The holidays are over and it's time to get back to work for 2016. We had out of state visitors for a few weeks during the holidays so it was quite the busy time at our house. (Unlike at yours I'm sure). Anyway it sounds like as good an excuse as any to have taken a break from beer blogging.
But the final bottle of Old Fezziwigg Ale is gone, that traditional sign around my house that the holidays are officially over, so it's time to get back to the important stuff in life - finding and drinking new beers. And the less important stuff - blogging about it.
Last year I began searching out beers from local Connecticut breweries. And there is an increasing number to choose from. As New England states go, Connecticut was a little late to the game. But now it seems that not a week goes by where some new beer from some new Connecticut brewery is available in a store.
Today we look at one of the "core" offerings from a self-described nanobrewery called Top Shelf Brewery. It is located in Manchester, Connecticut, the Silk City. It was especially exciting for me to find a brewery in this area as I spent my middle school and high school years in the town of Vernon which is next door.
One of our friends still lives in Manchester and for a while was into home brewing before it really became a common phenomenon. He even tried to raise money to begin a microbrew. He was going to call it Silk City brewing I believe. Unfortunately all of the friends he was reaching out to for investing were starting young families. Coming up with the dough to sink into a speculative venture was out of the question, no matter how good his beer was. And don't forget - microbrews were not a big deal then. We were thirsty for them but who knew how long that craze would last? Samuel Adams was barely making a dent in the beer landscape at the time. Sigh.
But today there is a brewery in Manchester. The beer we look at today is called "Any Time". As stated previously it is considered one of Top Shelf's, core, or year-round, offerings.
It advertises itself as a traditional milk stout. As you can tell it is dark. Very opaque. There was a very subtle aroma, but nothing that stood out. The first impression from a taste standpoint was a roasted smoky taste, with a definite hint of sweetness. Counteracting the sweetness was a slight bitterness. I had in my tasting notes "a hint of chocolate" with a "?". And sure enough a chocolate malt is used in the brew.
Seeing the inky dark color one might expect a bolder, heavier body. So the lightness of the feel of the beer was a little surprising. Then again the can does say that Any Time is only 5.2% alcohol by volume.
Perhaps this was why the flavor of the beer, while pleasant, did not linger long while holding the beer in the mouth, nor after swallowing. The yin and yang of slight bitterness and sweetness kept playing out throughout the drinking of the glass. And I did notice a creamy silky feel in the mouth while the beer was there. And finally the sweetness began to linger more as you began to detect an almost stickiness gathering on your lips the more you drank.
This was not a heavy brew, but I would not call it a session beer. The sweetish stickiness would limit how many of these you might drink in one sitting. But it certainly is a nice beer, especially for holidays or cold, damp weather. A little sweetness can help warm you that's for sure.
I'm giving Any Time from Top Shelf 6 mugs out of 10.
I am certainly going to look for more of their brews to give them a try. And if I'm back in my old stomping grounds any time soon I might just drop in. Their expanded taproom is open Fridays from 4 to 7 pm and Saturdays from noon to 4 pm.
But the final bottle of Old Fezziwigg Ale is gone, that traditional sign around my house that the holidays are officially over, so it's time to get back to the important stuff in life - finding and drinking new beers. And the less important stuff - blogging about it.
Last year I began searching out beers from local Connecticut breweries. And there is an increasing number to choose from. As New England states go, Connecticut was a little late to the game. But now it seems that not a week goes by where some new beer from some new Connecticut brewery is available in a store.
Today we look at one of the "core" offerings from a self-described nanobrewery called Top Shelf Brewery. It is located in Manchester, Connecticut, the Silk City. It was especially exciting for me to find a brewery in this area as I spent my middle school and high school years in the town of Vernon which is next door.
One of our friends still lives in Manchester and for a while was into home brewing before it really became a common phenomenon. He even tried to raise money to begin a microbrew. He was going to call it Silk City brewing I believe. Unfortunately all of the friends he was reaching out to for investing were starting young families. Coming up with the dough to sink into a speculative venture was out of the question, no matter how good his beer was. And don't forget - microbrews were not a big deal then. We were thirsty for them but who knew how long that craze would last? Samuel Adams was barely making a dent in the beer landscape at the time. Sigh.
But today there is a brewery in Manchester. The beer we look at today is called "Any Time". As stated previously it is considered one of Top Shelf's, core, or year-round, offerings.
It advertises itself as a traditional milk stout. As you can tell it is dark. Very opaque. There was a very subtle aroma, but nothing that stood out. The first impression from a taste standpoint was a roasted smoky taste, with a definite hint of sweetness. Counteracting the sweetness was a slight bitterness. I had in my tasting notes "a hint of chocolate" with a "?". And sure enough a chocolate malt is used in the brew.
Seeing the inky dark color one might expect a bolder, heavier body. So the lightness of the feel of the beer was a little surprising. Then again the can does say that Any Time is only 5.2% alcohol by volume.
Perhaps this was why the flavor of the beer, while pleasant, did not linger long while holding the beer in the mouth, nor after swallowing. The yin and yang of slight bitterness and sweetness kept playing out throughout the drinking of the glass. And I did notice a creamy silky feel in the mouth while the beer was there. And finally the sweetness began to linger more as you began to detect an almost stickiness gathering on your lips the more you drank.
This was not a heavy brew, but I would not call it a session beer. The sweetish stickiness would limit how many of these you might drink in one sitting. But it certainly is a nice beer, especially for holidays or cold, damp weather. A little sweetness can help warm you that's for sure.
I'm giving Any Time from Top Shelf 6 mugs out of 10.
I am certainly going to look for more of their brews to give them a try. And if I'm back in my old stomping grounds any time soon I might just drop in. Their expanded taproom is open Fridays from 4 to 7 pm and Saturdays from noon to 4 pm.
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