Guinness Open Gate White ; Open Gate Brewery Halethorpe (Baltimore) Maryland

Date:  October 31,2018

The Story— See the week’s post to the left for much of the story.

We’re Witsnobs.  Pierre Celis, the man who single singlehandedly saved the Belgian Wit style from oblivion, became a friend over the years.  In 1987 he showed us through his second wit brewery in Hoegaarden — both burned, driving him eventually to Texas.  He was an incredible guest many times at tastings we hosted at the legendary Brickskeller Saloon in Washington DC.

We first tasted the indescribably perfect Hoegaarden Wit during our 1987 visit to the brewery.  One of the “secrets” of its beauty was the six-weeks or more conditioning — an ale that was treated as a lager.   That concept was an important part of our Hop Pocket Ale and we owe Pierre a debt of gratitude for our Great American Gold Medal.  Pierre’s beer balanced spice and chalky yeast and some fruit in a way that rarely has been approached much less less duplicated.  Some day here, we’ll reveal the other “secret ingredient” that brewers around the world have “known” he added but one he never revealed.  Late one night at the Bricks he smiled and let us in on the secret knowing we would keep our mouths shut.  And we have.  But he’s been gone from us in this world for a while, and I think he’d get a heavenly laugh if the “secret ingredient” were finally revealed.  We’ve talked about it in some of our tastings in the past year or two and we’ll post it here… but not now.  The grains of paradise in the Guinneess version is one of the suspected ingredients, and the Guinness brewers use it well in their Wit.   But, sorry, guys, it wasn’t what Pierre poured into his beer.

After Pierre took us through is brewery, we were able to continue drinking his Wit at a hotel in the nearby business town of Tienan.  The hotel, which had English language TV – rare for 1987– served perfect glasses of the Hoegaarden Wit on a silver tray with a silver dish of peanuts.   It was one of the best beer experiences of our lives.

The brewers at Guinness don’t claim to duplicate the divine Pierre, but they do a far better than average of capturing the spirit of his wit.  Thousands of breweries on both sides of the Atlantic brew the style, but most fall far short.   In the US our go-to wit is Allagash, but in a curious way, the Guinness guys give the US standard a run for its money.

The Beer—  Grains of Paradise give an unusual full spice and two orange varieties and some lemon peel give an oily citrus that runs beyond a traditional wit.  Unmalted wheat (a Pierre Celis US trick) and a chalky Guinness yeast keeps it all more or less in the fold,  Ellie found it a very professional blend of flavors and I certainly don’t disagree.

Value — Very Good.  O,K, it’s hard to call a $7.50 a US “pint” a bargain, but they fill to the brim which gets it close to a real pint.   More importantly, this is a beer of stature — an overdone style done with exceptional– and somewhat daring– skill.

This week we present our first Brewery of the Week with seven fine beers from Guinness– most brewed in their spanking new Baltimore location, but a couple of Irish pots of gold as well.

After Guinness we return to  HIGHLIGHTS OF EUROPE–  Surprisingly good beer in “bad beer cities.”  The best we’ve found in researching our next book – a guide to great beer in European tourist cities. (Planned publication 2019.)   We’ll shift back to great American beer finds next week.

Later in November we return to the US to highlight some great American craft beers, some of which we’ve found in researching out first US Beer publication: Brews and Snooze-– Breweries you can visit and walk back to a fine place to spend the night.  Look for it in 2019.

About these posts:  We taste and evaluate over a thousand beers every year.  The beers posted here rank in the top quarter of those tastings.   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.

Guinness Open Gate Unfiltered Lager, Guinness Open Gate, Halethorp, Baltimore, Md.

Date:  October 30, 2018

The Story—  See the story of the brewery in the main post to the left (hopping around).

I’ll have to admit when I saw this on the beer list I couldn’t help thinking — “Oh, great, an unfiltered Harp that going to taste like Harp except for a not-designed-for-drinking edgy yeast.   It just takes an evening to learn that the American Guinness brewers are better than that.  And we’re certain no Irishman ever entertained the hop mixture that gives so much of the moreishness of this beer.

A number of breweries have used the Saphir hops in the last few years to brew lagers that could appeal to ale drinkers.   German and Austrian brewers have used the hops to wonderful effect in their Weizen beers to augment, complement, and expand the estery taste of the weizen style.  Mahr’s Brau in Bamberg and 1516 Brewing in Vienna have both produced exceptional beers with it.  Ella shows more fruit– Flying Dog brewed an Ella with a pink grapefruit accent and some metal that showed of the hop quite well.  We were really interested in what the combination would do for a Harp-based unfiltered lager.

The Beer—  It could have been a “Dancing with the Star-Hops” as the two waltzed and blended surprisingly well.   Ella and Saphir are, to an extent, new hops in old Harp yeast-skins, but the combination gives nice mix of hop spice and hop fruit that creates an interest in the return. The yeast is chewy and actually does smooth it a bit.  An ending nuttiness could come from anywhere, and it has lots of flavor for a 4.4 beer.  We fought over the end of it, and that’s very high praise from us.

