On tap at Growler & Gill, musky Noble-hopped pilsner plies pepper breaded cracked corn husk and straw-dried barnyard acridity to herbal lemon rot. A profuse, fulsome, German lager yeasted alternative for rustic lumberjacks.
ICARUS SUNWALKER SMOKED PILSNER
On tap at Tapastre, modest beechwood smoke affects mild pilsner malting and dry citrus nip, becoming musky at the calm finish.
CIGAR CITY GOOD GOURD
On tap at Tapastre, sweet cinnamon-spiced pumpkin pie goodness rides above honeyed wheat malts. Beneath the surface, brown-sugared vanilla caking spiced up by nutmeg-clove seasoning as well as molasses-sapped gingerbread.
FAT ORANGE CAT THE RAVEN CHOCOLATE RASPBERRY PORTER
On tap at Poor Henry’s, bitter black-malted dark roast graining and cocoa-powdered dark chocolate insistence gain humble raspberry tartness. Ashen wood-charred nuttiness deepens its bitter pungency. For heartier dark ale lovers.
LOOKOUT FARM BREWING COMPANY
NATICK, MASSACHUSETTS
Just 20 miles west of Boston in the bucolic town of South Natick, Belkin Family’s LOOKOUT FARM BREWING COMPANY resides at the front building of a historic multifaceted farm. Fruit orchids, gardens, farm animals and a redwood stable selling goods are only some of the highlighted features making this reliable agricultural venue so attractive.
In 2014, the Belkin’s opened a cidery that then expanded to include a brewery by 2017. The warm A-frame tasting room (with beautiful coppertop bar and Ford tractor grill tap handles) connects to a spacious family-styled greenhouse.
Brewer Aaron Mateychuk (formerly of defunct Walthan brewery, Watch City) designs stylishly diverse brews listed at the chalkboard along with four ciders. 4-pack cans of each draught selection are also available in the side refrigerator.
After perusing Boston’s Freedom Fest the day before, I took Freedom Leaf editor Steve Bloom and his buddy, Tom, to Lookout to enjoy a sunny Sunday afternoon, September ’18.
Sweet blue cornmeal positively affected Czex Mex Blue Corn Mexican Lager, a hybridized light body with sweet tangerine contrasting bitter grapefruit.
Salty kettle-soured guava and tangerine tartness permeated limey gose-like So Many Silos, a spritzy Seltzer-like moderation with mild cider and lemon snips.
Wood-toned citrus tones imbued Hold Your Horses Northeast IPA, underpinning its grapefruit-peeled orange rind bittering with mild peach sweetness.
Off-dry tropical medium body, Dashboard Double IPA, let grapefruit, orange, pineapple and mango juicing soak up its oily piney hop bittering.
Candi-sugared Back Door Belgian Triple heaped corn syrupy caramel malts upon whiskeyed cherry tones.
Soft-tongued dark-roast coffee and charred walnut dominated First Cut American Stout, a robust full body with ancillary wood-burnt espresso, Blackstrap molasses and dark cocoa illusions.
www.lookoutfarmbrewing.com
ALVARIUM BEER COMPANY
NEW BRITAIN, CONNECTICUT
Yet another worthy Connecticut-based warehouse brewery, New Britain’s ALVARIUM BEER COMPANY opened June ’17. Creating the “ultra communal taproom,” Hardware City’s first microbrew is head brewer Chris De Gasero’s creation. His wide spectrum of semi-permanent and one-off beer recipes brings lots of locals to the pristine pub.
Inside its echoey chamber, Alvarium’s serving station features reclaimed red oak for its bar, 12 stainless steel draught taps and a chalk-boarded beer menu. Antique chop-blocked community tables, living room furnishings (off to the side) and several brewtank-sidled stools fill out the bustling room. Solid steel I-beams hang from the pipe-exposed aluminum ceiling.
On our one-hour stopover on the way to Boston Common’s annual Freedom Fest, my wife and I stop by to try all ten available brews, September ’18.
Dry corn-flaked Cremo Traditional Ale, Alvarium’s original flagship, let caramelized pale malts slip past its grassy hop stead for an ultra-clean opener.
A mild lemon spritz usurped equally moderate Kraftwerk Hefeweizen, upending its stylish banana-clove-bubblegum sweetness, raw-honeyed wheat malting and light vanilla snips.
