REVIEW: Buzzard’s Bay Brewing Swamp Yankee

TL;DR summary : Solid beer for a cold night

Beer style: Dark IPA

ABV 6.4%

What I paid: 4.99

How it came (packaging): 22 oz bottle.

Brewery link: http://buzzardsbrew.com/

About the Beer:  This particular beer comes from Westport Ma. I had heard of Buzzard’s Bay Brewing, but didn’t know really anything about them. I was instead attracted to this bottle by the name. If you knew where I lived, you’d understand.

I’ve not visited this Brewery, but I’ve added it to my list. Their website is somewhat sparse, but I’m gathering it reflects their philosophy. They claim to use only American grown, and the hops are either locally grown or sourced from a single Washington ranch. They feel that the “ingredients should speak for themselves” and that you “ought to be able to taste the farm within the beer.” All right then, I can get behind that.

They describe Swamp Yankee as a dark IPA but true to their word, they give a list of ingredients on the site, but don’t tell you what you should taste. I can get behind this as well.

Color/appearance: Dark brown almost black thick creamy light tan head

Aroma: malt, chocolate,

Mouth feel: smooth, full body

Flavor: roasted malt, smoke, bitter sharp finish subtle hint of sweet at the end.

Notes: smoky finish, porter like, reminds me of a camp fire. Smokey roasted flavor would be great on a cold night, which this isn’t. might cellar well. Sweet/smoke/bitter/sweet seriously heavy, but leans to the hop side.

Summary:  This is a really good, robust beer with a lot going on. It would be great on a cold winter night sitting by a roaring fire in the fireplace. Unfortunately I sampled it on a humid evening in June beneath a wooshing ceiling fan, so perhaps some of the nuances were lost on me. My poor timing not withstanding, this is a fantastic beer. I have a bit of trouble with the IPA label. It really feels like a porter to me. It’s smoky with a hint of sweet in all the right places. The cynic in me says if you slap IPA on anything it sells better, but my guess is that wasn’t their intent. It’s not my beer though, and they can call it what they want. It’s still a good beer.

Rating : 4

1 – avoid

2 – if it’s the only choice, I guess

3 – a decent beer. Drinkable.

4 – good beer – hard to turn down

5 – great beer - One of my favorites, pour me another.

Style: 4.5 (compared to other black IPAs)