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.

Trip to Perch Pub

I recently met up with my friend Eric at Perch Pub. Part of the reason I wanted to go to Perch was because I'd finally get to try Cafe Royale from Williamsburg Alewerks. The other part being that their half price happy hour is a really good deal. When we got there around 5:30, the bar was pretty busy but after our first drink two seats opened up in front of us. Pretty convenient. The rest of the place wasn't too crowded, though, so if you're looking for a table instead of chilling at the bar, it's a good choice for happy hour.

I of course started with the Williamsburg Alewerks Cafe Royale, their Coffeehouse stout aged in bourbon barrels.

Ithaca White Gold at Kite & Key

The best thing about going to Kite & Key the Tuesday after Savage Sixtel Sunday is that a lot of the sixtels are still available. With this in mind, decisions are made easier on Sunday since I'll have another chance to try the more common beers in the group. This time, I left Ithaca White Gold, a wheat beer with brett, for Tuesday.

Slightly spicy nose, reminded me of a saison. Possibly a result of the yeast. Slight bit of mustiness, bit of earthy brett, bit of wheat. Interesting mix of flavors. Develops into a sort of wheaty earthiness. It's an interesting beer, but nothing really jumped out at me to bring it to the next level. Worth a try just to form your own opinion though.

20th Anniversary of London Grill

This past Monday was the 20th Anniversary party for London Grill. Pretty Impressive. For the party they had a really nice beer list but considering my weekend and the fact that it was Monday I unfortunately didn't have much will to participate. When I arrived around 5:30 the place was already pretty full. A lot of industry folks, some brewers, and a few others I recognized. You could really tell what London Grill and the owner Terry mean to the area and the industry just by looking around the room.

I started with a glass of something I've talked about a bunch but I don't even care because it's so awesome, Deschutes The Abyss.

Trip to Capone's

It's been quite a while since my wife and I had been to Capone's and since we were heading up to the area, we figured a stop was in order. It was even Jo's idea! Lucky me. My usual course of action is to start with a sampler, but there was a beer on draft from East End, from out in Pittsburgh and since it's really rare here in Philly I had to start with that.

Savage Sixtel Sunday at the Kite & Key

On Sunday July 24th the Kite & Key had an event called Savage Sixtel Sunday. They've had other ones previously but apparently this one was also their 3rd anniversary. I didn't actually know that until after but good for them! I hadn't been to one of these before but the tap list to this was pretty awesome plus I knew a few people going so figured it would be a lot of fun. I started with a Bells Batch 9000 which was also the first beer that caught my eye when I first saw the tap list.

This was part of Bell's "batch" series where every 1000 batches of beer, they brewed a unique one-off. This one is labeled an American Strong Ale although I could see it labeled as a quad. Smelled of caramel, plums, toffee, raisins, and wine. Really strong but delicious aroma. Flavor started similarly with caramel, toffee then a decent amount of alcohol. The alcohol wasn't harsh but there is no mistaking that it is 12.5%. I can't imagine how strong this tasted fresh considering how strong it is at about a year and a half. Still, I really enjoyed it even with the alcohol, just need to remember to sip it.

Ithaca Flower Power at the Kite & Key

Although I tried to order the Firestone Walker Union Jack, it kicked while the bartender was pouring my draft so no go on that. Instead I got a glass of Ithaca Flower Power, an IPA. I had it a while back at Kennett but this time the picture is decent.

Very herbal and flowery nose. Thicker body than I expected. At first it started with some muted hop notes and slight bitterness. It finished with an interesting flowery sweetness, probably a result of the hop and malt flavors mixing together. Had some lingering bitterness but not bad. It's interesting how my impressions changed between the two glasses. At Kennett I thought it was more pine forward while this time more perfumey. The differences could also be attributed to the age of the keg but that's more difficult to pinpoint than just my tastes changing. Regardless, Flower Power is a pretty great IPA and you should order it if you get the chance.

Kennett

Jo and I recently met up with some friends at a restaurant named Kennett.  It's located on 2nd street just before Carpenter and is pretty easy to get to.  Reasonable amount of parking as well.  Not a big place, but well set up.  Nice looking bar on your left as you walk in with a couple tables across from it leading into a dining room with four or five more tables.  As I said, not big.  Food was really good.  They have a brick oven and their pizza was very tasty and our friend said their veggie burger was good.  Beer list was decent as well and most likely sees a decent variety.

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.