My Half Full Glass - March 21st, 2013

After a month-long break I am trying to get back on terms with my weekly posts. Some things have calmed down and others stay as insane as they were when they knocked me off track. Such is life!

This week is a celebration of drinking local with both a locally made spirit and a local mead. Do you drink local?

Flag Hill Distillery White Mountain Moonshine

I took my first sip of the Flag Hill White Mountain Moonshine whilst outside brewing a pot of beer on a sunny yet cold & windy day. I am sure the environment had something to do with my first impressions, but since they were quite positive I think the setup only ads to be mystique of drinking local moonshine!

I don't have a lot of experience with white/un-aged spirits so I don't really know how to describe them very well. The nose definitely has a punch of alcohol and reminded me of high proof vodka. The more I thought about it the more I realized that there is a greenness to the nose which I can only link to the corn and  gently malted barley being un-hidden by barrel aging. The nose is slightly sweet, but not abundantly so.

In the mouth this drink is sweet, and at 90 proof it does warm quickly, but there is not the harshness or burn that you do find in undiluted 'shine or white dog that you might get served out of an unlabelled container.  Some of amount of grain flavor was accessible to me, but I again don't feel qualified to say much more about it.

Because I was around the brewpot I thought of other communal functions where this tipple, and the cute little 375 ml handle bottle is just really cool, might fit in well. Campfires and cigar night with the boys both came to mind.

I purchased this at my local NH Liquor Store at $18.99 for the 375ml bottle. Yes that is a bit pricey, but I know, like and appreciate what the folks at Flag Hill do so it was worth it to me.

Sap House Meadery Vanilla Metheglin

I got some cheerful personal mead-making news this week in the form of a silver medal at the 2013 Mazer Cup for my vanilla mead. Realizing I hadn't sampled but one commercial version, from Moonlight Meadery (review from 2011), I sought out one made from Sap House Meadery in Center Ossipee here in New Hampshire.

Vanilla is a really wonderful spice but I don't think most people really ever experience it fully and completely. Imitation vanilla is not vanilla. The fake aromas and flavors don't do it justice. You need vanilla beans, and good ones from Madagascar or India to really understand what vanilla smells and tastes like. When you then go the next step and steep the beans in a mead (with sufficient alcohol of course) you end up making a slightly less pungent version of vanilla extract, but one you can drink! Only then can you really appreciate vanilla as it really is.

Because vanilla beans are the seed pod of the Vanilla Orchid, real vanilla will exude floral essences and anyone who loves to explore the world with their nose should spend some time with a good vanilla bean; it is heavenly.

The Sap House Meadery Vanilla Bean Mead is a local wildflower honey mead flavored with Indian Vanilla beans. The nose is very floral, both from the honey and the vanilla, and definitely inviting. The finish is sweet, but really medium-sweet like a natural cream soda versus a syrupy uber-commercialized version.

Both the honey and vanilla are accessible in the mouth and the tartness that builds from mid-sip and fades through the finish helps define the flavors nicely. Whether you drink this on its own or use it to add vanilla to a cocktail it tastes very real and classy.

Nicely done Sap House Meadery!

Cheers!

Jason

Brew Pubs and Beer Bars

( Skagway Brewing, Skagway Alaska. My brother drank here & at Alaskan Brewing Company in 2008.  )

I’ve always loved brewpubs and beer bars. Something about the random sampling you might be able to do as the beers rotate from one batch/season to another. If the menu moves along with the beer, all the better! The people we have met on every occasion have been fun and added to the experience. It’s choose-your-own-adventure for adults.

When I travel somewhere (I should say we because is almost always applies), we plan to hit at least one brewpub or beer bar. Beer samplers, fried appetizers and other pub food is an excellent way to settle into a new location, even for a vacation.

Over the last couple of years I have captured many of the stops in my blog, most often with pictures of the beers, the bars or the smiles from the adventurers. A picture is worth a thousand words, and you can spare yourself the thousand words if you don’t care to click on any of the links in the photo journey below. There’s a lot of beer reviews in there though, and you’ll be surprised at some of the flights from the November 2011 San Francisco trip in particular. I valiantly took it for the team and tasted through more than 30 beers in the few days I was there. That’s killing it!

Montreal

Montreal is the king of the brewpub adventures for us. We hope to do a crawl there once a year for a fourth year straight real soon.

Les Trois Brasseurs is a chain pub, but the beers are good and the flatbread pizzas and burgers are offered with lots of different toppings and styles.

Le Cheval Blanc had a mean cask IPA made with Warrior hops.

Benelux was a fun joint to hang at. After work crowd, vault room in the back. Great chips and pannini. Tasty beers, Moon Boot was a a very flavorful Belgian beer.

Brutopia appears to be a dive, and on Crescent Street some places struggle to keep ahead of the foot traffic that causes it. Great dark, high ABV beers.

Our most recent crawl included Dieu du Ciel who make many of my top Montreal beers.

West Coast

Margot and I have enjoyed drinking in Seattle twice, both times at The Pike right in the Public Market. So many beers, great pub food and the staff is always hopping.

In Santa Barbara, CA at Santa Barbara Brewing Company we had parmesan flavored French fries and an orange Wit style beer that inspired a homebrew of our own.

The San Francisco trip I took in November was a commando mission and a blast.  I started at 21st Amendment that serves a Brew Free or Die IPA. How New Hampshire of them…

I hit my first Gordon Biersch on the same trip. The European style beers were well made and full of character.

