Port Brewing

Fourteen Stone Drinking Crew #3

Another great get together with the crew, with some of our recent hauls, some beers Richard brought back from his trip to Seattle and Bill’s birthday beers. This was our first tasting since I finally cleaned up the basement enough to have some beers down there. I have a few stools, a nice 8 foot kitchen prep table I’m using as a makeshift “bar”. The beer cellar is repaired, we’ve got this nice water jug/dump bucket system going (although I really want to get a glass rinser but I don’t think that is in the cards for a while) and I should have a couple more glass racks installed in the ceiling by week’s end. Plus the card table, surround sound system, and the dart board that folds into the ceiling I’ve had for a while now. I’m pretty happy with how the man cave “tasting room” is shaping up.

So after a pretty successful night of running around with Mike, we went back to Chez Fuj and met up with the rest of the guys and a couple of friends of Bill’s from NJ. The lineup for the night:

  • Tsunami Stout by The Pelican Pub & Brewery
  • Madame Rose (2012) by Goose Island Beer Co.
  • The Cowboy by Evil Twin Brewing – pretty much locks in my hatred of smoked beers
  • Oude Tart by The Bruery – delish, like all Bruery sours
  • Meadowlark IPA by Pretty Things Beer & Ale Project – absolutely fantastic. Glad Bill brought this one to share, been meaning to try it for a while/
  • Curieux by Allagash Brewing Company – long time fave since first having it back in May. Richard hadn’t had it yet so I broke this one out from my Birthday Beers from Elise.
  • Hop 15 Ale by Port Brewing Company
  • Horny Devil by AleSmith Brewing Company – meh. Other than Speedway Stout and their IPAs not much has impressed me from AleSmith.
  • Survival 7-Grain Stout by Hopworks Urban Brewery – very solid, just like the IPA goofybear sent me
  • Sled Dog Trippelbock by Wagner Valley Brewing Company
  • Beer Hop Breakfast by Mikkeller
  • Black Hole Barrel Aged Bourbon by Mikkeller
  • Femme Fatale Brett by Evil Twin Brewing – Can’t get enough of this beer, really. Evil twin is killing it.
  • Rye Hopper Ale by French Broad Brewing Co.
  • Declaration by Backlash Beer Company
  • Fat Scotch Ale by Silver City Brewing Co. – Dave’s 500th unique Untappd beer
  • Tripel Threat by Cambridge Brewing Co.
  • Luscious by The Alchemist Pub & Brewery – my 500th unique Untappd beer
  • Head Hunter IPA by Fat Head’s Brewery
  • Winema Wit by The Pelican Pub & Brewery (Oregon)
  • Gandhi-Bot by New England Brewing Co.
  • Vampire Slayer by Clown Shoes
  • Aphrodisiaque by Brasserie Dieu du Ciel
  • Black Butte Porter by Deschutes Brewery

Other than Luscious, which we only incidentally opened because of Untappd, I don’t think any beer stood out as the clear “best beer of the night” or anything. A lot of really solid beers here, of all different types so it’s tough to compare. Fat Head’s never ceases to surprise me with that IPA, same with that Meadowlark. Black Butte was great, as was Curieux, Oude Tart and Madame Rose. No complaints here.

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Richard acting a damn fool.

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Dave showcasing pretty much how everyone felt by the end of the night morning.

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Lost Abbey / Port Brewing and Sours at Lord Hobo

 

Lord Hobo was unfortunately a much quicker stop than I intended. I wish I had more time there to have a few sours but I just didn’t have time before heading to the Night of the Funk. I was happy they opened up early that day and I was able to stop by at all.

As you can see there was a pretty killer selection of sours there and if I had the chance and was there to split the bottles with friends I would have tried them all. As it turns out, the previous night was their The Lost Abbey / Port Brewing tap takeover and there were plenty of beers I would probably never see again on draft in my lifetime. I had a tough decision to make: sours or Lost Abbey.

As the sours they intended to have on draft that afternoon weren’t on yet, and the ones they had in bottles I figured I might be able to find again (maybe the next time I’m at Lord Hobo, even) I went with some Lost Abbey Deliverance; it sounded too nuts not to:

A blend of bourbon barrel-aged Serpent’s Stout and brandy barrel-aged Angels Share, Deliverance is the epic battle being waged between heaven and hell for the souls of mortal men… and your enjoyment in a glass.

Let’s face it, there was no way for this beer to go other than exceptional. There’s tons of stuff going on with this beer: Dark fruits are very apparent with a bit of chocolate, vanilla, bourbon, and caramel. It’s all over the place really, but it works very well. I’m definitely happy with my choice of the one beer I was able to have while I was there.

Before I even ordered a beer I noticed a few friendly faces from Hill Farmstead and Great South Bay. I already showed you guys Sean’s tattoo (although I did find out he has moved on from Great South Bay), and Shaun Hill and his crew were there having a few beers before heading over to the Cyclorama. I stopped over to BS with Shaun for a bit, and we got talking about what my potential options were for the Hill Farmstead Harvest Weekend.

Since we were going up to VT the night before the festival, we had a few different things we could do that night. Blackback Pub was definitely on my list, as they often times have more Hill Farmstead on tap than the brewery does, and it would be nice to check off a few beers that we weren’t going to get at the festival. Obviously, Prohibition Pig is right across the street from Blackback and was in the running as well, considering how great of an experience I had there last time. I’ve also seen some really great reviews of Hen of the Wood, which while not a beer bar, does have some great stuff from Hill Farmstead and other Shelton Brothers beers. Lastly, The Beer and Cheese Maven (Ruth Miller) offered to put together a tasting if we stayed at a bed and breakfast or lodge with suitable space to hold the group. It was a tough decision for me to make, but when I put them up to Shaun he was adamant that Hen of the Wood needed to happen. He was insistent that I go and make the reservation that second. Who was I to say no? (Hint: it ended up being one of the best, if not the best dinner I’ve ever been to.)

I had a tough time pulling myself away from Lord Hobo. I finished my Deliverence, said goodbye to friends and made my way to Night of the Funk. So far, the weekend was going much better than I could have ever expected…