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
Day #583 5 Out Of 5 / Tired Hands Brewing Company, Ardmore, PA
Previously from this brewery: Um, many beers. Easier to just click this link and read about them.
And another Monday comes and goes. Hopefully you all survived intact. For today's review I'm going in the Wayback Machine and pulling out an old review from Tired Hands that has been hiding in the back. Today's beer is the 5 Out Of 5, an Imperial Stout. This beer was touted as a "must drink," and based on how quickly they were going through kegs of this stout, I figured it was worth a try. In the glass, you seee a dark black color and thin tan head (just like every other stout ever, but I still feel the need to describe the appearance of every beer I drink). When you inhale, you get..... a lot. Espresso, nutty, malt. When you take a sip, there's a crazy mix of maple syrup, peanut, slightly toasted malt, and a big dose of sweetness. Considering this beer was brewed with marshmallow and maple syrup, that sweetness is of no surprise. Stouts aren't usually my cup of tea, but there's so many good things going on in this beer, I would gladly have another. In fact, I'd like to have this beer with breakfast, if possible.
The always fun window art
Tired Hands changes beers frequently, so I guess I can give them a pass on having a website that never seems to be updated. I guess.....
Thing to Think About Today:
Okay, so we have a beer called 5 Out of 5, and I drank it in the Philadelphia suburb of Ardmore. Which of course means it's time to think about Ben Folds (he of the Ben Folds Five) and the catchy Rockin' the Suburbs. Enjoy your Monday, dear friends. I sincerely hope you kicked some ass today.
I haven't taken an extraordinarily crappy photo like this one in quite awhile. It's almost like my camera knew this beer was going to knock me for a loop and gave me a drunken photo without actually being drunk yet. Hey, camera...thanks. Thanks a lot.
What is pictured in this terribly blurry photograph is the 5 Out of 5--a weird imperial stout from Tired Hands Brewing. Tired Hands is my happy place. Evidence is found in the "Previously Reviewed from" list below. We drink a lot of Tired Hands beer in our house.
5 Out of 5 is brewed with lots of malts, peanut butter, cacao, maple syrup,
marshmallow, vanilla bean and One Village espresso. What, what?? 5 Out of 5 is brewed with malts, peanut butter, cacao, maple syrup, marshmallow, vanilla bean and One Village espresso. What's more amazing is that almost each of these flavors presents itself in the best way possible.
First off, let's talk about the color. It pours nearly black as night in my glass. It had an amazingly thick deep tan head. It's smells rich, sweet and a bit chocolatey. The first sip stopped all four of us who ordered on dead in our tracks. Awkward glances were exchanged as we each tried to figure out what we were tasting. Is it chocolate? Maple syrup? Is that marshmallow? There's the vanilla. Ooh and the nutty flavor from the peanut butter.
Reviews were mixed but overall positive. 5 Out of 5 is a strong beer (10% ABV) with a lot of flavor. It's sweet but not syrupy. If you don't like a sweet beer, this is definitely not for you. But if you're up for a flavor adventure, this is one weird imperial stout that I highly recommend.
Beer/Brewery #366 Lava / Ölvisholt Brugghús, Selfoss, Iceland Beers to go: 0
There you have it folks, we have officially come to the end of this journey. During the past 366 days, Marci and I have each drank 366 different beers from 366 different craft breweries. Bazinga!
Please, hold your applause.
Before we wrap things up, I'd like to thank a few people who have helped in ways great and small. First, the great restaurants, bars, and bottle shops in my area who make it their mission to make fantastic beers readily available to the public. Without these fine businesses, there is NO way our blog would have made it this far. Looking at you, Teresa's Next Door in Wayne, TJ's Everyday in Paoli, Wegmans in Malvern, Whole Foods in Devon, and The Beer Shoppe in Ardmore. I'd also like to thank our friends who either donated or traded some really interesting beers, so a tip of the hat to Pat C., Mike T., Dr. Liz T., Mike B. and Casey E., and Nathan A., along with anyone else I might be missing here. Couldn't have done it without you. It certainly goes without saying that I would like to thank Marci, as I just couldn't imagine how this would have worked without her being along for the ride. It's nice to have a partner in crime!
Lastly, I'd like to thank you, the readers of this website. Mostly you're my friends, but there have been an increasing number of people reading this site who I'll never meet in "real life." We've had hits to this website from around the globe, which always makes me wonder how you found us - although I'm always thankful that you did. You guys are the best.