I set out on a one night binge to hit 3 different bars before switching to wine by visiting Sonoma. First up was Rogue.I know Rogue is from Oregon, but the joint has a killer beer list, including their own. I killed two-4 beer flights at this first stop and then walked to Fisherman's Wharf.

I hit Magnolia next and had the best random person experiences of the whole trip at the open concept bar. I was there for several hours and ended up hanging with the some beer geeks and two different groups of folks either going to or performing in live shows later than night. 

I finished up the night at Toronado drinking IPAs from the West Coast.

New England / East Coast

Milly’s Tavern in Manchester, NH is one of the closest to home. We have also visited Martha’s Exchange, Portsmouth Brewery, and Strange Brew.

Portsmouth Brewery is the best brewpub in the state of NH, but I am betting there will continue to be competition as local interest in craft beer continues to grow.The food is tasty, it is always busy and the beers are rotated often.

Seven Barrel Brewery is right on the NH/VT border and convenient from the highway on trips to say, Montreal. The food and beers are well made and varied.

Sebago Brewing in Maine had just moved to a new location when we stopped in on a one day trip in the summer of 2011.

Margot and scheduled a stop to the Bandwagon Brewpub in Ithaca during a February 2012 trip to the Finger Lakes. We will be back in the region in June of 2012 and heading back at Bandwagon is on the list!

All this writing about vacations and beer is making me I was one vacation drinking beer right now. How about you?

Cheers!

Jason

Moonlight Meadery – Liquid Gold from New Hampshire

I’ve heard enough feedback about mead in the last eight years that I can say you either like mead or not, but all too often the mind is made up from only one style of mead; and there are many to try. I invite anyone who hasn’t experienced mead or enough of it to come and give it a try.

As a home brewer, cidermaker and winemaker I’ve also dabbled in mead. Early on I learned that mead has different names depending on what it is made with. I’ve made mead twice, two more batches are in the queue to start next month, and have yet to cover all the primary styles. Below is a concise overview of those styles. There are many other variations and names for mead.

• Traditional – water, honey and yeast. That’s it. People interested in mead should try this style to get a baseline for what wine made from honey tastes like. All of the rest of the variations below are riffs on this, using the honey, water and yeast as the starting point.
• Metheglin – contains spices. I made an Orange/Vanilla mead this year that is technically a metheglin. The orange was low volume and the vanilla is a predominant flavor in the finished product. Other spices like cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, tea and ginger are all commonly used. My first mead was a Blackberry with nutmeg so either a metheglin or melomel (up next).
• Melomel – made with fruit. Next to traditional mead this is the second most popular type in my experience. Berries, cherries, currant, mango, etc. These can come dry or sweet depending on the maker’s preference. If made with apples and grapes, see below.
• Pyment – made with grapes or grape juice. I’ve only had a few of these, one just last night in fact that was rockstar, and this is an area I will experiment with in the coming years. If oak aged it can have a port-like character.
• Braggot – made with hops and/or malt. Another variation I’ve only had a couple of times, but has intense character. The best one I've had came from Michael at Moonlight Meadery (we’re getting to he and his meads!) and was in an Imperial Stout form. Another area for potential experimentation for me.
• Cyser – made with apples or cider. I am making one of these next weekend, with some cinnamon. Sort of baked apples perhaps.

I wouldn’t know nearly as much as I do about mead and what it can be if it wasn’t for Michael Fairbrother and Moonlight Meadery. I’ve already said many glowing things about Michael and Moonlight Meadery in this blog, but they are all very much deserved. The breadth of styles and flavors presented in the products really does offer something for everyone; also representing a lesson in the varied styles of mead. Michael is a passionate meadmaker and business person who regularly tells me in a humble and unassuming way that the growth and interest in this very new business has been way beyond his original expectations. Moonlight is growing and expanding rapidly, outgrowing smaller brewing equipment several times just this year, seeing a deluge of orders and starting to add full-time staff to answer the call of the thirsty consumer. Moonlight Meadery is the first winery in New Hampshire to have distribution in California. Michael and his award winning meads came from the community of home brewers in New Hampshire, aptly named Brew Free or Die, a group he continues to support and give back to. 

( Micheal Fairbrother explaining to my parents how the meads are made. )

The best way to continue to shower Moonlight Meadery with well deserved accolades is to review two of their products. I’m already a convert to the meads from Moonlight, but as any frequent reader of my blog will know, I tell it like I see it and don’t say positive things just because.Check out Moonlight Meadery's full product line at http://www.moonlightmeadery.com/content/our-meads

Utopian

When I first had this product described to me I was pretty sure it was going to be a magical experience. Why? It is mead aged in the oak barrels that had been previously used to age Utopias, a super-premium beer from the company behind the Sam Adams brand. Knowing what aging in spent barrels has done for many beer and spirits makers I had no doubt something of interest was in store.

The mead pours a brilliant gold color with a hint of a shift to orange/brown, something I am going to guess comes from the oak aging. The nose is huge of honey, baked fruits and spices. The mouth is a bit spicy as well, with dried fruits and an obvious spirit like quality to it. There is sweetness here, but it is needed due to the complexity of the fruit and spice flavors. This is the most complex mead I have ever had and the complexity lingers straight through the finish. The perception of the alcohol is an asset in this drink, elevating it to a place where you think you are drinking aged spirits. I’ll give this a +1 in the kicks total ass category!

Indulge

Pours a gold color with a slight haze. Citrus and spices (cinnamon at the very least) meet you before you can get your nose to the glass. On the palate it is sweet and spicy, a drink that made me think of after dinner sipping by the fire. I know, a romantic. But I do have a killer room with a nice view and a wood stove for the colder months. There is a good deal of orange here, that and the sweetness were things I was told to expect to come from the orange blossom honey used to make it. The cinnamon provides a warming affect, which supports all that I've said here about how and where you might enjoy it.

