November 2019 – The Tap Takeover

Beer Review: Guinness Open Gate Brewery’s Barrel Aged Stock Ale

Name: Barrel Aged Stock Ale
Brewing Company: Guinness Open Gate Brewery
Location: Halethorpe, MD
Style: Old Ale
ABV: 10%

A rich, boozy ale that brings together many flavor components in delicious way.

From the untappd page for the beer:

Fulsome, high gravity stout aged in bourbon barrels for several months. Then brewed a take on a barleywine style, with plenty of hops, and barrel aged it for a few weeks to mellow it out. This is a blend of these two separate beers.

Guinness is one of the largest breweries in the world, but their new(ish) Open Gate Brewery in Maryland is cranking out more than just the stouts you’d expect from the company that produces the world’s best selling stout. From what I’ve gathered, they are slowly releasing beers into distribution, last year it was a stout aged in Bulleit Bourbon Barrels and this year/this beer is similar in that it was aged in Bulleit Bourbon barrels.

Since the ginormous beverage conglomerate Diageo owns both Guinness and Bulleit, why not put that corporate synergy to use? That synergy produced their latest barrel aged project: an Old Ale, itself a style that isn’t too common here in the States. The style is often characterized by high alcohol, sweet molasses like flavor elements, and improvement with age – especially aging in barrels. This particular “Stock Ale” is a blend of stout and barleywine. I’ve had only a few beers that would be considered Old Ales and enjoy it so as soon as I saw this beer existed and was available near me, I had to get at least a bottle of it.

The label has the iconic harp from Guinness, with the distinctive orange banner seen on bottles of Bulleit Bourbon – corporate synergy! Opening the bottle and pouring the beer into the glass, a very pleasing smell hit my nose. Once in the glass, the beer is mahogany/reddish brown with a light khaki, light malted milk head. The aroma of the bourbon is very strong, along with an underlying sweetness. Again, this is not something I’d expect from Guinness having consumed hundreds of pints and bottles of their stout over the years.

The taste of the beer leads with bourbon, but then the elements of the stout and barleywine come into play. There’s minimal roast from the stout, a slight kiss of hops you’d expect from an American barleywine, too. What I was hoping to get in the full flavor profile soon arrived – a bite at the end. Maybe the most widely known Old Ales being Founder’s Curmudgeon and North Coast’s Old Stock, which are a big beers and they aren’t even barrel-aged. There’s a strong and pleasant earthiness to the style (at least from what I remember in Curmudgeon) that is toned down in Guinness’s Stock Ale compared to those other two beers. I got a little bit of the barrel notes on the finish, too.

I took my time with this beer given its relatively high ABV , I wanted to experience the flavors awaken as the beer warmed to room temperature and I’m glad I took that approach. The bourbon continued to be ever-present, but the other flavors became more prominent. More of the malt that characterizes the stout portion of the beer, but the hops were still dialed down a bit. Not a bad thing.

I’m glad one of my local bottle shops was selling single bottles of this beer, the price point was a little high for me to go for a full four pack of an untested beer. That said, I could definitely see myself having another bottle of this beer maybe after a year of letting it age even more than the component beers that comprise the stock ale aged. This beer proves Corporate Synergy isn’t always such a bad thing.

Highly recommended, link to 4.25 bottle-cap Untappd check in.

Untapped badges earned with this beer:

Stock Up on Stock Ale

Just as Guiness blends years of Irish brewing with American creativity at is Open Gate Brewery, this limited time Guinness Stock Ale Aged in Bulleit Bourbon Barrels blends a Guinness Barleywine with an Imperial Stout for a luxuriant beer.

Draught Diversions: Thanksgiving 6 Pack 2019

Draught Diversion

Draught Diversions is the catchall label for mini-rants, think-pieces, and posts that don’t just focus on one beer here at The Tap Takeover. We hope you don’t grow too weary of the alcohol alliterative names we use…

Thanksgiving is nearing so, since I’ve done a Thanksgiving recommendation post the last two years, I figured I’d keep the tradition alive. As is often the case, these are beers with varying availability, local to NJ, to the whole Mid-Atlantic region, some available nationally. Like previous years, I’ll be featuring beers that are rich, or beers that can work as dessert beers as well as a mix of beers I’ve had and beers I’ve yet to have.

