Tonight's beer is a warm-up beer. The JV game to get the crowd ready for the varsity game, or the opening act coming on with the house lights still up. Tonight, the main event is at Teresa's Next Door, where they're hosting a special dinner with the brewers from New Holland. The beer list is overflowing with sours and rarities, and you may recall we both have New Holland in our Top 25 for their Blue Sunday Sour. Game on, people. Game on.
So, the beer for the appetizer course is the Bar Harbor Real Ale from Atlantic Brewing. It pours with a cascade of foam. So much so, that either one of the dogs was shaking up the bottle before I opened it (possible, but not likely, because they don't have thumbs), or this beer may be a bit past its prime. That one is more likely, particularly since the "best by" date was somewhere in 2010. How do I know that? Because the little grid on the side of the bottle only goes up to 2010. You would think if it was still good in 2012, it would, oh, I don't know... have a spot for 2012. Thanks for selling us old beer, Total Wine.
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| Would you like some beer with your foam? |
Anyway, a job's a job. Once the off white foam subsided, the beer is a chestnut color. You get aromas of malt, and the flavor gives off earthy, roasted malt notes. It definitely doesn't seem right. I'm not going to get into much detail, because I'd rather drink a fresher version of this. Sorry, kids.
Thing to Think About Today:
We need to get some freshness back in here. It's as simple as that. So, we turn to Outkast to give us So Fresh, So Clean. Hopefully Total Wine is listening.....
"...Monte Carlos and Eldorados..."
