Embrace The Hops

Brennan’s Pub
173 High St
Holyoke, MA 01040

We decided to essentially start at the bottom of I-91 on the Yankee Brew News beer map. That meant Holyoke, MA. Specifically, we were headed for Paper City Brewing. Unfortunately – due to the spontaneous nature of this road trip – we did not do proper research into when the brewery would be open or even really where it was in town. (Well – we did have a street address.) Our journey took us into the High Street area of Holyoke. My mother always said if you do not have something nice to say – say nothing at all.

“Ahem…Nothing at all.”

Look – I know many urban breweries are pioneers. They spring up in industrial areas and often lead to a renaissance. I pray Paper City does this for Holyoke because there are some serious dodgy areas in route to the brewery – and I used to live in downtown Detroit. Sadly, we could not determine if the brewery was actually open – we arrived around noon – so we decided to bail and try to find a bit of food and drink.

Once again…“Nothing at all.” I mean REALLY?!?! Aren’t there a couple of colleges around this town? I know the economy has hit everyone hard, but DAMN! This was not a great start to our road trip.

Then – after turning back on to High St. to head for our car and get the hell out of Holyoke – we spotted Brennan’s Pub. While I found the Bud logos next to the clovers on an Irish pub sign a bit off-putting, I was encouraged by the Sierra Nevada and Guinness neon. At this point, we were more than hungry, thirsty and frazzled so we gave it a shot.

We are certainly glad we did. This is one of those great local Irish pubs where the folks are friendly, the pints are proper and the walls are filled with a variety of photos, beer mirrors, neon and ephemera. The menu is of the solid pub grub/sandwiches variety. The televisons were playing an array of sports and CNN coverage. We decided we couldn’t possibly do better from what we had seen of Holyoke.

We settled in and ordered opur first beer of the trip: Berkshire Brewing Steel Rail. It’s a clean crisp extra pale ale with a nice slightly barley malt edge and good hoppiness. Running 5.3% ABV, it’s a great bar session beer and went well with our lunch. Brennan’s served it in 14 oz. pints very cold. We would discover through the course of the road trip almost every bar had Steel Rail on tap. It became the fall back if look for a simple light bodied beer.

As for the food, I had a Mexsteak sandwich. Essentially a kicked up cheesesteak with big fresh jalapenos and a nicely spicy chipotle sauce. Mrs. Ohabeer had some sort of wrap with a ton of sour cream, but I was enjoying the Mexsteak too much to care about her lunch. Oh yes – and the lunch with curly fries only cost $5. Gotta love a good pub grub bargain!

We decided to have a second round after lunch choosing to try the two Wachusett beers they had in bottles. The Wachusett Blueberry Ale was a simple pale ale with a subtle blueberry scent but not much in the way of blueberry flavor. Mrs. Ohabeer thought is was ok, but not really all that impressive. We also got a bottle of the Wachusett Green Monsta Ale. This is a nice big pale ale with a bunch of hops. As is usually the case, Mres. Ohabeer thought it too hoppy. I thought it was quite nice. Not really a hop bomb, but definitely hoppier than your usual pale. A nice flowery scent with a good malt balance. I could easily see this as a favorite session if available anywhere near me.

While at Brennan’s, we discovered Paper City does a Friday evening open house/tasting starting at 6pm. Unfortunately it was only 2pm and really we could not take hanging out in Holyoke for another 4 hours. So with the Wachusetts finished, we paid the bill – thanked the bartender – and headed out for far greener and hopefully more fruitful pastures.

We now know if heading into Holyoke on a Friday, get there around 3pm. Head over to Brennan’s for a bit of afternoon snack and beer. Then drive – do not walk – over to Paper City for their Friday night open house.

Beers Sampled: 3
Towns visited: 1
Breweries visited: 1
Breweries open: 0

Up next: We’re off to Northampton as soon as we point the car in the right direction.

