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
Today's beer is the Low Ryeder IPA from SweetWater Brewing Company -- a rye IPA. Per SweetWater's description, it is: "A flame throwin’ Rye IPA ignited by a 25% shot of rye malt and capped by a booty hoppin’ blast of Mt Hood and Centennial hops that makes this IPA bounce!"
It poured a deep golden color ale with a slight haze and a medium white head. There was a bit of sticky lacing left behind. It has an orange and hop aroma and the flavor falls in line with that. Lots of citrus (orange) hops. It's a bit bready. And there's a little sweetness hanging around.
I'm wide awake on a quiet Sunday morning, so I figure I'll spend some time blogging. Might as well be productive instead of just watching videos of cats playing the piano, right? I'm sure there's a million other things I could do around the house that need to be done, but..... it's either cats playing the piano or blogging. So here we go.
Play him off, Keyboard Cat!
Oh, right.... I said I was blogging. My bad. Your beer for the day is a Stingray Point IPA from Coronado Brewing. You see an bright gold hue, with a thin but persistent white head. The aroma is more sweet than I'd expect from an IPA. The taste has traditional IPA elements like grapefruit, lemon, and pine, with a dry, bitter finish. However there's more of that sweetness tucked inside, with notes of honey coming through. Not a bad beer, if you're looking for an IPA that doesn't punch you in the face with hops.
Shazam.
This beer doesn't show up on Coronado's website, but from some quick internet research it looks like this was a one-off beer which was named for a secret bayside point only locals seem to know about. Seeing how my beer didn't come with a map, I'm guessing this place might still be a secret to tourists.
Thing to Think About Today:
I guess Stingray Point gets you..... Sting? Well, Sting and the rest of The Police, anyway. Why not kick off your Sunday with something fun, such as this fun live version of So Lonely from 1979.
Day #546 Golding Glow / Victory Brewing Company, Downingtown, PA
Previously from this brewery: Seriously? Just do me a favor and just click this link to see all of the Victory reviews.
Last night we braved the elements (up yours, Tropical Storm Andrea!) and ventured to the Mann Center to see The National in concert. Admittedly, I'm a relative newcomer to this band, and only knew a few songs, but liked the ones I knew. I came away soggy around the edges from my walk to the venue, (outdoors, but thankfully the seats are under cover) but very impressed with the band, their performance, and the songs. They're mellow and spiritual and optimistic and melancholy and passionate all at the same time, driven by the lead singer's unique baritone voice. You should definitely check them out. I wasn't as impressed with opening act, Broken Projectors, who sounded like each band member was playing a different song at the same time. I kid they were fine no not really they weren't very good.
Today's review is from a past trip to Victory - a glass of Golding Glow. When I saw the name of this beer, I instantly thought of The Last Dragon, the kung-fu movie featuring the Shogun of Harlem as the chief villain, who had a sort of "the Force" from Star Wars-esque thing happening and would glow before kicking someone's ass. What does this have to do with anything? Not much, other than the fact that the Shogun of Harlem is sort of my spirit animal. What can I say.
Who's the man now, Leroy?
Back to the review. In the glass, this beer is a clear dark gold color, with a nice fluffy head. There's a mix of malt and fruit in the aroma, and when you take a sip, you get a nice fruit profile (grapes, I suppose) with a good malt sweetness balanced by a touch of hop bitterness. I believe this is only available on draft, so make your way to Downingtown or a bar that has some deep cuts from the Victory catalog on draft.
Am I the prettiest? SHO NUFF.
Good easy drinking beer, probably very refreshing after you get The Glow and teach someone a lesson with your fists.
You rang?
Thing to Think About Today: As I've already introduced you to the film The Last Dragon, I'll stick with the music theme. The National has popped up in this space once before with Mr. November(where I decided my beard made me look like the lead singer), so let's go for Fake Empire. An introspective song that I quite enjoy.
"Turn the light out, say goodnight / No thinking for a little while
Let's not try to figure out everything at once / It’s hard to keep track of you falling through the sky"
Too relaxed for a day where most everyone I know is drunkenly tailgating at a Kenny Chesney concert and you're too lazy to click on the Mr. November link? Fine, special double song post with something faster for you then. Mistaken for Strangers to close out the day. See you all soon, friends.
I'm off to see The National this evening in the remnants of the first tropical storm of the season. I have my Wellies but I imagine I'll be saying, "The Wellies. They do nothing." Kind of like McBain...
So if I don't post this weekend, I went out with the rain-swollen tide even though the concert venue isn't anywhere near beachfront!
