219. Saranac Caramel Porter

The second beer I decided to try while I was at Brixx's Pizza, this one was recommended by our server for the night.  In hindsight, I should have went with something different, mainly because I was drawn to the sound of caramel porter.  Most malty beverages taste of caramel..duh.  Had a brain fart there but for $1.95, I wasn't going to complain too much.  I think this is the first time I've posted about Saranac http://www.saranac.com, although I'm convinced I've had their beer before.  

Beer was served in a standard pint, little to no head or signs of lacing apparent.  I do enjoy that restaurants want to fill the beer to the brim, get my money's worth and all, but it doesn't help when I do these reviews.  It has a shiny brown color to it.  Aromas of caramel, brown sugar, toast, reminiscent of a caramel chew.  

The beer was sweet, but not cloying and not as sweet as I had anticipated.  Still, the beer seemed to lack body and flavor.  I could taste caramel, toffee, sweet malt, a touch of butter, and some flavors that tasted artificial.  The more I drank it, the more I found the beer to be quite ordinary and the caramel and artificial flavoring notes more off-putting.  Light to medium body with medium carbonation, this beer is easy enough to session if you're going to be hitting the cookies or brownies for a while.

All in all, I found the beer to be slightly less than average.  Probably a decent gateway beer for those trying to expand their horizons.

Grade: C-

Price Paid: $1.95 (16 oz draught pint)

218. Triangle Brewing Habanero Pale Ale

Caught up with some friends from college and went out to Brixx Pizza, which is a regional chain that sells wood-fired pizza pies.  I had the pimento cheese pizza and decided to have a couple beers to go with it.  Certainly $1.95 domestic drafts on Monday is an absolute plus, considering their solid selection of local craft beers.  

Triangle Brewing's Habanero Pale Ale sounded appealing and I decided to go with that.  The beer was served in a standard pint.  Since it was dark and rainy and the lighting was dim, the beer had an amber look to it.  Less than half a finger of off-white head.  Aromas of, you guessed it, chili peppers.  There was also some aromas of cracker and some grassy hop notes.  

From a pale ale perspective, I've had better pale ales.  The hop presence was on the mild side, which is pleasant considering I've been getting a lot of pale ales that could fall into the IPA category.  The pepper taste is evident, but where's the heat?  I've had a jalapeno pale ale that was mild, I expected habanero to have more kick, make my tongue tingle, something like that.  Nope, nothing.    As for the rest of the beer, it was slick and light bodied, with average carbonation.

I was left underwhelmed by the lack of spice and punch.  I've had spicy cocktails that are absolutely delightful so I know that the heat can be upped and still be pleasant.  Maybe there's another brewery out there that isn't afraid to bring some heat.  Maybe I'm just unlucky and got a bad batch.

Grade: C-

Price Paid: $1.95 (16 oz draught pint)