How Is It Not Saturday?

Day #530 Love is Evol / Prism Brewing Company, North Wales, PA
Previously from this brewery: Shady Blonde, Bitto Honey, more Bitto Honey, ParTea and more ParTea

We had a little belated birthday party in my honor at work yesterday afternoon - ice cream cake, which is my favorite.  However, the combination of an afternoon party and a general desire to take some time off made me think it was Friday afternoon.  In case you missed the first sentence; it wasn't Friday afternoon.  It was Wednesday afternoon.  Further complicating matters is that with a long weekend looming for Memorial Day, I assumed everyone would start cancelling meetings today, leaving my calendar wide open to actually accomplish things rather than sit in meetings all day  They haven't.  In fact, more meetings were added.  Do people not know that I already think today is Saturday and I didn't expect to do any more work today, let alone tomorrow?  We need to hire more omniscient people, I guess.

The only thing that can fix this (other than people reading this blog and realizing they were wrong to keep meetings on the books for today and Friday) is a beer review.  Tonight's offering is a glass of Love is Evol from Prism.  This beer caught my eye due to the mixture of strawberries and jalapenos in the brew.  Yes, read that again: strawberries and jalapenos.  In the glass, this beer has a mahogany color, and you pick up an aroma of malt and spice.  The initial taste is sweet from the strawberries, and then you definitely notice a peppery spice kick in next.  There are hints of chocolate malt hiding out in between.  This beer is definitely different, but not in a bad way - I like it.  Certainly worth a try if you find this on draft.

Sunshine, yo

Thing to Think About Today:
A little sweet and spice in the beer and everything nice means.... I guess... what, the Spice Girls?  Wannabe it is then.  Always a good song to drop into your summer tailgate mix.  Enjoy your evening, friends.  See you soon....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJLIiF15wjQ

"Slam your body down and wind it all around....."

Sunny Place for Shady People

Day #528 ParTea / Prism Brewing Company,  North Wales, PA
Previously from this brewery: Shady Blonde, Bitto Honey, more Bitto Honey, and ParTea

As I mentioned earlier, I've been working to buy some fashion sunglasses for the first time in my life.  Long a subscriber to the "who cares if I sit on them, they cost $4" theory of sunglasses, I'm now the proud owner of a pair that costs more than $4 but less than the cost of a fully loaded compact car.  I apologize in advance for how incredibly sexy I look in them, as I know it's not fair to everyone else who doesn't look this sexy no matter what sunglasses they put on.  My bad.

Today's beer is a pint of ParTea, an American Pale ale from nearby Prism Brewing Company.  You get a hazy golden amber color with virtually no head.  There's a citrus hop aroma, and when you drink it down you find plenty of lemon and tea, with a nice bit of bitterness on the finish.  I love tea and hate coffee, so the addition of tea to beer is always welcome in my book.  Definitely worth a sample if you see it on tap near you.

Pretty.

For those who have never visited Prism in person, be advised that you can walk there from the SEPTA if you take the R5 through to the wrong side of Philly.  Awesome, right?  Also be advised that this brewery has won my coveted 'Best Brewery to Dump a Dead Body Near' award due to the industrial location, nearness to the rails, and proximity to the woods.  Just saying.

Thing to Think About Today:
To celebrate the arrival of my new sunglasses, what else could I possibly leave you with but the incredibly 80s song Sunglasses at Night by Corey Hart.  Well, I guess I could have dropped Cheap Sunglasses by ZZ Top in here, but I didn't.  Sue me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2LTL8KgKv8

"Don't be afraid of the guy in shades, oh no, it can't escape you / 'Cause you got it made with the guy in shades, oh no"

Day 524: My Other Prism Beer

A couple of Sundays back, we headed to Prism Brewing Company with some friends and their dog. (Dog friendly status will always make me a loyal visitor.) While I had a great fondness for the blonde ale, I did start the day with a different beer.

That would be the ParTea pale ale. It's brewed with 2-row, honey and light crystal malts and summit and cascade hops. There's also whole leaf black (orange pekoe from what I read during my visit) tea leaves. The end result is delicious, and in the glass it has a hazy oak color with a medium white head. The best word I could come up with to describe it is smooth. It has a mild malty aroma. The flavor is pretty balanced--the malts and hops are getting along well in this one. 

