Brewery: Smuttynose Brewing Company [MyBreweryTap.com

This bottle of Smuttynose Robust Porter turned up in the third instalment of MyBreweryTap.com‘s US 52 Week Beer Club and I have to say I think it’s quite possibly the best US52WBC bottle so far (perhaps with the exception of old-favourite Flying Dog Gonzo Imperial Porter).

An aroma of rich, dark chocolate hits you as soon as you crack the top. The pour is slow and smooth, with a thick tan head forming (although, sadly, not remaining long) on top of an almost opaque ebony body. The flavour is all about the big, dark, roast-malts, with another hit from that dark, dark chocolate up front, gradually giving way to a sharp coffee-bitterness. There are other flavours in play as well; a sliver of coconut, a sprinkling of pepper. But if you imagine a mocha made with Italian espresso and 90% cocoa chocolate and you’ll have a pretty good idea of what Smuttynose Robust Porter is all about.

I’m enjoying this one as I type (as-live Tasting Notes, folks!) and I hope to enjoy another one before too long; I’m pretty sure I’ve seen bottles of this one in both the Port Street Beer House and the Euston Tap. Next time I’m short of draught inspiration – or just fancy something dry, bitter-sharp and deeply, deeply roasted – then I think this is the bottle I’ll re-visit.

Brewery: Goose Island Beer Company [MyBreweryTap.com

These are the first two bottles I’ve opened from the winter US 52 Week Beer Club consignment from MyBreweryTap.com (and as I drank them last Saturday evening, my first two beers of the year).

I’ve never had either of these before, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. Goose Island Harvest Ale turned out to be a toffee-brown ale with a lively head and a malt-sweet aroma. Fresh and refreshing with flavours of orange-citrus and a distinctly floral character. Sweet but not too sweet, light but not overly-hoppy. Very easy-drinking, even at 5.7% ABV, and all in all, quite delicious. I’ll definitely keep an eye out for this one in future.

Mild Winter was a much odder bird. A 5.6% ABV malty, dark brown ale, Mild Winter was nutty and slightly spiced, but had a slightly odd follow-through; the after-taste struck me as quite savoury for a beer that seemed like it ought to taste quite sweet. The tasting notes from MyBreweryTap suggest “spicy rye flavours” and the Goose Island website confirms that rye flakes were used in the brewing – perhaps that’s what I was tasting. Still, I have to confess that I wasn’t so sure about this one. It wasn’t bad, but it’s probably not one I’d rush back to.

Brewery: Odell Brewing Co.
Location: For Collins, Colorado, USA
Style: American Pale Ale
ABV: 6.5%
Version: Bottled
Source: MyBreweryTap.com US 52-Week Beer Club

A bottle of Odell St Lupulin Extra Pale Ale arrived as part of the first consignment of US 52-Week Beer Club beers from MyBreweryTap.com back in September and I cracked it open last week.

St Lupulin Extra Pale Ale – named for a mythical ‘patron saint of hops’, according to the yarn on the label – was slightly sour-sweet with definite tropical, citrus and floral notes. It was obviously packing a good hop-strength, but it wasn’t overpoweringly dry or acerbic either. All in all, a well-balanced, well-flavoured, light, easy-drinker despite its relative strength. I enjoyed this one and would happily drink it again sometime, although I don’t think I’d make a point of picking it out of a line-up.

As a side-note: I wasn’t so impressed with the Odell Cutthroat Porter that was included in the same consignment. It lead with a promising coffee / chocolate aroma, but the follow-through was surprisingly weak and wimpy, with a watery mouth-feel and almost anonymous flavours. Not one I’ll be rushing back to.

Publisher: Running Press (US)
RRP: $22.95 / £12.99
ISBN: 9780762438112
Source: Courtesy of Perseus Books Group

Andy Crouch is an award-winning freelance journalist and beer writer, also a blogger (www.beerscribe.com / @beerscribe) and in Great American Craft Beer he presents a high-level overview of the impressively wide variety of beer styles available on the US craft brewing scene.

