Baxter Brewing Co.: Stowaway IPA

While history-nerding out in Lexington, Massachusetts last month, Whale and I picked up a beer at a pub. This is Baxter Brewing Company’s Stowaway IPA. The brewery is in Lewiston, Maine and they’re New England’s first craft brewery to can their entire line of beers. Naturally, mine came from a tap, but at least the glass was can shaped.

It’s a beautiful orange glow beer, very clear with a persistent, thin head. The taste is pretty hop-forward, but not like other IPA’s which might bash you over the head with hoptasticness. It’s fizzy and has a warm ending. Pretty hard to tell it’s 6.9% abv too. A decent IPA, so check it out if you’re in Massachusetts or Maine.

Story Time!!

Delightfully morbid inscriptions: Top: “As time doth fly, our death draws nigh” Bottom: “From Death arrest no age is free, My friend prepare to follow me.”

One of the things I pined for most when I was living away from my Connecticut home for the first time was the relatively rich history of New England. I was in Colorado, which is lacking in 1700’s colonial homes, references to where George Washington ate a biscuit, and creepy old tombstones which demand that you consider your mortality.

Whale and I got a big dose of history in Lexington, MA along the path that Paul Revere made his storied midnight ride, and where many classic literary giants lived. We visited the green in Lexington which witnessed the first shots of the American Revolution, and the cemetery in Concord which holds the bodies of Thoreau, Emerson, and Louisa May Alcott. I have a lot of fun trying to envision the events those places have withstood. What historical places get you excited?

Mystic Brews- Mystic Bridge IPA & Mystic Seaport Pale Ale

A certain drummer, who’s enthusiasm for Connecticut hasn’t expired yet (because he doesn’t live here), decided that a pilgrimage to Mystic Pizza was necessary to living. So we loaded into Hank (Poor Old Shine‘s instrument and body transporter) and set south towards Mystic and the site of a terrible 1980’s movie. To be honest I’ve never seen Mystic Pizza. But that’s because I avoid everything that comes from the 80’s. Including myself.

The pizza was not terrible. The beer was more interesting. We got two pitchers.

The light one is Mystic Seaport Pale Ale by Shipyard Brewing Co. out of Maine. The dark one is Mystic Bridge IPA by Cottrell Brewing Co. out of Connecticut. Well, I think that’s what they are. My notes ended with: “A little drunk. Can’t elaborate”. Sorry readers.

Here’s what I’ve got for the Bridge:

Persistent caramel head and not much aroma escaping from it’s frothy cap. The first taste is a bit hoppy and smoky. A bitter introduction followed with a watery, sweet aftertaste. It was ok. Whale (my fellow beer snob) said it had “front-loaded flavor”. Monk (the drummer on the right) said, “It’s good”. His snob level is lacking. Acordian/pumpy player, Max, said it was “more roasty” than the Seaport Pale Ale. Kathleen, was not a fan though and and proclaimed it “a butthead”. So there you go folks. The Mystic Bridge IPA is great if you want a Front-loading, good butthead beer.

Seaport Pale Ale:

This was a maltier beer with a golden, thicker head. To me, it seemed to have a fake-honey taste with some grass flavor thrown in for good measure. This was the second beer I tried. So, a little lacking on notes.

 

Story Time!

Let’s see, besides our epic Mystic Pizza Adventure, this conjures memories from the Mystic Aquarium. For one of my birthdays, someone got me a ticket to PET A PENGUIN. Yesss. So I went with my friend into a tiny room with one of the penguin wrasslers, and a Jackass Penguin. And a stethoscope. So while we sat on the floor, Mr. Penguin hopped about and investigated our shoes. The feathers are so dense (100/sq.inch) and felt almost like fur. We used the stethoscope to listen to his heart which was rapid-fire underneath his tuxedo suit. Probably one of the cutest things to ever happen in my life.

National Geographic photo

 

 

 

Goose Island Beer Co: India Pale Ale

Goose Island IPA. A fortuitous find in the cellar at my folks’ house. Poured into a frosty beer mug, it was a golden orange color with a hoppy, fruity, iron sniff to it. The taste was your standard IPA hoppy tangy citrus blast. It certainly wasn’t as strong as some IPAs in the hops department, so if you’re just getting into IPAs, Goose Island’s would be a good choice. It has more complexity than just hops-slapping you in the mouth. My beer buddy described this as having a malty sweet taste on the front and then ending with a bitter grapefruit finish.

Story Time!

That’s a goose in that picture. And if you couldn’t tell by the dust and dulled eyes, it’s a dead goose. A taxidermied goose. I thought it was an appropriate prop. And his dandy raffia ribbon bowtie is leftover from another photoshoot. For our family Christmas card. Unlike other families who send out holiday greetings graced with smiling human faces in tropical vacation spots, my parents (or more likely my father) decided to eschew convention.

“Let’s put all of our taxidermy on our Christmas Card!”

“You know what would be even better? If they had ribbons! And Santa hats!”

“This is a great idea!”

And thus, we sent probably the oddest card that anyone received that winter. But who doesn’t like a festive coyote and body-less deer bringing holiday cheer?

 

If I get enough comments, I will try and find the picture and post it. ❤

Odell Brewing Co: Tree Shaker Imperial Peach IPA

This. beer. Unfortunately I have been shipped back to the east coast for work and am no longer living in my favorite place: Fort Collins, Colorado. Luckily, I still have a few awesome friends there who hook me up with the best brews that aren’t sold in package stores here in New York and Connecticut. Odell, I have missed you. Especially when you are $2 a pint at Trailhead, and I can’t even get a can of PBR in New York for less than $6.

I don’t want to turn this into a rant on New York, so without further ado, the review.

Popped the cork off of this beautiful bottle and the vapor rose like smoke from the mouth. I poured it into my pint glass and the head was the most persistent I’ve yet come across. It was like meringue. A sculptural foam. The beer itself was a gorgeous cloudy peach yellow with streams of bubbles coming off the glass like champagne.  The scent was hoppy, and the taste was strongly hoppy too. I only got the peach flavour as a slow subtle aftertaste.  At 9.7%, it had a smooth but bubbly feel to it. Beer tasting partner in crime, Goodale (what an appropriate name right?), found Tree Shaker to be a fruity IPA without overwhelming peach.

Thank you again to Nicki for sending me this through the post. As soon as I saw Colorado Peaches + Odell +Cellar Series, I knew I had to try it. Very pleased.

      STORY TIME!!!

The Colorado Peach. It is a thing of knee-buckling beauty. As a kid, before leaving home for undergrad, I didn’t really find fruits to be too exciting. Apples and bananas, sure. Blueberries? No. I only liked picking them. I didn’t know what a nectarine was. I had never had a fresh apricot. It might have been a texture thing. It might have been lack of exposure. But I did not know the glory of fruit.

I was doubtful about the peach. It’s fuzzy and has a weird wrinkly brain seed. We dissected them in fifth grade. Someone found an actual pebble inside the peach. Who knows how that happened… any botanists read this?

I have to blame most of my post-home fruit exposure on a certain fish expert. His mom brought a whole case of western slope Colorado peaches to his apartment, and peach-mania ensued. My first doubtful bite of CO peach turned me into a peach lover. It was so juicy and fragrant and just leaked over everything. Best eaten over the sink, slurping. We made the most heavenly peach cobbler. Peach on chicken. Peaches boiled and de-skinned, sliced, and frozen for later use. Peaches everywhere. If I knew how to brew, we could have done a peach beer. It wouldn’t have been as good as Odell’s though.

Where are the best peaches from in your opinion? I expect lengthy arguments 🙂