CulturAle Press

Sometimes We Just Stay Home and Drink: #16 Black Hog Triple Nelson IPA, Oxford, Ct.

Date:  June  15, 2019  —

The Story—  We go on a beer hunting trip to new England two or three times a year.   One of the breweries we’ve learned to look for is Black Hog.   Like most breweries these days, they don’t hit it out of the park with every brew, but their best are unquestionably home runs.   They also sell at a fair price, making their beers one of the best values on the market.

It’s a family brewery, named for the Berkshire Porker roasted at family get togethers and located in a small business park south of I84 between Waterbury and Danbury.   There’s a twelve-tap tasting room, though with shorter hours than most, so check the website (click here) before you go.

The Beer– Fruity at the start, but quickly shows much more of  wonderful darkness.  Floral notes along with some spice.  Some tropical fruit and even some orange peel by the end, but nothing out of balance.   A trace of a papery taste, but there’s but there’s so much more to celebrate than criticize.

Value — Very good to excellent.

Values:  “fair” is a good beer at an above market price, “good” is worth the money, “very good” is a bargain, and “excellent” is a steal.

Sometimes we just stay home and drink beer — hundreds of them over the course of the year as we hunt for a new favorite.  The searching for the beer of the day never stops, so for a while, there will be fewer travel-oriented posts and just some to-the-point descriptions of beers we’ve enjoyed.

We’re often asked to share our tasting notes on over 33,000 beers; this blog is in answer to those requests.   Not all our notes, though.  The great beer writer Michael Jackson admirably followed the Thumper Rule, and we’ll try to do the same.  (“If you can’t say something nice, don’t say nuthin’ at all.”)   All the beers we post are from the top half of our ratings and most are from the top quarter.   Of greater value, we think, are the stories behind the beers, and we try to give you enough about the brewery, the style and the places to find great beer to help you on your own beer journeys.   At CulturAle Press we try to write books and publish posts that will help you “Drink Well and Travel Safely.”