Beercation Part 4 - Rock Art Brewery

After our visit to the scenic Trapp Family Brewery, DBNE trekked up to Morrisville to visit Rock Art. If you go there, note their new address posted on their website because Google maps doesn't know it yet. If you type “Rock Art Brewery” into your GPS, it will send you to their old address. Luckily their new location is on the way to the old location so if your eyes are peeled enough (ours weren’t) you’ll see it on your left coming from the south.

Rock Art is a comfortable brewery to visit. It’s on a main road (as “main” as they come in this neck of the woods), with its own parking lot and a shiny new visitor’s center that runs as a store. Aside from bottles and growlers of their own beer, the store also sells a few Vermont food items (cheeses, dipping sauces and spreads in tiny-therefore-cute bottles), handmade wooden trinkets, and other Vermont-themed randomness completely unrelated to beer. You can even outfit your entire body with an array of Rock Art apparel like hats, shirts, jackets, and sweat pants. I didn’t look close enough but I wouldn’t be surprised to also find Rock Art boxer shorts there, too. I mean, what better piece of clothing is there to promote their barleywine called “Vermonster”?

We showed up for a 4pm tour that their website promoted. But when we arrived we were told there was no tour. Disappointing. If you plan to visit and are hoping for a tour, call ahead and ensure it’s really happening. Their website still advertises the 4pm tour but who knows if it’s true.

Luckily, tastings are always available. For $4 you get two-ounce tastes of four or five beers and a souvenir glass to take home. Now, we need another souvenir glass like we need another bill to pay. I’d rather just pay $1 for samples and let them keep the glass. But if you have room in your cabinet, this is a fine deal.

The tasting area is a full-size bar that makes the focal point of the room. We saddled up to it and tasted their Whitetail blonde ale, a mild barleywine called RidgeRunner, a stronger barleywine called Vermonster, their Pumpkin Stout, and American Red.

To be honest, Rock Art beers in general don’t often excite. The blonde, Pumpkin Stout, and American Red don’t’ stand out in their own respective crowd, and RidgeRunner – while tasty enough – has confused people. If you look at RidgeRunner as a unique Imperial Red of sorts, you may be happy. But if you’re looking for a typical barleywine, you may be disappointed. Rock Art claims Ridgrunner is a British barleywine, and it may or may not be to style. We’ve can’t recall tasting another “British barleywine” so we have little to compare it to. But ultimately, RidgeRunner is a tasty enough brew to purchase once.

Us Americans are used to bigger barleywines; ones with double-digit ABVs. And that’s the territory where Vermonster sits. At 10%ABV, Vermonster is the second-best beer DBNE has ever tasted from Rock Art. Despite a lack-luster appearance, its bold flavors conjure a mix of pine, candied dark fruits, orange zest, and tobacco. Compared to other barleywines, it doesn’t beat all of the competition, but it’s still one of Rock Art’s best and worth a purchase.

So if Vermonster is second-best, what’s #1? We say that spot belongs to the Double Smoked Porter. It was not offered at our tasting, but was purchased not long ago and it exceeded our expectations. It has a wonderful aroma of smoky grain, burning cedar, plus a little mocha and charcoal. The flavor is woodsy, slightly charred, with additional faint notes of dark chocolate and coffee beans. The more it warms up, the more smoke is noticed. If you see it, give it a shot, as it easily stands next to some of the best Baltic porters we’ve tried.

Rock Art may not be the crown jewel of breweries in northern VT. But they make honest beers with a couple highlights.  They’re a staple in the local beer scene and their generosity to lend materials has been noted by their fellow VT brewers nearby. Any beer tour in VT’s northeast kingdom is not complete without a stop at Rock Art. Just make sure you make room for another souvenir pint glass in your cabinet because you’re getting one whether you like it or not.

Rock Art Brewery

632 Laporte Rd/Rt 100

Morrisville, Vermont

www.rockartbrewery.com

Open 9:00am - 6:00pm Monday - Saturday ($4 tastings until 5:30pm)

Beercation Part 3 - The Trapp Family Brewery

Stop three of our tour brings us to a storybook place no beer fan or movie buff should pass up while in the Stowe area - The Trapp Family Lodge.

