567. White Birch Berliner Weisse

White Birch Brewing is located in Hooksett, New Hampshire, which makes it our first non-Smuttynose beer from New Hampshire. Crazy, hmmm? Always breaking new ground. That work as this week’s rationalization?

This German-style sour wheat beer pours a cloudy dull gold; there is a thin white head that quickly reduces to a ring, although it is a consistent ring. The nose is a mix of gummy wheat with a touch of fruitiness and vitamin C tablet followed by that unsettling and yet beguiling musty garbage smell I associate with Lactobacillus. Flavors open tart with fresh bread dough in the front; the middle brightens and lightens with a blooming citric tang and bite—the beer opens considerably on the tongue from front to back—while the finish is clean with a touch of apple. The body is both bright with some slight gumminess—the combination of malt, Lactobacillus, and carbonation gives the beer a lively turbid yeastiness that is quite enjoyable. Solid overall as a Berliner Weisse; I would like it a bit more effervescent, but that’s splitting hairs. They do get the sourness right, which is saying something for the style!

From the bottle: “At White Birch Brewing, our goal is to create great beer for the enthusiast. Each batch is brewed and bottled by hand at our brewery in Hooksett, New Hampshire.

Napoleon’s troops referred to Berliner Weisse as the ‘Champagne of the North’ due to its lively and elegant character. Today this style is described by some as the most refreshing beer in the world. Our approach was to brew this beer with Lactobacillus for an authentic interpretation of a classic summer refresher.

Crafted in small quantities to be savored for any occasion. We hope you enjoy this unique beer.”

ABV: 5.5%
Bottled: Summer 2013

(6/17/2013)

497. Smuttynose Winter Ale

I’m not the biggest fan of winter beers and ales, unless they’re of the West Coast variety, which normally means more hops than spice—think Sierra Nevada Celebration, think Red Hook Winter Hook, or even think Anchor Steam Christmas Ale, which, while falling more into the traditional winter beer category, makes use of spices in a restrained and controlled manner. Read: the beer doesn’t taste like potpourri in a glass. But I am a fan of Smuttynose. So I decided to give this one a run. Or, better put, Elli decided to give this beer a run, since she bought the six pack. We’ve been hitting the Smuttynose IPA pretty hard as of late, so she decided to flip the script but keep the same crew in play. And as should be somewhat obvious by now, I’m always game with beer. Our earlier excursions into the land o’ Portsmouth include S’muttonator, Big A IPA, Old Brown Dog Ale, Baltic Porter, Imperial Stout, Shoals Pale Ale, Finestkind IPA and Farmhouse Ale. Scoring at home? That’s the kind nine.

Smuttynose Winter Ale pours a rich deep raisin-colored chocolate, something that looks chewy and inviting and decadent. For that reason, I am officially dubbing the color of this beer “figgy chocolate bread pudding.” How’s that for a name? It also appears rather clear, but since I can’t actually see through it, I’m not really certain. Works for me. The head is an off-white/eggshell cream color, but it rings rather rapidly, leaving me staring at the small skiff of cream and the luscious figgy goodness of my delicious repast. The aroma is mainly chocolate—more cocoa than milk—backed up by caramel sweetness, cracker-y biscuit notes, and even fainter spice and fruitiness. My fig and raisin gamboling might actually have some merit here. Flavors follow the nose pretty closely, although not in the same order—dry cocoa and chocolate into caramel, raisin, fig, and fruitiness. There is a possible touch of cinnamon and nutmeg spice lurking in the middle and the finish; either that, or some yeast phenol/spiciness. If forced to choose, I’d lean towards the latter. These flavors come across with the biscuit dryness in the middle, which blends well with the drier cocoa flavors that also return in the finish. While the flavors contribute to dryness of the beer, the beer does have some body on the tongue—it is slightly chewy even though the flavors run counter to that. The carbonation is gentle but present, and helps accentuate some of the biscuit and cocoa flavors in the final third of the beer. All in all, this was a very pleasant surprise. Thank you, Smuttynose, for the balance and restraint in this beer. If you were attempting to curry my favor for your previous failings (ahem! Big Beer! ahem!), consider it a job well done.

Hand-drawn map of Smuttynose Island from here

From the Smuttynose website: “Smuttynose Winter Ale is a full-bodied, amber beer brewed with a special Trappist ale yeast. Stylistically reminiscent of a Belgian Abbey Double, it features fruity aromas and flavor, balanced by soft Crystal hops. Warming, mellow & pleasantly complex, Smuttynose Winter Ale is your perfect cold weather companion.”

