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Stubborn Beauty Brewing Company: Happy Treez

Stubborn Beauty Brewing Company: Happy Treez

ABV: 6.2%

IBU: N/A

Availability: Year-round

@untappd says: 4.03/5

Let’s get some happy little treez on the Windowsill today!

Although I haven’t yet visited Middletown, CT’s Stubborn Beauty Brewing Company, I have had the pleasure of tasting a couple of their brews now, and I’ve been very impressed. I’m glad they make great beer, because I really like their branding. The logo is a lovely rose (the color changes depending on the can color), which many consider to be a stubborn beauty because, although it’s aesthetically and aromatically pleasing, it sure will stab the crap out of you if you aren’t careful. The name, logo and the early 20th century photos that adorn their website (old time drinkers, boxers, etc), this brewery has a very old timey feel to it. I can’t wait to visit!

The great painter Bob Ross once said, “There’s nothing wrong with having a tree as a friend.” I always say, “There’s nothing wrong with having a beer as a friend.” The Happy Treez melds these two philosophies perfectly. I wasn’t able to find out what hops are in the recipe, but this American IPA is definitely loaded with dank citrus flavors. It’s fruity and smooth, with some solid bitter touch at the end. I’d take Happy Treez over a regular tree any day—and over many of my friends. Cheers!

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Kent Falls Brewing Company: Awkward Hug

Kent Falls Brewing Company: Awkward Hug

Hops: Citra, Azacca, Centennial

ABV: 7.0%

IBU: N/A

Availability: Rotating

@untappd says: 4.11/5

Everybody loves a hug, especially an awkward one!

Last time, we discussed the fact that Kent Falls Brewing Company is Connecticut’s first farm brewery. Today, let’s talk about their water. All of the water they use in brewing comes from a well on the farm. Amazingly, this artesian water is preheated in a barn using solar power, which saves a ton of energy. Into composting? So’s Kent Falls. All of their spent grain, yeast and hop trub, and their spent fruits are composted with wood chips, providing much needed nutrients to the farm’s crops—including the hops that go back into the beer. Pretty cool stuff!

The Awkward Hug is a thing of beauty. It’s not just the beautiful label art, which features couples of all races, ethnicities, ages and preferences giving each other every kind of awkward hug in the book (even Waldo’s hugging someone awkwardly!), but also the beer itself. It’s an IPA brewed with Citra, Azacca and Centennial hops—some of Kent Falls’ “favorite hops.” It was the first “clean” IPA produced at the brewery, and has now been packaged seven times. Hopefully this one stays in rotation, because it was crisp, juicy and delicious!

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Knee Deep Brewing Company: Breaking Bud

Knee Deep Brewing Company: Breaking Bud

Hops: Simcoe, CTZ, Mosaic

Malts: Crystal

ABV: 6.5%

IBU: 50

Availability: Year-round

@untappd says: 3.92/5

We’re knee-deep in archived photos, so let’s get a Flashback Friday post on the sill!

Knee Deep Brewing Company was founded by Jeremy Warren in 2010. Like many eventual would-be-brewery owners, Warren first started brewing his beer in his garage, before signing a contract to brew Knee Deep beer at Mt. Tallac Brewing (since closed) in Lake Tahoe. Eventually, his beer got so popular that they were able to lease their own facility in California. These days, I easily get Knee Deep in Connecticut. Pretty solid growth, in not a whole lot of time. In 2015, Warren decided to leave Knee Deep, selling his piece of the company he founded to co-owner Jerry Moore. Knee Deep keeps making solid beer, and Warren moved on to start Revision Brewing. Looking forward to trying some of their stuff, one day!

The Breaking Bud is a fun brew that I’ve been lucky enough to try a couple of times—once in a can, and once in this bottle. It’s an IPA with a lovely pale yellow/orange color and lots of solid tropical fruit aromas. It’s hopped using Simcoe, CTZ and Mosaic, which gives it some nice mango and passion fruit flavors, along with some good pine and dank to balance it out. I love the name and label art, which is obviously based on the hit TV show Breaking Bad (Yo, Mr. White!), but you know who doesn’t? Sony. Enjoy the Breaking Bud beer while you can, because the media conglomerate filed a lawsuit against Knee Deep a couple of months ago for appropriating the branding of their show. It will be interesting to see how this turns out.

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To Øl Brewery: Mr. Pink 2018 Edition

To Øl Brewery: Mr. Pink 2018 Edition

Hops: Citra, Mosaic

Malts: Pilsner, Unmalted Wheat

Special Ingredients: Beets

ABV: 6.0%

IBU: N/A

Availability: Limited

@untappd says: 3.49/5

We have our first ever re-post on the Windowsill today… or do we?

