Recap of the 10th Brewer's Plate

At this point, it's been over a week (ok, now it's two weeks I think) since the 10th Brewer's Plate occurred. Simply enough, Jo and I had a great time at it and will definitely be back next year if we can. While I bought tickets for the two of us this year, I was also given a media pass which let me check out the VIP stuff as well.

The venue this year was the Kimmel Center which was very nice. The first floor, at least, was relatively spacious and handled the crowds pretty well. Here's a picture of it from the back corner though I think this was when only VIP ticket holders were inside.

Tenth Brewer's Plate is on Sunday!

I obviously haven't written much lately so it's kind of funny that my first post back is going to basically be an advertisement. However, The Brewer's Plate is totally worth it and I'm going again this year so I feel like that's okay. If you want to read about my experience last year, just go here. There are some pictures along with my thoughts. The event itself is fantastic with a ton of great food and a ton of beer and just a lot of fun.

At this point, tickets are $65 for regular admission and $135 for VIP. I definitely think the regular admission is worth it and the VIP seems better this year than last so if you have the extra cash, go ahead and splurge!

FiftyFifty Eclipse 2011 Grand Cru verson

I have a few bottles of Eclipse left on the shelves downstairs, but can never remember what version each is. Since the only defining feature is the color of the wax, I usually don't find out until I take a sip, try to figure it out, then look it up on FiftyFifty's website here. Note, I'm usually wrong and feel dumb, but oh well. This time, I took a sip and swore it was the brandy version. Turns out, it was the Grand Cru version from 2011. Maybe it had some of the brandy blended into it as it was a blend of a bunch of the variants? Let's go with that so I feel less bad about my guess.

Very sweet, almost cherry like nose. It was the fruitiness that really threw me as I thought it was brandy. Some chocolate and fudge add complexity to it as well. Very nice body, thick and chewy which was sort of surprising. I've had other eclipse's that were a bit thinner than I like so this was nice. Body had a vanilla, bourbon, and chocolate sweetness with a very light alcohol burn in the finish. Between the strong chocolate and vanilla flavors and the chewy body, this was really good. Quite enjoyed this.

On a separate note, I still have a pretty big backlog of beers right now. I also want to talk about my trip to Jackson Hole, Wyoming before it's too far in the past. Hopefully, some of that will occur next week but we'll see I guess!

Goose Island Gillian

I have quite a back log right now so I'm going to try and work through at least some of it. That means I actually drank this a while ago which was apparently December 6th according to the date on the picture. But, whatever, i'ts not like my notes go bad. Gillian is a sour saison brewed with strawberries and peppercorns (and possibly a few other things) and then aged in used wine barrels. Pretty complicated beast. One fun trivia fact is that the experimental name was Scully, which if you've ever watched the X-Files, Scully was played by Gillian Anderson. Get it? Scully -> Gillian? Okay, maybe only nerds will think that's neat but it totally is.

Spicy, peppery nose with some light fruit and a bunch of oak. Body was similar, starting off lightly peppery, almost bitter, followed by strawberry, oak, and a little white wine flavor. As I drank more, the bitterness faded like it usually does and the strawberry and wine notes really came to the front. Very tasty beer with the only real negative being the price. Not sure what the going rate for it is in Philly, but it easily could be $35 or $40 given the usual markups. Knocks it down a few pegs for me just because for that kind of money I could get other beers. Still, glad to have tried it at least once.

Port Brewing Santa's Little Helper

I may not be writing as much, but I am still making my mostly weekly visits to Kite & Key. They've been varying a bit between Tuesday and Thursday but that's mostly depended on the weather. Regardless, I've still been going each week so that's something. This visit I ordered the Port Brewing Santa's Little Helper, an imperial stout.

Nice chocolate and coffee nose, definitely my style of imperial stout. Nice mouthfeel too. It wasn't oily, but was still a bit thicker, if that makes sense. Body was full of chocolate and roast with a light citrusy, bitter finish. I'm not sure others would get citrus and instead some other flavor of bitterness, but that's how it presented to me. Quite an enjoyable imperial stout and something I'd order again. I know I've seen barrel aged versions of this, but feel like I've heard complaints about it. Not sure but it feels like it would be good after tasting the base. Who knows.

Paul's Amber IPA

Still trying to work out the timing for writing more posts, but we'll see what the new year brings. To start things off, I'm going to talk about my buddy's first attempt at homebrewing. I could have chosen something more available, I guess, but what's the fun in that? Paul called it an Amber IPA mostly because of the recipe he followed.