This lodge was founded in 1950 by the vocally talented Von Trapp family (also known as the “Trapp Family Singers”).  They originally fled Germany in 1942 after their home was confiscated by the Nazis. Years later, Maria von Trapp, the family’s mother, wrote a book called “The Story of the Trapp Family Singers” that was eventually adapted into a play. That play was later developed into a motion picture you may have heard of, called “The Sound of Music.”

While the movie was filmed in Europe and not Vermont, the Lodge’s grounds in Stowe make you believe that parts of the film could have been filmed there. We can pretend at least. It’s easy to. Because when you get out of your car atop the large hill that the Lodge is perched on and gaze out over treetops to mountains in the distance, you may find yourself saying “The hills are alive! …with the delicious aroma of malted barley and fermenting sugars.”

In the 1970’s, Joannes Von Trapp – the youngest child of the singing family – took over management of the Lodge. He eventually moved to British Columbia and then Montana, but later returned to manage the family business again. Then just about a decade ago, he had a novel idea. He wished to brew his own beer for the resort’s guests. The vision was to brew American versions of the native lagers he enjoyed during trips back to his ancestral home in the Austrian countryside.

I like the way this man thinks.

His dream became a reality in 2010. The Trapp Family Brewery opened in a small building known as the resort’s “DeliBakery,” which is detached from the lodge itself. The actual brewing happens on the bottom level while the café to enjoy beers and food is upstairs.

As you enter the building, you immediately walk into the deli where you can order sandwiches, small plates, baked goods, coffee, tea, and their homemade lager. I didn’t realize this until later, but customers can also walk right through the deli, past the adjoining dining area, and into a bar area with a handful of seats. It seemed you could saddle up and order beers and grub here as well.

The DeliBakery is simple, yet quaint in Austrian character. Its wooden tables, booths, and chairs look handmade with touches of traditional Austrian and Bavarian-styled carpentry. While the dining area is almost all wood, the bar room is contrasted by an all-glass wall that looks into a modern kitchen where cooks bake doughy European-style treats and tasty lunch grub.

Attached to the bar area is outdoor deck with seating that offers fine views. I couldn’t help but think that on a nice summer’s day the deck must be an enjoyable spot on which to kill time with a brew and sandwich. It was a bit too raw on the day DBNE visited to experience this, but it gives us enough reason alone to visit again in warmer months.

Time for adult beverages and chow.

We purchased our beer and food from the deli area and then sat ourselves at a booth in the bar room. Food was brought out to us from the kitchen within five or ten minutes.

There were four house lagers available to us and we tried them all. I’ll say right now that you can do no wrong ordering any of their beers. They’re all excellent and taste like traditional benchmark representations for their styles.

Their Dunkel Lager had the perfect level of caramel malt, breadiness, and earthy grain. It made me realize I hadn’t tasted something so on-point to style in a long time.

The Vienna Lager was properly brassy in appearance and offered the exact flavors one would expect from the Vienna style. Notes of cereal, toffee, and floral hops were in precise proportion. Another two thumbs up.

Their helles-style lager was surprisingly good. I expected this one to bore me as it’s hard to make a helles exciting. But for such a modest and light style of beer, theirs was as packed with flavor as one could hope for while still staying in helles territory. Its notes of honey, cracker, and grassy hops made this crisp and refreshing without tasting the least bit lame.

Lastly, and best of all, their schwarzbier called “Trostenbier” was superb. It ranks right up there with some of the best schwarzbiers and black lagers I’ve ever tasted. It offered big roasted grains with a touch of smoke and an undercurrent of unsweetened bakers cocoa. Faintly spicy hops provide just the right amount of bitterness. It’s clean and super drinkable.

These lagers are impressive. Are there more creative takes on these styles? Sure. Creativity now runs rampant in American craft brewing. But the Trapp Family Brewery showed me that the ability to nail a traditional take on these European styles is just as exciting. Refreshing, in fact. Their ingredients may have something to do with it. The brewery imports all their barley and whole-flower hops from Germany, where many of the beer styles they brew originated. (Side Note: An effort is underway to revive the cultivation of these particular hops and barley varietals in New England, with new strains adapted to the local climate.)

But is there something else at play that’s helping their lagers taste so accurate to their European roots?