Last year, I posted To Øl Brewery’s Mr. Pink. I lauded the creativity behind the the Mr. Series of brews, which are named after the characters from the 1992 classic film, Reservoir Dogs (Mr. Pink was Steve Buscemi’s character). The beer was a Berliner Weisse made with lychee and pink Guava. It was pretty tasty, and my wife really liked it, so I picked one up for her at @beertable the other day while we were stranded at Grand Central Terminal due to inclement weather. Imagine our surprise when we popped the can and found a completely different beer inside!

To Øl Brewery: Mr. Pink

See that image just above this line? That’s last year’s Mr. Pink. As you can see, it looks nothing like the 2018 edition. That’s because this year, To Øl scrapped the lychee, the guava and even the Berliner weisse, and filled their Mr. Pink cans with an IPA made with beets. Now, like Doug Funnie before me, I love beets. I actually kind of liked this beer, too. It’s hazy and juicy, made with Pilsner malt and Unmalted Wheat, and hopped with Citra and Mosaic. And beets! Who makes beer with beets? I like that! I was just caught completely off-guard by the color, and the fact that a brand new beer was in my can. It threw off my experience, for sure. I’m hoping this becomes the branding for this series—a new [insert series color] beer every year (the other beers in the series seem to also be different this year)—but with more warning next time! OK, this Windowsill rant is now over. Cheers!

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Lock City Brewing Company: Research Drive #4

Lock City Brewing Co.: Research Drive #4

Hops: Citra, Simcoe, Eukanot

ABV: 5.7%

IBU: N/A

Availability: Limited (Tap room only)

@untappd says: 3.42/5

You know we love to do our research on the Windowsill!

Let’s talk about Lock City Brewing Company’s Research series! Like any good brewery, the Stamford, CT beer maker is always tinkering with its recipes and creating new brews. These “Research” pilot batches are named after the street on which Lock City makes its home. I spoke with someone at the brewery over IG—you know Beers on Windowsills isn’t afraid to slip into the DMs to get that info—and they told me that they do these batches every once in a while, but have been ramping them up of late in order to add new brews to their portfolio. In order to make these, nothing is safe from being tinkered with. Sometimes add the hops at different times, or reuse the hops during the dry hopping process. Other times, they do a little yeast blending to get some stronger fermentation. Whatever they’re doing, I love the experimentation!

The Research Drive #4 is, as you may have figured out, the fourth version of this research concept. It’s an IPA brewed with Citra, Simcoe and Eukanot hops. I’ve grown quite familiar with the first two varieties on my craft beer journey, but the Eukanot is fairly new for me. The aroma profile for this hop is citrus, tropical, fruity and herbal. I thought it was a fine addition to a pretty solid IPA. Here’s hoping this one becomes a regular brew!

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Port Jeff Brewing Company: Party Boat IPA

Port Jeff Brewing Company: Party Boat IPA

Hops: 10 Kinds (undefined)

ABV: 7.7%

IBU: 101

Availability: Year-round

@untappd says: 3.54/5

Taking the ferry over to Long Island for today’s Windowsill brew!

Port Jefferson Brewing Company opened its taps in Port Jefferson, New York in 2011. It’s the old feel good story of home brewer makes good. In this case, that former home brewer is Michael Philbrick. Philbrick’s wife actually bought him his first brewing kit back in 2000, which is really when the seeds for PJBC were first sewn. It took over 10 years, but PJBC is now in its 7th year making beer for the people of Long Island, and beyond, and they even have a nice taproom now!

The Party Boat IPA is a pretty crazy IPA. It’s got a big malty backbone up front, with some good piney, citrusy hop finish. Although I don’t have the specific varieties identified, this beer contains a whopping 10 different kinds of hops. I wouldn’t say it bowled me over, but the Party Boat is a nice little IPA, not too hefty on the ABV, but with some good flavor and aroma.

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Newburgh Brewing Company: NewYorkBoss IPA

Newburgh Brewing Company: NewYorkBoss IPA

ABV: 7.0%

IBU: 35

Availability: Limited

@untappd says: 3.77/5

I Paid the cost to drink the boss on the Windowsill today!

Whole Foods is at it again, partnering with a New York craft brewery to bring an exclusive beer to market. This time, the supermarket chain struck a deal with Newburgh’s Newburgh Brewing Company to release today’s beer, the NewYorkBoss. This is actually part of an even bigger collaboration initiative from Newburgh, called the Boss Series. The NanoBoss, MegaBoss and GigaBoss are their original IPAs (there’s also a LagerBoss), but the new series includes the following collaborations: NewYorkBoss (Whole Foods), the ChefBoss (with The Brewery at CIA) and the MooeyBoss (with Bonn Place Brewing). A new Boss collaboration will be released every month!

