Faster, Bigger, Better, Bolder is a collaboration between Dogfish Head and The Bruery.
New England Brewing Co.’s 668, The Neighbor of the BeastSome of the best Sundays I’ve enjoyed over then past few years have been courtesy of my friend O’Brian Tomalin, owner of The Sierra Grille in Northampton.But although I’ve had numerous great times at the restaurant, the experiences I’m speaking of here occur at O’Brian’s home.
Every so often, when supplies build up, a bunch of beer freaks and geeks gather at the Tomalin compound for sharing beers they’ve collected (and sometimes have cellared).
Two Sundays ago, the latest installment of this series occurred, so I thought I d share a few notes I took over the course of the afternoon. But before I begin, a few caveats:
1) My notes were taken by recording them on my iPhone. They are very informal and brief. I stuck with writing about the first three, because after that I didn’t trust my palate.
2) Because the notes were taken during samplings of numerous beers, do not put an incredible amount of stock in them. Think of them as sketches, not fully realized paintings. There was plenty of food, revelry, and conversation about other topics (such as Brock McConkey’s childhood memories of a mulberry bush and kumquat tree in his grandmother’s yard. We are an odd lot, I’ll admit.)
So, without further ado, let’s get into my somewhat scattered peeks at three brews:
First up was De Ranke Hop Harvest from 2011. This may have been my favorite of the entire afternoon, but it also had the advantage of being first, before my palate was cluttered with other brews (and O’Brian’s ridiculously good guacamole, which I think I ate several pounds of). The beer poured a somewhat hazy golden hue with a big fluffy white head. The aroma smacked the olfactory with a grassy, yet fruity nose. The sample I had was fairly balanced with a nice combination of grainy malts and nice grapefruit hoppiness. It left a lip-smacking bitterness on the tongue afetrwards. I highly recommend this brew if you can still find it.
Next up (and these are the order we tried them in, as best as I recall) was New England Brewing Co.’s 668, The Neighbor of the Beast. This a a Belgian pale ale, which despite its sinister name is a very nice and stylistically solid representation of this type of beer. It features nice banana notes in the nose, an understated amount of Belgian yeast aspects (which to me is a positive, as that of yeast can be overpowering) and some tasty spicy and bread-like notes in the flavor.
The third brew was Faster, Bigger, Better, Bolder – collaboration between Dogfish Head and The Bruery. (The name actually continues “Gradually, Quietly, Steadily. But let’s just call it FBBB for our purposes today.)
Anyway, FBBB is yet another innovative move from two breweries known for taking the malt row less traveled. The beer is made with such ingredients as as chili peppers, sesame seeds, and kumquats (thus Brock’s childhood reminisce) and then fermented with a sake yeast. The brew is very tasty and none of the “odd” ingredients dominate the flavor, making it a very quaffable beer. Hints of kumquat and sake yeast interplay well together and once again, collaboration wins the day in craft brewing.
Cheers, and thanks to all my friends at tasting.