Kevin Mudrick's Flemish Barleywine

I still have two other bottles of Kevin's beer in the basement, but he suggested I drink this one sooner rather than later so I went ahead and drank it the next day. I believe this is a blend of his Flemish Red and his barleywine along with some brett for added fun. The bottle was filled from a keg which is part of the reason for the low carbonation.

Smells great. Sweet and sour with a ton of apple and berry. Super duper thick though in part due to the low carbonation. Started with a light amount of tart vinegar and cherry along with a little chocolate. As I got more used to the flavors, I realized it tasted almost exactly like black cherry soda sort of tastes with that slightly chocolate, slightly tart mix. You know what I mean? Thinking about it more, he might have mentioned that he added some cherry juice to the blend. If I'm right, that would explain some of this flavor. Don't remember though.

This was quite delicious and at 10% there was only a hint of alcohol. Really solid blend here and just a great, unique style. I feel like if this was barrel aged, it would end up similar to Lost Abbey's Angel's Share though maybe a little more tart. It even gets it its own style category since I really don't know how to label it. Thanks Kevin!

T'Smisje Calva Reserva

I know it has been a few days since I last posted, but I actually have a reasonable excuse this time. I just didn't have anything to write about! Even with going to Weyerbacher on Saturday, I forgot to take pictures or write anything down. And then we went out to dinner that night so that was a no go too followed by Passover on Monday. So, yeah, I missed two days as a result.

Finally, though, last night I met some friends at The Belgian Cafe and took a few short notes. The T'Smisje Calva Reserva is out of Belgium and is a Belgian Strong Dark Ale aged in Calvados barrels.

Tons of apple, caramel, and vanilla in the nose. Most likely all from the barrel with just a bit coming from the base beer. Pretty well carbonated for a barrel aged beer. Not champagne level or anything, but it exists which is more than other beers like this. Body was similar to the nose with vanilla, caramel, apples, and a little bit of other fruit. Solidly delicious beer. I really should try whatever Calvados is at some point considering I keep getting things aged in those barrels and I don't even know what alcohol it is. I'm assuming it's brandy or something else sweet but I dunno. Regardless, this was tasty and it gives me high hopes for the JW Lees Harvest I have downstairs since it too was aged in Calvados barrels.

Great Divide Colette

I've only been having Tired Hands saisons for a while now, which are almost all awesome, so sometimes it's a little difficult to pick up some others unless I know they are good. I took a slight risk in the Great Divide Colette since I knew nothing about it, but turns out it's actually pretty decent. Great Divide stuff usually is, though, so it wasn't too big a risk.

Nice nose on it, very saison like. Basically flowery, herbal, and minty. Started sweet and fruity up front, sort of reminiscent of apples. Finished with more of the herbal, minty spice. On a nice, hot day this would be fantastic, just sitting on the roof deck out in the sun, enjoying it and relaxing. Of course it's hard to think about those times when you wake up and it's snowing, but we'll get there!

Arcadia Barrel Aged Imperial Stout

As I said yesterday, I was opening one of my bottles of Arcadia's Barrel Aged Imperial Stout and hoping it would be decent. Turns out it was better than decent though it wasn't so awesome that you should drop everything to go buy it. If you see it on the shelf, though, it's worth splurging for one bottle.

Tons of bourbon in the nose, very present. Started with some vanilla and oak notes but ended up with some harsh bourbon heat. I was hoping that the body didn't follow that last note and luckily it didn't since there is nothing I hate more than beers that are overwhelmed by that flavor. Decent mouthfeel, not super thick like Bourbon County but not too thin either. First sip was pretty complex, lots of vanilla, oak, and chocolate. Finish had some cherry and molasses. As I drank more and got used to the cherry, the molasses sweetness in the finish really came to the front and built on itself. I could use the term treacle again but it's so uncommon I'll avoid it for now. Pretty solid BA Imperial stout and not so sweet that the full glass was difficult to finish. Happy I picked it up. Hope the Barrel Aged Cereal Killer, their barleywine, is this solid since I have one of those too.

Heading up to Weyerbacher tomorrow for their release of Riserva. You'll be able to find it on shelves pretty easily but Jo and I haven't been up there in a while so it'll be a fun trip. I already made cookies for it too.

Arcadia Sky High Rye

Arcadia is a tough brewery for me. They make beers in styles that I like, but I haven't been impressed by anything I've had by them but I still keep buying their stuff. I'm weird like that, I guess. Sky High Rye is a rye beer as expected by the name.

Lemony nose with some light rye spiciness. Nice for a rye beer. Body started with a little sweet caramel followed by some melon like fruitiness and a little citrus. There was some slight breadiness before it finished with some bitterness to clean things up. Well, there's a first time for everything and I actually enjoyed this one even with it being a number of months old. Very solid rye beer and tasty. Probably even better fresh, too.

We'll see if Arcadia can keep up this streak when I try their Bourbon Barrel Imperial Stout tonight. I have high hopes considering they spent time waxing a 12oz bottle. Who would do that if the beer wasn't awesome, right? Right?

