into blogging. Why? Maine breweries are releasing new beers, mostly seasonal, and so far, all better than their average offerings.

Take Geary's Wee Heavy, a mean beer I bought in a 4-pack. There was no abv on the packaging, but the profile on Ratebeer says it's 8% by volume. I guess they put this out a couple of years ago for their 20th anniversary and brought it back recently.

What little head appears in the drink goes away quickly. Sipping this, I was surprised at its dryness. I was expecting something like Belhaven Wee Heavy, but McEwan's is a better reference point for this. There's an alcohol burn that reminds me of Old Rasputin.

I feel like a Wee Heavy should taste sweeter and cover the alcohol a bit better. This had a hard edge I didn't expect.

Still, it starts and ends with a pleasing maltiness; the burn only happens at the middle of my tongue. And, despite its dryness, I kept going back. Every pint of this I drank was a quick one. This is not a sipper.

I'm conflicted. I'm not crazy about this as an example of a Wee Heavy, yet I'm crazy about this beer. Like McEwan's, but without the peat flavor, and with a sweetness that's more malty than syrupy. At the risk that this is a seasonal, I'm going to but another couple of 4-packs and cellar them, which means I'll put them in a box under my bed next to my Weyerbacher XIII.

Geary's Autumn Ale

There are a few styles of brown ale, but for me, there are two categories. Some are classic session beers, like Brooklyn Brown Ale, Pete's Wicked Ale or Newcastle. They have some malty taste, but they keep a low profile and generally a low abv, with the intention you'll drink it in long sessions, like an eight-hour social gathering. Then there are the nutty, malty sweet browns, like Samuel Smith's Nut Brown, Oak Pond's Brown, or Bar Harbor Real Ale. Geary's Autumn, which has been my favorite Geary's brew for years, is in the latter category.

I say this not only because of the round, malty flavor, but because at 5.8% abv, this is a bit strong for a long night out. Delicious beer, but it's changed a bit over the years.

Just a couple of years ago Autumn Ale had a real carbonation bite. I think the carbonation is markedly softer than it used to be.

On a different front, the label has changed. I was first drawn to this beer by its warm, watercolored label. But these days, it uses these days ridiculous 3-D lettering. Come on, guys. Why would you abandon the 2006 label? Well, even if the label has gone downhill, the lower carbonation is a smart touch.

New! Bar Harbor Pale Ale

I just realized the bottle of Bar Harbor Acadia Pale Ale I bought today cost me $4.89. It's on the high side for a bomber, but I'd have gladly paid twice that to try a new beer from Bar Harbor Brewing. There it is, posing with a bunch of my college textbooks.

No surprises here, just a solid pale. Note from the photo that this is a bomber, actually brewed by Bar Harbor, as opposed to the 12 oz. bottles. I don't have anything against the little Geary's bottles, except that the stuff brewed in Bar Harbor is made in small batches and bottle conditioned, and I think it makes a difference. As a homebrewer, I love seeing the layer of yeast at the bottom of the bottle.

And oh, those hops. I'm not experienced enough with hops to guess what variety, but it's pleasantly bitter in an herbal, citrus way. This is definitely a pale in the British sense, not the American. It's vaguely cloudy, probably because of the live yeast, and the malt character is pretty light. If it wasn't suicidal, I could drink 40 of these in a night. I'm kind of sad the one I'm drinking is down to the bottom already.

I've heard Bar Harbor Brewing is under new ownership, but can't find any info on this. Anyone know anything, or have links?

Respect for Old Thumper

If you didn't know, Old Thumper has been brewed in England at the Ringwood Brewery since 1979. Shipyard's brewmaster Alan Pugsley trained under Ringwood's brewmaster, Peter Austin, years ago. When Pugsley joined Shipyard as brewmaster and co-owner he got permission to brew Ringwood's most famous beer in America. Austin even sent him his own Ringwood yeast so the beer would be identical.

When you hear about Ringwood yeast in Maine, it's usually in the context of “I'm getting tired of Shipyard using that same Ringwood strain in everything.” I think a big reason for that is that Shipyard doesn't make bold beers. They're mild enough to let the Ringwood taste come through. And why not? It's the one thing they have that no other American brewery can replicate. If I had a proprietary hop or yeast, I'd use it in everything I made, too.