Masking tape label and nothing else, so homebrew. In all seriousness, the tape came off easily so it's a perfect label as it makes the bottle quickly reusable. As for the beer, it was, well, definitely a first attempt at homebrewing. Still, I wasn't upset to drink it. Pretty sweet caramel nose with a hint of chocolate. Pretty thick body, almost a little syrupy. Body was sweet caramel with no real bitterness to clean it up. Basically it just felt a bit under attenuated aka not fully fermented. The thick body with the very sugary flavor kind of implies that. Funny enough, though, this was still better than the majority of beers Jo and I had at Amherst Brewing Company a while back so go Paul!

One last post before Christmas

Okay, things have definitely been very quiet on the Rich on Beer front. We've changed our morning routine to feed Pax breakfast, which is a ton of fun, but it doesn't leave me a ton of time to relax and get in the writing mood. Since I'm not a writer by profession or really talent, it takes me a while to get words on to the screen. Or at least interesting words. I've still been drinking new beers all the time, don't get me wrong, just haven't written anything for a while. Today, to get one more post written before the holidays, I'm going to go back a few weeks and post about Deschutes The Abyss from 2010.

Lots of bourbon vanilla notes in the nose. Medium mouthfeel on it. Body was full of licorice and roast with the bourbon and vanilla taking a back seat compared to the nose. Some molasses sweetness came out as I drank more rounding things out. Pretty nice though the mouth feel could have been a little fuller and the bourbon vanilla stronger in the body. Still, definitely glad I drank it.

I actually opened this because the Friday before I went to Jose Pistola's for the Deschutes Beer Camp lunch and it made me want to try an older Abyss. Muller Distributors paid for my lunch there too which was cool. I think I still have two more years of Abyss in the basement that I will get to at some point.

Also, I'm going on vacation now so look for some posts in the new year, hopefully a little more consistently. We'll see!

Dock Street Abt 12

Jo and I were recently at Dock Street after a fun trip to the zoo with Paxton and the PhillyTapFinder family and I saw they were selling bottles of this. I'm a sucker for quads and so decided I needed to try it. At $12 it wasn't too expensive either. Also, I'm pretty sure this was a Scott Morrison beer and his belgian style ones were usually quite good so it seemed worth the risk. If you want to try anything by him, he's actually now at the Barren Hill Brewpub.

Nose was a mix of caramel, a little apple, and some sugary sweetness. Really nice and inviting. Body followed with lots of caramel, some plums, apple, and finished with a slight alcohol burn. Medium mouthfeel, not thick but not thin either. Quite delicious especially as the alcohol faded by the time I finished the glass. I haven't had a genuine Belgian quad in a while and so really enjoyed this. Definitely glad I bought it.

Founders Breakfast Stout at Kite & Key revisited

I've definitely written about Breakfast Stout before, even written about having it at Kite & Key, but I'm going to revisit it because it's been a while. Of course, now that I've linked you to the previous post, I do have to make sure I don't just write exactly the same thing. Founders Breakfast Stout is an imperial stout made with coffee and chocolate.

Nose was really nice with lots of chocolate and espresso coffee with some roast bringing it all together. Body, however, was super bitter at first with just a little coffee and minimal chocolate. I was actually surprised at how bitter it was. Luckily, as I drank more and it warmed up a bit, the bitterness fell to more reasonable levels and I started tasting more of the coffee. Maybe out of a bottle it's not quite as bitter but this wasn't quite as good as I remember. Oh well, tastes change and all that.

Firestone Walker Double DBA at Kite & Key

I actually thought this was going to be a repeat post as I swear I've had Double DBA before, but I didn't have a picture of it yet so I guess I was wrong. Kite & Key was pretty great this past Tuesday as they still had a whole bunch of Firestone Walker leftovers from the Craft Beer Express on Saturday. Pretty surprised about it but a win for me. Since I've had Sucaba (aka Abacus) a whole bunch of times, I opted for Double DBA, a bourbon barleywine though I'd argue it's not really a barleywine but a mix of stronger styles. Surprised it's not listed as an american strong ale.

It's a little darker than in the picture since I had to use a flash to take it but it gives you an idea. Really smooth caramel and sweet boozy nose. Very inviting. Body was similar with tons of caramel and vanilla with a little bourbon flavor to top things off. Just a very delicious beer though some may find it a bit sweet. Don't get me wrong, it's not Southern Tier sweet, meaning it'll give you diabetes, but the caramel and vanilla are very strong without any real bitterness to balance them.

