Beer Schooled at the Hulmeville

This past Tuesday I drove up to the Hulmeville Inn for a home brewing class offered by Beer Schooled.  When I first found out about the class, I figured it would be an interesting way to solidify my random knowledge of home brewing and I was pretty much correct.  It also turned out to be a good way to hang out with Kevin and Greg and have a couple good beers.

I started with a small glass of Stone Double Bastard, an American Strong ale aka a strong, hoppy beer.

Visit to Hulmeville Inn

I had a free afternoon and hadn't seen my friend in a while so we decided to meet up at the Hulmeville Inn.  Great beer, decent food, and an awesome owner, what's not to like?  I was excited to try a couple of the things on draft (the owner, Jeff, lists all of their current drafts on the website and I check it entirely too often) plus my friend let me know that they had some new Cigar City stuff in bottles.

The main thing I wanted to try was the Dark Horse One Oatmeal Stout as I loved the Plead the Fifth and wanted to try another of their stouts.  This was the dead man walking, the oldest keg on draft, so it was also heavily discounted (although Hulmeville's prices are ridiculously low anyway.)

It had a mild roasted aroma but not much else.  No strong oatmeal smell on this one.  First sip had a little oatmeal, some malt and a small finish of alcohol bitterness.  As I worked through it, the oatmeal started to dominate the other flavors which was pleasant.  Good stout, but nothing compared to the Plead the Fifth.

After that, we were offered a small taste of Sam Adams Utopias which pretends to be an American Strong Ale.  Really it's a liquor aged for a number of years in all sorts of different barrels and ends up at a whopping 27%.

Considering its ABV, it wasn't surprising that it smelled and tasted like a liqueur.  I thought it was sweet and syrupy and tasted a little like some bourbon stouts taste.  I'm incredibly glad to have been able to try it since it's expensive ($175 a bottle) but seeing as how I'm not a big liqueur fan, I don't know if I'd get it again.

After that, my friend and I ordered bottles of Cigar City Either and Or so we could check them out side by side.

While they are both Black IPAs and made with similar recipes, the differences shine through quite clearly.  The two beers are a result of a collaboration between Cigar City and two breweries; Hill Farmstead, located in Vermont, and Grassroots, located in Denmark.  You can read all about the specifics here but the gist (as far as I could tell) is that Either is Cigar City's version and Or is the collaboration of the other two breweries.

The Either smelled delicious.  Hints of alcohol, some hops but not too much, and some malt. Flavor was very smooth with some hops but no bitterness to it.  I thought it tasted similar to Jack & Ken's, Sierra Nevada's 30th Anniversary Black Barleywine which I talked about in this post.  On the opposite side of the coin, the Or smelled much, much hoppier without the delicious malt smell from the Either.  First sip just punches you with hops and bitterness and it never relents.  I called Hop'solutely a Hopwine in the previous post and Or is in exactly the same category except I guess it would be a Dark Hopwine.  It wasn't bad, but compared to the Either, I didn't feel it competed.  Of course my friend who likes IPAs more than me enjoyed the Or a lot more than the Either.  So, if you like hops a lot, drink the Or.  If you like maltier beers with some warming alcohol, get the Either.  You win either way but you win more if you choose wisely.

Then, the owner Jeff happened to be drinking a bottle of Jubel 2010.  Notice in my "beer cellar" list I currently have a bottle of that on my shelf.  I was curious where he picked it up and while chatting he offered me and my friend a sample of it since they weren't going to finish the bottle and because he's awesome.

It poured a dark brown color with minimal head, but the bottle had been opened for a bit so the carbonation may have been higher in the beginning.  It tasted of caramel, toffee, and some spices.  Super delicious and now I cannot wait to open my bottle.

Finished up with a glass of Boaks Wooden Beanie, a Dubbel aged in oak.  Actually, forgot to get a picture of this, but think of a glass filled with a brown liquid and very little head.  Smell was very Belgian, bananas and sugar.  Taste followed with some caramel, bananas, and sort of a biscuit flavor.  I also got some apple as I drank more.  Good dubbel and I'd order it again.  Plus Boaks is in Pompton Lakes, NJ near where I grew up.

Once again, a great trip to the Hulmeville Inn.  Everyone is always really nice there and Jeff, the owner, is always willing to chat with me which is awesome.  His beer knowledge is really thorough and it shines through in the draft lists at the Inn.  Plus, the prices there are always the lowest in the area.  The bottles of Either and Or were only $8, the same as my friend found them in Florida.  Just crazy good.  So, if you're in the area, definitely stop in for a drink.

Lew Bryson and some other beers

On Sunday, on top of the absolutely awesome bourbon beers I drank, I got to meet beer writer Lew Bryson.  I'll probably miss a few things he writes, but here's a small list.  His normal blog, his noplcb (no pennsylvania liquor control board) blog, and some really interesting articles on some random website in Massachusetts.  Seriously, you should check out that site.  I easily spent 2 hours reading those articles one day.  On top of that he also spends time writing for a whisky magazine named Malt Advocate. However, the thing he's most well known for (or at least the reason I really know him) is his awesome book on Pennsylvania breweries.  It's thorough, well written, and super interesting.  Jo and I have the 3rd edition of the book and just picked up the 4th edition on Sunday.  I'm reading through it now and there is just so much useful information about breweries, brew pubs, bars, and attractions in Pennsylvania.  Probably the best part is how for every brewery and brewpub, he lists places to visit in the area plus other bars to visit.  The former is super useful for those of us that have wives that insist everything can't be about beer and the latter is useful when visiting a brewery that won't have any food.  Go ahead and pick up a copy at amazon.  Trust me, it's well written and there are some really interesting facts in it.  On a more personal note, Lew was really receptive to chatting with me on Sunday and it's always awesome if people are willing to listen to me.  Sure, it helped that he was there to sell his book so he couldn't go anywhere, but still.  Seriously, though, nice guy and you all should read his blog and buy his book.  That way he'll make another edition in a few years for me to buy.

