365 different beers from 365 different breweries in 365 days with random musings on beer, food, music, sports, dogs and anything else interesting along the way
If you are any where in southeastern Pennsylvania, you need to get yourself to Tired Hands Brewing Company. In fact, you need to get yourself to Tired Hands Brewing Company on a regular basis. Why, you ask? Because they are brewing some amazing beer, but in very limited quantities--twelve kegs at a time per their website. Their beers range from inspired saisons to great big IPAs that make you think you're imbibing on the West Coast. While they do have a few beers that are mainstays on their menu, most often I fall in love with the ones that are much more ephemeral.
Take Good Good Things for example. It's a sour IPA that I drank back on December 15. What I should have done is reviewed it straight away so you had a chance to experience it for yourself. Instead I got caught up in the beers of the moment in the days since then and now Good Good Things is a distant memory. Oh the difficult life of the beer blogger. But a quick review of what's up next at Tired Hands certainly doesn't disappoint. There's at least three beers on that list that I'm eager to try. Good Good Things poured a very cloudy apricot color with a thick ecru head. The flavor is tart with lots of hops, the taste of pith and some nice lemon. The smell is earthy, a little funky. There is a solid sour sharpness to the flavor, which I loved and it has an intense hop bite at the finish. It kept getting me right at the back of my tongue. There was also something very organic in the smell that I couldn't put my finger on. I wrote down bark in my notes. Good Good Things was definitely a winner in my book. Beer stats Style: Sour IPA ABV: 6.2% IBUs: Unknown Rating: Excellent Previously reviewed from Tired Hands
Gary's review of Good Good Things
Gary's first visit to Tired Hands where he tried the Frippand caught hell from me for not including me on the trip
My review of Trois Enfantswith a side of wistful writing about my love of Philadelphia
Beer #395 Black Bear Porter / Timber Creek Tab and Table, Meadville, PA
Previously from this brewery: Marci's review of Black Bear Porter
It's been a long day, and I am finally just getting to sit down in front of a computer and type. I'll keep this brief, as I need to get caught up on some old episodes of Gossip Girl. Don't hate; it's a sensational show. The Chuck Bass character is an all-time great, and Leighton Meester goes in my Top 5 list without a doubt.
Up tonight is a glass of Black Bear Porter from Timber Creek Tap and Table. Before I even sample this one, I can assure you this beer will be delicious. Why the certainty, you ask? Easy - this beer was given to me as a Christmas gift by a dear friend. Beer makes a wonderful gift, people!!! This beer is black, with fluffy tan head that settles down in time. There's an aroma of lightly toasted malt, an the taste gives you notes of oatmeal, toasted malt, some mild bitterness, and a clean finish. My kind of porter!
The Park's closed.
The bear out front should have told you.
Timber Creek has been open for less than a year, and already cranking out some great beers. Next time I'm in Meadville (whenever that might be), I'd love to stop by to visit in person.
Thing to Think About Today:
In honor of bear named after a black bear, allow us to close things out tonight with some Black Sheep. Close enough, right? We're wrapping up with The Choice is Yours: Good night, all.
This beer blog thing is so much easier when I only write every other day. I'm stockpiling beers like mad! The only problem is that some of the reviews aren't as timely as I would have intended. Take for example the Christmas ale from Great Lakes Brewing Company. Christmas is so over despite my decorations still hanging around the house. I'm over the clutter and can't wait to pack them all up next weekend and continue purging all the extraneous junk from my kingdom.
I guess the purging begins with this dusty review for a beer I drank back in December. The Christmas Ale is handcrafted with honey and spices per the label.
It poured a bright crystalline copper color with a loose ecru head. It smells lightly of honey and mostly of general beer. The taste has a much stronger honey profile with a good amount of malt. There's also just enough of a hint of hop at the finish to keep it well balanced. I can definitely taste the spices, but I can't quite name them. Overall this is a good beer.
Links to prior reviews for Great Lakes Brewing Company
Gary's thoughts on this winter warmer are here
My review of Dortmunder Goldand then there's Gary's thoughtson Dortmunder
Beer #393 Dry Hopped APA / Saint Louis Brewery, St. Louis, MO
Previously from this brewery: My take on the Winter ESB, Marci's take on the Winter ESB
Busy weekend, as I just got back from a Phi Gamma Delta leadership conference in St. Louis. While the days were jam packed with productive meetings, I did manage to take advantage of an afternoon break on Saturday to visit the Schlafly Tap Room, the public face/popular brand from Saint Louis Brewery.
