Total Domination
My wife's family is in town from New England this week (Boston and Maine), and we've been drinking a fair amount of beer. They're staying at a hotel sort of close to the Henry, and we've been stopping in for pints here and there. A couple things to note.
1. The Henry's beer list has gotten better. They boasted 100 taps when they opened, but about half were indistinct national brands or safe bets. They've gradually expanded their list of interesting beers and now have at least a dozen that are hard to find elsewhere. It's also a great place to take people who like beer but aren't super familiar with the arcana of styles. The menu is arranged roughly by beer style, so it's easy to do a tour. Examples of interesting beers right now: HotD Blue Dot, Walking Man Cherry Stout, a nice Belgian selection (Saison Dupont, Delirium Tremens, Hoegaarden), and Ninkasi.
2. Speaking of Ninkasi, I had a pint of the Total Domination. Whoa. My brother-in-law likes traditional English styles of beer (we scored an early perfect ten in his mind with Doryman's Dark), and when I had him sip the Blue Dot, he marveled. Later, I got the Total Domination, which like Blue Dot is a symphony of green, and he was intrigued. It's not as intense as some hop monsters--all the edges are smooth and approachable. It's just a saturated kind of citrusy hopping that hits all the notes--bittering, flavor, aroma. Yesterday, he ordered a pint and it appeared to grow on him over time. I don't want to project too deeply about his experience, but it's possible that over the past two days, I watched the birth of a hophead. A beautiful thing.
Thanks, Jamie!
1. The Henry's beer list has gotten better. They boasted 100 taps when they opened, but about half were indistinct national brands or safe bets. They've gradually expanded their list of interesting beers and now have at least a dozen that are hard to find elsewhere. It's also a great place to take people who like beer but aren't super familiar with the arcana of styles. The menu is arranged roughly by beer style, so it's easy to do a tour. Examples of interesting beers right now: HotD Blue Dot, Walking Man Cherry Stout, a nice Belgian selection (Saison Dupont, Delirium Tremens, Hoegaarden), and Ninkasi.
2. Speaking of Ninkasi, I had a pint of the Total Domination. Whoa. My brother-in-law likes traditional English styles of beer (we scored an early perfect ten in his mind with Doryman's Dark), and when I had him sip the Blue Dot, he marveled. Later, I got the Total Domination, which like Blue Dot is a symphony of green, and he was intrigued. It's not as intense as some hop monsters--all the edges are smooth and approachable. It's just a saturated kind of citrusy hopping that hits all the notes--bittering, flavor, aroma. Yesterday, he ordered a pint and it appeared to grow on him over time. I don't want to project too deeply about his experience, but it's possible that over the past two days, I watched the birth of a hophead. A beautiful thing.
Thanks, Jamie!