Recently, I decided to make a trip down to
Wooden Cask Brewing in Newport, Kentucky during March Madness to watch my Mountaineers play
ball and to enjoy some beer while doing so. Wooden Cask proved to actually be a
good choice as surprisingly, I was only one a few there initially. Now this was
the day after St. Patrick’s Day so I am not sure if that had something to do
with it or not but not having to fight for space worked for me.
Now, if you haven’t been to Wooden Cask, it sits toward the
bottom of York Street and is very accessible with a decent size parking lot for
sure. I am not sure about if they are pet-friendly or not, although I believe
they are. They regularly team up with food trucks and there are also
restaurants around that can deliver food for you to the brewery. Although,
during my afternoon visit, a food truck wasn’t available but there was one
planning to come that evening. They also have wifi which is nice and provide a
lot of space, and if you like board games then they have them as well.
But what about the beers
right? That’s why I am blogging and that’s why you are reading this. So, on tap
they hold a good assortment of beers, I believe the number including their and
guest taps is around 12 or 13. I should have taken a picture, but failed to do
so. Now I have been here previously, so for me it was about trying ones that I
had not had, although I do recommend the 7th Street Runoff if you do
enjoy Brown Ales. But my first four choices via a flight can be seen here.
From left to right: #4 Pacific
Time IPA, #9 The Scottsman, #10 Ruby, and #11 Hell Yes
The Pacific Time – American
IPA 6.8% ABV
This one delivered a very
nice aroma with good dankness. It had a nice bitterness as it hit the tongue
and opened up with a great flavor in the mouth. If you like the IPA style then
this one does represent it well as it provided the fruitiness and duration that
should be expected from the hops used, and it had a decent crisp break from the
initial to the finish. It proved to be a very solid IPA for sure.
The Scottsman – Scottish Ale
8% ABV
You talk about a style that
delivers some malty goodness and coats the mouth, the Scottish Ale style does
just that. This one also was very pleasing in that respect. The texture was
syrupy in fashion which really worked well for mouthcoating and delivered a
smooth creamy like feel. You will get some of the booziness with this one, but
that’s okay and somewhat expected. I can best describe this as some sweet
goodness for sure.
Ruby – Irish Red Ale 4.5% ABV
This one provided an aroma
that was similar for me to many of the wheat ales and what I usually pick up
from the yeast and tend to describe as a horse blanket smell. This is not a bad
thing by the way, it’s just what I relate it to from my experience as does
anyone that reviews beers or anything else. It did have kind of a different
type of sweetness with this one, almost like that of a cereal. The mouthfeel
was good and it definitely is light in body which makes it an easy beer to
chug, not that you should do that. For someone that doesn’t like bitterness
then this one can also work, as even on the initial there was only a little
subtleness of bitterness that hit my tongue. It is a little thinner than I prefer
and I could detect that watery quality, but at 4.5% I kind of expected it.
Hell Yes – Mailbock or Helles
Bock 8% ABV
I tend to like bocks from
time to time and are for me, one of the more popular lagers that I prefer. This
one though was a little different as it was almost kind of sneaky at the 8%
ABV. I didn’t get as much aroma, and didn’t really taste the alcohol. It was smooth, coated the mouth well and left a
good mouthfeel. I didn’t get much on the aroma as expected but overall, it
delivered for what I was expecting.
Newporter – American Porter
5% ABV
After finishing the flight
there was only one left that I hadn’t tried from Wooden Cask and what a nice
way to end, with an American porter. So, I went ahead and called fro a pint on
this one and decided to see how this one compared. I was hit pretty quickly
with the decent aroma that easily climbed out of the glass with chocolate and
coffee notes. It was malty and bready as well with some bitterness in the taste
that tapped the tongue nicely. Now there was some slight thinness, which is
probably my only knock with Porters and is a key reason why I usually prefer
stouts over them. But away from that, the taste and flavor was definitely there
despite a little harshness on the finish as it went down.
Overall, it was a great visit
back to Wooden Cask and I hope if you are in the Cincinnati area, that you will
also decided to pay them a visit. Between the variety of beers available, there
should not be any issue in finding something that you will like. My only other
thing that I would mention is that there was only one television, and with a
few more around I think that could be a great draw for some. But, we are really
there for a beer and there is no
shortage of those.
Cheers my friends…and keep
drinking those great craft beers!