Maybe this: The source of the water for Trapp lagers is an artesian well located near the brewery. It’s said that well water has chemical qualities similar to Austrian spring water, making it ideal for brewing European style lagers. I’ll believe it.

A quick note on food: The steak sandwich I had here was another reason our visit was so enjoyable. My sandwich was not your typical sloppy steak and cheese monstrosity from your local pizza joint. This was an easily digestible, artisanal steak sandwich, well-season, and topped with chimichurri sauce. I’d be happy to get it again.

After an absolutely pleasant experience at the Trapp Family Brewery, we’re eager to visit again. But for now, we continue our tour northward and stop in Morrisville VT. Here, we stepped into the Rock Art Brewery, which is our focus in Part IV to come. 

Trapp Family Brewery at the Trapp Family Lodge

700 Trapp Hill Road

Stowe, Vermont 05672

www.trappfamily.com

Beercation Part 2 - The Alchemist

Part II of our northern Vermont journey sees us heading straight for the town of Waterbury. Here, one can visit two amazing places within short walking distance. That’s the Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream factory, and The Alchemist Cannery.

After a brief visit to Ben and Jerry’s to ingest creamy, fatty, deliciousness, we waddled into The Alchemist. The Alchemist used to be known as a loved brewpub, and it sat at a different location in town. Unfortunately, Hurricane Irene wasn’t kind to it. The storm blew through Waterbury and flooded many businesses, including The Alchemist, which could not re-open in its original state. (Note – The Alchemist’s original space is now open as another pub called Prohibition Pig, run by different people).

Thankfully, Jen and John Kimmch, owners of The Alchemist, previously began building a cannery at a location spared by Irene’s wrath. Perfect timing. The cannery opened days after Irene checked out of town.

The Alchemist cannery is a modest building located on a quiet side street off of a busy Rt 100. As you drive up to it, you’ll notice a tall, skinny, simple sign at first that simply says “brewery.” This is where John Kimmch does just one thing; brews his double IPA (DIPA) named Heady Topper.

The facility has a small tasting room and retail shop where one can buy Heady Topper in four-packs, though many people buy it by the case. This beer is extremely popular among beer geeks, and after I had my first taste of it just weeks before, I saw why. Heady Topper is not the most bitter or alcoholic DIPA (8% ABV), but it offers serious layers of citric hop goodness with astounding drinkability for the style.

It’s interesting – if you were on a white-sand Caribbean beach, a stronger beer style such as a DIPA is not typically the alcoholic drink you’d fancy, right? Heady Topper disrupts this idea. Its hop flavors remind me of tropical vacations with a touch of northern pine and raw tea leaves. If I could buy Heady Topper on the next tropical beach I lay on, you would have a hard time convincing me that life gets any better.

Heady Topper costs you $12.00 for a four pack of 16 oz. cans. Or, you can buy one can (if you’re lame) and pay $3.75.

That’s right, their beer comes in cans. Why? Cans are an often misunderstood vessel in the beer world. They’re associated with mass-produced, sub-par beer and craft brewers don’t often use them. But canned craft beer is becoming a trend, and many beer enthusiasts argue that it’s a more ideal way to package beer. Cans are said to better protect beer from sunlight (beer’s enemy), and don’t leak oxygen as easy as bottles.

“Our state-of-the-art canning line allows us to preserve and protect our beer against the impact of UV light and oxygen,” states The Alchemist. “Our cans are environmentally friendly. They take less energy to produce, ship, and recycle.”

One last element to Heady Topper’s personality that’s worth mentioning is the claim that’s written near the top of the can. The words “DRINK FROM THE CAN!” are written in bold, capital letters. This goes against what almost every beer geek practices and it causes debates.

Us geeks always pour our beers in glasses to appreciate a beer’s appearance. This allows the formation of head to occur which releases the beer’s aromatics. I’ve come to enjoy this element of beer consumption just as much as tasting it. So where does Heady Topper get off telling us to drink straight from the can without letting it decant and develop in a proper glass? I don’t know, but I love it. I drank it from the glass and I drank it from the can; when something tastes so supremely good, it doesn’t matter how you consume it. And after the debates subside, that’s something many beer fans can agree on.