Quite frankly, writing this blog has been a tremendously enjoyable activity for me. I originally went into this endeavor thinking that we'd turn the blog into a best selling book, which would then get turned into a blockbuster movie. Yeah, so.... about that. Fame and fortune hasn't happened (yet!), but I wouldn't trade the experience for anything. It wasn't all seashells and balloons, as there were some days where I felt like I had nothing to say, some days where I couldn't quite find the right way to say what I was thinking, and some days where I thought my post was going to be amazing, only to look back and realize it was a small scale dumpster fire. I guess I'm saying that I've learned I'm not exactly Hemingway when it comes to writing. Regardless, through it all I've had fun. Therefore, as Marci has mentioned in her wrap-up post, this blog will continue in the future!!!! NO, we are NOT doing any further 365 day challenges, but we will continue to use this space to write about craft beer, travel, restaurants, music, sports, dogs, the highs and lows of life, and whatever else seems relevant each day. One of the challenges of this blog was that in focusing on a new beer from a new brewery each day, we missed many great beers along the way. Therefore, we'll be going back to try some of the beers we didn't get to, while still searching for new breweries as well. I hope you continue reading as time goes on, because I'll be terribly sad if you don't. Today isn't officially in the books until we review beer #366, so let's get on with the show. We're both closing things out tonight with a bottle of Lava, an imperial stout from Ölvisholt Brugghús, a brewery in Iceland. Iceland? Yeah, that's how I roll. I drink beers from Iceland. In the glass, this beer dark black color with a sparse tan head. You get an aroma filled with smoked, toasted malt, and when you take a sip you find a smoky, malt heavy beer. Sort of a smoked meat kind of flavor happening. There's some cocoa in there as well, and it has a clean, dry finish. Not the style I typically choose, but definitely a decent beer. If you see one on the shelves, pick one up.
Ice(land), Ice(land), baby....
This brewery was founded in 2007, and they currently ship beer to most of Scandinavia, along with the U.S. and Canada. You may be wondering why this beer is called Lava. Of course you are. It's because from the brewery, you can see Hekla, an active volcano, which has erupted as recently as 2000. Europeans in the Middle Ages called this volcano, "Gateway to Hell." Not exactly a tourist friendly moniker, I suppose, although the volcano does figure prominently in literature and art, as it has been referenced by writers such as William Blake and Herman Melville.
Thing to Think About Today:
Lots of people have done '365 beers in 365 days' challenges. Hit Google and you'll find countless variations, some successful, many not. However, I don't know of any doing 365 beers from 365 different breweries, and I certainly don't know of any married couples out there trying to each accomplish this goal. Therefore, I can think no better way to close out this phase of the journey than to let Queen wrap up tonight in style with We Are the Champions. Because we are!
Good night friends, thank you for coming, and please do come back in the future. Free hugs and cookies if you do!
Here we are. 366 days later. 282 empty beer bottles later.
One would presume another 84 draft beers later. More for both those counts if you count the “Oops, I already drank this brewery’s sister operation’s beer” beers. There were enough of those that I stopped counting them.
We covered 6,771 miles during the great beer-cation of 2012. There have been countless trips to TJ’s in Paoli and Teresa’s Next Door in Wayne at roughly 6 miles a pop round trip. The one number I don’t know is how much we spent on beer this year. Some things are best left untallied. Let’s just say that I’ve made an economic impact.
There have been quite a few beers from Belgium, Germany and England. But we also covered Australia, Norway, Czech Republic, Peru and in a few sentences…Iceland. We hit 37 U.S. states. California and Pennsylvania were most popular. Some truly amazing beer has been discovered. I did my best to create a Top 25 list, but that fell apart as I fell in love with new styles of beer. My Top 30 list and some honorable mentions are here in this post. Some truly awful beer has been uncovered as well. I’m looking at you, St. Cloud.
But some of the awful ones were macro-brews from exotic lands. How often do you drink beer from Thailand or Peru? I get to say that now, although I won’t be seeking those beers out again.
There was a beer that I bought solely because I geeked out on the typeface on the label. And then I geeked out about it being a good beer. Birra Rossa, check it out.
