Filed under: Beer Festivals, Beer Travel, Bottle Shops, Craft Brewed Beers, North Carolina, Travel, microbreweries
Julie said it all so well when she talked about the night before Brewgrass Eve. As one Ashevegas local put it last night as she stood in line to get her BrewDog tastings, “Thursday night is ‘going out night’ in Asheville”, and there was plenty to do!
Bruisin’ Ales was just the start of a great night – the Scotland brewery was well represented with Jason and Julie talking up the seven different BrewDog beers available (I think the site lists 5, and then there were two of their Paradox beers as well – smoked and unsmoked.) Everything was really good, but I was most impressed with Dogma – a 7.8% ale brewed Scottish heather honey and a blend of guarana, poppy seeds and kola nut. Five malts and both Bramling Cross and Amarillo hops contribute to the complexity of this easy-drinking ale.
From the tasting, we headed over to the Thirsty Monk for the 7 pm tapping Founder’s Canadian Breakfast Stout. Just when I keep thinking, “Enjoy this – you’ll never get it again!,” the seemingly impossible happens, and someone else is serving it! The Monk also featured a cask of New Belgium Hoptober and a keg of Ballast Point Sculpin. It was great to catch up with all of our friends who came into town for the night and enjoy these three terrific beers!
I would be remiss if I didn’t mention a few other stops on our way to Asheville. It was enjoyable, as always, to make a stop off in Afton, VA at Blue Mountain Brewery where the Big DIPA was on tap, as well as the Nitro Ale Imperial Porter. We ended our enjoyable evening at Blue Mountain by sharing a bottle of Mandolin – a 9% Tripel named for the brewer’s wife (Mandi Lynn).We pulled in at the same time as Uncle Jedi and Purple Hat Joan (as planned!), so it was great to catch up with them over dinner.
That evening, we were sleeping in Blacksburg, so we decided to check out The Cellar, which had Blacksburger Pils on tap – served in the proper glass! – and also, Shooting Creek Rebel Ale. It was a quiet night in the college town, and I’m pretty sure we closed the place.
So then it was back to the hotel, where Jim shared a growler of Stone 09.09.09 Vertical Epic Ale with us! I was tired, and frantically searching for my driver’s licence (which I seem to have lost or forgotten…), but kept pulling myself out of it to enjoy this Imperial Belgian Porter brewed with chocolate malt, dark candi sugar, vanilla bean, and tangerine peel, then aged on French Oak chips. This 8.7% beer boasts chocolate, tobacco, molasses, vanilla and hints of banana and clove. It was a great finish for the night!
Finally, one more stop to boast about on our way out of Blacksburg – Vintage Cellar – where we found an amazing selection of wines and an outstanding beer selection. In the hundreds of beers there, I managed to seek out the one we thought we’d missed out on…a stray six pack of Duck-Rabbit Schwarzbier!
It’s raining in Asheville this morning, so we’re making a lazy one of it, but look forward to visiting Pisgah (just ’cause we love it!), Highland (for the special release of 2009 Tasgall Scottish Ale at 4 PM today!) and Wedge, among other things we’ll do in town on Brewgrass Eve!
Filed under: Beer Travel, Craft Brewed Beers, Growler Fills, Pennsylvania, microbreweries
When I first visited One Guy Brewing Company just a week after the opening, I knew it was good enough to make it. Approximately 19 months later, I’ve seen an amazing transformation!
From one room with plain walls, a simple bar, a unisex bathroom, a small brewery in the back – a place that only sold simple hot dogs and encouraged you to bring your own food – Guy has created a space to accomodate all of his fans!
This spring, the inside had a great expansion which included a second room, a women’s restroom and a funky paint job. And outside, Guy graded and gravelled an area overlooking the river.
At approximately 40′ x 80′, fenced on two sides, lined with tables – some under tents – and adorned with a variety of torches, this is a great outdoor space! Steps in the back 
corner lead to a serving window for beers, and bathrooms (currently porta-potties, but planned expansion for plumbing) are available on the opposite side. And there is room for bands (and now, a zoning permit allowing music until 11 pm!), as well as expanded parking.
If you were following the stories, you may have heard about the hoops it was taking to get this beer garden open, but patience and persistance prevailed, and it became a treat to end the summer!