Beer stats

Style: American pale ale

ABV: 5.5%

IBUs: 50

Rating: Good

Previously reviewed from Prism

The Shady Blonde

Hers and his reviews of Bitto Honey IPA (I still love the video I posted in my review that day!)

Day 514: Prism Brewing Company

Have you heard of the website Dogshaming? Go check it out--obviously after you read this blog--and I promise you'll be entertained. While this isn't the funniest posting you'll find, it does remind me that I need to name a future dog Waffles. 

Oh, Waffles! Poop goes in the backyard.

Today's beer is the Shady Blonde from Prism Brewing Company. After starting off my Sunday afternoon by sharing a sampler with Mr. Blog Named Brew, I had the desire to continue some Sunday-Funday day drinking with a grown-up size Shady Blonde.

It's a blonde ale (duh) brewed with blood oranges. I'm a sucker for blood oranges. (pun intended) As you can see from the photo, it poured a hazy yellow color. It was borderline electric yellow outside in the sunshine! It did have a loose white head but that dissipated rather quickly. It has a great and dominant orange aroma that doesn't waver in the flavor. There's a nice tartness in the flavor as well that balances out the strong orange notes. The malts and hops were evenly balanced and it made for a very refreshing beer for the summer months. 

Beer stats

Style: Blonde ale

ABV: 4.5%

IBUs: 32 

Rating: Great

Previously reviewed from Prism Brewing

Hers and his reviews of Bitto Honey IPA

Prism, PRISM, and Other Things

Beer #162 Bitto Honey / Prism Brewing Company, North Wales, PA

Announcement:  Working in the yard SUCKS.

That is all.

Tonight's beer is Bitto Honey from nearby Prism Brewing Company.  In the glass, this beer shows off a rich amber color, and gives you a sweet aroma of honey and malt.  Can't lie - I wasn't too excited after my first sip, but this beer gradually grew on me.  When you drink it, you pick up notes of pine, lemon, and honey, and it finishes with heavy, earthy hop bitterness.  It checks in at 6.7% ABV, about what you'd expect from an IPA.

Not a bad option if you're looking for something a bit different from your typical IPA.  The label features an angry bee chomping on some hops.  Maybe he needs to mellow out with a beer.


This brewery is a newcomer on the scene, in business since 2009.  The name makes me think back to the days of the PRISM channel, which was a premium cable channel (which we got for free!) in the Philly region showing movies, and more importantly, crazy amounts of sports.  I spent countless hours as a kid glued to the tv watching Dr. J and the Sixers, the Flyers, the Phillies, and WWF wrestling on PRISM back in the day.  PRISM sort of morphed into Comcast SportsNet through some acquisitions, but somehow it's just not as good as it used to be.  This story has absolutely nothing to do with Prism Brewing, I'm just wandering my way down memory lane here.  As my thanks to you for sticking with this, I'll share the meaning behind the PRISM acronym: Philadelphia Regional In-Home Sports and Movies.  Now you know.

Thing to Think About Today:
If we're thinking about honey, let's go ahead and close out our Sunday evening on a mellow, relaxing note with some Tupelo Honey, courtesy of Van Morrison.   Hope you had a good weekend, hope to see you back here during the week.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEiMQ9w3t3o

"She's an angel, of the first degree..."

Beer 162: Push for Drama and a Local Brew

I'm slightly afraid of today's beer...what with the giant hop and angry honey bee and all.
But one should always take chances. Look what it got the folks in this video!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXvU_cIjkrg

I'm actually jealous that something like this has never happened to me. Perhaps the U.S. is too litigious for it to ever happen here. I'll continue to dream that my trip to Belgium will provide such an opportunity.

Now onto the beer...

See what I mean about the label?

The Bitto Honey IPA from Prism Brewing Company poured a hazy chestnut color and a thick tan head.
The hop aroma was hidden beneath the strong smell of honey. That's a plus in my book! It is hop dominant and clearly an IPA. The hop flavor/tingle/burn continues long after I swallow. That being said, the honey malt is noticeable -- I probably couldn't drink this otherwise.

Overall I'm pretty pleased with this choice. Cheers!