Day 676: He Said,He Said

Scene: Me and some friends enjoying beers out on the town in State College for Penn State's homecoming. I'm sitting at the bar right in front of a set of taps. Bartender is switching out one of the tap handles and I launch into full Chatty Cathy let's-talk-beer-mode. 

They just tapped a collaboration brew from 21st Amendment and Elysian. The tap handle states (or at least it was close to this as I didn't have the mind to take a photo): 

     Baltic porter

     Lager brewed with pumpkin 

I've had some strange collaborations before, but a porter-lager...with pumpkin? To the Googles! Here's what I learned from the 21st Amendment He Said site:

He Said let’s brew a dark beer with pumpkin and spices and put it in a light colored can. He Said let’s brew a light beer with pumpkin and spices and put it in a dark colored can. So they did both and produced a pumpkin beer collaboration like no other: two black pumpkin beers and two white pumpkin beers, together in one box.

Who are the hes in question? Dick Cantwell, the pumpkin king at Elysian Brewing and Shaun O'Sullivan, the 21st Amendment brewmaster who brought me one of my favorite beers Hell or High Watermelon Wheat.

Evidently the tap handle covers both beers and is a great conversation starter! I lucked out with the light version of He Said. It's a Belgian-style tripel and it poured a hazy medium gold color with an off-white head. It was full of Belgian candid sugar aroma and some malt. The flavor is tons of caramel and pie spice. Not overtly pumpkin-y, but delicious nonetheless.

Beer stats
Style: Tripel
ABV: 8.2%
IBUs: Unknown
Rating: Excellent

Previously reviewed from 21st Amendment
Hell or High Watermelon, Bitter American, more Hell or High Watermelon, Fireside Chat

Previously reviewed from Elysian
Split Shot (espresso milk stout) and I rap Sir-Mix-Alot lyrics, drop a Faygo reference and sing the praises of TJ's Bar
Prometheus (IPA)

Day 482: Green Flash Le Freak

Today is my birthday. There are surprises in store for me tonight. As someone who is very comfortable admitting that she likes to control all the things, all the time, this is a challenging position for me to be in. I'm currently not controlling all the things. I am nervous. It's making me chew on my nails. I'm a freak.

Which leads me to today's beer. Green Flash's Le Freak. It's a combination of a Belgian style trippel and an American imperial IPA.

It poured a hazy golden orange color with a full white head. It smelled of hops, sugar and tart grapes. The flavor is surprisingly smooth. It's herbal and spicy with some breadiness. There a good hop bite in the finish and lots of piney hops.

Beer stats
Style: Trippel/Imperial IPA
ABV: 9.2%
IBUs: 101
Rating: Great

Previously reviewed from Green Flash
Mr.'s review of Le Freak and Rayon Vert and Imperial IPA and Palate Wrecker and Linchpin IPA
I tackle a sampler

Day 421: Iron Hill and Phoenixville

A few weekends ago we did a Chester County beer tour. The second stop on the tour was Iron Hill Brewery's Phoenixville outpost. I'll get to the first and last stops this week, I promise.

I think this is the second Iron Hill location...the first being in West Chester (PA) and quite a few came after it all around Philadelphia and New Jersey. Iron Hill is one of many bars and restaurants currently populating the main drag in Phoenixville. About a decade ago, when we lived on the outskirts of Phoenixville, it was a dump. D-U-M-P.

You did not go there at night. One could question why you would go there during the day even. There was absolutely nothing downtown. Well there was one of the sketchiest liquor stores I've ever seen. Their best selling wine was either Boone's Farm or Mad Dog. And people weren't drinking it ironically. And no, there wasn't a college town there.

Fast-forward several years--after we move away--and it's a fantastic, bustling little town. Go check it out. You won't be disappointed.

Iron Hill makes a lot of great beers and I went with the Belgian Tripel.


It poured an opaque golden color with a thin white head. Its aroma was bread and mild fruit. The flavor was satisfyingly complex. Banananas. Dark pitted fruit. Wild flower honey. It had a brightness to it and was definitely boozy, but it wasn't heavy.

Beer stats
Style: Belgian Tripel
ABV: 9%
IBUs: 35
Rating: Good

Previously reviewed from Iron Hill
First beer ever!

Day 410: Real Ale, Brewery Tours and God's Country, Y'all

The final installment of Texas Beer Week takes us to Real Ale Brewing in Blanco, Texas. I went to Texas Hill Country! It is an amazing thing to see so much open space--it looks like it just goes on forever. There were cowboys. Unironic boot wearing, hat wearing cowboys. I even saw a car with cattle horns on the front end! Amazing. 

