Taste of Ipswich 10/12/2006

Last night's 9th annual taste of Ipswich event was amazing! It was loaded up with tables from tons of local restaurants and scattered with tables of wine provided by Marcorelle's. And there was, of course, Ipswich Ale and company provided by Mercury Brewing.
After eating probably way too much, and then sampling an interesting variety of wine, which included a Chardonnay from South Africa (yes...that's not a typo!), I went to Mercury's table. After discussing with them the characteristics they describe are in their beers, I decided to try the Stone Cat Oktoberfest. It poured a nice, deep copper color with a quickly diminishing head, had almost no lacing and no visible carbonation. The smell was the first thing to catch me off guard. It had a very strong soapy aroma and after smelling this, I noted that the remaining head in the glass actually reminded me of old soap bubbles. The soap theme continued with the flavor. It was very smooth, I'll say that, but still had that soapy quality in the flavor. The good news is, the soapy flavor didn't carry over into the lightly bitter, but pleasant after taste, which left my mouth feeling a little dry. This is definitely not my favorite offering from them.
I followed that up with the Ipswich Ale Oatmeal Stout; always a delicious treat to me with its creamy quality, notes of coffee and caramel and, oh yes...oatmeal! I love this dark, rich beer.
But the event was fun. The food and wine were amazing and the who's who of the North Shore were all there. Always fun for me to walk into an event such as this and know a good amount of people! I thoroughly enjoyed this evening.