St. Terese’s Pale Ale (5.3%)
Highland Brewing
42 Biltmore Ave., Asheville, NC
(828) 255-8240
www,highlandbrewing.com
A golden ale with a powerful, fresh citric hop aroma. The citric (grapefruit) hops are magnificently assertive in the flavor and bitterness, backed up by full malt sweetness. This medium-bodied Saint finishes dry from hops. It’s a classic American-style pale ale.
Scotch Ale (7.5%)
Arcadia Brewing
103 W. Michigan Ave., Battle Creek, MI
(269) 963-9520
www.arcadiabrewingcompany.com
Deep, rich, sweet malt, treacle and dark fruits are evident in the aroma of this ruby red ale. The flavor is one of rich, full malt sweetness, more treacle and caramel, and a hint of alcohol heat. A full-bodied ale with a touch of hop bitterness in the taste and the finish.
Buzzards Bay Export Lager (5.0%)
Buzzards Bay Brewing
98 Horseneck Rd., Westport, MA
(508) 636-2288
www.buzzardsbrew.com
This gold lager has an aroma that is big on clean malt sweetness and Noble hops. The taste is one of lovely malt sweetness (an orchestra pit of malt) with hop flavors that hide in the corners of your mouth. The finish is slightly bitter from hops in this full-bodied lager.
Riverwest Stein Beer (6.0%)
Lakefront Brewery
1872 N. Commerce St., Milwaukee, WI
(414) 372-8800
www.lakefrontbrewery.com
A light amber lager with an aroma of caramel candy. The taste is also one of caramel malt sweetness from the first to the last sip, with a trace of hop flavor and some hop bitterness in the finish. “Stein” in the beer’s name refers to a type of drinking vessel, not to a type of beer made with hot rocks.
Chocolate Porter (5.4%)
Bayhawk Ales
2000 Main St., Irvine, CA
(949) 442-7565
www.bayhawkales.com
A dark ruby red ale with a full, roasty, baking chocolate aroma. The baking chocolate re-appears in the taste, along with rich, sweet malt. This is a medium-bodied parlor beer, one to mellow out with at the end of an evening.
Maple Nut Brown Ale (4.5%)
Tommyknocker Brewery & Pub
1401 Miner St., Idaho Springs, CO
(303) 567-4419
www.tommyknocker.com
A dark amber ale with aromas of dark grains and caramelized sweetness. The round, sugary maple flavors are pronounced in this medium-bodied beer that finishes rich and clean with just a trace of hops in the flavor. Great with pancakes!
Steel Rail Extra Pale Ale (5.3%)
Berkshire Brewing
12 Rail Road St., South Deerfield, MA
(413) 665-6600
www.berkshirebrewingcompany.com
A golden amber ale with an aroma of sweet malt and caramel balanced with spicy hops. The initial flavor is of strong, sweet malt fullness, somewhat bready, with hops lingering faintly in the background. The finish is sweet in this medium-bodied ale.
Shoals Pale Ale (5.0%)
Smuttynose Brewing
225 Heritage Ave., Portsmouth, NH
www.smuttynose.com
(603) 436-4026
Copper colored with a lovely “fresh hops off the vine” aroma and a generous balance of malt sweetness. There’s a full, fresh flavor of hops up front in the taste, along with malt sweetness to back it up. Hop bitterness is evident in the finish of this medium-bodied beer.