A plea from East End Brewery

Scott at East End Brewery in Pittsburg sent out this urgent plea for anyone who has a stash of growlers in their pantry:

Good Morning GOOD BEER Fans,

It's a little early for the next monthly newsletter dose here, but
there's something pressing I need to ask of you. I was hoping it
would not come to this. Because of the MASSIVE number of new and
returning faces that came through our door over the last few weeks
(thank you VERY much!), our stock of Growler Jugs that was projected
to last until early February has been entirely depleted. The new
stock won't arrive until next week, so until then, we're completely
out.

Let me say it another way: IT'S NEW YEAR'S EVE, AND WE HAVE NO EMPTY
GROWLERS TO PUT BEER INTO!.... Ugh.

So I need to ask you for help: If you have a pantry full of East End
Growlers, even if it's just one or two, and can come out to the
brewery, tonight would be a great night to do it. We will happily
take back any and all EEBC Growlers (and that's only EAST END Growlers
by the way...) and hand you 3 bucks for each one you bring in - even
if somehow you don't need to buy any beer while you're here. I would
appreciate it, and more importantly, your fellow GOOD BEER Fans would
really appreciate it too.

We had to resort to this once before and managed to keep everybody in
beer until the new shipment came in, so hopefully with your help we
can squeak by again... and if we don't, at least we've got 5 beers in
bottles to keep everyone in beer for their End of Year Festivities.

Thanks in advance for your help, and I'll talk to you here in another
week or two, long after this tragedy is over. Otherwise, I'll see you
tonight from 5-7pm!
Cheers,
Scott

$3 for each growler. Damn, wish I didn't live so far away.

Give em a hand if you can.

Good friends don't let friends drink crappy beer.

Brew Works Apricot Coriander Just Released

There is something about Central Pennsylvania and apricots. The folks around here just love them. And now Brew Works in Allentown, and Bethlehem have just released an Apricot Coriander Ale.

And they also are announcing this:

Allentown: Reincarnation Ale is released!
Reincarnation

At the Brew Works, we pride ourselves in being creative and innovative and with our newest release in ALLENTOWN we have done both. Using an old world brewing technique to harvest all the sugars from the mash (mixture of Grain and Water), we developed a second beer from our Rude Elf mash. The second mash highlights the caramel qualities and nuttiness of the grains. Then we boil it, add imported English hops, and ferment it with a special yeast to create an English Bitter style ale.

A new beer is born from, and with, the spirit of the Rude Elf.

Reincarnation is a copper colored ale with hints of caramel followed by a solid hop bitterness. 4.0%ABV makes this beer a satisfying brew with easy drinkability for everyone. Perfect for the postseason.

Get yourselves to Allentown, kids.

Namaste.

A note of apology

Today is December 26. I am a day late in my tasting of Penn Brewery St. Niklaus Bock.

I apologize. My system is just way to full of junk to do a reasonable tasting of this beer. Especially since this is the last year that Penn Brewery will be brewing out of their original digs.

I promise that I will test this beer later on today after my system has a chance to get rid of some of the stuff I have managed to stuff down my maw in the past 48 hours.

Thanks for your patience and understanding.

Namaste.

Dodd Brewing Company in action

Today the employees of Dodd Brewing Company bottled their latest offering. A nice red ale that had been in the fermenter for the past couple of weeks.

Sounds pretty impressive when you look at that way.

The reality is that today I washed 48 bottles, and filled them with a nice red ale that I had put in the fermenter a couple of weeks ago. Me. That is the extent of Dodd Brewing Company.

Dreaming big.

Namaste.

Kenzinger Ale

Last night I had the opportunity to drink Philadelphia Brewing Company's Kenzinger Ale.

On their website Kenzinger is described as"

"This is a real drinkin' beer! - a golden session ale that boasts both a European birthright and a thirst-quenching Philadelphia sensibility. Kenzinger is refreshingly crisp and smooth, with a spirited flavor that grabs the attention of taste buds everywhere. Get some!"

When I started drinking it the glass temp was about 45 degrees. The flavors didn't start coming out until the temp of the beer hit in the 60's. This is a nice ale, full of flavor. A good hot summers day beer.

Namaste.

Sam Adams Boston Lager

I have my taste buds back.

I am very, very thankful. You never fully appreciate the sense of taste until you just don't have it any more. You don't eat, because what is the point? You don't drink anything just for pleasure because, again, what is the point? And of course I wasn't going to drink any of the beers from the 2008 Beer Appreciation group.

But today my sinus cleared up, and I can actually taste again.

