Admirable wee heavy spikes dry Scotch palate with gruff orange-soured cherry tartness, sugary fig spicing and sweet tea nuances. Reluctant red wine, pinot grigios and rose’ undertones figure in the score.
ASS KISSER ROYAL DONK DOUBLE I.P.A.
Apropos piney grapefruit rind bittering coats sticky sugar-caned malting as well as orange-peeled apricot-apple-pineapple fruiting, honey nut smear and wafting floral nuances. Less aggressively hop-infused than typical Imperials (despite heady 9% alcohol flow), but more accessible for moderate thirsts.
(RINKUSKAI) COCKA TOO POMEGRANATE LAGER
Cruddy fruited lager (with heightened 12% alcohol flow) tastes like cheap corn-syrupy malt liquor dreck. Cloy sugaring ruins advertised pomegranate influence and slushy strawberry-cranberry slurp. Miserable whiskey-backed honey wheat base and dreadful vodka niche further deride Lithuanian stinker.
PERENNIAL BLACK WALNUT DUNKELWEIZEN
Leaning more towards dried fruiting than most banana-sweetened dark wheat ales, its advertised walnut essence gets upended by an overriding fig-sugared green raisin and purple grape souring that works its way into creamy Vienna malts. Banana nut bread, honeyed praline and almond illusions provide background subtleties.
RED HOOK PUMPKIN PORTER
August gourd-spiced mocha-bound 2012 full body packs spicy pureed pumpkin frontage with caramelized dark chocolate richness. Coarse cola-hazelnut confluence and peaty Scotch sweetness relegate tertiary cinnamon-nutmeg-ginger seasoning of bold autumnal offering.
DUPONT MONK’S STOUT
Particularly peculiar soured stout (contentiously listed as a Belgian dark ale) provides cocoa-powdered chocolate chalking to wood-burnt molasses sapping, ashen nuttiness and dingy basement funk. Ancillary chicory, carob and ice coffee illusions and distant lemony tartness fill out mocha finish.
SAMUEL ADAMS DARK DEPTHS BALTIC I.P.A.
Solid Baltic Porter/ India Pale Ale hybrid (not far removed from a Cascadian dark ale) brings pine-fruited hop spicing, latent wood burnt bittering and earthen herbal respite to sweet mocha molasses sugaring. At its center, tangy grapefruit-pineapple-melon-cherry conflux contrasts dark chocolate malting. Clandestine hazelnut-chestnut-walnut conflux and mild maple molasses nuance fill out backend. Well-balanced medium-full body introduced in 2012 just after trendy Black IPA fad settled down a tad.
GREY SAIL FLYING JENNY EXTRA PALE ALE
Heavenly IPA-like bitter in a can will please hearty hopheads. More robust than a stylistically typical pale ale, allowing its sharp piney citric bite to criss-cross tangy apricot, tangerine, pineapple and quince sweetness. Increasingly effective grapefruit rind and orange peel bittering enhances resinous wood dryness and spicy tropical fruiting above saltine base.
GREY SAIL CREAM ALE
Fine canned version streamlines baked-breaded sourdough malting with resinous hop bittering, coarse grain-husked minerality and wafting cologne musk. Herbal snips and vegetal wisps glide through the salt-watered briskness as well. Serve to anyone intrigued by Heineken’s pungent hop bitterness or to less aggressive Dortmunder lager imbibers. Betters any marketed cream ale.
GREAT SOUTH BAY ROBERT MOSES PALE ALE
Bitterer than stylistic expectations, recalling a British ESB with its musty earthen tone and musked vegetal backdrop while retaining the bark-dried citric fruiting of a woodsy American IPA. Grapefruit-peeled apple-orange-peach tang satiates sweet caramelized malting to briny salt-watered bottom.
GREY SAIL BREWING COMPANY
WESTERLY, RHODE ISLAND
Tucked away in a rustic industrial section at an old red brick warehouse that served as a macaroni packager ’til World War II and a Post Office thereafter, GREY SAIL BREWING COMPANY came into existence November 11, 2011 (following a 2010 flood that wiped out Napa Auto Parts). Making consistent midrange beers for mainstream and highbrow drinkers alike, the Connecticut-bordered Rhode Island brewery hopes to do 1,200 barrels per year.
Owned by passionate home brewing enthusiast, Alan Brinton, and his hands-on Jersey-bred wife, Jennifer, a fruit and pumpkin ale fan, Grey Sail has gained the attention of the li’l Ocean State with its rock solid selections.
At the front windowed tasting room, brewer Josh Letourneau (former Mayflower associate) graciously poured Grey Sail’s best-known suds for me, August 2012. Adorned by a beautiful brewroom mural, the oak-floored space has a cozy living room feel backed by insulated silver kettles and thousands of empty cans readied for filling.
Much like nearby Connecticut competitor, New England Brewery, Letourneau prefers cans over bottles. A huge fan of Maine-based Allagash White and Belgium’s Wittekerk Wit, his brews ‘play well into the surrounding coastal beach area.’
Letourneau claims, “Cans are better for packaging. There’s zero light exposure and caps on bottles will allow oxygen ingress over time. Plus, freight costs are lower and recyclability is easier. Also, the artwork envelops the whole can.”
Though I’d miss his darkest offering, Leaning Chimney Smoked Porter, two easygoing year-round offerings, one neat Belgian-styled knockoff, a surefire autumnal seasonal and a trusty bitter proved to be one nifty step beyond stylistic parameters on tap.
The highly approachable fare included scintillating lightweight, Flagship Ale, a winning cream ale with a misty Long Island Sound crispness. Its silken pale-caramel malting, soft citric-hopped bittering, recessive lemony orange spritz and honeyed wheat base reached the salty bottom with casual aplomb.
Equally impressive, medium-bodied IPA crossover, Flying Jenny Extra Pale Ale placed orange-peeled grapefruit pith bittering above bark-dried Columbus hops and fruited Cascade hops, finishing with a sassy lemon-seeded twinge. (Canned versions are reviewed in the Beer Index).
Summery pleasantry, Hazy Day Belgian Wit, spliced softly-spiced lemony orange peel bittering with sugary crystal malts to its unmalted white wheat base, picking up a slight juniper boozing at its delicate citrus finish.
Since September’s right around the corner, Letourneau brought out busy fall seasonal, Fest, to close out my initial visit. Its autumnal foliage and leafy Noble hops set the stage for orange-oiled apple-peach-pumpkin fruiting, caramel-roasted Vienna malting and honeyed tea sedation.
OMMEGANG BIERE D’HOUGOUMONT
On tap at Andy’s Corner Bar, luxurious limited edition 2012 farmhouse ale (brewed with French yeast ale) surges forth with tart red cherry, sour red grape and sweet red peach overtones securing buttery white oak aging. Musty papier-mached clay hops contrast maple-honeyed wheat bed. Tertiary cantaloupe, mango, blackberry, raspberry and lemon meringue undertones deepen floral-tinged stone fruiting. On tap at Taphouse Grill, honeyed Scotch whiskey nuance appeared.