Troegs Mad Elf 2010

I was pulled away to Atlanta for work so didn't have a chance to write much last week. But, I'm back now and starting with a bottle I opened a week or two ago, a 2010 Troegs Mad Elf. I've been drinking Mad Elf for years now and it really may be my favorite beer. In fact, I have seven different pictures of it at this point for whatever reason. Considering I normally don't have more than one or two of most other beers, that's kind of funny.

I bought this bottle a couple years ago when my friend and I went to Troegs for the Splinter Blue release. Which also made me realize they haven't released a splinter beer in a long time. Too bad though Black wasn't that good so maybe not.

Honey, clove, and a little spiciness in the nose. Smelled smoother than a fresh one with a distinct lack of alcohol. Bananas, clove, honey, and hints of cherry followed in the body. The clove came and went, but the honey and the cherry hints were there through most of it. Some people find Mad Elf too sweet or medicinal but I just love it for some reason. I totally understand the issues, they just don't bother me.

Troegs Perpetual IPA

This is the last of the three IPAs that I recently bought. Technically, Troegs likes to call it an Imperial Pale Ale instead of Double IPA, but it's really the same thing. It's hoppy and mildly strong so yeah.

Pineapple fruity nose that hints at some bitterness. Body is what you'd expect. Started with some of the same fruitiness then some bitterness appeared. In the finish, though, at least at first, is an interesting, almost bread-like quality. It's not the same pure bitter finish I get from other IPAs but is a nice change. Maybe that's why Troegs likes to try to pretend it's a slightly different style. As I drank more that actually mostly went away as the pineapple fruit flavor and bitterness grew.

As a side note, Perpetual IPA originally came out in 22oz bottles same as Hoptimum and then when it went year round, Troegs moved to 12oz bottles.

The New Troegs Brewery

After spending a great hour and a half or so at Spring House, Jo and I headed on to the new Troegs brewery in Hershey, PA. For those that don't know, Troegs used to be in an industrial park in Harrisburg and was pretty much a medium size with a smallish taproom and a retail store about the same size. I always liked it since it still felt personal at that size but things change as places get more popular and I'm pretty sure Troegs was getting mobbed on the weekends so a change was definitely needed. Plus they needed a bigger brewery to keep up with demand which is probably the main reason for the move.

The new brewery is absolutely enormous with a gigantic taproom, a retail store about the size of the old brewery building itself, an enclosed barrel room, and a really impressive self-guided tour. Here's a picture that should give you some idea of the size of the taproom.

Hmm, or not after looking at the picture. I don't know how many people the taproom fits but it was packed when Jo and I arrived on Saturday. The bar has got to be like 100 people long and you can see tables that run through the middle of the room in the picture. There are also some more tables on the other side of the wall on the left that you can't quite see I think.

Troegs Splinter Blue

Jo and I recently went to Modo Mio for dinner and since it's a BYOB we brought some beer with us to drink during dinner. No wine for us though it's no real surprise considering it's me. Since it was Valentine's Day I decided that it was a great time to drink my last bottle of Troegs Splinter Blue.

Lets start with the description from the bottle tag.

Splinter Blue combines three of our favorite things - DreamWeaver, tart cherries, and Brettanyomyces. To begin this process we fermented DreamWeaver wort with a Belgian/Lambic yeast blend. After a complete fermentation, we aged the beer in oak barrels with wild yeast and souring bacteria for one year, and then added eighty pounds of tart cherries for another six months of aging.

While that's relatively dramatic language, it totally lived up to it. Decent amount of tartness with a little bit of cherry in the nose. Not strong cherry but nice hints of it. Even after all this time (I bought it in September 2010), still really well carbonated. The body was almost effervescent and had a nice prickliness to it. A decent amount of tartness followed with a bit more cherry. Never became too sour and was really tasty. Just a really great sour and I hope Troegs can make something as good now that they have more room in their new brewery. Here's my post on the first bottle I drank of it over Christmas in 2010.

As a side note, the meal at Modo Mio was awesome. Probably the best food we've gotten at a restaurant in a long time. Just perfectly flavored, nicely sized portions, and unique offerings. Check it out if you get a chance.

Troegs Scratch 55 Double IPA

I drank a few new beers over the weekend including Troegs Scratch 55, a double IPA. I was given two bottles of this when I picked up some Bells Hopslam from someone. After drinking one, I'm super glad he gave them to me as they were quite good.

Lovely nose, very clean. Grapefruit citrus with a nice bit of sugary sweetness. Lots of grapefruit followed, some sweetness from the malt and then a tiny hint of bitterness. It also had a mildly dry finish even with the sweetness. I really enjoyed this, honestly more than I expected. Just really drinkable and tasty.

