At Pub 27 in Pompeii
Surprising Wilmington: Stitch House Rye Knot? Rye IPA.
Date: April 13, 2019
The Story— Stitch House is a big place, well financed, with the brewery behind glass as you enter, a good sized bar and busy dinging area that despite its size sported a 20-minute wait. They offer the requisite plethora of styles and brew most of them well. One of the few disappointments was the helles lager, which was authentically sweet, but less smooth and almost devoid of hops. That should have alerted us to the fact that we were in a brewery that treasured sweetness as much as those in upstate Pennsylvania. Once you understood where you were, you could make good choices and have a fine night.
Rye, however, has a way of diminishing excess sweetness and comes across with a husky grainy and spicy taste. Rye beers 30 years ago tended to be edgy and rough, but producers of the rye brewers use now have learned how to put a leash of the edge and leave the spice and husk that makes rye beers distinctive. Ellie has always liked rye the way I’ve like hops. We’ve each taught the other to appreciate both.
The Beer— The 7.5% abv gives a sturdy platform for a wide range of hop flavors over a tasty, mildly caramel, only slightly husky malt. Citrus flavors, spice and some leaf. Full bodied with some metal lasting. Over the top but tasty.
Value — As with the Sho ‘Nuff Stout from yesterday, it very good. A 25 cl glass for $3.50 gives your a good taste without wrecking your budget or your liver.
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.
For the next several weeks we’ll feature fun places to explore beer — and much more–a different destination each week. Our beers of the day will feature beers from this wonderfully wet destinations. A caveat as always: the vast majorities of craft breweries may have a few beers that are usually available, but their most interesting beers are usual season or one-off brews that we may rave about, but you can’t find. Our specific beer descriptions, can tell you what sorts of beers the brewery does well; if you don’t find the exact beer on tap, you’ll probably find something similar.
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