From BBC’s website, “A light colored, medium bodied, full flavored American style Ale. Steel Rail E.P.A. is our flagship product that has a full malt flavor and is balanced with a pronounced hop flavor and bitterness. 5.3%”

This is an American Pale Ale that comes very highly recommended from Yettas. It scored a “B” rating on BeerAdvocate.com (I have not yet had it).

I’ll do a better review later this week, but awesome light beer.

Kicked Friday, 6/6/08 after 37 days.

Categories: Berkshire, Past Brews
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One of our celebratory kegs for to mark the finish of my, rrr… our, ‘man cave’ home renovations. The inaugural Smutty “Old Brown Dog” was such a hit I decided to have another award-winning sampling from Smutty, this one a bit more “summery”.

Smuttynose describes this beer as, “Our interpretation of a classic English beer style is copper-colored, medium-bodied and highly hopped. Its flavor is delightfully complex: tangy fruit at the start, with an assertive hop crispness and a long malty palate that one well-known beer writer has compared to the flavor of freshly-baked bread.”

I gave this beer an, “A-” in my BA review and said, “Poured a nice deep amber color. Smells very similar to their Old Brown Dog Ale but more floral and citric. Good tasting beer with a slightly bitter aftertaste… This would be a great summer BBQ beer.”

Categories: Past Brews, Smuttynose
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Keg #2 for the celebration of the Black Lab Bar opening. I’ve liked this beer for a while, every since Svatek served it on tap. Sure, it’s a bit of a heavier cold-seasons beer, but it’s delicious and let’s be honest, it’s New England and we have a couple months until it’s warm anyway.

Berkshire describes this beer as, “This dark ale combines the taste of real organic coffee with out popular Drayman’s Porter. The robust coffee flavor comes via a special coffee extract made for us exclusively by Dean’s Beans, New Salem Ma.”

I gave it an, “A” in my BA post from a while back; “Delicious. Not too bitter or carbonated and without too much coffee flavoring. Just right, in my opinion. Lighter than you’d expect, and slight carbonation. I’m not a coffee drinker, but I find the coffee flavoring in this beer delicious.”

Categories: Berkshire, Past Brews
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We kicked the keg of Smuttynose OBD so on a whim went to Colonial Spirits to find a replacement. I chose a 1/6 since we’ll need to move the kegerator to the basement soon and Harpoon IPA since it’s tough to go wrong with Harpoon (and I have at least a case of various Sam Adams beers).

Harpoon describes this beer as; ” The high hopping of Harpoon IPA is not only noticeable in the nose but especially in the finish. The lingering bitter finish of this beer is not harsh or astringent, but crisp and pronounced. This is created, in part, by dry hopping – a technique that involves adding fresh hops to the conditioning beer to provide a fresh hop aroma.

This beer is floral, medium body with an aggressive, clean hop finish.”

Here’s my BA review, I gave it a B-.

Cheers, Matt

Update: Lasted 33 days, about 15 longer than expected. After having Smuttynose Old Brown Dog on tap this IPA was disappointing. I wouldn’t get this again.

Categories: Harpoon, Past Brews
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Smuttynose Old Brown Dog Ale is the inaugural keg! Since we’re calling the bar the “Black Lab Bar” I figured it was only proper to have a dog-named beer. A quick beer search on BA for “dog” narrowed it down to a few and without further inspection Smuttynose took the prize.

Smuttynose’s description of this beer; “Old Brown Dog has been cited as a classic example of the “American Brown Ale” style of beer. Compared to a typical English Brown Ale, Old Brown Dog is fuller-bodied and more strongly hopped. Old Brown Dog has been around for many years. It was first brewed in 1988 at the Northampton Brewery. In 1989 it won a silver medal in its category (American Brown Ale) at the Great American Beer Festival in Denver.”

My BA Review: “One of my favorite beers by one of my favorite breweries. Beautiful amber with a nice even head, tastes terrific, and extremely drinkable. Maybe it’s because it’s the inaugural keg in my new kegerator maybe it’s just because I’ve been drinking it… either way, I highly recommend this brew.”

1/2 Barrel lasted 50 Days and I was quite disappointed when it finally kicked. Assuming Smuttynose might be willing to fill a special request 1/6 barrel, this will certainly be one of two beers on tap.

Categories: Past Brews, Smuttynose
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