Nodding Head Ice Capades

Every second Saturday, Nodding Head holds a special event following some sort of theme. This month their event was Ice Capades where they took a few of their beers and ice distilled them. In doing so the beers get stronger because they have a higher concentration of alcohol and the flavors can change or intensify as a result. The process mostly involves filling a keg about three quarters full, putting it on its side in a freezer for a couple days, then draining the unfrozen beer. The reason it gets frozen on its side is so when the keg gets flipped back upright, the tap isn't blocked so the beer will actually come out since the ice won't be blocking it. Pretty smart really.

New Holland The Poet

In my last visit to Kite & Key before the holidays, I ordered a New Holland The Poet, an oatmeal stout. It was actually a hard decision this time since there had been a decent amount of turnover but this seemed like a good choice.

Roasty nose but pretty mild otherwise. Smooth roast flavors started things off mixed with a slight bitterness. As it warmed up, some milky creaminess joined the roast and smoothed everything out. The latter was definitely the oat part of the beer coming through and it really brought it from just being okay to being pretty decent. Quite an enjoyable beer.

Hope everyone has a great holiday and has some awesome beers lined up! I know I do with some Founders CBS tonight, some Captain Lawrence sours tomorrow, some pumpkin beers on Sunday, and then maybe some barleywines Monday. Should be a great weekend.

Random Beer from my Brother

My brother has started to make a tradition of giving me beer as my Hanukkah present. Works for me! This one we were supposed to open together, but we totally forgot to do so. Oh well. This was a beer made by a friend of his at a brewery (possibly Shenandoah which is now the Farmer's Cabinet brewery) and was supposedly an Oatmeal Stout.

Smelled like dark fruit with a hint of hops. Some sourness in the nose was the first hint that something was terribly wrong with this. At first, I thought it was a sherry flavor since it was over a year old, but as I drank more I realized it was more of a sharp tanginess, reminiscent of infection. It sort of reminded me of a really poor sour porter but way less drinkable. I did manage to get through the whole glass in the picture so it wasn't undrinkable, just bizarre.

Honestly, looking at the picture, you can see how thin the body is since you can basically see through it. My recommendation to my brother's friend is to drink the rest of these if he has any left since it's just going to get worse as the infection spreads.

Troegs Java Head on cask at the Kite & Key

I stopped in at the Kite & Key for my usual Tuesday visit and was happy to see that Troegs Java Head was finally on their handpump.

Nice mild coffee nose. Lighter body because of the handpump but very smooth. The first thing I noticed was how well the coffee's harshness was blunted by being on cask. Similar to what happens to hops in IPAs really. Slightly bitter in the finish but it faded quickly. The Java Head was generally good and now I want to try it on a regular draft system just to see the differences.

Birthday Dinner at The Farmer's Cabinet

While Jo and I went to The Farmer's Cabinet for the first time for drinks with my Canadian buddy, I had originally planned to make my first visit my birthday dinner.  Walking into the restaurant the beer bar is on your left with a bunch of bar stools in front of it.  There are wooden signs on the wall with the draft beer options plus a spot reserved for the beers that will be brewed by Terry Hawbaker of Bullfrog Fame which I absolutely cannot wait to try.  The bartender, Chris (who also happened to be Terry's roommate), said the brewing equipment is set up but there are still some things to finish up so it'll still be a bit.  One cool thing was that they already have a rack of barrels set up on the restaurant wall for him to age stuff.  It'll be neat to see when they are full of delicious beer.

Beerschooled - Sours Class

After the great intro to homebrewing class by Beerschooled, I knew I'd go to another as long as the topic was interesting to me.  I finally got my chance when they announced a sours tasting class.  The Hulmeville Inn was hosting a Cicerone exam proctored by certified Cicerone Nicole Erny and so Jeff (beerschooled Jeff, not Hulmeville Inn owner Jeff.  So many Jeffs) took advantage of that and asked her to teach a class on sours with a little bit on Belgium.  I arrived at the Hulmeville Inn a bit early so I got a glass of Rogue Shakespeare Stout, an oatmeal stout, to pass the time.

