It's been a long time since Jo and I visited Capone's and with 25 cent wings and an early Eagles football game, we knew Sunday would be a good time. After a bunch of terrible traffic on 76 (surprise suprise), we arrived and grabbed seats at the bar. A few people were already there, but there was still plenty of space even just a few minutes before the game. After looking through the draft list, I decided to just get some full glasses instead of my usual flight. I went with the new Neshaminy Creek Leon S'Mores Imperial Stout to start things off.
This is a s'mores stout because it's brewed with graham crackers and fluff. Certainly an interesting idea. Roast and some vanilla in the nose with just a hint of graham cracker. The latter might have been in my head, though, as Jo didn't notice any. Decent body, not too thin which was nice. Roast is the main flavor, some bitterness throughout, and a tiny bit of dark fruit in the finish. As I drank more, there was a bit of smokiness in it too. Not a bad stout though I didn't feel like it really stood out. I like the idea of using crackers and fluff, but I didn't get much from them. Still, be interesting to see how it develops through the next few batches as they dial it in. A little sweetness from the marshmallow or nuttiness from the graham crackers would go a long way to me.
After that I was going to order a Firestone Walker Double DBA, but it kicked about halfway through filling my class. The bit I got was tasty though. So, instead, I ordered an Evolution Lot 6, a double IPA.
Bright nose, orange citrus with some sweetness. Quite inviting. Nice body on it, too. My first thought was that it tasted like bitter orange juice except in a good way. The bitterness is never too strong and the sugary sweetness is right on point. Definitely my kind of double IPA. If this is the kind of quality Evolution is going to bring to the city, I'm happy to have them here and can't wait to try some new stuff. Plus I know their rep that represents Philly and I know she'll do a great job getting more Evolution around here once she settles into her position.
Great wings and some other food along with the beers made this a really fun visit. At 25 cents a wing, Capone's is just an amazing visit on Sunday. While I wasn't blown away by my first Neshaminy Creek beer, they're still really young and I can see them growing into a really good brewery if they can stick with it. And as I said, it's nice to have Evolution here in the area. Hopefully next time we'll can get back to Capone's in less than three months after such a nice visit. Football season is really the best time too so I expect we'll manage another one soon.
I recently tried the Leon 'smore beer too, and came away with similar thoughts - dominated by roast, not quite what I expected from a 'smore beer (I assumed it would be sweeter, more chocolate and caramel than roast coffee). With apologies for blatant self-promotion, I wrote about it here:
ReplyDeletehttp://beer.kaedrin.com/2012/08/neshaminy-creek-leon.html
Lot 6 is excellent and something I want to try more of. This is a great description: "like bitter orange juice except in a good way". Picked up a bottle of Lot 3 and am excited to give it a shot.
Definitely interested in seeing what comes out of both Neshaminy Creek and Evolution. (And, for that matter, Firestone Walker, but everyone loves them!)
No worries about self-promotion, don't mind at all and I'll check it out.
ReplyDeleteAgreed on the S'mores and, yeah, I think if it was sweeter, though not like Choklat or Creme Brulee sweet, it would probably represent itself a bit better. I know this batch came out at a lower ABV than they expected so future batches will probably taste slightly different as they work through recipes.
And yeah Firestone Walker is awesome, no question there.
Heh, thanks (I always feel awkward about self-promotion). Agreed that it doesn't need a Choklat/Creme Brulee level of sweetness. I was actually at the brewery and the guy there said they're going to brew another batch and age in bourbon barrels, which in my experience, usually mellows out some of the big roast character and would probably make this seem more like a 'smore beer...
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