Brewery: Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.
Location: Chico, CA
Style: Extra IPA

I’m a bit late getting around to this one even though I picked it up (and drank it all) months ago. When I heard on teh internets that Sierra Nevada was coming out with a hop bomb, I was definitely intrigued. I’m a Sierra fan though I’ve always felt their pale ale was – well – pale. So, when I ran into Sierra Nevada Torpedo Extra IPA I grabbed a six.

Checking out, the clerk at the beer store asked if I had tried it before. I said no, but I was looking forward to it. He had a less than stellar review – calling it WAY too hoppy and very very dry. Didn’t exactly hate it – but said he would not recommend it.

Well, I WILL recommend it.

Yes – it is a big hoppy beer. It uses something called a “hop torpedo” that dry hops the beer in a new way. (Or at least that what the press release states.) This results is a big hop aroma and flavor. No surprise – Mrs. Ohabeer is not a fan and lets me have the sixes of this all to myself. That’s just fine with me.

This pours a clear copper amber color with a medium head. Right away you’re hit with the hop aroma. Big flowery scent with a slight fruit undertone. The taste is extremely dry – like desert arid. Big hop whollop up front rolls out into a slight maltiness. Definitely a hop bomb. The hops definitely tug at the palette keeping whatever sweetness there might be in check. that’s not to say there isn’t a balance here. This is not like some extreme “sucking on a hops cone with a bit of water” beer. The hops play between a flowery/grassy taste and a semi-citrus bitter all the while raiding on a nice subtle sweetness.

Medium bodied with 7.2% ABV, it’s definitely not a session beer. Still, I find a couple after work on the deck during spring/summer just the thing to ease out of the day. I was quite pleased to find the bywater bistro in Rosendale, NY had it on the menu during a recent visit. Always nice to see a big hoppy beer on a restaurant menu.

Need to remember to grab some more for the cellar next time I see it…

Brewery: Boulder Beer
Location: Boulder, CO
Style: American Pale Ale

Time to make a return to my current spring/summer project: Embrace The Hops.

Quick recap…up until recently I had quite an aversion to strong hop beers. My preference ran in the stout/dark ale realm so I have made the commitment to buy at least one big hop brew on every beer run until the winter.

This time around, I went for a beer I’ve been eyeing for a while and just never got around to buying: Boulder Beer Hazed & Infused Dry-hopped Ale. I wish it had not taken me so long to finally get to this. This has quickly become one of my favorite summer session beers – though sadly not readily available at my local gas station. Having this in the cellar means a bit of a trip and some stocking up.

It is a beautiful amber colored ale that is strangely very clear for being unfiltered. A good pale yellow head falls fairly quickly but that;s not really a big issue. There is a huge hop aroma with the slightest edge of maltiness. The taste is solid hops – but not a dry your mouth to the point of arid. Just a big punch of flowery and citrusy hops (Crystal and Centennial according to the bottle) with enough malt underneath to keep this nicely balanced and out of the hop bomb territory. The flower/citrus aftertaste builds over the course of a glass making the hop taste strong the longer you drink.

Medium bodied and quite refreshing – at 4.85 % ABV it might be a bit on the high side of a session – though not for the usual craft drinker. A great afternoon on the deck in summer drink. My only regret was not stocking more when I had the chance. I plan to correct that this weekend.

Brewery: Widmer Brewing
Location: Portland, OR
Style: Pale ale

The Favorite Sessions series continues with the Widmer Drifter Pale Ale. I had been hearing good things about Widmer on Teh Internets so when I ran into a couple of 6 packs during grocery shopping, I decided to pick them up. I got this pale ale as well as the Widmer Drop Top Amber (review coming soon). Of the two, this was definitely the winner. Both are solid ales, but if I’m looking for something with a bit of flavor punch but with (a slight above) session level ABV – this is my new beer.