This is certainly a sweet finish for my Regional Wine Week enjoyment. Decadent drinks from a business that is blowing up in my home state of New Hampshire. Moonlight Meadery is located two minutes from my house so anytime people want to come pay a visit we can go taste and Moonlight and then come back to my place and raid the cellar!

Cheers!

Jason

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Keeping It Local – Three Wines from New Hampshire

Regional Wine Week is in full swing. Dave McIntyre got us rolling with “Why regional wine matters” and the Wine Curmudgeon weighed in with “7 things you need to know about regional wine”. Both articles are excellent introductions to the topic of regional wine, as well as thought provoking for those who continue to expand their knowledge of wines from lesser known wine regions.

Reports from field are coming in from all over the place including quite a few from Colorado, Minnesota, New York, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. All the links can be found at the Regional Wine Week link page. My home region New England is represented, although it could be better represented, with the following posts; including three from me:

Massachusetts

WiningWays blog, Regional wine week -- Join in, Massachusetts winemakers

Glamorous Gourmet Girl, Discovering Massachusetts wines

New England

Ancient Fire wine blog, New England Wine Tasting

Ancient Fire wine blog, New England has unique wine

New Hampshire

Ancient Fire wine blog, What a harvest, Flag Hill Winery

Vermont

            Vermont Wine Media, Regional wine week

All week I’ve been sharing articles from the New England region in hopes of exposing our unique wine character with the many wine explorers who know nothing of what we do in the region. With about 100 wineries, cider houses and mead makers (New England wine) in the region there is a little bit of a lot of different things to be found here.

Today I am going to present three wines from my home state of New Hampshire. These wines are locally grown and locally made, representing some of the expectations people should have for local New Hampshire wines.

Jewell Towne Vineyards Marechal Foch

Jewell Towne Vineyards is the oldest New Hampshire winery in operation having been found in the early 1990’s by Dr. Peter Oldak, a well known viticulturist and winemaker in the region.

This wine pours a garnet color with medium/low concentration much like a Pinot or Beaujolais. There are raspberries and strawberries in the nose. This Foch is present in the sweet style. When in the region and presented with Foch for tasting it is worthwhile to ask whether it is sweet or dry because both are made here. I don’t have a preference for one or the other, but this style was the first I ever had so there is a sentimental link for me. There is enough acidity to keep the sweetness in check and a bit of structure from the tannins. Foch made in this style makes for a great casual drinker and will also work with slow cooked game meats with spicy or tangy sauces.

LaBelle Winery Granite State Red

Amy LaBelle starting making wine in small batches just as I have been doing for the last 8 years. Her recent success at the LaBelle Winery, a new facility is under construction, is inspiring on those days where my mind drifts off and I think about going into the business myself.

Granite State Red is a blend of 80% New Hampshire grown Marechal Foch and 20% New Hampshire Blueberry wine. The wine is of medium concentration with a deep garnet color. Blueberries come out in the nose and the nose smells a little wild, like a good regional wine can. As opposed to the Foch above, this wine is ever so slightly sweet. There is also structure here from the Foch that is sometimes lacking, especially when it is blended with fruit wines.

Note: I went back for a second tasting and found the bottle to be actively out-gassing, possible from re-fermentation? The sharpness of the CO2 present in the wine was noticeable and off-putting so I had to dispose of the wine. This is an occasional problem with local wines which is unfortunate when trying to convey reasons for interest by others unfamiliar with the wineries. This is the first time wine from this particular winery has done this for me so I hope this won’t dissuade anyone from seeking out the wines.

Flag Hill Winery & Distillery Flag Hill White

Flag Hill Winery is the second oldest in the state and was the source of my first taste of New Hampshire wine. In my post “What a Harvest!” earlier in the week I shared my experience of working harvest at Flag Hill for the first time. I also offer a bit of history of the winery too. It was a record year for harvest and I can’t wait to see how the wines turn out down the line.

Flag Hill White is a very light white wine blend aged in oak. And there is oak. It is in the nose and shows up on the palate. If you don’t like oak in white wine, just click away then. The fruit flavors are citrus and tart white flesh, maybe unripe peach, pear or tart apple.  I also feel like there is a touch of herbs. The acidity is mellow, but present. This wine is smooth and immensely drinkable. This wine would make for a great starter for your next local wine cocktail party!

The Regional Wine Week train keeps rolling and I’m on board for the whole ride. Later today I will post what will likely be my shortest post ever, my entry into the 47 Words on Regional Wine essay (is 47 wordsreally an essay?) contest. Tomorrow I will finish my tour of regional wines with the massive success story in local New Hampshire mead, Moonlight Meadery.

Cheers!

Jason

What a Harvest!- Flag Hill Winery, Lee New Hampshire

Grapes have been grown on the site of what is now Flag HillWinery & Distillery in Lee, NH for over 20 years. The way proprietor Frank Reinhold told it this past Saturday, this was the biggest harvest they’ve seen in those years. Flag Hill’s first commercial vintage was in 1996, with vineyard acreage and annual production steadily increasing since.

On a beautiful hot & sunny day, reminiscent of summer and not Columbus Day weekend, 225 volunteers fanned out in the vineyards picking Cayuga White and Marechal Foch grapes, totaling about 5 acres. Frank was keeping score and we broke a couple records. The first acre of Cayuga was cleared in 19 minutes! We also cleared more acreage in the time it required than ever before. The volumes harvested for each were in 1500-2000 gallon range, something they were expecting based on the great growing season and the amount of fruit hanging on the vines. In his opening remarks Frank used the phrase “freakin’ lot of fruit” to describe the task at hand. As I understand it that is a technical phrase used by experienced winery owners during harvest in good years.

