What Was the Last Beer You Drank?

[Bubba83]

^ I loved their dubbel. Oh well.

[Rugged One]

Nothing says Fall like yet another Wet Hop beer.

Definitely interesting. This has the same grassy hop aroma and taste of other wet hop ales but this one seems to be much more British in nature. The hops are somewhat muted and sweet and earthy. Not too umpleasant but definitley not what I was expecting.

Session #20 from the Harpoon 100 Barrel Series. The Glacier Harvest Wet Hop Ale.

[DerekRx]

Time to head back to a local place that I seem to forget about as there is so much awesomeness around me, Union Barrel Works.

To finish, a Round Boy Stout, loaded with oat and burnt coffee tastes

As expected, he's brewed up an Oktoberfest for the season. Definitely the right flavors for the style and easy to drink. Even Nicole had one

Back to Union Barrel to see what Tom has brewing in his authentic German styles this time of year

[Bubba83]

^^ Well, I was a bit jealous you and Derek both got your hands on Harpoon's Wet Hopped Glacier, but I guess I'm glad I'm not missing much? I've still only tried one wet hopped beer. I was really looking forward to Deschutes' Hop Trip, but haven't seen it anywhere.

 

Anyway, after vowing to start posting more often so a ton of pictures didn't pile up into 1 big post, I failed! So here's a fairly long post once again.

A really solid IPA using Cascade hops. Easy drinking with lots of flavor, Sierra Nevada knows their hops, that's for sure.

The last bottle from my sixer of Sierra Nevada's 2007 Anniversay Ale.

The head was like soda, it dissipated really quickly. That made me a little worried, but it was actually pretty good. The honey wasn't overly sweet, and it was easy to drink with a nice mouthfeel. I think if the Belgian Golden Ale they started with was a little more robust in flavor profile, it could be killer.

Finally on to last night, where I tried my first mead! It was also exciting because this was brewed in my city, Sunnyvale! Rabbit's Foot Meadery's Diabhal. 8.2% ABV. It's A Belgian Golden Ale brewed by them, and fermented with honey (that's what discerns it as mead)

The smell reminded me of Mirror Pond Pale from Deschutes. Apparently it only uses one hop variety, crystal hops. I was actually really impressed. As the name suggests, it's highly bitter. More bitter than most of the IPAs I've had as far as raw bitterness. It's pretty awesome though because the bitterness sorta fades into some excellent citrus flavors that are well balanced by Rogue's excellent feel for using the right malts. Gets even better as it warms a bit.

Yay, BevMo finally had this guy in a bomber! Rogue's Brutal Bitter. 6.5% ABV. Curious to finally try a well-hopped Rogue brew.

Smelled super citrusy, but the flavor was a bit dull. Maybe a bit overly malty as well. With that said, it had an excellent mouthfeel and I drank this thing in like 10 minutes, if that.

Flying Dog's Snake Dog IPA. 5.8% ABV.

Turns out it was a lot better last time, at least from what I remember. I thought it was a nice hoppy amber, but this guy didn't have much hoppyness at all. Maybe it was just old, no freshness date to check either. Still it wasn't horrible, just not special.

Anderson Valley's Boont Amber Ale. 5.8% ABV. I had tried this before in a bomber...

The face pretty much says it all. I don't know what to think about it at this point. It was by far the weirdest beer I have had yet. It sorta starts off like a Flander's Red with some sourness, but then the acidity of it comes in and balsamic vinegar flavor takes over. After that it fades into a chocolatey caramel flavor, which needless to say is pretty flippin' weird after balsamic vinegar. It then finishes with a bit of a bite and some lingering breadyness. It was an interesting experience, but I wouldn't have it again.

A beer I was really looking forward to: Brouwerij Verhaeghe's Duchesse de Bourgogne. It's considered a Flander's Red, I guess. 6.2% ABV.

It's good and all, but to be honest I am getting a little bored with the Oatmeal Stout in particular.

Next up was one of my Uncle's favorites, Samuel Smith's Oatmeal Stout. For some reason he never tries anything new anymore.

I just can't get enough of this stuff. Over enjoying some beers at my uncles once again...

I didn't expect much from this little guy, but boy, it was one of the most impressive American Pale Ales that I've had to date. It has a nice sweetness to it balanced out by a raw hop flavor that is borderline spicy.

Ruedrich's Red Seal Ale, from North Coast Brewing! ABV is 5.6% on this American Pale Ale.

[DerekRx]

I think you're just posting all at once so people don't figure out how much you drink in one sitting, Bubba.

[DerekRx]

Last night it was time to go on a local adventure to get more good stuff of the Autumn season. Off we go for a Friday night beerventure!

