Beer Tasting: New Glarus Wisconsin Belgian Red

This Belgian-style Red is from New Glarus Brewing Company in Wisconsin. The 750ml bottle was purchased for $7.99 from Brennan's in Madison, WI and transported back to Pennsylvania where it has been kept refrigerated at approximately 40F since then. (OK, and truth be told, it journeyed with us to Cooperstown for BCTC 2006, but was never consumed and, thus, journeyed back home :) The beer was joined in a food pairing by a butterscotch bread pudding from John Harvard's in Wayne, PA. Adam's Notes:

• looks like a bloody mary :-)
• almost no head in my glass, very thin ring
• this would be great with a chocolate cherry tort
• tasted ok with the bread pudding Bryan provided
• I want the beer a bit warmer
• nose is very obviously fresh cherry not like cherry syrup
• tart that's balanced or melded rather...with the malt very smoothly
• seems to get thicker as it warms
• kinda perfumy like passion fruit
• Wow! This was delicious. Reminds me of the dinner at Monks with Russian River and Pizza Port

Bryan's Notes:

• pinkish/reddish haze would definitely describe the appearance
• little, to no, head
• nice, quick hit of malty goodness up front
• quickly introduces real sweet cherry heaven
• if you like cherries, you'll love this (apparently 1 lb of Wisconsin cherries in each bottle)
• like Adam said, tastes like real fruit without a doubt, not syrup or other scientific flavors
• adds a bit of sherbert in 7-UP flavor (you know the kind of non-alcoholic fizzy drinks you get at some parties?)
• nice bit of carbonation to keep the beer jumping on the palate
• need to disagree with Adam on the temperature. I feel it's more refreshing and flavorful on the cooler side...not cold, but cool
• the murkiness and texture loses appeal with rising temperature
• perhaps, like Adam mentioned, a cherry/chocolate dessert might have paired better than the bread pudding did (not bad, but not great)
• this is not as wild/tart/sour as some Belgians out there; I'd say this is an approachable, but not aggressive, interpretation
• very, very, very (get the point?!) enjoyable
• Mark, please bring more from Madison!

Growing Hops: Where's the Lupulin Hiding?

We know it's in there somewhere!

Brew Pub Visit: Selin's Grove, Selinsgrove, PA

I'm stopping by later today. I'll have a post about Selin's Grove Brewing up in the next few days. Here's where it's located.

Beer Event: Brew at the Zoo : Elmwood Park Zoo in Norristown, PA : 7/29/06

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The event this year at the Elmwood Park Zoo in Norristown, PA was unexpectedly well-attended. Perhaps this due to the recent publicity that the event received, especially at BeerAdvocate.com. Or perhaps it was just bad planning. What I am trying to say is that roughly half of the breweries were completely out of their sample brews by 8:00-8:30pm. (The event was due to run from 6-10pm). Dogfish Head was completely shutdown and left the premises before we even made our way to their table. In any case, my neighbor, Scott, and I attended the event. I think that just maybe the best thing to come of this event is the many different reactions that I picked up on from Scott. For example: "I can't believe that I'm commenting on the aroma and the flavor" and "I'm actually liking liking some of these darker beers" and "I don't think I like a lot of lagers" and "I'm actually swirling the beer!" But, this is not to say that I didn't get anything good out of this event. The following ranked as the most memorable beers of the evening: Wardell's Raspberry Tripel (homebrew); Weyerbacher's Imperial Pumpkin Ale (see Gene and company, street musicians, at right); Legacy's Midnight Wit; Warsteiner Dunkel. Also represented at this event were: Crabby Larry's; Victory; Troegs; Flying Fish; Appalachian; Dock Street; Dogfish Head; Anchor (see Andy Musser and me, left); Budweiser and Michelob (yeah, seriously); Paulaner; Clipper City; Yards; Stoudts; and Hacker-Pschorr. There were probably a couple of more that I'm just not remembering. The 'Brew at the Zoo' concept is one that seems to have really gained popularity across the country with similar concepts in many other cities. It truly does add something to the evening and makes for a memorable experience when the breweries are situated around the zoo amongst things like the bald eagle exhibit. This event in Norristown, by the way, benefited the Delaware Valley Chapter of the United Mitochondrial Disease Foundation. Overall, I'd say that this was the year the Brew at the Zoo event in Norristown experienced its first growing pain. Apparently, the first two years never showed more than a few hundred people. And, most breweries did not seem to plan for more than that. Many attendees appeared to respond accordingly and were clearing out around 9pm. At that point, there were only a few breweries who still had any beers to be pouring at their tables. Surprisingly, though, even with the muggy weather people seemed to take it in stride without much complaint. While I will still think of this evening as a success, I will certainly look forward to next year's event, which I hope will be more well planned for an even better evening of good beer at the zoo.