After visiting The Alchemist cannery, and skiing on slush for two sun-drenched days, DBNE continued its brewery tour at a place that exhibits grandeur and Austrian charm - The Trapp Family Brewery. 

The Alchemist Cannery
35 Crossroad
Waterbury, VT 05676

Phone: (802) 244-7744

www.alchemistbeer.com

Beercation Part 1 - Lawson's Finest Liquids

If you’re a wine lover looking to go on a wine-focused vacation, you probably look at California. You could, of course, go to various spots in Europe. But if you want to stay in the U.S., California is probably top of mind before other states like Washington, Oregon, and New York. And with good reason. It’s fantastic, as DBNE experienced not long ago, and I yearn to soon again frolic in its bucolic rolling hills under the spell of rich zins, bold cabs, and leathery sangiovese.

But what about beer geeks? Where are we supposed to trek in our own country to visit world-class breweries in one geographic area? Where can we taste the most citric American IPAs, luscious porters, and complex barleywines all within driving distance? If you asked ten beer fans, I bet reaching a consensus wouldn’t be as easy as with wine lovers. Beer geeks may suggest California, Colorado, Michigan, or New England. Those all sound great. But DBNE can personally advocate for one of those (surprise, surprise).

Of course I’m talking about New England. But where exactly?

Picture a rainbow. A rainbow with an end. And that end is found – pot of gold and all – in the northern half of Vermont. With more breweries per capita than any other state, all of Vermont is worth mentioning, not just the north. Southern Vermont is home to Madison Brewing, Northshire Brewery, and McNeill’s Brewery (creators of a porter I adore), but the majority of Vermont breweries lie in central or northern territories.  

DBNE made a spring ski trip to the Stowe area. Due to weather, skiing ended abruptly and we suddenly had more time on our hands than anticipated to visit breweries. Not a terrible tradeoff.

Overall, the quality of beer we experienced was hardly short of amazing.

On the way to Stowe, we planned a stop in the town of Warren; a place tucked away in hillsides, practically hiding from the rest of civilization. Warren is home to a store named – you may want to sit down for this – “The Warren Store”. While we love poking in New England country stores, we stopped by The Warren Store for one purpose; score some of the acclaimed “Lawson’s Finest Liquids”. This beer is made by Sean Lawson near his home in Warren, but due to the tiny size of his operation the brewery does not offer tours or tastings. The only place to purchase Lawson’s beer is typically at The Warren Store, where Sean personally drops off bottles every Friday morning. One may also sometimes find Lawson’s beer at the Hunger Mountain Coop in Montpelier, and the Beverage Warehouse in Winooski VT, but The Warren Store is the shop most associated with the beer.

This is a quintessential New England country store with a potpourri of items for purchase; from cheese to clothes to beer to, well, potpourri itself. The store used to accept bottle reservations for Lawson’s beer, but as of recently no longer do. Your safest bet to ensure you get bottles for yourself is to get there as soon as possible on Friday or Saturday. You’re only allowed to purchase four bottles, and supposedly the store has no idea what beer Sean will drop off that week. 

As it's widely declared that all of Sean’s beers reach varying levels of greatness, I wasn't overly concerned with the exact beers he dropped off that weekend. Whatever it was, as long as there was some left, I'd buy it. 

Turned out the fresh batch delivered the day before was his Permagrin Rye Pale Ale, and about half of it was left. This is one of the two Lawson’s beers DBNE has previously tasted. (Last year at the American Craft Beer Festival in Boston, Lawson offered tastings of Permagrin and their Double Sunshine IPA. The latter was the highlight of the festival for us.) 

We bought three 22oz bottles of Permagrin ($7 each), and one bottle of another of Lawson’s beer that seemed left over from a previous shipment – the Oak Aged Fayston Maple Imperial Stout. This beer comes in a large wax-dipped bottle and robs you of $25. I’m sure that price tag has something to do with its slowness to leave the shelf, though there were only a few left. 

Our Fayston bottle is aging, but we did consume our Permagrins relatively fresh. Below are brief tasting notes:

Appearance: Foggy amber in color. Off-white head, one finger in size. 

Aroma: Earthy, layered grain profile showcases rye. A little caramel is present. The rye isn’t overpowering. The hops take an earthy route and offer grass notes in the background.

