Archive for June 19th, 2009

• Great BBQ in Cobleskill,NY: Rubbin' Butts (pulled pork&brisket) & Cellar Tavern (spare ribs). Full report coming to ohabeer.com #

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Brewery: Otter Creek Brewing
Location: Middlebury, VT
Style: White ale

Continuing on the Belgian or Belgian styled white ale trend of the last few reviews, I turn now to an OAB favorite brand: Wolaver’s. I have yet to be disappointed in anything I have had from them. Often I feel the “certified organic” tag is nothing more than a marketing ploy to attract yuppie douchebags and charge far too much for a product. In the case of the Wolaver line – however – the price is no more than the usual craft beer but the quality definitely stands out.

Ben Gleason’s White Ale is a Belgian style white brewed with organic raw wheat, organic rolled oats, and organic 2-row malted barley. This is then spiced with organic coriander and orange peel. All of that organic care actaully comes through in the final product.

This is a slightly cloudy pale gold beer with a bright white head. There is quite a bit of carbonation and that brings all the orange, yeast and spicy goodness to the nose as you pour. The word that comes to mind on tasting is: crisp. This is a crisp light Belgian with a perfect citrus to spice to yeast balance. Those organic grains have laid down a perfect foundation of light maltiness with a nice level of wheat. We can only hope the foamybeer Ring My Belgian we are currently conditioning will turn out half as good.

Excellent with a light BBQ dinner outside on a summer evening. You simply can’t go wrong here – unless you REALLY hate great Belgian beer. Wolaver’s continues to impress and I continue to look for their beers.