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Brew Pub Review: Otto's in State College, PA

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Edit: This post has been a long time coming. I decided that I was just going to finish it today as it stands. So it might seem a bit incomplete in the tasting notes area. As I mentioned in an earlier post I stopped to see a good friend in State College, PA. Along the way I was able to sample some of Otto's beer and get a bite to eat. I must admit the first time I saw this place years ago, I didn't think I was missing much. Who knew that Otto the cat was doing his part to inspire his owner to bring great beer to humans all over State College. Jeff agreed to head to Otto's after we made a stop at the Penn State Model Railroad Club open house. Just as a quick aside, I'm not really into model trains, but, this layout was impressive. I only wish my son could have been there. Back to the beer.. When we walked into Otto's. My first impression was, "This is not some fancy sterile chain." We were seated right next to the glass enclosed brewing area and presented with the beer list and menus. With a long drive ahead I sugested that we share the sampler and Jeff agreed. We looked over the food and decided what to order. When the sampler came out I noticed how distinct each beer looked. No two were colored the same they really looked good. I took this a good sign. We started with the lighter beers and worked our way to the darker ones. Jeff doesn't consider himself an great beer taster, however, he did a great job characterizing these samples. Since I lost my tasting notes I'll just wrap up here and assure you that all the beers were awesome. Each was inline with their styles. This is one of the best brew pubs I've been to. Don't miss it if you are in that part of the state. By the way, they sell small (reg size) and large (2 gal.?) growlers here. That ought to hold you over at your next party :-)

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St. Bernardus Abt 12 Special Edition

Last night brought a visit to the Beer Yard in Wayne, PA. Seems that they've come into a little stash of the Special Edition Abt 12 from St. Bernardus. Some quick notes about the brew that I lifted: Crafted by Brewmaster Bert Van Hecke to celebrate the brewery's 60th Anniversary. Brewed with hops from Poperinge: Challenger and Golding, along with black, amber, Munich and pale ale malts. After a quick e-mail around to the fellow imbibers, we had a group to share this case. Each bottle comes packaged in its own collector's tin. Now for the sampling! Of course, I am very torn between how much to drink now and how much to save. At the Beer Yard, they claim people are snapping up multiple cases for just that reason. These are very happy problems indeed!

One night in Chester County, PA

Funny how dropping a car off for servicing can lead to a wonderful night of beer drinking! Actually, it was dropping off three cars for servicing and drinking good beer at two excellent beer establishments. Allow me to explain.... Scott, Adam, and I all had a vehicle that had previously been scheduled for servicing today. So, we wanted to drop them off last night. Through a brilliant master plan by (eh-hem) Scott, we were able to drop off 3 cars, and pick another one up, in less than one hour. Then, we're all together in one vehicle and decided to celebrate our collective problem-solving mastermindness (!) with a beer or two at The Drafting Room in Exton. Then, not satisfied with just one stop, we included a final nightcap at the Flying Pig Saloon in Malvern. Enjoyed last night included: - the smooth and not overly tart or sour Kriek, from the same brewery, Brouwerij Verhaeghe in Belgium, that brings to us Duchesse De Bourgogne - the well-rounded Altbier from Rogue's John's Locker Stock Collection(#15) - the doppelbock brewed for The Drafting Room's 12th Anniversary by Troegs - the pleasantly bitter Middle Ages Wailing Wench - the pleasantly floral Smuttynose IPA - the fan-favorite Russian River Pliny the Elder - the big and beautiful quadrupel called Samaranth from Brouwerij De Leyerth/Urthel Oh, and Patrick at TDR and Steve at "the Pig" were both hanging around and provided us with some pleasant conversation. Now, the race is on to see who will have highest car repair bill today. Mine's covered by a vendor's mistake, so it's between Scott and Adam!