Pours a lovely amber gold with a medium foamy white head. The head disappears fairly quickly, but I find that to be the case with a lot of sessions, There is a nicely balanced hop/malt scent with citrusy hops as dominant aroma. This is a medium bodied ale – not too dry or hop bomby. It’s mostly a citrus hop taste making it much less bitter than a lot of pale ales. You get a touch of bitterness in the after taste but not the kind of whollop many pale ales bring to the table. The slightly sweet malt undertone helps keep this under control and keep it in a nice simple session ale realm. OK – technically the 5.7% ABV puts this slightly out of true session territory, but for those who prefer their beer to be craft vs. BMC, a 5.7% beer is actually a session brew.

It’s a perfectly balanced simple ale for a summer night when you want something with flavor and a slight kick, but do not feel the need to be challenged or extreme. An absolutely perfect deck/BBQ beer,

Brewery: Shmaltz Brewing
Location: Saratoga Springs, NY
Style: American Strong Ale

While writing the Jewbelation Eleven review, I discovered a bottle of Jewbelation Twelve in the cellar. It seemed only fitting to follow the Eleven review with the Twelve. So – as a prelude to Cha Cha Hut Fish Tacos – we opened the He’Brew Jewbelation Twelve while the grill heated.

This time – the number of malt and hops increases to 12 each. That also means the ABV kicks up one point to 12%. I was not really expecting a huge difference from the Eleven and in many ways I was right.

The Twelve pours with the same deep black brown color of the Eleven. The head is still massively thick and creamy, but this time much darker – mild roasted brown. There is that massive malt aroma again – full of chocolate but also coffee in this edition. There is definitely more play between the malt and hop this time. (Note: I did server this a bit warmer initially than the Eleven as this line appears to favor the 55-60 degree range.) It starts with a big sweetness full of roasted malt, chocolate and coffee tones and finishes with a bittersweet punch thanks to the hops. The hops bring a piney edge to the back end.

A small complaint is – unlike the Eleven – the alcohol is more prevalent in the Twelve. There is a definite burning but not quite harshness. That makes this a bit more of a warmer than the Eleven. That definitely puts it into the “Winter Drinking” category for the OAB HQ. It was a fine brew – perhaps not the thing for a summer evening on the deck – that I hope to find a couple more for the cellar. I’m hoping a winter fire and a few months of cellaring will mellow this a bit.

Brewery: Shmaltz Brewing
Location: Saratoga Springs, NY
Style: Rye based Double I.P.A.

Keeping in the D.I.P.A. mode, next up is He’Brew’s Bittersweet Lenny’s R.I.P.A. According to the bottle, this is #1 in the Shmaltz Tribute to Jewish Stars. In this case the star is Lenny Bruce. I considered some sort of cheesy Lenny Bruce ranting tribute review for this beer, but decided it really did not succeed enough for the effort.

Not to say this is not a good beer – just not as great as some of the He’Brews I’ve had. Actually, that’s basically how I fell about Bruce as well. Some of his material was genius only to occasionally fall into something a bit too out there or experimental for my tastes. While I am a fan of bitter performers, I am not a big bitter beer fan – and rye beers are (to me at least) too bitter.

The packaging claims an obscene amount of malt and hops and as the list below demonstrates, they are not lying:

Malts: 2-row, Rye Ale Malt, Torrified Rye, Crystal Rye 75, Crystal Malt 65, Wheat, Kiln Amber, Caramel 70
Hops: Warrior, Cascade, Simcoe, Crystal, Chinook, Amarillo, Centennial. Dry Hopped with Amarillo and Crystal

Sadly, I don’t think this amount of malts and hops actually ends up creating any sort of balance in the brew. Instead, all I got was hop with little malt sweetness.

This pours the color of brown sugar with a massively thick creamy head. The hop scent leaps out of the glass – very flowery and piney. That hop massiveness continues into the tasting. Immediately – all moisture left my mouth. Exceedingly dry and bitter. This is something beyond “hop bomb” – perhaps “hop tactical device” might be a better term. No real balance and that hop whollop kills any chance of tasting the malts if they are actually there.

