Saranac ESB Extra Special Bitter Ale

Tonight I grabbed a Saranac from the fridge - their ESB - which was part of their 12 Beers of Winter assortment. I recently found out that Whole Foods has their 12 Beers of Summer in stock now, so I'm 2 seasons behind! So many beers, so little time... I think this might have sat in the fridge a little too long, because it displayed some of the same flavor characteristics as the Alligator Drool I reviewed a few days ago. It definitely had a sour character to it, which I wasn't expecting. Not as bad as the "Drool", but there none the less. It poured a little darker than I expected from an ESB, and had very little head. The nose had some hints of caramel, which was good, and was also present in the flavor. I hope I got a bad bottle, because it definitely had potential, if it weren't for the sourness.

He'Brew - The Chosen Beer - Genesis Ale

Tonight I tasted another He'Brew beer from Shmaltz Brewing. This beer is their "Genesis Ale" and is described as a Light Brown Ale. It's a pretty accurate description, as it poured a deep amber with a light colored head. It's kind of a cross between a brown ale and a pale or amber ale. It's a little maltier than a traditional APA, and hoppier than a brown. It's actually similar to the Saranac I had last night. There was one thing that troubled me about this beer. It had a sour metallic flavor that was subtle, but a little distracting. I have to say that I have liked the other beers from Shmaltz better than this one.

Saranac India Style Brown Ale

Tonight's beer is from Saranac's "12 Beers of Winter", which I picked up this past weekend. It's a brand new brew for F.X. Matt - India Style Brown Ale. I was looking forward to this cross between a brown ale and an IPA. It poured a medium brown color with a small cream-colored head. The head didn't last long, but did leave a nice lacing on the glass. Unfortunately, the brew was not as inspiring as I had hoped. It lacked the sweetness of a brown ale, and wasn't nearly as hoppy as I was anticipating. Admittedly, I am a hop-head, so it's impossible to put too much hop character in a beer. I think the folks at Saranac were a bit too cautious on this beer. I would have liked to see them emphasize the sweet nutty character of a brown ale, as well as the overt hoppiness of the IPA. I'm just going to have to brew my own version of this beer, once I have a fermenter free again.

Some new beers!

Since I had the day off, thanks to Presidents Washington and Lincoln, I ran some errands and found myself at the Total Wine store in Orlando. I picked up a couple of nice assortments. The first one is Saranac's current "12 Beers of Winter" selection. F.X.Matt puts out a new version of this assortment each year, so it's something I look forward to. This year, it has 6 beers, 5 of which I have never had before. The assortment includes 3 new beers - Bohemian Pilsener, India Brown Ale, and Vanilla Stout. The other 3 are not new, but still interesting - Belgian Ale, ESB, and their "Season's Best" Nut Brown Lager. I'm most anxious to try the India Brown Ale, which sounds like a cross between a Brown Ale and an IPA. I'm also looking forward to the Vanilla Stout, since my own vanilla beer went seriously awry.



The other assortment is also from the Northeast, from Otter Creek Brewing in Middlebury, VT. It includes three 22 oz bottles of their special edition "World Tour" beers, as well as a nice Otter Creek logo glass. The glass looks like a nice size, and will probably hold a full pint - unlike the "pint" glasses that will only hold a 12 oz bottle. The three beers that make up the collection are as follows:

Otter Kilter - a Scottish-style Wee Heavy Ale
Otteroo - an Australian-style Sparkling Ale
Otter Mon - A Jamaican-style Stout



Now I just need to get all my new beers chilled! Check back as I try them out.

Brooklyn East India Pale Ale

Once again, pizza was on the menu last night, so I went to the fridge looking for an IPA. I found a bottle of The Brookly Brewery's East India Pale Ale. I'm not sure what difference the East makes, but that's OK. The bottle shows 2 different locations for The Brooklyn Brewery. One of them is Brooklyn, while the other indicates that the beer was brewed in Utica, NY. I take that to mean that it's a contract brew by F.X. Matt in Utica. The ale poured a medium amber with a decent sized white head. The nose is malt and grass, while the palate is slightly sweet malt with lots of piney hops. No grapefruit hops in this one, which is a welcome change. I like the citrusy hops, but for a while there, I began to think it was a requirement of an IPA. This is a good solid IPA, and reminded me of the Saranac version. This is only the 2nd beer I have sampled from The Brooklyn Brewery, and I'm totally satisfied.

