3 favorite beers of last week (June 26-July 2)

It wasn't for lack of trying last week. Yet, only three rose to the top of my tasting list during the last seven days. Check 'em out, because they were truly worthy.

Also worthy is the list of eight beers that was passed along to me by the Brewers of PA organization, asking if I could find a way to share. I figured here, in this case of a shorter-than-usual list, I could find fit to pass along their recommendations for your summer consumption decision-making.

(Great hop profile in this San Francisco treat from one the newest breweries there.)
~ Galaxy Dust IPA (6.4%), by Barebottle Brewing Company (San Francisco, Calif.)
    My buddy Kevin quickly dispelled any thinking I had that there may be no bottles of local beer making their way back east with me from my most recent trip to the Bay Area. He and I stopped at City Beer Store (when in SF, there's no reason you shouldn't find yourself here, either for the bottle selection, the draft selection, or the fact they're a mere block from Cellarmaker) and he enthusiastically pointed out one of the city's newest — Barebottle located in the city's Bernal Heights neighborhood. Good move on my part; though, I probably should've grabbed more than one. Wonderful Galaxy hop profile in this "northeast" IPA and for bonus points, the label includes the beer's recipe scaled down to a homebrewer's five-gallon version. Pretty cool.

(Continued German goodness from this western PA stalwart.)
~ Oktoberfest Elchland (5.7%), by Straub Brewery (St. Marys, Pa.)
    In the most recent Peter Straub Signature Brews Adventure Series sampler pack, you'll find some solid beers, none more so for my liking than this enjoyable Märzen. Nice nod to the brewery's founder, now six generations removed. If you miss it now, there'll be more coming in the late summer, early fall.

(Tastes just like the name suggests, but fortunately not in an overdone way.)
~ Key Lime Pie Gose (4%), by Westbrook Brewing Company (Mount Pleasant, SC)
    This made its way north courtesy of my step-brother. He was bragging on it quite a bit and now I know why. Perfect summer beer with exactly the flavors you'd expect in a beer named Key Lime Pie Gose. But they didn't overdo it and it turned out to be one that I wouldn't have minded having a few more of.


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

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© 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

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Straub Beers for the holidays

I struggled with how to close out the year here with a special feature. I haven't done a year-in-review piece in at least a few years and likewise for future-looking predictive articles. I haven't felt the inspiration for this to be the year that I return to them.

However...

In the last month of beer delivery packages from breweries, my path to bringing a year of beer at The Brew Lounge to a conclusion all of a sudden became clear. One of my favorite "discoveries" while traversing the vast state of Pennsylvania for my Beer Lover's Mid-Atlantic book was found in the small western PA town of St. Marys. The town is roughly 2 1/2 hours from both Erie (to the NW) and Pittsburgh (to the SW) and sits along the eastern edge of the Allegheny National Forest.

Straub as been a fixture there since 1872, is seven generations deep into the family-run business, and made a significant financial investment a few years back in modernizing equipment, updating recipes, and investing in sales and marketing. I was taken by their four-story, gravity-dependent brewery, its "Eternal Tap", and the drive-up beer store fronting the brewery.

And, obviously, their beers as well. It's why I choose to feature them here just prior to the holidays. As you go about entertaining during the holidays, equally challenging to providing a meal to a group of people with different preferences is the task of having a variety of beverages.

I covered Straub in the current issue of Ale Street News and coincidentally, they sent a Legacy Sampler along with the seasonal Groundhog Altbier. In it was a crisp, clean, and refreshing Helles Lager (5.5%), a slightly heftier 1872 Lager (5.4%), a roasted malt Dunkel Lager (5.2%), a sweet-tinged Doppelbock (7%), and a malty smooth Altbier (5.4%).

Not only does this lineup of beers satisfy a variety of tastes, but they'll have little problem finding their way onto a beer-food-pairing-friendly table as well. The brewery (and marketing department) is keen to pick up on this. Straub publishes a "Beer & Food Pairing Guide" — a set of recipes and suggested pairings for each of the beers.

One I'm looking to try over the holidays is the "New Year's Sauerkraut with Straub Altbier" recipe with, of course, a couple accompanying Altbiers which I presume should go quite nicely with the traditional meal of pork, sauerkraut, and mashed potatoes.

In addition to the Legacy Sampler and the Summer Sampler (Pilsner, Hefeweizen, Vienna Lager, and Kolsch-style), the IPL (once a seasonal) stands out as one of their best year-rounds. As you should be able to tell, I'm bullish on both the history and the rebirth of Straub. It's a brand that, here on the eastern side of the state, we're seeing more of (due to the aforementioned investment in growth) and that is a very good thing. As the amorphous "craft" segement of the industry continues to involve in wild, wacky, and sometimes confounding ways, my hunch is that it will become more important than ever to come home to unapologetically and uncompromisingly well-made classic styles of beer. That's what Straub is putting in front of us.

May your holidays be filled with plenty of great tastes; Cheers!

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© Bryan J. Kolesar and The Brew Lounge, 2016. 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

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