My first sample was the Dry Hopped APA, which had a bright copper hue and thin white head that lingered. There are aromas of pine and light citrus, and the taste is dry and bitter throughout, with plenty of pine and grapefruit, but not much malt. Very nice beer if you're a fan of dry, hoppy, or dry hopped beers. Interestingly, this brewery was celebrating their 21st birthday on the day I visited, with a big concert and party on Saturday night. Which completely explains why I was there at 2pm. Bad timing, indeed.
Okay, so that's not a great picture. Sue me.
Now, for the interesting part of my story, a confession: I drank this beer in a complete state of bewilderment. The brewpub was only four or five blocks from my hotel, right in the middle of St. Louis, not far from the Gateway Arch. While I didn't walk for hours, I did walk long enough to notice that on my journey, I didn't see a single car go by. Not one. I didn't see a single person walk by. Nada. I didn't see any birds, or stray dogs, or people riding their bike, or runners jogging, or delivery trucks delivering, or police cars policing, or buses being loud, or cabs driving recklessly, and by now I think you get my point. The only proof of recent life I found were a variety of empty liquor bottles and cans of beer littered across the sidewalks like autumn leaves in a forest.
I honestly felt like an extra in the film version of The Road, Cormack McCarthy's take on a post-apocalyptic society where you really didn't want to run into people, because if you did they were likely to (spoiler alert) try to eat you. Think about it: imagine going to the heart of a major American city, walking for over ten minutes.... and being the only person in the world. Odd.
However, and here's where some of the bewilderment came from, when I walked into Schlafly it was packed, or as packed as a brewpub is going to be on a Saturday afternoon when nuclear winter might have just happened. Did the people get there through a secret tunnel? Teleport in from another dimension? Have they been trapped in there for years, too afraid to leave? I can't say for sure, although when the shit does hit the fan I guess a brewery is an ideal place to hide yourself. On my walk back, I did eventually see a person. I did see a car go by a few blocks ahead. Maybe there's still hope for society.
Actual picture of my walk to Schlafly
If that short tale wasn't sufficiently interesting for you, this might do the trick: The brewpub is housed in a brick building built in 1902 but left vacant since 1969. A huge fire in 1976 engulfed the buildings at this intersection, and the skeletons of those buildings were in such a state of disrepair, the film Escape From New York used the exteriors as background shots. Check this link for more info, including the scene from the movie if you need a visual on where I was walking. Oh, you haven't seen the film Escape from New York? Why, it's a movie about a post-apocalyptic world. Maybe there is something odd and unusual about St. Louis after all....
Thing to Think About Today:
Okay, so maybe nuclear winter hasn't found St. Louis. It was a cold winter weekend where not much was happening, nothing nefarious or post-apocalyptic. However, if you do want to see a fantastic, sad, scary movie, you definitely should watch The Road. Great film, although it would have earned huge bonus points had they walked through downtown St. Louis. Just saying.
Thanks to my good friend Kelli, I got to try out the Black Bear porter from Timber Creek Tap & Table. Timber Creek is located in tiny Meadville (Pennsylvania). For such a small town, I actually have two connections. Kelli and her family and a crazy roommate from college. Strange how small the world can be. The beer is made onsite in their 10 bbl brew house, which just opened in May 2012. If not for Kelli, I probably never would have gotten my hands on this beer!
The Black Bear porter poured a very dark brown, almost black liquid. It had a thick tan head. The aroma was roasted malt and what reminded me of communion wafers (sorry, non-religious readers). The flavor was perfect--coffee with hints of baking cocoa and pumpernickel bread. It finished smooth with a bit of burnt coffee. I'm so excited that I have a nice big growler of this beer so I can savor it. Who knows the next time I'll get my grubby little paws in it? Beer stats
Style: Porter
ABV: 6%
IBUs: 35
Rating: Great Previously reviewed from Timber Creek
This is the first beer from Timber Creek!
The following is an actual email exchange between me and my good friend Beth. I wish I could say exchanges like this are rare, but they're not. We are two strange birds and it's probably why we get along so very well.
Subject: Strangeness on Southwest
Beth: Read this story. Two questions here – 1) if you are transporting 40 heads, wouldn’t that be really heavy? 2) What the hell are “anatomical gifts?”
