Thomas Hooker Nor’Easter Lager

Brewed by Thomas Hooker Brewing Company
Style: Spice/Herb/Vegetable
Bloomfield, Connecticut USA

Serve in Lager glass, Shaker, Tumbler

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Coppery color with a thin off white head. Malty, sweet, caramel, hints of cinnamon and clove. Lingering finish.

I’m glad I only received one of these, because I’m not sure any additional bottles of this beer would have been consumed. This is a pretty rough beer. The Nor’Easter poured a light amber color. After the beer settled for a minute, the body and color turned a little murky and cloudy. The tan head dissipated rather quickly. The aroma smelled of dirty dish water with a hint of sweet spices. The body is a little too spritzy, feeling a little over-carbonated. There wasn’t much in the flavor department, either. I tasted some sweet malt, maybe a little cinnamon and nutmeg. The finish was a bit on the spicy side, but was just a little too sweet.

On draft in a pint glass. No discernable aroma. Very muted flavor. Cold and wet.

12 oz bottle. Pours dark amber with a short lived off-white head. Aroma is of bready malt, hops, hint of spices and baked apples. Body is full, slightly crisp. Taste is caramel, cinnamon, earthy hops, baked apples and cherries. Finish is long, earthy. Not very tasty, but easy drinking, for holydays brew.

Spicy scent dominates over caramel notes. Maroon amber hued beer with moderate head. I got sweetness and even cinnamon in the flavor, but it feels like a additive rather than a part of the whole. Decent enough body, but otherwise I didn’t care for it.

Tap @ The Wherehouse in Newburgh, NY... Poured deep amber with a thin beige head. Total diacetyl bomb. All over the nose and flavor profile. Some fruitiness, but not estery. Caramel, buttered popcorn. Bleh.

12oz bottle. Poured an amber color with a smaller sized off white head. Aromas of spices, some caramel, and a lighter earthiness. Tastes of spices, some fruitiness, and caramel. Had a lighter tart finish.

On the Fifth Day of Christmas 2011 the beer gods gave to me... this tasty winter lager. Pours an orange amber color with thin white soapy head. Aroma of caramel and spruce, with some dark fruit beneath. Sweet doughy caramel taste with some hop spice and some notes of dark fruit mixed in. Carbonation and bitter layer work well to balance. Enjoyable.

Pour is a mahogany color with nearly no head. Nose is of a spice i cannot quite put my nose on, though almost smells more like a fall beer than anything else. Taste is very interesting, much more winter like, strong vanilla tones with a bit of something that I would surmise is supposed to be a cinnamon flavor but isn’t.

So not good! The aroma is dirt, some caramel sweetness. The appearance is a clear amber, white head. The flavor is dirt, sour grains, butter, some caramel sweetness. The finish is some pine needle bittering. Medium in body. Not particularly good.