Mayflower Brewing Co. Porter
This weekend while I was out in western Mass. to lead a bourbon tasting at Amherst Coffee, I had the very good fortune to try a couple of Mayflower Brewing Company beers. I’ve known about Mayflower since their beers first came on the scene about a year ago, but I’d never actually gotten around to trying any of them. So I jumped at the chance to taste a couple, the Pale Ale and the IPA. Both were quite good, the IPA actually was very good.
I have to admit, I was surprised by their beers. Part of why I hadn’t tasted any of them was because when I first saw their lineup of beers I thought to myself, “Oh man another New England brewing company brewing English-style ales. Like we need another one of those!” Now, having tasted a few of their offerings, I realize that I was way too biased and missed a chance to try some great beers much earlier on. While Mayflower is brewing classic English-style beers, it’s quite clear that their head brewer Matt Steinberg has done a fabulous job of uniquely interpreting these styles.
The Pale Ale was very dry and clean, with subtle hops and malt in the nose and a big burst of fruit at the back-end of the palate. The IPA was excellent, the nose and the palate both full of citrusy hop flavor and mild bitterness, balanced by enough malt backbone to make a wonderfully drinkable beer. This is easily one of the best IPAs being made in New England right now.
And so as I drove home this afternoon I thought about all the great things I’d heard about their Porter, and so decided to stop and pick up a six pack to give it a whirl. First things first, I took a quick perusal of their website to look at the info for the IPA and the Porter.
The IPA has a BU:GU ration of 1:1, meaning that the number of IBUs (69) is equal to the number of gravity units in the original gravity (1.069, 16.8 Plato). They use Nugget, Simcoe, Crystal, and Amarillo, which explains the wonderful citrus and pine hop presence.
The info they give about the Porter indicates that of the four malts they use, one of them is chocolate malt, and another is peated malt! Peated malt is dried using a small amount of peat smoke to imbue it with a smoky character. Brewers will use this malt to add a degree of smokiness to their beers, and as far as I’ve seen its use in porters is pretty unusual. Beyond that, we know that the original gravity is 1.058, it has 5.5% ABV, and there are 33 IBUs contributed from Galena and East Kent Goldings.
The Porter pours a deep, opaque black. A thick head of tan foam slowly settles down to a thick persistent layer, leaving a trace of lacing on the glass. The nose has dark, roasted malt, hints of coffee, chocolate, and a trace of smoke. The palate is pretty dry, and lightly bodied yet sweetly viscous at the same time, with a fair amount of carbonation. The flavors open up with roasted malt, espresso, bittersweet chocolate, and a hint of brown sugar, all of which give way to smoky black coffee on the lingering finish.
I’m admittedly not normally a big fan of porters, but this is a very good, very flavorful beer that is eminently drinkable. Very enjoyable and I’m glad that I’ve finally discovered Mayflower’s great lineup. Since they’re not too far away, seems like the next step is to take a trip down there to visit the brewery. Stay posted.
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