Taste: Fairly robust for a pale ale. Dry grains with sweet caramel notes prevail. Earthy hops provide balance and a little bitterness on the finish. If there was more of a citric hop presence this beer would elevate to an elite level.

Mouthfeel: Full bodied with a dry, short finish.

Overall: If Permagrin’s bottle didn’t promote the contents to have a nice blend of “generous” hops, I would have no complaints whatsoever with this beer. But while I was very pleased with it – loved the rye notes – I hoped its hop profile would be a bit more acidic. However, that may be unfair because I subconsciously compared it to Founders Red’s Rye PA; another rye pale ale that I consider to be perfection in a glass. Lawson’s comes close to the Founders offering. And while I would still choose the Founders version over Permagrin, the latter is still well made and worth your money.

Leaving The Warren Store, we pointed our GPS to the next brewery on our trip – The Alchemist Cannery in Waterbury. This brewery spends all its time and effort making just one beer as perfect as can be. Heady Topper is that beer and it owns Part 2 of our journey to be continued…

The Warren Store
284 Main Street
Warren, Vermont, 05674
Phone: (802) 496-3864
Open 7 days a week. 8:00am - 6:00pm
www.warrenstore.com

Those Darn Frozen Glasses

Dear Bartender,

I see you have a nice beer selection – great! I'm excited to indulge. But you’re doing it a disservice. When you serve those delicious craft beers in frozen glasses, you may as well be stabbing that hand-crafted love in the heart.  

When something is ice cold, it’s difficult to taste. The American behemoth breweries know this, and encourage their customers to consume their product ice cold. They even go so far as to create visual cues on their containers to help customers ensure the beer inside is as frigid as possible, thereby void of flavor.

They seem well aware that some customers find their beer’s flavor unappealing. These are customers who don’t know any better (to no fault of their own), and are conditioned to believe all beer must be drank ice cold.

Just the other day, a woman at work said, “I don’t generally like the flavor of beer…when I have one every now and then it has to be ice cold.” Unfortunately this co-worker of mine, like many others, fall victim to the conditioning of American beer advertisements.

Providing frozen glasses to patrons of mass produced light lagers makes perfect sense. But for me and other craft lovers who want to embrace the flavor of our beers, a frozen glass is not welcome. If I want ice cold refreshment on a hot day, I’d order an ice water or soda.

You want me to wait until my frozen beer warms up? No. I will not sit here and watch the ice from the glass melt into my beer, watering it down to a thin, dulled version of its former self.

Just as wine is not served in frozen glasses, neither should craft beer. It’s not a matter of being snooty. It’s simply respecting the ingredients in an artisanal product that are meant to shine.

This does not mean I want my beer completely warm. While ideal serving temperatures vary across styles, chilled is generally more than acceptable across all styles.

So please, encourage us to visit your establishment more by showing the respect for the product I, and other craft beer fans, love. Don’t suffocate its flavor. Keep that chilled glassware for mass-produced lawn-mower beer, and hold room-temperature glasses for the rest of us. When we order, all you have to do is ask if we’d like a chilled or non-chilled glass. Easy as that.

To patrons: If the craft beer you order comes in an unwanted frozen glass, send it back. The only way we will change this practice at bars and restaurants is to speak up and educate.

Brewery Tour Stop #13: Trinity Brewhouse

If you’re in Rhode Island, and you’re looking to taste some locally-made beer, I hope you’re standing in Providence or Middletown. Because those are the only towns in “Little Rhody” making beer. If you want a brewpub, it’s better if you’re in Providence, where you have a choice of two.

Technically, Rhode Island makes beer in one more location – Block Island. But let’s not kid ourselves. Being physically detached from Rhode Island and void of mainland character, Block Island is ultimately its own world.

Back in Providence, you have a choice between the Trinity Brewhouse and Union Station Brewery. If you’re looking for a bit of Rhode Island soul, it makes sense to try Trinity first. Since 1994, Trinity Brewhouse has been an integral part of downtown Providence. Located next to the nationally renowned Trinity Repertory Company, its clientele is a mix of is theatre-goers, sports fans, art students, journalists, and local…uhm…“characters”.

