Brewery Hill makes consistent easy-to-drink brews. And this sweet-scented, deep amber-toned “kettle-hopped” pale ale’s no exception. Wispy caramel-chocolate sash leads to lusty barleywine palate. Fizzy orange blossom midst picks up speckled nutmeg-cinnamon spicing. Durable sour yeast sinew emerges, lining the tongue with latent honeyed butterscotch illusions.
All posts by John Fortunato
BREWERY HILL CHERRY WHEAT ALE
Cherry juice and intrinsic citric nuances firm up fruitful thick-headed ruddy wheat ale. Unobtrusive grain presence and surfacing wheat escort gently cover crisp water flow. Closer to cherry pie than cherry soda.
BREWERY HILL CARAMEL PORTER
Perfect for dessert, reddish browned caramelized porter allows polite brown chocolate malt richness to soak burnt-sugared toffee-butterscotch sweetness. Serve to softcore pilsner-lager amateurs as an amiable crossover.
BREWERY HILL BLACK & TAN LAGER & PORTER BLEND
Tar-blackened mocha presence and stifled barley haste form basis of smoothly unassuming black and tan. Instead of being profoundly bitter or ‘toot’ sweet, its meandering grains get top billing. Closer to mainstream lager than well-crafted porter and thankfully, priced accordingly.
BREWER’S CAVE AMBER WHEAT ALE
Chewy caramel thickness, creamy chocolate richness, and sour candied mouthfeel set up quaint wheat ale. Though sharp sour fruited bitterness abates predictable barley-roasted finish, its numbing sweet chocolate insistence ambles coolly.
BREUGHEL ST. BRUNO BRUNE SUR LIE
Viscous oak-aged Flanders-styled ‘oud bruin’ (old brown) offers prune-soured cherry pucker and lactic cocoa recession above mild caramel malt fringe. Closer to gauzy copper ale than rich brown ale.
BREUGHEL KAMOUR BLANCHE
Audible carbolic fizz and sedate doughy mouthfeel converge for whitish yellow-hued moderation. Wispy banana-bubblegum retention, spritzy hop dryness, and frisky pineapple-apricot-lemon-grapefruit tang deadened by intrusive carbonation, lowering coriander-spiced curacao orange influence.
BRECKENRIDGE VANILLA PORTER
Remarkable lactic porter makes excellent dessert fodder. Vanilla bean bittering absorbs sweet brown chocolate, cappuccino, coconut, creme de cocoa and molasses-toffee scintillation. Peat-smoked roasted hop char stabilizes anise, hazelnut, cookie dough and cherry puree illusions. At maple malt finish, casual bourbon-sherry whim detected. On tap, initial vanilla-mocha intensity receives whimsical dried fruiting, watering down burnt caramel malting a tad.
BRECKENRIDGE SUMMERBRIGHT ALE
Softly carbolic pale-toned summer brew proves non-traditional, as dry barley-roasted oats-toasted cereal graining undoes expected summery fruitiness by constricting fructose tolerance. Daintily-spiced yellow-fruited center wavers. Worse, muted sour wheat finish tanks.
BRECKENRIDGE PANDORA’S BOCK
Smooth handcrafted lager retains radiant raisin-esque bock charm as maple-sugared almond-macadamia nuttiness inundates sweet chocolate malting. Creamy mocha finish receives orange-soured cognac kick.
BRECKENRIDGE PALE ALE
Ill-defined coppery pearl-headed English-styled pale ale lacks assertive resolve though roasted barley, buttery malts, and bitter-spiced floral hops compare favorably to Breckenridge’s similarly toasted Summerbright Ale. Watery finish dissolves sharp peach-grapefruit-tangerine array and wheat bread subtlety.
BRECKENRIDGE OATMEAL STOUT
Dry roasted coffee souring, frothy dark chocolate creaminess, and dirty vegetal earthiness complement oats-toasted mineral graining. Sweet mocha-cocoa undercurrent delicately relinquished by deep espresso counter, but heavy carbonation precludes smoked peat nuance. Needs richer burnt coffee finish.