Surprisingly, one of the better pumpkin ales. Nice pumpkin notes and not too overly spiced, but there was just enough there. Not too lite like Pumpkinhead, nor too heavy like Weyerbachers. Top 5 pumpkin here.

Yup, Pumpkin ale on tap, just opened 2 days prior. And yes, they won gold at the GABF for their barleywine

Final stop of the evening, Rock Bottom in King of Prussia

A stop off at Sly Fox as the Turnpike was a mess showed no signs of their Oktoberfest, so I left

Some brews for the road for later enjoyment

While Saturday's plans may have changed, we'll get back here for this, whenever it is

mmmhmmm, Sierra Nevada Harvest Ale on tap, and as fresh as it gets, just being tapped on Monday. Truly the best wet-hopped beer out there

The important part of the board shows one of my favorites

Next up, The Drafting Room just down the road

Score! A lovely wet-hopped Pilsner, this stuff was loaded with floral notes. Excellent. Though the popularity of it with the growler fills while I was there shows this stuff probably won't last long

The board of goodness, and yes it appears the Harvest Pils has returned, though no Harvest Ale

Holy crap! For being not even 5 minutes after 5pm this place is packed already!

First stop, Victory, where rumors of the Harvest have returned

[Bubba83]

^^ Pft, besides when I go to my uncles and he brings the next bottle out before I'm done with the one I'm on, I limit myself to like 1-2 a night!

 

I noticed Black Brutal on the Drafting Room's board. Have you ever had that? How is it? I've never seen it in bottles.

[DerekRx]

^Nope, never tried the Black Brutal, don't know if they bottle it or not, but I've seen it on tap at several places around here over the year.

 

Tonight it was back to The Drafting Room for dinner. Since their Victory release got delayed, they decided to appease the beer geeks by breaking out some of the most highly awesome stuff.

and to end the night, Nicole went for some Lindeman's Framboise. 30 seconds after this picture was taken, the beer was gone

Next up for me, more familiar greatness in the form of Arcadia's Jaw Jacker pumpkin ale, one of the finest

Nicole decided to go with the Sly Fox Black Raspberry Reserve, which she really enjoyed. Lots of raspberry flavors with a good wheat backbone. The Weyerbacher R&R raspberry rye barleywine was also tried, but was too alcohol tasting for Nicole's taste to enjoy a full glass.

Ah yes, Pliny the Elder, Russian River's awesome double IPA makes a special appearance tonight in Pennsylvania

Almost a totally different list tonight, all great stuff, but there's only one reason I really wanted to come back

TDR, haven't been here in like almost 24 hours

[Bubba83]

^ Pliny in PA?? You have got to be kidding me... That would be like a local joint near me getting Victory's Storm King... Fat friggen chance... My oh my... Well, at least I had my fill of Sierra Nevada's Harvest Ale tonight.

[DerekRx]

Today it was back to Selin's Grove as they just released 2 of their most awesome of awesomeness and we had to make sure we got them before the kegs got kicked again. (which happened right after I grabbed my first beer. Luckily they had extras this early in the batch)

and finally for me, the newly released Hop Nouveau, a wet hop harvest ale made with the hops that grow on site. Another fantastic beer, well worth the wait

Nicole went with the homebrewed root beer, always great

ah yes, truly magnificent. A lot more spice this year, but still the best pumpkin ale out there, plenty of pumpkin taste and just brilliant that it's served on nitro, makes it so creamy.

including on tap, which is one of the reasons we're here today. Lots of other good stuff too

all decked out for Halloween with pumpkins everywhere

Another wonderful but warm Autumn day at Selin's Grove, where they seem to have gotten a new sign

[mcjaco]

We swung into our local alcohol store. The beer buyer there knows us by name now. He must of talked out ear off for at least an hour, gave us samples of his home brewed chocolate bourbon stout (which was awesome), and then crasked open a bottle of Lakefront's Pumpkin Ale so we could taste the difference between it served warm and cold. I think I'm in love.

 

He directed us to another bar up the road called Firkin. 24 beers on tap. I tried Victory's Moon Glow, which I had never heard of. Thoughts on it, Derek? I liked it, nice touch of banana.

[Bubba83]

^ Where are the pictures man!

 

More beers at the Uncle's and last nights...

It was pretty good... With that said though, I feel like Unibroue is a little overrated from the three or so that I've tried. I've had some stuff with fuller flavor that is rated lower.

Last night I had Maudite. It's a Belgian Strong Dark Ale with 8% from Quebec.

Okay, so after Harvest it doesn't seem so flavorful, but it's still pretty good!

Dang, this picture came out nice... Don't you just want to be shrunk by a shrinking ray and swim around in it?

He is slowly becoming a huge fan of the stuff and we are both sad it won't be around much longer.

The following night my uncle bought some more Harvest Ale...

