#5 John Durgin Ale & Boston Trip

So I haven't been exactly on the ball with the blog lately, but that is because I was traveling on business all last week. I have been to Boston many times and with breweries like Samuel Adams and Harpoon right there, I always seek out beers that I probably cannot find in Texas. Only once did I find something that fit and that was for John Durgin Ale that I found at the restaurant Durgin Park in the Quincy Market area.

This was a surprisingly tasty brew being that it was a private label beer for the restaurant. I have found those to be hit or miss, but was one that stood out a bit.

The beer is brewed by Harpoon and is named for one of the restaurant's namesakes (the other being Eldridge Park).

I was with a few business associates and didn't take any notes, so this is going to be by memory. The pour was a golden, slightly orange hue with a good head. As you can see from the picture there is a good amount of lacing as the head dissipated. The aroma was piney with a slight hint of citrus. There was a subtle smell of malt, but mostly the pine and citrus. On the palate was a little bit of malt, but then a good dollop of the hops broke through. This is an American Pale Ale (I think) and it immediately reminded me of a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, but with a smaller amount of the piney hop flavor. I would definitely drink this one again as it was smooth and flavorful. This would be a good brew for those that like a little bit of hoppiness, but can't go all the way with an IPA. Very well done at an 88 out of 100.

If this was the only local beer I had, what else did I drink? Mostly wine with dinner as I had steak and Italian while I was there. I was also fortunate to find a small, mostly hidden bar that was featured in the Food & Wine list of Top 50 Bars called Drink. I read some of the reviews off Yelp and Urbanspoon and it piqued my curiosity. One one hand you had a lot of people say it was fantastic, then others say that the long waits on the weekends (several hours) made for an overrated experience. I found basis for both sides of the argument.

We arrived about 5:00pm after our last meeting ended and it was damp and dreary outside. Surely nobody would be tying one on in this kind of weather on a Thursday, but the place was already hopping. The place is in the lower level of a nondescript office building with no visible external signage. This place would be easy to miss if I hadn't already known what to look for (thank you, Yelpers).

For my first drink I asked the server about the house specialty which his reply was a smug and arrogant "Anything." Fine - bring me back anything. The drink was called a "Fort Point" which was Rye Whiskey, Grenadine, and I believe Benedictine. For my palate I could not taste anything by the whiskey, but then again I am a hard liquor wuss. Too many times growing up did I throw up on Tequila, Rum, or Vodka that I still have a hard time downing fire water. But I still think it was a well-crafted drink because there were no odd flavors that you get with cheap booze. And at $12 this was not made with cheap booze.

The next drink was placed directly with one of the bartenders which numbered about 4. When she asked what I would like (again in a rather smug way), I said "I don't care." She walked off and consulted what appeared to be an encyclopedia of drinks and came back with a drink called "I Don't Care." Touche, my dear bartender.

This drink was more my speed. It also had some Rye Whiskey, but also featured Creme de Minthe and Grenadine. It was cool and refreshing and the flavor of the whiskey was nicely balanced against the mint.

I hope to get back to regular drinking soon. In the fridge I have a nice, big bottle of some Belgian Ale and a 22oz bottle of some sort of Russian beer that cost me $1.50. I am sweating that one a bit.