( First acre of Cayuga almost picked clean! )

Picking was so busy in the first couple of hours that full lugs started stacking up and pickers had to wait for the roundtrips to winery for freshly empty lugs to keep working. There was lots of socialization in the vineyards as we all worked, and I consistently heard kind words about Flag Hill, from people’s favorite wines, Vignoles came up a lot, to quality of the food at the restaurant and finally how great the staff is.

( Lots of worker bees, and regular bees too! )

You see, this was the 17^th annual Flag Hill Harvest Festival and this annual tradition draws many loyal Flag Hill fans. They really do get to know the people, the wines and the food of Flag Hill. As we assembled in the morning there were games and music, and after the job was done there was revelry over glasses of Flag Hill wine and plenty of that excellent food to refuel the legion of pickers. I had never participated in the harvest festival before, having fallen way down on the wait list in past years, and while the work was hard the enjoyment of meeting new people and seeing the amount of buzz they represented for a local winery made it well worth it.

Margot and I are pretty sure wine from Flag Hill was the first wine from New Hampshire we ever had, but we can’t remember when and where for sure. We’ve visited the winery several times for tastings, sipped our way through the first annual Live Free & Wine Festival, held at Flag Hill in 2010, and got our first taste of the food at a New Hampshire Winery Association dinner a few years ago. In 2007 when were celebrating our 10^th wedding anniversary we stopped at Flag Hill for a tasting and to pick up some wine to enjoy over our weekend away. I have a couple favorites, including the Marechal Foch and the Flag Hill White, a gently oaked light white wine. Flag Hill has expanded its product line in the years we’ve been getting to know them, which now includes vodka, liquers, port style wines and lots of local fruit wines. During his lunchtime address Frank Reinhold mentioned that the bourbon whiskey is in the barrels and will be released all its own time. I’ve been looking forward to trying this new product for some time!

One of the interesting twists of the Harvest festival I was looking forward to was the release of the celebratory wine made from the 2010 harvest, named Les Pieds Sucre. The wine was made from a blend of Marechal Foch and Niagara. It is a slightly sweet red blend with a pleasant fruity nose from the Niagara grapes, and a healthy share of acidity and structure from the Foch. It was the perfect wine to toast the efforts of the group and to a great harvest for a beloved local winery.

At lunch I met the Lynch & Sell families scoping out Flag Hill, the site of the wedding of their children Sean & Megan next September 8^th. Working the harvest was certainly a great length to go to learn something about the facility, but being able to try the food and wine afterwards clearly left them with a positive impression. I was flying solo this day so the lucky break for me to meet and enjoy lunch with them as they talked about their future plans was a true joy. Sean and Megan reminded me of Margot and I, oddly opposite though, and the big laugh was that Megan is “very specific”. There’s nothing wrong with that, really there isn’t!!! Best wishes to Sean & Meghan on their new life together and to both the Lynch and Sell families as they look forward to many happy years ahead.

( Tom, Donna & Sean Lynch with Megan, Karen and Garry Sell )

After lunch there were more activities including a grape stomp, yes with people’s feet, t-shirt painting and an up-close view of grapes being processed and pumped into the waiting tanks. The grape stomping created lots of laughs and there were plenty of folks who wanted to get purple and red feet painted on the back of their shirts to commemorate another exciting harvest.

( Stomp those grapes! )

As I watched the vineyard and winery staff scurry around tending to all the must being pumped out of the crusher I could only imagine how many more long days they still have ahead to get the harvest completed and the wines well on their way to the finished state. It’s times like these that I appreciate the work that I go through to make my own wines, but feel lucky that I’m just dealing with 6-10 gallons per batch!

This week is Regional Wine Week and I will be publishing articles on wines local to me all week. Tomorrow I will share my visit to Prospect Hill Winery in Lebanon Maine. Later in the week I will share tasting notes on wines from Vermont, Massachusetts and my home state of New Hampshire.

I urge everyone to get out an celebrate the wines of their region this week. You might be surprised to find more than you expected or something new and interesting to try.

Cheers!

Jason

Autumn, Oktoberfest & Pumpkin Beer Shootout Round 2

The Ancient Fire Wine Blog has been nominated for a Foodbuzz Blog Award in the Best Single Topic category. Please vote for us and other great Foodbuzz blogs at http://www.foodbuzz.com/pages/awards. Voting is open until October 17th, 2011.

In the first round, read the wrap-up post, we sampled eight Autumn, Oktoberfest and Pumpkin beers and picked two winner, one each from the Autumn/Brown Ale and Pumpkin beer styles. We’ve sample the second round of eight and picked two more winners in the same fashion.

Overall what have we learned from this experience? First, seasonal beers come in two varieties. You have the serious beers that are crafted to reflect an interpretation of the season, and for us in New England this means cool days, yard work and hearty meals. Included in this category are also those beers that channel pumpkin and spices as they are typically used this time of year. What you have leftover are those beers than are made to take advantage of the seasonal beer theme, but don’t really have distinguishing characteristics and/or lack balance within the style. I’ll leave it to the reader to glean which are which from the reviews here and those we published from round 1.

We also learned that even with a halthy range of origins for the 16 beers (NH, ME, VT, MA, CO, CA, DE and NY) one state really shined, Maine! The fact that Maine is the source of good beer is nothing new for me, but to take 3 of the 4 spots in our unscientific survey was a surprise.

