Bentley’s Bistro, East Longmeadow MA

My friend Ron and I visited this interesting little bistro with a big beer list this past week. Bentley’s is in a small plaza in East Longmeadow MA, and proved to be quite enjoyable.

Over the course of a few hours, I had four pints along with a pieced-together meal of tasty appetizers and side dishes (BBQ chicken tenders, gorgonzola mashed potatoes, garlic broccoli), all beautifully prepared, and left feeling very stuffed.

My first beer was from Boulevard Brewing in Kansas City MO. I’d discovered their beers on my trip last July and enjoyed them, but I was honestly not prepared for their Love Child No. 9! This is a sour – and I normally love a good sour – but this one is a SOUR!!! with all caps and a few exclamation marks trailing on behind. It was truly a pucker-up-and-wince sour, and at 8.4% besides, was perhaps not the best choice for a starter. But I have to say that the quality was as good as others I’ve had from Boulevard … I just wouldn’t order this one again.

I followed that with a seasonal Gose from Samuel Adams, their Boston 26.2 which I had had a few days earlier at another place where it was billed as the Marathon 26.2. Now this is one I could drink a lot of! It has just a hint of sourness to it, but is actually quite mild and refreshing, a wonderful summer beer. And at just 4%, it truly could be an all-day beverage.

From here on, it was all about trying new beers with oddball names. The first was from Dogfish Head, a 6.5% Pale Ale called Dragons & YumYums. I wish I could remember something specific about it, but it didn’t seem to distinguish itself, unfortunately, perhaps due to having preceded it with the SOUR!!! and the Gose.

Closing the evening was an Evil Genius brew, a 6.7% Porter, their Purple Monkey Dishwasher. I do love a good porter, and this one was quite enjoyable. It would have been even better had I not eaten so much and felt as if I were cramming it in to make it fit … but it would definitely be a repeater given the chance.

So not bad overall – the 26.2 and the Dishwasher were both winners!