Ho Hum

Joe and I haven't been going out as much, so we've just been picking up six packs of things we already know. There also hasn't been a lot of new stuff catching our eyes to try. However, it's been a long time since I made a post, so I figured I would add a few things. Hopefully we will have more exciting stuff to report soon.

DE KONINCK

Dark amber color. Slightly bubbly. A little dry. Has somewhat of a cider taste. Val tastes and smells vinegar.

Joe - 4

Val - 4

GRIMBERGEN - Double

Dark maroon color. Very sweet. Fruity smell. A lot of malt but cloyingly sweet. Val thinks it tastes liquor.

Joe - 2.5

Val - 3

SMUTTYNOSE - Winter Ale

Very fruity and sweet flavor. Dark amber color.
Val - 3

ST. DRUON - Abby Ale

Pale, golden color. Heavy honey smell. Honey taste with a spiced after taste.

Joe - 4.5

Val - 4.5

WEYERBACHER - Winter Ale

Nice spiced flavor with a dark amber color.

Val - 4

Oktoberfest

We tried to have an Oktoberfest night like we did with the pumpkin beers, but it didn't work as well. The Oktoberfest beers all taste very similar, so it got a bit boring. But here are the ones we tried.

FLYING DOG - Dogtoberfest
Malty with a slight bitter after taste. Nice amber color. Low head. A little bit of dryness.
Joe - 3.5

Val - 3.5

LANDCASTER - Oktoberfest
Slight peppery smell and taste. Very malty. Light amber color. A little sweet too.

Joe - 3

Val - 4

LEFT HAND - Oktoberfest
Medium amber color. Great malty finish that lingers. Slightly bubbly. Hint of vanilla flavor.

Joe - 4.5

Val - 4

WEYERBACHER - Autumnfest
Light amber color. Very bubbly. Bitter taste. Not any other flavors are noticeable. Gives a weird alcohol taste when it warms up.
Joe - 2
Val - 2

Slacker!

I have not been doing a very good job at keeping up this blog! All that school and work is getting in the way. Here is what we've had to drink lately:

ABITA - Pecan Harvest
Val: Reddish amber color. A hint of vanilla and nutty aftertaste. Very sweet. Interesting.
Joe: I don't know what this tastes like. Caramel? Orange? Toffee? It kind of reminds me of a caramel cream, but not quite. Bold flavor though. And very good.

Joe - 4 Val - 2.95

AVERY - The Reverend (Belgian Style Quad)

Very strong alcohol smell and taste. A sipping beer. Light fruitiness is difficult to make out over the strength of the alcohol. Val likes the strong flavor vecause it makes her feel tingly. She is a nerd.

BRASSERIE DES ROCS - Grand Cru

A Belgian brown ale. Has a rocky crown. A nutty (sort of hazelnut) flavor. Good amount of sweet and bitter. Unfiltered (which Val is not a big fan of). 9.5% ABV.

DOGFISH HEAD - Theobroma

Light chilie smell. Pale, honey-gold color. Val says it tastes like a tortilla. Can definatly taste chillies. Joe can taste honey. The chilli flavor gets stronger as the beer gets warmer. Val doesn't like it at all. Joe thinks it's good for a pepper beer.

FOUNDERS - Breakfast Stout (Double Chocolate Coffee Oatmeal Stout)

This is practically a meal in a bottle, hence the name Breakfast Stout. Super dark. Rich flavors. Bitter chocolate flavor with strong, almost espresso like undertones. 8.3% ABV

Joe - 4

Val - 4

LAGUNITAS - Cappuccino Stout (Limited Release)

Light coffee smell. Dark maroon color. Great coffee flavor. On the sweet side. A little bitterness to it. Tastes more like coffee than beer.

