Contrary Brewing Co. - "Pollinator" honey ale

While grabbing a plate of wings and some beers at El Bait Shop in downtown Des Moines a few days back, I spotted this brew on their (extremely extensive) menu. Looking for something softer to go with my dry-rub wings, I opted for this beer, called "Pollinator". It's a 5.50% ABV ale from Muscatine, IA-based Contrary Brewing Co., located right on the banks of the Mississippi on the Iowa / Illinois border.

The neatest part of this is that it's made with local Iowa honey. Sounds good, right? I've had a few ales made with honey over the years, all have been pretty good. This one doesn't disappoint - I think what I like most about this is the texture. The honey softens up and thickens the beer and gives it a slightly sweet aftertaste. The wheat here is somewhat mild, and really just forms the base to show off the particular soft sweetness of the honey. Quite refreshing and tasty, and at 13 IBUs it's great for beer drinkers who may not like overly fizzy or hoppy beers. I ended up getting a crowler of this to go, and was a nice beer to relax with after a long day of work!

Exile Brewing Co. - Beer in America's Heartland

Well, here I am - the land of corn, rolling plains, political town halls, and state fairs. I'm in Iowa this week for work, and of course no trip anywhere is complete without a tour of the local beer culture. I'm staying in Des Moines, and there are quite a few breweries here. Most are not necessarily within walking distance of my hotel, and fewer still have a full menu for dinner (which is what I needed at this point!) so enter Exile Brewing Co., located in a renovated historic factory not far from Pappajohn Sculpture Park in downtown Des Moines. Exile was a little over a mile from my hotel, so I just walked.

Lots of space inside - tables, booths, a large beer hall and event space, and a twenty-seat bar. Their draft list was respectable - about 12 beers on draft, many in the lighter German styles. But - like any good brewpub - there's something for everyone and I feel they had a good survey of light to dark. I was immediately drawn to their "G.G.", a 5.00% ABV dunkel: this style is essentially a dark German lager. Pours deep brown...look at that thick foamy cap!

Wow, great. This is a great example of this style - very malty, a little bit of caramel sweetness, and a soft texture with little carbonation. The caramel notes come through most noticeably on the finish, and the sweetness lingers for quite some time. Super tasty and great for fans of more traditional German styles.

It being Oktoberfest season (already), I of course opted to try their "Oktoberfest", a 5.90% ABV Marzen-style ale.

Made with Perle and Hallertau traditional hops, this ale combines lots of caramel malts and German malts for an ale in the old world style. However, it's honestly lighter in body than many of the Oktoberfest beers I've had over the years, and that's kinda nice. Some are just far too heavy and sweet and syrupy, and I think this expression gives some welcome softness and drinkability to a seasonal style. Another home run for Exile! They're 2 for 2 so far. 

Now was time for dinner, and I wanted something a bit lighter, so I opted for their "Lemon Trail", a 4.50% ABV lemon ale made with Lemon Drop hops and Pilsner malts. 

Very, very good. Unlike some other "lemon" beers on the market, this one really packs a lemony punch. Lots of lemon juice, lemon rind, and lemon pulp notes, and surprisingly not sour or tart. That's the biggest thing for me - lemon appears often as an ingredient in sour beers, and although sours have their place and time, I wasn't in the mood at the moment. So I'm glad it wasn't sour!

So yeah, definitely visit Exile if you're in Des Moines. Beer was super good, food was also excellent (had the bacon salsa burger!) and the service was great. I was impressed by the community feel, as well - lots of families eating dinner, some events going on in the adjacent beer hall, and people getting beer to go. A very enjoyable evening! Big shout out to Chris who told me more about the beers and answered all my random questions in preparation for this post. 

Great South Bay Brewery - Omnipollo / Tupinquim "Poli Mango" IPA

D'Vines got in a small shipment of these imperial IPAs from Omnipollo, which is one of those beer production companies that produces on contract under a variety of labels, including Great South Bay Brewing Co., located in Bay Shore, NY. Also listed on the can is Cervejaria Tupinquim, a brewery based in Porto Alegre, a city in the Rio Grande do Sul state of Brazil...not to mention a reference to Twelve Percent, LLC, the distributor. So it's anyone's guess who made this or where it came from.

