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.

2010 Dogfish Head Palo Santo Marron

This one has been sitting in my refrigerator for a while so why not open it on a random Thursday. This was a nearly two year old Palo Santo Marron from Dogfish Head.

Huge caramel nose with a little bit of smokiness in it. Really nice body, nice and thick. Caramel sweetness started things off with a nice fruity finish. More of the interesting woody smokiness throughout. Hid the 12% ABV really well though I'll be the first to admit I don't notice alcohol much anymore. Pretty terrific and delicious. Just a great complex beer that continues to get better every time I drink it.

Philly Beer Week Day 2: Kite & Key

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.

Another Savage Sixtel Sunday at Kite & Key

Feels like it was just yesterday that I went to the previous Savage Sixtel Sunday but it's actually been almost a month. Time flies, eh? This time the lineup was impressive with two from Russian River, two from Dogfish Head, an Alesmith, and a couple other rarer sixtels to round out the lineup. The really cool thing was that I finally got to check out the Dogfish Head Randall, their weirdo filter like contraption that lets bars flavor beers in different ways. For this event, the Kite & Key was running Dogfish Head Worldwide Stout through a mix of coffee and vanilla beans. Doesn't that just sound delicious?

I ordered a glass of the Alesmith Speedway Stout since starting with an 18% monster seemed wrong in some way.

Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA

Last night I opened a bottle of Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA. This is the double IPA in the family of minute IPAs from them. The name refers (for the most part) to the number of minutes Dogfish Head spends hopping each beer through the initial brewing of it. Or at least I'm pretty sure that's true. I sometimes think things are true only to find out I totally made them up.

I had some trouble putting my finger on the actual hop profile as it was kind of mild. I wrote down that it reminded me of citrus, but it had some other notes too which I couldn't pinpoint. Started with some bitterness with some sweetness immediately after to balance it. The hops were woodsy, piney and almost smokey. I don't think it's something I'd order at a bar but I wouldn't say no if it was free nor am I disappointed I have two more bottles.

Trip to Moe's

The other great part about visiting Lee, Massachusetts is the chance to go to Moe's Tavern. It's a smallish bar just off main street that has a varying tap list, great bartenders, and a nice drinking environment. One of the things Jo and I really like is that the owner, Josh, replaced his small high top tables with tall picnic style tables that seat eight plus people. It makes the bar much friendlier and easier to hang out. The only thing Moe's doesn't have is food but you can bring any food into it so it's not a big deal.

When we arrived, I saw the Maine Beer Company Mean Old Tom was on draft and since I haven't found it in Philly yet I figured I'd order it. Mean Old Tom is an American Stout aged on vanilla beans.

Dogfish Head 120 Minute at Kite & Key

I've written about 120 Minute once before but never when I had it at the Kite & Key. I'm going to repeat myself just because and you can't stop me.

Surprisingly I got a bit of hoppiness in the nose, though very weak, and quickly overpowered by sweetness. Very thick body with a very sharp alcohol note up front, most likely a result of the 18% ABV. Luckily, the burn faded after a few sips and lead into some citrus notes and a syrupy sweetness. It never got too cloying but it came pretty close. I enjoy it though not everyone does as it's a reasonably dividing beer. However, not everyone needs to like everything and more people need to realize that.

Regional Food & Drink in DC

We were in DC for a wedding and the rehearsal dinner was held at a place called Regional Food & Drink. Since we were in a side room for the event, I didn't see much of the place but it seemed nice enough. During the rehearsal part of it I mostly drank Great Lakes Edmund Fitzgerald, a porter, which is great so that was cool. After the dinner a bunch of us switched to the main part of the restaurant and got a table in the back. I didn't know what to expect as far as the draft list but it was actually quite god with lots of variety and decent enough prices. I decided to start with the Dogfish Head 120 Minute, an 18% monster IPA, since I wasn't sure if I'd find it on draft anywhere else.

Dogfish Punkin at Kite & Key

Stopped by the Kite & Key yesterday and decided it was finally the season for pumpkin beers and ordered the Dogfish Head Punkin.

The nose hinted of cinnamon, nutmeg, and other pumpkin spices. First sip had a little cinnamon, nutmeg, and maybe some clove with just a little something following. Continues that way with the spices up front and then some mild hints of the base brown ale following.

Honestly I'm not a huge fan of Punkin. I feel like with the spices being as weak as they are the base needs to be a stronger flavored to make up for it. However, lots of people love Punkin so it's probably just that I like the more heavily spiced pumpkin beers.

Blue Dog Wealth of Riches

Sometimes I think I may have issues with my obsession getting the better of me, but then I just shrug and get over it. This past Saturday was definitely one of those times when I decided to head out to Chalfont, PA to go to the Blue Dog tavern. First, if Google maps is telling you it's going to take two hours by public transportation, it's probably right. Second, if you are going to the suburbs and Google maps says you need to walk a mile from the train station, there probably aren't going to be sidewalks and so people are going to look at you like you're a psycho when you're walking down the side of a road on the shoulder. Oh and some of the sidewalks do this.