Ithaca Flower Power

I've had Ithaca Flower Power on draft and cask, but this is the first time from the bottle. Fresh it's such a great IPA and I figured this wouldn't be any different.

Bright nose with a decent amount of citrusy vanilla. It started with a little sweetness and a little citrus bitterness and finished with some more bitterness. Reasonably dry body as well. This isn't an IPA that blows you out of the water but something that is just delicious and solid. Definitely buy it fresh as it ages quickly. If you are looking for something not too expensive that is real tasty, this is a great choice.

On a separate note, I've been meaning to share this link for a few days. If you have any interest about sour style beers and how the yeast and bacteria affect the formation of flavors, definitely check it out. It's not long so it's worth a look.

More Tired Hands!

I hope you aren't getting tired of hearing about Tired Hands because I'm not getting tired of drinking their beers or writing about them. Helps that it's easy to never drink the same beer twice given their penchant for never creating the same beer twice. Jo and I stopped in this time since we were right down the street at the hospital. It's super handy that the hospital we chose is like two minutes from here. I'm sure my wife thinks the same thing!

The day before they tapped a new beer, Mrs. Pigman, and I was real excited about the timing. Mrs. Pigman is a triple IPA coming in at 11.5%.

Spring House Planet Bean

I was very excited when I got to the Kite & Key this week and saw the Spring House Planet Bean available. I've had it once before and thought it was a fantastic coffee stout so I was happy to be able to try it again.

Really delicious. Tons of coffee in the nose, not bitter, but pretty close to black and very inviting. Body followed with a little roast and a ton more black coffee with a medium mouthfeel. Very clean flavors and no real bitterness follow with a very strong coffee element. I liked this one quite a bit and it's really one of the best coffee stouts out there in my opinion.

The Ninth Annual Brewer's Plate

This past Sunday was the Ninth Annual Brewer's Plate. I'd never been to it before, but had heard great things and boy did it live up to my expectations. First some info on the actual event. It's run by Fair Food, a nonprofit organization uniting local farmers, business and consumers, and the Brewer's Plate is a big fundraiser for them. They concentrate on local area restaurants and breweries and pair them together with much thought going into the food and beers. Tickets were $70 for GA or $140 for the VIP. I was actually invited as press (I'm totally press, stop shaking your head) and got to experience the VIP area as a result.

When I arrived, people were already waiting to enter the Constitution Center for the VIP only portion of the event.

That's only about half the line so it was a bit long but they were let in relatively quickly once the event started

Founders All Day IPA

Another day, another Founders beer at Kite & Key. This batch of All Day IPA was released March 1st to all of their markets and it should stick around for about six months I think. Probably be a little limited at first as Stockertown distributes it evenly but it'll be readily available after that I'd say. And that's definitely a good thing based on this glass.

I didn't know what to expect from it but wow was this solid. Nice bright citrus nose. The body followed with more citrus up front and a light maltiness in the finish. Some lingering bitterness that dissipated pretty quickly. Real delicious and lots of flavor. With an ABV only slightly above 4.5%, a real great beer that you can enjoy without getting loopy.

Look for my write up on The Brewer's Plate from yesterday in the next day or two. Simply put, it was pretty awesome and I'm super glad I went.

Founders Devil Dancer plus Brewer's Plate info

Because of their fantastic lineup on Saturday, there were still quite a few leftover Founders still on at the Kite & Key when I returned on Monday. Funny enough, other than the KBS, the only one to kick was the Pale Ale. Definitely shows a trend in their clientele. I decided to go with one I didn't try over the weekend and ordered a Devil Dancer, their 11% monster ipa.

I've had it once before and it was pure dank hops, nearly assaulting the nose. This one wasn't quite the same though with more caramel and some milder citrus hops. The body followed with more caramel and a little chocolate with a finish of some bitter, earthy hoppiness. The chocolate was probably the caramel mixing with the hops and not a direct ingredient but it was nice regardless. It tasted like a barleywine to me and not a triple IPA anymore but even so it was still pretty good. Just to make sure I wasn't crazy, I asked and found out the keg was from mid November so that explained the difference in flavors from the previous instance. This is a big, hoppy beer and even a scant four months can change it a ton as a result.

Goose Island Bourbon County Brand Coffee Stout

I didn't put a lot of effort into finding this one because a lot of bottle shops in Philly were charging entirely too much for it. When I know they have more than a 100% markup on it, I get a bit annoyed and refuse to support them. But, I was in a random restaurant with my family and saw a bottle for a slightly more reasonable price, so I decided to snatch it up. This is the awesome Bourbon County Brand Stout from Goose Island with coffee added to it in some way.

Oh man, what a nose. Sweet and fruity bourbon and vanilla with some coffee in the back. The coffee really balanced the sweet bourbon incredibly well. As I drank more, the coffee in each sip completely smoothed out every aspect from the base Bourbon County. Where the latter gets a bit fruity and sweet in the finish, this just never did. It even covered up the 14% ABV, making it possible to drink the whole bomber basically by myself. Just so good. I had it again a couple days later at Prohibition too. This is probably my new favorite beer. It really was that amazing. I mean, even my wife liked the couple sips she had. Too bad it's difficult to get and only comes out once a year.