Which beers won in this round?

Shipyard Smashed Pumpkin and Breckenridge After Rakin’ Autumn Ale!  The Smashed Pumpkin is in my experience the most talked about pumpkin beer this time of year in New England. It is made in limited quantities and goes fast. Our autumn/brown ale winner once again projected significant roasted malt, nut and caramel flavors with a touch of smoke. It is very full bodied and finishes clean.

Reviews Beer by Beer

Woodstock Inn & Brewery Autumn Ale

Pours a medium amber color with a light brown head. Malt, spices and fruit are presented in the nose. The beer is flavored with apple, which you can pick out pretty easily. Lots of cinnamon, almost too much. (Jason) Drinking several of these could be a problem with the level of cinnamon. The apple ducks out in the middle and then comes back on the finish. This beer is ever so slightly sweet. From New Hampshire

Harpoon UFO Pumpkin

Pours and orange/gold color with a tan head. A bit hazy. It smells mildly like baked squash, but it might not if you didn’t know it was a pumpkin beer. It has a savory element to the taste, a little herbaceous, with some fleshiness from the squash and subtle hops & acidity in the finish. From Massachusetts.

Sam Adams HarvestPumpkin Ale

This beer pours an amber color and is brilliantly clear. Watching the columns of bubbles in the glass was captivating. The head is light brown with a red shift and is creamy on the tongue. It tastes of lightly spiced pumpkin pie and has some vegetal character to it. The spices are restrained. Some toasted malt comes through on the finish. Way better than the Sam Adams Oktoberfest! From Massachusetts.

Otter CreekOktoberfest

Pours and orange/gold color with a slight haze. Off-white head that lingers a bit. Grains in the nose, not very malty. Margot said hints of cranberry and oatmeal in the nose. I didn’t get that, but hey, she’s weird, and that’s why I like her! The flavors are a bit toasted and the hops make an appearance. We both said there was something funky, not a good funky either, in the latter part and finish. From Vermont.

Woodchuck PumpkinHard Cider

Orange/gold in color. Aromas of apple, spices and what smells like potato (assuming that is the squash). A bit sweet with some tartness, but only notable for the fact that is it unusual. Not our bag. From Vermont.

Breckenridge AfterRakin’ Autumn Ale

Margot says “Kickass Name!” The beer pours brown with a light brown head that sticks around. The nose is full of roasted nuts and malt which continue in the mouth. There is a hint of smoke and no real hop influence. The finish is clean and pleasant. From Colorado

Sarnac Octoberfest

Pours and orange/gold color with an off-white head. We both found malt and dried fruit in the nose. There is lots of carbonation in this beer, but very mild malt and nut flavors. You could use this for pairing where the beer wasn’t expected to add much or take much way, but it isn’t terribly interesting on its own. From New York.

Shipyard SmashedPumpkin

This beer pours an orange/gold color with an off-white head that quickly disappears. I picked up baked pumpkin in the nose and a slight sweet smell. Margot said the aromas were like spiced pumpkin custard. Pretty creative, eh? Both of thought this was the closest of all the pumpkin beers to pumpkin pie. Pumpkin, spice, malt and some hops all come together in the mouth. It does have just enough sweetness to tend in the pie direction, and the pumpkin and spice flavors travel along for the finish. Very well balanced and smooth. From Maine.

What Next?

We hosted a tasting of winter & holiday beers at our holiday open house last year.  Read our tasting notes in “Fifth Annual Holiday Open House” and whet your appetite for the upcoming release of many of those beers for a new year.

http://ancientfirewineblog.blogspot.com/2010/12/fifth-annual-holiday-open-house.html

Be careful with seasonal beers, not all of them stack up after you give them a taste. If you can buy a mixed pack of single bottles from a local beer shop that will be a smartest way to try several beers first to find one or more you want to slot in for your seasonal drinking.

Cheers!

Jason

New England Wine Tasting

The Ancient Fire Wine Blog has been nominated for a Foodbuzz Blog Award in the Best Single Topic category. Please vote for us and other great Foodbuzz blogs at http://www.foodbuzz.com/pages/awards. Voting is open until October 17th, 2011.

As part of my Drink Local Wine education and an early jump on Regional Wine Week coming up next week I organized (with help from Margot as always) an all New England wine tasting. The tasting featured twenty-two bottles from the six New England states. In organizing it I tried to represent wines of all the types you might typically find in the region, from dry reds and whites to fruit wines, dessert wines, ciders, and mead. I also tried to pick multiple producers from each state, and in a simple sense accessibility of the wines in local shops or those that were shippable from out of state played a key part in which wines were included. I could have ordered more, spent more time looking and had a different lineup, but my gut tells me our experience was well rounded enough not to fuss over such details. There is a listing of all the wines at the very bottom of this post.

We invited our friends Chris & Nancy Obert, the authors of The Next Harvest about the New England wine scene, to join us. They are the only other people I know that have ever surveyed wines from all the New England states in one place before. We also invited friends from many of our past tastings to help us sort out what was going on in the region in 2011.

As we kicked off I asked tasters to keep the question of “Could you adopt a local wine drinking habit based on what you learn today?” in their mind as they worked through the wines. I was curious about this myself, something I hadn’t been able to answer yes to in the past, but have always assumed that the passage of time would impact my future answers.

One point is needs to be made right here. The group found the quality of the wines to be mixed, and I would say as mixed as any batch of regional wines I have ever tried. That excludes the flawed wines as they don’t often get poured by producers who tend to catch the issues first. The feedback is fair based on the experiences folks had and should be taken in the spirit it is being given. All of us sincerely want to support our local producers and know that we need to keep sourcing the wines, tasting them and letting the wineries know how they are doing. How else could they grow to serve the communities they represent?

