Today we return to one of my favorite Connecticut brewers, Two Roads Brewing Company out of Stratford. 

One of the beers in their summer variety Road Pack is a nifty little number called Road Jam. It is a wheat ale brewed with raspberries and touched off with some lemongrass. 

The raspberry component is evident in the reddish tint of the brew. It is also very apparent in the aroma. There is a strong, somewhat sweet, berry scent when you hold the glass close.

The first thing noticed when taking the first sip was a subtle malty flavor with just a hint of the raspberry taste. But unlike the aroma, there was not any sweetness in the beer. Rather there was just enough tartness to make for a refreshing drink. Overall well balanced between the sweet scent and the tart taste.

This is definitely a warm weather summer brew. It was especially enjoyable after coming in from working outdoors on a hot, humid day. 

As an experiment about half way through my glass of Road Jam I threw in about a half dozen raspberries which had been freshly picked that day from behind a friends house. (The picking was by invitation, just to be clear). I did not notice any impact on the overall taste of the beer. There was definitely a stronger raspberry aroma afterwards and a somewhat stronger fruitiness to the aftertaste. But the general character of the beer was unchanged.

The raspberries at the bottom of the glass were sure delicious and fun to eat though! 

No one is going to claim this is a great beer, or a classic or a standard. But that is not the aim of a summertime brew, at least not in my mind. They should be lighter and aim to be refreshing. Balance if you will should trump complexity.

And by that standard I find Road Jam from Two Roads Brewing a success. It is on the lighter side (5% ABV). But it is well balanced, the fruit adding enough tartness to make the beer refreshing. 

I give it 7 mugs out of 10.

Call me a homer, but this summer I've been on a kick of sampling craft and microbrews from the Nutmeg State I call home. For those scurrying through their atlases to find Nutmeg on a map of the U.S., the Nutmeg State is Connecticut. I know, it's still difficult to locate.

I will occasionally "settle" for brews from other New England states, but have been focusing on CT brews for a number of weeks now.

Connecticut has been lagging behind other New England states, especially Vermont and Massachusetts, when it comes to craft brewing. But the state is working hard to make up for lost time.

One of the breweries that has become one of my overall favorites, not just among Connecticut breweries, is one called Two Roads Brewing Company in Stratford. They even have their own beer pavilion at the Harbor Yard ballpark in Bridgeport. You can sample their brews there before games of the Bridgeport Bluefish. As you can see they are fully into the trend of craft beer in cans, though their brews are also available in bottles. 

I have been working my way through their sample twelve pack which includes the beer above, Honeyspot Road. 

Honeyspot Road is a white IPA. It is made with wheat, hence the lighter color and cloudy appearance typical of a wheat ale. The hoppiness usually associated with an IPA is very present. There is the aroma of grapefruit so characteristic of an IPA. And the citrus notes continue subtly in the first tasting impressions.

The brew is very smooth and goes down easily. The flavor is a bit on the light side compared to a traditional IPA, and does not linger in the swallowing or aftertaste. At 6% abv it is not entirely surprising to have this be a beer with a lighter side. It also struck me as sweeter than a normal IPA.

What did seem more like an IPA and unlike your regular wheat ale was the absence of the prickly sensation on the tongue that I've often found in wheat based brews. Also there was a lack of spiciness. Many wheat ales add spices to the brew but none were detected here. I learned later from their web site that this is deliberate on the part of the brewery. They wanted a clean, crisp taste so did not add spices.

Overall I found this a very drinkable and pleasing offering. Definitely a beer to be enjoyed on a warm, summer day. 

I give Honeyspot Road white IPA from Two Roads Brewery 7 mugs out of 10. 

Or should that be 7 cans out of 10? 

 

Here in northwest Connecticut we seem to skip very quickly from winter to summer. Spring is very short-lived. One day it's gray and the temperatures struggling to hit 50 degrees. The next day it's in the 80s and humid as can be. Or so it seems.

So it's time to switch over to summer brews. I don't believe I even sampled any spring seasonals this year. The transition in the weather has been so quick that the beer transition has gone just as fast.

One thing I'm noticing is how many more of the craft brews are coming to us in cans. In fact just about every summer brew I am currently sampling is in a can. Case in point is this week's beer which comes to us from Magic Hat, the erstwhile Vermont craft brewer located in South Burlington, VT.

One of the offerings in their summer seasonal sampler (try saying that three time fast!) is a wheat ale they call Stealin' Time. I suppose the intent behind the name is to capture the lazy, hazy days of summer that should be passed contentedly sipping a brew such as this one.

There is definitely the cloudy appearance one often sees in wheat ales. A quick whiff brings a somewhat sweet malty aroma. 

Then you take the first sip. You get a slight prickly sensation on the tip of the tongue. But then there is the spicy snap in the flavor. That is when you read the can a little more carefully and discover that Stealin' Time is a wheat ale brewed with ginger. And the pieces fall into place. That taste sensation was akin to a ginger snap cookie, or maybe even a hint of pumpkin pie. Not as sweet of course. Just a hint, but not enough to destroy the balance or the tasting experience.

The spicy ginger snap flavor lingers a while in the aftertaste as you swallow. Not overpowering or too sweet. Just enough to remind you there is ginger in this here brew.

Stealin' Time is a simple concoction perfect for summer time. Complex enough to be interesting, not so complex as to get in its own way and destroy the light mood. At 5.5% abv it's what you would expect from Magic Hat in the summer. Interesting enough to keep you drinking it. But unpretentious as befitting the season and the warmer weather.

I give Magic Hat's Stealin' Time 6 mugs out of 10.

Will return in future weeks with more summer brews.

