Most of us have made the choice to cut back on drinking for the New Year or not drink the month of January (“dry January”) at some point in our lives. If you are planning on this, I am here to help you decide how to end 2024 making your last delicious decisions. Are you into seltzers? I know just the place! Crook Point Brewing, located in East Providence, offers a base seltzer with 28 different flavors from a company called Amoretti. These can be mixed and combined and are constantly changing. I am not usually a fan of seltzers; however, I need to tell you that these are delicious! If you don’t want to be your own mixologist there are pre-made flavors. I had a pear spritz that was enhanced with pinot grigio flavor. It is perfect for wine lovers. I let all my vino drinking friends know. There are other seasonal spritzes to delight in. They are all designed by Alli Mello, creative consultant and Emily Watson, social media manager and daughter of owner and brewer Ernie Watson.
They are working on a mimosa spritz that should be available soon. Watson also informed me that he “just picked up a yam-like root called Ube in coconut flavor,” to add to the selection of flavors. Let’s talk about side pulls, also known as lukr pulls. It is a type of tap that pours to allow a creamy, silky foam head. This isn’t all it does. With this pour the taste profile changes, allowing less bitterness, bigger mouth feel, more carbonation, and enhanced hop aroma and flavor. Yum! Where can you go to experience this?
Pivotal Brewing, Vigilant Brewing, Narragansett Brewery, Buttonwoods Brewing, Long Live Beerworks, Origin Beer Project and Proclamation Brewing to name a few. Generally, breweries will serve lagers on this type of tap. Lagers include Pilsner, Helles, Dunkel, Bock, Marzen, Schwarzbier and Vienna. You can also serve other styles on this tap such as Stouts and IPAs. Why is my beer glass not full? What’s up with all the foam? Let me tell you it is all about the foam! Once you unleash this Lager revolution you will understand. Dare to lager differently! If you have a sugar tooth you are probably a fan of dessert Stouts and pastry/dessert Sours. We are not counting calories here!
There are a number of local breweries serving these up. Long Live Beerworks has two Imperial Stouts on draft. “The Temple” (11.5% ABV) is aged in coconut rum and bourbon barrels and then conditioned with toasted coconut, while “Kiss The Night Goodbye” is aged in bourbon, vanilla bourbon, and apple brandy and then aged on toasted almonds and coconut. This is a 12% version of Almond Joy, minus the chocolate. I tried both last Friday and let me tell you, they are everything described and more. If you are looking for something sweet but lower in ABV, Pivotal Brewing Company has “Pouring Velvet.” This is a 3.9% serving of milk chocolate goodness with a touch of mocha and dark chocolate. Lastly, I need to mention ‘Penny” from Six Pack Brewing. Coming in at 7% this nitro peanut butter Stout has delicious sips of peanut butter, chocolate, and just a hint of coffee. Mark Papi, owner and head brewer, describes it as “liquid Reeses’s Peanut Butter cups.” Papi said it is made with a “ridiculous amount of peanut butter.” In my opinion this is one of the best peanut butter stouts I have had. If I had one I would be drinking it now! If you are thinking of giving this out for the holidays, get to the brewery asap. The brewery will only be open until the end of this year or until they deplete their stock of craft beer. Some of the beers will be available through Twelve Percent Beer Project. This news is heartbreaking to me and I am sure to all of the craft beer community who know Papi and his family. Dessert Sours are not so sour and more sweet. They may be listed as a Sour but trust me on this. Providence Brewing Company is soon to be serving up “Dirty Sundaes.” This 4% ABV treat is fruited with blue raspberry and made with Wright’s vanilla ice cream. Smug Brewing has a “Be Fruitful Sour Series” that is made by adding a ton of fruit to a tart fruit fermented ale. Because the fruit changed in this series you will never be discontented. There are many different flavors of both these styles produced locally.
They are sure to fill that desire for something sweet! Are you blood type hop-positive? I am pretty sure I am, although I have to look at my last lab results. I don’t even know where to begin with suggestions as there are so many. I will say that you will always find an IPA you love at all the local breweries Rhode Island has to offer. Some of my local faves are as follows and in no particular order. Long Live Brewing should be my hoptologist (that’s beer for hematologist). “Through These Eyes” is a 8.2% ABV DIPA with a light-orange pour and slight lacing. It has an aroma of ripe pineapple with dank hops. The tropical fruit flavor is layered with a slight dankness that gives in to the forward fruit. A known favorite for us local craft beer lovers is “All Seeing Eye.” This has been double-dry hopped and soon to be triple-dry hopped (shhhh don’t tell anyone). This DDH is my sip of self-love. The hazy yellow pour has aromas of grapefruit and citrus rind that follow through to the front-end palate with a slight hop bite of rind on the back-end sip. Pivotal Brewing “Newkleus” is a double-dry hopped DIPA (8% ABV) that has tropical fruit flavor and just enough dank hop and cannabis like aroma to keep your hop heart content. Don’t wait as this won’t stay on tap long. There is also “Celestial Plume,” a 6.5% ABV IPA. This pours hazy light hazy apricot color with clingy lacing. There is an aroma of tropical and stone fruit on the nose following through to the front-end palate with mango and a slight dank hop. This finishes with guava and sweet mango. Next up I have to mention “Cadence” from Vigilant Brewing. We first met about a year ago and I am so happy it is back. I actually was assisting the day it was brewed! This hazy orange 6.5% ABV IPA has a foamy head with citrus, tangerine, and spice on the nose. Delicious sips of tangerine, a touch of mango end with a flavor of grapefruit peel and piney hops. If you are going to start January dry, you might as well do so knowing you enjoyed every last sip of December, responsibly of course. If you decide not to, “Hooray beer!” As for me, I haven’t decided yet, and in case, cheers to local craft beers and happy holidays! •
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