Value — good to very good.  It’s hard to rate a $7.50 “pint” a bargain, but, really, this is pretty close to unique in a 50,000 beer world where unique just doesn’t happen.  We certainly didn’t resent a sip.

This week we present our first Brewery of the Week with seven fine beers from Guinness– most brewed in their spanking new Baltimore location, but a couple of Irish pots of gold as well.

After Guinness we return to  HIGHLIGHTS OF EUROPE–  Surprisingly good beer in “bad beer cities.”  The best we’ve found in researching our next book – a guide to great beer in European tourist cities. (Planned publication 2019.)   We’ll shift back to great American beer finds next week.

Later in November we return to the US to highlight some great American craft beers, some of which we’ve found in researching out first US Beer publication: Brews and Snooze-– Breweries you can visit and walk back to a fine place to spend the night.  Look for it in 2019.

About these posts:  We taste and evaluate over a thousand beers every year.  The beers posted here rank in the top quarter of those tastings.   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.

Guinness Open Gate Crosslands Honey Ale

Date: October 29, 2018

The Story—  Most of the story runs in our Hopping Around main post to the left of the Beer of the Day.  But there’s a story to this beer.  It’s a local wonder using tons of local honey from the Apex Bee Company. (Well, OK, less than a ton, but a heavy hand of 240 very effective pounds of honey that shine in every taste.)  Most brewers use honey to boost alcohol;  flavor that’s left is the flavor of the flowers that the bees stole.  This one’s different — the 7.4% abv attests to a full fermentation, but your palate assures you there’s still some of those 240 pounds of bee’s work left behind.

The Beer—Not all of the honey is fermented and the taste of honey and honeycomb reminds me of my West Virginian youth as it shows as much spice as sweet flowers in the flavor.   I won’t be buying six-packs of this very sweet beer  — Ellie calls it a gooey date beer– but I respect its distinctiveness and the skill of the brewers who put this together.  It’s so much better than I thought it would be.

Value — Good.   It’s eight bucks for an American “pint”, but someone has to pay the bees’s minimum wage.

This week we present our first Brewery of the Week with seven fine beers from Guinness– most brewed in their spanking new Baltimore location, but a couple of Irish pots of gold as well.

After Guinness we return to  HIGHLIGHTS OF EUROPE–  Surprisingly good beer in “bad beer cities.”  The best we’ve found in researching our next book – a guide to great beer in European tourist cities. (Planned publication 2019.)   We’ll shift back to great American beer finds next week.

Later in November we return to the US to highlight some great American craft beers, some of which we’ve found in researching out first US Beer publication: Brews and Snooze-– Breweries you can visit and walk back to a fine place to spend the night.  Look for it in 2019.

About these posts:  We taste and evaluate over a thousand beers every year.  The beers posted here rank in the top quarter of those tastings.   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.

Guinness I.P.A. — Guinness Open Gate Brewery at Halethorp/Baltimore, Md.

Date: October 28, 2018

The Story—  You can rad most of the story on our Hopping Around main post (to the left on the home page).  This was one of the first beers we tasted at the US Guinness brewery.   Good friends who know their beer had encouraged a visit earlier than we planned, and we’re grateful for the tip.  The IPA was, as they promised, a solid US style IPA.  We thought it wasn’t a great deal better than Cushwa or Spencer Devon or Heavy Seas, but — and this was the surprise– it wasn’t any worse either.   So the Irish can brew American.  Who knew? But why not?

The Beer—  The American  Guinness beers lean towards sweetness and this is no exception.  Sweet, maybe ripe red grapefruit and some pineapple flood the aroma and taste.  The pale malt is firm but outgunned.  It looks like a NEIPA. It’s hazy, but  there’s too much bitter in the hops for a true NEIPA, and that’s fine with us.  Ellie summed it up: “Good for them– it’s pretty much everyone’s IPA.  In 2018, that’s actually pretty high praise.

Value — Good.  About seven bucks for an American “pint.”  Guinness knows what they’ve got here both in terms of the beer and the extraordinary ambiance.   They’ve invested a small fortune in turning this warehouse into a destination brewery and you’re going to have to help them with the mortgage.

This week we present our first Brewery of the Week with seven fine beers from Guinness– most brewed in their spanking new Baltimore location, but a couple of Irish pots of gold as well.

After Guinness we return to  HIGHLIGHTS OF EUROPE–  Surprisingly good beer in “bad beer cities.”  The best we’ve found in researching our next book – a guide to great beer in European tourist cities. (Planned publication 2019.)   We’ll shift back to great American beer finds next week.

Later in November, we return to the US to highlight some great American craft beers, some of which we’ve found in researching out first US Beer publication: Brews and Snooze-– Breweries you can visit and walk back to a fine place to spend the night.  Look for it in 2019.

About these posts:  We taste and evaluate over a thousand beers every year.  The beers posted here rank in the top quarter of those tastings.   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.