Clarkvv (16760) reviewed Rhetorical Question from Buttonwoods Brewery 7 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 6.5
Draught at the brewery, 1/5/19.
Lightly-to-minimally hazy, amber-tinged, maize-bronze. White head is large but steadily falls to a ring.
Heavy white pepper and light clove in the nose certainly shows hard-at-work yeast and unfortunately (in my opinion), the hops are almost no where to be found. Really love these hops so was looking forward to it but it's almost all phenol here with some angel food cake-like malt behind it as well as light biscuit, dough and cereal. No alcohol or flaw.
The heavy-handed yeast character continues in the flavor with tons of white pepper and more clove than I'd like. Soft, malty texture with engaging carbonation and no alcohol or flaw. But where are the hops? They'd definitely provide some much needed respite from all of this phenol character. Bread, sugar, dough linger lightly amongst the spicy phenols with just a bare hint of citrus.
Clarkvv (16760) reviewed Alone in Wonderland from Buttonwoods Brewery 7 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5
Draught at the brewery, 1/5/19.
Pretty good clarity. Brassy-gold with some warm honey tones. Small, white head fades steadily to a ring.
Nose is initially full of delightful Brett notes of apple, pear, very light band aid and light lime zest. Dainty honey-cracker lies gently behind it with surprisingly low hop character. I get much more Brett. Perhaps they didn't want to overpower it and if so I commend that. Light tropical fruit, nectarine and pineapple are the extent of the hops but it's fully integrated with the Brett and hard to tell apart. No alcohol or flaw. With warming it picks up some doughy/bready malt and a good deal of light citrus (marmalade, lemon, orange rind).
In the mouth it's soft, malty, well-attenuated and tightly carbonated with biscuit, dough and light honey from the malt, as well as lime and pear from the Brett. Crisp and dry with zesty bitterness from hop and yeast phenol. Lingering pepper, apple, pear and lime is enjoyable.
Clarkvv (16760) reviewed Thirty is the New Forty from Buttonwoods Brewery 7 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8
Canned 12/7/18, drunk 1/5/19 at the brewery. Moderately hazy, brass-golden with honey-apricot hues and a small, but fairly well-retained, white head atop. Nose is plentiful mineral, earth and very light lime. Hops have definitely faded from their probable intensity, but still get a good sense of the leafy, green, mineral and lime-rich Galaxy. There's a bit of saccharine-like character in here that I don't love, and it's slightly dirty, just more earthy dirt, not unclean/flawed brewing. Biscuit, cracker and table sugar notes from the malt with a hint of pine and some sharpness on the end.Pretty well-attenuated in the mouth, though with some very basic white bread/table sugar-like sweetness that mixes not-too-well with light pine and zesty lime. A bit punchy, though there's some nice spice and mineral to the hop. Mostly tight, albeit very low, carbonation and no flaw. Just a bit too sluggish in the malt department and the hops have severely faded leaving behind some slightly less-desirable notes that would have been ok when mixed with the fresher ones that were no doubt here at one time. Still, it's well-made and quite drinkable. 7/4/7/3/13
Another can drunk 2/8/19. No idea how but this was MUCH better and showed no signs of oxidation and still had every bit as much spicy Galaxy character, still an appropriate, balancing bitterness and seemed all around cleaner, and better structured with more body, even. Kind of incredible that a beer would improve this late, but I don't know what else to attribute it to.
Clarkvv (16760) reviewed Gimme the Loot from Buttonwoods Brewery 7 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8.5
Draught at the brewery, 1/5/19.
Light brass-golden, moderately hazy, with a large white head that slowly recedes to cover.
Juicy fruits in the nose with light meyer lemon and tangerine citrus and light yeast ester adding more fruit and minor bubble gum. Lightly sweet/succulent, honey-like maltiness supports well while a bit of biscuit-cracker helps it retain an edge. Aromatic and not jumbled with no onion, resin, pine or alcohol.
In the mouth it's soft, juicy, malty, well-attenuated and tightly carbonated with fairly straightforward NE IPA characteristics showing nectarine, tangerine, orange, pineapple and lime. Light mango, honey and cracker linger with no resin or alcohol. Juicy and soft, yet assertive enough with a bit of a lime-grapefruit edge to it.
Clarkvv (16760) reviewed Broken Record from Buttonwoods Brewery 7 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8.5
Draught at the brewery, 1/5/19.
Hazy, not heavily so at all. Their beers are on the lower side of that. Off-white head sits at cover. A drab brass, light copper-golden, a bit darker than usual for the style.
Nose is lightly vegetal in a good way with hints of pine, spruce, unripe tangerine and light grapefruit. But there's a juiciness not often found with this hop. Can only think of a few brewers that treat it right, with Trillium Moon Island coming immediately to mind. No excess acid and no resin with cracker, biscuit and light bubble gum behind it all and seemingly high attenuation with no alcohol.