So I popped the cap off a Sam Adams Boston Lager. And my, oh my. This is the taste I am going for with every batch of homebrew that I put in the fermetor.

Boston Brewers, the company that makes Sam Adams beers, boasts about the amount of money and time go into making their product. And rightly so, the Boston Lager is a wonderful drink. Malty smoothness, with just the right tone of hops in the back taste. I have said it before, I am not a fan of hops. The Boston Lager uses German hops that don't overshadow the malt, they combine perfectly.

So. This hasn't been my favorite so far, though it is very good. I am reserving the declaration of favorite for later in the tasting. That being said, this is a beer that is great for just about any time, and any palate.

Enjoy

I can't taste anything

Therefore I am drinking no beer. A massive case of the creeping cruds has taken me over, stopped up my nose, and filled my head with cotton.

There will be drinking aplenty when the dam in my head breaks.

Enjoy yourselves responsibly over the next couple of weeks.

Namaste.

Orval Trappist Ale

Yep. Drank the Orval Trappist the other night.

According to Wikipedia:

"Orval Brewery (Brasserie d'Orval) is a Belgian trappist brewery located within the walls of the Abbaye Notre-Dame d'Orval monastery in the Gaume region of Belgium.

The brewery produces two trappist beers:

* Orval Trappist Ale, 6.9% ABV, often referred to as The Queen of Trappists. It was first made in 1931, and has a complex and unusual flavor and aroma produced by a unique strain of yeast. The beer is light in color, slightly cloudy, and has a large, foamy head. There is a complex aroma of leather, horse blanket, spice, and many other earthy components.
* Petite Orval, 3.5% ABV, beer brewed only for the monks (Patersbier). Although not generally available for sale, it can be purchased in the monastery itself or the café near the monastery.

As with all other Trappist breweries, the beer is only sold in order to financially support the monastery and some other good causes. All of the profits from the sale of the beer is distributed to charities and for community development around the region.

Beer critics consider Orval, like most Trappist beers, to be world-class quality [1], but it is definitely an outlier within the group. Its very distinctive taste is largely attributed to two parts of the brewing process. One of these is the use of dry hopping, in which large meshed bags of hops infuse the beer during the three week maturation period. The other is the use of Brettanomyces yeast during this same maturation, which are a local wild yeast.

Orval beer is bottled exclusively in a distinctive skittle shaped 33 cl bottle. The bottling plant has a capacity of 24,000 bottles per hour. The beer is then matured at 15 °C for a minimum of four weeks on site before being distributed. Beer that will be sold at the Abbey or local cafe is matured for six months.

As the beer is bottle conditioned, its flavour can improve over the years with aging, although its hop character and relatively low alcohol make it less suitable for this purpose than some other Trappist ales.

The brewery is normally closed to the public, but opens its doors for two days each year. There are presently 32 secular workers."

So what did I think?

First off, I had a reaction to this ale that I have had to other Trappist ales that I have drank. My throat started to close up. I don't know if it is from the yeast or what, but it feels that I am having a reaction to something in the ale that makes my throat swell. This only lasts for a couple of hours, but it is enough to be disconcerting.

Beyond that. This is a very good ale. Smooth, crisp, with very little back taste. The mouth feel is that of a maltier ale, with a mild hoppy back to it. This would be an ale that I could eat dinner with.

If my throat didn't close up when I drank it. Of course maybe that would help me not eat as much. Maybe this is a weight loss drink for me.

Hmmm.

Let me work on that one.

Namaste.

Troeg's Dead Reckoning Porter

As my next beer in the 2008 Beer Appreciation Tour, I had the honor of popping the cap off a Troeg's Brewing Company Dead Reckoning Porter.

This was the first time that I had a DRP. And I have to say that I was very happy.



DRP is a dark beer. Not as heavy as a stout, but with the same roasted grain, and malt taste with a nice small hoppy flavor on the back end. This is a heavy beer. This would not be a beer that I could enjoy with dinner. After dinner with a good cigar, yes. But this is a beer that is going to hang around with you for awhile so you might not want it on a full stomach.

5.8% ABV, and 53 on the bittering scale. Drinkable, good, and well worth trying on a dark winters night.

Namaste.

Budweiser Pale Ale

I drank and reviewed Budweiser Pale Ale the other day. Here is what I had to say about it:

Ok.

So I drank it today. Budweiser Pale Ale. An American Pale Ale, as opposed to a India Pale Ale.

We discussed the difference here, so I won't bore you with the repeat.

