Cask Beer Night at Eli Cannon's Tap Room: Featuring CT's Relic Brewing Co.

This is the first production cask that Sigman has put out, and his second or third cask total. Since I last touched base with Sigman, he has moved into full production of his beer: shipping out to seven package stores around the Plainville area. What's surprised him (pleasantly), says Sigman, is how much demand for his beer there is. Sigman has regular tasting hours at his brewery (Fridays from 4-7 and Saturdays from 12-3, check his website for updated hours) so he finds himself swamped every weekend with people eager to try out Relic beer and/or fill up their growlers. Due to this enormous demand at the tap room, Sigman sees around 80% of his product sell at the actual brewery! 

As far as uniqueness is concerned, Relic is one of the more creative breweries that I've seen in the area. Sigman draws a lot of his influence from his European travels so he draws on some cool traditions that I've never heard of. One such tradition is the table-side hop infusion. Every once in a while Sigman will break out his hop infuser and give your beer a little extra zing of hops, or even fruit or coffee, while you're sitting right there at the table. Other ideas that Sigman is toying around with is working on more casks, focusing on dry-hopping, and working with herbs or tea in his beer. Describing himself as "medium non-traditional" when it comes to brewing, I have to admire Sigman in his devotion to exploring avenues of beer that are not only artisanal but also approachable and delicious.

As he can barely keep up with the demand for his beer, Sigman is looking to expand his brewery machinery soon to ramp up production and keep supplying CT with great beer. Sigman is already looking to double his space to have a legitimate tasting room and more space for his machinery to operate. Along with this expansion Sigman jokes that he is trying too hard to be like Samuel Adams, in the way that he wants to produce multiple lines of specialty beers. Sigman has yet to label one of his beers a flagship, but he is fine with brewing tons of different styles to see what people like the most. He has narrowed down his brew list to maybe 2 or 3 that could serve as a flagship, but he is no rush to formally label anything as he is too busy trying to keep up with the huge demand for his beer. 

As far as beer is concerned, I got a chance to try all three beers on cask. I started with Blue Point's Rastafarye (Rastafara Rye, get it? It's a rye beer.). It poured out a deep, deep murky orange and smelled of a high sweet floral hops. At first sip this beer has a high, light bitter hop tone that moves to a smooth, warm sweet tone. From here the taste finishes with slight bitters and a mellow warm fruity sweetness. This beer is medium to big, but is overall very mellow (appropriately enough). The sweetness is all throughout this beer and serves to make it and easy sipping beer that is made smoother by it being in a cask. This beer is interesting as you get the sharp fruity bitters mixed with the woody mellowness that makes this a great beer to relax with.

Next up was the Thornbridge Kipling. This beer pours out crystal clear, gold, with slight lacing running down the glass. It is hard to get a nose off of this, but I can detect a warm, bright floral note. This beer tastes dry and slightly sweet at first sip. Warm, dry, bittering creeps up quickly on the back of the taste. From here the beer swiftly finishes with a slight burnt/sour note that balances out the dryness and sends the taste off well balanced and slightly tart. This is another beer that is medium to large. The sour/bitter note on the back end is great and balances the profile out exceptionally well. As with the other casked beers, the casking process makes this beer slightly woody, smooth, and mellow, with plenty of slight earthy tones floating around on the back end. 

Last but not least was Signman's Relic Clockwork Session IPA. This beer has a deep, rich, barely translucent medium yellow orange tone. The nose on this is floral hopping with slight spicing. At first sip this beer is light and slightly sour. It moves directly to a medium sweetness from here with slight bitters creeping in. From here the bitters kick in, in earnest, and settle into a mild pattern that linger on a dry,  spicy, sweet note. It's on this tangy note that the beer fades out gently. This is a medium beer whose body is built up by the smooth, dry sweetness and rests on that great light bittereness that is made even more mellow by the fact that it was casked.

Casked beer is a real treat, and a must-try for anyone who considers themselves a beer fan! I'll bring you info on other cask nights in CT in the future, and I'll fill you in on the last day of Eli Cannon's Beer God's Week 2012 next time! Check out Relic's website, Facebook, and Twitter for all your information about this rapidly growing brand. For further news about CT breweries and beer, be sure to follow me on Blogger, Facebook, and Twitter!