Holy Smoke! Campfire Smoked Porter & T.W.I.B Notes

Campfire Smoked Porter
Throwback Brewery
N. Hampton, NH
6.4% ABV

Ok, so this week's FNP is especially dear to me for two reasons.  One, the brewery is based in N. Hampton, NH...goooooo New Hampshire!!! And two, it is a brewery owned by two women!! Gooooo women brewers!!!  Oh, and I guess there's the part where this was one of three bottles presented to me as a belated anniversary gift from my pinter in crime.

Throwback Brewery describes this as "full bodied porter", but I found it surpisingly light, maybe medium bodied at most.  It definitely presents some smoke in both aroma and flavor, but isn't overwhelming. Campfire Smoked Porter is a very drinkable "finishing beer" as my pinter in crime described it.  Not one I'm starting my night with, but one that will lull me to sleep in front of the campfire for sure.   

T.W.I.B. Notes
I had the pleasure of adding a few other new brews to my quickly increasing beer portfolio.  New Holland Brewing's Mad Hatter IPA and Bear Republic's XP Pale Ale. 

Mad Hatter was a bit of a disappointment.  It was a thin, watery beer that was lacking a bit in the flavor department.  At 5.25% ABV I was really hoping to have found a "session" IPA, but I can't say this is one I'll go back to.  I am hoping this beer is not indicative of the rest of their offerings since I also picked up a bomber of their oak aged Dragon's Milk. 

Bear Republic's XP Ale was a very tasty medium bodied pale ale.  A nice, smooth beer that went well with our M.Y.O.P (make your own pizza) night!  That's a good one if you're planning on more than a few for the evening (but I still don't recommend operating heavy machinery...like a car).

We finished off the weekend with a trip to Charlottesville for apple picking at Carter Mountain, and our annual trip to Blue Mountain Brewery!  THIS is my idea of an ideal location for a brewpub!  Beautiful mountain views, a beautiful day, and luckily we got there early enough for a spot on their brand new patio!!  I had their Blue Reserved Wet Hop Ale.  If I had been paying more attention, I probably wouldn't have chosen it, but I started drooling after the description of the fresh hops!  They used a Belgian yeast to ferment, and it was noticeable after the first sip.  Not a fan of Belgians, so for me that ruined a perfectly good beer!  I followed it up with their Oktoberfest (I chose saurbraten for lunch), which was decent, but nothing to get too excited over.  Disappointingly they didn't offer bottles of their Black Russian stout, but the nice waitress brought me a sample!  It was darn good!  If we had brought both growlers, I would have brought some home!  We did bring home a growler full of Full Nelson for the Pats/Jets game...

Blue Mountain Brewery
Blue Reserve Wet Hop Ale (L)
ESB (R)

During my weekly beer run at Whole Foods I also grabbed a four pack of Founder's Backwoods Bastard, which is apparently the big brother to Dirty Bastard...can't wait to try that, but the weather needs to cool off again before I do!

Raising  a glass to another great week!
Cheers!
Becky