Archive for the 'Woodstock Inn' category
Woodstock Inn Brewery Wassail
Back in February the wife and I took a weekend trip up to New Hampshire for some dog sledding. The sledding was excellent (the weekend was rather “warm” for February) and it was quite a treat to see the sled dogs in their stride. On the drive back home I decided to pick up some local beer; Woodstock Inn Brewery’s Wassail and Pemi Pale Ale. I have already reviewed the Pemi (from a different session), so lets get to the Wassail.
The beer poured a dark, rich amber, with an off-white head, into the pint glass. Aromas of “winter” spice, caramel and malt mingled relatively well together. Things seemed promising for this beer, but once it hit the tongue everything fell apart. The caramel and malt definitely had some play but these flavors clashed with a very strange spice mixture. The taste also had some burnt characteristics, and finished quite harsh. This beer came in four-pack form and fortunately so, because I could not imagine going through any more.
Woodstock Inn Brewery Autumn Ale Brew
I mentioned being impressed with this beer when I had a sample of it on tap while visiting the Woodstock, NH area. A few weeks later I was able to track down a six-pack of it in the Boston area. Did the beer meet my expectations?
Poured a brown body with a white head that was thin and scattered. In the nose nutmeg is intense. I catch aromas of cinnamon for a finish, and the occasional wisp of apple, but that is with a lot of sniffing (maybe I was willing them to come out?). In the mouth the beer is a bit watery, providing a lighter mouth presence. At the beginning of the session, the nutmeg hit strong, but I was able to notice some pie crust flavors and light-carmalized sweetness. As the session progressed this minage of flavors devolved into the omni-present flavor of nutmeg. With its 4.4% abv the beer could make a nice session beer… if you really enjoy nutmeg. For me it was too much and could drink no more then one per sitting.
I think it is great when a brewery tries something different, but this one missed the mark for me. If you enjoy nutmeg, hit this beer up, I, on the other hand, shall take a pass.
Woodstock Inn Brewery Pemi Pale Ale
Whether traveling near or far I always try to sample some of the local craft beers. This past weekend I only traveled to New Hampshire but I still tried to get my craft beer sampling. New Hampshire actually has a good array of local craft breweries, including one of the Red Hook breweries, and I hope to sample their offerings in later posts. For this review however, I settled on Woodstock Inn’s Pemi Pale Ale. The interesting thing about the Woodstock Inn brewery is the fact it is an actual Inn, and they offer packaged “brewer weekend” accommodation’s, when you can learn and help in the brewing process. I found this interesting, so I decided to pick up one of their six packs.
The beer poured a wonderfully clear copper color, with a finger of slightly off white head. Whaffing from the beer’s head was a pleasant fruity hop aroma. It was difficult for me to separate out individual fruit flavors, but hints of grapefruit were definitely present. Mixing in my nostrils with this fruit aroma were also smells of pleasant floral hops and sweet dough.
The beer in the mouth had a bit of a carbonation burn at the tip of the tongue to start things off. This mellowed out towards the middle of the mouth with the fruity hop and sweet characteristics of the beer being showcased. This sweetness leaned toward a caramel taste with some bread overtones. As the beer ended its tour of the mouth it finished clean, but with a hit of bitterness. This bitter hit seemed slightly out of place for the beer due to the other more delicate features of the brew. This bitterness characteristic also had some lasting power, compared to the rest of the beer’s characteristics, remaining between swallows.
I wish the bitterness of the beer was tweaked a little bit to be less of a presence and mix better with the more delicate flavors of the beer. However, this was an enjoyable beverage and served as a welcome reward for a day of winter hiking and shoveling snow.