This blog started out as a way to channel my energy after the death of my mother. It helped guide me through the loss of a great coach. It helped me deal with the loss of the greatest dog in the world. (Sorry, Sal and Picasso. You guys are a very close second.) It helped me celebrate milestones – amazing achievements at work, a Penn State football team that would not quit. It let me celebrate my friends and the greatest husband in the world. It let me be me and I can’t let that go.
This is a very longwinded way to write that there is life after this 366 day journey. There will be a year two. Mr. Blog Named Brew and I have been debating the rules, because we like rules. OK, because I like rules and he knows to agree with me sometimes.
Year Two Rules:
1. Either Mr. or Mrs. posts every day.
2. Breweries are up for grabs again if we encounter a new beer from them. We’ll even try to keep it organized and link to other posts about that brewery.
3. Finding new breweries will always be our goal.
4. Have fun, travel and see the world. We have big things planned for this one. I can’t wait.
And now, with great satisfaction, I give you Beer 366:
Hailing from Olvisholt Brugghus in Iceland, tonight's beer is the Lava. It is a smoked imperial stout with an ABV of 9.4%. The brewery has an active volcano visible from its front door. They even put an artist's rendering on the label.
It pours pitch black with a dark tan head. It smells very tannic and smoky. This is where I claim it smells like meat and all my meat eating friends roll their eyes. But I swear it smells and even tastes a little meaty. It's chocolatey and malty. There's a lingering smokiness at the finish and just enough bitterness to slow you down to savor it.
This is exactly the kind of crazy-ass beer that should finish out Year One. Unique. Delicious. Excellent.
Beer #318 Cryptical / Starr Hill Brewery, Crozet, VA
Another basketball game tonight, another loss. Hey, at least I'm burning calories, right? I think I need to make up for all that over-exertion by eating all of the food in the fridge for dinner. OH WAIT, THAT'S RIGHT. Courtesy of some recent beer/brewery stockpiling, there's legitimately no room in the fridge for food. I mean, there's some food, if we're counting condiments, pickles (homemade!), and cheese as food - which I often do. If not.... yeah. I'm occasionally a terrible grown up. I admit this freely.
I'll punish myself for my lack of positive adult role modeling by reviewing Cryptical, an Imperial Stout from Starr Hill Brewery. This one has a dark black hue, with a thick tan head. Your nose finds a smoky, toasted malt aroma, and the taste is bitter, with burnt malt and tons of smoky flavor. Clean and dry finish, and brings a 7.5% ABV to the party. If you're looking for a potent stout with tons of smoky, toasty malt, look no further. If you're not looking for that, why on Earth are you considering ordering an Imperial Stout?
Looks like it tastes.
This brewery has been a player in the Charlottesville, VA since 1999, and moved to a larger facility just outside of town in 2005. Check it out next time you're in the neighborhood.
Thing to Think About Today:
Seeing how Halloween is nearly upon us, I thought I might tie in a Tales from the Crypt reference in here, but I'm really not a big fan of the horror genre. So... if we're talking Cryptical.... yeah... it's time for Mystikal! See what I did there? I highly don't encourage you hitting this video at work, unless your employer really, truly likes it when you Shake Ya Ass.
I mention TJ's Restaurant pretty often on this blog. But I don't benefit from my mentions - I just love the place. The food is good. The selection of beer is mind blowing. Their social media skills are outstanding. I know what's on and what's kicked pretty much up-to-the-minute. When you're on the hunt for new breweries - not just new beer - this is mission critical information. Now if the fine folks over at TJ's were to offer some benefit for singing their praises, I probably wouldn't and really couldn't refuse. (Typed using my best Godfather impersonation.)
Take for example the Starr Hill Brewing Company. I never heard of this brewery until I picked up a tweet that it was tapped at TJ's. Off to the bar we go and I get to check another brewery off the list. As an aside, I'm now seeing Starr Hill everywhere. Based on this beer, I'll definitely be trying other varieties.
The Cryptical imperial stout has an ABV of 7.5%. It poured a deep chocolate brown...almost black and had a thick tan head that didn't stick around for very long. While the head didn't last, it did leave plenty of impressive lacing behind. It smells roasted and malty. Exactly what I expected to encounter. The taste is smokey and kind of reminds me of bacon. Keep in mind that the writer of that statement hasn't had bacon since 1985 so she may be completely off her rocker on that particular assessment. It has a smooth consistency which makes it eminently drinkable. This is a nicely balanced stout and I'll give it a good rating.