Troegs Tap Takeover at the Khyber

While I wasn't actually planning on attending the Troegs night at the Khyber, my wife and decided we needed a night out and, well, happy coincidences. The Khyber had about 16-20 different Troegs beers, some from the regular lineup and a bunch from the scratch series.

It was pretty crowded when we first go there, but lucky for us some people got up from the bar a few minutes later and we got seats. To start with I ordered a glass of Scratch 46, named Naked Elf, because it's the base of their popular Mad Elf beer. I've been interested in trying it since I first heard about it. While Mad Elf is a Belgian Strong Dark Ale, this is more considered a Belgian Strong Pale Ale although it wasn't pale at all.

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.

Hanging with PhillyTapFinder

My wife was out of town this past weekend which means time to go out! Since PhillyTapFinder's wife was out of town, we decided to meet up after work and hang out for a while. And, well, a while turned into almost seven hours.

We started out at Prohibition Taproom. Jo and I went there once a while ago but haven't been back since. The most unique part of the place is the oddly shaped bar which is shaped like an E with seats all around it. The inside is really nice looking though and it's a really comfortable place to spend time. When I arrived, Jared had already ordered a glass of Hill Farmstead Abner and was tweeting about how good it was so that's how I started.

Labor Day Bar Crawl

It's Saturday, my wife's out of town, I'm alone. So what do I decide to do? What? Not that, sicko. I decide to do a bar crawl going to Farmer's Cabinet -> Varga Bar -> Hawthorne's Cafe -> Devil's Den. Now, I guess it's weird that I decided to bar hop by myself for hours on end, but I really enjoy sitting at bars, talking to bartenders and trying new things. I guess I'm a weird dude and I'm okay with that.

First stop was the Farmer's Cabinet. I haven't been back since my awesome birthday dinner and knew it had been too long. At 11:30am, it wasn't particularly busy which was nice. There was only one other dude at the bar plus the bartender. I started with a glass of De Molen Cease & Desist, also known as Disputin, a Russian Imperial Stout.

Bella Vista takes over Devil's Den

Ahh, Philly Beer Week finally begins. I put up my schedule the other day and so far I've kept to it pretty well. While this post is going to concentrate on the Devil's Den event, my first beer of beer week was actually at the Kite & Key. It was the Troegs Scratch 42, Razzmadizzle, a chocolate raspberry dubbel as far as I know.

Troegs Rugged Trail Nut Brown Ale

Part of cleaning our old apartment in preparation for the move to the new house was looking through our beer fridge and tossing some of the older beers that got buried in the back.  However, when I came across the year and a half year old Troegs Rugged Trail I couldn't bring myself to dump it without giving it a chance because the beer is now discontinued and so when else would I get a chance to write about it?  It's not a beer for aging, but I figured since it was in the refrigerator for most of that time there was still a chance for it to be good.

Roasty and hazelnutty aroma.  Very nutty.  I couldn't find any signs of cardboard or off flavors resulting from the aging which was good.  First sip the flavors were very mild.  Some vanilla sweetness, but the roast and nuttiness were very muted compared to the nose although there was a little more of both as I made my way through the glass.  It had been a long time since I've had Rugged Trail as it's been discontinued for quite a while now but I remember it being a bit stronger tasting.  Still, for a one and a half year old 4.5% brown ale, this held up remarkably well.  The flavors were muted but not off and I had no issues finishing the whole glass so that's a win in my book.

Russian River at Capone's

I reserved a bottle of East End Gratitude at Capone's back in late January and had not managed to make it there to pick it up.  Once I read about the Russian River event on April 2nd, I figured that would be a good day to make my way over there and finally grab it.  While Pliny the Younger was available for the event, I decided to try  to avoid some of the crowd and arrived two hours after opening instead.  I was mostly interested in trying batch 1 Consecration anyway so it seemed like a good idea.

When I arrived, there was still a decently large crowd so I got my Consecration Batch 1 and stood out of the way for a while.

Nugget Nectar vs. HopSlam! Fight!

Last Friday I decided to see how Troegs Nugget Nectar compared to Bell's Hopslam.  I recently had Hopslam at Jose Pistola's and Nugget Nectar at Kite & Key but figured the best way to get a decent comparison would be to have them both in one night. 

I started with the Nugget Nectar thinking that since it wasn't quite as strong it would make a better beginning.  Thanks for leaving a couple bottles behind Greg!

Beer Tasting 2

I held another get together for a few people this past Friday.  This is the second time I've done this with the first in October.  They each brought a couple bottles of beer they wanted to try and I supplied some pizza and banana brownies.  Some bought based on the labels (one bought his bottles because there were dogs on the label) and others (me) bought because there were some beers they wanted to try but never get around to picking up.  Either way, we ended up with another fun lineup.

