Beer of the Weekend #510: Southampton Burton IPA
As promised, I went out on a limb for the beer of the weekend. It’s adventurous, complete with short, concise sentences! It’s Southampton Burton IPA, brewed by the Southampton Publick House of Southampton, New York.
One of the redeeming values of BeerAdvocate’s magazine is Ron Pattinson’s column, Fermented Culture. Pattinson scours brewing records and writes about historic beer styles, mostly from the UK. Accompanying his articles are records listing gravities, attenuations, ABVs, and whatnot to showcase how a style changed over decades. Most of the figures mean nothing to me because I know jack squat about brewing. Anyway, Pattinson wrote about Burton Ale and its “big brother,” Old Burton Extra, last year. According to the article, Burton Ale was a type of Mild Ale that contained a lot more hops and Old Burton Extra had a higher alcohol content. (I have apparently decided to capitalize style names — for now, at least.) The name stuck with me for whatever reason and I knew I had to get some when I saw the sixer of SBIPA at John’s, though it is not really a true Burton Ale.
Serving type: 12-ounce bottle. A code is printed below the label but I am not sure if it is a freshness date.
Appearance: Straight pour into a pint glass. The color is honey-amber. My lousy pour produces a half-finger of eggshell-colored head that leaves a spotted lacing and thin ring around the edge.
Smell: The aroma is somewhat muted, but it is sharp, enticing, and perplexing. Pine, grassy hops, honey, caramel, toffee, lemon zest, apple, and a touch of honey and butterscotch. There is a faint smell of alcohol underneath it all.
Taste: Grassy and earthy hops are upfront and offer a nice bitterness as the other flavors bombard the taste buds. Pine is most noticeable, followed by sharp lemon. Caramel, toffee, and honey are relegated to the background, but eventually vie for prominence with the bitterness and spice before they are eventually overpowered. The flavor comes in waves, it seems: bitterness, malts, then bitterness again. The aftertaste is a touch metallic and the alcohol is just noticeable.
Drinkability: This is good stuff. In ways it reminds me of English pale ale and in others it reminds me of one of the single-hops from Mikkeller. Maybe a couple, actually, because they all started tasting the same.
Fun facts about SBA:
-Style: It is classified as “English India Pale Ale.”
-Price: $10.99/sixer at John’s Grocery.
-Alcohol content: 6.5 percent ABV.
-The Southampton website offers no information on the brewery’s beers, which I think is a little strange. However, it does offer these tidbits about the brewery:
Also, BeerAdvocate rated Southampton the Top Brewpub in 2003. That was quite a while ago, by the way.
The Quiet Man’s grade: B.
One of the redeeming values of BeerAdvocate’s magazine is Ron Pattinson’s column, Fermented Culture. Pattinson scours brewing records and writes about historic beer styles, mostly from the UK. Accompanying his articles are records listing gravities, attenuations, ABVs, and whatnot to showcase how a style changed over decades. Most of the figures mean nothing to me because I know jack squat about brewing. Anyway, Pattinson wrote about Burton Ale and its “big brother,” Old Burton Extra, last year. According to the article, Burton Ale was a type of Mild Ale that contained a lot more hops and Old Burton Extra had a higher alcohol content. (I have apparently decided to capitalize style names — for now, at least.) The name stuck with me for whatever reason and I knew I had to get some when I saw the sixer of SBIPA at John’s, though it is not really a true Burton Ale.
Serving type: 12-ounce bottle. A code is printed below the label but I am not sure if it is a freshness date.
Appearance: Straight pour into a pint glass. The color is honey-amber. My lousy pour produces a half-finger of eggshell-colored head that leaves a spotted lacing and thin ring around the edge.
Smell: The aroma is somewhat muted, but it is sharp, enticing, and perplexing. Pine, grassy hops, honey, caramel, toffee, lemon zest, apple, and a touch of honey and butterscotch. There is a faint smell of alcohol underneath it all.
Taste: Grassy and earthy hops are upfront and offer a nice bitterness as the other flavors bombard the taste buds. Pine is most noticeable, followed by sharp lemon. Caramel, toffee, and honey are relegated to the background, but eventually vie for prominence with the bitterness and spice before they are eventually overpowered. The flavor comes in waves, it seems: bitterness, malts, then bitterness again. The aftertaste is a touch metallic and the alcohol is just noticeable.
Drinkability: This is good stuff. In ways it reminds me of English pale ale and in others it reminds me of one of the single-hops from Mikkeller. Maybe a couple, actually, because they all started tasting the same.
Fun facts about SBA:
-Style: It is classified as “English India Pale Ale.”
-Price: $10.99/sixer at John’s Grocery.
-Alcohol content: 6.5 percent ABV.
-The Southampton website offers no information on the brewery’s beers, which I think is a little strange. However, it does offer these tidbits about the brewery:
•One of the most award-winning breweries in America— ranked in the top 20 for GABF medals won by a brewery in the last 10 years.
•Excluding the big 4 breweries and chain brewpubs, Southampton is in the top 10 in medals won at the GABF in the last 10 years.
Also, BeerAdvocate rated Southampton the Top Brewpub in 2003. That was quite a while ago, by the way.
The Quiet Man’s grade: B.
