Goose Island Pepe Nero

I've passed on my chance for Jo buy me a bottle of Pepe Nero for a long time now, so it was really nice to get one in a box my buddy recently sent me. This meant I got to try it but didn't have to actually spend money on it. Of course, that requires us to pretend that I didn't spend money on the box I sent him but I think we can get past that.

Pepe Nero is a farmhouse style beer brewed with peppercorns. Mild Belgian nose with a slight hint of pepper. The flavors were really difficult for me to capture. Light Belgian notes, basically mild banana, hints of caramel, and finished a bit peppery. It had an interesting aftertaste, mostly filled with pepper notes as well. The farmhouse style has a lot of leeway similar to some other styles so Pepe Nero fits, but the peppercorns change the expected flavors a lot. After having this one from Goose Island and enjoying it, it does make me want to try their other every day stuff, like Sofie, but we'll see.

Sly Fox!

Jo and I went to the Sly Fox brewpub Saturday evening.  We had been to the Pheonixville location before so we decided to check out the one in Royersford.  The brew pub was in a strip mall and was nondescript from the outside.  Still I'm always excited to go to a new brewpub and this wasn't an exception.

I started with the Oatmeal Stout which can't be that surprising to people who know my beer preferences.  (For those that don't, if a stout is available, I'll start with it.  If more than one is available, I'll just drink them all before trying something else.)

It smelled of oats and roasted malts.  Nice thick mouth feel on it.  Some roastiness, tiny bit of bitterness, some nuttiness.  I got a nice oatmeal aftertaste as well.  As I drank it, the bitterness disappeared once I got used to it.  Pleasant oatmeal stout, basically what I'd expect from the style.  Sly Fox makes beers that represent a style well which is great since you know exactly what to expect when ordering one of their beers.  The only downside of brewing to style is you know exactly what to expect from their beers.  Sounds odd but sometimes I like to be surprised with new flavors from a familiar style.

After that I got their Saison Vos, a farmhouse style ale.

It smelled so inviting that I forgot to take a picture of it until halfway through.  (That's totally true, I swear.  Stop looking at me like that.  I didn't just forget.)  It had a slight Belgian smell (the description implied it used a Belgian style yeast) and I thought it had a slightly musty smell as well.  It had a nice sweetness to it with some base spices, things like all-spice, pepper, other things like that.  The flavors blended a bit as I drank more of it and it warmed up.  All in all it was quite good.  Very similar to Ommegang Hennepin, another farmhouse ale.

I finished with their Route 113, an IPA.

Smelled pretty hoppy as expected.  Surprisingly thick mouth feel for an IPA which was nice.  Some hoppiness obviously but after that it had pretty smooth flavors.  There wasn't a lot of bitterness at all even with the hoppy notes.  No lingering bitterness in the after taste either.  All in all, I really liked this IPA.  Enough hoppiness to be pleasant, but no overwhelming bitterness.  Just really well balanced.

Very nice visit to the Sly Fox brewpub.  The food here was decent (although nothing spectacular) and the beer was pretty good.  I do enjoy Victory more but I enjoy their beer more so I kind of expected that result.  I want to check out the Pheonixville one again as I've read they moved to a new building since Jo and I visited (plus it's been years), but I'll probably wait until their Bockfest in May.  They have a goat race plus a whole bunch of great sounding beers.  Seriously, a goat race.  How can you not go to that!

Victory and Yards

Jo and I were going to head out to Lancaster brewing and Spring House brewing, but our plans changed so we instead went to Victory brewing and Yards brewing.  First we drove out to Victory and then we circled back to go to Yards.

The last time we had been to Victory was before they renovated their brew pub and we couldn't believe the difference between now and then.  Before, it was like a creepy school cafeteria and the food was only okay.  Now, the brewpub had really nice atmosphere, the tables looked really comfortable, and the bar was really inviting.

I had read about the renovations to their brewpub but I was not expecting such a significant upgrade.  Now, I'd totally be willing to bring people to the brewery whereas before there is no way I'd suggest it as a place to visit and this is just based on first impressions and has nothing really to do with the beer.

End of a Crazy Weekend

Capped off what was a pretty crazy weekend by going to Capone's with my wife.  I wanted to have her check it out and also pick up a bottle I had reserved.  Turns out Sunday is a decent day to go since it's 25 cent wings nearly all day.  Wings, sports and beer make a fun Sunday.

There were way more things on draft than I could possibly drink in one sitting so I decided to start with a sampler.

Clockwise, starting with the light one in the front, I got: Jolly Pumpkin Weizen Bam, Rogue Double Chocolate Stout, Dark Horse Plead the 5th, and Allagash Curieux.  The Weizen Bam is a Farmhouse Ale, the Double Chocolate and Plead the 5th are both Imperial Stouts (although taste very different) and the Curieux was a Tripel aged in bourbon barrels.  All of them were really different from each other which was really cool.

The Allagash Curieux smelled of coconut oil and that was about it.  The taste was very unusual.  Some coconut, some general sweetness, and some alcohol.  I was pleasantly surprised by how good it tasted.  The Jolly Pumpkin Weizen Bam had a fruity, sour smell to it that sort of reminded me of sour wheat.  Jo thought it was a bit perfumy and floral.  This was a really, really different beer that I thought worked really well.  Jolly Pumpkin is known for their wild ales and after having this one I definitely will search them out again.

Switching gears, I started in on the Rogue Double Chocolate Stout.  This beer wasn't kidding around with the chocolate.  Huge, huge chocolate smell.  Initial taste on this was again chocolate which then slowly blended into some nice nuttiness and roasted flavors.  Good stuff but since it's Rogue it's probably terribly expensive in bottles.  Ah well.  Finally, the Dark Horse Plead the 5th.  This is a Russian Imperial Stout that is not fooling around at 12%.  Smells a little of coffee from the roasted malts.  Initial impression is that it had an excellent mouth feel and not too boozy for the strength.  The thickness is just about right and it totally coats your mouth and leaves you wanting more.  Has an almost nutty, smoky flavor to it.  I thought this was really great and would have gotten a full glass if it had been a Saturday.

Instead I finished up my meal with a Founders Breakfast Stout.

Founders just started shipping out Breakfast Stout so I was excited to get it on draft already.  Really strong coffee smell as it's an Imperial Espresso Stout.  Jo thought the Plead the 5th smelled stronger of coffee than this one but I think she's crazy.  First sip is basically coffee but after a few more the coffee takes a back seat to the stout part.  I really, really like this beer.  It's just so drinkable and just delicious.  It's a seasonal, though, so get it while you can!