Classic Irish-styled dry stout (brewed in Massachusetts for Connecticut brewpub) spreads cacao nibs across dark-roasted black patent malting. Ancillary ice coffee, dried cocoa and tarry molasses illusions fade to ashen charcoal coarseness. Peat-smoked mocha snip done in by plastique acridity.
Rangy English-styled India Pale Ale drapes stylish mossy peat dewiness over rye-dried Scotch malting, raw-honeyed cereal graining and nutty respite for lightly creamed middleweight. Salty carbolic fizz camouflages peppery herbal hop dankness and soggy vegetal dirtiness to its barley biscuit bottom.
Holiday-seasoned mocha stout brings chocolate-chipped molasses malting to caramel-burnt toffee-cocoa-coconut restraint, creme brulee sweetness and compost-wafted winter spicing. Dark chocolate, coffee and licorice notions crowd the back.
Unspecific, yet easygoing, limited edition smoked ale lacks true Belgian yeast character and could use amplified smokiness. Nevertheless, its toasted caramel sweetness and orange-spiced fruiting pleasantry override paltry peat-smoked malting. Weirdly, this had little correlation to brewers’ muskier and drier Belgian Ale.
Surprisingly similar pungent yeast profile as brewers’ Irish Style Ale confusingly compromises tropical guava, kiwi and passion fruit whim as well as herbal earthen musk with gnarly solvent-like astringency and dank yeast fungi. In the distance, musty grape stems and soured apple cider inform peppery hop coarsening.
Phenol cider-like astringency messes up dry peat-grained malting and mild cocoa-molasses conflux. Pungent yeast profile too close to brewers’ tepid Belgian Ale.
Unconventional cider-honeyed pale ale brings compost-wafted earthiness to lemon-rotted green apple tartness and champagne-fizzled yellow grape esters. Burnt rubber off-taste brings unwanted astringency.
On tap at Blue Ribbon Tavern, enduringly mellifluous dessert beer (ltd. ed. 2014) provides rounded mocha mouthfeel as richly textured oats-sugared hop-charred full body lets Four Roses bourbon oak seep into equally dispersed gamut of black chocolate, mocha latte, caramel latte, creme brulee, vanilla, toffee and coconut tones. Dark-fruited black cherry, fig and blackberry nuances rally from behind. Superb bourbon chocolate elixir.
On tap at Blue Ribbon Tavern, daringly sophisticated Cascadian Dark Ale enriches stylish hop-charred black chocolate malting and distant grapefruit-dried pineapple fondue undertones with surprisingly insistent walnut-roasted bitterness (and less prominently contrasted hazelnut sweetness). Light charcoal burn increases resolute bitterness while relegating sugary toffee dalliance.
On tap at Blue Ribbon Tavern, polite Belgian-styled moderation brings unexpected plastique grouting and floral dusting to typical witbier’s soft-toned lemony orange tartness. Elegantly detailed, its advertised lavender-perfumed ginger herbage and white-peppered coriander spicing reside above the fruitful vanilla-daubed honeyed wheat base (picking up peachy banana-clove-bubblegum wisps along the way). Mild soapstone minerality scratches the surface alongside subtlest rosewater, dandelion and eucalyptus snips.
Large yellow and pink grapefruit rind-pith-peel contingent brightens front end of dry medium-bodied saison. Russian rye-breaded pumpernickel flouring anchors zesty citric juicing, sweet banana-coriander reminder and earthy vegetal tinge. As grapefruit dominance diminishes, sour orange, pineapple and peach illusions flourish.
Signature amber-copper staple loads aggressive India Pale Ale-like hop bittering into piney tropical-fruited citrus crisping. Pineapple leads the way above zesty orange-peeled grapefruit rind luster and sugary caramel malting. Phenol dark floral spicing relegates tertiary mango, guava and passion fruit illusions. A step ahead of lighter, less flavorful pale ale peers.
