OK, with Tom Brady recovering from a second surgery and the rest of the New England Patriots losing games left, right and forwards, you could probably find 101 reasons not to go to Gillette Stadium this fall. But don’t fume, because what’s on tap there is good. So good that even the most disappointed fans may still want in.

Patriot Homebrew IPA is what it says it is, a homebrew, but given a little corporate help from The Boston Beer Company, which makes Samuel Adams beers. Brewer Adam Walsh, of Massachusetts, entered his beer in the company’s Patriot Homebrew Contest and took the prize – not just $2,000, but the opportunity to see his beer poured for thousands at Gillette all season long. And what won was pure gold.

OK, mahogany, really, with a cherry red tinge in the light. Dark and rich, it’s hard to imagine a better color for a New England autumn. As an IPA, or India Pale Ale, it is wildly hoppy, but unlike a lot of IPAs, this one has a good balance. There is a lot of sweetish malt here to round off the flavor, so the bitterness has doesn’t just hover in the front of your mouth with nowhere to go. Plus a fragrant, slightly fruity nose invites sip after sip. And if the Pats don’t break their mediocre streak, it might invite beer after beer, too.

Sam Adams Patriot Homebrew IPA is available at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass., for the 2008-09 football season.

This entry was posted on Saturday, October 18th, 2008 at 5:20 pm and is filed under Beer. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.