Tyler's Dad is Ron Ronald who owns City Steam in Hartford (just read the post on Innocence IPA for more background) blah blah blah blah..
OK, so as you might expect, I'm not the only friend Tyler has who A) likes discussing the various new beers out there and B) has a 4 year old who thinks being in a Super Hero water fight is the coolest thing on planet Earth.
So the tour began through a number of City Steam varieties (assuming you read the earlier post as directed, I shouldn't have to explain why this is a likely outcome) which included an amazing *Export Lager and a new one from the new brewmaster Sam that involved 110 pounds of fresh raspberries. And yet somehow it didn't taste like a Bartles and James Cooler.
One friend brought a Belgian red and a separate European sour. This isn't my thing. But then again I didn't think Gose was my thing either (I found out they pronounce it with one syllable even though the Internet says otherwise) and I was surprised.
But I'd already tried three different City Steams so by the time we got around to the Belgian Reds, I was ready to use "driving my kids home" as an excuse to stop. Disclaimer time: I don't drink my kids drunk, ever. Seriously. Clearly I like to day drink but most of the time they aren't there or I'm not at Tyler's house where the beer is too good to pass up.
OK, where was I? Oh yeah, more drinking as I explain to my wife that she'll be driving them home. So Tyler pulls out Pinner Throwback IPA which says on the can is made in North Carolina, but he says started in Denver and is "about to blow up." The timing of this next sentence was crucial: "It's low alcohol." Bingo. Daddy drunkard just got himself what we in the biz like to call "an excuse."
I'm not sure I'd go so far as to call 4.9% "low" but when in Rome with heavy laden alcoholic beer drinkers..
Tyler says it is one of his recent go to varieties and I can see why quickly, the aroma is just fresh. You think Colorado when you smell it, mountain air and the like. It's kind of like walking outside at a mountainous lake town and taking that first deep breath.
The smoothness is almost unreal from start to finish considering that IPA is included in the description.
I smelled and even kind of tasted some banana in there but I was wearing a Viking hat at this point and was openly rooting for a child dressed as Captain America to win the birthday battle. So my state of mind wasn't exactly in diplomatic relations with Iran mode. Which made me immediately go buy a six pack of it and, upon being beer one, still remained smooth and satisfying.
*Lesson learned about lager and why the craft boom hasn't quite swung this way. Tyler explained to me that it takes a considerable amount of time longer then say an IPA for that beer to be ready to be distributed. Thus making it more expensive. Throw in the "people think of Bud and Miller" as lager and you can understand why educating that lager can be of a different quality is a tough sell on the people who want to make beer their business. Point is, if you are in Hartford and find yourself at City Steam, ask if they have some of the Export Lager. It helps change those opinions quickly.
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