I wasn’t expecting a brewery visit. For sure, when I’m out and about, I really do love a good brewery visit, but on this day, at this time, I wasn’t expecting one. I got one anyway. There I was, in Coventry Rhode Island, 1075 miles from home, but right in the heart of what was once my home. I was shopping for goodies for the kids, you know, things like Devil Dogs and coffee milk and pizza strips that you can’t get at home.
I got a message from a friend, also an ex-Rhode Islander like me, who happened to be in state too. Let’s meet for a beer at Proclamation Ale Company in West Kingstown. And so we did! Proclamation is not a brewpub, they’re a brewery in a small industrial area they share with a stone company not far from the University of Rhode Island. They do have a tasting room, however, and it was there that I got my first taste of Dark Sprout Hoppy Dark Session Ale.
For $5 you get 4 tastings of about 4 ounces each; another $5 gets you a neat logo glass to take home, too. I had 4 ounces of the Dark Sprout, 8 of the Derivative Galaxy Pale Ale, and 4 of the Peachlander Saison. They were all wonderful, but I bought a 32 ounce growler of the Dark Sprout to go ($8 for the beer and $2 for the refillable bottle).
Proclamation Dark Sprout Ale pours to a dark muddy brown color with a thick creamy tan head and a decidedly spicy cascade hop nose. Taking a sip the beer has chocolate cookies and toasted nut notes up front followed by a bold, aggressive piney resiny hoppiness. I think they use 3 hop varieties but the Cascades sing for me.
Traditionally, session beers run 4% ABV and under, but this one is close enough as makes no odds at 4.1%. It seems to be going for the current “session IPA” trend but with the addition of dark malts that really worked for me because they added the flavor and a little more body to balance off the hops that most “session IPAs” lack.
A session India Dark Ale perhaps? Too low in gravity for that style too, perhaps more of a lower-strength American Brown Ale in my book. It was a delight in the good company of my friend, and a beer I would certainly buy again. If I could…
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