On tap at Ambulance Brew House, respectable Italian saison (a.k.a. New Morning) drops farmhouse-dried minerality into lightly herbal-spiced citric tartness. Honeyed lemon souring leads the way before subtle green-peppered ginger, coriander and chamomile adjuncts affect the fruited midst. Tertiary orange marmalade, curacao orange, tangerine, green grape and gooseberry illusions pick up herbal tea nuance. Parched hay, horse blanket and wild oats acridity deepens ultra-dry template.
TUPPER LAKE, NEW YORK
Tucked away in upper New York’s Adirondack Mountains, RAQUETTE RIVER BREWING opened March 2014 inside a small ‘northern country’ wooden cabin near Lake Saranac and Lake Placid. Featuring four flagship offerings, including an untried Pale Ale, this boutique operation allows free samples, growler fills and keg sales (as of August ’14). Based on the few worthy offering already available onsite, future expansion seems imminent for dedicated brew masters Joe Hockey and Mark Jessie.
One enjoyably sessionable summertime seasonal, Orange Coriander, brought lemony mandarin orange, curacao orange and clementine mildness and light coriander spicing to its toasted white bread base, retaining a pleasant citric tartness perfect for any witbier enthusiast.
As for the flagships, upscale Blonde Ale maintained a sturdier piney fruited IPA-like briskness than many of its simpler stylistic competition. A clear favorite among local denizens, its loud yellow grapefruit rind and peel bittering as well as zesty orange pith pectin and sugared pineapple tang picked up wood-dried white peppering.
Similarly styled India Pale Ale buttressed its bark-dried piney hop bittering with tangier grapefruit, pineapple and orange juicing.
The most unique offering, German-styled Red Ale, brought barley-smoked campfire cinders to roasted butternut-chestnut wisps and mild red-orange fruiting for a moderate-bodied rauchbier-like infatuation.
During October ’14, Dennis returned with sessionable summertime moderation, Pale Ale, a fruity Cascade-hopped pleasantry with crystal malt sugaring and mild grapefruit, lemon and orange illusions receiving wispy celery earthiness.
One month hence, Dennis picked up a growler of awesome autumnal dessert, Imperial Pumpkin. Its brown-sugared pumpkin pie luster sweetened the ethanol-charged lacquering, leaving cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg spicing along the honeyed yam midst.
November 2015, enjoyed rangy Hefeweizen, a sassy stylistic moderation with white-peppered grassy hop astringency reinforcing sweet banana-clove expectancy and raspy lemon bite. Afterwards, mocha-smoked Irish Stout brought black-malted dark chocolate bittering to dry oats toasting and wood-singed charcoal hop char.
January ’16, discovered three more Raquette River offerings. Best bet: convincing Imperial Pumpkin contrasted brown-sugared cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice seasoning against leafy-hopped earthen gourd acridity. Wheat-honeyed crystal malting and red cherry snip kept it on the sweet side.
Sessionable North Country-bound India Pale Ale brought candy-spiced tropical fruiting to moderate piney hop bittering and vegetal celery acridity. Sunny grapefruit, orange, pineapple, mango, peach and papaya tang retained easygoing nature.
Surprisingly less bitter than the aforementioned flagship IPA, Double India Pale Ale relied less on stylish grapefruit-orange-pineapple bittering than brown apple/ brown pear sweetness to rise above light piney-hopped wood tones as well as French-breaded caramel toasting.
www.raquetteriverbrewing.com
On tap at Taphouse Grille – Wayne, light stout takes barley-malted second runnings of A Night To End All Dawns Imperial Stout and creates fine low-alcohol (3.7% ABV) moderation. Sedate dark-roasted coffee and black chocolate frontage mildly embittered by charred hop roast. Tertiary milked espresso, cola nut and earthen peat illusions vie for space.
On tap at Taphouse Grille – Wayne, chameleonic strong saison (7.8% ABV) blends advertised tangerine-peach tartness into wood-dried hop grouting and peppery herbal spicing, picking up passive cologne muskiness. After a few sips, sweet banana bubblegum illusions come forward to contrast its deepening orange rind bittering. Desiccated wheat, rye and spelt grained spine wavers and a hint of lemongrass, perhaps, seeps beneath the busy medium body.
On tap at Taphouse Grille, sessionable dry-hopped English brown ale scatters walnut chocolate cake illusions across mossy earthen peat. Brown tea-like followup seeps into mild hop bittering and light biscuit malts. Lightweights’ delight.
On tap at Taphouse Grille, mild dry-hopped English IPA suffuses floral citric hop bittering with reedy wood tones. Brisk yellow grapefruit rind and orange pith sharpness overrides dewy mineral grained temperance.
On tap at Taphouse Grille, easygoing flagship pale ale retains dry moderate body. Punctual citric-hopped bittering juxtaposes buttery pale malts. Sharp lemon pith bite enlightens dark floral bouquet, chamomile tea reminder and light vanilla persuasion. Just a tad askew.
On tap at Taphouse Grille, viable dry porter lets subtle Scottish peat smoke infiltrate dark-roasted chocolate malting. As the smokiness subsides, its mocha theme widens to include ancillary ground coffee, cocoa and cacao nibs influences. In the recess, mild vanilla bean bittering and latent cola nuttiness contrast sweet black cherry hints.
On tap at Taphouse Grille, dominant Ethiopian coffee adjunct creates emphatic lemon rind-rimmed espresso impression. Medium-roast coffee overtones stretch across latent IPA fruiting. Lemony grapefruit-peeled orange rind bittering deepens dry-hopped faction. At the finish, its espresso veneer fades and the citric tangent spreads.
On tap at Taphouse Grille, namesake ‘Simcoe’ hops provide lemony up-front splurge and floral-sweetened orange-grapefruit ripeness. Piney perfumed passivity fades while sugar-spiced crystal malting gains footing. Tropical pineapple, mango, papaya and passionfruit undertones solidify well-balanced small batch 2014 offering.
Easygoing amber-hazed summertime barleywine (’14) slips caramel sweetness and sugary toffee into sinewy yeast. Candied apple glazes Maraschino cherry, raisin, prune, fig, sugarplum and bruised orange fruiting. Chestnut, almond and pecan smidge affects oaken vanilla subsidy. Dark rum and bourbon undertones provide mild alcohol burn.
“Evoking a classic midsummer salad” with its musky dry-hopped herbage, brusquely salted tomato-cucumber niche and faintly bruscetta-like backdrop, halfway intriguing 2014 limited edition (draft-only) pale ale needs firmer stylistic identity (though finding a referential pale ale seems impossible). Pungent garlic, onion and basil snips drift off post-haste. Less unique than gimmicky and coarse instead of sharp.
