Pub Crawlin’

At the same time I wrote the title for this post, D said, “You know, we really should be packing for our trip!”

Ah…yes…we should, but we received a growler of Two Brother’s Hop Juice today, which means the world has stopped and I am enjoying a pint. 

This is a beautiful double IPA from a family owned and operated brewery just outside Chicago. The growler, which was fairly generic, had a nice foam in the neck, and poured with a head like that of an ice cream float. As I sip this ale, a thick lacing lines the sides of the glass.  The color is a beautiful amber-orange. The big, frothy head is deceiving, because the overall carbonation is actually light in the mouth.

The nose is pleasant and light - like the freshness of a forest after spring rains. I’m really enjoying the flavors of citrus, herb and and pine. It has the sweetness of brown sugar and a bit of resin and bitterness from the hops.

The website informs me this is a 2008 seasonal artisan release for February and is brewed to 9.9% AVB, 100.1 IBUs, and dry hopped with a pound of hops per barrel. I’m glad to be enjoying this extremely drinkable ale this from the comfort of my home, as I think I’ll be enjoying another pint while I pack!

If we can’t finish it tonight, we’ll have to find a friend willing to stop by the house to finish it for us…volunteers? Thanks, S-Man, for sending this our way!

As part of my campaign to “take back the basement in 2008,” a tasting party at our house seemed in order. D decided to make it a premature St. Patrick’s Day meal of corned beef, cabbage and potatoes, and chose a nice line-up of beers to share.

It was a little bit of an open-house situation with a count of approximately fourteen - twice the number that can comfortably sit at our table - and many brought additional food and brews. It made for a really nice gathering of acquaintances. Here is the line-up (in alphabetical order, since I don’t recall the exact order of presentation):

• Bar Harbor Brewing Co. Special Amber Ale (Vintage 2007; Bottle Number 587)
• Bell’s Two-Hearted (5 liter mini-keg)
• Berkshire Brewing Co. Bourbon Barrel Scotch Ale (brewed exclusively for Julio’s Liquors)
• Berkshire Brewing Co. Lost Sailor IPA
• The Brewer’s Art Green Peppercorn Tripel (no oysters here…)
• Cassissona (sparkling black currant-aged 6 months-bottles 2/25/2005)
• Firestone Walker Porter Reserve
• Frederiksberg Chocolate Stout (I hope I have the correct link!)
• Full Sail Top Sail Imp. Porter Bourbon Barrel Aged Brewmasters Reserve 2008
• New Glarus Brewing Raspberry Tart
• One Guy Cinnamon Boldy (growler; brewed with honey and Vietnamese cinnamon)
• Pisgah Baptista
• Pisgah Valdez (growler)
• The Portsmouth Brewery IPA
• Sixpoint Craft Ales Bolshoi Russian Imperial Stout(signed by brewmaster Shane C. Welch - batch # 74, bottle # 652)
• Ska Brewing Nefarious Ten Pin Imperial Porter
• Southern Tier Choklat
• Stone 6th Anniversary Porter
• Stone 9th Anniversary Ale
• Stone Russian Imperial Stout
• Stuise Brewery Aardmonnik Earthmonk Flemish Sour Ale (1000 bottles every 2 years)
• Thomas Hardy’s Ale - 1986 (Bottle #A 32923; 1986 was the year Thomas Hardy’s Ale was introduced to the United States for sale)
• Unibroue Edition 2004

I owe a special thanks to Jason, not only for bringing the ever-so-tasty buffalo chicken dip, but for being so thoughtful to provide the growler of One Guy Cinnamon Boldy. It was a bit polarizing - some people didn’t care for the sweet, hot cinnamon in their lager, while others (like me!) absolutely loved the tingling in the nose and the heat dancing on the tongue. It’s such a nice beer with a sneaky 9% punch! , low alcohol treat.

I broke out the Lindt Excellence 70% Cocoa (and some less-potent dark chocolate) to go with the New Glarus Brewing Raspberry Tart, and transition us over to the Southern Tier Choklat.  My mom would say of both, “that’s not beer!,” but I’m so glad that the brewers didn’t think that way. I’m such a fan of the hops, but these two treats take me down a whole different path of enjoyment.

I pulled out the Lively Run Fine Herb Chevre, and it was a big hit. It went well with rosemary crackers from The Fine Cheese Company, which I had in the cupboard. Unfortunately, it was gone by the time we opened up The Brewer’s Art Green Peppercorn Tripel. It was a little too peppery for my taste, but would have probably gone well with this calming, mellow cheese.

