Pratt Street Ale House

I think I've figured out why the English seem to enjoy their beers warm. As an American, this is utterly anathema to me, as I truly enjoy the refreshing taste of a well chilled beer. Obviously I don't want it too cold to enjoy, but give me a frosty bottle and I'm happy.

However, I've noticed that when hoppy beers are cold, the hop taste is very pronounced, often a little overwhelming. However, as it's allowed to warm, the hop notes mellow and other flavors emerge. So, considering that the English love their bitter beers, one imagines that a bitter beer at room temperature is much less overwhelmingly bitter, and more balanced.

Of course, I could also be full of shit, never having had a proper English beer.

This comes up because I had some tasty beers tonight at the Pratt Street Ale House. Once called Oliver's, it changed names for some reason. I haven't the faintest why. Oliver's is a staple beer of Baltimore though, available both at the Pratt street house and at The Wharf Rat's in Fell's point. It's one of the few (2?) remaining breweries in the city that doesn't have it's main operation outside the city.

The first beer I tried was their Williams Winter Warmer. I've only recently begun to try winter warmers, and they intrigue me. This one started out with a strong hop note, but had a nice spice flavor to help balance it out. It was a little bitter in the aftertaste, but not overwhelmingly so. It was a very tasty beer that I enjoy more as it warmed (hence my theory above). I'm not sure what the spice note was, but it made me think of nutmeg, clove, or maybe even cinnamon. The spice was a little masked by the hops, but it's definitely something to try again.

I also had their Bishops Breakfast, an oatmeal stout on nitro pour. It was both smooth and creamy, and thus extremely delicious. It tasted very much of coffee and malts, a little sweet but in a good way. I also feel like there were some hints of milk chocolate in there, but that could have been my imagination.

Either way, if you're ever in Baltimore, definitely give the Pratt Street Ale House, or really just Oliver's Beers a try. I promise you, you won't be sorry.

-The Unabashed Ungourmet

Holiday drinks

I had a fantastic thanksgiving weekend, highlighted by a small shindig with a few friends. Sort of a post-thanksgiving get together, we ate, we drank, we played card games, and had a good time. Also, The Irish made his signature bread pudding, which is basically diabetes in pure form. Stark came with some gross cherry wine, and The Culinator helped cook the whole thing. It rocked.

It also gave me a chance to try several Sam Adams beers I've been wanting to get my hands on, but had to wait a whole year since I forgot about them last year.

Sam Adams is far and away one of my favorite breweries, with palatable yet interesting beers in almost every possible variety. I especially enjoy their cream stout, scotch ale, and white ale, but more on those later.

This particular evening, I got to try Sam Adams Cranberry Lambic, Holiday Porter, and Old Fezziwig.

The Cranberry Lambic tasted (shockingly) of cranberries, and was interesting. Sadly, it is a wheat beer, which I'm just not a huge fan of. The cranberry kept getting washed out by the wheat, and it just didn't sit with me that well. I'm not sure I'd have this again, just because the wheat flavor was so uninteresting, and the cranberry wasn't strong enough.

The Holiday Porter was excellent, on the other hand. It tasted of caramel and dark chocolate, but rather than being thick like a stout it was surprisingly light. A delicious dark beer, it provided a nice sipping beer, but I can see it pairing well with a desert.(didn't get to try it with one, as it ran out almost immediately). Definitely something I'd like to have more of, so I wish it didn't only come in the winter mix pack.

Old Fezziwig is the toughest to decide on. It's a winter warmer, a style of ale that I've never had before. It's spiced like a wit beer or a Belgian ale, with lots of cinnamon and nutmeg. The end result is something like a Christmas spice cake, which is tasty, but was kind of odd. Can't really imagine doing anything other than drinking it by itself due to it's flavor profile, but I really feel like it was begging a complimentary flavor of some sort to complete it. Interesting, and I'd drink it again, but not too often.

I also got to have some Woodchuck 802. Woodchuck, as I've mentioned before, makes delicious cider. Their 802, named for the area code where they harvest the apples, is their best variety. Smokey and crisp, it's a deliciously dry cider, that is pleasantly sweet and a little tart. It is probably my favorite cider over all, and always something I enjoy having. Definitely try this if you like cider.

Also, I picked up a 10-pack of Ommegang beers, and am so very excited to give them a whirl. Hooray incredibly expensive craft beer!

-The Unabashed Ungourmet

P.S. - Also appearing at the shindig were Sparrow, Hooah, Mrs. Satan, Napoleon, and The Girlfriend. Not so much important, as convenient for me to write down all their nicknames now and just have them for my reference.