Coney Island Freaktoberfest from Shmaltz Brewing

I picked this bottle up at Whole Foods a few weeks ago and haven't tried it til now since it was a 22 oz bottle. When I poured this, I was shocked to see it pour PINK! The head looked like cotton candy. I don't know what they used to give it the shocking pink color, but it didn't detract from the beer. This is some GOOD beer! The pink head lasted a good while, and the beer was very flavorful. There's a ton of malt in here, expertly offset by a generous batch of piney hops. There's plenty of toffee flavor and a nice bitter finish. I am really impressed with Shmaltz Brewing. They are also the makers of the "He'Brew" line of beers.

Saranac Golden Pilsener

Another Pilsener tonight, this time from Saranac. Saranac spells Pilsener differently from most, which I more frequently see spelled as Pilsner. Just an observation, for whatever it's worth. I tried this tonight as a comparison to the Carolina Blonde I had a couple of days ago. I have to say that the main difference is in the hops. Saranac doesn't have a lot of hops in this beer, but it's hoppier than the Carolina. The bottle describes this as a wheat beer, which surprised me, since most Pilsners are not made from wheat. This beer is a bit fruity like a wheat. The beer was packaged in Saranac's 12 Beers of Summer collection, and it is a good summer beer - light, refreshing, easy to drink.

Saranac Hefeweizen

Saranac's Hefeweizen is a seasonal offering from F.X. Matt - part of their "12 Beers of Summer" collection. I was interested in comparing this to the Flying Dog Hefeweizen I reviewed a couple of months ago. Saranac's version poured a clear gold color, with a small white head. A true Bavarian Hefeweizen is usually cloudy, with a BIG fluffy head. As for taste, I was pleased to find the traditional banana-clove flavor that comes from Bavarian Hefeweizen yeast. This is definitely not an American style wheat beer. Saranac would have nailed it perfectly if there had been a nice big head to crown their Hefeweizen. I think the Flying Dog was closer to the style, but even so, this was a nice beer.

Saranac Kolsch

Kolsch is a German style of beer, essentially a golden ale that is top fermented and then aged cold - very similar to another German style - Altbier. Kolsch originated in Cologne Germany, and is very prevalent there. I got a couple of bottles of Saranac's Kolsch in their "Beers of Summer" variety pack. It poured a pale gold color with a smallish white head. This is a very light beer. It has a light maltiness, and almost no hop presence. This is a good summer beer, but not much different from a pale lager. This is the first Kolsch I have ever tried, so I don't know how close it is to the traditional Kolsch from Cologne.

Saranac Black Diamond Bock

While on my vacation a couple of weeks ago, I visited my sister and family in New York and she presented me with some Saranac beer, which included a six-pack of their Black Diamond Bock. I've never had it before, so I was anxious to try it. It poured a medium amber-brown with a small cream-colored head. The beer was slightly cloudy, like it had a chill-haze to it. This is considered to be one of their winter brews, and as such, it is deliciously malty. It also had some dark fruit flavor, and some chocolate too. It lived up to my expectations, and I'm glad I have 5 bottles left!

Saranac Black Forest

Saranac's Black Forest is their version of a Bavarian style Schwarzbier - a smooth-drinking dark beer brewed using lager yeast. It poured a deep brown, almost black color with a fluffy tan head. The aroma is of caramel malt. Black Forest is easy to drink, and would be a great session beer. It's roastier than a lager due to the dark malts, and is slightly sweet as well. This went great with my dinner tonight. This bottle came from their Trail Mix assortment.

