Our September meeting was hosted by Aspetuck Brew Lab and its extraordinary brewer/owner, Peter Cowles.
Like many pros, Peter started out as a homebrewer. He was never a club member, but he came to our attention when he swept the board at SNERHC one year, winning medal after medal. He has continued winning awards at ABL, one of CT’s best breweries.
One award-winning recipe is his grisette, which was on tap Wednesday night. Your correspondent partook and can confirm that it deserves all the praise it has gotten. An outstanding brew.
Peter filled us in on the current state of the business which, unfortunately, includes near-daily price hikes for most inputs (cardboard packaging, cans, bottles, malt, etc.) and severe shortages of CO2. Small breweries use a lot of CO2 and he has seen his “bi-weekly” deliveries become much less frequent. It’s a tough time in the industry, for sure.
Attendance was strong, including some first-timers and some people we haven’t seen in a long time. Much homebrew was judged, most of it extremely good. Tasting notes:
- Cream Ale (Mara): Corn, lemon, and passionfruit. Extremely dry finish. Delicate and refreshing. Could use some bubbles but very drinkable. Mara said it was a mistake and was intended to be a bitter. 10/3/17/4/8 = 42
- Cream Ale (Dave and Andy): Floral hops and fruity esters. Tropical. Yummy. Out of style, though. Would score MUCH higher as a pale ale. Sat on 2lbs of limes near end of fermentation. 7/2/12/4/8 = 31
- American Amber (New Andy): Grapes and plums and lots of resin. Sweet up front with a super-dry finish. Needs more bubbles but super drinkable. Andy says it was supposed to be a pale ale. 9/2/16/3/7 = 37
- Weissbier (New Andy): Tons of banana, plenty of clove, a hint of alcohol and solvent and bubblegum. A bit thin and astringent, but dry and drinkable. Andy wonders if it was infected. 12/3/13/3/6 = 37
- Belgian Pale (Pierre): Brett and lots of it. Plum. Not hoppy enough. Bready, with an astringent, bitter finish. A little harsh. “Used to be a tripel as some point.” – Pierre. 5/1/12/3/4 = 25
- NEIPA (Dave and Andy): Bartlett pear, apple, mango, lemon. Clear. Damaged in packaging – looks and tastes vastly different out of the key. Not judged.
- Wheatwine (Andy T): Pine sap, maple syrup, warming alcohol, fruit and spice. “Tastes like a nice warm blanket.” – Pierre. Finishes dry. “Will mess you up.” – Pierre. Chewy and full-bodied. A yummy sipper. Should be served on nitro. Andy claims it is only 3 – 4 months old. 16%abv. 10/3/18/5/8 = 44
- RIS (Andy T): Dried dark fruit and treacle. Lots of contented sighs in the room. Roasty with caramel and tobacco. Very complex. Has legs in the glass. “That’s a quality product.” – Pierre. Flavor lingers forever. Andy claims 14%, continuously fed on the big stir plate. 10/3/20/5/10 = 48
- Oaked Orange Blossom Mead (Paul B-S): Lots of orange blossom, brown sugar, a little hot alcohol and vanilla. Flavor is more delicate than aroma, like a dry chenin blanc. No harshness at all. Finishes dry but flavor lingers forever. 7/6/17/8 = 38
