A Pint Half Full

Ah Labor Day weekend. Had a good time this weekend relaxing and having fun with some friends - and of course, drinking a few beers! First up was the Maryland Renaissance Festival (Renny Fest). You get all the campiness that you'd expect: turkey legs, miscellaneous meats on stakes/sticks/lances, fat guys posing as knights in shining armor, and impossible carnival games (those crossbows do NOT shoot straight). In addition to exceeding the expectations for festival cliches, the Renny Fest offered a decent selection of beer. On tap was Sam Adams Octoberfest and Cream Stout, Killians, Coors Light, and Hardcore Cider. I was excited about the 2 SA offerings and mainly sampled those during my afternoon in the mediaeval times.

Sunday, the merriment continued as my wife and I went back to Rustico for the second time. This restaurant has a HUGE beer selection with about 15 beers on tap and a whole book of bottles. Food is better than the usual new american and their woodfired pizzas are quite good with a tasty dough. They sort their beer by flavor (crisp, hoppy, roast...). I was in the mood for something hoppy and crisp after the cream stouts I had on Saturday and tried the Southern Tier Harvest Ale and Dale's Pale Ale. Both delicious with pizza and fries.

Impressions of all beers after the link.


Renaissance Festival

Samuel Adams Cream Stout - I thought this beer was excellent. It was creamy and reminded me of Guinness: sweet, smooth, malty, very drinkable. Initial full flavor of cream/malt/chocolate/coffee but actually finishes crisp and clean, something that is different from Guinness which tends to linger on the palette. Really a great beer and one of my favorites. I had two of these and even on a hot day, they were refreshing despite being a stout.

Samuel Adams Octoberfest - After the two Cream Stouts, I switched over to an Octoberfest. Maybe it was the creaminess of the Stout, but the Octoberfest was really light to me and I could not taste the complexities.  It hinted of the Octoberfests I've had before, with some spice and a rounder hop rather than bitter.  I bought a six-pack last week so a review is forthcoming.  I think it will be better.

Rustico

Southern Tier Harvest Ale - At first scent, I could smell the citrus and apple and got excited. I've been drinking alot of Sam Adams Boston Lager lately, so the taste of this ale was really refreshing. The bitter was there along with the citrus notes but faded to crisp making the beer very drinkable. However, as I continued to drink, the bitter hop flavor kind of took over and the citrus hints disappeared and was overcome by the bitterness. It was good with food but hard to drink alone.

Dale's Pale Ale - This was a darker ale in color and had more spice/cinnamon flavor to it. Pretty smooth to drink and the bitterness of the hops lingered in my mouth for a while. Again, another beer that would pair well with food.