CulturAle Press

Braven (@ Mercury) Flashy Ways NEIPA, Ipswich, Mass.

Date:  December 11,2018

The Story—   Here’s a New England IPA that’s actually brewed in New England.   Ironically it’s designed by Braven Brewing which actually now operates a brewery in the Bushwick section of Brooklyn, but has brewed at other facilities since its opening about five years ago.   The 3.5 barrel system there doesn’t give them the capacity to meet the fairly wide distribution the beers have found, but does allow them to keep 10 beers on tap at the taproom.   We found this can near BWI at Whitey’s, one of the areas best beer stores, and that’s a long way from home for Braven.

Mercury Brewing in Ipswich produces Ipswich Ales and a passel of contracts for a variety of labels.  We’ve sampled over 130 of them representing a dozen and a half “Brewing Companies.”   The first half of these beers were hit or miss, with some inexplicably evident flaws.  In later years, however, beers coming out of the brewery have been much more consistent.  The rare  disaster seems more to do with a contract brewery with a bad idea than with any shortcoming of the Ipswich brewers.

This Braven NEIPA is well above average for the style.  Even very good established breweries are fighting to avoid making “another one” that’s the same as the New England style beer down the street.   Clumsy use of lactose is common.  While Ellie and I don’t send them back, we order them with trepidation in brewpubs and hold our breaths as we pour them at home.

The Beer— This is one of Mercury’s best- chewy and quite dark for the style with deep fruit and chewy malt.  Fruit flavors hold but dankness prevails by the end and provides interest that could have come from a big hop bitterness instead.  Herbal and very slightly nutty flavors but that add to the mix and it ends dryer than most New England IPAs.

Value —  Very good.   Contract beers can get pricey because of the extra slices of the pie, but Braven’s been able to put out good product at  competitive prices.

 This week we focus on 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.

Next week we return to  HIGHLIGHTS OF EUROPE–  Including some surprisingly good beer in “bad beer cities” 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 for a few days before ending our year with “the best 10 beers of the last five years.”

 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.