In addition to the fabulous expansion of the facilities, Guy acquired a Blodgett commercial pizza oven creating a new layer of love for the pub. On Friday, we were able to try out the pizzas along with a couple of beers while enjoying a beautiful late summer evening on the river.
We enjoyed a Margherita pizza and the Steve-O Inferno – covered in fresh vegetables, including some nicely hot peppers - which were hand-made and delivered to the table by Guy. The thin crust and light homemade 
sauce was just perfect. Along with it, we had a couple of beers: Hondo Keller, Atomic Punk IPA and Oktoberfest. Everything was perfect!
We didn’t take any beer home this time, but were thrilled to see Guy is using the Nalgene growlers (or as Dave Hoops, co-founder of Fitger’s Brewhouse in Duluth, MN calls it, the “Adventure Growler” – introduced in response to the glass restrictions in the nearby Boundary Waters, a popular spot for canoeing, kayaking and camping.) Perhaps when the Peach Wheat comes out (and it will…it’s back there just sitting…), we’ll need to add to our growler collection!
I couldn’t help but notice that Berwick looked just a little bit brighter and a little more progressive on this visit. (Is it a coincidence that I thought about writing this a day before the Press-Enterprise wrote in the Roses and Thorns column, “Raise a glass to Guy Hagner, who has turned his dream of being a brewmaster into a growing business in Berwick…Because he took a chance on himself, Berwick is a better place.”?)
If you’ve never been there, why not try getting there for the brewpub’s first Oktoberfest, slated for Oct. 8-11 and 15-18!?!
Filed under: Beer Festivals, Beer News, Beer Travel, Craft Brewed Beers, New York, Special
A couple of weeks ago I wrapped my hands around the NYC Beer Passport and after looking it over, I am convinced this is a “must have” for anyone planning to be in New York for Beer Week or anyone new to drinking New York City.
This 160-page pocket guide contains details on everything that is happening around the city, but it’s so much more! Beer dinners, beer walks, articles on beer, an index of venues, an index of breweries (and where to find those beers) and a listing of styles that shows which beers (by style) will be found during NYC Beer Week.
82 pages are dedicated to participating bars. Each has a page, color-coded by borough, with maps, transit stops, hours, information about special features at the bar, a listing of featured beers, deals provided to passport holders, events at the bar and kitchen information. It’s a great tool for NYC Beer Week – good for deals throughout the city including event discounts – but it’s also helpful for return visits to the city. Some of the deals are available through Labor Day 2010!
During NYC Beer Week, the passport gets you $2 pints at each of the participating bars, a complimentary 8 oz pour of NY3 – the official beer of NYC Beer Week (a Farmhouse Ale brewed with local honey from each of the three brewers – Ithaca, Captain Lawrence and Southampton - which is dry-hopped with hops from Pedersen Farms) – at the Gotham Cask Festival, reduced rates on reservations for Beer Walks and the Brooklyn Brewery Scavenger Hunt, discounted entry to any of the Deconstructing Beer events or the Women in Beerspeakers panel, an additional complimentary beer at the Zagat House Specials dinners, and a souvenir glass at A Walk in the Park at Studio Square - the official closing event which boasts 40+ rare & special craft beers, the premiere of Beer Quest (soon to be found at beerquest.tv) at 4 PM and 8 PM, local foods and music.
By now, if you haven’t purchased a passport, you probably missed out on the pre-sale specials, but there is plenty to be gained by getting one of these, and you can pick them up all over the city!
Filed under: Beer Travel
Nothing posted since June?!?! Really?!?! WOW. I think Facebook has stolen all of my leisure Internet attention, and a total web site redesign at work zapped my energy for writing on the web. Or maybe I can blame it on the budget (today Pennsylvania is on Day 62 without a budget - one of two states in the country without a spending plan and there is no relief in sight.)
So, where have I been pubcrawlin’ all this time?
Our summer big-beer-trip – the start of which was my last blog posting – was with the destination Fargo, ND in mind. Why? So D could have a beer from his 50th state (for me, it was #49 – I still need Arkansas on my “drink a beer from” list; we both have a couple left on our “drink a beer in” states.) Did you know that ND only has one brewery, and sadly, it’s a Granite City?
