Text 6793, 90 rader
Skriven 2008-05-10 11:10:00 av MICHAEL LOO (1:123/140)
Ärende: real ale 287
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This week I'm stranded in the middle of nowhere, but last week I
was stranded in the big city, where there's far more entertainment:

NERAX (New England Real Ale Exhibition) 12. As my concert was
postponed, I decided to try for tickets for the last day of
this. Unfortunately, advance tix were sold out, but the website
suggested showing up anyway, but be prepared for a wait. Indeed.
I got there at 1:50, and there were about 30 people waiting in
front of me. Was admitted at 3:15 (apparently a lot of people
showed up at opening time, 12, and also advance tixholders got
to jump the line - during my wait, there were maybe 15 of these.
You pay $5 admission, then give up $5 for a glass (refundable
on return, or you can just keep the glass), then pay $5 for a
pint or 2.50 for a half pint or 1.50 for a quarter. As I didn't
want to be damaged all day, I just got a dozen quarters.

The room - the VFW in Somerville - was crowded and noisy, with
some big groups, some couples, and very few singles (none that I
could tell female, too bad). Lots of volunteers, lots of bustle.
The bar is along one long wall, chairs along the other, and in
back a Redbones catering stand (Redbones being a very famous
bbq place a few blocks away). The beers I tasted:

Leeds Best (Leeds Brewery, Leeds, West Yorkshire) - kind of yeasty,
orange peel, mushrooms, slightly sour, good character, quenching.

Hampshire Special Ale (Gritty McDuff's, Portland ME) - chocolate,
cream of wheat, very cereally. Not much.

Bishops Farewell (Oakham Brewery, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire) -
citrus, very SBish (cat pee) somewhat sweet but well balanced
by the bitterness [program says "tropical fruit flavours provide
a counterpoint to the grapefruit hoppy character. An abiding
dryness develops"].

Cascade Pale Ale (Saltaire Brewery, Shipley, West Yorkshire) -
[program says "American style pale ale with the floral aromas and
strong bitterness of Cascade and Centennial hops"] - rather tasteless
and not very American. An aspect of cream of mushroom soup.

Irish Red (Owen O'Leary's, Natick, MA) - too sweet by far; a
tad "meaty." Not bad except for the sweetness.

Green Monsta Ale (Wachusett Brewing, Westminster MA) - extremely
sweet; reminded me of a black and white frappe. Was not super
thrilled by this one.

Redstone (Stonecoast Brewing, Portland ME) - plasticky, nasty nose,
but in the glass developed interestingly. Good fruit but a strange
acrid bitter long finish. Don't know if I liked it: very confusing.

Leatherlips (The Tap, Haverhill MA) - very citrusy, lemon, orange,
grapefruit; too sweet though quite hoppy. Didn't enjoy.

Edinburgh Gold (Stewart, Loanhead, Midlothian, Scotland) - ["full-
bodied golden ale in the continental style ... a bitter profile
balanced by the sweetness of fruit"] - horridly sweet, rather
malty, hardly bitter at all. I see no commonality between this beer
and any European product. Fairly nasty.

North Star Ale (Rock Bottom, Braintree MA) - the program cites
caramel, coffee, citrus; I got only the first of these. Quite
sweet and not very quenching. Somewhat poor.

Slick Nick Winter Ale (Sebago Brewing, Gorham ME) - high hopping,
good; enormous sugar, bad. On the whole flat in flavor and texture.

Carte Blanche (Kelburn, Barrhead, Wast Renfrewshire, Scotland) -
["the assault of fruit and hop camouflages the strength of this
easy-drinking, malty ale"] - extremely malty balanced by good
hopping, but way too sweet. Hated it. The "strength," by the way,
is 5% by volume.

I also had a jerk beef sandwich from Redbones. The kids behind the
counter warned me that the food was very spicy. It was kind of spicy.
The notable thing about it was that it was full of chopped-in brisket
fat; but I think that brisket fat is one of the most wonderful-tasting
substances on earth, so no problem there. I think they took leftovers
and jerked it, as there were bits of foreign matter (I got a baked
bean, for example). The jerk had habanero but none of the usual nutmeg
and other spice flavors, but that's fine with me, too.

The noise and crush were such that even though there were another
dozen beers I might have tried, I left after about an hour and half,
which of course gave great joy to the next person in line (during my
own wait, there was a little cheer every time anyone left, which of
course meant that there was room for more people to be admitted).
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