Left Hand Oktoberfest

Things are getting back to normal at Kite & Key after last weeks Savage Sixtel Sunday leftovers. At this point, the only thing left was the keg of Nugget Nectar. So, yesterday, I tried a Left Hand Oktoberfest.

Malty biscuit nose, nice. Body followed with a caramel maltiness, breadiness, and a fruity finish. Some hops appeared near the end making it crisper and kept the sweetness from coming on too strong. I'm not much of an expert in oktoberfest beers as I don't drink them very often, but this one seemed pretty decent. It's sweet, but never too sweet as the hops keep it clean. Worth a try.

Soccer at Philadelphia Bar & Restaurant

Last week, I decided I wanted to watch the gold medal match for women's soccer in the Olympics. Sure it started in the middle of the day, but whatever, my job is cool with me leaving at 2:30. After putting out some feelers on twitter and asking PhillyTapFinder if he had any opinions, I settled on Philadelphia Bar & Restaurant. While they didn't have the sound available on the tvs, the beer list was strong and the food there is pretty good. Plus it's convenient to get to since it's just off the blue line.

I started with a beer I've wanted to try for a while, Stoudts Old Abominable, a barleywine.

Visiting Perch Pub

I've heard good things about the Perch Pub, located at Broad and Locust, and finally decided to visit last Friday night. The bar was already pretty busy when I got there around 5 as they have a decent happy hour with half off most of their drafts. Right now, they have 14 different draft lines with 2 being reserved for small batch stuff like Hill Farmstead, one-offs, things like that.

I started with a glass of Blue Point No Apologies, a double IPA.

Clean grapefruit nose. Started a little bitter up front, followed by a bit of grapefruit, and then finished with some malty sweetness. Decent enough double IPA although it may be a bit sweet for some people. Nice way to start off the night.

Left Hand Juju Ginger

Left Hand Juju Ginger is classified as a spiced beer and is made with ginger as expected.

Well, the first thing I'll say is it's definitely made with ginger. Mostly ginger in the aroma with some notes from the base beer. Not sure what the base is, possibly something wheat. Who knows. A little tangy up front followed by some sweet ginger and finishing with some bitter ginger flavor. I'm guessing the sweetness and bitterness come from the base which is why the ginger appears in both situations. This is a decent enough beer, but definitely slightly odd. If you like ginger, you'd maybe like this. If you hate it, then you'd hate this. Simple as that really although even if you like ginger it's not really something to write home about.

Jose Pistola's does Smoke!

Another great event at Jose Pistola's last Friday.  They had three smoked beers and three smoked food specials.  When I entered it smelled fantastic in there as they had just thrown some smoke chips on a stove downstairs and the whole place had a nice haze of smoke.  Really set the mood for the event.  The three smoked beers they had were: Aecht Schlenkerla Oak Smoke (I think it's their Eiche), Weyerbacher Fireside Ale, and Left Hand Fade To Black Vol. 2 (a smoked baltic porter).  Since it was a work lunch I obviously couldn't drink too much (stop laughing) but I did try two of them.  I swear I only got the second because the chili I ordered was so damn spicy I needed something to pair with it.  Adam warned me and then laughed at me when I kept saying how spicy it was but man.

Lunch at Jose Pistolas

Grabbed lunch at Jose Pistola's which is becoming one of my favorite lunch places in the city right now.  Their draft list is always different and interesting and their food, mostly Mexican so burritos, nachos, tacos, is really good. On multiple visits, I've had a couple different types of burritos, a sandwich, and my wife has had the nachos and they have been tasty every time.  Honestly though the real reason I like going there is that during the day the bartender, Adam, is also the guy who orders their beer.  He's always been willing to talk to me about different styles, offer suggestions of things to try, and really just listen to me blather on about beer.  If I can find someone that is willing to listen to me talk, then I'm going to be happy.

Today I had two different beers.  The first beer I had was the Dark Horse Tripel.

As you can see, the color of it was honestly quite odd.  It basically looked like Apple Cider.  The taste, however, was pure tripel and really good.  The flavor had hints of banana and spices, basically what you'd expect from a tripel.  At 9%, it's pretty damn strong too.

The last beer I had was the Left Hand Imperial Stout.

This beer was really freaking amazing.  It was probably one of the best Imperial Stouts I've had in a long time.  At 10%, it was ridiculously, some would say dangerously, smooth and drinkable.  There was absolutely no hint of the strength in the beer.  It was just a smooth, creamy, chocolaty stout and I'm really glad I took Adam's suggestion and had it.  Left Hand makes really good beers so it's not that surprising but I'll definitely be on the look out to try this one again.

On Sunday I'm going back to Jose Pistola's for their 3 year anniversary party.  They are supposed to have a 4 year old barleywine plus Russian River's Supplication and possibly some other cool stuff.  I'll arrive around 1:30, 2 and stay for at least a couple hours.  Look for me at the front bar if you come by.  The address for those too lazy to use google is 263 South 15th Street.  It's between Locust and Spruce, closer to Spruce.