Woodshed IPA

Beer Name: Woodshed IPA
Brewery: Vintage Brewing Co.
ABV: 6.5%
Serving method: 16-oz draft in a pint glass
Born/Bottled/Shipped on: Unknown

This beer was actually my 4th choice, but my 3rd choice (a double black IPA) was not available despite being listed on the menu as being newly tapped. Luckily, I always have a backup choice of beer for just such an occasion. I haven't really thought about what I'd do if my backup choice wasn't available either. My guess is probably panic and curl into the fetal position under the table.

The Woodshed IPA is a cloudy copper beer with a quick fading head that leaves a small layer behind. This beer has a very strong hoppy aroma, but it's a very different aroma from the Hop Harvest. Whereas that one was a grassy kind of hop, this one is all about the florally citrus hops.

And the flavor follows right from the aroma. There are major grapefruit notes from the hops. It also has a very light maltiness (and sweetness) that balance out the hops and keep them from being too much. Sadly, there is not nearly enough sweetness to keep this beer from causing a Kate-face. This beer has a very dry finish that makes you immediately ready for the next sip. As it warms up, the sweetness increases as the hop flavors decrease, so you can wait it out until the balance is right where you want it, as long as you like hops at least a little bit.

Final thought - Even though it was a backup beer, I enjoyed this beer very much. Citrusy hops with enough sweetness to keep them in check generally make for my favorite IPAs, and this was no exception. All in all, I think Vintage is a great brewery (based on only 3 beers, but they were still 3 for 3 in my book), and I'm glad it's the one that I randomly chose off my list of Madison breweries.

-Jon

Scaredy Cat

Beer Name: Scaredy Cat Oatmeal Stout
Brewery: Vintage Brewing Co.
ABV: 6%
Serving method: 16-oz draft in a pint glass
Born/Bottled/Shipped on: Unknown

Since my first beer focused on the hops, I figured that my second beer should focus on malt. Specifically roasted malts in the form of a (hopefully) delicious stout.

Scaredy Cat is a very dark beer in the tradition of many stouts before it. The aroma is like a stout on steroids. It's super roasted, with some caramel, coffee and chocolate all noticeable in large quantities. There was almost no head at all, but there was a hint of some coffee colored head that could have been present in a different pouring method. Like maybe if you held the glass way below the tap or something.

Despite the balance of aromas, the flavor is mainly the coffee. The whole pint was super smooth, with very little carbonation, making the whole thing very easy to drink. Usually there is a little bit of bitterness at the end of each sip for a stout, but this one doesn't really have it. I like when there's a little bitterness to balance out the sweetness of most stouts, but since this beer had a lot more coffee flavor than chocolate or caramel, I didn't think that the lack of bitterness was an issue.

Final thought - This beer was delightful, but I could see the coffee dominance being an issue for some. They should get over it though, since it doesn't really hurt the overall stout experience.

-Jon

Hop Harvest Ale

Beer Name: Hop Harvest Ale
Brewery: Vintage Brewing Co.
ABV: 6.6%
Serving method: 16-oz draft in a pint glass
Born/Bottled/Shipped on: Unknown

Since we had to check out of our hotel by noon and our flight wasn't until 5:20, we still had quite a bit of time to kill even after factoring in a 1.75 hour drive to the airport. We decided that the best way to spend said time would be at a brewery. Little did I know at the time that all this delicious beer (along with pretty much everything else I had consumed in the previous 24 hours) would be violently expelled from my body in a losing battle with motion sickness.

Vintage had a whole bunch of enticing beers, but I finally settled on the Hop Harvest Ale for my first choice. It was a cloudy ruby colored beer that arrived with a very light head that faded away, leaving only a thin layer behind that lasted for most of the beer. It also left a light lacing pattern behind. The aroma of this beer was hoppy, but a grassy sort of hops. It makes me think that the beer is hopped using super-fresh local hops, but I don't really know if Wisconsin is the appropriate climate for hop growing or if any local hops even exist. It's a mystery.

This beer had a very good flavor. It was hoppy, but the hops weren't overpowering like with an IPA. It was like they were an important part of the beer without being the main focus. They are also present in a lightly bitter finish. The beer had a nice amount of carbonation and finished cleanly.

Final thought - This was a great first beer choice. I would definitely recommend it to anyone, but I'm not sure that Vintage ships its beers way out here to MA. That's quite unfortunate, as this was only the first of several delicious things I drank that afternoon.

-Jon