We also got up to Winnipeg, after a bit of delay at the border (she wasn’t buying the backpacking, birdwatching, beer-traveling librarian story.) The goal there was to visit Half Pints Brewing, an excellent brewery run by one of our favorite brewers in Canada. We enjoyed that visit so much (yes, yes, I need to post about it alone!) and also a side-trip to Kings Head Pub for half-pints of Half Pints and great food (pakora with tamarind chutney, vegetable spring rolls served with plum dipping sauce, Scotch eggs with mango chutney and samosas with tamarind chutney.)
Our other big beer adventure this summer was Great Taste of the Mid-West in August. Eight people traveled for 5 days in a van called Mangina from Harrisburg, PA to Madison, WI and back. Chicago brought us down a bit with bad weather and deplorable traffic conditions, but the beer on our travels, and the glories of the destination made it all worth it! There were some CRAZY beers there. I need to find a way to retrospectively blog about this one…it was too awesome to be forgotten. We couldn’t have had six better beer-traveling companions!
Summer adventures in Philadelphia included the Royal Stumble with Ray and Cornelia (and a variety of great pubs and people fell into that weekend!), Christmas in July at Grey Lodge, and just last weekend, Founder’s Canadian Breakfast Stout and more at Teresa’s Next Door.
Back at home, I thoroughly enjoyed volunteering at the 2nd Annual Hops, Vines & Wines Festival in Selinsgrove, PA. What a fabulous festival in my home area! I was glad to be there to help serve Iron Hill beers, and the next morning, pinch hit to sing the anthem at my parent’s church.
These are just the major summer adventures. I can’t even begin to dream up all of the minor ones right now. And soon it will be time for New York City Beer Week and Brewgrass. Oh boy…time to call on that second liver…
Filed under: Beer Travel, Cask Ale, Craft Brewed Beers, Michigan, Travel, microbreweries
With 13 beers available, and flavor combinations like parsley, sage, rosemary, thyme, grapefruit, beets, lemon, maple, chocolate, ancho chili, vanilla, bourbon, cherries, and oranges, who wouldn’t be happy at Right Brain Brewery? I’m so glad this is where we chose to end the night. It’s a pub that, from a visitor’s perspective, gets overlooked by the very awesome Shorts Brewing in Bellaire. Granted, Shorts has a menu of delicious sandwiches and bottles for take-out, and they are pretty creative themselves (with 20 taps to choose from!) but Right Brain still wins for creativity.
We just missed a pale ale brewed with grilled asparagus and lemon peel, but we go the ancho chili dutch double chocolate porter, the Scarborough Fair spiced ale (brewed with parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme), a cream stout brewed with orange marmalade and peel, a wheat brewed with oven-roasted beets, an amber brewed with chocolate malt and cherry juice, a cream ale with maple syrup, barleywine aged seven months on Madagascar vanilla beans in Woodford Reserve bourbon barrels…it just goes on!
A staff member told us that the brewer has produced approximately 90 different beers in the year-and-a-half they’ve been open! For instance, the Pale Ale is a new recipe every time – practically every two weeks!
Right Brain is in the warehouse district of Traverse City, MI and located behind Salon Saloon, where “you sip, we snip”. It’s non-smoking, and the menu is limited to popcorn, tortilla chips and hummus. You are encouraged to bring your own food from outside, and sit at the bar, at one of the tables, or in a barber chair. There is no television, but they play music and have darts. There is a mug club, and the mugs are colorfully displayed on the wall. Windows also overlook the Salon Saloon.
Right Brain always has one beer on cask, and will serve Pints for $4.75 and half-pints for $3.25. Also, there are sample trays of six 8-oz pours for $15. Happy Hour on Monday – Friday from 3-6 PM means $3 pints, and there are growlers to go (and they will fill ANY growler – not just their own!)
If you find yourself anywhere near Traverse City, this place is absolutely worth the stop for rare and creative beers!
Filed under: Beer Travel, Craft Brewed Beers, Michigan, Travel, microbreweries
It’s the beginning of a “beer-cation”, and we travelled straight to Michigan for the start. There’s a little brewpub in Milan, Michigan that we have missed out on so many times coming through this area. We made it a point to get here today, and Original Gravity does not disappoint!