My biggest surprise was the Stuise Brewery Aardmonnik Earthmonk Flemish Sour Ale. Given that I am not a huge fan of sour beers and D is, I expected he would enjoy it and I would be less positive. In reality, I thought this was a pretty good and certainly drinkable sour ale. D couldn’t think of one good word to describe it! He was the only one of the six people around the table who did not care for this beer.

The beer of the night was the Thomas Hardy Ale. It was a vintage ale from 1986, and came from the other Jason’s cellar (it seems the men had to have a J or D name to be invited to this party - Jeff, Jason, Jason, John, Joseph, Dave, David and Deuane represented the male population.) We broke out the snifter glasses for this one, and it was absolutely worthy of new glassware. So smooth, so wonderful.

We started early with an intention to drive to Appalachian Brewing Company to hear Herbie, but D was in no condition to drive, and I was happy to continue hosting (we did pop the Herbie CD in the stereo, though!) 

Things wrapped up pretty late, and we didn’t get out of the house on Sunday in time for the Philly Beer Week events (with the cancellation of the Game Dinner, and no appetite to attend the Lost Abbey brunch, my interest waned a bit anyway.) What a great way to spend our shortened weekend!

We can’t thank the Kledis family enough - really for ALL of their hospitality, but also for putting on a great gathering last night. It was so much fun to join with people we met last year, and make a few new friends, during this major tasting. Everyone brought something great either to eat or to drink (or both), and I believe there were five cases of beer in total. We didn’t drink all of it, thank goodness, but we put a dent in the collection.

Here is the list that D came up with from his notes and I will back up with photographs.  They appear in no particular order, as we weren’t exactly careful about that:

• Westvleteren 12
• Southern Tier Gemini
• Southern Tier Choklat
• Voodoo Brewing Voodoo Love Child
• New Glarus Belgian Red
• New Glarus Raspberry Tart
• New Glarus Copper Kettle Weiss
• Mikkeller Black Stout
• Sprecher Abbey Tripel
• Dogfish Head World Wide Stout
• Dogfish Head Palo Santo
• Dogfish Head Olde School Barleywine
• Catawba Valley Whiskey River Stout
• AleSmith Speedway Stout
• AleSmith Yule Tide
• Lost Abbey Lost and Found
• Lagunitas Under Cover Shut Down Brown
• Pisgah Cosmos
• Pisgah Baptista 2006
• Pisgah Baptista 2007
• Pike Old Bawdy Barleywine
• Fonteinen Oak Aged Kriek 2005
• Pizza Port Old Viscosity
• Pizza Port Santa’s Little Helper
• Alaskan Barleywine 2007
• Old Dominion Oak Aged Millenium Barleywine 2006
• DeSchutes Abyss 2007
• Saint Somewhere Saison Athene
• Jolly Pumpkin Bier de Mars
• Atlantic Brewing Company Cadillac Mt. Stout
• Fantome Chocolate
• Abbey de Saint Bon Chien 2005
• Three Floyd’s Dark Lord
• New Holland Dragon’s Milk
• Moylans Hopsickle
• Kuhnhenn Raspberry Eisbock
• Surly Furious
• Lakefront Fuel Cafe
• Brutal Deluxe Dark IPA

So, on the way out of town, we will stop off at Over Easy for brunch with the Raiford’s, Bruisin’ Ales for one last purchase (yes, we always think of something more, and that store is so awesome, it’s hard to pass up a visit!), and Barley’s for a final glass of Pisgah Valdez.

A year after a very successful hand bottling project with Pliny the Elder, we finally got it together to get together for another chance to bottle an unbottled product. This time, we picked two sixtels of East End Brewing Company beers - Cherry Grisette and Black Strap Stout - and worked under the blessing of brewer Scott Smith (as long as we make it clear to those who share it that East End is not bottling this stuff.)

It was just the right size of a group to get the job done without falling all over each other. Matt was a great host to the bottling crew and took care of keeping things sterile and on schedule; Mike came up from Collegeville with the tools, expertise and CO₂ we needed; Jason came down from Hazelton with bottles to fill and beer to taste; D and I headed over from the west and supplied the sixtels. We gathered in Paradise, PA where shoofly pie and Amish buggies abound.

