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 647: Fantome Dark White and Spooooooky

Somewhere along the road of blogging about all this craft beer, I noted my great fear and general hatred of clowns. I've always been a little creeped out by them and their ghostly pale faces, overly jovial smiles and the slightly murderous glint in their eyes, but I was pushed over the edge by Stephen King's best-seller It. Pennywise is pure evil. To this day I cannot walk across a sewer grate without fear of looking down into the devilish eyes of a homicidal clown.

Imagine my reaction when I read there's a lunatic in Northampton, England dressed as a clown just creeping around scaring adults and children alike. (Story here).

Terrifying clown pointing at a cameraman? Hell no. Photo courtesy of 9News

I'd be packed up and moved to a foreign country so fast, it would melt that awful paint right off his face. Clowns. Ugh.

Let's talk about something that doesn't want to make me scream and curl up in the fetal position.

This is the Fantome Dark White, a Belgian ale brewed with spices. It poured a hazy reddish brown ale iwth an off-white head. It smells of Belgian candi sugar, raisins and toast. The flavor is grainy, earthy, fruity. There's an underlying tartness with a nice dry finish. The spices are quite notable with white pepper being most dominant.

Beer stats
Style: Saison
ABV: 4%
IBUs: Unknown
Rating: Excellent

Previously reviewed from Fantome
Printemps, a saison, and more on that saison

Lucky #13: 21st Amendment Fireside Chat

Remember those strange old days when beer in a can was passé?  Now it's all hip and cool in the can.  I bring this up because my journey to Wegman's gave me the opportunity to add a can to my six pack of single bottles.  Strange days indeed.

Why does my iPad take such shitty photos?

Today we're drinking 21st Amendment Fireside Chat.  This beer is definitely out of my norm - hoppy with clove and nutmeg and a lingering bitterness that I tend to associate with hops.  What drew me to this beer was the can's illustration of a very dapper Franklin Roosevelt sitting fireside with what looks like a brandy snifter but I'll lie to all of us and claim it to be a tulip glass of beer.  The website describes the beer as a Strong Ale with added spices and cocoa nibs.  I'm getting the Strong Ale flavor and the spices, but I'm missing out of the cocoa nibs.  I guess you can't win them all.




Sidebar:  The Breweries "Visited" section is getting out of control.  I'm thinking that section will become the 10 most recently sampled breweries with the complete list on its own page.  I'm also enthralled with the idea of saving all the cans and bottles we drink during this adventure for a final photo.  It's absurd, but so is this blog.