American Craft Beer Week is slowly coming to a close. I did a piss-poor job of planning any events to commemorate the event or even highly relevant blog posts. Instead, I did what was asked of me; I went out and supported my local craft breweries. In this instance, I made the arduous 2-minute drive down the street from where I work to Faultline Brewing Company.
Faultline is a place I have mixed feelings for. On one hand, this is a craft brewery that is minutes from where I work. You’d think I’d be a regular there based solely upon proximity alone but I’m not. My past experiences have left me disappointed time and again but I keep hope and I have faith that one day, Faultline will impress me. I guess today (actually, two days ago), my faith was rewarded.
I arrive at Faultline to find a good number of people in the restaurant and at the bar. I take a seat at one of the smaller tables in the bar. I am flying solo on this mission to support my local craft brewer. One of the many waitresses that night takes my drink order. I scan the board and order their spring seasonal, Spring Bock.
Spring Bock, Faultline Brewing Company, 8.6% ABV
Spring Bock is Faultline’s spring seasonal beer. In fact, they just tapped this beer this week. It is, I believe, in the style of a Maibock and unlike other places, this beer was actually released in May. Spring Bock pours out a clear, light amber with a wispy, white/off-white head. The aroma is primarily malty with a slightly spicy hop character. Spring Bock has a sweet, lightly toasted malt flavor with a spicy hop finish. The hop bitterness is about medium-low/medium in level but is not harsh. The beer is medium-high/high in body and surprisingly low/medium-low in carbonation. The alcohol quality of the beer is apparent in the aroma, especially after the beer warms up, and as a slight warming sensation in the mouthfeel.
Despite the fact that I am enjoying this beer, I probably should’ve ordered a “less than large” aka “small” size of this beer. From what Carrie, my waitress said, the beer came in higher than expected in % ABV. By the time I am finished with my pint, I am tipsy. Other than the apparent lack of carbonation, I find no glaring issues with this beer. I’m good on so many levels.
Brown Ale, Faultline Brewing Company, 4.3% ABV
A brown ale brewed in the English tradition. At a mere 4.3% ABV, this is definitely a sessionable beer. The brown ale pours out a clear, beautiful, dark brown with a white/off-white head and amber highlights. I pick up a roasted malt character in the beer’s flavor as well as some caramel undertones. Hop bitterness is medium-low in level and definitely allows the malt to domininate. The brown ale is medium bodied with high carbonation. As the beer warmed up, I started to pick up some nutty character in both aroma and flavor.
This is another pretty well made beer. Two-for-two for Faultline so far. As you can probably tell by the photo, I’ve ordered a small this time. No sense compounding my lack of sobriety by putting back another pint of beer, even a session-strength beer.
Cask Pale Ale, Faultline Brewing Company, 5.2% ABV
One of the things I do enjoy about Faultline is that they have a cask ale program. The one thing I wish they would do though is rotate the style of beer in their casks. It’d be great to get the brown ale on cask, or even the trippel. Can’t say if it’s a wooden cask or a firkin-sized keg. My guess is that it’s the latter.
Poured from a hand pump, the cask pale ale is surprisingly clear, pale amber/amber color with a white head. Toasted/roasted sweet malt aromas permeate from this beer and is supported by a slightly citrus hop character. The flavor is similar to the aroma but I’d like to add “grainy” and “nutty” to the malt description of this beer. Hop bitterness is medium. The cask pale ale is medium-low in body with low carbonation. As the beer warmed up, I started to pick up a slight honey-like character to the flavor and aroma as well.
There’s been a couple of changes at Faultline recently. First, they are now a fully stocked bar. In the past, Faultline has been beer and wine only so I find it very interesting that they decided to switch. My guess is that their numbers haven’t been as solid as in the past and they’re trying to draw in a different crowd as well as make their money.
The other interesting thing is that Faultline now has a comedy show they put on. As far as I remember, they’ve never had any entertainment so this is a huge departure from their current method of operation. In any event, if you are interested in their comedy line-up, you can view it here.
As I’ve written before, I’ve had some poor beer experiences here in the past so it was with great trepidation that I would go and pay them a visit, lucky for me, it paid off in the form of a trio of good tasting beers. Continue to support your local craft breweries/brew pubs!
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