ABV: 5.1%
Best before: 4/17/2012

So it seems that the lesson here is that I like Winter Ales that really aren’t Winter Ales.

(12/7/2011)

441. Smuttynose S’muttonator

More from Smuttynose’s Big Beer Series. And sorry, no rhymes for this dopplebock. You’ll live. Smuttynose continues to mock me with their Big Beer Series Subscription possibilities. Damn you, Smuttynose, for being so tasty. Just remember: if you make an exception for me about that whole “no shipping” rule, no one besides you and me will ever ever need to know. Well, besides Elli—I mean, I would have to explain why beer was showing up in the mail. But she already thinks I am magical, so that really wouldn’t count anyway. Our previous slavish devotion to the beers of Smuttynose include Big A IPA, Old Brown Dog Ale, Baltic Porter, Imperial Stout, Shoals Pale Ale, Finestkind IPA and Farmhouse Ale. That Baltic Porter vertical I’m secretly compiling is gonna be the bee’s knees.

S’muttonator is a lightly hazy rich caramel toffee and has an ivory head that starts strong but quickly reduces to a ring with a small island. There is still decent carbonation action after the head dissipates—the color helps foreground the small tight white bubbles adding to the edges of the ring around the glass. In addition, there are orange and ruby highlights that accentuate the rich caramel color. The nose starts with a creamy caramel maltiness, followed by toasty, melanoidin, and raisin aromas; the dark fruit and raisin mix well with the toasty caramel malt—the nose is especially well balanced. Rich malt and caramel are the initial flavors at the front of the beer, with the dark fruit flavor—mainly raisin, plum, and fig—coming out in the middle. There is a light creaminess in the turn to the finish, and a return of malt sweetness along with some alcohol warmth that lingers past the clean finish. S’muttonator has a medium to heavy body with even, smooth mouthfeel; the beer is lightly chewy along with the warmth provided by the alcohol, and the lightly creamy carbonation helps round the beer as a whole. Melanoidin flavors increase with warmth, and a light, almost cocoa-like flavor lingers with the alcohol on the back of the throat. An enjoyable and well-crafted beer; I might age it a bit longer to allow the alcohol flavors to tone themselves down just a touch in the finish, but I did like the balance between malt and fruit in this beer, which was yummy. And yes, that is one of the descriptors that the next revision of the BJCP will be adding to good ol’ category 5C: yumminess. Remember, you heard it here first.

From the bottle: “S’muttonator is a tasty mixture of German ingredients & good ol’ fashioned New England tenaciousness. Our brewers take 30 hours to brew a single batch of this traditional Double Bock. Take your time & enjoy its rich malty & deceptively smooth flavor.”

From the Smuttynose website: “As the name implies, a doppelbock (double bock) is a very malty German lager beer. Typically quite sweet with some roasted malt undertones, doppelbocks range in color from deep amber to nearly black and are normally associated with the winter season. Traditionally, German brewers have used the suffix ‘-ator’ in naming their doppelbock beers; we have, too.”

ABV: 9.5%

Bee’s knees? Puh-lease.

(12/18/2010)

422. Smuttynose Big A IPA

Previously part of Smuttynose’s Big Beer Series, this one has been pushed into full time production to become a regular contributor to the delinquency of children. We found this on tap at South Park, where we got to watch the Seattle Seahawks get absolutely manhandled by the New York Giants. Previously from Smuttynose, we’ve tried Old Brown Dog Ale, Baltic Porter, Imperial Stout, Shoals Pale Ale, Finestkind IPA and Farmhouse Ale,

Elli’s Breakfast Stout is sneaking into the picture...

Served in the ever-ubiquitous pint glass, Big A IPA pours a hazy, dirty straw—it is not quite copper, but almost. The thin white head hangs on tenaciously, and laces the glass for at least the first third of the beer, after which I forgot to pay attention anymore. The nose features biscuit and caramel malt coupled with pine and evergreen hop aroma in the front, and an underlying herbal hoppiness in the background. There is also a slight metallic scent dancing amongst the other parts, but it disappeared as the beer warmed. Big A IPA is all caramel in the front; as it warms, more of the biscuit comes out. Bitterness takes over in the middle, with herbal hop flavors to the forefront that linger on into the finish. There is also a spicy evergreen hop flavor that marries well with the herbal flavors. In this sense, the middle is the inverse of the nose; while the nose was predominantly pine with an herbal background, here the flavors favor herbal hoppiness with pine and evergreen in the background. The finish has a slight re-assertion of sweetness, but is mostly bitterness that lingers nicely on the palate. Big A IPA has a medium to heavy body that is well disguised by both the dry biscuit malt and the big hop bitterness; both work to lighten and hide the slight stickiness of the mouthfeel. Carbonation is medium but bright, helping to round and smooth the beer. Overall, smooth and drinkable for a bigger beer—the alcohol was well-hidden, and there were no discernable alcohol flavors. Big A IPA is better balanced than many imperial size IPAs; while it is more East Coast than West Coast in terms of its IPA pedigree, it is certainly worth checking out for its smoothness and evenness. Well done!