Prairie Artisan Ales Truncheon

I struck out on Heady Topper cans when Jo and I were in Vermont, but I did get to stop at a store named Hunger Mountain Co-op and pick up a few interesting bottles. One of them was Prairie Artisan Ales Truncheon, a wine barrel aged saison. I don't have any more information than that since that's all the bottle said, but it had to have been some sort of white wine barrel considering the color and flavor.

The nose had a lot of white wine character mixed with a little saison spiciness. At first, the body was mostly sweet grape with only some of the saison peaking through. Similar to the nose though a bit sweeter. As I drank more, the flavors meshed a bit more and the sweetness lessened. Still, I wish it had been a little drier with the saison half being a little more pronounced. As it stands, it wasn't bad, but I don't think I'd buy it again.

Green Flash Sleepin' with Shaggy

Not sure if the name is a Scooby Doo reference or not, but it is certainly interesting. Sleepin' with Shaggy is a 13% barleywine aged in brandy barrels and was sent to me by my buddy in San Diego. I actually thought it was a sour for the longest time and I'm not sure I could have been more wrong. Also, not sure this was a good choice for a Monday night beer considering its strength but I'm running low on normal beers so here we are.

Well, this was certainly aged in brandy barrels. Huge, huge brandy nose consisting of a fruity, caramel sweetness. Not too boozy either. Thick mouthfeel which I always appreciate in high octane beers and think is pretty important in hiding the alcohol. Body was complex with chocolate, caramel, a lightly bitter earthiness, and more brandy. Some booziness but I felt it meshed with all the other flavors well. The brandy sweetness really comes through which is impressive. I wonder what the base barleywine tastes like before the barrel aging. Regardless, this was tasty and a nice surprise.

Crooked Stave St. Bretta Spring

This beer came to me by way of PhillyTapFinder from Colorado which was awesome of him. Thanks Jared! I guess St. Bretta by Crooked Stave is released year round but as a different season each time. This bottle was labeled Spring and is, at its base, a wheat beer but is so much more due to the brett fermentation.

I didn't really know what to expect from this just going by the style and the name. The nose definitely gave credence to the brett fermented on the label with dry, lightly funky notes and a bit of citrus. The body, however, changed things up a bit and added in some tart orange juice right up front with some earthy bitterness in the back. The funkiness from the nose was a bit more subdued too. Quite delicious really and I definitely get why people like Crooked Stave. I'm not sure if this is the first beer I've had from them, but it's the first I remember. I picked up a different bottle of Crooked Stave while in Vermont and I'm excited to try that now.

Bell's Expedition at Kite & Key

Well, it has been a week since I've written anything so sorry about that. Between going on vacation then not getting much sleep Sunday night, just haven't had the drive to write. To get moving again, I'll start with last week's visit to Kite & Key. I also have a Crooked Stave beer I drank last night which I'll hopefully get to tomorrow. For last week, I ordered a glass of Bells Expedition, something I've had aged a couple times, but never fresh. And, yes, that is not really the way to do it since you can't know how the aged beer has changed, but oh well sometimes that happens. Expedition, by the way, is an imperial stout.

Roasty nose with a big, earthy hop bitterness. Body followed with some bitter chocolate, earthy hops, and a bitter finish. There was some coffee roast around the edges as well. As I drank more, it actually became more hoppy and bitter and the roast took a slight back seat to that. I had heard it was bitter and, yeah, totally a hoppier stout. Some people like hoppy stouts, hence Storm King's popularity, so this would be good for them. If you're curious about the old bottle I drank, here's my post about it. Definitely enjoyed it a little more than fresh.

Dieu du Ciel 2009 Peche Mortel

I've had this bottle for quite a long while now partially because I lost track of it for a year or so in our old apartment. One day, I was moving stuff around and found it mixed in with a bunch of other beer which was a nice surprise. Why did it still take me 2 years to drink it? Because, that's why. Peche Mortel is an imperial stout brewed with coffee. Honestly, the aging conditions for this weren't particularly great so I was shocked when it still tasted pretty good.

Slightly sour coffee nose, basically what you get when you let coffee sit for a while. If you drink coffee, you know exactly what I mean. Body, however, had a nice clean coffee flavor with some chocolate and a bit of nuttiness in the finish. A little bitterness came through as well and kept the sweetness in check. Glad the sour coffee didn't come through in the body. I'm certainly glad this was still good even after cooking a bit in my old apartment's very hot entry way. Lucky me!

