Being neither a proponent of East Coast, nor West Coast craft beer, I pretty much put my reviews up here in the order in which my notes were taken. It just happens that this week’s three are all East Coast brews – Maryland, New Jersey, and New York. While I am a proponent of good beer, I do have to say – Represent boys. Represent.

Local 1
The Brooklyn Brewery
Brooklyn, NY
Style: Belgian Strong Pale Ale
Grade: 9.0

I have mixed feelings about this beer.

It was a very good beer, maybe a little light for my taste, but it drank more like a hefeweizen to me than a Belgian. There were hints of banana in the finish, and I got none of the citrus that others have noted. There was nice mouth on this beer and very subtle hints of malt pairing nicely with the banana.

A little cloudy, very smooth. Would be great on a hot day.

Old Scratch
Flying Dog Brewing Company
Frederick, MD
Style: Amber/Lager
Grade: 9.0

I’ve had this beer before, but typically in the bottle. I recently caught this on tap at a tweet-up event in Maryland.

I’m not a huge Lager guy (as in the sub-style, not the general term that includes Dunkels, Marzens, Bocks, etc.), but this is a beer totally worth going out of your way for – particularly if you are a lager fan. And particularly if you can get it on tap. It’s just a damn good beer.

It has a nice, rich, amber color, and pours with a nice head. At the same time it has a very good aroma with hints of malt. It’s a complex beer without being overwhelming and drinks with the maltiness one would expect given the beer’s aroma.

Oatmeal Milk Stout Redux (batch 005)
River Horse Brewing Company
Lambertville, NJ
Style: American Milk Stout
Grade: 8.7

I have yet to have a beer from this company that I don’t like. That said, I need to qualify a few things in regards to this beer (but not in regards to the quality of this beer – but in regards to style)…

I grew up on Irish dry stouts. As such, for a very long time it was hard for me to take American stouts seriously -  particularly since it was just presented as “stout.” Those beers were always too close to porter for me. One day it began to occur to me that the beers were like Nut Browns – a beer that had separate stylistic characteristics here than it has across the pond. American Stouts tend to drink a little thinner than their Irish counterparts, and aren’t as dry.

This stout is a nice stout, and a well-crafted beer. The color is spot-on. The mouth feel is a little thin for me, as was the pour, and the beer failed to retain a creamy head – but that was the worst of it. The flavor was wonderfully complex with touches of coffee and chocolate, and, based on the flavor, I would guess that it was bourbon barrel aged. The aroma was filled with the chocolate malt and coffee. This is a very smooth beer, and I think will appeal to anyone who is a fan of milk stouts.