From the Smuttynose website: “Ever since Stash Wojciechowski, the ‘Killer Kielbasa,’ created this Imperial IPA for our Big Beer Series, Big A IPA has gotten a lot of attention. Lauded by the New York Times and Men’s Journal Magazine, it’s been one of the most talked-about beers around. Brewed in very small quantities, it has also been one of the hardest-to-find. Until now. Big A IPA has everything you’d want in an India Pale Ale, only more: more hops, more malt & more flavor. Now it’s available year-round, so you can enjoy this big, flavorful beer any time you want. Na zdrowie!”

ABV: 9.7%

(11/7/2010)

331a. Smuttynose Old Brown Dog Ale

More from Smuttynose, and another dog-themed beer for Elli. We’ve run through Baltic Porter, Imperial Stout, Shoals Pale Ale, Finestkind IPA and Farmhouse Ale, making this el numero seis.

Old Brown Dog pours a reddish brown color—just about the color of a chocolate lab—and has a thin khaki head; the beer is slightly hazy, but mainly translucent. With a sweet, toasted, and nutty melanoidin malt nose, Old Brown Dog has none of the normal hoppy aroma of an American brown, which of course would then make this a British brown. Flavors start pretty clean and neutral, with a sweet brown and bready flavor. There is a nutty, fruity flavor in the middle and a touch of spiciness in the finish, although there is no hop bitterness of character anywhere else in the beer. As well, there are dunkel and bock-like characteristics to the beer flavor profile. Old Brown Dog has a medium body with minimal carbonation—it is adequate to keep the beer clean and not sticky, but there is not much more than that. A well crafted beer overall—clean, smooth, and well balanced with good darker malt characteristics that are subtle and well-developed—but it is not really one of the styles we love, so we’ll just call it good and leave it at that.

From the Smuttynose website: “Old Brown Dog has been cited as a classic example of the ‘American Brown Ale’ style of beer. Compared to a typical English Brown Ale, Old Brown Dog is fuller-bodied and more strongly hopped. Old Brown Dog has been around for many years. It was first brewed in 1988 at the Northampton Brewery. In 1989 it won a silver medal in its category (American Brown Ale) at the Great American Beer Festival in Denver.”

ABV: 6.5%

IBU: 15

OG: 1.060

FG: 1.016

Hops: Cascade & Willamette

Malts: Pale Brewers, Munich, Crystal 60°L, & Chocolate

(5/27/2010)

300. Smuttynose Baltic Porter

We’ve hit the big 300 with another from Smuttynose’s Big Beer Series, making this our fif Smuttynose. We’ve run through Imperial Stout, Shoals Pale Ale, Finestkind IPA and Farmhouse Ale. I can only choose one...

guess who’s back...

Smuttynose Baltic Porter pours an inky thick chocolate brown with a light brown head. The nose is redolent of dark fruits, chocolate, and rich malt sweetness; it does get sweeter smelling as the beer warms. The flavors begin with a big rich sweetness mixed with chocolate in the front; the middle adds coffee and dark fruit to the mix, with raisin and currant the most obvious fruit flavors, and possibly a bit of cherry in the background. Baltic Porter then moves into roastiness and more coffee in the finish, ending rather clean. While there is a bit of lingering roastiness, the finish does exhibit the lager qualities of the Baltic Porter style. The mouthfeel is thick and creamy and the body is medium to heavy. Baltic Porter has medium carbonation that helps lighten the rich body on the palate, and also contributes to the clean finish. More chocolate richness does emerge as the beer warms, although for some reason this seems to lighten the body slightly. Overall, a smooth, drinkable, and delicious beer. We’ll be scoring a couple of extra bottles of this to throw in the basement—we’re guessing that much like the Alaskan Baltic Porter, this one will get much better with a little bit of age on it.

From the bottle: “The Smuttynose Big Beer Series: big beers in big bottles, released seasonally in very limited quantities. Share one with your comrades!”

Oh, the flavor.

