Bed & Brews at the Inn at Cooperstown - Friday night

My wife and I recently traveled up to Cooperstown, NY to participate in the Bed & Brews weekend at The Inn at Cooperstown.  Besides the two awesome nights which I'll describe in detail later, you also get as part of the package:

• One rare commemorative Ommegang Abbey Ale jeroboam (3L bottle), signed by the Brew master - Limit 1 per reservation
• One Ommegang Abbey Ale Chalis per person
• One Brewery Ommegang sweatshirt or two t-shirts

The jeroboam is a giant 3L bottle of Abbey and the glasses are very nice chalices with an Ommegang logo and a nice gold rim.  On top of that, Friday night is a tasting where all the guests at the Inn share their favorite beers (or homebrew or whatever).  Saturday night is a private tour of Ommegang by one of their brewers plus a very delicious dinner with beer pairings at their new Cafe.  All in all an excellent package.  Check out some pictures on their website under the "Packages" tab.

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.

Weyerbacher Heresy

I mentioned during my post about Weyerbacher Old Heathen that I was really interested in trying Heresy because Old Heathen was so good.  So recently I went to London Grill to try it since I knew it was on draft there.  Totally worth the walk as it was pretty great.

Two Idiots Enter, One Drunk Leaves

I've had a bottle of 2008 Weyerbacher Blithering Idiot burning a hole in my pocket (shelf?) since I bought it at Capone's a couple months ago.  However, I really enjoy doing side by sides with the fresh version when I have an older vintage (like when I did Troegs Mad Elf a while back) and so haven't had the opportunity to open it.  Since I just bought three Blithering Idiots, I finally had my chance do a comparison.

Russian River Pliny the Younger (yes again)

I don't usually repeat beers but I walked two miles to get a glass of this so I'm going to repeat it.  Plus, as I like to say, it's my blog and you'll read what I write.  Or you won't I guess.  I hope you will though.  Seriously, please read my blog.  Tell your friends!

Okay, yeah.  So.  Pliny the Younger.  Thanks to Philly Tap Finder, on Friday morning I saw that St. Stephen's Green (at 17th and Green) was tapping a sixtel of it at noon.  Thinking it would make for a pleasant walk whether I got a glass or not (if it was a mob scene I would have just turned around), I made my way there.  However, surprisingly enough, there weren't that many people there when I arrived and I got a seat and everything.

I got my glass and took a seat and enjoyed it while reading my kindle.  Wonderful citrus aroma without any bitter notes.  Tons of citrus up front (maybe even some pineapple?) followed by a little sweetness and finishing bitter and dry.  Like many other IPAs the bitterness lingers a little but not overlong.  It does leave your mouth super dry though.  Curious what the final gravity would be considering the dryness of it.  As I said last time, I couldn't find any heat from the 10.25% ABV which is an accomplishment in and of itself.  Fantastic beer but not one that's easily available so until next year that's all she wrote.  If I'm still doing this then, look for another entry because it really is just that good.

Thursday at Nodding Head

I needed to kill some time while waiting to meet my wife for dinner so I thought what better way to do that than spend an hour reading at Nodding Head and enjoying some beer.  I did a little research using Philly Tap Finder but decided I really wanted to try the Belgian Chocolate Stout so headed to Nodding Head.

Duck Rabbit Barleywine

I recently bought a few different barleywines and the Duck Rabbit's was the first I tried.  I really like Duck Rabbit as a brewery and love their Milk Stout (and enjoyed their porter recently), but unfortunately I wasn't terribly impressed with their barleywine.

Very slight aroma with some caramel and fruit followed by a little alcohol.  Fruit opens up the first sip, followed by a few sugary notes but finishing with a fight between an unpleasant bitterness and strong alcohol.  When it warmed up the alcohol and bitterness faded a little but they never fully went away.  It wasn't a drain pour or anything, but I wasn't eager to open up a second right after finishing it.  I love their bottle though.  Doesn't the duck look dapper in his bowler?

Weyerbacher Old Heathen

While I was trying to save my last bottle of Weyerbacher Old Heathen in order to do a side by side with Heresy (which is this aged in bourbon barrels), my thirst got the better of me and I couldn't wait anymore.  Old Heathen is an Imperial Stout on the lighter side of ABV at 8%.  What?  8% is comparatively lighter!

This is quite tasty and really want to try Heresy at some point.  I feel the sweetness would hold up well to the bourbon flavors imparted by the barrel.  The aroma was mainly chocolate and vanilla with a small hint of coffee.  Very inviting.  Initially get fruit followed by chocolate.  Silky mouthfeel.  I got a tiny bit of bitterness (I expect from the hops) but it's immediately covered up by even more silky chocolate.  For whatever reason, the aftertaste is all vanilla and left my mouth happy.  If you couldn't tell, I really enjoyed this and could easily go back for more.  The Bells Expedition is still probably my favorite of the bunch, but Old Heathen comes really close and is available all year round which is a big plus in my book.

Why I Oughta IPA

I realized I still had a bottle of my buddy's Black Double IPA (his words) in the beer refrigerator and figured I should drink it while it's still sort of fresh.  I had it once before during the second beer tasting and thought it was pretty tasty.  This time I haven't had like six beers before it and thought it was still really good.

Inviting aroma of pine and orange peel.  Lots of citrus and pine notes up front with a pleasant roasty finish.  Some sweetness balances a slight lingering bitterness.  The best part, at least for me, is that the bitterness from the hops never overwhelms the palate and just kind of lives on the edge.  I'm a big fan of balanced IPAs and found the roasted finish to be one of the better ones I've found in black IPAs that I've had.  Nice job Pete.

Dark Horse Three Guy Off the Scale Barleywine

I recently opened a barlyewine from Dark Horse named Three Guy Off the Scale.  This clocks in at 15% and, while not harsh, the alcohol has a heavy presence.

Smells a little like rocket fuel mixed with sugar, caramel and toffee.  Mmm, rocket fuel.  The first sip followed with tons of caramel, toffee and dark fruit with a slow alcohol burn in the finish.  As I drank more and it warmed a little, the alcohol burn in the finish subsided a bit and I was left with delicious caramel and plum.  It actually reminded me quite a bit of Samichlaus and, while super strong, was still tasty.  I wouldn't drink more than one in a night for obvious reasons but one was great.