This beer is billed as a 9.50% ABV "Brazilian-style" Imperial IPA brewed with polenta, and it looked intriguing, so I picked up a can.

OK, two things - first, what is "Brazilian style"? All I can find online are references to other beers called "Brazilian"; unfortunately there is no actual definition of the style. There is an Untappd review of a different beer claiming that the mango is what makes it Brazilian, but I mean, mango is a common ingredient in beer these days, and we don't see everything referred to a "Brazilian", do we? I suppose the fact there's a Brazilian brewery listed on the can is the major qualifier here.

Secondly - it's made with polenta. Polenta! The corn stuff? Interesting choice, but I prefer it pan-fried with eggs, not in my beer. I suppose a brewer could add polenta right to the mash as a substitute for corn or flaked wheat to give body to the beer...not sure how it would come out, but I guess I'll see soon enough.

Pours a deep golden amber color, generates a nondescript aroma of some kind of fruit. Can't place it.

This is really tasty! It's just a touch sweet, sort of milky, with a surprisingly-strong flavor of mango pulp. Hop profile is pretty mild with some booziness from the alcohol, mostly at the end. As the beer develops on the tongue, I'm detecting a slight dried fruit note, like dates. Maybe that's what I was smelling earlier. There's a thick, somewhat chewy texture to this beer, which one can only assume to be the polenta - tastes a bit like the "skin" of a corndog. Fresh finish with the mango really hanging on after swallowing.

I liked this. Mango is a great, refreshing fruit to use in any beer, and I'm glad to see it make an appearance in a somewhat heavier beer - often you see mango in lighter ales or goses, not "bigger" IPAs. Don't let the polenta scare you - there isn't a strong corn flavor, but it's definitely there, and the texture is somewhat like grits - chewy and mealy but not overly thick. I grabbed this for $5.99, which is a fair price for one; $24 is a bit much for a four-pack though.

Oxbow Brewing Co. - saisons and more in Portland, Maine!

While I was up in Maine, my brother Dan and I wanted to visit the beer scene in Portland. Like its namesake in Oregon, Portland, ME has a pretty healthy beer culture that’s growing every day. Sure, there are the famous ones like Allagash and Maine Brewing Co., but like any big beer market, there’s a whole strata of smaller breweries that are worth investigating, such as Oxbow Brewing Co., also known as Oxbow Blending & Bottling. Located on Washington Avenue and tucked away in a former industrial park, the brewery is sandwiched between a distillery and a meadery and just outside of the taproom entrance there was a little place, basically just a window, which advertised pomme frites made with duckfat. I did not visit this place, which frankly was a mistake. Duckfat frites are excellent.

The taproom itself is a large, open, industrial space with a divider that separates the production facility from the service side. There’s ample picnic table seating in the center of the room with a long bar occupying one side.

I’ve never had any of their beer, but D’vines has actually sold Oxbow products in the past – four packs of 12oz bottles if I recall – and all their labels have this cool, retro styling. I’m a big fan of striking visual styles, and Oxbow really knocks it out of the park. Let’s see what’s in the glass, though! The draft menu was mostly saisons and farmhouse ales – lots of mixed-fermentation beers between 3.50% ABV and 7.50% ABV. They had 4oz samples for sale, so rather than slamming back six pints, I decided to do a short survey of samples.

 First up is “Household”, a 6.00% ABV Euro-hopped saison made with rye.

Interesting – lots of rye notes here, a touch metallic and pretty biscuity with a modicum of yeast. Aftertaste is strong with lots of grainy, chewy wheat flavors. Definitely on the full end of saisons, with an aggressive character and perhaps a bit too strong for how like the style to be. But great for fans of rye whiskey or harsher beers.

Second is the “Italo Disco”, a 7.50% ABV mixed-fermentation farmhouse ale aged in Brunello di Montalcino oak foeders.