We began by sanitizing the bottles and caps, and getting the sixtels connected to the CO₂ and the Blichmann beer gun. Then, working like a well oiled machine, we dumped the sanitizer from the bottles, pre-capped to keep sanitary, filled, capped, washed, dried and boxed four cases of 12-oz bottles. Everyone had a role, and sometimes we switched our roles, but we got the job done pretty quickly. And thank goodness - as the outside temperatures dropped from 42° F to 28° F the biting wind made it difficult to function.

With the exception of an incredible amount of foam in the Cherry Grisette, things went very well. Mike kept adjusting the CO₂ with the thought that our set-up was the problem, and then I had a flashback to our January 12 visit to East End. The Grisette that day was so very foamy at the brewery - so much that we had to wait for our glasses to settle before tasting - and this was surely from the same kegging. Instead of adjusting the gas, we adjusted the filling technique, and things really smoothed out after that.

We took a break over homemade pizza before moving on to our second bottling, and we had time to warm up over a few good beers. I’m sorry that I didn’t write them all down, however, among the interesting homebrews that we had were a Rogen Weizen from Matt, Jeremiah’s Imperial Stout (made with cinnamon and apple; over 13%) and Dark IPA from our own Brutal Deluxe Brewing; among the professionally brewed beers were Hammerin’ Ale from Bavarian Barbarian and Season’s Wheatings from One Guy Brewing Company.

A few notes on a few of the beers:

• Our Dark IPA turned out really great (in my humble opinion.) We made it using a technique called hop bursting (or late hopping) where we added no bittering hops; only hops from the aroma hop addition to the end of the boil (one addition every five minutes.) It had a great dark color, and a big burst of hop flavor reminiscent of Olde Frosty from Selin’s Grove Brewing Co.
• Hammerin’ Ale was a really nice shade of amber. The flavor reminded us a lot of a hopped-up Yuengling Lager (but it isn’t a lager) with the malt character and hop flavor strong enough to give this ale life, but remaining well balanced. It’s more of a session beer than the big hop ales I usually lean toward, however, I liked it enough to get this growler for us and another for my parents.
• Season’s Wheatings pours a deep brown copper with an attractive tan head, and filled my nose with spicy sweetness (I think my first words were, “red birch beer!”) It has an intense spice combination of ginger, cinnamon, clove and nutmeg. The ginger lightly burned in the throat. At 9%, this could be dangerously enjoyable. At the risk of comparing all of Guy’s spice beers to tea, this one reminded me of the seasonal Gingerbread Spice tea from Celestial Seasonings.

When we returned to the bottling, the Black Strap Stout went so much better. The temperatures kept dropping, and the wind picked up considerably with wind chills probably in the teens, so it was good that we could move quickly. While we cleaned up, we noticed that exposed beer and water froze within minutes.

Despite the cold, it was a great time and now we have some great beer to add to our [endless] collection.

The last 4 days on the Advent Calendar of Beer

Dec. 22 - Winter Warmer - (Santan Brewing Company) this was sent to us in a growler from Chandler, AZ.  The same person who sent the Papago delivered this to us, and the packing job was SO VERY superior!  When I began to unpack it, it was so riduculously well wrapped, cushioned and prepared for travel - I was so amazed.

Dec. 23 - Winter Ale  (Smuttynose Brewing Company)

Dec. 24 - Olde Frosty IPA from draft in a growler (Selin’s Grove Brewing Company)

Dec. 25 - Harveys Christmas Ale (Harvey & Son Ltd.) - A pleasant way to celebrate Christmas.  A little like horehound candy in a glass!

Overall, this was a fun little experiment.  I don’t think we actually cleared out the basement, but we had a nice selection of beers to enjoy throughout the season.

Now…off to San Diego to start of the new year!

The third 7 days on the Advent Calendar of Beer

Dec. 15 - Old Fezziwig® Ale  (Samuel Adams) - Winter Warmer

Dec. 16 - Carolina Winter Porter (Carolina Brewing Company) - an American Porter created with Simcoe hops.

Dec. 17 - Christmas Ale (Corsendonk) - Belgian Strong Dark Ale

Dec. 18 - Winter Ale (Wyerbacher)

Dec. 19 - Cherry Vanilla Maple Porter (Brutal Deluxe Brewing) - our 2006 homebrew Christmas beer.

