The Week in Review (What I drank in a sentence or less)

1. Uinta Crooked Line Series-Cockeyed Cooper-A bourbon Barrel aged barley wine. I have not had much from this brewery but this was good, I will have to seek out others from the Crooked Line.
2. Resurrection Ale-I picked up a 6 pack of cans of this beer from Baltimore. 7% Belgian ale in a can, Good stuff.
3. Sam Adams Sample A (Belgian Style IPA)-Part of the Sam Adams Beer Lover's Choice program. A good beer but not quite as good as Flying Dog's version of the style.
4. Sam Adams Sample B (American Rye Ale)-Sometimes I don't care for Rye ales, especially if there is a lot of Rye but this was good and not too much Rye. It also seemed to be the crowd favorite of the two.
5. Sam Adams Latitude 48 IPA-This is a very good IPA. Now available year round, it is nice to have a solid IPA option from Sam Adams.
6. Sam Adams Black Lager-I had not have not had this for a couple of years and forgot how good it is. Almost like a porter. A very good beer.
7. DuClaw Brewing Serum-A Double IPA. Very Hoppy and at 9% a bit overpowering. Not quite as balanced as I would have liked.
8. Rogue John John Hazelnut-This is the 3rd installment of the John John Ales and again as with the first two, it is a bit disappointing. I had high expectations for this one as I really enjoy the nuttiness of the Hazelnut and figured the rum barrel aging would add to it. Instead I feel like they traded the nuttiness for a rum flavor. It is good, probably my favorite of the three so far but I was hoping for more.

GABF Medal Recap

10! The local breweries/brewpubs will be bringing 10 medals back to the Philly Region. Here is the recap:

1. Category 4: Field Beer-Bronze for Weyerbacher Brewing CO-Imperial Pumpkin Ale
2. Category 22: Kellerbier/Zwickelbier-Silver for Triumph Brewing Co-Kellerbier
3. Category 34: European-Style Dunkel-Silver for Triumph Brewing Co-Dunkel Lager
4. Category 37: Bock-Silver for Troegs Brewing-Troegenator
5. Category 49: American Style Amber/Red-Silver for Troegs Brewing-HopBack Amber Ale
6. Category 61: South German Style Hefeweizen-Gold for Stoudt's-Heifer in Wheat
7. Category 64: French and Belgian style Saison-Gold for McKenzie Brewhouse-Saison Vautour
8. Category 70: Robust Porter-Gold for Iron Hill-Pig Iron Porter
9. Category 76: Imperial Stout-Gold for Iron Hill-Russian Imperial Stout
10. Category 79: Barley Wine Style Ale-Gold for Troegs Brewing-Flying Mouflan

Congratulations to Troegs Brewing Co. (3 medals), Iron Hill Brewery (2 medals), Triumph Brewing Co. (2 medals), Weyerbacher (1), Stoudt's (1), and McKenzie's Brewhouse (1)!

Not your typical Pumpkin Beer!

I picked up a new beer from Heavy Seas from their Mutiny Fleet line of Beers. It is an Imperial Pumpkin Ale aged in Bourbon barrels. I have been loving the barrel aging trend (especially Backwoods Bastard from Founder's and many others) and this one really intrigues me as it is a Pumpkin beer, sounds good even though I am not a huge fan of Pumpkin beers. This beer comes in at 9% abv and reading the beeradvocate reviews, I think I will enjoy it. I have also enjoyed many of the newer releases from Heavy Seas lately, most recently I had Smoke on the Water (a smoked porter) and it was quite good. After this, I will be trying the newest Rogue John John Ale-Hazelnut aged in Rum Barrels. You have to love some of these creations lately-quite unique!

The Week in Review (What I drank in a sentence or less)

1. Brooklyn-Pennant Ale-Great session Pale Ale and great special at Bell-$16.99 a case-Can't be beat!


2. Stillwater Artisanal Ales-Stateside Saison-Solid Saison from a new brewery-Have to try other styles from Stillwater. Very Promising.


3. The Pike-Kilt Lifter Scotch style Ale-Very good and at $3.99 a bomber, a great deal too!


4. Rogue-Double Chocolate Stout-(chocolate) x 2=8.7% abv. of goodness!


5. Ballast Point-Sculpin-On tap @ Blue Monkey Tavern, So Good!


6. Stone IPA-on tap @ Bobby Ray's Place opening night-Bar was crowded (too soon to evaluate)-This beer was great and reminded me how much I love West Coast IPAs!