From the Smuttynose website: “Indigenous to northern Europe, Baltic Porters historically stem from the shipping of British porters to the Russian hinterland. Unlike their British cousins, Baltic Porters are often brewed with lager yeast, which is the tradition we follow. Big & bold, with flavors of coffee, dark fruit & raisins, this black beer is smooth as a chocolate swirl.”

ABV: 8.7%

(4/26/2010)

282. Smuttynose Imperial Stout

Another from the Smuttynose Big Beer Series—you remember, the one I would sign up for, but they don’t ship. Stupid Smuttynose. They do also now have a half-case option, which again does us no good since you have to go to Portsmouth to pick it up. Oh, the humanity. Anyways, I digress—this is our fourth beer from Smuttynose, in addition to Shoals Pale Ale, Finestkind IPA and Farmhouse Ale.

Imperial Stout pours an inky black with reddish orange highlights and a latte-colored head that provides good lacing on the glass—let’s just say it’s got some legs. The nose is mostly roasted malt with a slight touch of herbal hoppiness and possibly grassiness in the background. Starting with a roasty sweet molasses front, Imperial Stout moves into bitterness and coffee flavors, ending with some slight alcohol and chalkiness and a bit of lingering bitterness. Medium to heavy bodied with a thick, viscous mouthfeel, Imperial Stout does have a bit of alcohol bite to it—it tastes a bit young, as the alcohol is sharp and slightly astringent. As well, the flavors haven’t really established themselves as of yet—everything comes across as still in process. We’re guessing in about six months that this will taste much more delicious once the flavors have a chance to better marry in the bottle, so we’ll be throwing our other bottle down into the basement and check back on it then. We’ll keep you posted.

From the Smuttynose website: “Originally brewed in the early 19th century for export from Britain to the imperial court of Russia’s Catherine the Great, imperial stouts are characterized by their dark color & full body. This style features a rich, malty sweetness coupled with aggressive hopping (especially in American interpretations). Notes of dried fruit as well as roasted malt flavors are typically present. For more information about this style, please consult the Brewers Association Style Guidelines.”

(4/8/2010)

119. Smuttynose Shoals Pale Ale

“This one could be kinda old...”

Another from the Smuttynose Brewing Company in Portsmouth, NH. Our last two from them were their Finestkind IPA and Farmhouse Ale.

Shoals Pale Ale is a dull cloudy brown with a minimal white head. The nose carries with it fruity esters and some light hops; there is not much malt character to it, although the breadiness of the nose increases with warmth. Shoals begins with light fruit esters and some dry malt flavors, moves into medium levels of bitterness and some soft bready malt, and ends with hop bitterness and fruity flavors carried by either the yeast or the hops. There is also some caramel malt flavor that emerges in the front with warmth. The body is light with a soft mouthfeel and a low level of carbonation; there is also a hint of dryness on the palate. Shoals Pale Ale comes across as more of an English style Pale Ale than an American one with the fruit esters and the low levels of aroma and flavor hops (low carbonation as well). While this could be in part due to age (see photo) it could also just be from the fact that it is an English style Pale Ale.

From the Smuttynose website: “Our interpretation of a classic English beer style is copper-colored, medium-bodied and highly hopped. Its flavor is delightfully complex: tangy fruit at the start, with an assertive hop crispness and a long malty palate that one well-known beer writer has compared to the flavor of freshly-baked bread.”

ABV: 5.5%
IBU: 30
OG: 1.050
TG: 1.012
Malts: Pale Brewers, Crystal 60°L, Carastan, Wheat
Hops: Cascade & Chinook

(10/27/2009)

85. Smuttynose Finestkind IPA

Our second beer from Smuttynose Brewing Company, located in Portsmouth, NH.

Smuttynose Finestkind IPA has a hoppy caramel malty nose and a straw to copper color with a thick creamy head that laces well down the sides of the glass. The mouthfeel is soft and even, with a bit of a bite from the carbonation as the beer sits in the mouth. Creamy initial mouthfeel mixes well with light caramel maltiness, although overall malt presence at the front of the beer is subdued and thin. Light biscuit notes as beer moves into a hoppy middle with deep dry bitterness predominating. Carbonation adds extra bite as beer moves across palate and into the end, with enough bitterness coming through to create a dry sensation in the mouth at the end that lingers pleasantly. As odd as such a description may seem, the thin body meshes well with the dry bitterness of the beer—the balance between the two, mixed with the creamy mouthfeel, draws the different parts of the beer together nicely. In using the mouthfeel to provide the substance of the beer, the flavor profile becomes the vehicle for a hoppy bitterness accentuating the beer’s taste across the palate. As well, there is more bitterness than either flavor or aroma hops in this beer—lots of dry cotton-mouthy bitterness. Smuttynose IPA is both an enjoyable take on the traditional notions of an IPA and also some good drinkin’.