Brew Pub Visit: Barley Creek - Tannersville, PA - Pocono Mountains

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I found myself in the Pocono Mountains last weekend. On the way to the cabin a friend of mine suggested a detour in search of Barley Creek. Of course I wasn't going to say no. So off we went. When we arrived I heard an acoustic guitar being played on the deck and enough people to keep the place buzzing on a Friday night. I thought, "What a great place!" So, I looked over the beer menu and asked what the seasonals were. I decide to try their bitter and their IPA. My friend seemed to like the bitter more so we asked for a growler and hurried to meet our families. Once back at the house we warmed up some dinner and poured a few pints. I tipped back my glass and....blech. This is when it hit me. That big skunky nose! What the heck was that all about? I guess the samples were smaller and not nearly as offensive. Well suffice to say we really didn't like it all that much. I think it was a little young. You know, not quite fermented out all the way and that was just part of the problem. So, the growler was left unfinished through the entire weekend. Now that is saying something! On the way home we decided to give it another shot and stop for a sampler. I'll just cut to the chase. The best thing I can say about it was that two of the six beers didn't suck. The black lager was OK and the brown ale was almost passable. We didn't try their food, but, the service was OK. It wasn't very busy and there were plenty waiters and waitresses around. Oh yeah...and another thing....let me just say that the lodge like building looks nice from the outside, but, one you get inside you feel like you just entered a typical college dorm room. Banners, clutter, disco lights, more clutter, t-shirts sagging from the walls and employees with company T-Shirts that say things like "Nice Rack". They need to hire a decorator with taste and try to live up to the image they project on their website. The bathrooms were atrocious with standing water and poor carpentry....OK...I'm done. Maybe I just caught them at a bad time? {shrug} Here's a question for you. Should I say something to them? I mean this could be such a great place. What would you do?

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Growing Hops: Hop Cones Appear

As you can see all the plants are doing well. Looks like some Japanese beetles are feasting on the leaves. I'll need to do something about that. And there they are...the hops cones. Ahhhhh....very nice. I didn't even notice them at first. Bryan's wife had to point them out to me. I guess I've been busy. At any rate it is wonderful to see them. I was worried I wouldn't get any this year.

The Irish Bank in San Francisco, CA

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The Irish Bank in San Francisco, CA is easy to find, once you find it. Actually, it's really not that bad. Just mosey along Bush Street and look for an alley, home to The Irish Bank. Important note: when in San Francisco, know which street you are looking to head down before venturing out. Because, when you have to search for an alley on one of five streets, unless you know the city well, you never know how steep the next hill around the corner is. Bush was the last street that I checked. Somehow, my recollection had it on any parallel street, except Bush :) When I showed up, the alley street was full of post-happy hour revilers. The location is very close to the downtown business district (along Market, Montgomery, and other streets) and is extremely conducive to after-work parties. The Irish Bank sets up tables and chairs in the street for an alfresco experience, while the inside evokes a homey Irish pub feeling. Sitting at the bar, you can see practically the entire interior space. Not that it's all that small, there is plenty of room for hanging around. The brick walls are covered with framed pictures of all shapes and sizes, across the generations. And, behind the bar are a couple of TVs...small ones. In the back, there's a small room with tables for more relaxed gathering. Then what does the bar have to offer, you ask? Well, it's a respectable, but not overly impressive, lineup that should provide anyone with a night's worth of happy lubrication (ok, get your mind out of the gutter)! On tap on this particular Wednesday evening included: Guinness; Magners; Sierra Nevada Pale Ale; Bass Ale; Harp Lager; Smithwick's; Beck's; Red Hook ESB; Lagunitas IPA; Leffe Blonde; Carlsberg Elephant; Boddingtons; Stella Artois; and Widmer Hefeweizen. Chimay (red) is available in a bottle. The drinks and food are served by friendly and courteous guys dressed buttondown shirts and ties and ladies in casual clothing. I got just a bit of the 100+ year history of the location which apparently has served as a bank, a gay bar, and now an Irish pub. Whatever the case, the building certainly has a charm to it and The Irish Bank definitely fills the space well with a convivial spirit and decent food and drinks. Definitely worth a stop if you are in downtown San Francisco, near Chinatown or the business district. And if you are with a group, it's even better.

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Video: Ommegang BCTC 2006 - The Fire Song

We have immortalized the Fire Song :-) Enjoy.

Beer Calendar: What to do in August 2006

Here's just a sampling of upcoming events over the next several weeks mostly in the Philadelphia area that look interesting to check out. Let us know if you think you might be heading to one of these events or have been to one of them in the past.