Ladies and Gentlemen, I need a haircut.

I'll follow it up with one of their pales for good measure.

A pretty good stout. It had some mild chocolate flavors along with a nice roastiness almost guinness like quality.

Finally get a chance to try Sierra Nevada's Stout. My uncle picked up a six pack on friday...

[ParkTrips]

pics from last night, because so far tonight has been dry despite the rain outside

drinking was necessary while watching the Steelers lose

That, ladies and gents, is a pretty badass looking hefeweizen! and it was a very good hefe, lots of great taste all the way to the bottom. I think it was the last hefeweizen I had left in the fridge, so it may be my last for a while

Tonights brew comes from Bavaria, the Schneider Weisse hefe

[mcjaco]

^ Where are the pictures man!

 

It was a spur of the moment stop. Had I known! Oh well, it's just up the road, I'll be going back.....frequently.

 

Here's some from the past few evenings. I ahve to clean off the memory card before my trip.

Daz some good s*&%!

Tyranena's Rocky's Revenge. A brown ale with a great kick of bourbon. Yawza!

I'm dead sexy.

Lakefront Pumpkin Ale, one of the better pumpkins thus far this season. Nice spice, good hint of pumpkin. Even better at room temp.

Not too shabby. Fat Squirrel and Spotted Cow are superior though.

New Glarus Blonde. Not one of their best, but it's something the boys in PA can't get.

[DerekRx]

Time to start enjoying that growler I brought home from The Drafting Room before it goes flat.

Still wonderfully hoppy and carbonated to perfection, definitely one of the best beers out there. Such a shame I'll have to drink all this by myself over the next couple of days.

mmmm, many glasses worth of Sierra Nevada Harvest Ale

[Rugged One]

Tonight's beer comes from a PA brewpub that we've taken forever to get up to. Otto's Pub & Brewery up in Happy Valley. After trying tonight's beer, I'm not waiting any longer.

Wow, where has this local hop bomb been? Just juicy hops and citrus the whole way through. I can't wait to try some of the other stuff these guys brew.

I've got to include a close up of that bottle. Instant classic!

The Double D from Otto's in State College, PA. A, you guessed it, Double IPA.

[Bubba83]

^ Still wanna move to San Diego? http://www.stonebrew.com/vblog/detail.php?ID=653

 

I'm posting some beers from last night!

I must say, some of the bottles in the six pack were pretty inky. Some more than others, one un-drinkable... There is a definite inky character in the yeast they use anyway, so it's not too surprising. This bottle was good though.

My last bottle of El Toro IPA.

Quite nice, with a bit of spice and some sweetness. Not nearly as complex as Abt. 12, but still very solid.

St. Bernardus' Tripel. 8% ABV. Was really looking forward to this since I love Abt. 12 so much.

[mcjaco]

Here's a few more before I go bright and early tomorrow morning.

Again, so awesome, I took a blurry pic. Unless it was the 9% getting to me.

New to the area, Southern Tier. First up, Pumpking. I guess I can catch quite a penny for this, as there aren't any left around here.

So awesome, I took a blurry pic!

Ah BluCreek, a small little Wisconsin brewery that makes one kick ass blueberry ale.

You guys give me crap, but I will say between the Pumpkin and this, not too shabby.

Lakefront, every BACT member's favorite.

[DerekRx]

^Well judging from your awesome tastebuds and the fact that we had the Pumking this year and didn't really care for it, (too much pumpkin meat, not enough spice) we're gonna have to believe you have no clue what you're talking about with regards to these Lakefront beers being good.

 

Finished off that growler of Harvest Ale tonight, sadly it went much faster than I thought. Oh well, I know where it'll be on tap for a good month yet.

At least it was satisfying and I finished it off before it went flat. Now, to go get more!

Day 2 of the Sierra Nevada Harvest Ale ended rather quickly as this was all that remained from day 1

[ParkTrips]

No pics since the camera battery is charging, but I just ate a light meal and had a Big Hoppy Monster to go with it. I've got a long drive ahead of me

[PhishyBrewer]

Hello!

[DerekRx]

Yesterday it was time to try another pumpkin ale, from a brewery that I haven't had a bad experience with yet, Smuttynose.

another satisfying pumpkin ale. Good spice notes and good pumpkin flavors, neither of which were too overpowering. Also some nice hop notes and a little alcohol burn. One of the better pumpkin ales

No super awesome name, just Pumpkin Ale from Smuttynose up in New England

[FlyerACE1]

So this weekend Ellen and I spent the weekend with Heath and Kim (meeting up for half a day with Derek and Nicole) for what was supposed to be "Fears and Beers" weekend. For us, we had our fears on Friday night at Field of Screams near Lancaster, PA but Heath and Kim got screwed out of the fears portion Saturday night as Bates Motel in Gradyville, PA was packed to the gills with a 2+ hour wait just to buy tickets. So, what resulted was a weekend featuring trips to 5 local brewpubs/beer bars and a few hours at HersheyPark on Sunday. Here are photos from the first two on Saturday. Following soon after will be Victory on Saturday night and our first visit to the infamous Selin's Grove on Sunday afternoon.

