Peachy Keene Kolsch

Beer Name: Peachy Keene Kolsch
Brewery: Elm City Brewing Company
ABV: Unknown
Serving method: 16-oz draft in a tumbler
Born/Bottled/Shipped on: Unknown

I suppose I have to admit something: I am a sucker for beers with silly puns or wordplay in their names. This is 100% of the reason why I have a bottle in the fridge with a label that says "Hoptimus Prime" on it. Assuming you don't hate hops, how can you pass up something like that? I know I couldn't. As such, I was also unable to resist a beer with the name Peachy Keene.

Peachy Keene Kolsch is a dark golden beer. Not dark like a brown ale or anything, but noticeably darker than the Raspberry Wheat. There wasn't really any head on this one, but that seems to be typical of particularly fruity beers. There also wasn't any lacing to speak of. The beer has an extremely peachy aroma. If you like the smell of peaches, this is the beer for you.

Peaches dominate the flavor here. It's pretty much all peach all the time, from the first sip to the last. I like peaches, so this is a good thing in my book. It's also nice that, while sweet, it's not a sickly sweetness and it's not sticky. The beer is very smooth, with very low carbonation. It's not quite as sweet as a soda, but it's close. The finish is clean, and there is not much of an aftertaste.

Final thought - I liked this beer a lot. Kate was skeptical of me ordering a Kolsch, but not everything has to be a stout, porter or IPA for me to drink it. I am a diverse beer drinker, dammit, and people need to recognize this. I am glad I got this, and give it a full recommendation. Unless you don't like peach, in which case stay far, far away.

-Jon

Raspberry Wheat #2

Beer Name: Raspberry Wheat
Brewery: Elm City Brewing Company
ABV: Unknown
Serving method: 16-oz draft in a tumbler
Born/Bottled/Shipped on: Unknown

Elm City seems to cycle through their beers pretty quickly, so this one was probably brewed not too long ago. We knew going in that during Happy Hour (actually 2 hours), wings were 45 cents each, but we didn't know that the beer was discounted too! It made our late lunch/early dinner even more exciting.

The Raspberry Wheat is a slightly cloudy, bright golden beer. It arrived with a thin head that faded away quickly but left a light lacing pattern behind. The aroma is very grainy, and there isn't much raspberry in it. The wheat seems to be dominating here.

Despite not being too noticeable in the aroma, the raspberry is fully present in the flavor. It's a nice raspberry flavor too, more like a real raspberry than an artificial syrupy flavor. There's nothing overly sweet or sticky about it. The beer has a very light carbonation and is very easy drinking. It finishes with a little bit of malt and a faint sweet aftertaste.

Final thought - This is a nice light beer that was perfect with a meal outside. I don't know if it would have been enjoyable in a dark restaurant, as there just seemed to be something about it that said "drink me in the sun!" And I was happy to oblige.

-Jon

Cream Stout

Beer Name: Cream Stout
Brewery: Elm City Brewing Company
ABV: Unknown
Serving method: 16-oz draft in a pint glass
Born/Bottled/Shipped on: Unknown

This particular lunch was a 2-beer lunch. That's my kind of lunch.

Elm City's Cream Stout is about the same color as their Oatmeal Stout. It might have been slightly lighter, but it was still pretty much solid black. This beer did not really have much head, but there was a light lacing pattern on the glass when I finished it. There is a roasted aroma here that is the most noticeable part of the scent.

The Cream Stout has an intense roasted flavor with some faint coffee in the background. It also has a very bitter finish and aftertaste. There's a lot of smokiness in the flavor, and it's not quite as smooth as their other stout. I think it would have been good with my burger, as the sweet flavor of the BBQ sauce would have paired nicely with the flavor of this beer.

Final thought - This beer was ok, but I preferred their Oatmeal Stout to it. Kate thought that it tasted like an ashtray, which begs the question of how she knows what an ashtray even tastes like. I wouldn't go that far, but there is definitely a smokey flavor to this beer. I probably wouldn't get this beer again if they had other stouts available.

-Jon

Oatmeal Stout

Beer Name: Oatmeal Stout
Brewery: Elm City Brewing Company
ABV: 3.5%
Serving method: 16-oz draft in a pint glass
Born/Bottled/Shipped on: Unknown

Ok, so June was not a big beer drinking month. Actually, that's not really accurate. It wasn't a big new beer drinking month. I had a whole bunch of 6- and 12-packs to finish off, so I didn't really want to load up on a bunch of new things to drink. There's only so much fridge space. Fortunately, all that stuff has been consumed, so it's time to kick off the second half of the year with some (hopefully) delicious new brews! First up are a pair of stouts from Keene, NH.

Elm City's Oatmeal Stout is a solid black beer that came to me without any noticeable head. This also meant that there wasn't much lacing on the glass, although there was a very faint pattern at the end of the pint. It was hard for me to pick up on any aroma here, but I think that might be more due to my allergies than to the beer not having a strong aroma. I did pick up on a little bit of roasted scents.

This beer was good, but it wasn't especially memorable. It's very smooth, with just a little bit of carbonation. There's a light roasted flavor, and an aftertaste of bitter coffee. After a few minutes, the beer became quite delicious. It seems like the kind of beer that should be served at a slightly higher temperature than your average beers. It made a great companion to my burger.

Final thought - Definitely worth the short trip to Keene, this particular oatmeal stout was very enjoyable while I drank it. I am actually shocked at how low the ABV is. This is a great example of a session beer, since it has a good flavor without knocking you on your ass.

-Jon