Decided to go to Northampton Brewery to celebrate my birthday with my wife. I was attracted to this place from their very nice website with pictures of the restaurant, it just looks neat. I was also looking at their menu which everything sounded absolutely delicious. They had a list of a few dozen beers brewed all year or seasonal, and I must say that list is impressive with all types of styles. I like that their motto which is peace love beer. I love that they get all their produce from a local farm down the road. What can I say, there were a ton of reasons that made me want to come here, but the main thing of course is the beer! I got 2 sample trays with 4 samples each, yeah 8 different beers total! Here is a list of the beers I sampled along with descriptions courtesy of northamptonbrewery.com .
Beers Sampled :
Decadent Ale- "This is a rich full-bodied English style strong ale, malty, hoppy and full strength. Originally made to commemorate our 10th anniversary. "
Mean Green Double IPA - "This double India Pale Ale is a hop hammer. Loads of hops and a solid malt backbone, this balanced ale is the dry-hopped until delicious."
Eclipse - An American Black Ale
Red Headed step child - "Our "adopted" version of an Irish red ale is medium bodied and surprisingly hoppy.
Northampton Pale Ale- "A medium bodied, copper colored English style bitter. Well balanced, with a solid hop finish."
Daniel Shays best bitter- "This English style best bitter starts off malty on the palate and finishes hoppy; named for our area's historic "bitter" rebel.
Kitchen Sink- "An American Pale Ale. Lighter in color and lower in IBUs than our Northampton Pale Ale, but with more dry-hopping for that floral, hoppy character you’ve come to know from our beers. "
Nonotuck IPA- "Our version of an India Pale Ale. This straw colored beer is hoppy, hoppy, hoppy"
My favorites were the mean green double IPA, the decadent, and the eclipse. I liked how hoppy the mean green was but it was still easy to drink with a smooth finish. This double IPA was a lot better than most I have bought from a store, very impressed. The eclipse was nice and smooth and a great rich dark beer. The decadent was a nice strong english ale. It was very delicious, it was "decadent" and had a nice hop kick to it.
Before I even got the the restaurant, I had checked out their menu online. I had my heart set on the southwest meatloaf. I am not a huge meatloaf fan but this is a new take on meatloaf and it sounded incredible. When we got to the restaurant, I decided to order the beer battered chicken tenders with apricot-mustard sauce. The breading was light and crispy and very very tasty. That apricot-mustard sauce was excellent too by the way and it was a great starter to go with my first sampler. Now, for the main dish. I could not keep away from this southwest stuffed meatloaf, I had to try it, so that is of course what I ended up ordering. The dish was sprinkled with black beans which I love. The meatloaf was perfectly cooked and stuff with peppers and cheese lava! Oooey gooey cheese and spices. This meatloaf was so packed with flavor it was unbelievable. Wrapped in smokey bacon as well! And to complete the dish: ancho chile spiced mashed pototoes that were creamy and really flavorful! saved the IPA to drink with the dish, it paired very nicely with all the spice!
The best thing about the evening is that we were outside in very dim lighting, the weather was perfect, not too hot not too cold, and my wife and I were enjoying our food and company under the stars! Had to be one of the best lineups of beers I have ever sampled at a brew-pub and the food was excellent. I think we have a new favorite! 5/5 rating!
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