Which Wines Really Worked For Me?

Chamard Estate Grown Chardonnay (CT) – baked fruits, with whisps of old oak in the nose. Not super fruity, rather focused and dry to a quick exit. It is balanced well and positive attributes all the way around. It has hints of MLF and old oak, but nothing very forward. This is a Chardonnay that I would recommend for an all occasion wine and for decent coverage with food pairings.

Travessia Winery Vidal (MA) – this was one of the few repeat tastes for me. It was sweeter than I recall, but had that mellow perfumed nose and peachy, citrusy finish I recalled from past tastings. Very well put together.

Eden Iced Cider (VT) – this was another repeat for Margot and I, and one of the most important wines we included in the tasting in my opinion. Orange/gold in color this cider pours like light amber syrup when cold. The nuances from the nose full of apples are intoxicating. The intense shot of apples and spice in the mouth is fantastic! So many people commented that they had never had such concentrated apple flavor before and that it was incredible to sip. I would have to agree.

Truro Vineyards Cranberry Red (MA)  – I liked this wine on its own, feeling that the combination of the light red wine base and tart red fruit from the cranberry was perfectly blended. I’ll be sipping on the rest of this watching the Ken Burns Prohibition special on PBS shortly! Sadly, I didn’t get a picture of this bottle when it was full. It is a real shame since it is a beautiful lighthouse shaped bottle.

Candia Vineyards Marquette (NH) – when I bought this wine some time ago I drank one bottle right away. I enjoyed it but don’t recall it grabbing me as much as the tasting pour I had had that led to the purchase. I then forgot about it. The age has helped this wine emerge beautifully. It has a warmth and spiciness to the nose that really drew me in. It has that wildness I often find in the cold-weather-hardy native and hybrid red grapes. I like that, although some people can’t accept it. It is moderately concentrated and dark with solid dark red and purple fruits. The finish is a bit tart and very clean.

Which Wines Did I Hear Positive Feedback About?

Chamard Estate Grown Chardonnay (MA) - clearly this was the standard dry wine everyone like the most. I tasted it after Noel commented on his positive experience and confirmed everything he had said. Everyone we ended up recommending try it had positive feedback as well.

Truro Vineyards Cranberry Red (MA) – Margot mentioned the pleasant tartness, and Lorie (@winingways), Noel & others all commented on how drinkable it was. Missy and Richard blended it with the Tanguay Hard Frost Cider and raved about the result. This wine also shows up again in the next section, but you’ll have to keep read to find out why.

Eden Iced Cider (VT) – this is an exquisite product to be sure, and almost everyone who had it was savoring each sip. I have orders to fulfill when I visit Eden in the wintertime!

Turtle Creek Winery Chardonnay (MA) – quite a few people said that really liked this wine and would no doubt buy it again. It was one that was positive on as well, the dried fruits and spices in the nose were very pleasant.

LaBelle Winery Heirloom Apple & Maple Dessert Wine (NH) – I was very happy to hear so much feedback about the apple wines during the tasting. Amy LaBelle is the only local winemaker that I know that can really make an apple wine versus apple hard cider, flavored or not. They are NOT the same product and apple wine in my experience is harder to make. That’s me, and I’ve tried it. This apple wine infused with maple flavor is a great example of local flavors creating enjoyable sips.

What About The Reds?

The red wines underperformed on the day. We did have the New England Red though. Who makes that wine you ask? Well, not any of the producers, and it didn’t come from any one of the states we tried wines from. It is a blend of wines from producers in four of the six states.

After tasting all the reds the reviews were mixed and not very energetic. Noel suggested the Chamard Vineyards Merlot (MA) had a bit too much acid and that the Boyden Valley Riverbend Red (VT) was too powerful of leafy characteristics. I like a bit of leaf and greens in a red wine and Cabernet Franc immediately came to mind. I noted the depth of color and concentration of the Marquette from Candia Vineyards (NH) and schemed up a blending experiment. A Petit Verdot analog? Perhaps. Our ultimate blend was 10 parts Chamard Merlot and one part each of Boyden Valley Riverbend Red and Candia Marquette. When served it was worth trying the blend as it was and then with a splash of the Truro Vineyards CranberryRed (MA). The whole was definitely more than the sum of the parts, with healthy acidity, a nice dark color and accessible fruits in both the nose and in the mouth. There was also a subtle warmth from oak. The splash of Cranberry Red added bright red fruits and tartness to the finish. I am inclined to believe that I will be making a cranberry wine in this style to both bottle for drinking, but also to reserve for the positive role it appears to play in blending.

While the details are a bit different, I suggested a similar collaborative red blend when I reflected on the red wines I tasted in Virginia. I can’t stress this point enough, blends should be a more critical consideration of wineries in all regions of the world where the winemaking is still in its youth. Blends of both estate grown grapes by one label AND collaborations between wineries throughout entire regions have the potential to channel the very best attributes into wines that capture imaginations and define the wines people come to the region to find.

The Sakonnet Vineyards Claret (RI) red blend didn’t seem to resonate with anyone. Some of the feedback wasn’t worthy of printing here. I personally found that it ended flat and didn’t have enough zip to grab me. I plan to give it a little air, there was little tightness perhaps, and come back to see if there is any change. When contrasted with my own, very young, riff on a Meritage blend the difference was immediately noticed in the expressions of the tasters. Brighter, fruitier and more nuanced was the general response. Noel suggested my blend was likely to shine brighter when repeated in a larger batch with a year in the barrel. I love my wine-making friends!

