Before Spring Break we sunk more than a few hours (and dollars) into the Belgian Beer Fest at Lion's Pride. It was awesome! We experienced some pretty rare stuff, from hard to find Belgian beers from brewers like Smisje and De Dolle to Allagash's first ever "Cool Ship" batch of spontaneously fermented beer. Unfortunately, we didn't really coordinate our efforts well enough to turn the Beer Fest into a column unto itself.
We instead decided to bring beers back to campus from local breweries near our respective homes. Eric brought a 6-pack of Thomas J. Hooker's Liberator Doppelbock from Bloomfield, Conn, just outside his hometown of West Hartford. Brian supplied three North Carolina brews: the Highland Brew Gaelic Ale, the Lone Rider Deadeye Jack Porter, and the Coast Brew Hop Art IPA. Will brought a growler of Big Hop IPA from East End Brewery based in his hometown of Pittsburgh, Penn.
Garrick, from Cabin John, Maryland, didn't bring anything from home. He tried to cover up by buying a six back of Heavy Seas Loose Cannon Hop3 Ale from Clipper City Brewing in Baltimore. This really does not meet the standard of a local beer from home, but we drank it regardless.
The Gaelic Ale did not make our top three this week. Still, we all enjoyed it, despite it being a relatively foreign style to us. It had a great toasted malt flavor to balance its sweetness, most reminding us of the Gritty's Scottish Ale we tasted a few weeks ago.
Lone Rider Deadeye Jack Porter, though also missing out on the top three, was a fantastic porter full of coffee and bittersweet chocolate flavors. As a side note we should add that porters are somewhat of a gateway beer to stouts.
Many people get scared away from stouts because they think they are thick, heavy and dark. Although the distinction between porter and stout is somewhat fuzzy, a good porter will carry a flavor profile similar to that of a stout—coffee and chocolate—while typically remaining slightly lighter than a stout in color and mouthfeel.
Much to Will's disappointment, his East End Big Hop IPA fell just outside the top three in voting. Voting irregularities aside, this was still a very enjoyable beer. (Eric, Garrick, and Brian all shamelessly voted their local beers the best. Also, as mentioned before, Garrick's beer hails from Baltimore and Garrick hails from the D.C. area. Garrick is about as Baltimorian as Barack Obama is American. Birth certificates, please! Stunned?)
Pittsburgh does not have a big homegrown microbrew scene, but East End Brewery can hold its own with the best of 'em anywhere. They brew some great beers in a rather humble setting. Based out of a nearly deserted looking warehouse on a desolate side street, East End has, in the past, brewed some very impressive batches of imperial stouts, smoked beers, Belgian IPAs and barleywines.
The Big Hop IPA, though, is their flagship beer. It is not intended to be as intense or as complex as some of these one-off batch beers. Big Hop is kept on tap year-round and is intended as a pretty sessionable beer, meaning that it is good for long drinking sessions given its relatively low ABV and its general pleasantness.
Most American brewers today like to produce really "big" IPAs that blow you away with pungent, bitter hops. Big Hop IPA, though, is incredibly balanced between crisp citrus hops and a sweet malt backbone. We all agree that although "balance" is a sort of amorphous concept in brewing East End has definitely achieved it with this beer.
Third place in the voting process went to the Clipper City Heavy Seas Hop3 Ale, from somewhere other than where Garrick is from. Clipper City is run by Hugh Sisson, who is a legend in Maryland beer circles.
In 1989 he successfully lobbied the Maryland state legislature to legalize brew pubs, after which he opened the state's first brew pub in Baltimore. Largely responsible for igniting the craft brew movement in that city, Sisson left the pub a few years later to start Clipper City, where he remains involved in all aspects of the business.
Hop3 Ale is one of the most popular beers in the Heave Seas line, and rightfully so. Compared to the Hop Art IPA from coast, Hop3 is more balanced. The beer is hopped at three points in the brewing process (hence the name) so there was a noticeable, and strong, bitterness.
However, there is enough of a sweet malt background to keep the hops from stealing the show. Even with all the hops and malt, the beer is not too heavy, and we all remarked how it might be too easy to drink several of these great Maryland beers. Easily procured from most beer distributors, this is the one beer this week that you should have no problem finding.
When Eric set out to find local beers in Connecticut, he doubted the quality he would find due to the state's small beer culture. What he found surprised us, though, and took second place. Thomas J. Hooker Brewery, named after an early settler of Hartford, is a pretty small brewery in Bloomfield, Conn. The Liberator Doppelbock is brewed in the style of a German Starkbier (literally "strong beer") traditionally brewed by Bavarian monks during Lent. A Starkbier provides tons of carbs and alcohol to help the monks make it through long days of reverent fasting. Eric and Will had the opportunity to drink Paulaner's Doppelbock Salvator in Munich during Starkbierfest last Spring, and have been in love with the style ever since.
Hooker's Doppelbock was fantastic, with a creamy, roasted character similar to that of a stout. This differs from the sweet flavor and amber hue of the Paulaner Salvator, but we can't argue with something this rich, smooth, and alcoholic. The Liberator was complex, strong, and delicious, and we would definitely recommend it to any curious drinkers out there.
Brian's Coast Hop Art IPA took first place. Coast is a small brewery in North Charleston, South Carolina run by the husband-wife team of David Merritt and Jaime Tenne. After several years of home brewing and a few brief stints at other Charleston breweries, brewmaster David decided to set out on his own, opening Coast in 2007. While David operates the brew kettles and mash tuns, Jaime tends to all things administrative. Together, they have created a small but growing microbrewery, which prides itself on its sustainability, using local and organic products whenever possible.
As we found when we tasted their flagship Hop Art IPA, however, this mission does not come at the expense of quality. As the name suggests, Hop Art is all about the hops—an intentionally unbalanced IPA.
Pouring the beer, the hops let loose with a citrusy, almost peachy aroma. Citrus notes from the hops dominated the taste as well, but were complemented by a nice, crisp body with some malt sweetness. All in all, Hop Art was a great IPA that, living up to its name, packed great hop flavor and bitterness but remained crisp enough for a warm Charleston day.
So, no matter where you live in America, realize that you can easily find fantastic local beers. Next time you go home, experience new beers and see what your area has to offer.
The Bowdoin Orient has a promotion in partnership with Bootleggers Beverage Warehouse in Topsham, Maine. This week only, Bowdoin students can receive 10 percent off Coast Hop Art IPA, Hooker's Doppelbock, and Clipper City Heavy Seas Hop3 Ale upon presentation of a Bowdoin ID.