What Northeast beer are you drinking now? (2022)

Another Northeast gem tonight. At 14% , its gonna take quite a while to go through the bottle so probably my only post in this thread.
This is Jacks Abby Lagerness Monster Imperial Baltic Porter. Ive eyed it up in my cellar quite a few times and a cold drizzly evening seems the perfect time to pop the cap.

onto my review:


Sampling a cellar temp 500 ml bottle poured into my snifter. Picked up at the local beer shop a while ago. Has been in my cellar since.
The beer pours a rich cola brown to black coffee color with almost no light shining through, except at the very edges of the glass. A minimal beige head of .5 cm foams up as a dense covering and fades to a sturdy edge layering pretty quickly after the pour.
Aroma is malt dominant and bourbon barrel too. There are hits of dark chocolate and hints of roasted notes, but bourbon is the central aroma that dominates. Not boozy, just the sweet liquor notes and hops are absent on the nose as well.
The first sip reveals a medium body with smooth texture and some fine fizzy carbonation. There is a bit of sticky residue on my lips after each sip.
The flavor is rich and malty with brown sugar and molasses mixing with dark chocolate and roasted malt. Sweet bourbon rolls in with some vanilla also. Never any hops and boozy heat only appears after each swallow. This is fairly complex and a big sipping beer, that only reveals its heat at the very end of the sip. WIsh I had bought a second bottle of this that I could sit on for another year or two.

4.2 in the BA DB

 

Cross posted this with the Holiday Beer Tasting thread.

Excited to try to have some holiday beers which gets me out of my normal beer drinking styles a bit. Always look to promote Connecticut breweries, and I even added this beer to the site! East Rock is a great lager brewery in New Haven and this is their Krampus lager. A 7.5% dopplebock that was brewed with cherries. Seems like it should be quite fun.

Onto my review:



I picked up a 4 pack of these at a local shop on a whim, like the brewery, like double bocks. Lets see what I got!
Pouring at cellar temp into my .5L dimple mug. Date stamp is best before May 30 2023.
The beer pours a clear chestnut color but rests at a deeper mahogany and garnet in my glass. Only hints of light pass through the glass which reveals the rich garnet hues.
A fizzy beige head foams up about 1.5 cm and fades to a sturdy edge layer after the pour. I get some scattered and windowpane type lattice when I swirl or take a sip from the glass.
The aroma is toffee malt, brown sugar and hints of pumpernickel bread and a bit of cherry in the background. Tart not sweet cherry notes, and definitely faint.
First sip reveals a medium body with very smooth and drinkable texture. Very fine tingly carbonation rolls across my palate. The beer disappears on a clean finish after each sip.
Flavor is similar to the nose with some sweeter brown malts of toffee and again a bit of a pumpernickel bread note. Cherry shows up briefly and then a bit of a spicy finish comes across. Rye and black pepper on the finish. I kinda wish the cherry made a slightly bigger impact but otherwise this is a nice doppelbock, glad I have 3 more in the cellar!
4.19 in the BA DB

 

Another cross post for me with the Holiday beers tasting event.
Well I always like to share Connecticut breweries on these tasting events and this is no different. Even though @woodchipper beat me to the punch on this one! nice work!
This is Little House Brewing in Chester, CT and their holiday ale. Fits the Winter Warmer mold with cherries, cinnamon, maple syrup and vanilla, and registers 9.5%.

onto my review:


Sampling a 2022 version of this beer, which seems to have changed since the original post and review here. My 22 oz bottle says 9.5% ABV.
Picked up the bottle at the brewery at the release 2 days ago, so very new bottle. Its been in my cellar since I picked it up.
Tonight I am pouring into my trusty snifter for the tasting.
First, kudos for including the pull tab in the wax to make accessing the beer much easier.
The beer pours a clear chestnut color with some ruby highlights when held to a light source. A dense, creamy beige head of 3 cm foams up and fades slowly to a very sturdy surface covering. Several fine, active streams of carbonation are rising to the surface. the foam sticks around the entire sampling.
Aroma is about what I expect, I get brief toffee and then a bit of cinnamon and nutmeg mixing with light vanilla and a little tart cherry. I dont get much maple unfortunately. No hop character on the nose and ABV is also hidden.
First sip reveals a lighter body than I would have thought and slightly thin texture, although there is a certain creaminess and smooth feel as well. Carbonation is very fine and tingly as it moves across my palate.
Flavor follows the nose advertisements, with some light toffee notes with a bit of cinnamon and mild vanilla. Again, Im not really getting the maple syrup at all. The cinnamon lingers creating a bit of a warming sensation, at least I dont think it is booze warming, but could be I suppose. Again, no hop notes here. Definitely fits the winter warmer bill with the spice notes and malt. I do with the maple was stronger and had hoped for a fuller body with the 9.5%. Perhaps the use of maple syrup also thinned the body due to easy fermentable?
overall the beer is fine, Im a little letdown, but it isnt a bad brew for a Sunday evening.
3.71 in the BA DB