Spring is way too short here in Maine.
And I am not saying that just because the snow seemed to last forever this year. It’s because the spring seasonals disappear from the shelves too fast.
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I got an email last week suggesting that I try the Simcoe Seasonal Spring Ale from Peak Organic Brewing Co. in Portland. I didn’t have a column topic firmly in mind for this week, so I went looking for the Simcoe.
I couldn’t find it. In the seasonal slot for Peak was the Summer Session Ale. I hadn’t even planted our peas yet, and spring was declared over, with summer already here.
Peak is not alone in pushing the seasons. The summer ales from Geary’s and Shipyard came out in late March, and listening to the Red Sox on the radio over the weekend, I heard advertisements for Gritty’s Vacationland Summer Ale. So this is an industry fact of life, not an aberration.
I’m going to keep looking for the Simcoe Spring Ale in every beer store I visit. I’m just hoping I won’t have to wait until next winter to try it. And if I do find it, I will report on what I find. But who would have thought that the first month of astronomical spring would be too late to buy a spring ale?
Since I couldn’t taste it, I will say that the Peak website promotes the piney, fruity flavors of Simcoe hops, and says: “This is a classic pale ale, single-hopped and dry-hopped with Simcoe. We cold condition this beer and give it a restrained malt profile, so the hops really pop, like flora in spring.”
Because I have liked Peak’s other beers and had nothing else in mind for the column, I bought a six-pack of the Summer Session Ale, which has 5 percent alcohol.
Nancy and I both liked this beer — and it was especially appropriate after a Sunday afternoon of doing outdoor chores such as raking, replacing broken bricks on the patio, pruning dead branches out of the shrubs and moving some plants around the garden.
It is light and crisp, with a flowery hops aroma. As a session ale, it is the kind of beer you can drink two or more of. It is smooth and clear, with just a light malt flavor and a bit of wheat.
Peak’s website describes it as a mix of a typical summer wheat beer and a West Coast pale ale, with Amarillo dry hopping giving it a citrus aroma. And the wheat for this beer is locally grown.
Somehow, the Peak got left out of my comparison tasting of local summer beers last year. I am pretty sure the Summer Session Ale would have scored well, and that I will be drinking a bit of this over the summer.
THE SECOND BEER we tasted Sunday was Allagash Vrienden.
This one I liked, but Nancy did not. I described the flavor as earthy and grassy, while Nancy thought it smelled like a pile of day-old grass clippings.
It had a coppery color and off-white head, and complex mouth feel with good carbonation and body. It had a slight bitterness at the end, but not unpleasant. With dandelion and elderberry adjuncts, it had a lot of flavors mingling, and it came out quite well.
ALL PORTLAND PIE locations will be celebrating the release of Shipyard Summer Ale from 5 to 8 tonight, offering $3 pints of both the Summer and the Export.
For the Maine locations, $1 from every pint sold will be donated to Portland Trails.
FINALLY, the Pineland Farms Market and Welcome Center in New Gloucester will be offering a tasting of Rising Tide beers, with a planned appearance by Rising Tide brewer Nathan Sanborn. For information, call 688-4539.
Tom Atwell can be contacted at 791-6362 or at
tatwell@pressherald.com
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