Drinks at London Grill

I've been pretty busy with moving into the new house and going to St. Louis for a wedding so sorry about the lack of updates. There's a big backlog of stuff I have to write about including the Philly Beer Geek semifinals (didn't move on) and some brewpubs from St. Louis.  Look for those soon hopefully. This one is a visit Jo and I made to London Grill a little while ago partially to ensure we actually had a reservation for their Deschutes dinner during Philly Beer Week.

I started with a glass of Dogfish Head Hellhound on My Ale, a double IPA.

Philly Beer Geek Contest at the POPE

This past Monday, I finally had a chance to make it to a bar that was hosting a Philly Beer Geek prelimary qualifying round.  The Philly Beer Geek contest is sort of a beer quizo kind of thing but the prelim rounds vary slightly depending on the bar.  The one at the POPE (Pub on Passyunk East) was hosted by Carolyn Smagalski, Beer Fox of BellaOnline, and last year's Philly Beer Geek Steve Hawk. (If you've been reading long enough, you may remember I went to a BBQ in his honor at The Hulmeville Inn without knowing what it was a while back.)  The contest was separated into four rounds.  The first two rounds were ten questions with each question being one and two points, respectively.  The third round was two beer samples off the draft list and I was supposed to identify them and they were each worth fifteen points.  The last round was eight slightly more difficult questions worth four points each and two very hard questions worth ten.  

Dogfish Head Olde School

I opened up my first bottle of Dogfish Head Olde School the other day.  It's a monster of a barleywine weighing in at 15%.  After having Dark Horse's 15% barleywine recently, I was expecting something akin to delicious lighter fluid but Dogfish Head surprised me with something better.

That's the awesome Ommegang chalice we got from our recent trip to Cooperstown.  Olde School smelled fruity (plum and grapes) with caramel and toffee in the back.  I couldn't find any alcohol in the aroma which is just really impressive.  Very fruity on the front end with some sugary sweetness following it.  I found some alcohol when I swallowed as it burned just a little bit, but it was almost pleasant and came and went.  Just crazy good for 15% and dangerously easy to drink.

Sly Dog Night at Belgian Cafe

Had a great night at the Belgian Cafe on Tuesday.  They were doing a joint Sly Fox and Dogfish Head night (nicknamed Sly Dog by Suzie Woods) and I was interested in chatting with her again when I was sober (instead of like during the Craft Beer Express) and, of course, trying some new beers.  As usual, the food at the Belgian Cafe was pretty great.  I had a vegan burger with brie and pickled jalapenos that was delicious and Jo had a chicken sandwich with leeks and blue cheese (aka the Monks Burger).  Suzy and the Dogfish Head rep, Wendy, showed up around 7 and I chatted with them both for a while.  Like I usually say, it's always nice when people are willing to talk to me about beer even if it's their job to do so.  I'll take anything.

Dogfish Head Palo Santo Marron

I drank a Dogfish Head Palo Santo Marron the other day, a sort of brown ale.  I say sort of because it's aged in a giant wooden tank at Dogfish Head made of Palo Santo wood, is quite a bit stronger than a normal brown, and really doesn't taste anything like one.

I liked the look of this beer a lot; deep brown with minimal carbonation.  Considering it's 12%, no real surprise that the major smell I got was an alcohol sweetness.  Initially, I mostly tasted some sweetness but surprisingly without the alcohol I smelled.  Some warming alcohol appears in the aftertaste, however.  As it warmed up, I got some plum flavors, a little vanilla, and some caramel lingering on the tongue.  The vanilla really started coming up and it got more and more tasty.  Goes to show how much a cold temperature can mask flavors in beer.  Some people think this is too hot (meaning it tastes mostly of alcohol) fresh but I quite enjoyed it.  Quite pleasant with dinner as well.

Dinner at Resurrection Ale House

Jo and I went to Resurrection Ale House last night with some of our friends.  It was my first time there so I was excited to check it out.  It's a pretty small place, but it has a really nice wooden bar and it's very roomy.  Their beer list was pretty good, all decent craft offerings.  It wasn't quite as exotic as you'd get at Varga or Devil's Den, but that may just be a matter of timing since they change their drafts often.  Their food was pretty good and reasonably priced.  All in all, not a bad place, but if I'm going to head to South Philly I'd probably just go to Devil's Den or Hawthornes.

The first beer I had was Russian River's Damnation.  (Note: all the pictures are going to kind of suck since it was too dark for decent pictures.  Oh well.)

Damnation is a Belgian Strong Pale Ale.  It was a really cool golden color which doesn't come through real well in the picture but believe me it was cool looking.  It had about 2cm of bubbly, frothy head on it and smelled mildly of oranges and honey.  The first taste of it had similar feelings to the smell.  Hints of orange, honey, and other sweet flavors.  All of that melds together as you drink it and it's pretty satisfying.  Really good beer.

The second beer I had was Bell's Kalamazoo Stout.

