Beer-a-Day #18
Max, Don, and I made the long trip up to Ron’s house to celebrate his fortieth birthday. (More on that in a future entry.) When he heard we were coming, Ron put this in the fridge and we cracked it open when we arrived.
Orange in color with a chill haze. Plenty of floral aroma from the hops. The hops give a sweetness rather than bitterness. It’s sweet and bready, kinda like a cinnamon roll without the cinnamon.
Very interesting. I liked it.
Ellicottville Brewing Company regulars
I don’t know too many guys named Phin, or actually, Phineas DeMink, but when Karen said Phin, the light went on and the connection between Ellicottville Brewing and Southern Tier Brewing finally clicked. You know… Phin, of Phin and Matt’s Extraordinary Ale. It’s not like they were keeping it a secret as it is all right there on the Southern Tier website, but I somehow glossed over that fact.
I learned that Phin and Peter (Kreinheder) were the original brewers at Ellicottville when Phin left to start up Southern Tier Brewing with Allen “Skip” Yahn in 2004. Now, I wasn’t taking notes, but part of this story also involves some romance and I believe a girl named Sarah and I believe Phin and Peter are now brother-in-laws, but don’t quote me on that.
Ellicottville refers to Southern Tier as their sister brewery, and boy do I love them both. Peter, now owner of Ellicottville Brewing Company, continues to focus on beer and the restaurant, with some bottling while Southern Tier concentrates on bottling and distributing. The beers between the two are not related except that they both fine, hand crafted, beers made by very skilled brewers.
I brought home a case of the Nut Brown Ale for my wife, some Pale Ale, and a couple bottles of Pantius Droppus, EBC’s Imperial IPA; all of which I will review in the near future. (by the way, I’d like to know who came up with this beer’s name)
The weather continued into the next day where lake effect snow and strong cold winds tried to keep me off the roads along the southern tier of New York, but it didn’t stop me nor dampen my mood, rather, I drove along taking in the beautiful mountains and streams and thought fondly of my third visit to Ellicottville, and when again I might will return.
It was a dark and stormy night. The wind was fierce and the icy rain turned to snow as I drove into the higher elevations. Although slow going and treacherous, I was determined to reach my destination, the Ellicottville Brewing Company. Finally, I see the quaint lights that line the streets and stores of Ellicottville where not only is my appetite and palette about to be satisfied, but also where my mind is about to receive an unexpected enlightenment.
The Ellicottville Brewing Company is located south of Buffalo, New York, near the ski resort of Holiday Valley. I’ve had the pleasure of dining in the beer garden at Ellicottville Brewing twice before when my travels had taken me out to the western end of New York State. When my job recently sent me out that way again, I made sure there was time for another return visit.
I started off with a Scottish Ale while I looked at the menu. This yellow-gold brew was wonderful and much hoppier for a Scottish than one would expect. That, of course, is not a complaint coming from this hop-head.
I didn’t know how hungry I was until I realized how quickly I polished off my Pastrami Rueben with homemade potato chips. Pastrami, in case you didn’t already know, is just smoked and peppered corned beef.
I wanted another Scottish, but also wanted to try something else so I went with the Oatmeal stout, a favorite style of mine. This beer had strong roasted coffee and chocolate notes, similar to the Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout, but it was also nitrogenated which brought a creamy, thick, mouth feel to this robust and strong stout.
I also had sips of the Chocolate Cherry Bomb Stout, also nitrogentated, made with real chocolate and cherries. This imperial beer was strong and rich, like a dessert and best saved as beer to sip at the end of the night by the fire.
Business was slow this mid-week evening and in-between seasons for Ellicottville and I chatted extensively with the barmaid. Karen had a wonderful way of describing how beers tasted, her previous experience in wines really showed. With a flourish, she would say things like, “it bounces off your tongue in your mouth”, which is a refreshing way to describe the hop bitterness in an IPA. (I personally can’t do justice to her descriptions)
I mentioned my affinity for Ellicottville and the beers and that I can’t get them out my way, even though I do get some New York State beers, like my new favorite brewer, Southern Tier. (as I’ve mentioned on this blog before, about fruit, porters, the very drinkable Extraordinary Ale, and a case for Mom) Upon mentioning Southern Tier, Karen started giving me some background history of Ellicottville and tells me the names of the original brewers were at Ellicottville were Peter, and Phin…
*ding*
(to be continued)
This edition of the Session is sponsored by Beer, Beats & Bites. The topic:
Fruit beer.
Ah, fruit beer, not my favorite variety of beer, by far. You can read my previous thoughts about fruit in beer here, or here, but really, don’t bother, because I’m pretty much just going to say the same thing again, this time with a tale of blueberries.
Earlier this year, my neighbor brought me back a Blueberry Wheat beer from Ellicottville Brewing Company in western New York state. I’ve been to EBC twice before, both times with a great experience. I really enjoyed drinking in their beer garden; the food was wonderful and the beer was excellent. However, I didn’t even consider having a fruit beer at the time.
Since this was a gift, I had to try it so I could report back how good it was. So, with much reluctance, I sampled this blueberry wheat beer and I was actually quite surprised. This tasted like beer, not a wine cooler. The hop and malt character was more significant than the blueberry flavor, but you could definitely also taste the blueberries. What worked so well with this beer is what I find so extremely rare in fruit beers and that is when the fruit compliments the beer, not overwhelms it. In this case, the blueberry flavor complimented the hop bitterness. I enjoyed this beer, but I still remain a skeptic to all fruit beers.
For this session, I decided to do some non-scientific experimentation. I grabbed some Blue Point Blueberry Ale to try and figure out if it was the flavor of blueberries that worked so well complimenting the hops, or, if it was the quality of the beer itself that made the EBC so good.
The Blue Point poured a medium-dark amber color with a purple hue. The head of the beer fizzed out very quickly. The aroma of blueberries was strong. Long story short, it tasted like a wine cooler; just a malt beverage, which is technically what a wine cooler is… beer. Thus, I conclude that blueberries are not a beer’s perfect fruit mate; rather, the quality is in the brewer’s hands. Am I surprised? Not at all.
I decided to take my experiment a step further. Recently, I have been reading about mixing beers (beyond the black and tan) introducing a whole new world of styles. A Guinness, however, did sound like something that might help this beer. (plus I happened to have a bunch in the refrigerator)
I didn’t try for the black & tan approach, I just mixed the two. The Guinness definitely improved the palatability of the Blue Point, however, I question if I created a better beer or ruined a perfectly good Guinness. I still have some Blue Points left and if I get a chance to make some more mixes, I will report back.
For the record, I like Blue Point Brewery a lot, so don’t think I’m bashing them. I’m a big fan of their Hoptical Illusion. The blueberry from Ellicottville is the exception to the rule. There always is an exception; I also tend to like pumpkin beers. Fruit beers will never be my first choice, but once in a while I may get lucky.
Updated: Read the Session #6 Round-up
