The Brew Lounge: IPA

Showing posts with label IPA. Show all posts

Tuesday, February 26, 2019

Flagship February daily feature - Sterling Pig Big Gunz DIPA

I'm fairly certain that each time I've eaten at Sterling Pig, there's been a burger in front of me...or pulled pork. Burger and a beer. Either the Snuffler IPA or the Big Gunz DIPA or the This Little Piggy IPA. It just makes perfect sense.

There are also nachos, the Czerw sausages, smoked wings, and wood-fired pizza. The kitchen makes great use of the wood-fired oven. And you're tempted with the aromas from the minute you park the car. From the brewery, the Shoat Pilsner is very well done as is the Porc Noir Black IPA. You know how happy I am that someone is still making a solid Black IPA?

And, they've now officially opened their satellite location in West Chester -- another showcase for Brian McConnell's beer. It goes on the growing list of new places I need to check in on.

Now click the picture below for a full feature on Sterling Pig Big Gunz.

If you're just jumping in during the middle of this and want to know what this is all about, link back here to see the Flagship February overview as well as an ongoing list of all beers I'm featuring during the month of February.

Disclosure: For this project, I solely created the list of 28 beers featured here on The Brew Lounge. I was in contact with each brewery and neither required nor requested complimentary samples. I purchased today's Sterling Pig beer at retail.

© Bryan J. Kolesar and The Brew Lounge, 2018. All content is owned and uniquely created by Bryan J. Kolesar. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from Kolesar is strictly prohibited. Excerpts, images, and links may be used with advance permission granted and only provided that full and clear credit is given to Bryan J. Kolesar and The Brew Lounge with appropriate and specific direction to the original content. Contact Kolesar at TheBrewLounge@gmail.com

Friday, February 22, 2019

Flagship February daily feature - Free Will The Kragle IPA

It's been fun watching Free Will grow from a little brewery in a basement in the back of an old industrial building in a small town tucked somewhere in upper Bucks County....into a prominent brewery widely recognized and highly regarded across the northeast for its barrel-aging program (that's still in the basement) and its taproom events that spill into the upstairs brewery. In other words, they've become a destination.

The sours deserve every bit of acclaim (Pomisher, Olly, Peachy, and Grape rank as my favorite of their past and present sour treats, if you care to know) that they receive, both nationally and internationally, but they have other high-quality tricks in the trade as well including a to-style Vienna Lager, a likewise to-style Crisper Kölsch, a decadent Ralphius R.I.S., a palate-busting Safeword Imperial IPA, a solid Coffee Oatmeal Brown, and a funky barrel-aged Saison In The Key Of Life.

Now click the picture below for a full feature on Free Will The Kragle IPA.

© Bryan J. Kolesar and The Brew Lounge, 2019. All content is owned and uniquely created by Bryan J. Kolesar. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from Kolesar is strictly prohibited. Excerpts, images, and links may be used with advance permission granted and only provided that full and clear credit is given to Bryan J. Kolesar and The Brew Lounge with appropriate and specific direction to the original content. Contact Kolesar at TheBrewLounge@gmail.com

Tuesday, February 12, 2019

Flagship February daily feature - Root Down Bine IPA

Root Down was able to pick up a sweet location in Phoenixville, just steps away from the bustling Bridge Street. The interior's unique shape that used to house a stage theater in its early years, and later a soda factory, adds to the character and atmosphere. So do the beers which have won popular approval as well as the approval of judges at the 2018 Great American Beer Festival, which bestowed a gold medal on the Bine IPA to best 310 other entrants in the IPA category. (Salty By Nature Gose also took home a silver medal achieving a multiple medal win at GABF, something which is getting more difficult each year to do.)

A whole lot of adult beverages going down in Phoenixville. If you haven't been to Root Down, you should probably rectify that soon. Oh, and by the way, not many local breweries are doing Altbiers, let alone very good Altbiers. 3-Legged Rabbit Altbier is just such a brew and unfortunately available only very occasionally, but for this one guy at least, I believe it should be more often.

Now go click the picture below for a full feature on Root Down's Bine IPA.

