Originally for day 2 of Philly Beer Week we were going to go down to South Philly for the saison event at Tapestry, but we decided instead to just hang in our neighborhood for the evening. So around 5pm we wandered over to Kite & Key, missing the Gladiator games part of the event but in time for great beers. The real event looked like a lot of fun but maybe next year. The beers being poured were a combo of Allagash, Dogfish Head, and Yards and at least all of their beers were still pouring when we arrived.
I started with a glass of the Yards Bourbon Bart, the bourbon barrel aged version of their Olde Bartholomew.
Light vanilla and bourbon nose. No heat and quite nice. Bourbon forward upon first sip but again just nice and tasty, not alcoholic. Basically lots of nice vanilla flavor with some sweetness from the base barleywine. Quite easy drinking for an 11% bourbon barleywine too.
Jo started with the Allagash Old HLT which was really amazing. It kicked soon after we got there, though, so I never got a glass of my own. The cherries really stood out showcasing how good Allagash is getting at using fruit with beer.
After the Bourbon Bart, I got a glass of the Yards Imperial Stout. I'd seen it around earlier in the year but never made it to one of the Yards events so it was nice to get a chance to try it.
Roast nose with a hint of sweetness in it. A roasty body followed, similar to the nose, but the middle was lacking a little. Not a bad stout, but I prefer mine a little thicker with a bit more going on than just roast. Glad I got to try it though.
Next I ordered the Dogfish Head Black and Blue, a blackberry and blueberry golden style ale.
Fruity nose without being too sweet. Nice fruity flavor followed with a little funk and some vanilla from the blackberries brought it all together. Really enjoyed this one especially since it was quite different from the first two. Some people may be turned off by the funkiness or thinking it's too fruit forward at times, but I thought the parts blended pretty well.
Lastly, I ended up splitting a glass of Allagash Victoria with Jo to end the visit.
This one is made with grapes and it totally came through in both the nose and body. You get a nice grapey start followed by a little spiciness from the base beer and both flavors go back and forth. I've had this one before and liked it then too, quite tasty.
So that was our "short, one drink" stop at Kite & Key on Saturday. Didn't actually succeed, did we? Oh well, that's beer week for you. Or at least for me. All that matters is that it was fun and it totally was. And we still managed to go home and make dinner so our night wasn't a total loss.
Tonight I'm not sure yet what I'm doing. I'll be at Jose Pistola's for lunch but after work it's a toss-up between Kite & Key, Prohibition, or both. Just undecided at the moment though it's looking like both.
No comments:
Post a Comment