Pivo Pils | Firestone Walker Brewing Co. | Pilsner | Paso Robles, CA | 5.2% ABV

Image Courtesy of Firestone Walker’s website

If I can find a way to fit a Pilsner into the discussion, I will. Few breweries in America are as widely praised as Firestone Walker. Their pilsner is a fantastic interpretation of the style, which takes some inspiration from both the German and Czech traditions of the style. It is a little more hoppy than most pilsners, but very delicious and a very approachable beer as starter for the day.

What Firestone Walker says about the beer:

Pivo Pils is a classically rendered pilsner with a West Coast dry-‐hopping twist, showcasing stylistic inﬂuences from Germany, Italy and the Czech Republic. Lighter beer styles like pilsner have been hijacked by industrial lager beer in the United States, and it’s time for craft brewers to take it back. Pivo Pils oﬀers impeccable balance with ﬂoral aromatics, spicy herbal nuances, and bergamot zest and lemongrass notes from dry hopping with German Saphir hops.

Edmund Fitzgerald | Great Lakes Brewing Company | Porter – American | Cleveland, OH | 6% ABV

Image courtesy of Great Lakes Brewing’s website

In my humble opinion, this is the best porter brewed in America and I will often have some of this in my refrigerator in the colder months of the year. Thanksgiving is a very American Holiday. Porters pair well with hearty meals, with their full flavor, especially a flavorful porter like this beer. Add that all up and I’d slot this in either right before dinner or at the dinner table to complement the many roasted flavors of the food.

What Great Lakes says about the beer:

Robust and complex, our Porter is a bittersweet tribute to the legendary freighter’s fallen crew—taken too soon when the gales of November came early.

FLAVOR
Brewed in memory of the sunken freighter, with rich roasted barley and bittersweet chocolate-coffee notes.

Da’ Nile | River Horse Brewing Company | Red Ale – American Amber / Red | Ewing, NJ | 5.9% ABV

Image courtesy of River Horse’s Facebook

Red/Amber Ales are often overlooked these days, but they can pack a lot of flavor. Especially when sweetened up with vanilla and molasses like this fine ale from River Horse. I had this on draft at the brewery after I finished the River Horse 6K earlier in the year and enjoyed it quite a bit. This beer I’d maybe set with the main course and would especially pair nicely with sweet potatoes/candied yams.

What River Horse says about the beer:

A deep amber ale brewed with vanilla, lactose, blackstrap molasses, and caramel malts. A delicious and drinkable malty option with depth and balanced sweetness.

Suddenly Comfy | Dogfish Head Craft Brewery | Cream Ale | Milton, DE | 8% ABV

Image courtesy of Dogfish Head’s website

Dogfish Head does so many flavorful things with their beers and they’re mostly all very good. This beer could bridge the courses from dinner to dessert, with ingredients of Apple Pie in the mix as noted below. This beer is a little higher in ABV (8%), so having some turkey, stuffing, and mashed potatoes in your stomach will help absorb some of the alcohol. I haven’t had this one yet, but I’m thinking that might change as the holidays get closer.

Dogfish Head says this about the beer:

Things are suddenly getting real comfy around these parts with our latest off-centered creation – Suddenly Comfy.

Brewed with fresh apple cider, Saigon cinnamon and Madagascar vanilla beans, this Imperial Cream Ale is made with all the fixings of a great apple pie … just like grandma used to make. .

Inhale and you’ll be greeted with aromas of pie crust and brûléed sugar. Sip and you’ll find notes of fruity sweetness. Savor and you’ll venture on a fragrant flashback that has you longing for the past.

Inspired by the classically decadent dessert, Suddenly Comfy is a result of our Beer Exploration Journal – a program designed to give our fans a peek into the world of R&DFH, while sampling, evaluating and rating new beers on tap exclusively at our Milton Tasting Room & Kitchen and Rehoboth brewpub.

Gingerbread Moochiato | Bolero Snort Brewing Company | Stout – Milk / Sweet | Carlstadt, NJ | 7 % ABV

Image courtesy of Bolero Snort’s Website

Bolero Snort is one of the great contract breweries in NJ, soon to open their brewery and Taproom at the end of 2019. Hell, not just great contract brewery, great brewery period. Known for their eye-catching a labels and bovinely inspired beer names, their beers are usually a lot of fun. People like coffee at the end of the dinner to enjoy with their dessert, so a sweetened spiced coffee milk stout would fit right in with the cheesecake as it did when I thoroughly enjoyed this beer during a Bolero Snort Dinner Beer pairing on my birthday. I had my 5oz pour as well as my wife’s 5oz pour, it was my favorite of the 5 beers I had that evening.