The volume kicks off with introductory chapters on the origins of the craft beer movement, the basics of beer production, the history of beer styles and some musing on the subject of ‘What the Heck is Craft Beer, Anyway?’. Towards the end of the book, there are sections on buying and appreciating craft beer, investing in appropriate glassware and respecting beer, as well as copious notes on pairing food & beer pairing, accompanied by recipes from a couple of the US’s top beer-friendly chefs.

There’s also a a shortlist of some of the author’s recommended beer bars, alehouses and brewpubs, to give you an idea of where to head for in search of something more interesting than just a run-of-the-mill ice-cold one.

The predominant tone throughout the book, and particularly in the opening and closing chapters, is distinctly evangelical: Andy Crouch’s mission is to persuade fellow Americans who only ever drink the standard pale and/or lite beer brands to live a little and try something new, on the grounds that they just never know what they might discover (mainly: flavour!). Which brings us neatly on to the main – and certainly most interesting – central section of the book: ‘Style and Flavour of Beer’.

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Brewery: Anchor Brewing
Location: San Francisco, USA
ABV: 8.2%
Version: Bottled
Source: Beer Ritz, Leeds

Inspired by The Beer Nut‘s recent exhortation to get stuck in to your stash from time to time – rather than watching all those lovely bottles of strong ale slowly mature towards some nebulous and tricky-to-accurately-judge nirvana of agèd perfection – I decided last weekend to bring my sole bottle of Anchor Old Foghorn ale out of the beer cupboard, a mere four months after putting it away on the top shelf, with the rest of the Good Stuff. And I’m extremely glad I did, because now I know to pick up a good half dozen or so bottles of this rather magnificent ale the very next time I see it on offer.

Anchor Old Foghorn pours a lovely dark chestnut colour and from the first sip releases a cacophony of rich, sensuous flavours: toffee and coconut predominate in a sweet and heady swirl, with developing red wine and sour cherry notes on the after-taste, which help to take the edge off the sugariness and stop it becoming too cloying or sickly. The alcohol hit is noticeable yet quietly under-stated and the mouth-feel is smooth and chewy, all of which makes for a glorious, slow-sipper that’s quite, quite delicious… particularly once that initial sweetness settles down a bit and the flavours begin to merge and mellow into something that’s a real joy to sample.

Definitely the sort of ale I’d like to become much better acquainted with. I have a feeling my next trip to Beer Ritz is going to be an expensive one…

Brewery: Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales
Location: Dexter, Michigan, USA
ABV: 4.7%
Version: 750ml Bottle
Source: Courtesy of BeerMerchants.com

I’ve only encountered a few U.S. craft beers to-date, so I was looking forward to trying this one from the Michigan-based Jolly Pumpkin brewery. E.S. (Extra Special) Bam (Bam the Jack Russell is the brewery dog) is an extra-hopped, extra-malted version of their staple Bam Bière, which in true US Artisan style is already hopped up to the eyeballs. The result is a beer that’s definitely one for the connoisseur and definitely not one for the faint-hearted.

E.S. Bam pours a strong, dark amber colour with a spicy aroma and a very frothy head. The bottle I tried seemed to be quite carbonated, giving the beer a definite effervescence. Flavour-wise it’s packed with big flavours: strong malts and with the sort of huge hoppy sourness that you normally expect from an IPA, as well as a distinct peppery-citrus note.

I started off enjoying E.S. Bam immensely – I’ve become a definite fan of Big Hops since encountering BrewDog’s Punk IPA and Chaos Theory, as well as Meantime’s IPA and a few more hop-led beers – but towards the end of the (750ml) bottle that sourness, coupled with the fizziness, somehow conspired to turn it into one that was actually a bit difficult to finish. Maybe it was over-carbonated (sometimes a risk with a bottle-conditioned beer, as I understand things), maybe the Transatlantic crossing hadn’t been kind, or maybe it turned up too early in my US-Artisan education, but in the final analysis I don’t think this is one I’d rush back to unless I knew I was going to be drinking it fresh out of the cask.

Many thanks again to Phil at BeerMerchants.com for sending this one along (especially as it’s not exactly a cheap bottle… sorry Phil!) But I’d definitely be interested in trying other Jolly Pumpkin beers, particularly the Bam Noire – which BeerMerchants.com also stocks – so that’s one I’ll be adding to a future shopping list…