The beer was a black color with a nice dark, brown head.  It smelled of roasted malts, coffee notes, and mild chocolate, exactly what you'd expect from a decent stout.  Initially, the roasted flavor jumps out at you and overpowers everything.  A couple sips in though and that mellows out as you get used to it and the coffee and chocolate flavors appear.  Note, that I don't think there's actually any chocolate or coffee used to make this stout, it's just that the roasted malts used in brewing the beer give off those flavors.  It's a cool effect in my opinion.

Finally I finished off the night with Dogfish Head's Punkin.

It was a nice, dark orange color (some would say brown but whatever) with minimal head.  I'm not sure why some beers have a lot or a little head, but it probably has something to do with the extra stuff used in brewing the beer.  Pumpkin beers generally have a ton of spices, like cinnamon, coriander, cloves, etc, and almost never have a lot of head on them so that's what I'm basing this on.  I could be full of crap but this is my blog so I can say what I want.  This pumpkin is no different than others as far as the smell goes.  Lots of spices although not overpowering at all.  It tastes similar to what you'd expect a pumpkin pie to taste like if the pumpkin taste took a huge backseat to the spices.  It was really drinkable since while the spices were there, they were not the only thing going on in the flavor.  Some pumpkins are just all spice and it gets old when trying to drink the whole beer.

Not a bad night at Resurrection and I'd be happy to go back again if a group of people were going, but I wouldn't suggest it as a place to meet up.  I will say there was a lot of room in the place considering its size which is a plus in its favor when comparing it to some other bars in Philadelphia.

Friday Night Beers, Redux

I had two beers tonight.  One really really good one and one, well, wasn't so good.

The first beer was Dogfish Head's Festina Peche.

Dogfish Head bills this beer as a Neo-Berliner Weiss and while I don't know what the Neo part really adds, this is definitely a Berliner Weiss.  You can see it poured an orange - yellow color with very minimal head.  It smells of mild apple juice and other sour flavors.  The smell is very similar to the Flanders Red Ales I've been writing about.  The first taste follows the smell of apple juice but is quickly overtaken by the sour notes of the beer.  The taste continues to be mildly sour but has a very clean aftertaste.  The sour doesn't overwhelm your palate or make you pucker or anything, but it's very much the point of the beer.  As for the peach notes that are supposedly in it, I didn't really notice them very much.  It may be that the peach flavor is just so mild you don't notice it, but who knows.  All in all, though, this beer was really excellent.  I've been wanting to try it for a long time because of the style and I'm glad I finally got a chance.  While it is a bit sour, I feel like I could drink quite a few of these in one night without much of a problem.

However, the second beer I had last night wasn't quite so exciting as the Dogfish Head.  It was Ithaca's Apricot Wheat.

It poured a dark orange color with minimal head as well.  (Yes I'm too lazy to use a different style of glass for this even though I'm probably supposed to.)  The smell is all apricots, all the time.  Just totally fills your nose with it.  Following the smell, the taste is also completely of apricot flavor.  I say flavor because it tastes more like apricot syrup than actual apricots.  That leads to my biggest problem with the beer.  It basically tastes like a wheat beer that had a ton of apricot extract dumped into it.  It was thick, cloying, and way, way overly sweet.  While it did mellow out a little as it warmed up, this is definitely not something I'd suggest ordering at a bar.  Yes, some of my friends now have 3 bottles of it, but, well, at least it's only 3 bottles.  It's not undrinkable and maybe some people would like it, but I did not enjoy it very much.

Two for Tuesday

Today was the special release of Dogfish Head's new beer Bitches Brew.

This beer commemorates the 40th anniversary of a Miles Davis album, but regardless of the odd circumstances it was absolutely delicious.  Dogfish Head's description is that it is 3 parts Imperial Stout and 1 part Honey and something else.  It was a pretty apt description.  It started out as a really mild Imperial Stout and ended with a sweet aftertaste.  At 9% it was pretty strong, but there wasn't any trace of the alcohol in it.  All in all, it was another great Dogfish Head beer, but the availability of it may be very minimal so you may not be able to find it anywhere.

After that, Jo and I needed some dinner and neither of us felt like cooking tonight.  We realized it was Tuesday which meant Lucky 7s (a local bar) was having Taco Tuesday so we headed over there.  Unfortunately their taps were unexciting, but they did have a bottle of Schneider Aventinus so I was still pretty happy.

I bought my friend Jon a case of this recently so I've had a bottle since Jo and I were in Munich, but tonight brought back a lot of great memories from that trip.  The Schneider brewery is located in Munich and Jo and I went there twice while we were there so it's pretty cool to order their beers here in Philly.  This beer is a dark wheat doppelbock.  It has a nice brown color to it and an absolutely delicious caramel aroma.  The taste reminds me of a Belgian Dubbel but wheaty.  You get hints of banana and caramel and it goes down incredibly smooth for an 8.2% beer.  This is one of my favorite German beers so if you see it around definitely take a try.  The Aventinus Eisbock is also available, at least in Philly, and it's like a super powered version of Aventinus.  If you are at Devil's Den, order a bottle and prepare to be amazed.