Beer of the Week

The beer: Platter's Chocolate Hazelnut Porter

The brewery: Ellicottville Brewing Company, Little Valley, New York

Description (from the website): "Brewed with our friends at Platter's Chocolate Factory - a rich and elegant porter with creamy nutty sweetness, roasted malt, & waves of decadent chocolate."

Would I buy it again? Chocolate and hazelnut is a classic combo, and it only makes sense to mix them together in a beer. And surprise, surprise, it works really well in this beer. It's not too difficult to drink but still has plenty of flavor to it. And it's not hoppy at all. I'd happily drink this again.

Beer of the Week

The beer: Blackberry Kölsch Ale

The brewery: Ellicottville Brewing Company, Little Valley, New York

Description (from the website): "Brewed with refreshing, mildly dry wild blackberry flavor and aroma.  Light, crisp and delicious. Natural, earthy berry sweetness."

Would I buy it again? This is a wonderfully simple, refreshing beer to drink. Nice and light, with just the right amount of blackberry flavor balanced out by the light maltiness of the beer. It would be ideal on a nice, mid-spring evening, but the middle of January is hardly a bad time to drink this beer. Since I like blackberries (well, the taste of blackberries, anyway), I'm definitely going to keep an eye out for this beer in the future.

Beer of the Week

The beer: Blueberry Wheat Ale

The brewery: Ellicottville Brewing Company, Little Valley, New York

Description (from the website): "A dry and fruity wheat beer with the perfect amount of mellow blueberry flavor. EBC has been brewing this beer for over 10+ years as it continues to grow in popularity — even internationally."

Would I buy it again? Personally, I wouldn't, but that's because I'm just not a huge fan of the blueberry taste. If you enjoy blueberries, I think you'd get a lot out of this beer. It's got a good balance of blueberry taste and beer taste. Also, a clarification on the brewery name: This brewery has multiple locations, including one in Ellicottville, N.Y. But this particular bottle was brewed and bottled in Little Valley. Very important information right there.