Taproom Talk

I’ve been a fan of Stone beers ever since I had the opportunity to attend a beer dinner hosted by these guys a few winters ago. I’ve pretty much tasted their entire selection and have enjoyed each one. It wasn’t until a recent trip to San Diego though, that I had the opportunity to taste their Pale Ale and I must say, this is one of the best beers I’ve ever had!

This amber colored beer poured with a thick head to reveal a pleasant hoppy smell, which was incredibly inviting. The taste was simply awesome- a light citrus hoppiness balanced by subtle caramel malts, followed by a wonderful light bitter finish. This was a beer of Liberty Ale proportions and the frustrating part is that this is a hard beer to find on the east coast!

As far as coast to coast Pale Ales go, on the east coast, an excellent pale is of course, Dogfish Head’s Shelter Pale Ale; however, I’d have to say that at this point, the west coast’s Stone Pale Ale is by far the best pale I’ve ever had the pleasure of drinking.

These guys can’t go wrong with their selection of beers- in time, I’m sure a greater variety of their nectars will be available to the faithful. Until then, you’ll just have to schedule some time to go to San Diego where you can buy their beers in grocery stores.

On a recent trip to the beautiful Smoky Mountains in North Carolina, I had the pleasure of trying the Highland Brewing Company’s Tasgall Ale. This is no ordinary Ale, however! This dark porterish colored ale poured from the tap with a deep sandy head that lasted the entire drinking experience. The smell of malts was immediately noticeable and was followed by a deep earthy taste of lightly toasted malts. There was an ever so slight peppery taste that subtly let you know this was a strong beer (in fact, 8% ABV); however, it was pleasant, unlike the experience of a similar Scottish style ale, Skullsplitter. The finish was agreeably clean and it seemed that over time the hints of smokiness enhanced.

This is a unique beer that has me excited to taste others from this company. If a normal hoppy ale is what you’re looking for, you’ll probably want to pass the Tasgall by; however, if you like dark, earthy beers, then demand the Highland

I haven’t had many English style Bitters, however, after drinking this mildly bitter ale, I feel a tinge of regret that I haven’t had the pleasure of enjoying more of these fine beers. The Ridgeway Bitter from the Ridgeway Brewery is an incredibly good beer that bursts with a floral hoppy flavor that is highly reminiscent of the laudable Liberty Ale from Anchor Steam.

This Bitter poured with a light gold hue and gave off a wonderfully pleasant hoppy smell with a slight hint of malt. The smooth, crisp taste had an excellent balance of hops and malts, yet it wasn’t overly bitter as the name would suggest. This beer’s taste was highly pleasant with hints of grassy floralness and the finish was extremely subtle.

The Ridgeway Bitter is an excellent beer- if you’ve ever had the enjoyable experience of tasting Anchor Steam’s Liberty Ale, you’ll immediately notice a subtle similarity of balanced crispness. The next time I see a Ridgeway Bitter, I’ll plan on drinking it.

Yet again, I’ve tasted an excellent Extra Pale Ale. It’s rare to come across a bad one and this one was exceptional due to the complex citric taste and a highly complementing finish.

The Mad River Brewing Company’s Steelhead Extra Pale Ale poured with a light gold hue and appeared to be unfiltered due to the suspended particles, which lasted the entire tasting. At first, these particles caused me a bit of concern; however, any worries abated once I took my first sip. This is an impressive beer with a Clementine-like orangey taste that is highly sweetened- almost like candy. Don’t be fooled though by the sweetness comment- this beer is smooth with a good hoppy balance.

Mad River brewed an excellent beer with their Steelhead Extra Pale Ale. I highly recommend this beer and am looking forward to enjoying more from this brewery.

I can think of only one beer that tastes good out of a can and that’s Mother’s Milk. Add this to the fact that most Canadian beers I’ve tasted, outside of the province of Quebec, are an underwhelming experience and it’s obvious that I should have resisted the urge to taste Alexander Keith’s IPA. Maybe it was because the barkeep poured the beer into a wine glass that I resisted my snobbishness and reluctantly accepted the free drink.