What Bolero Snort says about the beer:

A little nip in the air…so we’re keeping our uggs on a bit longer. Gingerbread Moochiato: same great coffee laden 7% milk stout base as Moochiato with loads of Ginger, cinnamon, clove, vanilla and just a hint of maple to round things out. Holiday shopping just got better.

Dragon’s Milk Reserve: Oatmeal Cookie | Stout – American Imperial / Double | Holland, MI | 11% ABV

Finishing the day with a “pastry stout” or “dessert stout” to complement (or supplement?) the previous beer is where this whole thing finishes off. I’ve had several bottles of New Holland’s iconic Dragon’s Milk Stout over the years and they’ve brewed quite a few variants (Coffee Chocolate, Cherry Chocolate, Salted Caramel), I may have had the S’More’s version, too. This year (2019), the variant New Holland released is most definitely a big ABV dessert sipper. Cookies, in my opinion, are just as enjoyable as a slice of cake for dessert so what better big beer to share?

What New Holland says about the beer:

Dragon’s Milk Reserve: Inspired by one of our favorite treats, Dragon’s Milk Reserve: Oatmeal Cookie is carefully aged with cinnamon, oats, brown sugar, raisins, and Madagascar vanilla extract. The familiar flavors of a freshly baked oatmeal cookie make an excellent pair with the rich, warm bourbon notes of our signature barrel-aged stout.

Beer Review: Broken Goblet’s All Goblets Have Spirits

Beer Review

Name: All Goblets Have Spirits
Brewing Company: Broken Goblet Brewing Company
Location: Bensalem Township, PA
Style: Scotch Ale / Wee Heavy
ABV: 10.3%

A malty, flavorful beer whose strong maple syrup presence is wonderfully balanced.

The floaties are slices of apples, a nice touch from the fine folks of Broken Goblet.

From Broken Goblet’s landing page for the beer:

Scotch Ale with maple syrup and gala apples.

Scotch Ales are not the most prevalent style of beer in the American beer landscape. Sure a decent number of breweries have at last one in their portfolio, but they aren’t the juicy hop bombs which often comprise at least half to two thirds of a bar or taproom’s beer list. The style is very malty, often sweet, and can be in the 7 to 10 ABV% range. They are somewhere on the Barleywine and Imperial Stout spectrum of ales, minus the hoppiness. Scotch Ales lend themselves to some flavor adjuncts or barrel aging, too. In the case of Broken Goblet’s All Goblets Have Spirits, their Scotch ale is brewed with Maple Syrup and Gala Apples. If that doesn’t say fall beer, I don’t know what does.

As has become tradition around my birthday in November, my wife takes me and a few people on a tour of multiple breweries. This year’s tour featured breweries along the Bucks County Ale Trail, which is pretty convenient since I’m about a half hour from the PA border and included a stop at Broken Goblet. I usually don’t go for the prevalent styles on these brewery visits, styles like IPAs and Stouts, so seeing this beer up on the menu board for the day was very pleasing as I enjoy a good Scotch Ale.

However, I wasn’t prepared for what this beer turned out to be.

I was confused when the beer was handed to me, little objects were floating in the beer. The aroma; however, was delicious. A glorious smell with hints of maple that I could have spent an hour breathing in. I realized those little objects were slivers of apple, which per the above description, are part of the brewing process along with maple syrup. I wasn’t initially aware that the apples and maple syrup were used in the brewing process, the menu board doesn’t indicate that to be the case. It was an extremely pleasant surprise, I must admit.

It is really difficult to get past the potency of the maple in this beer, but that isn’t a bad thing. I still get the malts that gives the Scotch Ale it’s primary flavors, however. I’ve had a few beers that used maple syrup as part of the brewing process, some have been good, a few have turned sour (CBS), but in almost all of them the maple is omnipresent and a fine complement to the beer itself. There’s a strong hint of caramel to this beer, along with perhaps toffee too. I’m reminded of Sierra Nevada’s Maple Scotch Ale, but a little boozier. I don’t know if I’d get the apple flavor as much as I would if there weren’t pieces of apples floating at the top of the beer. I really liked the touch of the apples in the beer. This from a guy who doesn’t appreciate an orange being added to my glass of Hefeweizen or Witbier.