Brief summary of the article if you don't want to follow the link: In June 2010, a Southwest Airlines employee called police after finding human heads in a package set to be transported to a Fort Worth medical research company, the airline said. "It wasn't labeled or packaged properly," said Ashley Rogers, a Southwest spokeswoman. "They called the local authorities." The incident happened in Little Rock, Ark., last Wednesday, she said. Little Rock police turned the package over to the county coroner, who questions where they came from and if they were properly obtained. "We've come to the conclusion that there is a black market out there for human body parts for research or for whatever reason," said Pulaski County coroner Garland Camper.
Me: I heard about this on the drive in. If I remember the line from Jerry Maguire correctly, I believe the human head weighs 8 pounds. That would make that a heavy, heavy package. Plus it would be a huge box or crate. I doubt regular cardboard would do. Anatomical gifts means when you donate your body to science.
Beth: Hahaha, I was think it was more like skulls and stuff you may put on your mantel. So when they asked at the counter if someone gave you something to transport….How can you fly with a 320 lb package? What?
Me: The story said a courier dropped it off claiming not to know what was inside. Does that mean they were using a Southwest flight like Fed Ex? I didn’t know that was possible.
Beth: Who knows…maybe you should figure that out by trying it.
Me: You know I would do terrible in jail…
Fast forward to today...
Beth: Look at this bizarre old email exchange I just came across. I like how I think people keep skulls on their mantels...
Only the weirdos keep them on their mantels. Normal people keep them in their bathrooms.
So what do you email your coworkers about?
And I think that story segues nicely into a review of La Fin du Monde...you know, the dark arts, end of the world, and such.
La Fin du Monde is a Tripel brewed by Unibroue in Chambly, Quebec. It pours a rich oaky color with a thin white head. It smells of citrus, honey and rich brown sugar. The flavor is boozy with lots of candi sugar and a hint of pepper. It's also very carbonated, which adds to the tingly drinking sensation. This is probably one of my favorite tripels out there.
Day #390 Naked Nun / Adelbert's Brewery, Austin, TX
Previously from this brewery: None, new brewery
It's been a few days since I handed out an award from the 366 challenge, so let's get back into the game and keep the awards show going. Previously, we handed out prizes for Biggest Miss of the Year, Best Brewery Visit, Best Label Art, and Worst Label Art. Today, I'm awarding a very coveted prize, the award for Brewery of the Year. This is a tough category to judge, because we obviously only drank one beer per brewery.... for the most part. With some breweries, I have prior experience drinking their products, or I put down a beer sampler instead of just the required one beer. Like it or not, that advantage helped these candidates float to the top of the list. However, the good news of my tasting more than one beer from these breweries is that I 100% assure you that you can pick up any beer they produce and feel completely confident you're going to be drinking a fantastic beer, regardless of style. And now... what's that now James Van Der Beek? Is it time?
James Van Der Beek says, "It's time."
Why yes, in fact, it is time to look at the nominees:
And the winner is..... Russian River Brewing Company!
What impressed me most is that Russian River has an ability to produce great beers across the entire spectrum, from bitter IPAs to tart sours and everything in between. Their barrel aged beers are some of the best I've ever had, and quite frankly any brewery that offers an 18 beer sampler deserves some sort of trophy (note: we don't give out trophies, but should). To celebrate, we dance!
Celebrate with James Van Der Beek!
To keep the wheels on this blog turning, tonight I'm reviewing Naked Nun from Adelbert's Brewery in Texas. This witbier has a pale straw color and a persistent white head. There's a slightly tart aroma, with some hints of clove. The flavor is very good, with light notes of spice, bread, banana, and orange, with a light dryness. Quite a nice beer, and at 5.8% ABV, this would be great to enjoy on a sunny spring day.
Great glassware, too.
The name Adelbert's is a tribute to the brewer's deceased brother, George Adelbert "Del" Hovey, and the brewery specializes in Belgian ales. Didn't get to visit them when we spun through Texas, but I did get to enjoy this beer, which certainly counts for something.
Thing to Think About Today:
The story behind Naked Nun includes a story about Del being robbed while hiking and saved by nuns. And for every time I type the words 'Naked Nun', I immediately think of the brilliant Naked Gun film series, which starred the hilarious deadpan comedy of Leslie Nielsen. Let's close out tonight's awards post with a laugh, shall we?
Beer #389 Union Jack / Firestone Walker Brewing Company, Paso Robles, CA
Previously from this brewery: Fourteenth Anniversary Ale reviews from me and from Marci
Crazy first day back in the office, just absolutely crazy. Had to make sense of the changes to the tax code that just passed and their impact on the defined contribution retirement business (thankfully, people much smarter than me did most of the figuring), had to hit the ground running on a project with a looming deadline, and then Governor Corbett decided to sue the NCAA on behalf of the state of Pennsylvania, because why the hell not? Craziness. We have 363 more days this year... we need to pace ourselves.
