Excursion to Cambridge Common Restaurant

This past weekend I made a trip to one of my favorite restaurants in the world, the Cambridge Common. Located in cute, bustling Porter Square, the Common is a must visit for all craft beer lovers. With 31 beers on tap, 16 of which rotate, they have a great selection and the staff always knows their stuff. The food is pretty darn good too, with their menu running the gamut from Deviled Eggs to Steak and Frites to BLT Salad. I can personally vouch that their burgers are to die for, and this weekend's Greek Salad with Chicken was delicious as well. I'm trying to avoid sounding like an infomercial for the restaurant here, but it's hard - it's really just that good. 

From Left to Right: Opa Opa Opatoberfest, Avery Kaiser,
Southern Tier Pumpking, CBC Great Pumpkin

On Saturday night the place was busy but surprisingly, my companion and I did not have to wait for a table. Having checked out their "Daily Rotating Taps" list online before coming, I already knew what I wanted and immediately ordered my first sampler. This, in my opinion, is the hallmark of a great beer and restaurant and one of my favorite things about the Common: they offer a pick-your-own sampler of 4 different 5oz brews. This allows you to try way more beers than if you were forced to order a one-size-fits-all 20oz pour, while also lessening the stress and disappointment of ordering something you don't like and being stuck with a whole pint of it. My first sampler was fall themed, including Opa Opa Opatoberfest, Avery Kaiser (an Imperial Octoberfest), Southern Tier Pumpking and Cambridge Brewing Company's Great Pumpkin Ale. It arrived promptly, and I immediately dove in. The Opatoberfest was very smooth and very malty, with a heavy caramel and bread presence and slight hints of fruit in the background. I found it superior to the Avery Kaiser Oktoberfest, which was a little too sticky, syrupy and spicy for my personal taste. It was described on the menu as being brewed with spice and maple, which sounded interesting, but didn't translate well on my palette. On the other hand, both pumpkin beers we tried were amazing, heavy on the real squashy/pumpkin flavor and light on the spice. I loved the Pumpking so much in fact that I went out and bought a bomber of it yesterday.... which I then promptly consumed. The Great Pumpkin was the first beer I've tried by the Cambridge Brewing Company, but given the option, I would have bought a bomber of that yesterday as well.... Trying it out Saturday night made me even more excited for the Great Pumpkin Festival at the Cambridge Brewing Co. coming up at the end of the month!

Mayflower Porter, Lagunitas Wilco Tango Foxtrot,
Lost Abbey Lost&Found, Oskar Blues Ten Fidy

My second sampler was a bit of a mish-mash of flavors and types, consisting of Lost Abbey Lost & Found (a Belgian style Dubbel), Oskar Blues Ten Fidy Imperial Stout, Lagunitas Wilco Tango Foxtrot (an Imperial Brown Ale) and Mayflower Porter. All four beers were very dark but that's pretty much as far as their similarities go. Lost & Found was thick, liquory and sweet, tasting heavily of plums, raisins, molasses and bready malts. Typically this style of beer is not my cup of tea at all, but I loved this brew and recommend you give it a shot... if you can get your hands on it, that is; this is the second time I've had it on tap at the Common, but I haven't seen it on the shelves at any stores around here. The Oskar Blues Ten Fidy was great - very thick, slightly chewy, with lots of chocolate and roasted malts. It was very sweet too, with tiny hints of dried fruits and bitter coffee. The Mayflower Porter was your standard porter, very roasted and earthy, with roasted chocolate, roasted coffee and slight hop bitterness on the finish. The Lagunitas WTF was probably my least favorite out of the four beers in the second sampler, which, being a big brown ale fan, I would not have guessed. It tasted kind of burnt to me, with more hops and not enough nuttiness than I personally find enjoyable in a brown ale. 

As far as rankings are concerned, if I had to pick, I'd say that out of the eight brews I tried, Southern Tier Pumpking and Lost Abbey Lost & Found are tied for first, while Lagunitas Wilco Tango Foxtrot and Avery Kaiser are tied for last. There weren't really any beers that I greatly disliked though, and certainly none of them jumped out as ones you should absolutely avoid. So try and try alike, and definitely get yourself over to the Cambridge Common if you haven't already. I'll be there again tomorrow for the People's Pint beer dinner, so look for reviews on that some time Wednesday afternoon!