The Gilded Otter Brewing Co. - New Paltz, NY

During my recent vacation, I spent some time in my old stomping ground in the Hudson Valley of New York. The Hudson Valley extends from upstate NY down to NY City. My wife and I still have family in that area, so we drove up to spend some time with them, and to have a little quiet time to ourselves. We had heard about the Gilded Otter Brewing Co. - a brewpub in the artsy little college town of New Paltz, NY, and since it was only about an hour drive from where we were staying, we decided to try it for lunch. We started with a sampler of the 8 brews that they currently had on tap. They brought out eight 3-oz glasses, which we shared. Our favorites were Ottertoberfest, Stone House Irish Stout, Dusseldorf Altbier, and Rail Trail Pale Ale. The other 4 were also excellent. We were both in the mood for a burger, because nothing goes better with beer than a good burger. I ordered mine medium rare, while my wife wanted medium well. Both burgers were cooked precisely the way they were ordered, and they were juicy and tasty. They came with some seasoned french fries that were also excellent - crispy on the outside, moist in the middle. The server was very attentive and helpful. All told, we had a very pleasing experience at the Gilded Otter. If you ever find yourself in New Paltz, NY, it is definitely worth checking out. I even got a new pint glass to add to my collection.

Saranac Pumpkin Ale and Octoberfest Lager

I'm on vacation this week, but I have a short lull, so I decided to post. I visited family earlier in the week, stopping at my sister's house for a day. She came through with some seasonal varieties of Saranac that I had not tasted before. First up was their Pumpkin Ale, with the clever jack-o-lantern label. This pumpkin ale reminded me of the Blue Moon version I tried a little while ago. It was kinda subdued as far as spices were concerned. I could taste some pumpkin, but I like my pumpkin ales to taste more like pumpkin pie in a bottle. The second bottle I tried was their Octoberfest Lager. This was a sweet malty Octoberfest - very tasty. It had some caramel flavor, and low hop levels. The glass in the picture contains Octoberfest. The two beers were very similar in color, a medium amber. The pumpkin had a slightly larger head than the Octoberfest, but neither one lasted very long. My sis also supplied me with some Saranac to take home with me including their Black Diamond Bock, which I'm looking forward to. More to follow on that one!

Saranac Pomegranate Wheat

When my sister visited me last month, she was generous enough to bring me some beer that I'm unable to get here in Florida, namely Saranac and Otter Creek. Unfortunately, she was unable to find the Saranac summer beers collection, so she brought me their Trail Mix instead - which I have been enjoying immensely. Today, my wife and I made our monthly pilgrimage to Whole Foods to get some of their decaf coffee (which is the best decaf we have ever had) and to my amazement, the beer cooler had a 12 pack of Saranac's "12 Beers of Summer". Now, "12 Beers" is a bit of a misnomer, because there are actually 6 different varieties, 2 bottles of each. Needless to say, the 12 pack landed in the cart, along with a bottle each of Dogfish Head's "Black & Blue" and "Red & White". Those two will be saved for a special occasion - probably Christmas. We landed at Whole Foods just before lunch, which is the worst time to go there. We browsed their amazing meat cooler. and spied their freshly made sausages. They have a great selection of sausages, and we decided to try their English style bangers, some maple apple chicken sausage, and their jalapeno chicken sausage. With the sausages and Saranac in the cart, I could hardly wait to get home to make lunch. $115.00 later, and we were out the door, headed home. We decided on the maple apple sausages which we cooked on the grill, and I grabbed a bottle of Pomegranate Wheat from the 12 pack. Thankfully it was already cold. The sausages were to DIE for! They were just slightly sweet, a little spicy and extremely hot. We ate them on hot dog rolls with no mustard or anything to detract from the flavor of the sausage. The Saranac was a perfect choice to go with the sausage. It's an American style wheat beer, and it poured a slightly hazy gold color with a small white head. The Pomegranate added a tartness that was very refreshing. I know in one of my my last posts I said that I was over the summer beer thing, but this beer was much better than the Sunrye. Then again, maybe it was the combination of beer and sausage....

