Prohibition Taproom

Jo and I picked the Prohibition Taproom to visit before our chocolate tour of Philadelphia.  We were looking for somewhere new and this was close to Reading Terminal so we decided to check it out.  It's at 501 N. 13th Street, just south of Spring Garden.  Nondescript outside with a sign that said bar or something.  Neither of us can remember.  Inside, there were only a few tables and a pretty neat looking bar.  It was made of solid wood and had some islands that jutted out from it into the middle of the room.  Interesting set up that we've never seen before.  Might be hell for the wait staff, but our bartender said she didn't much mind it.  Our food was actually quite good and their draft selection was pretty varied.

I started with Avery Old Jubilation, a winter warmer.

It smelled a little roasty with some sweet malt.  I got hints of some caramel, a few more roast notes, and some other sweet flavors.  Interesting and quite good.  I'm really looking forward to trying Avery's Mephistopheles after having this.  I haven't had enough from them considering the quality of this one.

After that I had a glass of Yards Hoppy Lil' Hudson, an IPA.  (Yards brews this in collaboration with the Prohibition Taproom.)

Decent hop smell once again reminding me of grapefruits.  Almost an inch of head, but this came off cask which is why it looks so creamy.  Very smooth mouth feel also possibly a result of being on cask.  Some bitterness in it but there was none in the after taste.  Pretty pleasant to drink.  Very smooth flavor, very smooth finish.  Felt like drinking creamy hops which is pretty different than a lot of IPAs.  Once again I enjoyed an IPA quite a bit.

After that we went on to do our Chocolate Tour which was pretty fun.  A couple hours later we ended up at Tria and I got a glass of Port Older Viscosity, an imperial stout.  I talked about it during the Hulmeville Beer Geek BBQ event.

Similar thoughts to last time except I thought this glass had a bit more bourbon flavor in it.  Some wood flavors as well but not a ton of sweetness.  Second sip had a lot of chocolate notes.  As I drank more, the chocolate, wood and bourbon flavors blended reasonably well together.  Strong beer, but one glass is a good choice if you savor it.