Mountaineer Brewing Co.
Martinsburg, WV
Available: WV, MD, VA, TN
In the seventeenth century, a 14th American colony was proposed, to run roughly from Pittsburgh through West Virginia and into Kentucky. One name under consideration was Vandalia, in honor of Queen Charlotte’s supposed descent from the Germanic Vandal tribe. The area was named West Virginia instead, but this beer is a tribute to the region.
ABV: 5.51
ABW: 4.41
Color: 26-27
Bitterness: 32
Original gravity: 1051.2
Gorgeous copper color, with the reddish hues of a summer sunset. Handsome, thick off-white head hangs on, leaving a lacy pattern on the glass. Spicy nose hints of fields and flowers, followed by a light, clean mouthfeel with faint aftertaste. Not a big beer for full-flavored foods, we enjoyed a couple of bottles with friends, accompanied by the first apples of the season, sharp aged Beecher's Flagship cheddar, and whole wheat breadsticks baked in the wood fired oven.
Clear copper red, topped with rich foam. I’m enticed. Brimming with malt aroma normally a precursor of full-bodied full flavored beer. Surprises with an extraordinarily satisfying light body with profound roast, toffee and caramel malt flavors. A zig and then a zag. Tastefully done session beer. West Virginian beer poetry, eloquently accomplished. A beer worth seeking. I’m pulling out my wallet if tempted.
Founder of Merchant du Vin and the Pike Brewing Co., Charles Finkel is a pioneer in the marketing of craft beers in America.
Author of the New Complete Joy of Homebrewing, founder of the Great American Beer Festival and a Beer Examiner at www.examiner.com, Papazian is a leading voice in beer and brewing.
