Rusalka

The name of this beer is inspired by a Slavic legend and is thusly intriguing to me because of my heritage.  According to folklore, a Rusalka is a water spirit that are the souls of young women or girls who died an unnatural or violent death. Rusalki appear as beautiful young women who try to lure men into the water, where they will drown them.

Fear not, White Birch Rusalka will not drown you. However, I suspect you could drown if you fell into a vat of it.

Rusalka (7.00% ABV) is a multi-grain extra stout. Extra stouts are commonly sweeter stouts, much like a milk stout, with a fuller flavor profile, similar to a Russian Imperial Stout.

It pours a sable brown with deep red highlights. The thick tan head builds thickly and leaves behind clingy lace.

The aroma was clean with gentle smells of roasty malt that waft forth.

The taste is of roasted malt, cocoa, and char co-mingling with the sweeter flavors of biscuit, dark fruits, and burnt sugar/molasses. The finish is dry and bitter sweet.

The mouth feel was rather thin with tingly carbonation.

Rusalka is a rich flavorful stout. A good brew to snuggle up with on a cold winter night. Just don't go swimming after you've had one. You know, the water faeries and all that.

Overall: very good

Hop Session **RE-revisited**

My quest for the freshest White Birch Hop Session continues.

I have been trying to find Hop Session for months. Read about my previous experiences here.

This time I did not seek out the brew, but quite happily found it on tap at my favorite place for hot wings and cold beer - Porky's Cafe in Shelton CT

I'm thinking if it's on tap, it's probably pretty fresh. Porky's cycles their guest tap brews pretty fast and this one wasn't there last week.

Hop Session Ale (5% ABV) was served in a classic shaker pint.

pours a hazy golden amber with a floofy root-beer like off-white head. It leaves behind amazing glass grabbing lace.

The aroma is a burst of citrussy and earthy hops.

The taste is nice hearty grapefruit and resinous hops. Bold but not biting. The underlying sweet malts balance out the flavors but does not overwhelm.  The finish is bitter and dry.












The mouth feel was very fuzzy with loads of carbonation.

The fresher Hop Session the bolder the hop profile. However, it's not a super hoptensive beer. It's nicely bitter and well balance. It's a good sessionable brew and never overpowering.  Good stuff. Get some! But get it fresh!

Overall: very good

I believe that the inevitable conclusion to my quest will lead me to the White Birch Brewery. I believe if that ever happens, I will stick a straw in the vat and sample directly. It doesn't get any fresher than that!!

There is a precedence!

@ Woodstock Inn Brewery

Hop Session **revisited**

Recently I came across a bottle of "old" White Birch Hop Session in my stash - dated May 2012. Considering that this beer is meant to be consumed when fresh, a bottle that been sitting around for a year and a half probably isn't at it's optimal tasty goodness.

Of course I drank it despite that it was was way past its prime. I loathe to waste beer! That's alcohol abuse.

While the beer didn't taste awful by any stretch of the imagination, in fact it was actually quite good, it most likely didn't taste like the brewer had intended. Read the review here.

Since then I've been on a mission to find a fresh bottle. I visited a couple local-to-me beer stores and the freshest they had was still several months old. I bought a bottle anyway and drank it for comparison.








This bottle - dated March 2013 - was similar to the older one with the exception of a more prominent hop profile that made a good attempt to dominate the malty sweetness.

Not bad at all, but still not the in the time frame for its peak drinking condition.

So, I made a special trip all the way to New Hampshire; for Thanksgiving not for beer.

I went into one of my favorite pubs in the area - Red Parka Steakhouse and Pub. Their board proclaimed that they had Hop Session ON TAP! Holy guacamole! That's got to be as fresh as I can get without going to the brewery, right?  So, I ordered a glass. Alas, it was not to be. The keg had kicked. So sad. I cried into my back up beer choice - Brown Bag Milk Stout.

Not defeated I made a special trip to one of my places for craft beer in the North Conway area - Vista Country Store -  and found a bottle that was only a couple months old. Closer to the ideal but not as fresh gets.

This bottle - dated September 2013 - was pretty spankin' good.  Hoppier, bolder with a nice solid malt backbone for excellent balance. Delish!

Hop Session is a good hoppy beer with a nice sessionable alcohol content. Good stuff. Get some! But get it fresh!

Hop Session Ale

Hop Session Ale brewed by White Birch Brewing is a beer I selected to take with us for our annual fall camping trip. Trees on the bottle - camping in the woods.  It seemed a good pairing. Right?

Partial photo goes to hubby who dragged a big ol' white birch branch out of the woods so I could use it as a prop for my pix. It had a dual purpose as I chucked it into the fire when I was done with it.

To be fair to the brewery, this beer was meant to be consumed fresh. Well, it was fresh in May of 2012. It got buried in my expansive beer stash, but there was no way I was going to dump it without at least trying it. Waste not, want not, and all that stuff. I'm glad I didn't.

The good news is that it wasn't bad. Not even a little bad.  Not even a year and a half or so after it's optimal drink by date. Probably not as hoppy and bold as intended but still pretty darned tasty.

Hop Session Ale (5% ABV) pours a cloudy amber with a floofy root-beer like off-white head.

The aroma was yeasty with caramel malts and brisk hops.

The taste was sweetly malty and biscuit. The bitter hops kicked and punched the sweetness in the gut. The hop profile was very West Coast with pine, grapefruit and spice notes.  The finish was bitter and dry. Yum.

The mouth feel was very fuzzy with loads of carbonation.

Overall: very good

Don't tell me to drink your damned beer fresh! I'll drink it when I want and like it!! ☜(ﾟヮﾟ☜)    

Note: I went on a quest for fresher batches - read about what I discovered here.

White Birch Belgian Style Pale Ale

White Birch Brewing is a small brewery in Hookset, New Hampshire.   They brew in small batches and are currently running on a 7 barrel system.

I totally appreciate a real hand crafted brew.  I've heard good things about the brewery and I picked up this bottle when I was vacationing in the White Mountains. 

Belgian Style Pale Ale (6.5% ABV) is one of White Birch's flagship brews and is available year round.

It pours a hazy dark honey gold with a bright white fluffy head that grabs the glass and leaves behind some nice lacing.  Be careful with the pour or that head will get out of control.  Not that that ever happens to me.  Nope, not me.

The aroma is pearific with lots of caramel malt and floral hops to back it up.

The pear definitely comes through and compliments the caramel flavors of the malt. The hops are both aromatic and flavorful.  They add spiciness and floral notes along with a decent amount of bitterness.  The Belgian yeast makes for an interesting bready layer of flavor that brings everything together into a nice tasty little package.  The finish is a bit of lingering malty sweetness with the overlaying bittering effect of resinous hops.

The mouthfeel is medium to full and very carbonated.  The bubbles are lively and lend to the drinkability of this very tasty brew.

I like this beer a lot.  I look forward to trying other White Birch beers.  

Overall: very good.