On top of that I tried two other beers Sunday at Hulmeville.  The best of the two was Rodenbach Vintage '08.

Hulmeville served it in their sweet chalice and it poured with very little head.  Similar look to other Flemish Red Ales with some darker notes.  This variety is actually a 2008 vintage that the Rodenbach brewery aged themselves.  Since I haven't had it in a while (if ever) I can't do a comparison, but man, this was one smooth beer.  It had a sweet and sour nose on it with a mild apple juice backing.  Not as strong as some Flanders Red Ales but this is 2 years old already so I'm guessing the apple juicy smell and flavor mellows out over time.  The taste followed the smell with more sweet and sour notes, each taking a turn.  Super easy drinking and really good.  The cool thing is that aging beers is a big thing in Europe so you may find stuff like this around.  I know Capone's has the 2007 on draft right now although it's probably close to finished.

I finished up the night with something completely different in the form of Rock Art Pumpkin Imperial Spruce Stout.

To be honest, while I have some notes about this one, I can't believe it's a stout.  Jo claims Hulmeville's description mentioned this, but it didn't feel like one to me.  If anyone has ever had this, let me know.  Not much of a smell to it and surprisingly very little pumpkin taste.  The overwhelming flavor to it was spruce.  Yes, spruce, just like the tree.  It wasn't bad, mostly surprising.  Throughout the whole glass, spruce was the major flavor and it actually was more enjoyable than expected.  However, if you are looking for a pumpkin beer this is not where to start.  Neither Jo nor I got any pumpkin flavor from it at all

That's the end of the 10/10/10 Beer Geek BBQ at Hulmeville Inn.  Meeting and chatting with Lew Bryson was way more fun than I expected and the bourbon aged beers were just incredible.  Jeff does a great job with that place and I look forward to the next special event.

It's a Bourbon (Beer) Afternoon

Hulmeville Inn hosted their second annual Beer Geek BBQ on Sunday and had a really great tap list to go along with it.  While I had quite a few awesome beers, the stand outs for me were the three bourbon barrel aged beers: Dark Horse Bourbon Aged Plead the Fifth, Allagash Bourbon Black, and Port Older Viscosity.  The first is a barrel aged Russian Imperial Stout, the Allagash is a barrel aged Belgian Strong Ale and the Older Viscosity is a barrel aged Imperial Stout.  Hulmeville had them all in different sizes and availability which was pretty nice considering their strength.

Pre-Concert Hulmeville

Before going to the Black Diamond Skye show, I met up with a buddy at Hulmeville Inn to kill some time.

I started with the Brew Dog Tokyo* as I've been wanting to try it since they put it on draft two weeks ago.

Pours an almost black color with a surprising amount of light brown head.  I was expecting zero head on this considering the strength, but as can be seen there was quite a bit of it.  Smells mostly of alcohol which isn't terribly surprising considering it's 18%.  I expected it to taste like jet fuel, but it ended up amazingly drinkable.  I would almost say it was dangerously drinkable if you aren't careful because it's so hard to tell its strength.  I thought it tasted like alcoholic chocolate.  I really enjoyed this and thought it was remarkable considering its strength.

After that, I tried a series of coffee beers which were both great in different ways.  The first was Brooklyn's Intensified Coffee Stout.

It poured a nice brown color with head up to the top of the glass that quickly dissipated.  Close to no smell on it which surprised me since I thought it would smell strongly of coffee.  Turns out, all of the coffee was in the taste.  For a stout, it had a thinner mouth feel, but it was very close to drinking a cup of black coffee.  Kind of crazy but delicious if you like coffee.  The end had a nice, mild sweetness as well which was very nice.

Following that was Dark Horse Perkulator.

It was a brown color with basically no head on it.  As it's a coffee doppelbock, the beer poured very similar to the Troegenator from the other day.  Surprisingly enough this also had very little smell.  Maybe some slight coffee notes, but basically the same as the Brooklyn.  The initial taste had a much more subdued level of coffee in it but the beer as a whole was bit more flavorful.  Notes of caramel and malts come through the coffee really nicely.  I liked this a little bit more than the Brooklyn as it felt like the beer was more balanced around the coffee which made for a better drinking experience.  I'd get both again, but I'd get the Perkulator first.

I finished up with the Dock Street Great Pumpkin just because it's fall and why not.  Plus Dock Street is in Philadelphia and it's always good to support a local brewery.

Poured a near orange with a little bit of head that created some nice lacing on the glass.  It smelled faintly of cinnamon but that was all of the spices that are usually found in pumpkin beers.  The first taste had a lot of the same.  Hops quickly took the fore and the beer, at least to me, became really bitter and disappointing.  Considering most pumpkins are either spicy or sweet, this is possibly a pumpkin for hop heads but it didn't feel like the cinnamon and bitterness blended very well.  Not a terribly great way to end the night but you can't win 'em all.

Full Beer Saturday

I had a full day yesterday with going to Capone's, a beer bar in Norristown, for lunch and spending some time at the Hulmeville Inn with my buddy Greg.

The first stop was Capone's in Norristown.  It looks like a normal diner from the outside, but once you get inside and are given a draft list you know this isn't a normal place.  Their draft list was probably 20 beers long with lots of really interesting stuff.  They had Ballast Point's Sculpin, Russian River's Consecration, and a lot of other really great beers.  It was almost entirely limited release beers which is just awesome.