Dec. 20 - Anise Spruce Ale (Brutal Deluxe Brewing) This the second of two Christmas beers we brewed in 2007, and it’s possible there is a better name and I just don’t know it.  We were really looking forward to the spruce essence, but the star anise completely overpowers it - a bit reminiscent of NyQuil, unfortunately.  Hopefully it will mellow with time, but not in time for Christmas.

Dec. 21 - Gray’s Wassail (Gray’s Brewing Company); Olde Frosty IPA from the Firkin  and Solstice Dubbel (Selin’s Grove Brewing Company) - yes, it was a busy day of beer drinking on Friday. D had the Gray’s Wassail at home because he had to work, while I took the afternoon off and camped out at Selin’s Grove for six hours. 

I can’t speak for his Wassail, but I thoroughly enjoyed Olde Frosty IPA from the firkin! It was tapped at 3:30 PM, and kicked in 1.5 hours.  I had the honor of finishing off the last 1/2 pint! It had a piney hop character with hints of caramel sweetness, and the flavors of the wood really came through (apparently it was only in there for 4 days.) This is a beer I’ve looked forward to tasting all year, and I wasn’t disappointed. I brought home a growler of Olde Frosty on CO2 for D to try, and it will be interesting to compare.

Also, Selin’s Grove brought out the Solstice Dubbel on this special day, which I thoroughly enjoyed. The Pumpkin Ale was still on (but I bet it isn’t any longer), so I had a 1/2 pint of that, as well as a glass of Razz Merry.  My holiday favorites - all in one place!

The second 7 days on the Advent Calendar of Beer

Dec. 8   - Christmas Ale (Great Lakes Brewing Company)

Dec. 9   - Old Man Winter (Southern Tier Brewing Company)

Dec. 10 - Mad Elf 2006 (Tröegs Brewing Company)

Dec. 11 - Santa’s Private Reserve (Rogue Ales)

Dec. 12 - Snow Goose Winter Ale (Wild Goose Brewery)

Dec. 13 - Snowcap (Pyramid Breweries) on draft at the Brewhouse Grille, Camp Hill (PA)

Dec. 14 - 2007 Christmas Ale (Sly Fox Brewing Company)

A box arrived on our doorstep on Tuesday evening.  It was damp and crumpled - the taped top had collapsed and opened a bit, so I reached in.  Through the peanuts I discovered a bubble-wrapped growler!  Wahoo!  Our second in a series of trades arrived (and I quickly looked at the return address to find it was from Arizona.)

I placed the box in the sink, not knowing how much liquid was loose in the box.  It really wasn’t too much - it got soaked up by the cardboard box, the enclosed coasters, and was all over the bubble wrap.  The growler cap was taped (not super-taped, though), so I rinsed the clear growler and placed it in the fridge - not fair to drink it without D!

When the cap label dried, I was able to read that our beer is Hop Father from Papago Brewing in Scottsdale, AZ.  Yeah!  New to us!  It is a Double IPA, and I’ve found conflicting reports that it is anywhere between 7% - 8%  ABV, and in excess of 100 IBU’s.

Despite the spillage, it poured nicely tonight and still had significant carbonation.  It had a nice orange bronze hue, and fairly floral, hoppy aroma.  The flavor was more malty than I prefer, but certainly the hop characteristics came through - especially on the finish.  It seems a little thin for a double IPA, but I do admit that earlier in the evening, I had two glasses of Devil’s Milk and tasted Black Jack Imperial Stout at DuClaw’s.  The Hop Father’s finish was really nice, and it got better as it warmed.

I’m glad I got to try it, but I think D will be the one finishing it down…

The first 7 days on the Advent Calendar of Beer

Dec. 1  - St. Bernardus Christmas Ale in a bottle (Brouwerij St. Bernard)

Dec. 2  - 2007 St. Fillian’s Wee Heavy Scotch Ale (aka Barleywine) on Cask (Selin’s Grove Brewing Co.)

Dec. 3  - Bush de Noël - Scaldis Noel (Dubuisson)

Dec. 4  - Razz Merry (Selin’s Grove Brewing Co.) - a brown ale made with raspberries; had it straight up, and also in a 1:2 blend with Shade Mountain Oatmeal Stout

Dec. 5  - Merry Christmas & Happy New Year 2006 (Anchor Brewing Co.)

Dec. 6  - Samichlaus Bier 2003 (Schloss Eggenberg)  This beer gets a special mention since it is brewed only once a year on December 6.  We drank it to honor this year’s batch.  According to the Guinness Book of Records, it is the strongest lager beer in the world with 14 % alcohol and 32° original extract content.