During a recent visit DBNE made to Trinity Brewhouse, I realized how much older it looks than its mere eighteen years of age. To be honest, I wasn’t sure if I was standing inside an old catcher’s mitt, or a repurposed WII-era soup house. It’s got character, no doubt. If nuanced interior design is what you require to enjoy beer, move on. Otherwise, step inside and keep your hands to yourself.

On this night, DBNE consisted of myself, my wife, sister, and brother-in law. Though the place was packed with people pre-gaming before moving on to the Providence College basketball game at the Civic Center next door, we got a table quickly.

First beer up – a pint of Larkin Stout on nitro. Given the bitter snowy weather outside, this roasty session-stout satisfied.  Notes of Baker’s chocolate, oats, and charcoal were noticeable. It’s a bit thin, but I didn’t see that as a downfall.

I then ordered a sampler of 6 different beers. First was the Kolsch. Given the inherent traits of the Kolsch style, it’s hard to be blown away by one. And it’s just as hard to pick up its aromas while you’re surrounded with food. It goes without saying it was hard to pick up any aroma in Trinity’s version, except for some soft malt. The flavor continued with light grains, very faint floral hops, and finished short. Its color is a proper, pale gold and this is an easy-to-drink brew at 4.2% ABV.

Another easy-drinker at 3.5% was the Belgian Saison. An aroma of bread and banana gave way to a nice yeasty spice flavor with a little lemon. A pleasant enough brew, but no matter how hard I swirled the glass, I generated no head. Thumbs down for appearance.

The IPA is Trinity’s flagship, and it’s the one brew that’s bottled and sold in select stores throughout New England. It’s a worthy east-coast IPA. It’s unfiltered and very hazy. I mainly smelled tea leaves on its aroma. The flavor sees the tea leaves carry through, along with notes of citrus notes in the form of orange and lemon. The brew is smooth but didn’t hold its head very well. It’s not as if it’s flat, so the mediocre body and appearance is not a deterrent to the beer’s enjoyment. Overall this is an enjoyable brew, and if Providence is too far for you, the Trinity IPA is worth finding in stores.

Tommy’s Red was next. This was my least favorite. Why? I tasted plastic. Fail. Some earthy grains on the aroma were inviting, and the carbonation level was good, but the flavor was almost synthetic and I just couldn’t recover.

The “Wolf’s Breath” Winter Warmer is Trinity’s agreeable take on a Barleywine. I enjoyed this. The aroma was fruity and its 9.00% ABV was noticeable. Ruby-red in color, the flavor here followed the fruity nose and served notes of apple, plum, raisin, and even lemon-tinged hops. It’s fairly sweet with above average weight in body. It sported a whisp of head, but no lace.

I finished up with Trinity’s Scotch ale which was a hit. Looking like a dense brown ale, the Scotch ale brought Autumn to mind. A fruity nose with fall-like spices were noticeable. The flavor consisted of dark fruits, cinnamon, and even a tease of rum.

A note on food: We mainly ordered burgers, which were fine, though not great. The fries are shoestring style. The low note was my sister’s lettuce on her veggie burger. It was visibly dirty, unwashed, and quite gross looking. Overall, the food seems serviceable, but not great.

In the end, I don’t feel that Trinity excels at anything in particular. But it has personality and is worth a visit if you’re into divey ambience. Soon we will report from Union Station (owned by John Harvard’s), just down the street from Trinity, and compare these two Providence brewpubs side by side.

If you do find yourself at Trinity, I personally recommend the IPA, Larkin stout, and Scotch ale. Just watch out for the lettuce.

Trinity Brewhouse

186 Fountain Street
Providence, Rhode Island, 02903
United States
phone: (401) 453-2337

www.trinitybrewhouse.com/

Brewery Tour Stop #12: Cape Ann Brewing Company

Is there a better way to spend the day off after New Year’s Day than to visit a brewery? Ok, don't answer that. We did anyway. Having friends walking distance from Cape Ann Brewing in Gloucester MA, DBNE had a good excuse to visit the brewery.

