Breweries "Visited"

Monday, July 23, 2012

Not So Lucky

Beer #226 County Line IPA / Neshaminy Creek Brewing Company, Croydon, PA

I haven't been having much sports luck lately.  Flat tire on Sunday's bike ride started it off, then my basketball game tonight got rained out after ten minutes of play (although I did manage to squeeze off a sweet 1-4 shooting performance before the storm hit), and - oh yeah - the whole Penn State news from today.  As this is a (relatively speaking) family friendly blog, I won't bother you with my thoughts on the NCAA and  their draconian punishment today.  I'm going to get sushi at Bluefin, so I'm keeping this short.

Today's beer is the County Line IPA from Neshaminy Creek, another local product. This came on draft at The Boilermaker, and poured a hazy orange color in the glass, with a lingering fluffy white head.  There's a definitely an aroma of hops, but it's subdued.  The taste has light citrus notes with a dry hop bitterness, with floral undertones and some sweetness from the malt.  In all, very enjoyable, and a respectable 6.6% ABV.

Got a few sips in before I remembered I needed a picture

This is another new brewery in the Philly suburbs, having opened to the public late last year.  In reading their website, what I found interesting was the admission that this IPA wasn't what they originally intended, but due to the fact they couldn't get the hops they were looking for (Chinook, Citra), they had to modify the recipe.  One thing I've come to appreciate with these smaller, newer producers is that every batch of beer might be slightly different than the last as they continue to refine their process.  Whereas a Budweiser is going to taste like a Budweiser anywhere you have one at any time, the County Line IPA might have a stronger hop profile next time I drink one.  I like that to a degree - eventually, I do expect some standardization in my beer if I'm going to keep ordering it.   Life is like a box of chocolates, but my beer can occasionally be exactly what I was expecting.

Thing to Think About Today:
This song has nothing to do with anything.  At all.  Certainly nothing to do with my bad sports luck or today's tasty beer.  However, it is a fantastic song and was recently in a fantastic scene from Breaking Bad (admittedly, not the current season), and I've been humming it in my head ever since.  Get ready for The Pretenders and Boots of Chinese Plastic.



"By the way you look fantastic"

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