Saranac Black & Tan

I decided on another Saranac beer tonight, from the variety pack my sister brought to me a few weeks back. This time, it's their Black & Tan, which is billed as a combination of Stout and Lager. I like Black and Tans when they're poured in a pub, but they definitely lose something when they're poured from a bottle. Maybe it's that whole multi-layered thing you get at a bar, or the creamy texture that draft beer has, but I think it's more than that. A Black & Tan just doesn't translate very well into a bottled beer. Saranac's was OK, I could taste the roasted malt flavor from the stout, but it just seemed lackluster. This is not peculiar to Saranac either, because I felt the same way about the Yuengling version I tried a while back. I think I'm going to look for a black & tan spoon so I can make my own, and see if it would be better.

Saranac India Pale Ale

I decided to drink from my cheerful 50th birthday mug today. The beer is F.X. Matt's Saranac India Pale Ale, which was part of the Trail Mix assortment my sister brought me. She won't touch the India Pale Ale, so they just sit in her fridge. This is actually a pretty mild IPA, somewhere in between the Fiddler's Green and the Flying Dog Snake Dog. It's not as citrusy as some IPA's, although the bottle says that the hops are Cascades. It's more malty than the Fiddler's Green. and a bit higher in alcohol. It poured an orange-amber color, like most IPA's. This is a nice IPA, without being over the top.

Fiddler's Green India Pale Ale

Fiddler's Green Brewing Co. is from Utica, NY which made me suspicious. Sure enough, it's a contract brew made by FX Matt, brewers of the Saranac line of beers. This IPA poured an orangy-gold color with an inch-high white head. The aroma is essentially caramel malt and not much else. The first sip had a lot of citrus, presumably from the hops. The beer is somewhat fruity in general. This is a somewhat subdued IPA, but that's not a fault. It's very drinkable and enjoyable. This would be an excellent "training wheels" kind of IPA to get the uninitiated interested in IPA's. It won't scare them off like Flying Dog's Snake Dog might.

Saranac Brown Ale from F.X. Matt Brewing

Well, my sister's headed back to NY after a week in Florida enjoying our tropical storm. Yep, Fay did a number on their vacation. I made out pretty well because they brought me a 12 pack of assorted Saranac beers, and another assortment from Otter Creek. Along with my homebrew, the extra beer from my surprise birthday party, and the beer I already had in the fridge, the old beer fridge is bursting at its seams. To take a little of the pressure off, I tried Saranac's Brown Ale tonight. It poured a medium brown, with a fluffy beige head that was pretty sturdy. This brown ale is not as sweet as a lot of them are, but it had a chocolaty base, and a hoppy finish. They must have thrown a few extra hops in because the beer surprised me in that area. This was a very enjoyable ale. Thanks, sis for bringing it to me!

J.W. Dundee's American Pale Ale

J.W. Dundee is pretty well-known for their honey brown lager, but they also have a number of other options available, one of which is this American Pale Ale. The Dundee beers tend to be on the more affordable side of the microbrew list, so I decided to try this out. It poured an orange-amber, with a decent white head. It's a very basic Pale Ale, very middle-of-the-road for the style. It has some maltiness, and some hops in the finish, but nothing to really recommend it, except for the price. I have to say that I would definitely prefer to drink J.W. Dundee's American Pale Ale over most of the other beers in the same price range, so I guess that says something. This beer was brewed by the High Falls Brewing Company in Rochester, NY. High Falls Brewing is also the home of the Genesee line of beers. Anyone who went to college in upstate NY knows Genny Cream Ale, their most famous brew.

Saranac Chocolate Amber Lager

I have to hand it to F.X. Matt - they produced a great dark beer with a real head on it. I couldn't fit the full 12 oz bottle in my glass because the head was so tall. It lasted a long time, with nice lacing too. Although the bottle calls this a lager, it had all the characteristics of a stout. Dark, roasty, lots of chocolate flavor, and a creamy texture don't usually point to a lager. This was from their Beers of Winter collection, of which I still have a few left. This was a really great beer!