Wed. 7/26 - Stewart's 11th Anniversary Beer Dinner @Stewart's Brewing Co, Bear, DE (7pm; $65)
Fri. 7/28 - Friday Night Beer Tasting (Spanish Peaks) @Beer Yard, Wayne, PA (5pm-7pm; free)
Sat. 7/29 - Brew at the Zoo 2006 @Elmwood Park Zoo, Norristown, PA (6pm-10pm; $35)
Sat. 8/5 - Abbey Wright Brew Fest @Abbey Wright, Williamsport, PA (4pm-2am; $30)
Sat. 8/5 - Heavyweight: Down for the Count @The Drafting Room, Exton, PA (12pm-???; pay as you go)
Wed. 8/9-8/13 - Grey Lodge 10th Anniversary 5 Day Weekend @The Grey Lodge, Philadelphia, PA (various events, times; pay as you go)
Sat. 8/12 - General Lafayette Sixtel Saturday @General Lafayette Inn & Brewery, Lafayette Hill, PA (12pm; 10 oz./$3)
Thu. 8/17 - Iron Hill Brewers Reserve: The Delaware Bocce Championship @Iron Hill Brewery, Wilmington, DE (6pm-10pm; pay as you go)
Fri. 8/18 - Brewery Night at Mercer Museum @Mercer Museum, Doylestown, PA (6pm; $20)
Thu. 8/24 - General Lafayette Beer & Local Foods Dinner @General Lafayette Inn & Brewery, Lafayette Hill, PA (7pm; TBD)
Fri. 8/25 - Pliny The Both Night @Grey Lodge, Philadelphia, PA (6pm-9pm; pay as you go)
Sat. 8/26 - Stoudt's 15th Annual Great Eastern Invitational Microbrewery Festival @Stoudt's Brewing Co, Adamstown, PA (12pm-4pm, 7pm-11pm; $26)

Beer Event: Ommegang 2006, Belgium Comes To Cooperstown, These Are A Few Of My Favorite Beers

Through all of our various postings, I don't believe we ever came out to mention our favorite beers from the weekend. While this is a near impossible question to answer, I will take a stab here at listing 5 domestic and 5 Belgian beers that really stuck out to me as some of the best of the weekend. I really don't like putting making these kind of lists because, at this type of stellar event, there were just so many great brews. But, anyway, here goes... Domestic Allagash Barrel-Aged Four (Quadrupel) Cambridge Tripel Threat (Tripel) North Coast Brother Thelonious (Belgian Strong) The Shed Substance D (Saison with Bret.) Stewart's Stumblin' Monk (Tripel) Belgian Cantillon Gueuze Brouwerij Verhaeghe Duchesse de Bourgogne Geants Saison Voisin Hanssens Kriek Brasserie d'Achouffe Houblon Chouffe Doebblen IPA Tripel

Beer Travels: Traveling Friends from California

Well, like you couldn't have guessed it. A few "friends" from California joined me for my long flight home on Friday. They were almost consumed in the SFO airport during my 4 hour delay. But, fortuitously, my gate was positioned between the Gordon Biersch and the Anchor restaurant/bar locations. And, for a bit of caffeine, the always impressive Peet's Coffee was across the way. Anyway, my traveling friends from California included: the venerable Bear Republic's Racer IPA; the always creative Anderson Valley's Brother David's Double and Triple; and the "new-to-The Brew Lounge" Marin Brewing's Breakfast Stout and Blueberry Ale. Can't wait to pour one of these bad boys. Oh, and if you're interested, they are all 22oz. "bombers" and were purchased from The Jug Shop on Pacific & Polk (at the end of my 9-mile run)....taxi, please!

Beer and Baseball: San Francisco Giants at AT&T Park

While at the Giants game, it certainly is difficult to pay attention to the game while thinking about which beer to buy next. While you could easily pick any of the quality brews below and stick with it for the night, there are so many different ones that you will probably want to try one of each!
Anchor Steam
Bass Ale
Firestone Double Barrel
Gordon Biersch Hefeweizen & Marzen
Guinness Harp
Lagunitas IPA
New Belgium Fat Tire Amber
Pilsner Urquell
Pyramid Hefeweizen
Red Hook E.S.B.
Mendocino Red Tail Ale
Sierra Nevada Pale Ale
Speakeasy Prohibition Ale
Stella Artois
Widmer Drop Top Amber & Hefeweizen

In addition to all of these fine beers are the standard macro swill and Beck's, Sol, Tecate, Heineken, Smithwick's, Corona, Red Stripe, Peroni, and Rolling Rock. Are you kidding me? First beer got better in airports and now it's getting better in ballparks too.