Dec. 7  - New York Lights Christmas Ale (Brutal Deluxe Brewing)  This is our homebrew, and one of two Christmas beers we brewed in 2007.  This particular beer was brewed during a camping trip at Watkins Glen, and the flavor was enhanced with orange zest, cinnamon sticks and fresh ginger.  Right now, the ginger is a bit overpowering, but we’re hoping it will mellow a bit.  It did have a really nice head and a beautiful amber glow.

Give it to D to find a creative way to clear out some of the inventory…  How about a new and/or different beer each day between December 1 and 25?  He calls it his Advent Calendar of Beer.

Instead of little candies, we get little beer surprises each day.  I’m not exactly sure what the rules are - perhaps he’s making them up as we go along - but it’s been fun trying.

We kicked it off with a weekend away on December 1 and 2, joining up with friends and traveling the “golden triangle of PA beer,” which includes Otto’s Pub & Brewery in State College, The Bullfrog Brewery in Williamsport, and Selin’s Grove Brewing Co. in Selinsgrove. 

In addition the the three brewpubs, we enjoyed several additional stops including Zeno’s Pub in State College (where I picked up my St. Nicholaus Brewer’s Reserve in the pretty velvet bag!), a private tasting with the Ferry’s, and an extra visit to Bullfrog for Sunday Brunch (yummmm - beer and eggs - the last time I did that was at Holy Cow in Las Vegas.)

Over the course of the trip, we consumed the brews below.  I know the list looks long, but remember that there were 4 of us traveling, 8 of us at the tasting, and the three brewpubs all offered half-pints. 

At Otto’s - they had 10 beers on tap plus 2 on the handpump

• Arthur’s Amarillo Pale Ale on cask
• Mom’s Elderberry Stout
• Ottonator Doppelbock
• Apricot Wheat
• Jolly Roger Russian Imperial Stout on cask

At Zeno’s - so many taps and bottles, we can’t count that high…3 cask beers (there is a good reason this place was placed in the Top 50 Places to Have a Beer (#41))

• Arthur’s Amarillo Pale Ale on cask (again!)
• St. Nick Bock - Penn Brewing
• Gouden Carolus Ambrio
• Bell’s Two Hearted - featured on the TODAY show this week
• St. Bernardus Christmas Ale - this is the first year available in US in bottles, and was the honorary first beer on the Advent Calendar.

At Bullfrog - they had 12 of their own (2 on cask) and two guest taps; unfortunately the Hop Harvest kicked the previous day.

• Blue Collar Brown on cask
• Wolfsblood Scotch Ale
• Lights Out Imperial Stout
• Edgar IPA
• Inspiration Red

In bottles at the Ferry’s house (I think more were consumed - these were just for the tasting; many more were not consumed!)

• Strawberry Creme Ale - Brutal Deluxe Brewery (our homebrew)
• Mount Desert Island Ginger Beer - Atlantic Brewing Co.
• Black Raspberry Reserve - Sly Fox
• Christmas Ale - Great Lakes Brewing Co.
• Old Man Winter - Southern Tier Brewing
• Scratch Beer #4 - Troegs Brewing
• Merry Christmas & Happy New Year 2006 - Anchor Brewing Co.
• 2007 Smoked Porter - Alaskan Brewing Co.
• Hibernation Ale - Great Divide Brewing Co.
• Old Abominable Barrel Aged/Bottle Conditioned Barleywine - Stout’s Brewing Co.

At Selin’s Grove - there were 8 beers on tap and 2 on the hand-pump

• Pumpkin Ale on nitrogen
• Mud Puppy Organic Brown Ale on cask
• Mud Puppy Organic Brown Ale on nitrogen
• India Pale Ale
• St. Fillian’s Scotch Style Barleywine on cask; the second beer on the Advent Calendar

Thanks to Heath and Kim for keeping a great pictorial diary of the trip (most of the photos I’ll use in this post are his…they still need to be edited before they get added…)  It was great fun to travel with them. 

Dave and Pascha went out of their way to make our trip complete by hosting the tasting, providing a nice assortment of finger foods, and allowing us to sleep over (and Pascha sent me home with a great reading list!)  Thanks SO much to them, and their entertaining children. 

Mary and Steve were delightful company for the tasting, plus I got to see Mary’s Galapagos program, which was cool.  It was really fun to see them again.

What a nice way to kick off the month!