It’s definitely a big beer – 10% ABV – and perhaps one only suited to the biggest of hop fans. I’ve read elsewhere of folks getting a malty front with a big hop back. Wondering if perhaps it should have been cellared a bit. In any case, most likely not something that will be returning to the OAB HQ any time soon.

Brewery: Long Trail
Location: Bridgewater Corners, VT
Style: Double IPA

Having enjoyed the the other member of the Brewmaster Series (Long Trail Coffee Stout), I could not pass up the opportunity to try the Double IPA. Add to this the fact Oliver’s Discount Beverage was selling bombers for $3.99 and it was a slam dunk to pick up two for the cellar.

As I have mentioned in several IPA reviews, I spent many years avoiding the hops. Stouts, porters and ambers were the standard drink for me. At the beginning of the warm weather here at OAB HQ, I declared this spring and summer the season of “Embrace The Hops”. I’ve gone out of my way on each cellar restock to find at least one hop bomb or big hop beer – much to the dismay of Mrs. Ohabeer. (She is decidedly not a hop fan…) While the Long Trail Double IPA does not qualify as a hop bomb, it certainly satisfies my desire for something hoppier than my usual fare and was declared by Mrs. Ohabeer: “too hoppy”.

It pours a slightly cloudy gold color with a clean foamy white head. The aroma is definitely an DIPA: large hop scent – citrus with a faint flower and malt scent. The flavor is a lovely balance of citrusy hops, a subtle balance of malt with a touch of flowery hop at the end. Mrs. Ohabeer and I discussed the citrus profile and decided it comes through mostly as lemony. It’s a medium light bodied IPA with a bit of “tongueyness”. By that I mean, it’s a slight bit dry on the end leading to that strange sort of feeling on the tongue. If you’ve encountered it you know what I mean. It’s not a bad thing – just a little unexpected in an DIPA.

Certainly lighter than most DIPAs in body, it’s 8.6% ABV is nicely hidden in the balance of citrus hop and sweet malts. A very mellow DIPA that could easily sneak up on you if you’re not careful. At $3.99 a bomber, drinking several – while economical – may not be the most advisable session on a BBQ afternoon.

Brewery: Troegs Brewing Co.
Location: Harrisburg, PA
Style: Imperial Amber Ale

Oh hell yes!

Seriously, I don;t any other way to start this review. When I started hearing about Troegs Nugget Nectar in February, I thought “Could it really be THAT good?” Sure, I’ve dug all of the Troegs I’ve had so far, but a lot of folks were majorly raving about this brew. Would it actually live up to the hype? Let me repeat…

Oh hell yes!

I bought a growler of this at Half Time in Poughkeepsie, NY and let it mellow in the cellar for a month. Having had one of those days where one just needs a growler of hoppy beer, we here at OAB HQ craked this open.

It’s a beautiful copper colored ale with a nice foamy head. The head falls off fairly quickly leaving a medium topping on the brew. There is a huge hop scent. Something like shoving your face into the hop bin of your local homebrew store. It’s carried up by a nice level of carbonation. This was looking quite promising.

The taste delivers on the promise. This is one big hop bomb. Citrusy with a touch of bitterness. You can taste the malts trying to fight their way over the hops, but they just are not to the task. Instead, the malts form a nice low end balance to keep this from completely falling into hop hell. Nice medium body and very drinkable. The 7.5% ABV made for a buzzy 3/4 of a growler (Mrs. Ohabeer – not much of a hop lover – did not partake in much). Actually glad Mrs. Ohabeer was not into this – left more for me.

Definitely looking for this when it shows up again next year. Have to remember to stash a couple in the cellar for the summer. I’m betting this would hold up nicely against some slow cooked BBQ.