Brunello di Montalcino is an Italian red wine, one with a natural intensity and moderate acidity. This beer has major oak sour on the nose – very much a sour. Tastes strongly of oak, with the acidity of the wine barrels coming through like crazy. It doesn’t have that puckery, fizzy fruitness that a lot of sours have, thought, and the beer but relies on the oak. My brother Dan, tasting with me, is pulling out some lemon zest flavors, kind of like a lemon cough drop. Easy drinking and pretty snappy, this beer is super tasty!

“Metal Fruit” is the third beer we had, is a 6.50% ABV mixed-fermentation farmhouse ale with blueberry and strawberry juice.

Super good and nicely drinkable - there's a full fruit flavor, lots of blueberry juice and fruit skins. Dan is detecting a Chardonnay or Champagne crispness - I agree, but there's not a lot of carbonation. There's a touch of sour on the end, with a touch of yeast. I really loved it - it's not a beer that you drink mindlessly...the flavors really make you pay attention to it.

That was it for our visit - on to the next one - but Oxbow’s got a cool atmosphere and a taplist geared for lighter beers, so definitely worth a visit especially if you like funkier beers. It was raining heavily so unfortunately I couldn’t sit outside, but would be nice to sit out under the umbrellas and enjoy the beer. Or maybe grab a growler to go!

Barrington Brewery - Beer in the Berkshires!

I was visiting my aunt Claudia in the far northwestern reaches of Connecticut and we took a day trip an hour north to Great Barrington, Mass. Nestled in the Berkshires only four miles from the New York border (and several miles south of Stockbridge, MA, the terminus of the Massachusetts Turnpike and made famous by James Taylor's "Sweet Baby James"), this small town has some personal connection to me. My mother grew up there, my great-grandparents are buried there, and my grandmother met her husband Gordon (my middle namesake) working at the Mahaiwe Theatre in the early 1950s. So a lot of family history in Great Barrington, and a visit was long overdue.

For dinner, we swung by Barrington Brewery, located in Jenifer House Commons on Stockbridge Road. The brewery looks like pretty much every other country restaurant - a sprawling, colonial house, a rambling dining room, and an outdoor patio. And beer! Apparently solar powered, as well - there's a ton of PV cells set up on the side of the parking lot.

Their tap list was pretty straightforward, which is kind of nice. A blend of a few IPAs, some lighter ales, and a few dark beers. To start, I went with their cask selection, which ended up being an aged version of the "Barrington" brown ale. Very soft, medium bodied, and malty with some biscuity flavors, just as it should be. I didn't try the "regular" version to compare (and should have) but I presume the cask aging has really mellowed out the beer and given it an almost nitro-like softness. Very good for malt lovers and people who like softer, slightly sweeter beers.

To accompany my dinner, I had the "Hopland", a 5.20% ABV American pale ale. It's nice and coppery, with a strong showing of tangy hops. Not over-the-top bitter, but definitely strong and an interesting diversion from the cask ale I had to start. The beer has an interesting zing of juice on the back end which I thought was quite welcome. I paired this pale ale with their half-rack of ribs, and man, these are some of the best ribs I have ever had. Super juicy, not dry at all, just spiced enough to keep it lively but gentle enough to showcase the natural flavor of the meat. A+ food, without a doubt.

Overall a very nice night. The tap list here has something for everyone and the beer is both tasty and stratightfoward - nothing stupid or fancy, just good beer. And the food can't be beat and the service was good, so if you're ever up in the Berkshires - maybe going to Tanglewood? - definitely give this place a shot.

Bonus - I grabbed a pint of their "Mankin's English Ale", a XXX ESB-style ale.

Labyrinth Brewing Company - "Turbo Love Juice" and "Milk Sickle" IPAs

Here's a two-fer spotlight on Labyrinth Brewing Co., located in Manchester, CT, just a stone's throw from my hometown of Glastonbury. I'll be in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Maine on vacation the next few weeks (well, a quasi-vacation since I still have to work part-time) so I'll be doing a bit more posting than usual. I was in Whole Foods in Glastonbury yesterday, saw these two cans for $4.75 each, and grabbed them.

