Over the past few days I’ve taken some time away from this blog and headed down into the Oregon wine country with my wife to spend a few days relaxing, visiting wineries, and having some much needed rest. We were near Eugene, Oregon so I talked her into stopping by Ninkasi Brewing to check it out and have a beer before hitting up some wine (yeah, I like wine too).
Ninkasi has been expanding pretty rapidly and has upgraded their production line quite a bit. What did they do with their previous brew tanks and fermentors? They sold them to Baxter Brewing, a new craft brewery based in Lewiston, Maine who uses cans for their beers instead of bottles. Luckily for me when I got home from my trip, there was a box sitting on my doorstep that contained a few samples of their beer.
If you’re wondering if you’ve heard the name Baxter Brewing before on this blog, it’s because the previous owner of Blog About Beer is Luke Livingston, the founder and owner of Baxter. Since he was busy building up his brewery, I was able to take over this site just about a year ago.
I was definitely excited to try their beer and decided to start with the Stowaway I.P.A. to represent Maine in my 50 beer challenge.
Stowaway poured a hazy orange/amber color with about a fingers width of slightly off white head on the top. This beer left a beautiful blanket of lacing on the glass.
The aroma reminds me quite a bit of west coast style I.P.A.’s. It’s a light punch in the face of hops with nice citrus and fruit tones. The smell is very clean and sweet which definitely got my mouth watering.
The flavor wasn’t to bold, but overall pretty solid with some nice hop presence that plays nicely with a bready malt backbone. I also pick up some grapefruit, honey and a bit of grassiness. It has a sweet front that fades into a fairly bitter finish that probably might be a little too much for newer beer drinkers. For me though, I enjoyed it quite a bit.
Overall this was a pretty solid I.P.A. with the aroma definitely being the strong point. The finish was the only part of this beer that I wasn’t in love with, but other than that I’d definitely recommend you try it if you’re in New England and can get your hands on some.
My Baxter Brewing Stowaway I.P.A. Review: A-
Here are the details:
ABV: 6.9%
IBUs: 69
Style: I.P.A.
What’s your thoughts on Baxter Brewing Stowaway I.P.A.?