Joe - 3

Val - 3

SOUTHERN TIER - Imperial Creme Brulee Stout
The bottle says it's Creme Brulee and if you're the kind of person who wants a Creme Brulee beer, that's what you're gona get. Joe is not a fan. He is going to slip into a diabetic coma now. Val thinks it would be good in a double old fashioned glass over ice.
Joe - 2 Val - 2



UNIBROUE - La Fin Du Monde (Triple)
Light, cloudy, and delicious. Seems cinnaminy and fruity. Malty with a unique aftertaste.

UNIBROUE - Quatre Centieme
Strong hoppy smell but fruity, refreshing taste. An excellent beer. Unusal to have the fruitiness first then the hop taste, but it's good.

Pumpkin Night!

In honor of all the pumpkin beers hitting the market right now, Joe and I decided to just try them all. We were quite surprised to find that out of the 8 we tried, none tasted like the other. We also started a new rating system for this taste test. We gave each beer 1-5, 5 being the best. Our friend Jim helped us out with a few too. Here are the results:

DOGFISH HEAD - Punkin Ale
Highly spiced. Very light pumpkin flavor. Excellent reddish-orange color. Lots of little bubbles. Great beer!
Joe - 5
Val - 4.5


FISHERMANS - Pumpkin Stout
Val: This tastes like BBQ meat. Where is the pumpkin? It's a good smoked beer, but it nothing at all to do with pumpkin.
Joe: Val's right. It tastes like spiced ribs or something. Our friend Max says he can taste pumpkins, but I think he;s just being nice.


JACK'S - Pumpkin Spice Ale
Not much scent or flavor. Pumpkin + Budwiser. It does get a little better when it's warm, but I wouldn't drink this one again.
Joe - 1
Val - 1
Jim - 2

SARANAC - Pumpkin Ale
This company is always hit or miss. This was a miss. Dark amber color and bubbly with a light taste. Not very pumpkiny at all.
Joe - 2
Val - 2

SHIPYARD BREW CO. - Pumpkinhead
Light amber color. Light scent. Very pumpkiny, sweet taste. It's like pumpkin pie mush from a can. We love it!
Joe - 4.5
Val - 5

SMUTTYNOSE - Pumpkin Ale
Hoppy smell and taste. To me it doesn't taste like pumpkin at all. It's just an icky IPA. Joe thinks it's out of style, but he still likes it. He thinks the pumpkin flavor is bitter.
Joe - 3.5
Val - 1.5
Jim - 2.5

SOUTHERN TIER - PumKing
Joe: No other pumpkin beer tastes more like pumpkin pie and less like beer.
Val: The pumpkin flavor is good at first, but gets a little overwhelming the more you drink.
Joe - 4
Val - 3

WEYERBACHER - Imperial Pumpkin Ale
Light reddish color. Not very bubbly. Most head of all the pumpkins we tried. Lots of pumpkin spice and flavor. This is a good one! This is more of a pumpkin spice beer rather than the pumpkin pie flavor that the Shipyard had. This one will be excellent when it gets colder out.
Joe - 5
Val - 4.5

WOLVER'S - Will Steven's Pumpkin Ale
Bubbly with a very reddish color and spicy smell (which I love). Subtle pumpkin flavor. Sweet, very spiced, and dry. Some sourness too.
Joe - 4
Val - 3.5

Our trip to Pittsburgh

This past weekend, Joe and I headed to Pittsburgh. One of our main reasons for visiting this city was that we wanted to check out a place called Church Brew Works. It is a church that has been turned into a brewery. All of the brewing is done on the alter and the pews have been rearranged to create seating for the tables. Of course we got a sampler so that we could try all of their beer offerings. Here are our thoughts:


Celestial Gold - Really good! It was malty and fruity. Had a subtle hops after taste. Very clean. Our favorite of the night.

Pipe Organ Pale Ale - Not a Pale Ale. It's an IPA. And a good one too.

Pious Monk Dunkle - Nice amber color. Tastes a lot like a toasted lager. Very smooth, and very good.

Oatmeal Stout - Very malty. Not much aroma. Tastes like Pig Iron Porter.

Rye IPA - Fair amount of hoppiness. The rye flavor was hard to make out past the hops.