We hit the road from Austin and headed west to Blanco to experience Real Ale Brewing for ourselves. Normally I'm the person who says if you've seen one brewery, you don't need to see them all. Boy was I  mistaken. The tour at Real Ale was awesome. It was not one of those OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) approved tours. It was a true behind-scenes, stand in puddles, don't poke your eye out on that nozzle, avoid getting a concussion tour. I'm pretty sure that if I lingered too long, someone would have given me a keg to fill or hops to haul around. 

The guys at Real Ale are cranking out some great beer. I noticed their Firemans 4 blonde ale all over Austin. Thanks to some bizarre Texas laws, breweries cannot sell directly to consumers. Instead some give away samples.  There was a point during our visit to Real Ale when I wondered how long we could hang out before we got cut off. 

What did I sample? Two beers. Repeatedly. The first was a Belgian-style tripel, Devil's Backbone. It was a nice golden color with great flavor. Good candy sugar, a little hoppy. Very interesting. The booze was apparent but surprisingly easy to drink. 

My other taste went to the barleywine. Another bruiser of a beer (11% ABV) but so tasty and warming.  Lots of toffee and malt with enough hop to keep it from being too rich. 

Beer stats 
Style: Barleywine
ABV: 11%
IBUs: 77
Rating: Good

Style: Tripel
ABV:  8.1%
IBUs: 36
Rating: Good

Previously reviewed from Real Ale Brewing
First review!

Unfortunately I didn't take any photos of my beer.  Instead here are some shots from the tour...

Yes, Real Ale is doing barrel aging!

And like I said when I started Texas Beer Week...Texas forever, y'all.

Don't Be Frightened (It's Only St. Louis)

Day #397 Tripel / Saint Louis Brewing Company, St. Louis, MO
Previously from this brewery:  All the Schlaflys

It's been another hectic day, but life has improved significantly since leaving the office.  Things are good, in fact, but I won't bore you with those details so I'll jump right into a beer.  Going back to St. Louis (figuratively, thankfully not literally) to pull another from the list of Schlafly products I drank during my recent stay.

Tonight's beer is the Tripel, a Belgian-style ale that poured a hazy apricot color with virtually no head.  There's a light aroma of biscuit and banana, and the taste has a ton of banana, clove, biscuit, and malt.  Not as much sweetness as I was expecting, but nothing unusual.  Truth be told, I think this was a good beer, but I should have drank some water to cleanse my palate, as I put down the Dry Hopped APA before sampling this one, and the bitterness was still lingering.  Would love to try another one some day (although preferably without the dystopian atmosphere of downtown St. Louis).

Hi there.

I have two more Schlafly reviews in reserve that I'll be breaking out throughout the month.  Check yourself.

Thing to Think About Today:
Tonight, I'm sharing a band and a song that have been stuck in my head all day.  Frightened Rabbit is an indie rock group from Scotland.  In fact, think of them as the Scottish version of Mumford and Sons.  Or even, the Scottish version of Mumford and Sons without the over priced concert tickets entirely bought by scalpers (kiss my ass, Live Nation!!!).  Here's the song I've been singing all day (although I don't know the words.... yet), Living In Colour.  They're playing in Philly on April 6.... who's in?  Anyone with me on this?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NciG8qAphUM

"Living in color, we're living in color / and even in the blackout, I know"

Beer 111: Velvet Roosters and Velvet Dachshunds

I'm not feeling very eloquent tonight.  A few hours ago, we took Flash for his final trip to the vet.  Cancer got him.  Fuck cancer.  Fuck human cancer.  Fuck canine cancer.  I would like to think I'll be able to eventually write something meaningful about how much I love that dog.  For now, let's all remember him as the party animal he was...

***

I often called Flash the Velveteen Dachshund.  Ironically we had a beer called Velvet Rooster in the fridge, which seemed appropriate for tonight's review.  Velvet Rooster is a Belgian Style Triple brewed by Tallgrass Brewing Company.  I think this may be the first and possibly only beer I get my hands on from Kansas.  It poured a pale and cloudy shade of orange.  It had a light head that left a bit of lacing.  It smelled of citrus and hops.  The taste was strong on the hops for me but I still enjoyed it (a rarity for me).  It drank with mild spiciness and a fresh, green flavor.  Overall, pretty tasty.  Cheers!