One block off what appears to be a “town square” (or maybe it was my sleepy-eyed perspective), at 440 County Street, is a little brick building with a packed parking lot. Arrive between 3 and 11 on Monday, and it will be Happy Hour all day. On Tuesday through Friday, it goes from 3 PM – 6 PM (and they remain open until 11.) Happy hour means a tall (20 oz) for the price of a small (10 oz.) We missed that, but it’s okay because neither of us needed talls…there are so many good beers to choose from! BTW – Original Gravity also keeps Saturday hours from 11:30 AM to 11 PM, and the owner/brewer told us he will often “open” when he’s here other hours.
Brad Sancho is the owner/brewer, and he was fairly quick to come and greet us. He seems to be friendly with all of the customers, and willing to make recommendations up and down the bar. The bar seats about 15 people, and wraps around the taps with the brewing area behind. A larger L-shaped dining room wraps around the bar, and some of the tables stick out as being unique – doors refurbished as tables. A shelf of games gives the impression that you are welcome to come and stay awhile, and outdoor seating to the back of the place looks welcoming on a warm, dry day.
Currently on tap are seven beers, and so far, not a bad one among them! We’re finding the following (I’m stealing some of the descriptive language from the web site):
- Southpaw IPA (O.G = 1.064; ABV 6.6%) has a pronounced hop flavor and aroma. It’s deliciously citrusy from tons of Cascade and Amarillo hops.
- Belgian Training Wheels (O.G. = 1.054; ABV 5.7%) is a Belgian Golden Ale brewed with Belgian candi sugar, wheat, and pilsner malt. The unique Belgian yeast strain gives this beer a citrusy and slight tart finish.
- Mason Brewer (O.G = 1.050; AVB 5.2%) is an English style Special Bitter named after Brad’s son. It is brewed with a variety of English malts, including wheat and rye.
- County Street Amber (O.G. = 1.054; ABV 5.5%) is a roasty Red Ale with caramel notes, balanced with loads of Cascade and Amarillo hops. With OG’s opening during the hops shortage, this was his substitute for an IPA for some time, and it holds up the hops!
- Primordial Porter (O.G = 1.058; ABV 5.3%) was the very first beer brewed here, and it is a robust porter! Almost black in color with a complex malt profile, it balances chocolate and coffee roastiness.
- Orange Peel Wheels(O.G. = 1.054; ABV 5.7%) is the Belgian Training Wheels infused with dried orange peel. It has a delicate citrus flavor and aroma, lending to a delicious starter beer for the evening.
- Vanilla Java Porter(O.G = 1.05O8; ABV 5.3%) has a description of “beer, coffee, vanilla… Mmm” on the board, menu and web site. It is a slightly aromatic and sweet porter, so dark that not a speck of light comes through. The roasty quality of the porter is strong enough to keep this from being a sugar-coated girly beer.
There is a nice menu of sandwiches, and fortunately we were attracted to the same thing. Not only did they let us share, but served the halves in separate baskets with a pickle for each of us (no fighting!) Our mesquite-smoked turkey with guacamole and Vermont cheddar was served on panini bread with a bag of Brickman’s Original Kettle Crunch chips (made in Grand Rapids.) On the side, we shared a Landjaeger* Sausage (yummm!)
Original Gravity beers range from $3 to $3.50 for a 10-oz pour and a $4.50 – $5 for a 20-oz. In addition to the sandwich menu (which includes deli and veggie combos, grilled cheese and PB&J), there are peanuts, pretzels and chips with salsa. Additionally there are Sprecher sodas available (root beer, cream soda, cherry cola (Dain, I think you owe me one of these!) and orange cream.
We had a really nice time at OG – the bartender, Stephanos (sp?), took great care of us and the locals were all chatty. It’s down on our list of places that “if I lived here, I would come here all the time!” I hope if you are reading this and you live there, you go often. It’s worth it!
* pork and beef, garlic, coarse ground, semi-dried German Hunter sausage from Usunger’s summer sausage collection, served in bite-sized slices for $2.50.
Teresa’s Next Door in Wayne, PA did a really wonderful job of hosting a Russian River Brunch today! There was a large crowd at the door for opening, and the welcoming host made an announcement assuring everyone that they would be let in and would get a table. People were quickly seated and served so efficiently. The staff did an amazing job handling this well-attended event.