In the mouth it's soft, malty and well-attenuated with juicy, sprucey, vegetal notes and tons of lime, tangerine and grapefruit. Very, very nice for the hop and where Moon Island balances more with rich, honey-like malts, this remains very dry with only biscuit and cracker to gently balance. Yet it's so low on bitterness and acidity, and no resin, that it still remains drinkable and balanced. No alcohol or flaw. Tight carbonation and hugely impressive.
Clarkvv (16760) reviewed Dukes of Burgundy from Buttonwoods Brewery 7 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 6.5
Draught at the brewery, 1/5/19.
Bright, copper-orange with pretty good clarity and a small, off-white head that fades steadily to cover.
There's some very nice Brett in the nose showing lime, hickory, various mineral and apple-pear. Pretty much all of the good stuff. It's joined by a whole lot of oak, however, perhaps a bit too much, though it just seems rich and aromatic in the nose and doesn't seem to be a problem until.....
You take your first sip and it's a mouth full of oak. It's good and it's not like it's intensely toasty nor is there any pina colada character (or very minimal, at most), but it's just too much. You can still get a bit of Brett and some lightly sweet, honey-bread-like malt notes break through, but it was pretty tiresome after just a few sips. Soft, tannic, malty texture with good attenuation and low but engaging carbonation. No alcohol or flaw. If they had just taken this out a little earlier it would have been a near masterpiece.
Clarkvv (16760) reviewed Almost There from Buttonwoods Brewery 7 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8.5
Draught at the brewery, 12/16/17.
Low haze on this goldenrod-blonde beer with ample carbonation creating a moderately-well retained, white head.
Nose shows obvious Dupont yeast throwing out black pepper and plentiful apple-pear. No clove and a good dose of honey-like malt, though it's not as hoppy as fresh Dupont (still shows good herbal, fresh grass-like character). No flaw, alcohol, or unwanted/messy, Americanized esters/phenols.
In the mouth it's soft, with zesty carbonation and tons of dry pear, black pepper and lemon-herbal hops. Malts are well-attenuated yet show depth, providing a supple texture with a clean, peppery, bright finish that has notes of honey and pear, as well. No alcohol or flaw. One of the better Dupont clones I've had in a long while.
Clarkvv (16760) reviewed Half Baked Jumbo Shrimp from Buttonwoods Brewery 7 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 6.5
Draught at the brewery, 12/16/17.
Maize-bronze-canteloupe, moderately hazy, with a small, white head atop.
Brett comes off a bit perfumey, slightly overworked with lots of lilac and very dry lime zest character. Seems like a lot of Brett primary? Not getting the palo wood in the nose, particularly, yet nor is the lemon peel strong, thankfully. Some big honey, bordering caramel and biscuit character sits behind it. No alcohol or flaw.
In the mouth it's definitely on the malty side with tons of "thick", seemingly dextrinous character and lots of spice and lilac. Wood really isn't a factor here. Moderate attenuation, engaging carbonation and at the time I thought this was supposed to be a saison (which it certainly doesnt work as). Pretty bizarre, but ultimately competent beer.
Clarkvv (16760) reviewed Lionheart from Buttonwoods Brewery 7 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5
Draught at the brewery, 12/16/17.
Clear peach-apricot golden, small white head shows moderate-to-strong retention.
Lots of fruit in the nose, but thankfully it doesn't take a heavy, or intense banana character. More like a mix of ripe nectarine, vanilla and very light banana skin. Tons of spicy hop character and perhaps phenol, as well. Good balance overall with soft, balancing honey behind everything. The fruitiness is interesting and not classic of a saison, yet nor does it seem Americanized/crude nor is there much clove, nor citrus. No alcohol or flaw.
In the mouth it's light but with a good sweetness from the honey-rich malts and the tropical/yellow fruit character gives it a round, gentle character that outdoes any potential heavy hop bitterness or unwanted strong phenol character. Carbonation is engaging, texture is soft and the beer is well-attenuated with no flaw or alcohol.
Clarkvv (16760) reviewed Coming Out Swinging from Buttonwoods Brewery 7 years ago
Appearance - 10 | Aroma - 9 | Flavor - 9 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8.5
Draught at the brewery, 12/16/17.
Thoroughly hazy/soupy maize-bronze-golden with a small, well-retained, white head.
Nose is full-on passion fruit, mineral, light white wine and mild spicy character. Soft honey-biscuit malt below it balances gently and there is absolutely no resin or even any pine/grapefruit to be found. Alcohol is well-concealed, the beer is nicely attenuated and the yeast does not impart any big ester or dough notes.
In the mouth it's soft, mild yet nicely flavorful and full of my favorite hop notes of passion fruit, guava, white wine and strong mineral with a spicy, very mildly bitter character to balance the soft, supple malts. No alcohol, flaw, resin or unwanted yeast characteristics. Tight carbonation through and through. Bright and lovely. Yep, Buttonwoods is the real deal.