7. Coffee Porter (my latest home brew)-Down to less than 10 bottles-Still holding up well, I still think it should be darker but the flavor is good!


8. Wolaver's-Pumpkin Ale-Sampled at Bell beverage and then a case purchased to be split between Linda and Wendy-Good beer, just not my favorite style.


9. Dogfish Head-Bitches Brew-A very limited release with a lot of hype. It was good but I expected more.


10. Victory-Hop Devil-An old favorite, had it on tap at Chickie's and Pete's South Philly


11. Yards-Pale Ale-A very solid Pale Ale, again at Chickie's and Pete's South Philly

On Deck

I have a bunch of new stuff that I will be trying soon:

• Dogfish Head-Bitch's Brew (Beer brewed to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Miles Davis album) Very Limited
• Rogue-21 ale (Brewed to commemorate the 21 years of Beers Rogue has brewed for the Oregon State Fair)
• Rogue-OREgasmic Ale

And further out....Waiting to find and buy and try:

• Founders Nemesis
• Founders Backwoods Bastard
• Rogue John John Hazelnut Ale

Sly Fox Rauchbier

I was in Reading PA today and had lunch with an old friend, it's always good seeing someone you've known since grade school especially since I am pretty sure I shared my first beers with him (and a few wine coolers unfortunately!) No beer at lunch as we were both working, but on the drive home, I stopped at the Royersford location of Sly Fox for a quick growler fill (Yes, I travel with an empty growler at all times!). You have to love $9 growler fills when so many places are charging as high as $20 for a standard fill. I was glad to find a Sly Fox beer on tap that I had not had prior and so the growler fill decision was quick and easy-Rauchbier! I have not tried it yet but will be soon. This is a style that can go either way for me. Some brew it perfectly with just the right amount of "smokiness" yet I have had some that overpower the beer with too much and you feel like you are drinking Liquid Bacon! This is also a beer style where aroma is very important. Here is beeradvocate.com's definition of Rauchbier: http://beeradvocate.com/beer/style/7

Today's Haul!

A quick trip into Elkton MD to visit Stateline Liquors netted 7 awesome bottles of Beer:

• Stateside Saison
• Rogue John John Ale-Dead Guy
• Red Hook Limited Series-Expedition
• Brothers Reserve (Widmer) Cherry Dopplebock (wood aged)
• Du claw-Black Jack Stout
• Du claw0Serum Double IPA
• Crooked Line-Cockeyed Cooper

Stateline never disappoints and just for signing up for the e-mail club, you always get 10% off all purchases. http://www.statelineliquors.com/

New Business Profile

http://brewyourownbottle.com/

Brew Your Own Bottle is a new Home Brew Shop in New Jersey. Located in Haddon Township, it is positioned well for the beer lover. Right down the street from The Pour House and Cork, Haddon Ave is quickly becoming a Beer Lover's NJ destination.

BYOB has Beer kits, Wine kits, bottles, and basically all the supplies you need to get started brewing or continue your hobby. The owner is in the process of getting Licensed so there can be on sight classes and 4 oz. samplings. On premise brewing and classes are offered as well.

I have about 10 bottles of my Coffee Porter left and have been thinking it is time for my next brew...BYOB has some great extract kits and I will surely be returning soon to decide on the next brew, maybe an Imperial IPA, a smoked Porter...who knows but whichever I decide, I will post here!

NEW BEER

Everyone that is into good beer is most likely well aware of Sierra Nevada. Each year, I look forward to the release of Celebration (In my opinion, it is the best Hop profile for the price). Torpedo was a welcome addition to their portfolio and now they have added a new Fall seasonal called Tumbler. It is described on the bottle as an "Autumn Brown Ale". I know it is August and still hot and humid but since it is hitting shelves now, I picked up a six pack to be able to try it at it's freshest. Tumbler comes in at 5.5% abv so it is a perfect session beer. It is a very solid brown ale with a malty, bready flavor and a hint of bitterness in the finish. Very Drinkable!

It's early August and...

...the fall beers are hitting the shelves. Oktoberfests, Autumn ales, Pumpkin Ales...I have seen many on the shelves already! Sierra Neveda's newest beer-Tumbler (An Autumn Brown Ale) is out, Weyerbacher Imperial Pumpkin is out, Long Trail Harvest Ale is out. I am sure there are more and of course a lot more still to come! One of the best Oktoberfest beers made in the US is Victory Fest beer. Bottled seasonally Sept-Oct but I recently learned if you are a big fan of this beer it is on draft year round and it is PJ Welihan's house beer year round-known as PJW Copper Lager.