Underwhelming springtime saison tries to utilize blanched strawberry tartness but gets pared down by lemon-soured yellow grape esters and musky horseblanket astringency.
SAINT SOMEWHERE FRAISES D’HIVER SAISON
On tap at Ambulance, subtly fruited collaboration with Switzerland’s Trois Dames pushes aside usual citric-soured saison styling for evaporative strawberry tartness and dry earthen musk. Wispy lemon liming thins out alongside pithy seltzer-crisped strawberry resonance to its honeyed biscuit spine.
STUBBORN BEAUTY BREWING COMPANY
MIDDLETOWN, CONNECTICUT
Fifteen miles south of Hartford, yet another very worthy Connecticut brewpub operating out of a rustic red brick warehouse opened. Past the bustling downtown shopping district and not far from liberal arts mecca, Wesleyan University, STUBBORN BEAUTY BREWING COMPANY (closed January 2025) is hidden away in the industrial back roads half a mile off the beaten track.
Visited on a sunny Friday afternoon in April ’15, brewer-owners Shane Lenini and Andrew Daigle tend to the two-and-a-half barrel brewery (with seven fermenting barrels) before the place packs up with happy local denizens and a few out-of-towners thrilled to soak down some of the latest great suds. With expansion imminent, Stubborn Beauty has both the space and captive audience to grow substantially in quick time, possibly canning and bottling within months (and already featured at nearby Celtic Cavern and 36-tap bar, Eli Cannon).
The maroon-walled tap area features a concrete-topped serving table, two stainless steel tables with six benches apiece, brass replica lighting, black hanging fans, and an eye-grabbing silver and red bottle-capped mosaic donning the company’s rose insignia. A humorously named Sour Tiddy’s ale make it past the censors but is now gone as I dig into seven really fine samplers.
Starting with the lightest choice, the briskly yellow grapefruit-juiced Naughty Eskimo Session IPA, each succeeding ale leads into the next in orderly fashion. Setting the stage, the above-mentioned Naughty Eskimo’s grapefruit rind and peel bittering softly flows into its light Vienna malt sweetness, picking up a lemony squint.
With its rye malt base deepening the sweet-soured citric hop oiling, How Rye I Am Saison plied honeyed saison yeast to lemony orange and grapefruit illusions, musty farmhouse rusticity and dark-roasted mocha malts.
Its stylishly darker counterpart, How Atramentous I Am Black Saison, contrasted chocolate-roasted dark cocoa against black grape, green raisin, prune and fig.
Two impressively detailed German styled brews arrive next. Wheat-wined delight, Panzerfaust Weizenbock, with its nominal 15-IBU hop presence, allowed all the Sugar Daddy-candied sweetness and Belgian chocolate spicing to shine above the honeyed grain spine.
Perhaps as worthy, Kommandant Lassard Dunkelweizen combined fig-dried plantain souring and bittersweet chocolate with ESB-like tobacco-roasted peat tea.
Conquerer Imperial Brown Ale relied on hop-roasted chocolate spicing.
Coming full circle, Nummy Nummy IPA, the flagship beer, loaded sharp grapefruit-peeled bittering atop sticky pine resin and pilsner-like Maris Otter malts, gaining tangy orange rind, peach and tangerine illusions at the heavily-hopped citric finish.
TWO ROADS UNORTHODOX RUSSIAN IMPERIAL STOUT
Dismayingly ‘unorthodox’ dark ale collides treacly black patent-derived rye malts with wavering soy-sauced cocoa powdering, splotchy black licorice tones and barren dried fruiting, sacrificing stylistic mocha creaminess for resinous hop-oiled astringency. Subtle rye influence and desolate dark chocolate musk prove underwhelming.
BOULEVARD CHOCOLATE ALE
On tap at New York Wing Factory, alluring cocoa-infused dessert treat (with pale-malted light amber hue) tastes like a Tootsie Roll. Fudgy chocolate-caked sweetness encounters subtle citric souring and soft vanilla spicing at the midst, finishing with butterscotch, toffee and cocoa nibs illusions serenading its rich cocoa-sugared brown chocolate scheme.
OLD SCHOOLHOUSE IMPERIAL INDIA PALE ALE
Dazzling full-bodied rust-hued India Pale Ale spreads chewy cookie dough yeast across stylish piney grapefruit peel bittering and floral-perfumed citric hops, creating a rich intensity not far removed from stellar Ipswich IPA. Bustling honey-spiced caramel malting, sugared almond-praline-chestnut conflux and mild toffee sweetness furnish tangy bruised orange, candied apple, cherry liqueur, marmalade jelly, nectarine, pineapple, tangerine, melon, peach and apricot vibrancy to its biscuit-y bottom. Sugary spruce oiling deepens the juicy-fruited aspect. Highly recommended.
ITHACA EXCELSIOR 17 ANNIVERSARY WHEAT IPA
Going for the trifecta, hybridied 17th anniversary American wheat ale gets crossed with a brettanomyces-soured IPA to fine effect. Evenly spread pineapple-grapefruit-tangerine tang and wood lacquered orange rind bittering create dominant IPA briskness that overrides rustic ‘wheat ale’ tendencies. Tart lemon souring, brettanomyces yeast and barnyard funk add ‘sour ale’ affectations. Mild pink peppercorn heat warms the citric aftertaste.
SPEAKEASY DOUBLE DADDY IMPERIAL IPA (W/ CITRA HOPS)
On tap at Ambulance, cask conditioned Citra-hopped version of easygoing Big Daddy brings gentle creaminess to mild lemony orange-peeled grapefruit rind bittering and sweet-spiced peach-tangerine-melon tang. A soft-toned winner.
ANGRY ERIK HOP-N-AWE
On tap at New York Wing Factory, vibrant Imperial India Pale Ale equally distributes its prickly grapefruit-peeled bittering and herbal hop bite with luscious orange, apple and peach juicing. Sugary caramel malting keeps the pleasing fructose-sucrose sweetness on par with the well-hidden 10.3% alcohol astringency and bitter citrus rind finish.
902 HEAVEN, HELL OR HOBOKEN IPA
On tap at New York Wing Factory, diacetyl Cascade-hopped India Pale Ale may’ve been infected. Sour lemony orange rot meets musky vegetal murk to ill effect. Closer to a murkily defined pale ale.
RIVERTOWN LIL SIPA INDIA PALE ALE
Sessionable l’il IPA brings floral-nipped citrus tang to light grassy hop bittering and herbal pine resin. Lemony grapefruit-peeled tangerine, clementine and peach tang casually saunters by dewy pale malts. Just right for lighter thirsts.
HARPOON GHOST KING
On tap at Shepherd & Knucklehead, approachably hybridized medium-bodied Imperial White India Pale Ale (with well hidden 9.3% ABV) truly suffices. Perfumed citric fruiting, sugary coriander spicing and syrupy crystal malting sweeten the front end as black-peppered orange peel bittering retains toned-down briskness. Candied red apple, peach, pear, melon and tangerine illusions provide jolly mood to contrast orange-peeled grapefruit rind splendor.