Sharp IPA-like fruiting welcomed hybridized Werkshop: Amarillo/Bravo-hopped Hefeweizen, where lemony orange-peeled grapefruit bitterness and musky herbal hops overrode any banana-clove semblance.
Understated White Denim Witbier let its sweet orange-peeled coriander spicing endure alongside honeyed chamomile herbage to its baked-breaded white wheat spine, picking up a soapy carbolic frisk at the timid finish.
Thickly hazed chartreuse turbidity clouded two fine India Pale Ales. Peach-pureed Craft Sorceress Session IPA gained lemon-seeded souring above grassy-hopped herbage and groaty wet graining.
Meanwhile, dry Mosaic-Citra-hopped Phresh Northeast IPA provided sour lemon liming for ruby red grapefruit tanginess, mango sweetness and orange juiciness above groaty malts, becoming a colorful “rainbow sherbet experience.”
Another East Coast IPA, Treewalker, brought mossy caramelized rye malting to piney citrus-candied luster. Yet another, opaque orange-mango-hued Light Me Up IPA benefited from subtle pineapple-pureed passionfruit tartness and flaked wheat malting, gaining a briskly clean yellow grapefruit bittering at the midst.
A bitter grapefruit bite imbibed Starman Imperial IPA, a Galaxy-Citra-hopped medium body with spritzy lemondrop tartness guarding passionfruit, guava and mango tropicalia.
Light salinity prickled oyster-shelled Shuck Nitro Stout, leaving bitter walnut-shelled black chocolate chalkiness upon charred hops.
alvariumbeer.com
CARTON IRISH COFFEE IMPERIAL CREAM ALE
On tap at Beef Trust, Carton’s highly exulted Regular Coffee Imperial Cream Ale gets soaked on Irish wood and given a peppermint twist. Creamy milk-sugared coffee frontage picks up sweet vanilla-chocolate tones, wispy green creme de menthe freshener and distant cappuccino, caramel latte and espresso macchiato snips. A richly fulfilling dessert treat.
CARTON INSIDE OUR DNA OAK AGED INDIA PALE ALE
Definitive old school wood-aged Newark IPA recipe utilized for cream ale malt bill and swampy Bullion hop oiling. Oaken-whiskeyed vanilla tannins subtly ascend above sharp orange-peeled yellow grapefruit tanginess, dainty spice tingle and mild phenol bittering.
SHIP BOTTOM NYD RUSSIAN IMPERIAL STOUT 2018
Robust dark-roast chocolate malting upends wood-dampened hop char dried out by raw molasses bittering. Oncoming black coffee sway picks up singed walnut tinge. For bold thirsts only.
BURIAL GANG OF BLADES DOUBLE INDIA PALE ALE
Perfectly centrist moderate-medium body unites piney tropical fruiting with creamy cereal-grained barley malting. Resinous pine-lacquered grassy hop astringency contrastingly lingers alongside juicy pineapple, peach, grapefruit, orange, tangerine, mango and clementine tang. Slight alcohol burn exists at zesty citrus-candied finish. On tap at Ambulance, tropical medium body allows zesty juicy fruited nature to spread atop resinous piney hops, malted wheat sweetness and mild floral accents. Tangy lemon-peeled grapefruit, pineapple, mango, tangerine, peach and papaya fruiting bursts forth. Funky house yeast imparts waxy grouting.
DESCHUTES JUBEL 2015 – PINOT & OREGON OAK BARREL
Complex pinot noir-influenced winter ale. Creamily caramelized toffee and brown chocolate sugaring receives affable dried fruiting contrasted quickly by sour purple grape tannins. Burgundy-licked raisin, fig and prune tartness sweetens over toasted barley malts, leaving prickly noir traces on the back of the tongue. A tad thin stylistically, yet wholly festive.
MAINE WOODS & WATERS INDIA PALE ALE
Crystalline Maine water provides brisk crisping to fruitful gold-cleared moderate-to-medium body. Vibrant floral-daubed pink grapefruit, mandarin orange, pineapple and mango tanginess gains mild orange-candied lemondrop tartness and spicy respite to contrast resinous piney hop oiling and earthy herb-nipped cannabis dankness. Delicately creamed orange marmalade froth tickles the tongue up-front while its dough-sugared barley-wheat spine pleasantly sweetens the backend. A soft, cushiony splendor.