All Goblets Have Spirits is a very interesting, fun beer. The crispness of the apples likely helps to balance the very potent sweetness from the maple syrup and caramelly malts for the beer. This is a beer to enjoy on a cold fall or winter night by the fire. A beer to consider and enjoy while perhaps watching a movie or curling up with a great immersive novel.

We visited five breweries (and had dinner at a favorate restaurant with a fantastic tap list) that day and All Goblets Have Spirits was, unquestionably my favorite beer of the day. It is the kind of beer to experience. It was also pleased to run into the guys behind Breweries in PA during our visit. We chatted only briefly, I think they were partaking in a tour of the Bucks County Ale Trail, too.

Summing it up, Broken Goblet is a fun brewery and All Goblets Have Spirits is a very good beer.

Highly recommended, link to 4.25 bottle-cap Untappd check in.

Untapped badges earned with this beer:

Wee Bit of the Scotch (Level 4)

Whether it’s a Scotch Ale, Scottish Ale, or a traditional Wee Heavy, don your kilt and prepare yourself for a wee bit of Scotch.

Beer Review: Mast Landing’s Gunner’s Daughter

Beer Review

Name: Gunner’s Daughter
Brewing Company: Mast Landing Brewing Company
Location: Westbrook, ME
Style: Stout – Milk / Sweet | Peanut Butter Milk Stout
ABV: 5.5%

An impressive beer that is immensely flavorful yet sessionable at the same time. An upper echelon Milk Stout.

From Mast Landing’s Beer List:

Our beautifully aromatic and balanced milk stout with delicious notes of peanut butter, coffee, and dark chocolate.

Stout Day is one of those “holidays” to arise in recent years as the internet has looked to celebrate everything. Well, for many beer drinkers, it is just another excuse to have a beer, in this case a stout. For me, I try to have a different stout every first Thursday in November (a.k.a. Stout Day), like this fantastic Milk Stout from Maine’s Mast Landing.

This beer is Mast Landing’s most popular beer and something of a flagship beer and once I tasted it, I could completely understand why the beer is their top beer on untappd and Beer Advocate.

As one would expect, the beer pours out of the 16oz can very dark. It has a perfect khaki, heavily creamed coffee head. This looks like a perfect stout to me. What is unexpected is the aroma. There’s a roasted peanut / peanut butter aroma that encourages that first sip. I asked my wife, who does not like beer, to give it a whiff and she remarked that it smelled less like beer than she would have expected.

The aroma is about 60% of what makes up the taste for a person and that is very true with this beer. It has the main malt/sweet flavors a Milk Stout typically shows, but then hints of peanut butter/roasted peanut show up to the flavor party. Rounding the full profile of the beer are more subtle hints of chocolate. I wouldn’t go so far as to say this beer tastes like a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup, but more importantly, the beer evokes that flavor. In my humble opinion, that flavor evocation is a more subtle and nuanced approach to crafting a beer and the skill of the people creating the beer. That nuanced craft skill are on full display in Gunner’s Daughter.

I don’t know if the fine folks at Mast Landing added peanut butter, coffee, and chocolate to the beer for those flavors or if the complex flavors arose from the nuanced blend of malts. I’ve had a decent share of beers with peanut butter used in the brewing process or even peanut butter powder, some of those beers range from an overpowering unpleasant peanut butter bomb to artificial, powdery false flavor. Gunner’s Daughter is nowhere on that unpleasant spectrum, the beer is delicious worth a slow sip of enjoyment. Despite the sessionable, low ABV of 5.5% this beer is exploding with delicious flavors.

I also really like the can label/art on this beer. Gold and black play off of each other really nicely and are even similar to the colors of the beer itself.

Gunner’s Daughter is one of the best Milk Stouts I’ve ever had and will likely land a slot on my “favorite new-to-me” beers of 2019.

Highly recommended, link to 4.5 bottle-cap Untappd check in.

Untapped badges earned with this beer:

Stout Day 2019

This day is all about the Stout. First brewed in the 1700’s, this style of beer brings us bold and malty flavors, and is well worth the celebration! Thanks for raising a pint of your favorite stout on International Stout Day!

