By Eric Cioffi
It was a gloomy
drizzly Saturday with nothing much going on. I managed to cut the lawn before the rain started and got a
few things done around the house.
Played with Jackson for a while then decided to head over the boarder to
the New Hampshire Seacoast to check out Blue Lobster brewing in Hampton. Located in a nice little strip mall on
Lafayette Road the tasting room is set up with a number of high top tables and
a nice blue stone bar. Four beers
were available for tasting at the unbelievable price of $1.00 a glass. The samples were poured into 5 ounce
snifters with the Blue Lobster logo on them. A very generous sample for a dollar! The owner was behind the bar and we
chatted for a bit. He spent some
time in Oregon where he was influenced by the west coast style of beer. Blue Lobster’s beers are definitely hop
forward!
I started with
their flagship beer the Gold Claw American Pale Ale. This is a fantastic brew! The beer was a clear pale yellow in color with a nice white
head. Aromas were of citrus and
slightly sweet tropical notes.
Very carbonated and crisp; the ale is medium bodied and hoppy. You get some resinous hop up front,
which is followed quickly by citrus and pine. The hops are balanced nicely by toasty biscuity malt. The finish is bitter but not overwhelmingly
so. I picked up a growler for the
Patriot’s game tomorrow.
The Black Claw
Stout was very good. Plenty of
roasted malt and chocolate with some hop bitterness. A dry stout with plenty of carbonation and flavor. Smooth and balanced. One of the better stouts I have had
that is not Guinness.
Next up was the
Ragged Neck Porter. My past
experience with porters has not been good and I generally stay away. Usually sticky sweet and heavy, they
reminded me of cough syrup. I was
in for a very pleasant surprise with the Ragged Neck. It was crisp and dry with a medium body. The brew master uses peat in the
brewing process, which imparts a wonderful smoky flavor that stays in the
background adding depth without being obnoxious. Dark but not bitter it was a great beer. I picked up a half growler.
The final beer
on tap was A Life Of Sundays, a wee heavy scotch ale weighing in at 10%
ABV. I never tried a wee heavy
before. It was very good, sweet
but not overly so. It was balanced
by a measured hop bitterness.
Lightly carbonated and very smooth. Flavors of honey, rich caramel, and roasted malt with a
subtle bitterness at the end. ABV is very well disguised. The finish is mellow
and smooth with a lingering sweetness. A great winter beer.
I also picked up
a bottle of Little Lobster on the Prairie, a Farmhouse Saison that is lightly
hopped with Galaxy hops and fermented with Brettanomyces Bruxellensis. I will be cracking that for the Sox
game. I was very impressed with
these beers and will definitely be back to try more!
Go Sox!
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