From left to right, we have: Why I Oughta IPA (Pete G's Double Black IPA), Ballast Point Victory at Sea, Troegs Flying Mouflan, Uintas Labyrinth, Terrapin Big Daddy Vlady's, and Cigar City Bolita.

Troegs Nugget Nectar

Nugget Nectar is another seasonal that took the BeerAdvocate trading forum by storm for a couple weeks just like Hopslam.  I've been looking to try it and got my chance yesterday at the Kite & Key, a nice little bar on Callowhill near 19th street.  Nugget Nectar is an Amber Ale although it's 7.5% so it's a bit stronger than most.  (See, Andy, finally an Amber!)

It had a very earthy smelling nose.  It's made, reasonably enough, with nugget hops which apparently impart an herbal and spicy flavor to beers.  I can see that.  On the first sip, bitter hops give way to a little sweetness, finishing with a bready flavor that is reminiscent of the style to me.  Some lingering bitterness that built up as I drank more.  Reasonably good and a change of pace from the more citrusy double IPAs.  I can see why it's popular.  I think I preferred Hopslam but they aren't totally comparable considering the base style differences.  Along with Nugget Nectar, Troegs has another amber called Hopback Amber and the Flying Mouflan has a similar hop profile.  Be interesting to try all three in one night and work the way up the strength and bitterness scale just to compare the differences.

Absolutely Awesome Stout Tasting

Before attending the Troegs Splinter Black release, I was sent a message on BeerAdvocate asking if I'd be up for trading a bottle to a local in Philly.  I said if I got some extra bottles, we could work something out.  However, after seeing what he had to offer we both decided that instead of trading for more bottles to sit on our shelves, lonely and undrunk, it would be a lot more fun to get together and do a tasting where I'd bring a bottle of Splinter Black and he'd bring some stuff.  It may seem odd meeting up with a total stranger, but I'm an odd guy so it evens out.  We met up at The Belgian Cafe just before Christmas to ensure that neither of us was a crazy murderer and, after realizing we were both relatively normal (well, almost normal), decided to do the tasting some time in January.

We talked a bit more after Christmas and came up with the date of January 15th.  He invited a friend of his who also lived nearby and after a few more messages we decided to make it a stout tasting.  For this one, we were doing it at my apartment.  They arrived around 3:15 and, lo and behold, his friend Josh turned out to be one of the random guys we met on the way to the POPE during the Craft Beer Express.  I honestly couldn't believe the coincidence.  Just really random.  We quickly set out the six bottles on the table and couldn't wait to get started.

From left to right, we had: Olde Hickory The Event Horizon, Olde Hickory Hickory Stick Stout, Big Sky Ivan the Terrible, Surly Darkness (finally!), Troegs Splinter Black, and Dock Street Prince Myshkin.

Vacation Beers 4: The Final Night

Twas the last night of vacation,
and all through the house,
I was drinking beer,
not just one but four.

Okay enough of that.  The last night of our trip to Vermont I went through a bunch of quality beers and had a grand old time.  After discovering that absolutely everything was closed in Brattleboro on Christmas Day including McNeill's brewpub, we stopped at Brattleboro Discount Liquors on our way back to the house.  I like to check random beer stores in hopes that they have interesting things.  Nothing super here although they had some local stuff so we picked some up including bottles from McNeill's.

Vacation Beers 3: Ridiculously Great

I opened some awesome beers this Christmas Eve.  While I expected the Troegs Splinter Blue to be excellent, I was surprised just how good the 2009 Bell's Expedition Stout was.  Ended up as a super night.

I started off the night with the 2009 Bell's Expedition.  I bought this case from Global Beer in Northern Liberties and it was already a year old when I bought it two weeks ago.  Pretty handy as really strong stouts often get better after a year or two.

Vacation Beers 2: Beer Harder

Another great night of beers and it's just the beginning of my vacation.  I opened a North Coast Old Rasputin, a great Imperial Stout I've been neglecting, a Troegs Flying Mouflan, a barleywine, and a Weyerbacher Quad.  The major thing that they all have in common is that their ABVs are pretty high.  It's going to be a theme for this vacation and, well, most of the beers I drink.

I started with the North Coast Old Rasputin.

Okay, now I know I'm crazy

If you've been reading my blog since near the beginning you may remember that I once questioned my sanity after attending the Troegs Splinter Blue release.  However, after Wednesday, I think I have crossed that line and left it in my dust.  Yes, ladies and gentlemen, Wednesday was the release of Troegs Splinter Black and I went to that too.  Splinter Black is an Imperial Stout brewing with cocoa nibs and turbinado sugar, then aged for three months on oak with vanilla beans, and finally bottle fermented.  According to the brewery it comes in at a whopping 13%.  To say I'm excited to drink it would be an understatement.