Kisses to my next selection- Arcadia Jaw-Jacker pumpkin ale. This was great! Some serious pumpkin spices in this one.

Next up for Heath, what else? Russian River Pliny The Elder. Heath wasn't crazy about this keg and said he's had better out in Cali.

Hop goodness...almost done...need another beer!!

Ellen gives my Russian River Pliny The Elder a try. She liked it!

Ellen is all giddy about her Sly Fox Raspberry Reserve and Heath kicks up the hops with Sierra Nevada Harvest Ale.

Not to fear, though, TDR pulled out some pretty awesome draughts.

Next up, en route to the Bates Motel, The Drafting Room in Exton which was supposed to be hosting "Last Victory for Heavyweight" but it got postponed.

Notice the Mug Club glass. I'm not a member but our waitress thought I was. I tried the "Catcher in the Rye". a pretty solid Rye beer.

Second up for Heath, the just tapped Dublin Dragon Stout!

Heath also goes with the Pumpkin Ale and Kim with the Root Beer.

Ellen enjoys a fresh brewed Root Beer as she takes it easy to start the day.

Spooooky!! First up, and the main reason we were here, was RB's Pumpkin Ale. Not bad but not a Top 5 either.

Hard to see, but here is the chalk board of current brews.

Big time props to this Rock Bottom's brewer for a gold medal win at the GABF.

First up, Rock Bottom at King of Prussia Mall.

[FlyerACE1]

Picking up where I left off, here are our visits to Victory and Selins Grove. Enjoy!

It was a beautiful day and perfect for some outside dining and drinking as well. Selin's Grove was all it was cracked up to be. While I wasn't crazy about the type of food they have, the beer is amazing. We'll be back!

Sunday afternoon is pretty laid back, contrary to weekend nights.

As for me, how about a Hop Nuveau *and* Pumpkin Ale!!?? The Pumpkin is simply incredible. It lived up to the hype and is the best Pumpkin Ale I ever had. Amazing pumkin pie flavor and creamy mouthfeel thanks to the nitro. WOW!

Derek is all smiles with his Pumpkin while Heath "suffers" in anticipation with his Hop Nuveau.

The highly acclaimed Pumpkin Ale kicked just after Derek's order but Ellen managed the much coveted 1/2 pint. Luckily, another keg was rolled in!

Nothing fancy here. The tap handles are hand-written and made of paper.

Ellen getting ready for her experience.

Sunday at noon brings us to the Holy Grail of brewpubs, the elusive Selin's Grove for the first time for Ellen and I.

To end the night, and in pure stupidity, I take on the very potent Golden Monkey. I would pay for it on Sunday!

Heath joins in on the licking action with his Storm King on cask!

Just so I can give something new a try, I lick a 4 oz. glass of the newly christened Victory Octoberfest (once known as the Weissen but confusing to most customers). Why I'm licking? I don't know. Alcohol talking perhaps?

Heath goes with the brewpub-only Braumeister Harvest Pils. I'm no fan of Pilseners but this one was actually quite good.

Monkey?? You bet! Ellen enjoys a Golden variety. One of her favorite brews of all time!

First up for me, the GABF award winning Festbier. Yumm!!

We're tired, hungry and pissed from having to skip Bates Motel. What better cure than a visit to the kick ass Victory Brewing Company?

[Rugged One]

Well I'm glad that you and Ellen were able to get there with us Adam. Especially to try the Pumpkin Ale. That keg that kicked while we were there was the 3rd one allready in only 5 days. And that's all by the pint too! I don't think that it's going to last very long into November like they orginally thought.

 

So with Adam posting our Saturday and Sunday visits, I'll put up a few pics from that Friday night.

And I finish with their Oktoberfest. Not bad for a local attempt at the style.

Adam gets all shy with the paparazzi as he enjoys a Hop Hog.

Ellen likes her Strawberries without chocolate thank you and has the regular Strawberry Wheat. Oh and Go Sox!

...as did I. It was decent. Definitley more of the Stout came out than the strawberries.

Adam decides to give that a shot...

Oooh, something different on cask! The Chocolate Covered Strawberry. A mix of their Milkstout and Strawberry Wheat.

Adam and Ellen had never been to the LBC or downtown Lancaster for that matter (they were surprised that it wasn't all fields;) so we figured that this would be the perfect time for a visit.