Green Man Schadenfreude

Jo and I took a trip through Asheville last year on our way to Atlanta. It was right before New Years and we thought if we were heading all the way down there, why not make a bit of trip out of it. As a result, I was able to check out a couple beer stores and I bought this Green Man Schadenfreude at one of them. It was actually only made possible because I started talking to one of the employees and he was like, "Buy this, it's good and you'll like." So I grabbed it because why not. I always like trying new berliners especially since I can split them with Jo unlike stouts and barleywines.

Bretty, earthy nose. Very inviting and very promising. Basically a bit funky with a few other things going on. Body, though, was a lot of lemony lactic acid and pretty tart up front with none of those flavors. Luckily, some of the notes promised by the nose came through in the finish cleaning up some of that lemony sourness and balancing things. Just quite delicious and Jo enjoyed it a lot too. Made me wish I had bought another bottle actually. Not sure what else Green Man makes, but seems like their sours are worth a try at least.

Cigar City Jai Alai

I'm actually pretty surprised I've never written about this beer. Jai Alai is Cigar City's flagship IPA and is massively popular in Florida. We used to see a lot of it here in Philly but their popularity down South has grown exponentially so there has been a pretty long drought of Cigar City beer up here. It's a shame since they make good stuff, but maybe we're close to the end of that problem since we're seeing stuff in Philly again.

Lots of orange juice and citrus flavor in the nose with a little sugary sweetness. Body was similar in that it was basically bitter orange juice with a little caramel sweetness in the back. Enjoyable ipa with a slightly thicker than average body. Definitely makes sense why this would be their top seller in this age of hoppy beer. Always a good choice if you are looking for something not too strong that tastes great.

Dogfish Head Northfield Mount Hermon

Okay, this is a pretty random entry but bear with me. Every time we visited Jo's home town, I made it a point to go to a bar named Moe's. At this point, it has been open for over 5 years so I've gotten to know the owner, Josh, pretty well. It helped that Jo's father used to go there a lot, too. The random thing is that Josh went to high school with Sam Calagione, owner of Dogfish Head, and is still pretty good friends with him. As a result, when their 25th high school reunion rolled around, Sam and Dogfish Head brewed a beer specifically for their class. And, since Josh is awesome, he gave me one of his extra bottles when I visited last time. Now it should make sense why I had this and why it was named Northfield Mount Hermon.

Earthy bitter nose with hints of some maple. Body started with a little bitterness up front, some earthy smokiness or something, and finished with more maple sweetness. I'm betting the smoke flavor I got was  a mix of the maple and the hops, but that's the profile I got. Nice beer, solid enough. Must have been fun for the class to have this brewed for them at least.

Allagash Midnight Brett at Kite & Key

Took my customary trip to Kite & Key this past Tuesday and, lo and behold, all but one of the Allagash beers was still available from the previous week's event. Huzzah! There were actually quite a few beers I could have chosen but I ended up going with Midnight Brett, a mix of a beer made with brett and some midnight wheat which must be a slightly roasted version of wheat plus some other stuff.

I didn't really know what to expect from this beer. Sure, there was a description, but it more described the ingredients than anything. The nose was a lot of sour cherry with something behind it that I couldn't quite place. Medium bodied, slightly on the thicker side. Vanilla cherry up front, followed by some berry fruit, and then finished with a little bitterness. As I drank more, I got a little roastiness that blended with the cherry pretty well. The tart fruit was the main flavor throughout. Pretty good beer, glad I gave it a try.

On a separate note, if anyone was thinking about going to the Epic Beer Fest (mentioned at the bottom of this post), I was sent a coupon code of MBL2013 which gets you $10 off a GA ticket until October 20th, max four tickets per purchase. As I said, I'll be at the evening session for a while if you are choosing between the two.

Neshaminy Creek Trauger Pilsner

This is randomly my second post about Neshaminy Creek this week but I didn't plan it that way. Mainly just that when I went to Kite & Key this week, there wasn't much else I haven't had before so I chose this. Trauger Pilsner is, quite obviously, a pilsener.

Notes of bread and sweet fruit in the nose. The body, though, had a light bitterness up front and a dry, biscuit flavor in the finish. Interesting difference between the nose and the body. Solid beer though I'm in no way an expert on pilseners. This tastes good and that's what matters really. So go ahead and order it if you want something in this vein.

Also, don't mind the different spellings of pilsener. I'm guessing one is slightly more German than the other or something. I feel like the extra E makes it read better so I went with that spelling for the style. No idea which is really correct though.