Otter Creek Stovepipe Porter

I got this beer in my second shipment from the Gourmet Microbrew Beer of the Month club.   It was one of two Otter Creek beers, they sent me three Stovepipe Porters and three Pale Ales.  They were the first beers I drank when I got my shipment except for the 2 I set aside to do my reviews.  It was very hard to not drink the last one and wait until I had time to do this review.

Otter Creek Brewing Company has been making small batch craft beer since 1991.  They are a family owned and operated company and are based in Middlebury Vermont.

The beer pours a very dark brown and in the light has some caramel coloring.  I didn’t get a lot of head but what I got was a nice creamy tan color.

It has a really dark malty aroma with hints of chocolate.   The aroma is not overpowering but it is nice and strong.   It’s a very enjoyable smell.

The beer has a strong sweet malt flavor with chocolate undertones and a slightly bitter hop taste in the finish.  It’s a very drinkable beer, it goes down easy with a nice mouthfeel.

Second Beer of the Month Club Shipment

When I started my Year of Beer, one of the first things I did was research and find what I thought was the best Beer of the Month club.  I wanted to join one that would expose me to beer that I might not be able to get around here.   You can read the original post at joining a beer of the month club if you are interested.

I really enjoyed my first shipment and was really excited to get my second shipment.  It actually arrived about 2 weeks ago but with vacation and this being my busy season at work, I haven’t had the time to post anything about it.  I started getting low on beer in the fridge and didn’t want to crack into this shipment until I took some pics and wrote this article.  As it turns out, being low on beer was the perfect incentive to find the time to write this post.

I was extra excited when I found out that this shipment was going to include beer from Otter Creek Brewery up in Vermont.  I have heard a lot of really positive things about their beer but haven’t been able to find any locally. Otter Creek shipped their first keg of beer back in March of 1991.  The second brewery that is represented in this shipment is Shipyard Brewing Company, another excellent brewery that I have had the pleasure of sampling in the past.  In this case, it’s Shipyard’s Tremont brand that is actually in the shipment.    Tremont Brewery was founded in 1992 but for a variety of reasons went out of business in 2001.  In 2005, Shipyard purchased the rights to the brand and has been lovingly producing Tremont beer ever since.

Here are the beers that I received in October’s Beer of the Month club shipment:

• Otter Creek Stovepipe Porter
• Otter Creek Pale Ale
• Shipyard’s Tremont Mr. Oktoberfest
• Shipyard’s Tremont Freedom Trail India Pale Ale

I will be writing future reviews about all of these beers.  If you would like to follow along with me and receive the same beers each month, sign up for the Gourmet Beer of the Month Club.