Try?
The Ipswich Brewing company is, or should I say was, a small craft brewery located in Ipswich, Massachusetts. There have frequently been rumors that this brewery was having problems. They initially packaged in draft, swingtop one liter bottles and half gallon growlers only. This limited their market considerably, as the six-pack is the favored distribution vehicle for beer drinkers in America. I must admit that even I rarely drink beer from growlers. It's a lot to consume in one sitting, and the beer will go flat in a day or so. Eventually, the brewery engaged in a contract arrangement with a Baltimore, Maryland brewer for six-pack production. It wasn't enough though, as the brewery was sold about a year ago. Fortunately, the new owner, Mercury Brewing Company, has retained the Ipswich brands and does not seem to have altered the recipes.
The first time I found the beer (when Ipswich was still independent), I wrote the following:
Found this little gem today on a beer hunt in neighboring Massachusetts. What a delight! Deep black with a solid tan head, this beer comes unfiltered and unpasteurized in a beautiful painted-label one liter swing top bottle. Perfect for re-use if you homebrew. Rich and chocolaty, this beer screams out roasted malt, with a very bitter hop finish, perhaps more than I'm used to in an oatmeal stout, but delicious nonetheless. A perfect nightcap!
I am fairly certain the beer is a year-round product. At the store I purchased it at, it was going for $4.79 for the 1 liter bottle, but $1.50 of that is for the deposit on the bottle. $3.29 for a liter of this stuff is a real bargain. One of these days I must get up to Ipswich, Massachusetts and tour the pub myself.
On 9/3/1997 I wrote:
Ipswich gets the nod for brewing the hoppiest damn oatmeal stout I've ever
tasted. What a delight. The dark ale in growlers is mighty fine too, I
think I prefer that to the Ipswich ale. And the barley wine.....
On 6/29/1998 I wrote:
Dropped by the Mews tavern last night for a few draft beers ….Dessert: Ipswich Oatmeal Stout. Rich, oily, silky, strong notes of chocolate, way hoppy brew. Slightly grassy in the finish, intense and delicious. I prefer to drink my dessert, and this fit the bill nicely.
As soon as I pour the beer, I get a huge whiff of piny hops from the neck.
That is one of the idiosyncratic hallmarks of this beer; it's a very hoppy
oatmeal stout. This is unusual for the style. Most oatmeal stouts are rather
smooth and silky and just have enough hops to balance in the finish.
Jet black in color, a gentle pour produces a vigorous, towering head of
brown foam in the tall lager glass I used for the brew. Ordinarily I'd use
an Imperial pint glass, but knowing this bottle conditioned brew would
produce a prodigious head, I went with a taller one. The nose is just
incredible, it's like having one nostril stuck into a fresh bag of Cascades
while the other is sniffing chocolate malt. The palate has all kinds of
things going on. At first you get fresh piney hoppiness, then strong notes of
rich chocolate pudding and a touch of smooth oatmeal character. The beer is
not pasteurized or filtered; this is fresh-as-draft microbrew. In the
finish, a bit of licorice emerges along with roasted barley bitterness and
bitter hop notes that linger on the tongue for some time after drinking. The
beer gives great hop burps too! OK, that's a bit crude, but you really can
taste the hoppy character of the beer when you burp, and believe it or not
many serious beer enthusiasts look for this in hoppy India pale ales.
Matching with food? Try this with chocolate ice cream or cake. It's great
with apple cobbler with a crisp coating of oatmeal on top and a scoop of
vanilla ice cream. Tonight however I'm just sipping the beer and enjoying it
on it's own. Drinking a growler of this exceptional brew should not be a
problem.
Update 9/23/2012: How amazing is this? I'm enjoying a delightfully silky smooth Ipswich Oatmeal Stout tonight while watching the Patriots play. The beer is a bit less piney hoppy than in the past but the oily, silky smoothness imparted by the oats is so perfectly complimented by the bittersweet chocolate and a hint of coffee is sublime. Then too, a grassy hop aroma seems to be very present in the finish.
This is a very impressive oatmeal stout in my opinion. Impressive too is the price: just $3.99 for a bomber bottle here in Atlanta. At that price, this beer is a bargain buy, and as such I am bumping it up from 4 to 4 1/2 stars.
And remember, try a new beer today, and drink outside the box.
*Pricing data accurate at time of review or latest update. For reference only, based on actual price paid by reviewer.
(B)=Bottled
(D)=Draft