I didn't know the story with Shipyard's Old Thumper until about a month ago when I was visiting my girlfriend in Ft. Lauderdale. I found a great bar called Original Fat Cats, with a great bartender who knew beer. I don't think I got his name.

They had Shipyard Export and Old Thumper and a couple of Sea Dog brews, but Old Thumper was on cask. It was already my favorite Shipyard brew, but I couldn't put my finger on why. As I was drinking it, the bartender told me the story about Alan Pugsley, and I gained a new appreciation for the beer. I'm drinking the last in a six-pack I bought last week right now.

It's on the strong side at 5.8%. Not strong for an American craft beer, but strong for England, where the government taxes high-alcohol drinks more. There's an apple taste, then a faint leathery taste, and on top of that is something like buttermilk. These tastes are present in all Shipyard's brews, but it's more apparent in Old Thumper, especially on cask.

The thing with Shipyard is, enjoying the Ringwood yeast is a prerequisite to enjoying the beer. I love it, others don't. But understanding the yeast is the key to enjoying their beer. Their beer isn't loaded with Munich or Crystal malts or specially-bred, high-alpha hops like most of the best American craft brews. But it has some subtle charms that eventually grow on you.

S.O.B.

Part two of my Oak Hill Beverage tasting is Atlantic's Special Old Bitter, or S.O.B. Their take on the Extra Special Bitter has a reasonable 5.5% abv, which is about average for this brewery. I'm surprised I'd never tried this before. I'm a big fan of Atlantic's Bar Harbor Real Ale and Coal Porter. The blueberry is pretty good, too, but I've never had the courage to try the Island Ginger.

Anyway, I was pleased with this. Head was thin, but had a nice hoppy aroma. Not bright and floral, but bitter. Crisp on the tongue, with moderate bitterness like an ESB calls for. A hint of pale malt under all that hop, but the hops really dominate here. Their Web site says they use Northdown hops for bittering. I'm not familiar with that variety, but it kind of reminds me of the Amarillo I've used in my last two beers.

This beer is nice and light bodied, and I've long felt bitters had just the right amount of hop character. I'll get around to reviewing Andrew's English Pale Ale soon. Might be my favorite summer beer.

Although if this one came in six packs, it might manage to steal that crown.

Brown Hound

Unfortunately, the first local beer I tried for this blog was a bad experience.

I went to Oak Hill Beverage in Scarborough for the first time because I was downstate to get some brewing supplies. Turns out I could have saved a stop because they have a good selection of brew stuff there. Picked up two tasty-looking 22oz. beers because they were Maine beers I hadn't run into before.

After bottling some funky old Schwarzbier I made weeks ago and don't have much hope for, I cracked open the Brown Hound. Not really brown- more like a cloudy red. Thin head. Tart, surprisingly floral smell. I took a sip and-

-what the hell?

This beer is sour. Like a Warhead or one of those candies I had when I was a kid. I'd chalk it up to age, maybe, but it doesn't taste skunky. Just thin and sour. A disappointment because I love a good brown ale. I kept sipping searching for some sign of caramel malt, but I kept coming up short.

I don't know if I got a bad batch (possible) or maybe someone at the brewery accidentally put a really intense lambic in the bottle by mistake (unlikely). I'll search for this on tap to hopefully get a better idea about it.

Anyway, I sipped away at this for about an hour. The beer didn't improve as it got older. Finally, I threw in the towel, dumped the rest out, and poured myself an Old Thumper. Mmm. Apples. Almost buttery. I'll write more about Old Thumper later.

This was a bad first experience with Brown Hound as well as with Oak Hill Beverage. I noticed they had some expired beer in there. Their Wolaver's, which I've been meaning to try, was dated November 07. And the Sierra Nevada Harvest, which originally prompted my visit as I'll be making a fresh hop ale in the next week, was from SN's 2007 batch.

Still, they had the best selection I've yet seen in Maine, especially with 22oz. bottles. I grabbed a Young's Oatmeal Stout -- I'd only had their Double Chocolate Stout -- which was heaven in a bottle, but I won't review it here because the plan is to stick to Maine beers.