Its location alone is worth a visit. Sitting on the edge of the ocean, the brewery runs a simple but inviting brew pub with comforting pub food. The pub is essentially one big room filled with long communal, wood tables along with a small bar. A pleasant-looking outside deck, almost as big as the indoor space, hung over a shoreline brimming with well-worn fishing boats, docks, and lobster traps brought in for the season. It was obviously closed while we were there due to cold weather. But, it looked like a fantastic spot to enjoy fresh beer and sea food as you gaze out over the water pretending to be on the movie set of A Perfect Storm. I half expected Mark Wahlberg to show up, sit down next to me, and ask me how my mother is doing.

Cape Ann Brewing produces those beers you see around branded as “Fisherman’s”. The first beer of theirs that comes to my mind is their Pumpkin Stout. There’s consistent adulation for it among online beer circles. As I love stouts and the flavor of pumpkin, I figured the brew would be a win-win situation. I tried it last year and was unfortunately let down. It was fairly flat, lifeless, and didn’t carry much in the way of pumpkin. However, I’ve learned that sometimes you just get a bad bottle, or your palate isn’t in the right mood. So I vowed to try it again sometime but still haven’t gotten to it.  

The one other Fisherman’s beer I’d previously had was their lager, simply called “Fisherman’s Brew”. It was a deliciously perfect pairing with a pizza from our beloved pizza joint, Flatbread. So I knew Cape Ann was capable of producing tasty brews. (Side Note - If you have not been to a Flatbread, GO. There are a few around New England and they’re stellar. Enjoy unique, organic, delicious, non-guilty pizza with well-chosen craft beer options.)

We sat down at one of the communal tables and immediately ordered beer samplers. You choose six beers from a list of about ten available. As always, I have a hard time choosing. The Pumpkin Stout was there. Heck, even an Imperial Pumpkin Stout was available. This is arguably the best time to try the Pumpkin Stout again. It’s as fresh as possible. But I just wasn’t in the mood. I wanted to try all the other brews I’d never had. But then, why did I order the Fisherman’s Brew? I’d had it before! Perhaps because it was lunchtime and the sun was beating on me through the window, I craved crisper beers, which I knew the lager would be. I promised myself I’d come back to try the two pumpkin stouts on their home turf.

In addition to trying the Fisherman’s Brew again (still delicious), I got a honey pilsner, their IPA, double IPA, schwarzbier, and doppelbock.

The doppelbock had a great caramel malt profile with great yeasty bread notes. Very drinkable. I’d definitely get it again.

The IPA was a bit underwhelming. It didn’t offer that special IPA aroma we Americans expect. It seemed to take inspiration from British IPAs, which is fine. But it was still a bit weak, even watery, and I would have guessed it was a Pale Ale. It needs more hops.

Their schwarzbier, called “Eclipse”, was properly black and pleasantly roasty. Notes of molasses and brown sugar were noticeable and refined. Full of flavor, yet very drinkable, this is a solid schwarzbier that I’d love to have again.

The honey pilsner was ok. That quintessential cracker malt profile was there, but a bit shy. Its notes of honey were also subdued, as expected. This was a serviceable brew, but it finishes a bit smooth. Normally that’s not a bad thing, but I prefer my pilsners to give a little snap in the mouthfeel, which this didn’t provide.

The double IPA, called “Greenhorn Double IPA” was the standout brew. It’s easier to please a beer geek with a double IPA, but this ones’ great. The hops were a mix bag of citrus and fresh cut grass, and there was no shortage of either on the aroma or in the flavor profile. The hops even tasted a bit resiny, chewy, and dank. Caramel malts were noticeable and provided some balance, but never upstaged the hops. I got an extra glass of this after I finished the sampler because it was too good and dangerously drinkable.

A note about the food – I tried fish and chips for the first time in my life. I know, crazy, as I’m from New England. I’m just learning to like white fish, and I figured there was no better place to get fresh fish than harbor-side in Gloucester. It was delicious and served as an agreeable accompaniment to all the beers.

 

While Cape Ann’s brews were a mixed bag, nothing was off-putting, and there were more highs than lows. Combine that with the setting, the enjoyable food, and you have no reason not to visit this convivial spot in a definitive New England fishing town. 

Cape Ann Brewing Company

11 Rogers Street

Gloucester, MA 01930

phone: (978) 282-7399

www.capeannbrewing.com

Winter Pub Hours:

Sun – Thurs: 11AM – 11PM

Fri & Sat: 11AM – 12AM