I generally like IPAs due to their hoppy, crisp taste; however, as I took my first sip of this Canadian drink, I was sure the can was misprinted as all I could pick up was a watery malt taste. I couldn’t pick up any hops. I took another sip to verify, and sure enough, this beer was horrid. I decided to put an end to the unpleasant experience right then and there. Does an IPA imply something different in Canada?

If the beer has been labeled a lager, I may have just described it as a watery lager and left it at that. But, because of the IPA sobriquet, I’m left utterly disappointed and once again reaffirmed in my belief that only one beer can be purchased in can and that on the large part, Canadian beer must be brewed incorrectly. If you are Canadian, give a Wild Goose IPA a try and you’ll see my point.

During a cold weekend stay in Minneapolis recently, I had the pleasure of imbibing a hometown favorite: The Summit Brewing Company’s Extra Pale Ale. Minneapolis was indeed a cold place (there was roughly ten feet of snow on the ground); however, this beer was definitely the warm spot of the weekend.

This incredibly smooth beer poured with a thick head and a darkish color that took me off guard as most pale ales are a lighter hue. The bronze-ish color, however, yielded an excellent beer with a hoppy smell balanced with a light malt essence. The taste was quite good and well balanced with hints of citrus. I found myself drinking this beer slowly to fully enjoy its not overly aggressive hoppy taste mixed with a subtle maltly background.

Bottom line- this is a spectacular beer from Minnesota that is fit for a snob. While the landscape in Minneapolis is flat, this is the one summit one can climb. And the view at the top is beautiful.

Unfortunately, on the whole, Canada’s beer selection has never really impressed me. Beer from the province of Quebec, with its French influences, however, is a totally different story.

Take, for example, the McAuslan Brewing Company, who brews the amazingly smooth St. Ambroise Pale Ale. This fine amber colored ale pours with a medium head, which slowly dissipates while delivering a wonderfully citrus nose. The taste is crisp with an elegant balance of bitter hoppiness and caramel malt hints that leave you awe inspired and yearning for another sip.

This is a phenomenally bonne bière that I highly recommend drinking as often as socially possible. Bon Appètite!

The Mendocino Brewing Company is a favorite among beer snobs. They have a knack for consistently producing high quality beers. Without a surprise, they’ve prevailed, once again, with their outstanding Red Tail Ale.

This amber ale poured with a beautiful thick white, head that slooowly dissipated to one of those hang-on-to-the-sides of the glass heads, while all the while, a light bubbly essence produced a slightly malty smell. Upon first taste, my first thoughts were wow! followed by, what is it? The taste is amazingly balanced with neither a strong hoppy or strong malty taste- just an excellent equilibrium of spices that is highly inviting and clean. The finish produces hints of hoppiness that leaves you anticipating the next sip. This beer leaves you speechless due to its malty smoothness- it’s simple and clean, like beer should be.

Bottom line- this is an excellent beer! I’m thoroughly excited by this beer and look forward to many more opportunities to imbibe upon this wonderful ale.

When I was at my favorite beer friendly pizza shop, I spied Southampton Secret Ale with its large keyhole on the label. It is a yeasty ale that tastes like a pilsner. The label says this is a, “dusseldorf style altbier.” Well, ok. Hinkty hurdy furdy gerdy then. Apparently it was also a medal winner at some sort of state fair. Alright that’s not fair, it was a bronze medal winner at the 2002 Great American Beer Festival. It went well with some food I ordered, but unfortunately that’s the best attribute I found for this mysterious brew.

I was eager to taste the Wild Goose IPA, which is brewed by the Frederick Brewing Company in Frederick Maryland, as I thoroughly enjoyed their SnowGoose seasonal awhile back. Much like the SnowGoose, I was once again, astonished.

This light gold beer poured with a slight white head that quickly disappeared to reveal a pleasantly hoppy essence with few bubbles. The taste was incredibly crisp and refreshing with smooth hints of hops and citrus. The finish was highly complementary with a smoothness that reminds me of the nectars produced by the Anchor Brewing Company. This is a highly impressive showing- the IPA is worthy of a tasting any day.