We were extremely pleased with the 3-oz pours of Temptation (Batches 1, 2 and 3; 7.25 % ABV) - a blonde ale aged in French oak Chardonnay barrels with Brettanomyces – and found that batch 2 was most favorable at our table.
Next, we shared Vinnie’s Flight, which included taster pours of Blind Pig, Pliny the Elder, Damnation, and Salvation. At this point, the staff brought out a round of pastries, and started taking food orders.
With our lovely cheese plates, we had glasses of Pliny the Younger (10.5% ABV, a triple IPA that is hopped three times more than Pliny the Elder, then dry hopped four different times)and Consecration (10.5% ABV; a strong dark ale aged with currants for six months inside Cabernet Sauvignon barrels.) Also, the Holland’s ordered and shared a bottle of Supplication (Batch 3; 7.0% ABV; brown ale aged in French oak Pinot Noir barrels with sour cherries andthree strains of yeast.) PtY is always my favorite, and I milked it throughout the morning, but the sixtels of Younger and Consecration didn’t last very long!
Collaboration not Litigation was also flowing from the taps at Teresa’s. This blended Belgian-style strong ale weighs in at 8.72% ABV, and is a joint effort of Avery Brewing and Russian River Brewing. I won’t repeat the story behind it, but it’s easily found other places.
After that, I honestly have to say that I lost track of where my tastes were coming from… I mean, two friends and my husband were bringing me taster glasses, but I’m not sure which were from private collections and which were available for all, But a fine man named Kevin shared so many things that I’ll give him the credit. The beers were Depuration (Batch 1; 7% ABV; blond ale aged 15 months in oak barrels, with Chardonnay grapes and four strains of yeast added), Perdition (Batch 2; 6.1% ABV; Belgian-style pale ale with aromas of spicy hop, cinnamon, and pear), Beatification (which the website describes as a 100% spontaneously fermented beer using the oldest barrels that no longer have any wine flavor or oak flavor left in them), and Sanctification (Batch 3; 6.25% ABV; blonde ale fermented with 100% Brettanomyces.)
Again, I must compliment the staff of Teresa’s on such a well run tasting event. It wasn’t a cheap morning, but it was a fun time with friends we’ve known, and new friends made. Looking forward to another one soon!
Filed under: Beer Travel, Coffee Stout, Craft Brewed Beers, Milk Stout, Oatmeal Stout, Stout, microbreweries
I’ve neglected to follow up on the rest of our NC trip, and already we’ve already finished up another…Extreme Beer Fest!
I started this post on Friday, and it just goes to show that drinking and blogging don’t mix, as I never finished writing about the sweet stouts that stood out on that day as terrific primers for the festival ahead.
We stopped in Willimantic, CT at the old post office, which is now Willimantic Brewing Company, for lunch. I totally enjoyed my first S.W.A.K. Stout (5.4% ABV) so much that instead of trying something new, I had another! This is described by the brewery as an unfiltered Black Ale mashed with seven malts, hopped with Saaz and “Sealed With A Kiss” of vanilla. It was outstanding!
When we arrived in Boston, we started out by sharing a growler of Captain Lawrence Espresso Stout before taking the T to Redbones for barbeque and their 24 taps, including a large selection of Sixpoint beers (I must admit I ate vegetarian and drank water from a mason jar, so I don’t have many comments on the ‘que or the beers based on the tiny sips I had…)
Our final stop for the night was Cambridge Brewing Company where I had the CaCow! Chocolate Milk Stout (6.4% ABV). Brewed with barley, oats and an addition of lactose, the description says CaCow! was additionally aged with cacao nibs from Taza Chocolate in Somerville, and house-made vanilla extract to balance the roast with a little extra sweetness. We had terrible service at CBC – pretty much ignored by the wait staff – but every beer at the table was delightful.
It was a great first night in Boston, with many, many great beers to follow!
Filed under: Beer Travel, Cask Ale, Craft Brewed Beers, Non-Smoking, Pennsylvania
I just got back from Disney World. What do I want to do next? Make my first visit to Local 44, of course! It just opened on New Year’s day, and I’ve been itching to get there after reading all of the coverage.
D picked me up at the airport, and we were early to leave the city for the Seventh Annual Robbie Burns Birthday Bash at Sly Fox, so we decided to check out Local 44, which is one of West Philly’s newest pubs. It is located at the corner of 44th and Spruce, and there was plenty of street parking on our visit.
