Westbrook Brewing Co. White Thai

12 oz. Can

Westbrook White Thai pours a murky yellow with a slight white head that eventually dissolves into a thin lacing. Carbonation is visible through the murkiness. The closest thing I can think of, appearance-wise, would be pineapple juice. Up front, on the nose, I get ginger, lemon grass, and a little bit of spice - definitely delivers on the description of the beer, though there's a light citrus component as well.

First taste reveals much of the same, the ginger and some sweet wheat (it is a Belgian style witbier after all) up front, lemon grass and slight sweet citrus (mostly orange) takes over in the middle, and muddles with a bit of spice at the end. None of the flavors are particularly overwhelming or strong, and there is a nice balance. This 5% ABV beer is definitely a session ale - something you can have a couple of in one sitting and not have to worry about getting drunk off of - and the alcohol is completely hidden. Moderately high carbonation works for the style.

A nice refreshing beer to have on a hot summer day with some nice, subtle flavors to it. I just wish it had some stronger flavor to distinguish it and make me want this over any other sessionable beer.

Overall Rating: 3.25/5

Out and About - Various Tasting Round Up

Over the past couple of weeks I've been lucky enough to go to a couple of tastings at a bar close to me (The Growler and Gill), which also happens to be located 3 minutes from my favorite bottle shop in the area (Cable Beverages). I also had the chance to visit Barcade in Jersey City and attended the Captain Lawrence Brewing Co.'s Pig Roast. These are three of the more memorable and delicious beers I've tried over the past couple of weeks:

1. North Coast Old Rasputin Nitro (On tap at the Growler & Gill in Nanuet, NY):

A big flavorful stout, full of chocolate and rich malty flavors and just a touch of coffee. A really fantastic stout by any means normally, but this one really benefits from the nitro. The smooth texture of nitrogenation really complements the thick texture and rich flavor profile of this beer.

Overall Rating: 4.75/5


2. Carton Shipwreck Porter (On tap at Barcade in Jersey City, NJ):

The second best Carton beer I've tasted, right behind Regular Coffee. It's a honey porter aged in rum barrels, and the flavors just work together - nice, rich malt profile in this porter, delicate sweetness from the honey and rum, and a little bit of a kick from the rum barrel aging (and the 10% ABV). A really fantastic beer overall, and something I look forward to having again.

Overall Rating: 4.5/5


3. Carton Applejack Pumpkin Cream (On tap at Barcade in Jersey City, NJ):

Another barrel aged beer by Carton, another winner. Not quite as good as the Shipwreck Porter, but still a great beer. Aged in Applejack Whiskey barrels, the whiskey character definitely comes through. Great for the style of cream ale, and definitely flavorful. I do wish the beer had a little more pumpkin taste to it, though in terms of pumpkin beers, I have been spoiled in the past with great access to Elysian Night Owl (my favorite pumpkin beer ever) and Southern Tier Pumpkin.

Overall Rating: 4.35/5


As an addition to the list, I'd like to mention that I did try a lot more Carton beers at Barcade Jersey City's tap takeover (I was there the day after the original event, and I have to admit a little upset that there was either no Regular Coffee or none left), and the following beers should be honorably mentioned:

Carton Lime Rickey: I wasn't a fan of the smell, but it tasted great - nice cherry/lime flavor; Overall Rating: 4/5

Carton 077XX: Overall Rating: 4/5

Carton Swisher: Overall Rating: 4.15/5

Carton Decoy: Overall Rating: 4/5

Carton Comma: Really nice black pepper taste, delivers exactly on the description of the beer as a black pepper saison - my biggest issue with this beer is that I couldn't see myself wanting another one, even though I was extremely pleased that it delivered on the description; Overall Rating: 4.15/5

Carton GORP: Good ol' Raisins and Peanuts, again, another beer that delivers on the description. Overall Rating: 4/5


And some non-Carton Beers so it doesn't look like they paid me to write the above:

Lancaster White Ale Brewed with Apple and Curry (On tap at The Dog & Cask, Rochelle Park, NJ): Nice apple sweetness and tartness with a kick of curry spice. A really interesting, flavorful beer; Overall Rating: 4.15/5

Bell's Two Hearted Ale (On tap at The Growler & Gill, Nanuet, NY): Overall Rating: 4.2/5

NJ Beer Co 1787 Abbey Single (On tap at Buffalo Wild Wings, Secaucus, NJ): Overall Rating: 3.75/5

Captain Lawrence Sweet Chick (On tap at Captain Lawrence Brewing Co): Overall Rating: 4/5

Captain Lawrence IPA (On tap at Captain Lawrence Brewing Co): Overall Rating: 4/5


And my last honorable mention, as much as I hate to do it:

Amstel Radler: I don't know if I should really rate this here, because it's, as I was told, 60% Amstel and 40% lemon juice, but I do have to admit that it is incredibly tasty. I debated rating this beer because Amstel is owned by Heineken, but in the end, obviously decided to include it anyway. At 2% ABV, it tastes like there is zero alcohol content and even the most lightweight of your friends will get full before feeling it's effects, but it is delicious. Overall Rating: 3.5/5 (And only because I had trouble rating it as a beer).

