I saw this beer in my local beer haunt and I honestly walked by it the first time. Edgar Allen Poe is rather huge in the Baltimore area because he lived there for a while. His birthday is celebrated, we get all manner of lookalikes and there are poetry readings and such. After over ten years of it- its sort of touristy and simply a novelty. The cartoon image on the bottle made me think “Awe, that’s a cute Poe,” but I was rather worried that what was in the bottle hiding behind the blue label would be some swill that made me think more of chicken feed than a Lager.
When I went to Brew at the National Zoo, the Baltimore Washington Beer Works was there with the Raven Special Lager and the Tell Tale Heart IPA. I walked by them twice because of cartoon Poe and the fear of the yucky tourist trap beer. But dang, I looked at them each time I walked by and in my head lines from Poe poems bounced through. Now don’t go spreading around to people that this hillbilly knows what tintinnabulation means- I’ll lose some Appalachian Mountain cred on that one. But anyway…
I finally decided to let the super cute tap handle and cartoon Poe head lure me in. I was on an IPA kick a couple years ago, so I passed on sampling the Tell Tale Heart IPA, but I tried the Raven Special Lager. The brewery claims that it’s a perfectly balanced lager with just the right amount of malts and hops. They talk about a dry finish and yummy after tastes. With all of this potential yumminess in a glass- I was once again afraid of the chicken feed swill- for all of about thirty seconds until the cold amber colored liquid was in my mouth.
It was absolutely everything it claimed to be. Since tasting it, I have recommended it to a fellow I know who home brews and I’ve made my husband go out and get some. I’ve also picked some up to take to a picnic to share with some friends out of the state. An okay beer is one you finish when there is nothing else around. A good beer is one you buy and drink for yourself. But a great beer is one you give to friends and this is surely that beer. On the big old spectrum of beers from the super hoppy to the rich and malty this one is a perfect example of right smack in the middle! I LOVE it. This beer has just ousted one of the brews that I regularly stock in my beer fridge.
And ya know… that cartoon Poe head… it kinda grows on ya!