To celebrate my last moments of dry conditions, let's talk beer. The Irish Draught from Old Forge Brewing.
I had this at the Bainbridge Street Barrel House in Philadelphia. I also figured out what was bothering me about that place. It's like a Crate and Barrel catalog with amazing beer. There was something strangely sterile about it. That being written, don't let it deter you. The beer list is AMAZING.
The Irish Draught is an Irish red ale that was served on nitro. It poured a crisp bright brown with a thick off-white head. It was very creamy and smooth with a tea-like flavor and some honey. There was a good balance between the malts and hops. It actually reminded me a lot of an ESB.
Beer stats
Style: Irish red
ABV: 4%
IBUs: Unknown
Rating: Great
Maybe I am getting old. Clearly I cannot work a 14 hour day, get five hours of sleep and get up and do it again. Nope. The body now says, "No dice" and stops functioning.
Two hour naps in the late afternoon/early evening are not a good idea but clearly my body was telling me something. I just slept the sleep of the dead for the past two and a half hours. First thought upon wandering out of my room and seeing the socks and undershirt that Gary wore today, "Oh he melted" a la the Wicked Witch of the West style.
Clowns are scary as all hell. Read Stephen King's It. That is the ultimate in terrifying clown stories. I don't walk on or look down into sewer grates because of it. End of story.
Despite my all-encompassing fear/hate/distrust of clowns, I do tend to like beer from Clown Shoes Beer. The latest selection is the Clementine--a witbier.
From the Clown Shoes' website, it is light-bodied and crisp and has plenty of zest. It's hazy in appearance and healthily carbonated. It uses Chambly yeast to energetically shape its wheat malt base. Incorporated into the brewing process is clementine, sweet orange peel, coriander and Summit hops.
So what did I think? It poured a hazy, deep orange color with a smallish white head. It has the aroma of unpeeled oranges and grain. It has a strong hop profile with a nice amount of citrus flavor. There's something kind of dank about the flavor. I tend to expect a brighter flavor from a witbier but there was definitely something lightly earthy about it.
Beer stats
Style: Witbier or white ale
ABV: 5.9%
IBUs: Unknown
Rating: Good
Beer #543 2XMAS / Southern Tier Brewing Company, Lakewood, NY
Previously from this brewery: Creme Brulee stout, Unearthly IPA
Spent the day at the ballpark, thankfully watching the Phils pull out a late win against the hapless (except when they play the Phils) Miami Marlins. Great day for a game, great time was had by all.
And with that short but sweet update, I'm getting right into the beer. Tonight I decided to pull a beer out of the back corner of the fridge, a bottle of 2XMAS from Southern Tier. There's apparently something called Christmas in July, so therefore I feel well within my right to have a Christmas beer in June. In the glass, you see a dark amber hue, and are greeted by big aromas of spice - clove and nutmeg, predominantly. When you take a sip, you find Christmas in a glass: cardamom, clove, nutmeg, ginger, and orange peel. This is a tasty beer, but I'd like it quite more if I drank it in season, instead of in June. Hey, can't win them all. One less beer in the fridge, I say.
Ho, Ho, Hold on.... Christmas beer?
Thing to Think About Today:
Nothing says baseball like Christmas carols. Paul McCartney, do you agree? Of course you do, as we're simply having a Wonderful Christmastime. Even in June. Night, friends!
The weather in Philadelphia was absurdly glorious today. A great day to drive with your windows open and your head in the breeze. You know.... like this:
Who let the dogs out?
The weather today felt more like San Diego than Philly, so I'll give you a beer from the West Coast to get in the proper mood. Tonight's review is Coronado Golden, a pilsner from Coronado Brewing. In the unnecessarily small glass (more on that later), it showed a pale straw color, with a thin white head. There are light aromas of grain and bread, and when you take a sip, you find a refreshing mix of easy malt sweetness, bread, grass, and grain with the tiniest bit of hop bitterness. Great beer for a sunny day... and from what I understand they get a few of those in San Diego.
Solid Gold
So Bainbridge Barrel House.... I get that it costs money to haul beer from San Diego some 2,750 miles to your front door. However, selling a ten ounce pour of a session beer for $6.50? That needs to be a bigger pour, guys. C'mon!
Thing to Think About Today:
A golden beer and some golden weather deserves some, what, maybe Black Gold from Soul Asylum? Sure! Great song to crank up when you roll down the windows. Try it yourself and see what I mean!
