It's funny to think that since starting this blog, I'm already writing a second review of an Indiana brewery. I went to some shopping outlets in Michigan City, Indiana on Thursday. My mom's friend had told her that there was a great brewery and restaurant down the street from the outlets and that if we had time when we finished shopping, we should check it out. I'm always game for trying new beer so I agreed. We finished shopping and then made the 5 minute drive down the street to Shoreline Restaurant and Brewery.
This brewery creeps up on you out of no where. It is situated in an old looking building, and there really aren't any markings that suggest it's a brewery until you are right up on it. We parked and walked inside and the first thing that hit me was the smell. The restaurant area smelled delicious. No, it didn't smell like food. It smelled like boiling wort. They were clearly brewing the day we were there, and it smelled great. Safe to say, I was excited to try there beer.
We seated ourself. The restaurant was actually really big. There was a good sized bare to the right when we walked in and then a very open area with a variety of tables to the right. Upon further inspection, I noticed that the brewhouse itself was right behind the bar. You could see the mashtun, boil kettle, and fermenters through the glass behind the bar, which explained the smell when we walked in.
Right above our table was a giant sign that listed all the beers that were currently on tap. I cant list them all but I'm pretty sure there were over ten. My mom settled for the English Pale Ale, and I went with Samuel Jackson's Black IPA. The Black IPA was really good. When the waitress brought the beer to me it had lost a lot of its head, but it still kept a good amount on it throughout the time I was drinking. There was a light brown lacing on the glass the whole time I was drinking. The chocolate malt dominates the bouquet in this beer. I caught some hoppiness but again the chocolate dominated the scent of this beer. It poured an opaque brown color. On the first sip of this beer, again, I predominantly tasted the chocolate malt. There was a little bite from the hops near the end of the sip, but I was mostly tasting chocolate malt. I was a little surprised at the mild hop character of this beer, but it was pleasant all the same. There was a good amount of carbonation to this beer, but it teetered off as I neared the end of each sip. The after taste was predominantly the chocolate malt with a hint of hoppiness at the end. Over all I liked this beer. It really showcased the chocolate malt, but I would have liked a little more hop character to it.
After I finished the Samuel Jackson Black IPA it was time to order lunch. My moms friend had suggested the crab cake sandwich so that is what I went with. And let me tell you. I was not disappointed. This sandwich was phenomenal. It came on a pretzel bun with some sort of mayo and a side of macaroni salad. To compliment this meal, I ordered the Sum Nug India Pale Ale. I was feeling the hoppiness Thursday, and the Black IPA left me wanting for a stronger hoppy bite.
The Sum Nug IPA came to me with only a little bit of head. It poured a clear copper color with white head. There was good lacing on the glass. I wasn't able to get much scent from this beer. And considering this was an IPA, I was surprised when my senses weren't assaulted with that lovely hoppy aroma. The description of this brew said it was hopped 16 times throughout the boil so I was expecting a pretty potent scent. I could definitely smell citrus but it was faint. The taste of this beer made up for the bouquet. On the first sip you get a mouthful of citrusy hoppy goodness. This IPA had a nice bite to it that complimented the malt really nicely. This beer had a lot of carbonation in it, but that faltered near the end of the sip. The aftertaste was dominated by the citrus flavor from the hops, which left a bitterness on your palette after the sip was finished. Overall I really like this beer. It was nice to get some hoppiness in the character of this beer after having the chocolate malt dominate the Black IPA.
Those were the only two bars I had at the brewery, but I liked the beer enough that I decided to buy a growler. The growler full was 15 bucks (including the price of the growler itself), so I feel like I got a great deal. I ended up having the growler filled with a beer called 6th Anniversary Ale. What attracted me to this beer immediately was the fact that it was "wet hopped", a technique that has the hops added to the beer when they are freshly picked, instead of the standard addition of dried hops. I had just heard of this type of beer, and after having a tasting of it I decided to go with it.
The 6th Anniversary Ale had poured a nice, clear, golden color with a little bit of head to it that died off pretty quickly. This beer did leave a good amount of lacing on the glass though. The aroma from this beer was very interesting. You could definitely taste the fresh hops, but they weren't as strong as I expected. The aroma was very smooth and flowery. I think you could definitely smell the freshness of the hops. My first sip of this beer was equally interesting. Again, I got a very interesting taste from the hops in this beer. There was a certain freshness to the hoppiness of this brew. It didn't have that dry bite that normal hopping gives off. The hops in this beer were prominent but they didn't mask the maltiness of this beer. This beer didn't have a whole lot of carbonation to it, and had sort of a creamy mouth feel. The after taste was dominated by the flower/citrus from the wet hops. It left a refreshing, almost plant-esque taste in your mouth. Overall I enjoyed the first tasting I had of this beer but as I drank it more I got kind of sick of it. The ripeness of the hops overpowered my palette after a while. I think one pint of this is more than enough. I would definitely like to try some more "wet hopped" beers though. It's definitely and interesting style.
Overall I really enjoyed the Shoreline Brewery. I will definitely be returning because they had a lot of great sounding beers that I really want to try.
I don't have any beer adventures planned in the next few days. The next review I will be looking to do is for The Vixen from Samuel Adams. Until then, CHEERS!!
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