One of my favorite destinations, that I do not get to often enough, is the Barrington Brew Pub and Restaurant in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. It is the home of Berkshire Mountain Brewers. Have sampled their brews (and food) a number of times and never been disappointed in either. Even took a group tour of the behind the scenes brewing operation on one trip.

It is about a one hour drive for us through some pretty countryside, especially in the fall. And as luck would have it, the brewery/restaurant is about a 15 minute drive from a large outlet store complex in Lee, Mass. So I eagerly agree to accompany my wife on shopping excursions to the stores. We head up one direction from our home and then make sure the return journey takes us to Great Barrington, right past the brew pub. How conveeeeeeeenient.

On our most recent trip after sampling a couple of different brews with our meal, I availed myself of a special and purchased four (4) 22 oz. bottles of different varieties in their current lineup. One of them is pictured above, the Bavarian Wheat.

You'll notice a decent head and the pale, straw color. The aroma was very subtle with some earthy undertones.

The first thing noticed when drinking was the prickly sensation on the tongue I usually detect in wheat based brews. If the beer is held in the mouth long enough the prickly sensation spreads around your entire mouth. In fact I'd say eventually the sensation was of "foaminess" filling your mouth.

The flavor was somewhat on the light side, as was the body. The flavor was also muted with subtle almost bread-like components to it. The taste disappeared quickly after swallowing. 

There was the slight sweetness and definite spiciness associated with a wheat beer. As the beer warmed (hey it is a 22 oz. bottle) the spicy nature of the flavor got more pronounced. By the end it had me even thinking of a saison.

Their web site identifies Bavarian Wheat as a German style Hefeweizen. I'd agree they succeeded but certainly with a lighter version of the style.

I found it easy to drink and it got more interesting as it warmed. But overall I'd say I've come across Hefe's with more body and character.

I give Berkshire Mountain Brewers Bavarian Wheat 6 mugs out of 10.

And you better believe I will be heading back to the brew pub at the earliest opportunity. 

See what happens when you pour the brew from a 12 ounce American bottle into a pint glass from the Guiness brewery in Dublin? Look at that wasted space on top!

The contents of the glass are Wildflower Wheat from Wolaver's. For those not familiar, Wolaver's is a line of organic ales brought to you by Otter Creek Brewing of Vermont. I've enjoyed many of their offerings in the past (as I also generally appreciate brews from Otter Creek) so I looked forward to this one as well.

Wildflower Wheat as you can tell from the name and the photo is an unfiltered wheat ale. It is also brewed with a touch of wildflowers and honey.

Not surprisingly there is a flowery aroma as you bring the glass to you. As you might also suspect from the effervescent appearance of the beer in the glass there is a prickly sensation on the tip of your tongue as you first taste it. 

The first impression is a fruity sensation as you drink in the beer. Then as you hold the ale in your mouth you get the shot of honey taste loud and clear. It's not too sweet to be cloying, nor overwhelming, but there's no mistaking what you're tasting.

Then as you swallow the initial prickly sensation returns for a final bow. 

Overall this is a balanced and tasty brew. It is not for you if you do not like anything sweet or flowery in your beers. But again it is done in a way where the flavors balance out. Still it is not a beer where I would buy an entire six-pack or 12-pack of just this ale. It's fine though as a member of a variety pack and an interesting, different and refreshing offering.

I give Wolaver's Wildflower Wheat 6 mugs out of 10.

Hope the warm weather starts showing up with more regularity so we can dive into some summer brews.

It is a bitter cold day here in New England, so perhaps not the best time to be delving into the Spring variety pack from Samuel Adams. But the name of the beer being highlighted today is certainly appropriate. It is the latest seasonal offering from Samuel Adams and is called "Cold Snap". 
It is advertised as a "white ale" but you can tell it's anything but. It is somewhat golden, and as you can tell is an unfiltered beer.
The first sensation when you drink it is that of a prickly spicy feeling on the tip of your tongue. This is followed by a light, citrus flavor. I detected either orange or lemon accents. 
As I continued drinking the prickly sensation translated to what I would call a peppery flavor. 
The beer is crisp and more suited to warmer spring weather I'd say. The flavor is on the light side and doesn't linger or have much of an aftertaste. 
I'd say it's the kind of brew you would enjoy drinking one of, but you wouldn't want to be drinking it all night long. The combination of pepper and citrus would begin to wear on you.
An interesting brew. I'm giving it 6 mugs out of 10.

Another day, another Christmas gift goes down the old gullet.
This time around it is another offering from Berkshire Brewing Company in Massachusetts. This one is entitled, "River Ale". It is alternatively billed as a "Dark American Wheat Ale".
Hey and while we're at it, I'm taking advantage of this opportunity to show off another holiday gift. The beer glass with the Edwards crest on it came courtesy of my brother and sister-in-law. Cool if I do say so myself.
Now on to the beer.
I liked it - plain and simple, I liked it. And plain and simple is a good way to describe the beer.
First impression is that compared to many microbrews in general, and brews from Berkshire Brewing Company in particular, this beer is on the lighter side. And indeed I read later that it is only single hopped so as not to overpower the characteristics of the wheat ale. Mission accomplished.
Basically this is what you would expect from a wheat ale. There is that prickly feeling on the tip of your tongue associated with most wheat ales. It definitely gives the impression of spiciness. I detected an almost citrusy quality. The beer was light. It was smooth. You could drink it for an extended period of time quite easily if called upon to do so.
It's just that of all the microbrews and all the wheat ales available to choose from, it just wasn't that interesting. I guess you'd say it lacked in complexity.
But on the plus side, no real complaints. It was as advertised and was very drinkable. You could do worse. But you could also do better.
I give it 6 mugs out of 10.