I marked the final leg of my trip home by ticking off the reasons I will not visit various restaurants along the Main Line. This one has attempted to survive with the dumbest configuration ever. One restaurant on the street-side and another, not-so-successful one in the rear. Oddly the one on the street-side closed first. Go figure. I think the site is cursed and was gratified to see the next tenants making moves which look like they're leveling it and starting over. Hopefully they burn some sage at the site and rid it of its bad mojo.
There's the one that thinks prosciutto belongs in a sushi roll. No dice. There's the one that hires 19 year-olds to describe its relatively decent beer. Imagine how that goes. I could go on, but it's far too depressing.
One place that I'll definitely be revisiting is the Bainbridge Street Barrel House, however it's not a Main Line haunt. It's located at 6th and Bainbridge in Philadelphia. I missed their Coronado Brewingtap takeover on Saturday night, but managed to scarf up some leftovers at Sunday Funday. I started with the BadaBing cherry porter.
It poured a dark brown color ale with a thin but cream tan head. It had a cherry aroma with a little chocolate thrown in. It drank with a thin mouthfeel but was quite flavorful. There's lots of bitter roast, solid amount of cherry and some coffee with a hint of cola now and again. Overall this is a great beer but it made me miss San Diego.
Day #540 Riserva / Weyerbacher Brewing Company, Easton, PA
Previously from this brewery: Merry Monks, Double Simcoe IPA
"She said, 'I don't believe in any old Jesus.
And if there was a God, then why is my ass
the perfect height for kicking?"
- Bell X1, Rocky Took a Lover
Frequent readers of this blog may know that I love music. I like nothing more than finding the right songs for the right mood, and then sharing those finds with everyone either in this blog or through an iPod mix at a party or tailgate. I enjoy having people comment on the eclectic combinations I put together, and I like surprising people with the song that they absolutely need to hear at just the right moment.
A mix I rarely ever share from is my Quiet Mix; a collection of songs I like to listen to when I want to slow it down, take time to reflect and think, have a pity party and feel bad for myself, or just find a quiet, peaceful place to be alone in between my ears (my brain can be a cluttered, chaotic, noisy place). The quote above has been running through my head lately; I bring it up in my mind whenever life throws a particularly well timed uppercut that I can't dodge or block. Just like the quote says, sometimes I feel like I've earned the crap life hands out because my ass is really just the perfect height for kicking. I don't know where I'm going with this post; I just had that song running through my head and then started typing. Anyway, everyone should have a Quiet Mix. If you need some suggestions, I'd be happy to share; I'm always happy to share my thoughts on music.
Tonight I give you Riserva from Weyerbacher, an American Wild Ale aged on raspberries in oak barrels. Intrigued? Yes, I believe you are. This beer has a reddish rose hue with a thin edge of white head. Out of the bottle, there are aromas tart raspberries, and when you take a sip you get taken away into a happy place with flavors of raspberries and oak, and just the right bit of sourness. I drink a fair number of beers, and when my first reaction to a sip is, "holy shit!" you can feel comfortable that this is a world class beer. Riserva beer has a very pleasing carbonation, and it hides a rather potent 11.4% ABV incredibly well. I was shocked to see the ABV this high, as you don't notice the alcohol whatsoever. Congratulations to Weyerbacher, as I'm awarding this beer a place in my coveted Top 25 list!
Soooo good!
I'm not the only one to fall in love with this creation. It was very recently crowned 'Best New Beer' at the Philadelphia Inquirer's 2013 Brew-vitational.
Thing to Think About Today:
No way I quote this song in the opening paragraph, and then not give you the goods. I've only shared Bell X1 here in this space once before, but they're a band I enjoy greatly. If you close your eyes (not now, you're reading), you can hear the Talking Heads influences hiding in there somewhere. A high compliment from me, indeed. Enjoy something quiet to unwind from your weekend and find an inner peace before the work week starts again. Night, friends....
I'm out of words. No pearls of wisdom today. If that's disappointing, prepare yourself for more disappointment. Today's beer is the Frankenmuth Batch 69 IPA. It's an American IPA that claims to taste of citrus, flowers and pine.
I drank this at a decidedly unbeercentric household so no appropriate glassware. It poured a bright deep golden color with very little head. What was around was white. It didn't smell of anything in particular and it was very malty without any discernible hop profile. Given the description from the bottle, I was expecting lots of hop in there. Instead I got lots of sweet, lots of orange and not much else.
Overall it was a real disappointment. Even more so because Frankenmuth is one of Michigan's oldest breweries--hailing all the way back to 1857. It's located in Frankenmuth, Michigan, which is known as Michigan's Little Bavaria. With that kind of reputation, maybe I would have been better off with one of their pilseners or dunkel lagers. Alas this was the only option available to me at the time.
