Dashing molasses-sugared oak-aged porter whimsically compares favorably to Newcastle Brown Ale. Treacly molasses sapping softly layers brown chocolate-malted vanilla, coconut, butternut, honey-glazed maple, spice cake and cola illusions as well as lesser rum-spiced sherry, bourbon and burgundy wining. Oaken whiskey snip gets diluted over time.
Delicately complex Belgian pale ale never fails to delight. Lemony banana bubblegum blast sweetened by cotton-candied butterscotch sensation, syrupy peach-pear sinew and creamy vanilla-caked spicing. Peppery hop bittering wispily imbues subtle clove, coriander and allspice seasoning before reaching doughy baked bread bottom. A luscious stylistic marvel.
Crisp mountain-watered golden-hazed German-styled pils (not to be confused with Alpine Glacier American Lager) betters its similar-named predecessor. Honeyed cereal graining backs up grassy-hopped citric zest. Lemony briskness brightens the overall mood as sourdough, baguette, white rice and sweet corn dalliances overwhelm any metallic solvency.
Sour yellow-fruited Saaz hop astringency and meager white-breaded sourdough spine too thin for musty dry-bodied moderation. Murky lemony orange tartness picks up bubbly champagne grape esters and rotted green apple wisp over acrid straw-hay parch. Salty carbolic tingle underscores slim citric setting.
Almost as intricately woven as its Belgian-styled bobbin lace moniker suggests, copper-hazed light-to-medium body offers candied yeast sweetness to tart lemon-soured plantain flatness and hefeweizen-related banana-clove bubble gumming. Distant clove-coriander spicing and murkily fig-dried peach tones curtailed at biscuit malt bottom .
Indelible canned medium body brings sunny grapefruit-orange tang and zesty lemon twist to clean-watered saltine cracker spine. Bright citric briskness scurries through grassy hop spicing, sugary dough starching, barley biscuit toasting and earthen floral nuances. One of the best sessionable pale ales marketed.
Sharp yellow-fruited grassy hop affability ascends above musky pale lager yeast (fermented at colder ale temperatures) for smoothly crisp yellow-bellied middleweight. Zesty lemon, grapefruit and orange tang stays brisk as musty floral earthiness settles behind honey-soured caramel malting.
Mediocre blue-collar fodder with heightened toasted hop astringency and murky citric souring fails to ignite. Rotted grapefruit-orange-tangerine tartness gets washed-out at sourdough bottom. Metallic tinge lowers impact further.
Dark-roasted mocha graining and nutty hop oiling fuel unspecific dry-bodied ‘export stout.’ Fresh-roast coffee waft reinforces cocoa nibs chalking, black chocolate fudging and raw maple sapping. Walnut-charred pungency deepens ashen charcoal astringency.
DETROIT, MICHIGAN
In the historic Hartz Building, mainstream downtown venue, DETROIT BEER CO. opened September ’03 and has ties to equally centrist Royal Oak Brewery and Rochester Mills Beer Co. Serving decent Americana cuisine alongside predictable, yet well-rounded, hand-crafted libations, this spacious two-floored space with high tin-tiled ceilings, exposed pipes and prominent brass brewtanks sits across Comerica Ballpark and Detroit Opera House.
A veritable sportsbar with multiple TV’s, Detroit Beer Co. benefits greatly from its accessible central locale. A front porch area gets set up when weather warms up and a relaxed ambiance suits local businessmen.
Though stylistically underwhelming, each on-site beer had its moments. Farmhouse Pale Ale brought hoppy lemongrass herbage to sweet Belgian yeast sugaring undone by phenol astringency. Local 1529 IPA provided refreshingly clean floral-bound grapefruit and navel orange zest. Detroit Dwarf Altbier maintained a red ale-like citric spicing and caramelized nuttiness over toasted hop bittering. Semi-sweet brown chocolate malting and roasted hazelnut consumed Brokedown Brown.
Belgian yeast affected best offering, Dark Strong Ale, a Belgian-styled strong ale bending grape-soured stewed prune, raisin and black cherry fruiting into coffee-stained burgundy wining.
For dessert, citra-hopped Yeti Barleywine suited stronger tastes with its candi-sugared fruit zest and fusel alcohol burn.
www.detroitbeerco.com
NORWALK, CONNECTICUT
In downtown Norwalk across the street from another beer-centric gastropub, Ginger Man, elegantly detailed GUVNOR’S BREWERY is the brainchild of owner Tony Aulakh, a former basement-bound home brewer with an eye towards well-prepared standard pub fare and high-end cocktails.
Open September 2013, my wife and I sojourned to this quaint glass-fronted, wood-designed, red-bricked saloon during March ’14 for Sunday lunch. Formerly a candy store, Guvnor’s charming interior includes a 12-stooled bar with three beautiful gycol-cooled Italian-styled Perlick tap stations serving Aulakh’s eclectic in-house ales (plus 2 TV’s, fine wines, upscale liquor and beer grafitti). The sterling glass-encased copper brewtanks behind the bar contain today’s six choices listed in erasable chalk.
Seated at one of the 12 right side tables, we enjoy award-winning clam chowder, fresh fried mozzarella sticks and meaty Guvnor’s Burger alongside the three lightest brews.
Lightly creamed Skinny Jeans Light Pale Lager delicately placed grassy hops next to honeyed cereal grains. Dryer Iron Curtain Pils seemed daintier than most stylistized Czech pilsners, gently flowing forh with honeyed malts and light earthen hops. Served with an orange peel, easygoing Summer Chill Wheat plied coriander-spiced citric niceties to its fragile white wheat spine.
Approachable Guts & Glory American IPA maintained a moderate grapefruit-peeled bittering to contrast its orange-candied peach-apple-pear spicing and sugary caramel malting.
For dessert, two inspiring dark ales took center stage. Intensely roasted Choc-A-Block Porter brought creamy vanilla-beaned cocoa nibs to the fore, leaving Baker’s chocolate, chocolate liqueur and chocolate eclair undertones in its wake.
Even better, subtle nitro-like Black Magic Stout spread heavenly mocha creaminess across ancillary dark cherry-pureed black grape and blackberry fruiting. Mild black coffee, dark chocolate and dark cocoa illusions simmered soothingly.
On tap at Shepherd & Knucklehead, musky spring saison brings white-peppered sour fruiting to dry pale-malted acridity. Moldy orange, rotted lemon, bruised grapefruit, green apple, clementine and champagne grape illusions desiccated by musty barnyard leathering. Soured orange tartness wins out by busy finish.