I Decided to drink the NewYorkBoss in honor of the New York Yankees, who currently wear that title after winning 15 of their last 16 games (the crosstown Mets, meanwhile, have won just 5 of their last 16). It’s an IPA brewed using 100% New York State-grown ingredients, with hops from Pedersen Farms in the Finger Lakes, and malt from Germantown Beer Farm. Very citrusy and delicious! Those NYS ingredients really make for great brews. Go Newburgh, Go Boss Series, and Go Yankees!

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Industrial Arts Brewing Company: Power Tools

Industrial Arts Brewing Company: Power Tools

ABV: 7.1%

IBU: N/A

Availability: Rotating

@untappd says: 3.94/5

Sometimes you need the right tools for the Windowsill job!

Typically I would tell you about the brewery here, but instead, I’m going to tell you about the two newest members of the Windowsill family, our new kitties, Luna, who is modeling nicely on the Windowsill, and Charlie, trying her best to ignore my empty can. We adopted them this past Saturday and, as you can see below, they’re adjusting just fine! Don’t worry, they don’t drink, they’re just being pretty for the camera. They’ll be debuting on their own Instagram soon enough, but I figured I’d introduce them to you guys!

Luna the cat and the Power Tools IPA from Industrial Arts Brewing—on the Windowsill
Luna the cat and the Power Tools IPA from Industrial Arts Brewing—on the Windowsill
Luna is definitely ready for the Windowsill spotlight to shine on her!
(Credit: Martin Stezano/Beers on Windowsills)
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Now, let’s talk about the Power Tools IPA. New York’s Industrial Arts Brewing Company is really becoming one of my favorite breweries. I couldn’t find much information about the ingredients in this IPA—other than that it’s a beefed up version of the Tools of the Trade—but it’s pretty great. Big aroma of grapefruit and pine oils punches you in the nose up front, and it has an awful lot of hoppy bitterness on every sip, with some good light maltiness for balance and body. The Power Tools is Delicious!

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New Belgium Brewing Company: Voodoo Ranger Juicy Haze IPA

New Belgium Brewing Company: Voodoo Ranger Juicy Haze IPA

Hops: Citra, Cascade, Centennial, Simcoe, Nugget

Grain Bill: Pale, Wheat, C-80, Oats

Yeast: American Hefeweizen

ABV: 7.5%

IBU: 50

Availability: Year-round

@untappd says: 3.78/5

Who is the Voodoo Ranger? Consider him a brand extension for Colorado’s New Belgium Brewing Company. In December(ish) of 2016, New Belgium retired some year-round brews, including its Ranger IPA, and debuted a new IPA, the Voodoo Ranger. The now famous skeleton with the ranger hat became the de facto mascot for this brand swap, and he’s graced the bottles and cans of several incarnations of the Voodoo Ranger brew in the last 18 months or so. Check his wacky adventures out on Instagram, @voodooranger. Also, check out Frost Motion, the design company that created him!

The Voodoo Ranger Juicy Haze IPA is the latest major incarnation (not counting special releases) of the Voodoo series. True to its name, it’s an unfiltered IPA brewed with Citra, Cascade, Centennial, Simcoe and Nugget hops. All those hops, and the hefeweizen yeast strain, combine for a very citrusy and tropical delight that I definitely wouldn’t kick out of bed in the morning. Very enjoyable brew from a brewery that remains one of my favorites. I definitely recommend trying the Juicy Haze IPA, and the rest of the other Voodoo Ranger line.

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Kent Falls Brewing Company: Super Sparkle

Kent Falls Brewing Company: Super Sparkle

Hops: Simcoe, Mosaic, Centennial

ABV: 6.0%

IBU: N/A

Availability: Rotating

@untappd says: 4.04/5

Don’t go blind, cuz the Windowsill is sparkling right now!

Kent Falls Brewing Company has the distinct honor of being the very first farm brewery in Connecticut. It sits firmly on Camps Road Farm, a 50-acre property in Kent, CT that focuses on pasture-raised poultry and pork, beer and cider. An acre of the farm is dedicated to hops for the brewery, and 1.5 acres are dedicated to cider apples for Neversink Spirits. The farm itself has been in agricultural operation for 250 years.

The Super Sparkle is gemstones, rainbows and Care Bear Stares™ all brewed up and poured into a 16-oz can. It’s an IPA brewed with Simcoe, Centennial and Mosaic hops. All those hops give it a nice blend of fruit, citrus and pine flavors that I really enjoyed. Hopefully, this beer helps them figure out that Unicorn problem they seem to have. They can be awfully demanding.

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