Chirstmas in July - Tastes like a gingerbread cookie! Dark and cloudy appearence. Awsome.

Blueberry Ale - Reminds us of our homebrew, only with less fruit flavor.

Cask Conditioned Pipe Organ Pale Ale - Less hoppy than the regular version. But it's still an IPA.

Cherry Quadzilla - Really fruity. Loved it!




During our trip to Pittsburgh, we also discovered an awsome bar called The Hop House which was about 2 minutes from our hotel. The had an amazing selection on tap; many of which we were unframiliar with. Amazingly, we liked every beer we tried.

BLUE POINT
- Toasted Lager - Sour (but not like a "sour ale"). Slight nutty flavor. Yummy.

HACKER PSCHORR
- Weisse Dark - Kind of creamy. A bit sour. Some nutty flavor. Very cloudy. Also yummy.

BELLS
- Oberon - SO good! Very unusual fruit flavor that we couldn't put our finger on. We love it!!!

GREAT LAKES
- Porter - Similar to the Pig Iron Porter.

UNIBROUE
- Maudite - Like Delirium, but a more subtle flavor. Very clean.

SARANAC
- Pomegranate Wheat - I was worried about this one because pomegranate has such a strong, bitter flavor, but this was actaully very sweet and summery with a slight tart after taste.

All in all we had a great time in Pittsburgh. It's a very nice city (although their roads suck!).

To Drink or Not to Drink (These Beers)

ABBE DE LEFFE
- Unfortunatly I dont know what the name of the beer was, but it was really good! It was a dark colored Belgian with a creamy flavor. And I absolutly loved it!

AYINGER
- Jahrhundert-Bier (Century Celebration Bavarian Lager): Wow thats a mouthful to try and say. This one is ok. It has a carmel scent and flavor. It was much better at room temperature.

- Altbairisch Dunkel: A solid dunkel with a clean taste, but still lacking with only average maltiness. It's just ok.

DOGFISH HEAD
- Black and Blue: Wow!!! There is an explosion of fruity sweetness. Very smooth. Lingers on the tongue. You can taste the rasberry and blueberry. It's incredible!

FLYING DOG
- Kerberos (Triple): Joe thinks it is very, very bitter, but still a good one. It's got some bite! There is a peppery flavor. Val says It's yummy. Kind of sweet, but Joe adds that its a nice sweet; not overpowering. It's not candy sweet, it's fruity sweet.

HARVIESTOUN
- Old Engine Oil Special Reserve: Strong whisky scent with a cream whisky flavor. We love it!

MARYLAND BREWING
- Hens Tooth: Disgusting!!! It comes in a medicine looking bottle and has a taste to match. BLEH!

WESTMALLE
- Tappist Ale (Triple): Draft Magazine rated this 100% and it was damn right! We can't argue with the pros. 9.5% ABV.

VOODOO BREWERY
- White MAgick of the Sun (Ale): Peppery, citrus flavor. Good stuff! 6% ABV.

Brandywine Beer Festival

Some of the highs (and lows) from Iron Hill's Brandy Wine Beer Festival.

DOCK STREET
- Sexual Chocolate: Yummy! (A)

GENERAL LAFAETTE
- These guys SUCK! They really offended us and we dont care what their beer tastes like. We have vowed to never buy/drink their beer!!!

IRON HILL
- Belgian Whit: Wheaty protien flavor. (A)

LANDCASTER
- Pilsner: Very clean and crisp. Somewhat sweet. (A-)

MCKENZIE
- Shipwreck (Red Ale): Good maltiness. Pronounced flavors. (B)

ROCK BOTTOM
- Pilsner: (B)

- IPA: (B-)

TROGS
- Pilsner: Bitter. Not so great. (D)

TRIUMPH
- Love Potion #9: Sooo good. My favorite of the day! (A+)

VICTORY
- Whirl Wind: The best way I could find to describe this is that it tastes the way brewing smells, which I happen to like. (A-)