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After a long winter (ok, a spring-like winter), spring has finally arrived (or is it summer already??) in Baltimore. And my favorite part of spring? It’s beer festival season! Leinenkugel’s Beer Garden hosted the first outdoor beer festival in Baltimore this year on Friday night. Unfortunately it was a bit colder out than it has been, but nothing a coat and some beers couldn’t put out of your mind. There were stations set up along the outside of the beer garden serving fresh drafts. Festival goers could also hang out inside the beer garden, with several of the garden’s draft lines available for sampling. Here are a couple beers that were unique or stood out.
- Flying Dog “Underdog Atlantic Lager” – Brand new beer from Flying Dog. The clean taste, a trait of all well crafted lagers, was the first thing I noticed. A biscuity flavor predominated, followed by a mildly bitter finish that kept the beer interesting sip after sip. This will be the first beer that Flying Dog will be canning, so pick up a six pack for kickball instead of those other “light” lagers!
- Blue Moon “Tester” Beers – With your ticket to the festival came the opportunity to try three potential new beers from Blue Moon and vote on your favorite. These included a “Blackberry Tart Ale” that had a nice blackberry flavor, but was watery and not tart; “Caramel Apple Spiced Ale” that had cinnamon and nutmeg flavors reminiscent of pumpkin beers; and “Dark Chocolate Bacon Porter” that was thin for a porter with only a very mild chocolate flavor, but an impressive amount of smoke. I would not pay to drink any of these beers again, but my recommendation to Blue Moon would be to replace their current “Harvest Ale” that supposedly has pumpkin in it with the “Caramel Apple Spiced Ale” in their rotation.
- DuClaw “X-1 Imperial Chocolate Rye Porter” – This is a unique beer. The body was more thin than many imperial porters, but did not detract from the beer. There was a mild chocolate taste, nothing overwhelming. The rye seemed to be the most noticeable aspect of the beer, providing a unique spiciness.
- New Belgium “Clutch” – This is a brew in New Belgium’s “Lips of Faith” series that was a collaboration between New Belgium and “Clutch,” the popular Maryland band. It was released in late summer/early fall of 2011. “Clutch” is a blend of a stout and a sour wood beer. When I tasted this beer fresh, I described it as tasting like a thin imperial stout with only a faint sourness, disappointing to sour beer fans. Now that the beer has aged half a year or so, its character has improved drastically. The sourness of the beer hits your palate as soon as you take a sip, lingers a bit, then dissipates into a sweet finish. If I can find a bottle of this, it is going in my cellar for another six to 12 months for future sampling!
If you missed the Spring Beer Fest, don’t worry, there are plenty more beer festivals to come! The next big one (and one of my favorites) is the City Paper Brew Fest in Fells Point on April 14. Hopefully I will see you there!