I started my day with a ninja cat assassin stalking me from the ferns in my front garden. Look closely.
He’s there watching…waiting to pounce. It was from this vantage point that he whispered, “I’m coming to get you. Leave the tuna on the front porch and no one gets hurt.” Then he drew his claw across his throat and pointed at me with a furry cat mitten.
At least once every few weeks, a cat ninja and I scare the bejeezus out of each other. It’s a fun little game we play.
***
In honor of ninja cat assassins everywhere, I’m drinking an Emelisse Imperial Russian Stout. For whatever reason, every time I look at this beer in the fridge, I get images of Storm Troopers in my head. Marci-land is a fun, fun and somewhat strange place.
This imperial Russian stout pours deep opaque brown with a cocoa color head. It smells of roasted malt and chocolate. The flavor is amazing. It starts chocolate syrup, rolls into solid roasted malts and finishes crisp, dry and with just the right amount of hops. Every few sips it also gives off a sweet cherry aroma, which isn’t noticeable while drinking it.
Overall quite tasty. Top 25? Why the hell not!
Cheers!
p.s. Just in case you were illiterate and didn’t get the drinking-is-bad-when-pregnant message, you get a handy picture warning on the label. Well done.
There is entirely too much work to be done at work. I suppose it's a good thing that I have a steady gig, but I AM EXHAUSTED. Does anyone have some cheese to go with my whine?
Tonight's beer is Terrapin Beer Company's Coffee Oatmeal Imperial Stout -- advertised as Wake & Bake at TJ's in Paoli (PA). It was served in a small snifter and was black as night. It had a medium tan head that hung around. It was breakfast and beer all in one sitting! It smelled strongly of coffee and caramel. It drank with light carbonation and felt viscous. It drank quite the opposite of the milk stouts that I'm fond of this time of year. It tasted of roasted caramel malt and coffee. It also had a hint of cola.
This imperial stout has an ABV of 8.1% and it definitely provided an alcohol warmth. I can't imagine drinking more than one of these in a sitting. It is a heavy beer. But sitting and sipping on one is a delightful way to spend the evening.
Cheers!
p.s. I forgot to snap a photo of this one, but check out their logo.
Johnny Cash Hey Porter
Chemical Brothers Galvanize
Coldplay God Put a Smile Upon Your Face
Flight of the Conchords I Told You I Was Freaky
Vampire Weekend Run
Bob Dylan All Along the Watchtower
Killers Joy Ride
U2 Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me
Mick Jagger Salt of the Earth
Johnny Cash Help Me
A Tribe Called Quest Jazz (We’ve Got)
Wilco At Least That's What You Said
Last night was dinner at Jose Pistola’s with friends. If you’re familiar with Philadelphia, it is in the same building that was once Copacabana 2. The nachos were awesome. I detest nachos that have all the toppings just plopped on top of the heap of chips. Good nachos are all about the layers and these were definitely made the right way. There were about 15 beers on draught and a pretty extensive bottle list. I went with the Clown Shoes Vampire Slayer -- an imperial stout described as having more sweetness and depth than their previous offering. Their description also mentions that it is brewed with holy water and malt smoked with vampire killing stakes. You have to love the irreverent humor!
I noted the alcohol warmth immediately in my notes on this one and after doing some research today I learned that it is a whopping 11%ABV. One was definitely enough. It was super dark, almost black, with a loose dark tan head. This was a risky choice for me because I don’t like smoke flavor. More often than not, I think smoke makes things taste like sausage. I don’t like sausage so I don’t want my beer tasting like it. Lucky for me, the smoked malts were very mild and I really enjoyed it. The taste was what you’d expect for an imperial stout. Roasted malt flavor, vanilla.
There was also Tramp Stamp available from Clown Shoes….an IPA that tasted like soap. And that is why I don’t drink IPAs, folks. They remind me of soap. I didn’t order that one. My friend had that honor but he very willingly shared it so we could all get a taste.
Highlight of the evening: I eventually ordered a Duchess de Bourgogne (Flanders red ale) after sipping some of the one Gary ordered. His came in a wide flute. Mine came in a goblet. As our waiter poured it, he apologized for the glass, calling it one of his greatest professional embarrassments. He delivered it with absolute seriousness and very much reminded me of one of my favorite comics - Mitch Hedberg. His Comedy Central show is one of the funniest things I’ve seen in my life.