From Smuttynose’s website: “GOLD MEDAL WINNER - Best American Beer 2004 Great British Beer Festival

‘Hands-down one of the best American-style India Pale Ales ever crafted. This brew is lip smacking, with an aggressive and pungent grapefruit hop character. Wonderfully balanced and insanely drinkable.’ - Jason & Todd Alström, the Weekly Dig’s Beer Highlights of 2004

Portsmouth is a colonial era seaport town, so it goes to follow that sooner or later we’d brew an India Pale Ale as a tribute to those big, hoppy 19th century ales that made the long sea voyage from England's temperate shores, ’round the Cape of Good Hope, to the sultry climes of the faraway East Indies. But there's another reason we brewed this beer, one that’s closer to our home and hearts. Hopheads. Ten years ago we brewed our first batch of Shoals Pale Ale, our American interpretation of the traditional British ESB (Extra Special Bitter) style. At the time, it was widely considered to be darned hoppy. However, a funny thing happened over the last decade - our Shoals Pale Ale didn’t change; beer lovers did, and we started to hear more and more: ‘Why don't you guys make a really hoppy beer?’

You could say, then, that Smuttynose IPA is a physical salute to the glory of the American hop grower. The citrusy hop flavor coming from a mixture of Simcoe and Santiams is pleasantly balanced by a smooth bitterness from the Amarillo hops. The beer itself is light bodied and crisp with a golden color that will throw a slight haze, as we bottle it unfiltered. At 65 IBU's, this is definitely not a training-wheels IPA, but is meant for hop lovers looking to satisfy their craving in a way that's not easy to find. We think they’ll be quite pleased.

Our IPA is dry-hopped and unfiltered. The lees (sediment) that formon the bottom of the bottle are a natural part of this fine ale.”

ABV: 6.9%

IBU: 65

Hops: Simcoe, Santiams, & Amarillo

(9/23/2009)

46. Smuttynose Farmhouse Ale

From the Smuttynose Brewery in Portsmouth, NH, Farmhouse Ale is a member of Smuttynose’s rotating limited release Big Beer Series. You can even purchase a subscription to the entire Smuttynose Big Beer Series, although there is no mailing option. If we lived anywhere near Portsmouth, we’d be taking advantage of their offer: 108 bottles for $485 makes good economic sense, even if we’re not sure we could put all of them down. But I digress...

Smuttynose’s Farmhouse Ale has a bready and spicy sweet candy nose. With a hazy dried hay color and a thick, lacy creamy head, it certainly looks and smells like a saison. Starting crisp and then moving quickly into a sweet candy malt taste, Farmhouse Ale has a nice spice body in the middle, including hints of clove, citrus tartness, coriander, along with yeast ester flavors and some slight hop bitterness before finishing crisp and refreshing. There is a soft, thick mouthfeel that rolls around in your mouth, and a decent carbonation bite that helps frame the flavor profile. Elli was less excited about this beer than I was; I do like it, although I agree that the middle is a bit sweet compared to the front and end of the beer. As well, the sweetness on the front comes in more as it warms—it does get a bit gooey with increased warmth. Nonetheless, an interesting and complex beer, one worth a second try the next time a bottle comes our way.

From the Smuttynose website: “Broadly speaking, a farmhouse ale - or saison - is an esoteric style native to the French/Belgian border region. Characterized by a golden to light amber color, light to medium body, and noticeable fruity/spicy esters, this beer, known also as a ‘country ale’ was traditionally brewed in primitive conditions in farmhouse breweries for consumption throughout the warm weather by seasonal farm workers. Our Farmhouse Ale is an homage to traditional European beers brewed for quenching the thirst of farm workers, or ‘Saisonaires.’ A unique Belgian Saison yeast is used to impart a mixture of spicy, fruity, & earthy notes along with lip-smacking palatability.”

Also available through the Smuttynose website is “Smuttynose Brewing Notes,” a blog run by Smuttynose’s Executive Brewer, David Yarrington. While there are a limited number of posts (three this year, for example), it is pretty interesting stuff. Finally, there is a section called “Brown Dog Pinups.” You want your dog to achieve internet beer fame, here’s the initial stepping stone for future success. Something tells me the photo of Buddy with a Harpoon wouldn't win us any favors at Smuttynose.

ABV: 8.8%

(8/15/2009)