GIVE ME YOUR BEER SUGGESTIONS!!

[eddysnake]

So you are saying I have to make a road trip?

[UVM2003]

It's most definitely worth it. I have a buddy send a few 1L growlers every month; their beer is freaking awesome.

[eddysnake]

Kraftster, ever try Logsdon seizoen bretta with beeswaxed cap?

[llipgh2]

My Market District has Ommegang Hop House. That makes me very happy.

[Kraftster]

Kraftster, ever try Logsdon seizoen bretta with beeswaxed cap?

Yes, sir, sure have. It's excellent, up there with the best I've had.

[the wicked child]

This will be a slight double post, but hit up Caliente's tonight. http://pizzadrafthouse.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Tried a couple Arsenal offereings on tap... Murray's Mead and Young's Plum. The latter was very tart. Don't think I could drink a ton of that. The mead was pretty damn good. A bit on the sweet side, but it has a bit of burn and a real nice kick @ 11.2%.

Stopped by Arsenal itself afterwards and tried samples of Powder Money (a dry peach cider), Alfred's Pear, Son! (semi-sweet pear cider), Archibad's Ado (semi-sweet apple cider) and Granderson's ginger (apple-ginger cider).

The peach was ok, but too dry for my liking. The Archibald's is pretty good. The Ginger was almost a ginger ale. Not bad, but not something I wanted to get a growler of. And the pear was pretty good.

Walked away with a growler of the pear and the mead.

[llipgh2]

Caliente's is literally up the street from me. I've yet to go there.

[Kraftster]

Probably the best hard-to-find draft list in the city.

[shafnutz05]

Sculpin on tap? Outstanding

However, they have the Great Divide Oak Aged Imperial Stout listed at 5% ABV. This could be a dangerous mistake

[the wicked child]

Definitely recommend it. They have an interesting tap list and a ton of bottles as well. And if you like pizza, theirs delivers. Can't speak to anything else on the menu, but it was the best buffalo chicken pizza I've had. The pepperoni was pretty good too.

[Kraftster]

Saw Teresa's had Pliny the Elder on top for $2 today. Sigh.

[shafnutz05]

Saw Teresa's had Pliny the Elder on top for $2 today. Sigh.

I used to be 10 minutes away from Teresa's. Now I'm 45. What a place.....what a place.

[eddysnake]

Kraftster, ever try Logsdon seizoen bretta with beeswaxed cap?

Yes, sir, sure have. It's excellent, up there with the best I've had.

It was awesome, a lot sweeter than what I've had, but was great.

[eddysnake]

Sculpin on tap? Outstanding

However, they have the Great Divide Oak Aged Imperial Stout listed at 5% ABV. This could be a dangerous mistake :lol:

Sculpin is the one that leaves me questioning it every time I drink it. Some are top, some are just Ok.

[Kraftster]

Well, if you're enjoying bretty saisons, you're definitely on the path to sours.

[the wicked child]

Penn Brewfest tonight. Aww yeah.

[count2infinity]

Bootlegger's Knuckle Sandwich Double IPA: Southern California brewery, so I expected that dry super hoppy sort of double IPA. Wasn't what I expected at all. Definitely has a nice malty caramel backbone to it, but balances pretty well with the hoppiness that's present. Deceptively smooth... it's listed at 10% abv, but I'm not getting any sort of alcohol burn from it. It is right in the same line as the Southern Tier Gemini or Dogfish head 90 min. Definitely a good brew for any of you SoCal guys on the board.

[shafnutz05]

Got to go to Wegman's yesterday, picked up a Smuttnose Durty Mud Season Hoppy Brown Ale in my mixer.

Very complex, but IMO, solid beer. The hoppiness certainly stands out, and outshines the brown. The booziness is definitely cloying, but not in a bad way (8.40%, and unlike c2i's beer, you definitely notice it). It kind of reminds me of a black IPA with the combination of two polar opposite varieties, but I think I like it. Very heavy mouthfeel though, couldn't drink more than one.

[Eismann]

Church Brew Work's stout at dinner tonight. Too much hop citrus.

[the wicked child]

Penn Brewfest was kinda disappointing. It wasnt bad per se, but I didn't find any new great beers, just a lot of good/average ones.

Best thing I drank was probably Arsenal Fighting Elleck, which I've had before.

Food was kinda meh too.

[shafnutz05]

Rogue Brutal IPA...delicious

[canaan]

Snake dog IPA. Nomnomnom

[the wicked child]

I suppose to be completely fair, there were some pretty good brews at the Penn Brewfest that I did not drink simply because my aim was to try new ones... but Fat Heads had Headhunter and Southern Tier had 2XOne, both of which I would list as great beers.

There were actually a fair number of saisons, I'm thinking something like 5 at least. They all seemed fairly similar, all good, not great. Souther Tier's Sonnet may have slightly edged the others, but not by a whole lot. iirc, Rock Bottom, Morgantown, Yards, Southern Tier and Hop Farm all had one.

I think something like 3 hefeweizens, all unspectacular. Straub actually has a hefe now apparently. It's as remarkable as you'd expect after reading that statement.

The hoppy offerings were probably the best of the day, though once again many kinda ran together. Even Ommegang only brought Hop House and Fleur de Houblon. Both good of course, but was somewhat surprised by them not having one of their more Belgian offerings at least.

The food was kinda meh... you got a choice of a landjaeger on a pretzel roll, veggie wrap or chicken wrap; pasta salad w. bacon or vegetarian dressing; assorted fruit and a jello pretzel salad. The latter was the highlight, sadly, and contained one tiny bit of pretzel. They really went all out on that one! The pasta salad had no flavor despite claiming to have bacon dressing. The landjaeger, which I was told is "like kielbasa"... well, maybe kielbasa with a bit more spice and wayyyyyy too much salt. In retrospect, would have gone for the chicken wrap, but the landjaeger sounded more appealing in my less than sober state.

In closing, unless the brewery list is phenomenal next year, I am going to skip this. It's the first time I attended this one since '07 and it is not what it was.

[MRandall25]

Had Troegs Java Head. Actually was surprised by it. Was expecting hoppy, didn't really get it.

[BigMcK]

Fat Heads Head Hunter IPA. What can I say about this, other than I would love another! An easy pick as recently tried IPA from the east coast favorite. Nice play of caramel malt played layered with a pleasant pine needle nose straight from the bottle. This would be on the regular purchase list if it was readily available.

The sticker that came in trade will soon be on display on the beer 'fridge. Clever design for a brewery with great beer if this is the flagship.