Like many breweries, Labyrinth was started by a couple of homebrewers for whom the stars aligned and they struck out on their own. And like many breweries, the founders incorporated a great deal of social responsibility in their business model - they occupy a reclaimed Victorian-era building on Forest Street, and they also serve as the Manchester pickup location for the Community Supported Agriculture program, in partnership with Cloverleigh Farm.

OK, first up in our tasting line is "Turbo Love Juice" , a 6.70% ABV New England IPA, dry-hopped with Citra, Casacde, and Loral hops. Pours out swiftly, with a fizzy white head.

So, in my opinion, this is sort of a cross between a West Coast and New England IPA. I am getting some of that tropical juiciness that comes with NEIPAs (courtesy of the Citra hops, no doubt) but I'm also detecting a bitterness and crispness, especially on the finish, that you get with West Coast beers. Flavorwise, it's nothing unusual, but it's got a medium body and an approachable texture that would make this a nice accompaniment with a big ol' burger or a half-rack of ribs.

Part deux of this review is "Milk Sickle", a 7.00% "milkshake" IPA made with Mosaic, Citra, and Mandarina hops, mangoes, and milk sugar (lactose.) I love these kind of milky, sugary, creamy beers, so let's give it a go!

Good showing of mangoes with an attendant sweetness, and this beer has a nice hop backbone which gives the beer a full body. Moderate carbonation, and unfortunately I'm not getting much lactose nor is it super creamy. Tasting with me are my aunts Jayne and Claudia; Claudia detects some white grapefruit rind, like the pith - and you know what, as the beer opens and warms up, I see what she means! There's an element of bitterness here I wasn't expecting at all. The texture is certainly softer than the "Turbo Love Juice" but I just do not see the milkshake element here. A little disappointing in that regard, but perhaps I was unfairly expecting it to be similar to some Decadent beers that are practically milkshakes. However, I'd still drink this for sure, and would be a good choice for IPA lovers who might want something a tad sweeter. I also think the price point is very fair for both beers - they're good quality brews that I wouldn't mind spending $17 or so for four pints, had I come across it in a store. So seek them out if you're in Manchester - curious to see what else they have on draft!

Evil Twin Brewing Co. - "Every Day, Once a Day, Give Yourself an IPA"

I'm sure you've come across Evil Twin Brewing Company before - they're a prolific brewer, producing a wide variety of beers in either four-packs of 16oz pint cans, kegs, or less commonly, 22oz bottles. Originally started as a gypsy brewery in Denmark, they have been steadily expanding and earlier this year opened a brewing facility in the Ridgewood neighborhood of Queens. This month are slated to open a taproom, as well.

Today's post focuses on a 9.00% ABV India pale ale called "Every Day, Once A Day, Give Yourself an IPA". I love the name - this is sound advice, totally logical, and I completely agree.

So let's dig in - this is a double dry-hopped IPA made with lactose and vanilla extract. Double dry hopping is a process by which dried hops are added directly to the brewing process, often during the secondary fermentation stage. Since the hops are not boiled, this process does not add bitterness, only hop flavor. The lactose in here is a major component as well - it's going to give the beer body and will turn out milky and soft and creamy.

Not much aroma, oddly - there's a touch of hop aroma, but nothing major.

Soft and mild up front, orange is most dominant flavor in the beer, with notes of rose hips, lemon, and vanilla coming in as the beer develops. It's actually heavy and sweet on the end, with a thick texture, not lush - sort of off-dry. The lemon makes a second appearance as the beer finishes, but this time it's coupled with a very peculiar taste, and it took me about a week to figure out just what it was.

Have you ever had the Goetze's caramel cremes? The brown ones with the white center? This beer is strongly evoking those especially the white center flavors - that dry, slightly chewy, concentrated vanilla milk sugar. I really like this - a great vanilla flavor without any overly-sweet extract notes. Very cool and a great throwback to when I was a kid and my mom used to get me a pack of those cream things after summer camp.

A soft and silky IPA, I recommend this for anyone interested in a full-flavored yet not bitter IPA - or better yet, for someone who claims they "don't like IPAs."