Problems We Had

Moonlight Meadery Sumptuous – unfortunately this had re-fermented in the bottle and had lost all the sweetness. It was not drinkable and a shame to not have been able to enjoy. We’ve had this mead several times in the past, and this was not it.

Alfalfa Farm Cranberry – this was aged too long, our bad. It was oxidized and without merit for drinking.

Boyden Valley Seyval –there was piney flavor that was very pronounced, and very off-putting. This was untouched after several folks confirmed the finding. Neither Noel or I could figure an angle that would have created this outcome and let it run under the radar.

Willow Spring Seyval  - this wine came off as very light and diluted to several of us. This is not typical to the style at all. A few folks tried it only to confirm this conclusion.

Other Notable Wines

Hopkins Vineyard Night Owl – this is a Vidal based dessert wine that is very much worth a drink. I actually finished it right from the bottle with dessert! It has a wild character in the nose, offers considerable concentration, honey and dried fruits all the way through the tart, sweet finish.

Flag Hill Blueberry – this was very much unlike what many folks expected in a fruit wine. It is medium-dry with a pronounced fruit flavor and clean finish. I don’t often find a blueberry wine I like, and this wine didn’t personally grab me, but I didn’t hear lots of surprise at how it presented itself.

Observations & Follow-up Actions

Maine didn’t show very well in our tasting. With the exception of the Tanguay Hard Frost Cider neither the Kennebec Hard Cider or Cellar Door Viognier garnered much attention. I believe this should be spun as a call to action to source additional wines from Maine to get a better idea of what is offered from the state. Margot and I will be heading up to Maine this coming weekend to do just this.

Eden Orleans Aperitif Wine – this is a new product, an herbed cider wine made to be used as an aperitif or a cocktail mixer. It was very interesting to taste in this way because it gave people the opportunity to explore it. I do honestly believe from my own experience that cocktails with gin, vodka and vermouths are likely to be the best way to apply a wine of this type. Stay tuned for the requisite experiments to be shared here at the Ancient Fire Wine Blog.

Rhode Island didn’t fair too well either. The first wine I ever had from Sakonnet Vineyards, the Eye of the Storm Rose, is still my favorite. We served this as our pre-game wine for early arrivals and during our prep. Positive remarks all around. And while neither the Sakonnet Claret (mentioned above) or Gewurztraminer were highly rated, the later needing some zip to be more stylistically correct, I think some additional exploration in Rhode Island is required.

How About That Local Wine Drinking Habit?

I came away thinking that I was closer to being able to suggest house wines and all-occasion wines from the New England region than I had ever been before. Because I make so much wine, they become my house wines and gifts for others, but I do still buy commercial wines. A few of those I tasted here are likely to make the cut in future buys. Many of my red wine drinking friends answered no to the question, understandable if you read the section above, and I suggested we focus on reds in another round of New England wines in the near future. Some research and sourcing effort might pay off.

Cheers!

Jason

Wine List

New Hampshire

Moonlight Meadery Sumptous

Candia Vineyards Marquette

Flag Hill Winery & Distillery Blueberry

LaBelle Winery Apple/Maple

Connecticut

Chamard Vineyards Merlot

Chamard Vineyards Chard

Hopkins Vineyard Night Owl

Rhode lsland

Sakonnet Vineyards EOS

Sakonnet Vineyards Meritage

Sakonnet Vineyards Gewurztraminer

Maine

Cellar Door Winery Viognier

Kennebec Hard Cider

Tanguay Hard Frost Cider

Massachusetts

Travessia Winery Vidal

Turtle Creek Winery Chard

Willow Spring Seyval

Truro Vineyards Cranberry Red

Alfalfa Farm Winery Cranberry

Vermont

Boyden Valley Seyval

Boyden Valley Riverbend Red

Eden Iced Cider

Eden Orleans Aperitif Wine

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Autumn, Oktoberfest & Pumpkin Beer Shootout Round 1

Seasonal beers are all the rage. So I am, along with Margot’s trusted beer sense, going to ride that wave a bit. For the autumn season we get all sorts of brown ales, spiced and pumpkin flavored beers, especially here in New England. I’ve never sampled more than one or two of the ones I have ever come across, and never given much thought to exactly what worked and what did in the annual crop of autumn warmers.

We are going to run sixteen Autumn, Oktoberfest and Pumpkin beers up against each other in two rounds. This is not scientific. We sourced the selections from our local craft beer shops by grabbing a single of every one that fit the style they had on hand. We didn’t hit the local brewpubs to sample the non-bottled offerings, and we didn’t seek out some of the nano-brewed versions that aren’t always in usual stores. Most of the beers are regional to us but we do have California, Delaware, Colorado and New York represented as well. You get what we are going to give you.

This is round one. Our method? Two tasting glasses each, two ounce pours. Taste two, clean the glasses and send the leftovers back to the fridge. Repeat.

We are going to pick two personal favorites and winners in each round, one autumn brown ale style and one pumpkin flavored. We hope something we taste and review finds its way into your fridge this fall!

And the round one winners were?

Shipyard Pumpkinhead and Geary’s Autumn Ale. Right up front, you note they both come from Maine. I’m not surprised, and even if they had been consciously separated into the two rounds I am betting they both would have still stood out. I’ve known Maine makes tasty beers for a few years now. Shipyard and Sebago are two sources I’ve enjoyed beers from repeatedly. I also have experience with Allagash (and everyone who loves good beer should), Sea Dog, Casco Bay, Gritty McDuff’s and the Inn on Peaks Island, all hailing from Maine. Check out the full reviews of the first eight beers below.