I think the world (or at least the U.S.) is slowly catching on to better beer! Especially consider, would you rather pay 7.25 to 7.75 for domestic swill or another 50 cents for a much higher quality craft brew. Duh!

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Video: Ommegang 2006, BCTC Short Clip of Blue Method

I know I know its too short!

Passing thought about tasting beer...

Have you ever been intimidated? You know by that guy with the big beard who has some mysterious liquid in his glass that must be beer he made from the most exotic ingredients in the world using brewing methods he has perfected over decades? Or how about that time when you tasted something that sucked only to find out that it was a $7 bottle of beer considered to be the nectar of the gods by those "in the know". I have, but, not anymore. I'm here to say "Relax have a homebrew."....oh wait that was Charlie Papazian. I'm here to say something like that, something in the same spirit. Relax enjoy your experience. You will only get to taste that beer for the first time once :-) Don't let anybody tell you how to taste beer! That experience is yours. Nobody can take it away. Take your time. Don't be in a hurry to become the next Michael Jackson. Enjoy your beer. Hate a beer if you want. Just be open to the experience. Enjoy and don't let anybody tell you what you like.

Beer Travels: Greetings from San Francisco

While the weather creates havoc back home, I am happy to report that San Francisco is beautiful this week! In my off hours from work, I have had time to fit in part of a San Francisco Giants baseball game, a visit to 21st Amendment (Summit IPA, 21st IPA), and Thirsty Bear (IPA, Brown Bear cask). Speaking of beer and baseball, I think I will give you peak at what AT&T Park has on tap throughout the stadium. I thought Philadelphia's Citizen Bank Park had a good lineup of beer available to its fans (and it does), but San Francisco surely ranks near the top too. Check back later today for this recap. If I didn't have such a busy day planned for tomorrow, I would be checking out Toronado tonight for their Summit Hop Summit event. They are featuring 15 (mostly) local breweries who all created their version of a Summit (hop) IPA. I think I'd better exercise some control and skip this event. Just a "normal" night at Toronado is more than most can handle ;-) So, tomorrow night after my work day is over, perhaps I'll visit Magnolia for dinner and cask brew sampling. And, then wander down the street for a nightcap or two at Toronado. Oh, and by the way, it's hard to complain about traveling when the Hilton hotel that I'm staying in has Fat Tire, Paulaner, Anchor, Stella Artois, Sierra Nevada Pale Ale & Celebration, Guinness, Samuel Adams Boston Lager, Pyramid Hefeweizen, Newcastle Brown on tap. Talk about exercising self-control and just walking by on the way to my room!

Site News: Lights Back on at The Brew Lounge :-)

Thanks Bryan for stepping in and taking control from out there in San Fran. We're all jealous. Sounds like your having a good trip. BTW I'm enjoying a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale from the sixtel we took to Ommegang. I guess that's as close as I'll get to California today :-) So lights are back on at The Brew Lounge campus (heheh). I'll see what I can do about getting some of those Ommegang videos up now. On a side note, thanks to Kathleen for connecting with our friend Matt (is that really your name?) from Dogfish Head. He sent the girls a few T-Shirts. Thanks Matt :-) What an awesome event!

'Topic of the Week': Week In Review; Do you like TVs in bars?

We might have predicted that this subject might not draw all that much interest. The only time I hear people all that concerned about TVs is when they're looking for a game to watch. Me, I generally prefer to watch the games at home, where I can concentrate on what's going on and hear the action as well. Otherwise, it seems that the general feeling is not all too emotional about whether there are TVs in your favorite watering hole or not. Here's a sampling of the some of the comments that we received last week on the subject. Bryan: Let's keep the TVs relegated to sports bars, where they make the most sense. Otherwise, what does a TV need to be on for in a bar, where people are meant to be socializing. Adam: Notices the distraction that people fall into when they gaze off to look at the whatever's on TV; that can be annoying Anonymous: TVs are definitely good for sports and especially for the World Cup action recently; TVBGone would be a "fun" solution Mike: It's not just about TVs, but other distractions as well...pool, shuffleboard, beer pong. But, bars often cross the line between good pub for socializing and sports bar. Plus, can't sports serve as a social catalyst. We'll be back next week with the next installment of 'Topic of the Week'.