Epic Brewing Co. Big Bad Baptist

22 oz. Bottle

Been busting out something new every Sunday to split with my brother for Game of Thrones. Unfortunately, it's not on tonight. But why break the beer tradition?

Big Bad Baptist pours black with some mocha head lacing around the edge of the glass. Smells strongly of vanilla, chocolate, and coffee. Really nice nose, pleasant and sweet. Tastes very similar to the smell - chocolate and coffee with smooth vanilla and roasted malt underneath. The whiskey barrel aging is a little more subtle than I would have liked, but it is there in the background. The real stars are the coffee and the chocolate, and it does these all very well. Fairly low carbonation suits this beer well, as does the thickness of the beer - I like when stouts have a thickness to them, especially when they're barrel aged. And the alcohol is incredibly well hidden for 11.8% ABV.

Overall a really tasty chocolate coffee bomb. A really enjoyable sipper. I do wish the whiskey barrel aging was a little more prevalent, but hey, it's still a great, well balanced stout regardless.

Overall Rating: 4.75/5

Stone Sublimely Self-Righteous Ale

12 oz Bottle

Pours black with about an eighth of an inch of khaki colored head. Smells of pine and spicy rye, a little bit of citrus, but the citrus definitely takes the back seat to the pine and rye. On the taste, nice citrus and pine up front, a little bit of spice hits you in the back - very classic and enjoyable rye IPA finish (though it's not a rye IPA and I'm not sure if it's even brewed with rye). There's also some roasted malt and possibly molasses in there, which adds a nice sweet complexity to this beer. Moderate carbonation, alcohol is very well hidden for 8.7% ABV.

Not sure what to think about this one, in terms of actually pegging a style - there's sweet roasted malt, pine hop, some citrus, and a bit of spicy/smokey rye in there as well. It's a really complex beer, but remains pretty balanced for the most part. Stone definitely doesn't disappoint here, really nice flavor profiles and they all work well together.

Overall Rating: 4.35/5

Stone Oaked Arrogant Bastard

12 oz. Bottle

Big fan of Stone brewing, and I've been on a Stone kick, so why not one more.

Stone Oaked Arrogant Bastard pours a dark caramel with big dark red/burgundy notes to it and about an eighth of an inch of khaki head. Smells of caramel, oak/wood, and citrus (lemon, lime, and tangerine are the most prominent here) are the primary scents off the top, with a hoppy and slight vanilla background. On the taste, there are some nice citrus notes up front, and a good amount of hop on the back end. There's some really nice malt balance going on the background as well, but what really distracts me from all of this is a strong oak flavor that just pervades and dominates every other flavor from right when it hits the back of your mouth. All of the other flavors really just take a back seat to the wood aging, and not particularly in a positive way. It's way too distracting, and bordering on the taste of almost a Popsicle stick, and ruins any balance the beer might otherwise have had.

Moderately low carbonation. The oak hides the 7.2% ABV well (though that's not saying much, because the oak hides everything else as well).

I am a little disappointed in this one. I open every Stone beer with high expectations and am rarely let down (Enjoy By is one of my top rated IIPAs, Imperial Russian Stout is one of my top rated IRSs, and Old Guardian is a fantastic barley wine, just to name a few). This is one of those rare occasions. The oak aging process did this beer no favors, and I believe it actually detracted from the overall experience (I have the original a rated a full point higher than the Oaked version on Untappd).

I must admit, however, that this beer was a bit better on tap. My rating and review, though, are both for the bottled version.

Overall Rating: 2/5

Also, as I continued to drink it, the beer became slightly more enjoyable, but the oak/Popsicle stick taste still lingered and substantially distracted me from enjoying this beer.

Dogfish Head World Wide Stout

12 oz. Bottle

Another 18% ABV heavy hitter, this one on the opposite side of the spectrum in terms of style.

Pours black with some dark khaki bubbles around the rim of the glass. No visible carbonation. Strong chocolate on the nose, with a hint of dark fruit (cherry and plum mostly), a tiny bit of licorice, and hint of booze. Plenty of chocolate on the taste with a plethora of other flavors in the background - cherry, plum, a bit of coffee, and licorice primarily. The alcohol is definitely noticeable in this one, even presenting a bit of a burn on the back end - there's a strong alcohol taste that clearly identifies this as the high ABV monster it is. Moderately low carbonation, and again, the alcohol is highly noticeable at 18% ABV.

This one's definitely a sipper, and a mostly enjoyable one at that, but the high alcohol content's in-your-face-ness prevents it from being a fantastic beer. I think that DFH should focus on flavor before high alcohol content - with the 120 min it mostly worked, but here I find it distracting, and uncomplimentary to the beer and the style. 

With age, the alcohol taste might settle down, so I might keep another bottle in the garage for a year or two to see if that balances the flavor out.

Overall Rating: 3.75/5