The first thing we noticed as we walked into the restaurant was the overwhelming scent of active mash. As homebrewers ourselves, Carly and I shared a knowing smile as we looked over to their seven-barrel lauter tuns. I mentioned in passing that I was a bit surprised that such an acquired smell permeated the restaurant, to which my dad quickly responded, "Not a smell that I have acquired!"
As Trap Rock only offers a six-glass beer tasting flight, Carly and I had to order two flights to run the whole gamut of their nine beers. With no help from my non-beer-drinking parents, we had quite the task ahead of us. Sometimes, you just have to buckle down and get it done.
As an appetizer, we ordered a fairly unique and satisfying dish - House BBQ Pulled Pork Mac 'n Cheese. The mildness of the four cheese blend really came together nicely with the barbecued pork. For my main course, I had the Vermont Cheddar Burger. Though my 'medium' burger came out closer towards medium-well, I enjoyed it all the same. And, the fries were quite delicious. But I digress - on to the beer!
I'll go straight down the list as provided by Trap Rock (although I must say, I couldn't really find rhyme or reason to their sequencing):
Ghost Pony Helles Lager - An award winner in the 2001 Great American Beer Festival...and that's about all I have to say in the positive realm. Maybe my palette's just not refined enough for the nuances of light lager, but they all kind of taste the same to me. A craft brewed light lager hits almost exactly the same notes as Natural Light as far I can tell. If it's a harkening to the hop-forward Helles style, you could've fooled me. So yeah. Not a fan. 1.5 out of 5.Schroeder Weiss - This is a Bavarian style wheat beer that uses spelt grain instead of wheat malt. I found it to be quite interesting as it tasted more like a cider than anything else. Since the cider taste still had a little body behind it from the wheat style, I was more than happy to take care of both glasses as this was one of our three 'repeats' from the two combined flights. 3 out of 5.
JP Pilsner - Described as having "a bready malt flavor," this one fell short for both Carly and I. It tasted a bit like a homebrew that just didn't hit the mark. The flavor profile was short on just about everything, and tasted generally watered down. 2 out of 5.
Octoberfest - Both of us were more than eager to jump past the light styles, and this certainly helped. The Marzen style is a favorite of mine, especially for the season, and this one held its own. It suffered slightly from the watered-down issue like the JP Pilsner, but was much improved when paired with food. 3 out of 5.
Hang Ten IPA - Five different hops go into this offering, and it was a solid IPA overall. Again, improved with food, specifically the french fries, which seemed to complement and accentuate the bitterness of the hops. 3.5 out of 5.
Baltic Porter - Trap Rock mentions "dark malts smoothed out by the use of lager yeast." Not only was this absolutely correct, but this was my favorite standalone beer overall. Strong, ambitious malty and roasted flavors didn't get in their own way for a nice smooth finish. I nursed this one as it paired wonderfully with my burger. 4 out of 5.
August Der Weiss - Having recently experienced the Berliner Weiss style for the first time in Green Bay, WI (a Midwest specialty), our preconceived notions of "Get your pucker face ready, because this is going to be sour," were pleasantly off-base. The sourness was definitely there but was far more nuanced than we expected, which made for an engaging little brew. After feeling like we had stumbled out of the gate on the first number of beers, Trap Rock was beginning to hit its stride. 3 out of 5.
Jack o' Lager - Fall spices, check. Maple syrup, not typical, but check. Sweet potatoes instead of pumpkin? Now that's different. Interestingly, the sweet potato aroma was absolutely recognizable but it tasted just like a pumpkin ale. The real magic came when I was still picking through my delicious BBQ Pork Mac 'n Cheese, and I took a swig of this immediately after. The spices came skyrocketing forward, perfectly complementing the smoke of the pork and the cream of the macaroni and cheese. Totally changed the entire experience. On its own, 3 out of 5. With the BBQ Pork Mac 'n Cheese, best taste of the night, 4.5 out of 5.
Despiratado IPA - 7% ABV, and hard to pronounce after 11 tiny beers. Using Citra in both the boil and the dry-hopping process, it had a lovely hop aroma and citrus bite to the taste. This was Carly's favorite beer of the night and I certainly won't fault her for that as I quite enjoyed this hearty IPA as well. 4 out of 5.
Overall, I came out fairly impressed with the depth and quality of Trap Rock Brewery's offerings. Had I enjoyed a single flight of the last six on the list, I would have been wowed. I'll certainly head back for a return trip in the Spring, when there should be several new seasonal offerings to review.
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