“For all sad words of tongue and pen, the saddest are those, ‘It might have been.’ “
– John Greenleaf Whittier
The back label of Haverhill Brewery’s Whittier White begins with the Whittier’s line above, and the label continues:
There are no regrets with Whittier White. This wheat beer with citrus undertones is a cool breeze on a hot day. You will want to keep this taste of summer even when you are snowbound.
Indeed, this Whittier White proves “wittier” than the common beer — making a literary pun of John Greenleaf Whittier’s masterpiece, the poem “Snow-Bound”.
If you’re not into poets, then the label may yetl catch your attention if you are into blond women or white dogs. Or beer. Yes, I do believe there’s a glass of beer shown on the label too…
A few recent beers are missing from my chronology.
I’ll catch up soon, but in case you were wondering: I had Avery Salvation on Sunday (preview – loved it), and Avery India Pale Ale for IPA Monday. On Tuesday, I had another IPA from Boston Beer Works near Fenway Park — after watching the Boston Red Sox dispatch the Toronto Blue Jays.
Since I am behind on those posts, here’s a quick photo of me and my wife after a long night at the park and one drink at Boston Beer Works.
Not quite an even trade, but hey…
Dundee Honey Brown Lager
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Silly me. I read the name of this beer and immediately jumped to the conclusion that Dundee Honey Brown was a Brown Ale with a touch of honey — a concept that seemed both blasphemous and dangerously intriguing.
But don’t let the “brown” part of the name fool you — Dundee Honey Brown tastes like a lager, through and through. That is, a lager with a generous dollop of honey.
You’d think that by this stage of the game, I’d be adept at reading beer labels; and yet, somehow I missed the “Lager brewed with pure honey” line written immediately below “Honey Brown”.
My first clue came when the beer poured a pale, honey-colored orange. But the real clincher came when my nose hovered above the glass — because Dundee Honey Brown smells like a fizzy lager, yeasty and malty, with very little character.
Before heading over to Boston Beer Works later in the evening, I pulled off one of the most amazing feats of my life: I watched an entire Red Sox game at Fenway Park without drinking a drop of beer!
Every ballgame I’ve been to has been accompanied by plenty of cheap beer with high price tags. Spending more than $7 on a Coors Light is one of those ridiculous economic realities that only present themselves at sporting events, theme parks, and recurring nightmares.
IPA Monday just got off to a great start, with Avery’s India Pale Ale.
Much like the New World Porter, Avery’s India Pale Ale label shows a cartographer’s work. This map is a touch more modern than the New World Porter’s, and it’s decorated around the frame with images of wondrous new lands and colonial scenes.
I poured the beer into a pint glass, and the IPA poured pale gold and not-quite-clear with soft suspensions glinting through the otherwise pristine ale. As for the head — if a beer could create a meringue, Avery’s India Pale Ale is the one. The off-white, whipped foam poked up out of the glass and never completely disappeared, thickly lacing the glass as all the way to the bottom as I drank.