Local 44 is owned by Leigh and Brendan. Brendan is a proprietor of Memphis Taproom in the Kensington section of Philadelphia, and this space has a similar corner bar charm. The neighborhood is a safe and friendly residential area, and the plain storefront look hides the classy charm inside. The colors are sleek and rich, and the place just feels very comfortable.
When we first arrived, we were two of just a few other customers, so we had some nice conversation with Leigh. And when it got more crowded, she still did a fantastic job of making everyone in the growing house feel welcome and appreciated as a customer. It was obvious that most of the people were from the neighborhood, already embracing Local 44 as their “local” in the few short weeks it’s been open.
Local 44 specializes in session beers, serving mostly brews under 5.5% ABV and higher gravity beers in smaller quantities. Leigh was also happy to serve me half-pints, which was a welcome treat. There were 17 taps of goodness, and two PA beers on the handpulls, plus bottles of Orval – plenty of selection for beer drinkers across the spectrum – and the list is kept up to date on the website. Leigh was making fine recommendations to any neighborhood macro-drinkers who walked in the door, and could talk about breweries and fermentables with the geeks. This girl knows her beer, and she was a wealth of information.
The taps we enjoyed were:
- Yard’s Brawler (a very light 4.1% ABV)
- Coniston Bluebird Bitter(also coming in at 4.2% ABV)
- Köstritzer Schwarzbier (at 4.8% ABV)
- Elysian Immortal IPA (this one was 6.3% ABV)
- Bear Republic Red Rocket Ale (okay, this one was 6.8% ABV)
In addition to the beers, I snacked on the tacos, which come in fish or tofu (both sounded delicious, but I opted for plantain-encrusted mahi mahi with guacamole – check out a photo on the Beerlass blog.) The whole menu was mouthwatering, and there was a smooth way about placing salt, pepper and Sriracha on the bar for use while food was present, then slipping it away at the end of the meal.
Getting to the Local 44 from our home won’t be easy, but when I’m in the neighborhood, it may be difficult to keep me away from that place. If you have SEPTA transportation available, use the 42 bus or the 34 trolley and have one of everything. They are all worth it!
Filed under: Beer Travel, Craft Brewed Beers, Homebrewing, Pennsylvania, United States, microbreweries
We woke up to a world blanketed in snow – D went to Wegman’s and took coffee to Scott and Vickie (“wake up call!”) then back to our room, and we were out with enough time to eat at the Five & Dime Diner (loved my vegetarian omelet, and the bread for the toast was outstanding!) before heading west to Otto’s Pub & Brewery in State College.
Our local friends, Heather and Jake, came out to meet us at Otto’s and it was a nice visit. Vickie got a sample tray which included five beers, two of which she chose to be the cask ales. Scott and I had a Slab Cabin IPA and D had the Jolly Rodger. We certainly didn’t get to spend enough time there to thoroughly enjoy it, but we wanted to get to Zeno’s for the Black Lager – a rye beer brewed for Zeno’s by Otto’s. It was a great opportunity for me to sit at a quiet table and write “part 1″, while the rest of the crew socialized at the bar. D did make a run to Chumley’s for bottles of Shiner Holiday Cheer, and then we were off.
By late afternoon, we made it to Elk Creek Cafe + Aleworks. We were greeted immediately by staff who were expecting us, letting us know that the Anniversary Ale was still on, and that Tim (the owner) sent his regards but couldn’t be there to meet up with us. Our waitress, Marcy, was extremely attentive and personable – she made it a terrific visit. I drank the Duckwalk Dunkelbock which was really tasty with my meal, and around the table, we were able to enjoy a some of the others:
- Double Rainbow IPA
- Poe Paddy Porter
- Brookie Brown Ale
- Old Millheim Strong Ale on cask (aged for a year)
We basically closed the place, which we are thrilled to report is now open until 5:00 PM on Sundays.
It was a great visit, but eventually we had to get moving. One more stop before home, because Selin’s Grove was not only on the way, but also Vickie’s favorite! So here we sit…enjoying the last moments of our tour before they need to go home.
It’s been a great time, and we hope they will come back to do at least part of this with us again sometime. It’s a sure thing that we’ll be back to make the rounds again!