It was like drinking water. Very little taste. No hop taste, no malt taste, nothing. It was exactly what I expected from a Budweiser product.

I can't recommend it to anyone other than friends who have no taste in beers.

And that is the nicest thing I can think of saying about this beer.

Today I am checking the hits to this site and I find one from Anheuser Busch in St. Louis. No comment though. I would have expected at least something left. Maybe something along the lines of "hey, why don't you try it one more time and give it a real chance."

Or "So Phil, you don't like the American Ale. We can get with that. How about trying one of our dark beers. We have a couple that you might find to your liking."

But nothing was said.

Maybe I don't have a loud enough voice.

Hmmm.

What think you, blogosphere?

Erie Brewing Company

Erie Brewing Company was founded in October of 1993, it became operational in November 1994. Its original location was Union Station/Hoppers Brew Pub. It began with a manufacturing capacity of 1040 barrels, or 2080 1/2 kegs. In 1999 Erie Brewing Company transitioned from Brewpub to regional brewery. The company also moved to a new location at 1213 Veshecco Drive, Erie Pennsylvania. Thanks to the move, manufacturing capacity grew to 6,000 barrels, or 12,000 1/2 kegs, or the equivalent of 84,000 cases.

They offer a nice selection of year round beers, along with some seasonals. Last night I tasted their Fallenbock seasonal. Erie Brewing describes Fallenbock as an "Oktoberfest Lager: Robust, roasted, chocolate malt flavor, followed with a clean and crisp finish. Chocolate Brown."

7.8 abv, hop bitterness IPU of 16. This is a very drinkable dark beer. It is very mild. If you are looking for something that is going to make you sit and say "howdy", Fallenbock is not the one. It is good, but pretty unremarkable.

The head was thin, and went away fairly quickly. I started drinking at a temp of around 45, and finished when the beer was in the 60's. The taste stayed true all the way through. Again, this would be a bock that you would serve to folks who are not familiar with a bock. Yeungling drinkers would like this one.

Enjoy.

Samuel Adams Hallertau Imperial Pilsner

This is a hop lovers paradise. The beer of beers for those of us out in the beer drinking world who like hops.

And nothing but hops.

This beer reaches out and grabs your tonsils right after you pop the cap.

Not for me, but I do have a couple of friends that will enjoy this for Christmas this year.

Budweiser American Pale Ale

Ok.

So I drank it today. Budweiser Pale Ale. An American Pale Ale, as opposed to a India Pale Ale.

We discussed the difference here, so I won't bore you with the repeat.

It was like drinking water. Very little taste. No hop taste, no malt taste, nothing. It was exactly what I expected from a Budweiser product.

I can't recommend it to anyone other than friends who have no taste in beers.

And that is the nicest thing I can think of saying about this beer.

Cape Ann Fisherman's Pumpkin Stout

Last night I popped the cap off my 2nd beer from this years Beer Appreciation case. This selection was Cape Ann Fisherman's Pumpkin Stout.

Not impressed.

It is tasty enough as beers go. As a stout though, it is fairly weak. Stouts usually have a fairly middling to strong roasted grain taste on the back end. This stout has a mild pumpkin pie spice taste. And though that isn't tasty, the lack of the stout taste is unnerving.

The wrap up? This is a drink to have a couple days after Thanksgiving, and to be enjoyed for that time. It isn't a beer that I would look at being my holiday staple.

Let me know what you think, ok?

Namaste.

Pennsylvania Beer and Brewing Guide drinks Sierra Nevada Wet Hop Ale

Yeah, I know. This blog is supposed to be about Pennyslvania beers, but I got involved with a friend from Trouble Brewing and his Beer Appreciation 102 and the rest is history.

The short version of a long story is 48 folks chipped in and bought 24 cases of beer times 2, split them up and we are all going to drink them and then comment on what we liked and what we didn't.

Last night I drank the Sierra Nevada Harvest Wet Hop Ale. I was very impressed. I do not like hoppy beers. At all. But this beer was delicious. A wet hop is a green hop, one fresh from being picked and into the brew kettle. You do not get much fresher than this.

I poured the ale into a 24 oz ceramic mug and watched the head. Thick, and creamy. It looked like whipped creme. And then I took that first sip. The taste was not unlike a Milk Stout. Sweet, with the flavor of malt but without the burnt after taste. There was a solid hop after taste, but not one that was offensive.

This is a beer that goes down easily. It is one to be savored, and one that I will have no problem recommending to my hop loving friends.

Do your self a favor and try this the next time you are looking to experiment.

Namaste.