Draught Diversions: October 2019 Six Pack

Draught Diversion, Monthly New Brews

Draught Diversions is the catchall label for mini-rants, think-pieces, and non-review posts here at The Tap Takeover. We hope you don’t grow too weary of the alcohol alliterative names we use…

While I had quite a few new to me beers in October, a significant portion of those beers were from Icarus Brewing, which I highlighted earlier in the month. There were still a god swath of new beers that crossed my palate in October 2019, with a less than typical mix of NJ and non-NJ beers. In other words, only 2 New Jersey beers made the six pack this month. On other hand, that visit to Icarus Brewing and meet up the next day with my friend who manages the taproom, resulted in some delicious beers.

On to the top 6 “new-to-me” beers I had in October 2019…

Julius (Tree House Brewing Company) | IPA – American | 4.25 bottle Caps on untappd

The IPA that put Tree House on the beer map. I’ve been fortunate enough to have friends who happen to have some extra Tree House beers, like my neighbor across the street. He was kind enough to give me a can and I am super pleased he did. This beer is quintessential IPA in the New England vein – juicy, tropical, but it still retains a significant traditional hop flavor.

The Carriagemaker (Czig Meister Brewing Company) | Pilsner – German | 4 bottle Caps on untappd

Another month, another Czig Meister beer. I was pleased to see them release a Pilsner in cans, more pleased to grab some, and even more pleased with how the beer tasted. It hit all the notes I want a pilsner to hit – clean, crisp, refreshing with just enough of a hop presence to give the beer a full flavor.

NOKtoberfest (Rusty Rail Brewing Brewery Co) | Rye Beer | 3.75 Bottle Caps on untappd

Rusty Rail is one of many Pennsylvania breweries with distribution reach into NJ which has allowed me to enjoy a few of their beers over the years. NOKtoberfest is an interesting “anti-Oktoberfest” that has a little more spice and bit than an Oktoberfest. For starters, the beer is an ale, a Rye Ale, at that, so the style is different. Oktoberfests are typically lagers. Frankly, the only thing “Oktoberfesty” about the beer is the name. Still a good beer, which happens to feature some cool art on the label.

Dreadnought Dunkel (Tonewood Brewing) | Lager – Munich Dunkel | 3.75 Bottle Caps on untappd

This is only the second beer I’ve had from Tonewood (I reviewed their Freshies Pale Ale earlier in the year) and I’m impressed with this lager. I’ve been seeing more of their beers in the last couple of months so it is nice to see their distribution expanding. This beer is a really nice dark lager, reminiscent of the Dunkel I reviewed from von Trapp earlier in October. Dreadnought has a nice bready, almost pretzel-like, undercurrent. Another beer with cool art on the label.

Image courtesy of Yuengling’s web site. Where I had the beer (Hub City Brew House) was too dark for a good photo.

Hershey’s Chocolate Porter (Yuengling Brewing Company) | Porter – American | 4.25 bottle Caps on untappd

This is the first time I’ve really featured a Yuengling beer here in a monthly six-pack. After all, the largest craft brewery and oldest brewery in America doesn’t often brew new beers. This is a natural match; however – two of the biggest food names in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania coming together for a delicious beer. As of this writing, the beer is only available on draft, but it is worth seeking. I think Yuengling’s porter is a very under-rated interpretation on the style and this beer builds on that base beer. There’s a delicious chocolate flavor in the beer, but not overpowering by any means. Great stuff.

Cold Press Coffee Pumking (Southern Tier Brewing Company) | Pumpkin / Yam Beer | 3.75 bottle Caps on untappd

To say that Southern Tier has a significant presence in the landscape of pumpkin beers is a great understatement. Their main Pumking is iconic take on the style and they’ve got a line of Pumking-adjacent beers. Last year, I reviewed the Rum Barrel version (delicious) so this year, I wanted to give this version a try. I’m glad I did because it puts a natural spin on the pumpkin ale by adding coffee. I’d say the only pumpkin-flavored beverage more popular (or derided) than pumpkin beer in the fall is pumpkin coffee. Be that as it may, I found the blend of coffee and pumpkin spices to be a very pleasant combination.

A couple of beers weren’t that great, including Scarecrow from Free Will Brewing, which is a wheat ale with pumpkin spices. Normally, this is a style I’d enjoy during this time of year, but Scarecrow had a very unpleasant aftertaste. For the first time in a while, a Dogfish Head beer was disappointing, American Beauty, their Grateful Dead pale ale. The bottle was a few months old so that could be why.

…and that puts a bow on my October 2019 Six Pack.