Saranac Brown Ale

Alrighty then, with my laptop all better now and my fridge working for 10 days straight, I bring you fine people

Saranac Brown Ale by Matt Brewing Co. 

Brown Ales are probably my favorite style, they provide a nice balance between malts and hops but each having their own say in how the final taste comes out.

The pour is a nice, brown with a hint of red color and thick head that settles to a thin cap that leaves plenty of lacing. The hops take most of the scent but mix very well with the malt, definitely how a beer should smell. Lets you know you’ll be enjoying a full complement of flavors without knocking you over. First sip gives you a sweetness one would expect that slowly gives way to the hop bitterness. Mouthfeel is lighter than I expected but that just makes it easier to consume. This may be a bad thing if you only have one in the fridge like me. The only down side may be the slight, and I mean slight, astringent after taste this beer leaves behind. So it gets 1.8 thumbs up instead of 2, but who’s keeping score.

Usually I finish writing and posting the review way before I finish the beer, but this one is already ¾ of the way gone. Still have to edit the photo and post, hmmm. Long week + good beer = empty glass, life’s rough ain’t it. So go ahead and join me in this toast to life fellow beer friend and have a pint on me, you can even send me the bill, I’ll pay for it, I promise. I wouldn’t kid about something like this. Cheers!



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Saranac Adirondack Lager

Welcome back folks, week 3 in our year long adventure brings us another Saranac brew. I know, back to back weeks of the same brewery, but this will also show how diverse Matt Brewing Co is. So here we go, lets grab our beer glass and pour us a nice cold….

Saranac Adirondack Lager  

This beer pours a light amber color with a thin head which quickly dissolves to nothing more than a few white clouds on top of your beer. You will immediately notice the flowery smell from the American staple Cascade hops.

The beer first hits you like any good lager would, nice and crisp; then all of a sudden…bang, you are hit with the power of hops like a good American Pale Ale would do. Wait you say, this is a lager, which is correct, and therein lays the beauty of this brew, it is nice and crisp but with an awesome amount of hops (American Cascade and German Hallertauer) to kick it up a notch, like my brother-in-law George likes to say, the difference between ouh and aah. This beer is a nice gentle step into the world of hoppy beers. So unlike to first two reviews, this beer may not be for the newcomers to craft beer, but is certainly worth a try. So don’t be shy, take a walk on the hoppy side of beer for a change and have a beer for me.

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Black Forest

WOW! Are we at week two already, seems like just yesterday I was just commenting on a nice craft brew. Oh wait; I was having a nice craft brew so never mind. Ok, so week two brings us…..


Saranac Black Forest by Matt Brewing Co. Utica, NY.

Well it pours a nice color of …Black, hmm; imagine that, guess that’s why it’s called Black Forest.

The head comes out nice and thick but disappears a little too quickly and ends up a thin film on the top of the beer. It does however leave some nice lacing as you drink it down; leaving distinct layers after each mouthful, letting you know if you are a big gulper or a slow sipper.

The first scent you pick up reminds you of a nice warm woodsy night, the earthy tones coming from the abundant malts used in this beer. It’s doesn’t have a complex flavor profile, most of the flavor hits at the end as you are about to swallow but not leaving any after taste. Black Forest is easy to drink, almost too easy, a very good cold weather brew to warm the soul. It’s another good craft beer for the novice beer drinker to try. So don’t be scared to visit the Black Forest, nothing is going to bite you in here.

Cheers! Go have a cold one on me, and let it be something you’ve been itching to try. Yeah, go ahead, its only beer.

FourBoysBrewPub