Sunday, February 10, 2019

Flagship February daily feature - Crime & Punishment Space Race IPA

I used to live in Fairmount back in the late 90s. Brewerytown wasn't much of a destination back in those days. North Star Bar was pretty much the best reason (and a very good one I must add) to head anywhere in the neighborhood of Girard Ave. There's been a slow change in that over the last 5-10 years and C&P is part of that movement. I'll often say if places like that were around when I lived there, I may have never graduated from renting to owning.

Crime & Punishment is the perfect neighborhood brewpub for Brewerytown. With a unique backstory rooted in Russian literature, you can expect to find food and beer that follows suit. Plus, a cozy environment perfect for catching up with friends. In addition to a nice variety of styles always on tap, the English Mild (3.5%) that I had at my most recent visit should not be missed.

Now go click the picture below for a full feature on Crime & Punishment's Space Race IPA.

Tuesday, August 29, 2017

3 favorite beers from August 21 - August 27

Gonna make things easy on you this week and put just three very good beers out there for you to consider.

(I like the branded glassware almost as much as I like the beer.)
~ Apex Special IPA (8.25%), by Bear Republic Brewing Company (Cloverdale, Calif.)
Call it a special IPA, an imperial IPA, a strong IPA, a double IPA, or whatever you like. In my case, I call it one of the best examples of a strong, clean, and very well-balanced hop forward beer. Melon fruit, assertive but palatable bitterness, with a solid bready malt base. I've never visited them in person in all my visits to the brewery's home state. I may change that in October.

(Live music, pig roast, bottle release, beautiful weather made a perfect Saturday in Berwyn.)
~ Hipster Catnip (7.2%), by La Cabra Brewing (Berwyn, Pa.)
Even if I was a hipster before the word was invented (and, hopefully, I wasn't), I don't believe I'd drink a beer that called attention to my hipsterdom. But, here and now, not drinking Hipster Catnip would indeed be dumb. Citra hops. Mosaic hops. Package this up in a cat toy and I'd chase it around all afternoon. They did a very nice job opening their parking lot to an afternoon festival last Saturday and I hope to see many more such events in the future (Something about Oktoberfest was mentioned; watch the calendar.)

Also catching my attention at La Cabra during the event was Zettle. I'm not typically attracted to many a Hefeweizen, but this one's a refreshing balance of clean, not muddied, hallmark spices and its easy finish made this a winner.

Click back here for an index of all beers that I've covered in the past.

© Bryan J. Kolesar and The Brew Lounge, 2017. All content is owned and uniquely created by Bryan J. Kolesar. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from Kolesar is strictly prohibited. Excerpts, images, and links may be used with advance permission granted and only provided that full and clear credit is given to Bryan J. Kolesar and The Brew Lounge with appropriate and specific direction to the original content. Contact Kolesar at TheBrewLounge@gmail.com

Friday, August 11, 2017

August 2017: Beer News update, part 1

Had to hold up the publishing of these notes to share with you with the trio of big news events in our small little world of beer that popped up yesterday. Read on to learn more...

~ But first, let's get started with something that pairs well with beer -- baseball. An unfortunate loss. [Link to CSNPhilly.com]

~ Another big fish gobbles up a smaller one. [Link to Brewbound]

~ Best case scenario for all involved and it keeps an important brewery and its good people in San Francisco going. [Link to San Francisco Chronicle]

~ A sudden and unfortunate ending for a landmark in Philly. [Link to Eater Philadelphia]

~ Great spotlight shining on Jon Medlinsky and his destination Martha, just down the block from Phila. Brewing Company. [Link to Philly.com]

~ Casey Parker is a wild and crazy guy. [Link to Foobooz/Philadelphia Magazine]

~ If you need a reason to ignore/dislike/hate the so-called NEIPA, here's a handy list to pick from. [Link to The Full Pint]

~ Time to link to excellent writing from Pete Brown again. This time, topic: IPAs. [Link to Pete Brown's blog]

~ I guess if you need a laugh, here's a good place to start. [Link to Brew Dog's website]

~ And one last bit of acquisition news to close out this update. This from San Francisco as well. [Link to SFGate.com, plus bonus coverage from The Full Pint and Jay Brooks.]