San Francisco - Beers and Beer Week

An amazing coincidence occurred with our trip.  Somehow we planned it so that part of it overlapped with the beginning of San Francisco beer week.  I have no idea how that happened.  I totally didn't look it up before we decided on dates and then convinced Jo that it was a good idea.  See, just a big coincidence!  Or I'm totally lying.  Whatever, stop looking at me like that.

While we managed to make it to a couple events, there were a bunch of other places we went as well.  After getting back from Sonoma and all the breweries, Jo and I visited her sister's neighborhood and, lucky for me, that included a trip to the Toronado.

Lost Coast 8 Ball Stout

This was another Hanukkah present from my brother Dan and another good choice.  You may remember the first bottle from when I used it to make a Swedish Christmas Rye.  This time, it was all for me.

After all the Imperial Stouts I've been drinking, this oatmeal stout makes a nice counter point.  Sweet and roasty nose.  I felt the sweetness in the nose was very reminiscent of a milk stout.  While the mouthfeel was thing, it had some nice, bubbly carbonation.  Roast, some sweetness, and some fruitiness all finishing with more of the pleasant roastiness which then lingers for a bit.  This is a very drinkable oatmeal stout and a nice change of pace.

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.

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!

Troegs Night at Varga

On Thursday, Troegs Brewery hosted an event at Varga Bar.  I was excited because they were supposed to have the new Scratch 34 plus an undisclosed firkin of something.  I was hoping that the firkin would be Java Head with vanilla beans since it was delicious but we wouldn't know until we got there.  Of course, the weather Thursday night was abysmal but we ventured out anyway.

Varga is at 10th and Spruce and is a small place on the corner.  Possibly because of the weather there weren't too many people there when we arrived.  We picked a spot at the bar and waited for the Troegs beers to come on draft.  (Let me say that I had a bad cold Thursday so my descriptions won't be incredibly great since it was hard to taste or smell anything.  It's the reason I haven't posted at all this past week.)

I started with a glass of Troegs Dead Reckoning which is an American Porter.

It poured a basically black color with a small brown head.  Looks like what you'd expect from a porter.  I couldn't smell anything because of my cold so I'll skip that section this time.  Surprisingly, the first taste had quite a large hop character to it.  Porters are almost always roasty and malty, but this one had a much more up front hop taste to it.  It was actually really enjoyable since it gave it a really unique taste.  The hops blended into the roasted malt to create a mildly sweet flavor that I really liked.  I want to try this again when I can smell and taste better.

The next I had was the new Scratch 34, a Belgian Brown.  (Also known as an Abbey Dubbel I'm pretty sure.)

Scratch 34 was a really, deep brown with very minimal head on it.  The first taste was all Belgian.  I could taste bananas, a bit of sweetness, and exactly what is expected from a Belgian beer.  It was really enjoyable.  Apparently it's bottle conditioning right now so I'm hoping I'll be able to get a bottle of it at Capone's when Troegs finally releases it.

Finally I capped off the night with a glass of their Java Head. 

It's listed as an Oatmeal Stout on Beer Advocate, but it reminds me more of a coffee stout than anything else.  Poured a nearly black color with a nice, foamy brown head on it.  Looked really nice.  I don't have very clear impressions from this honestly but I did like it.  Jo said it had a mild coffee flavor to it.  I'll have to try it again at the next Troegs night at some other bar and write a better report then.

The event itself was put together by a guy named Nick who is the Troegs representative for the area.  I talked to him for a while and he's a really nice guy.  He mentioned he puts together events like this all over the city so I'm excited to check them out over the next few months.  On top of that he said that he had a keg of Mad Elf from '09 for an event so definitely want to check that out.  The only disappointing thing about the event was that the firkin he tried to get wasn't filled for him so the undisclosed firkin never made an appearance.  They did end up with a Dry Hopped version of their Dead Reckoning on hand pump, but since I already had a glass of that before finding out about it I didn't get a chance to try it.  Probably would be pretty interesting though.

I'm in Massachusetts today and heading to my favorite bar in Lee, Mass.  It's called Moe's and it's a little spot of beer heaven in a small town.