Travel North for the New Year

Kelleigh and I spent this New Year's Eve extended weekend on the road traveling to a friend's wedding just northwest of Boston in Waltham Massachusetts. The weekend ultimately turned into a very, very good beer experience. Once in Waltham I decided to do a little research to uncover beer bars, breweries and beer stores within a decent vicinity of the hotel. I was surprised to find a well rated liquor, wine and beer store close and a brewery less than 2 miles away. So while the ladies were getting their hair and makeup done for the big day, a friend and I jumped into the rental car and headed towards Gordon's Liquors. Once there I searched the shelves for something new or not available in PA. The overall beer selection was average and the store seemed to cater more to the wine crowd. On the shelves were several Belgians and other imports, along with many familiar craft brews; Victory, Allagash, Rogue, Magic Hat, Ommegang etc. What I came away with were a bottle each of Cape Ann Brewing Company's Fisherman's Navigator '05, Coastal Extreme Brewing Co's Newport Storm '06. and a mix case of Magic Hat. The Navigator and the Newport were traveling back to the beer fridge in Philly and the Magic was for the wedding after party.

Later in the day we moved on to Watch City Brewing Company in downtown Waltham. We were hungry and what better place to get take-out than a brew pub? While waiting for the order I grabbed a sampler of 4 beers. The Explosion IPA, Moody Street Stout, Pie Eyed Pumpkin Ale and Father Time Winter Ale were all fairly light in taste. The explosion IPA had a good nose of pine and fruit but lacked any hop punch as the name might suggest. The stand out beer was the Pumpkin ale. The smell of pumpkin pie comes at you as soon as you lift the pint to your mouth. The cinnamon, nutmeg and brown sugar were all detectable. To my surprise the taste was more bittersweet than pumpkin pie sweet. The pumpkin and spices were there from start to finish with the spices lingering after the last sip. This was a very balanced easy drinking beer. Overall Watch City is the type of brew pub that would work well for someone who is trying to break away from the mainstream beers and test the craft brew waters.

The best part of this northern journey happened later in the evening during the reception. The groom who is an employee of Samuel Adams had two special treats. First was a beer he had entered in the Sam Adams Long Shot Homebrew Contest. He was a finalist in the employee competition and had a sample of his Orange Hefeweizen at the reception. The beer poured a hazy orange, had a strong banana and clove nose with a light hop bitterness from start to finish. As good as it was the evening's winner was the snifter of Samuel Adams Utopias. This was my first taste of the Holy Grail of beer. From the smell it's hard to believe this is beer. It is easy to understand why so many equate it to bourbon, scotch and brandy. The color is hazelnut and with no carbonation, there is no head. The taste is maple, butterscotch, nut, and sugary malts but is never sticky sweet. The slight bitterness is so hidden that it is almost nonexistent. Some warmth comes through as you sip, but the biggest surprise is with an abv of 27% there is no alcohol burn. Utopias is silky and smooth all the way down. This was the perfect beer to toast a friend's wedding and bring in the New Year.