So Mark and I gathered at my house and started off the mash for the White House Honey Porter, and then tucked into some new beers through out the rest of the brewday. Up to bat today were:
- Flying Dog's Dogtoberfest
- Ayinger's Oktober Fest-Märzen
- Shmaltz Brewing Company's Coney Island Freaktoberfest
- Bell's Porter
- New Belgium's Lips of Faith Kick
- Harpoon's Catamount Maple Wheat
- Bell's Kalamazoo Stout
First up of the three was Flying Dog's Dogtoberfest. I enjoyed this one as well. It's certainly a good, clean beer with good flavor - and easy to drink. I'd give it better praise if this were a full-on review, but at the very least, go try some. You'll like it.Second up for the day was Ayinger's Oktober Fest-Märzen (Not Pictured). I had higher hopes for this one than it actually lived up to. It was OK, but tended toward more sweetness than I was expecting. It did have a very German flavor to it, which I found worked in it's favor. Not bad, but nothing special.
Third, we went for Shmaltz Brewing Company's Coney Island Freaktoberfest. The do well to label it "Not an Oktoberfest - a Freaktoberfest". I didn't catch anything in the style of Oktoberfest. Knowing that, I reset my expectations, and tried it out. "Freak" is accurate, at least. It pours red - as in grenadine red...I held up a bottle of grenadine next to my beer and they were the same - with a red foamy head. I don't know how they get that. Certainly not naturally from any grains, I would think. It was not good, either. I don't know what they were going for, but it's not a beer I'll be going for again. Shmaltz, I like your stuff, but damn guys.
As the day got later, we moved on to Bells' Porter. This was a good beer too, and representative of the quality I've come to expect from Bells. It was a little roasty without being overbearing. Robust without toeing the line with the Baltic style. I enjoyed it and will certainly get some more.After the porter, we moved on to New Belgium's Lips of Faith Kick (Not Pictured), a pumpkin-cranberry blended with oak-aged beer. Mark had held on to this one for about a year and it was still great. I think the sour mellowed a bit, as I remember it being more puckering. This was a very pleasant cranberry semi-sour with just a hit of pumpkin leftover. I really enjoyed it and it was a great palate cleanser; crisp and refreshing.
Next up we tried Harpoon's Catamount Maple Wheat. Harpoon has been surprising me with some really good stuff lately, and this one was no exception. Solid wheat with a touch of sweetness from the maple. The maple flavors really came through but it wasn't too overpowering, and the sweetness was balanced well by the wheat flavor.
Finally, as the sun was gone and the wort approached it's last 30 minutes of boil, we tried Bell's Kalamazoo Stout. Much like the porter, the Stout was solidly tasty, tending to lean away from the bitter and roasty line in favor of drinkability. Again, a good beer from Bell's, and worth trying if you haven't had it.So that wraps up the Brew Day Beer Review #1 from the ol' homestead. Here's to the White House Honey Porter, may it turn out well and please the masses.
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