Still reviewing
It’s been a while since I’ve added any beer reviews to this site; here are my impressions of a couple of brews I sampled this week.
Redhook Treblehook
B+ / 3.9
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | drink: 3.5
Poured from a chilled 22oz bottle into a pint glass. It has nice brown hue and is very clear. There is a small tan head that dissipated quickly in my glass (the other half of the bottle was poured into my wife’s glass, and that pour had much better head retention). The aroma has a floral hoppy scent. There are also traces of sweetness and something akin to bourbon. The flavor is the beer is dominated by a strong hoppy character. It is both floral and slightly bitter, with the bitterness getting stronger as the beer sits in your mouth. It lingers on after you swallow. I can also taste some of the alcohol; with this beer, you know you’re drinking a barleywine. The body is a bit fuller than average with low carbonation. The bitterness of the hop oils really coats my mouth and leaves it tingling. I don’t like this sensation all that much. This isn’t a beer would drink all night. In fact, I’m glad I split the bottle with my wife. Still, I do enjoy this beer and will cellar a bottle for a year to see how it ages.
Saranac Octoberfest
B / 3.7
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | drink: 4
Poured from a cellar temperature bottle into a normal pint glass. The beer has a pretty copper color and a small but respectable white head made of small bubbles. As the head is settling a little bit of lace is left behind. The beer has a pleasant aroma; there seems to be a bit of malt in it and a few spices, but nothing that I can definitely identify. The thing that strikes me first as I taste the beer is it’s full body. It’s more syrupy that I expected, but at the same time it goes down easily. I think I could drink a number of these without complaint. The flavor is more malt than hops. There are certainly some toasted grains in there, and maybe a hint of spices. Not much in the way of hops, but there is a slight lingering bitterness that is enjoyable.
Last weekend I enjoyed many new beers at Novare Res‘ NERAX event. All of the samples I had were 4 oz pours, so I did not review anything. Monday brings us a cask event at Sebago Brewing Company in the Old Port. If the pours are big enough, I’ll try to take some tasting notes. Based on a Twitter post, it looks like Shipyard will be bringing a cask of the Longfellow Winter Ale. I’m excited to try that.