To mellow out I'm reviewing Union Jack, an IPA from the good people at Firestone Walker. In the glass, this beer has a clear copper color, lingering thin head. The aroma is an explosion of grapefruit and pine, and the taste brings you pine, lemon, grapefruit, and just enough malt to balance things out, ending with a dry, bitter finish. Classic IPA - if you claim to like IPAs, you really need to be drinking this beer on an incredibly regular basis. It's exceptionally good.
Awful pic, very good beer
Firestone Walker was started by two brother-in-laws, and they based their methods on traditional English brewing. Since 1996, they've been churning out a world class product.
Thing to Think About Today:
"Then in flies a guy who's all dressed up just like a Union Jack"
- Mick Jagger
This quote from Get Off of My Cloud popped into my head immediately upon ordering this beer, so let's go ahead and close things out with Mick and the boys.
Day #388 Good Good Things / Tired Hands Brewing Company, Ardmore, PA
Previously from this brewery: my take on Fripp, Marci's review of Trois Enfants
I sent 2012 out with a bang yesterday and welcomed in 2013... by laying around the house, watching movies and football, and writing about beer (of course!). I hope you all had a good evening, and hopefully your resolutions haven't run off the rails already. In my last post of 2011, I hoped 2012 would see me accomplish four things: Do more for other people, don't be so lazy, exercise more, and learn something new. Unwritten at the time but still a goal was to finish the 366 challenge.
I think I did very well on that list. You probably don't care to have me run down the hits and misses, so I won't, but I think I'm going to carry the spirit of those four items forward into 2013, with some additions. Therefore, in 2013 I hope to:
Spend more time with the people I care about
Do a better job of sharing my time and talent with organizations/people who are in need
Keep exercise as a priority throughout the year (particularly the winter months)
I'm sure there are other things I could add to that list, but I think that's a good start for the year. And our first beer of the year comes from the oh so wonderful and ever so pretentious Tired Hands. They recently had Good Good Things on draft, a sour IPA. I haven't run into too many sour IPAs in my travels, and I love sours and IPAs, so this was a must sample for me. In the glass, this beer has a hazy dark orange color, and gives off a tart aroma, with some light citrus and pine. When you take a sip, there's a tart sourness right up front, with tons of orange and grapefruit in the middle, and a nice bitter finish. An absolutely delightful beer.
Tired Hands produces great beers, and my only (small) complaint is that they rotate in new beers so quickly, you never get to revisit really good beers. There's a fair chance they may never brew this beer again, which is unfortunate. I wish they would slow down the perpetual motion machine and just bring back some of the really great beers they make rather than continually rolling out new experiments.
Good? Good!
If you get the chance to visit Tired Hands in person, do not leave without ordering the candied bacon. It's quite fantastic.
Thing to Think About Today:
Obligatory song for the day here on New Year's Day. Worth a watch just to see Bono's early 80's hair. To all of you reading this, may 2013 bring you good health, good fun, prosperity, and tons of good beer.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8BtB4C3Vi8
"I want to be with you be with you night and day / Nothing changes on New Year's Day"
I feel the need to check back in exactly one year after writing my closing thoughts on 2011. If you need a refresher, you can find it here. It's salty and sad with just a bit of hopefulness. It is amazing what 365 days can do for the soul. Putting another year behind me doesn't make me feel older--it makes me feel free and happy and powerful. There's a sense of being able to do anything in my soul and it is a good feeling. And that's what I wish for you all. Take the crap, the stress, the whatever and turn it into hope and happiness. It takes a lot of faith and belief in yourself. But I promise you, that little alchemy project is possible.
Widmer Brothers Brewing has their own alchemy project. It started back in 2010 and is a series of vintage dated beers that can be enjoyed immediately or cellared for years. I got my hands on the Barrel Aged Brrrbon '11, which means it was cellaring somewhere for the past year. Yay for me!
It poured a rich oak color (opaque) with a thin tan head. The smell is woody, roasted and full of butterscotch. The flavor is caramel, vanilla, pepper and is also very rich. It finishes with an almost rauchbier-like smoked
character. It definitely has that warming alcohol burn.
The Barrel Aged Brrrbon is aged in bourbon barrels. It doesn't have that "wow this tastes like bourbon" thing going on like other barrel aged beers. Instead it reminds me of the characteristics of bourbon. Does that make sense?
