Ray Mongeau reviews the Flying Goose Brewpub and Grille.
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Flying Goose Brewpub review
Submitted by Ray Mongeau
This week's search for
microbreweries in New Hampshire
turned up The Flying
Goose Brew Pub and Grille.
There must be a brewery that's not up to par somewhere in New Hampshire; so last week was spent searching the Internet for the written opinions of others. The idea was to select a microbrewery that had received the most negative reviews. The Flying Goose won hands down.
This review should have been a good one: a brewery whose brews were dreadful enough to advise readers to steer clear away, but that did not turn out to be the case.
In fact, it is an exceptionally high-quality brewery with several finely brewed beers.
Flying Goose Brewpub and Grille
Though I did not try them all (zigzagging your vehicle home is not appreciated, especially by the men in blue), four of the brewpub's prominent beers were sampled. There is no foundation for a word of discouragement against the brewpub's ales, service or food and the adversity of the individual critics who wrote the reviews seem to be unfounded. Maybe they have some personal grudge against the brewpub or some of the pub's staff; whatever their rationale, there was nothing uncovered to substantiate their claims.
Brewmaster Kevin Kerner started
his career at the Flying
Goose working as a dishwasher and then graduated to waiting on tables.
He later
became a bartender and finally, after working in the brewery and
serving
an
apprenticeship under Jack Hill, who is now at Triumph
Brewing in
New
Hope,
Pennsylvania, became the brewmaster. Kevin is constantly reading new
books and
on the web to keep abreast of current brewing trends.
The Flying Goose Brewpub's brewery has seven stainless steel dairy tanks used to ferment the beer, along with their own hop garden growing the hops used to flavor the ales.
They also have three house yeasts that are used
in
their
fermentation process. The spent grain is used to make beer bread that
is one
step short of heavenly manna. Even if
you don't like beer (unthinkable!),
the taste of the
bread itself is worth a stop at the Flying Goose Brewpub.
Enough, let's get to the brews.
There are seventeen
brews on
draught at all times in the brewpub. I started with one of the
establishment's
most popular, Perley Town,
an IPA that is very much like a British IPA.
It is
dry, very hoppy in flavor, a good balance of alcohol and hops, though,
a bit on
the dark side for an IPA and a bit more body then one would expect, but
it
definitely has a British quality.
Some may not appreciate the brew after becoming used to the American IPA versions, but if you like a strong, dry European beer then you will love this one.
The Flying Goose Brewpub's Porter Place is dark, well-brewed ale made from roasted barley, black malt and a bit of chocolate malt. The brew is well balanced, smooth and tasty. The head is thick and foamy and has pleasant roasted chocolate aroma that is sure to please.
If you like Porters then this one is certainly worth a try. It should go agreeably with a roasted chicken, or perhaps a salmon dish.
The brewpub also brews a Barley Wine, Isle
of Pines. It is 11% abv and made with all three
yeasts, an incredible
amount
of hops, malt and with a mule's kick. The ale has a rose
aroma and taste
similar to rose wine with the added flavor of several hops. A word of
warning,
the brew is smooth and the balance between flavor and alcohol makes the
brew
seem less potent then it is in actuality, so after a couple of pints of
this you will most likely feel a bit tipsy. This brew would do
well with something like grilled mussels or
any
garlicky food dish.
The last on the list of beers I tried at Flying Goose Brewpub is a stout, Crockett's Corner Oatmeal Stout, which was tasted along with a Teriyaki Steak plate.
The stout is also one of the ingredients used in making this yummy teriyaki sauce. The steak was served with a complement of grilled veggies and mashed red potatoes. The pint of stout was a dark rich color with an extra creamy thick head while having a pronounced chocolate taste. The stout went pleasurably with the steak, but the Barley Wine would have been just as good.
This meal was excellent! The
sauce
was tangy without biting back and the steak, which was ordered medium
rare, was
delivered just as requested. The outside was grilled to a charred crisp
while
the meat almost melted in your mouth. The meal cost $14.95 and is worth
every
penny, not bad considering a lot of establishments cannot come close to
this
quality for the price.
There are several seasonal wheat brews that weren't tried: a blueberry, a raspberry and regular wheat ale. Also, there are Flying Goose Brewpub ales that can be found in two other establishments: Bellissima, a brick oven pizzeria, in Newbury Harbor on lake Sunapee; and The Millstone, a casual dining, high-end bistro, also in New London, NH. Both of these restaurants can be accessed on line through the Flying Goose Brewpub website.
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