The Brewniverse

Hey everyone, I just wanted to make an announcement that this coming Sunday, October 17th from 11-2 the Coventry Farmer’s Market will be hosting this year’s Blues and Brews Festival!  Several local breweries including Willimantic Brewery, John Harvard’s Brewhouse and even Coventry’s own homebrew club Knights of the Mashing Fork will be there to show off their stuff along with jivin’ music and a vast array of seasonal goods, artisinal foods, and other beer related products.  This looks like a pretty cool event and a great way to spend an autumn day, so check out the farmer’s market website below for directions and details.

Coventry Farmer’s Market

Hope to see you there!

Dana

Last week I payed my routine visit to Manchester Wine and Liquors to peruse their new arrivals.  Wading through the overwhelming masses of Octoberfest lining the shelves this fall I managed to stumble across something I hadn’t encountered before.  A little gem, sitting alone and tucked in the corner, Anchor Brewing’s Humming Ale caught my attention and drew me close.  Intrigued by the name and lack of real description on the bottle, I snagged one and chilled it down for immediate sampling Continue reading “A Step Away from the Ordinary”

OREgasmic Ale represents the third release of the Chatoe Rogue series of beers.  Chatoe Rogue is Rogue Brewery’s line brewed solely with their homegrown malt and hops. This beer uses what Rogue calls Revolution hops and Risk and Dare malts.  This is a wonderfully balanced American Pale Ale.  Light amber in color with an almost orange hue, this beer pours beautifully with a delightful bone-white head.  Spicy, floral American hops dominate the aroma with a subtle hint of nutty malt character.   Drawing you in like a moth to a flame, the first sip is intriguing with a very unique hop spice and delightfully warm, nutty malt character.  The beer finishes with a lingering bitterness that blends perfectly with the slight hop spice and balances the moderate malt character of the brew.  The balance of this beer is fantastic, slightly oriented towards hops and bitterness.

What really shines in this beer is the exceptionally unique flavor contributed from Rogue’s homegrown ingredients.  The hop profile is vastly different from many commercial pale ales, focusing on spice rather than grapefruit and citrus. The complex maltiness comes across with a very pleasant sweet, nutty, toasted almond flavor which is often covered up by intense bitterness in some American Pale Ales.  Unfortunately, this brew is limited release, so you are going to have to do your best to get the store and stock up before they sell out for good.  This is absolutely a must try, end of story.

Live life.  Love beer.

Dana

This week Sierra Nevada came out with its fall seasonal, the Tumbler Brown Ale.  This well balanced brown ale sports an incredibly smooth roasted malt character and a touch of smoke on the finish.  As a huge fan of brown ale I’d highly recommend giving this brew a try.  Check it out at Sierra Nevada’s Website

Pair with campfire, friends, and a hearty meal.

Live life. Love Beer.