Graduation Ale

Beer Name: Graduation Ale
Brewery: Northampton Brewery
ABV: 5.6% (I think...)
Serving method: 16-oz draft in a tumbler
Born/Bottled/Shipped on: Unknown

A beer brewed with raspberries and strawberries? Sure, sign me up. From the name, I'm assuming this beer is brewed in late April or early May to coincide with college graduation.

Graduation Ale is an orange colored beer with a very thin head and almost no lacing. I find that to be par for the course for fruit beers, so I'm not going to stress about it. The raspberries and strawberries are both very noticeable in the aroma, which is very nice.

I think this is the first beer I've had that uses strawberries, and they are pleasantly surprising. The beer is very drinkable, with just enough carbonation to keep it from seeming like a juice and fruit flavors that are present but not overly sweet or sticky. There's also just a little bit of a bitterness in each sip that works as a nice balance. Very easy drinking from the first sip until the last.

Final thought - This was a good beer, and it is one I'll have to keep in mind in future trips to the Northampton Brewery. At least future trips that occur in the spring.

-Jon

Black Mamba

Beer Name: Black Mamba
Brewery: Northampton Brewery
ABV: 3.8%
Serving method: 16-oz draft in a tumbler
Born/Bottled/Shipped on: Unknown

This beer seemed like a nice choice to accompany my lunch, and I'm always down for a stout.

Black Mamba was a very dark beer that arrived with only a light head. This was gone in a few moments, leaving just a faint lacing pattern behind. There was a nice aroma of malty chocolate and bitter coffee. The aroma persisted for the whole glass, and it was very pleasant.

This beer felt very light with each sip, with a mouthfeel to match. It had some faint chocolate flavors, but for the most part the main taste was a bitter coffee. Not too bitter though. The beer was very lightly carbonated, and had a bitter finish without much aftertaste.

Final thought - This was a nice, enjoyable beer to drink with a nice meal. Too bad it's not listed on the brewery's website, which makes me think it's not going to be around for the long haul.

-Jon

Parking Ban Porter

Beer Name: Parking Ban Porter
Brewery: Northampton Brewery
ABV: 5.3%
Serving method: 16-oz draft in a pint glass
Born/Bottled/Shipped on: Unknown

I don't know how it is in other states, but western Massachusetts is pretty blessed with local breweries. I'd assume it's like this in other states, excluding the obvious exceptions like Utah (weird beer legislation), Wyoming (more sheep than people, and sheep aren't big beer drinkers), Montana (uh, why is this a state and not part of Canada?), etc. But since I have sadly lived my whole life in western MA, with brief sojourns to Troy, NY and London, I can only speak intelligently about the local stuff here.

The Northampton Brewery would fall into the brewpub category, at least as far as my interpretation of that term goes. They've got a wide variety on tap, and what they offer varies throughout the year. They've also got food, including cheeseburgers, the food of the gods. Basically I'm saying I should go there more often, but it's tucked away behind the parking garage and I always forget about it.

I'm not sure why, but Parking Ban Porter is not on the list of beers provided by the website. It is on the menu though, which is good enough for me. It has a very dark brown color with dark ruby highlights. It poured with a thin layer of thick head, if that makes any sense. It does to me, so we'll go with it. At first, there was some pretty heavy lacing, but then it turned into pretty faint lacing. I'm not sure what that signifies. There is a strong aroma of roasted malts and sweet coffee.

Well, the flavor is not quite what I was expecting from the aroma. It's heavy in the roasted department, but not as much in the sweetness department. I guess that's ok, but I was hoping for more of that coffee. The beer has a very strong finish, but only a faint aftertaste. As it warms up, it actually becomes more flavorful. And that's a good thing.

Final thought - While not a bad beer by any means, the flavor of the beer didn't match up to the aroma, which was disappointing. The flavor improved as the beer warmed up, so it was still pretty good. Just not what I was expecting. Damn expectations!

-Jon