Reviews Beer by Beer

Sam Adams Octoberfest

We started with this beer because this is the one I associate with my first tastes of beers crafted for this season. Unfortunately we were both underwhelmed by it. I’ve mentioned my frustration with some of Sam Adams’ beers before in my blog. I feel like they’ve lost their oomph over time. It is also fair to say my tastes have grown, something of a combination of both is the likely answer. I recall when I first had this beer I really wanted it long after it was out of rotation. They made a lot less of it then. Here are the hard facts nonetheless. Pours orange/gold to amber with a tan head that lingers. The nose is mildly malty, a bit hoppy and Margot said it smelled of wet hay. The maltiness is more evident when you drink it, although is a lighter in body than I expected. It finished short with a touch of dried fruit. From Massachusetts.

*** Note: after I published this article I came across the leftover bottle (capped) in the fridge since last Friday. Thinking it might have lost carbonation or be otherwise less than worthy I took a quick sip before assuming I had to dump it. Not so! This beer has improved with a little oxygen. I would not have expected this. While it wouldn't have changed the outcome of the tasting, it is notable, and something to potentially bear in mind about this beer.

Smuttynose PumpkinAle

I’ve sampled through the beers from Smuttynose over the last few years, generally enjoying everything I’ve had. The Pumpkin Ale pours an orange/gold color with a slight haze and an off-white creamy head. The nose is spiced pumpkin all the way. There is lots of carbonation. This beer is definitely hoppy, Margot wrote it twice in CAPS, and the nutmeg (we think) really kicks in on the finish. The finish is a bit acidic and the hops are represented there as well. I also picked up the meaty, fleshy quality that pumpkin can impart to a beer. This beer is well made and drinks as it you would expect it to. From New Hampshire.

Geary’s Autumn Ale

This is a brown ale in the truest of senses. It pours brown with amber hues setting up a dark brown head that dissipates fast. The nose is huge and full of malt, fruit and caramel (thanks Margot!) aromas. In the mouth the malt character performs really well with a touch of smoke, nuts and a clean, pleasantly bitter finish. The boldness of the nose and mouth on this beer propelled it to the front of the pack. It is intense without being intrusive. You have to stop for a second when you hit one of these to make sure you know what you’ve got! From Maine.

Shipyard Pumpkinhead

This and the Sam Adams Octoberfest were the only beers of this bunch I had ever had before. My last tasting of the Pumpkinhead was with a spiced sugar rimmed glass, which while it makes for a great “beer cocktail” like experience, wouldn’t offer a proper review of the beer itself. No rimmed glasses this time. Pours gold with hints of orange. It is very light for a fall season beer, but keep reading. The head is very slight but when you get to the nose you starting paying attention. I said it smelled like a garden, and squash flowers, tomato leaves and ripening vegetables was where I was going with that. Raw pumpkin. The pumpkin, spices and a bit of baked pie crust come together in the mouth. The spices arrive a little late but stick around through the finish, which has some zip. Margot noted that she could drink quite a few of these. Gotta love a woman who can pick out a good beer! We bought extras of this so we could try the rimmed glass at home and otherwise enjoy them with the season. In hindsight, smart plan. From Maine.

Sarnac Pumpkin Ale

Pours an amber color with a quick dissipating off-white head. The pumpkin is accessible in the nose but is restrained. There is a fleshy, vegetal character to the pumpkin aroma. The spice is again bounded and not huge, but was easily found. The finish was a tad bitter with some hops along for the ride. Margot stated, and I would agree, that the pumpkin flavor was not very pronounced and that this beer drank more like a standard red ale with an off-character nose.

Sierra Nevada Tumbler

Pours a dark amber color with a light brown head that lingers. The nose is nutty and a little toasted. It is medium bodied with some fall character (dry leaves, another Margot-ism) to it and a slightly hoppy finish. I have to say I would not have guessed this was a Sierra Nevada beer, it just isn’t bold enough. I have enjoyed everything from them I have ever had, but this one doesn’t fit. From California.

Long Trail HarvestAle

Pours a dark amber color with minimal head. Malty and nutty nose. A bit rooty & earthy as well.  Lots of carbonation. Low on the hops and the nut & dried fruit flavors come through in the mouth. Moderate, clean finish. This is a solid casual drinker for the season. Not huge, but put together well enough to drink. This is my Bud 30 pack beer of seasonal small-batch beers. I don’t drink cheap beer, instead try to find straightforward drinkable craft and small-batch brews that offer the same casual consumption scenario, but with character. I hope that comes across as a compliment, cause it is. From Vermont.

Dogfish Head Punkin

I’ve heard things about this beer but hadn’t had it until now. The rumors and the beer match for any who might have been concerned. Pours an amber/orange color with tan head that lingers for a bit. Smells like baked squash or the inside of a pumpkin (Margot, again) and toasted pumpkin seeds. The fleshy quality of the squash comes through in the mouth joined with some spices but not to an extent that it tastes like pumpkin pie. More like spiced, baked pumpkin. Makes for an interesting drink to be sure. From Delaware.

Thumbs Up / Thumbs Down

Overall this was an exciting first round. The round two tasting is tonight and the full results will be posted in a week. Never having surveyed this many beers from this category before I have to say it is worth a spin if you are interested in these types of beers. Expanding your view to include other beers, don’t forget the local keg-only ones, would definitely mean some additional cream would rise to the top.

Cheers and happy autumn drinking all!

Jason