Hombrewers BPA: Behind the Scenes at Al’s of Hampden
At the early time of 8 AM on a Saturday, a dozen local homebrewing enthusiasts showed up to a quiet Al’s of Hampden, ready to help contribute to a brew day. The beer, aptly called Homebrewers Belgian Pale Ale, is slated to be tapped on National Homebrew Day on May 3. I was one of the homebrewers eager to attend and help out. We started out by learning how automated the system is compared to what … Read entire article »
Filed under: Al's of Hampden, Belgian Pale Ale, Pizza Boy Brewing Co.
Stone Vertical Epic Tasting
In late July, Tom and Todd of The Brewski Boxscore hosted quite the Epic tasting. What once started as a modest goal to simply taste the last three or so releases from Stone’s Vertical Epic series quickly blossomed into a drive to collect the whole set. During their travels along the East coast for family visits and summer vacations, Tom and Todd found vintage bottles of the Vertical Epics sitting on store shelves, seemingly content … Read entire article »
Filed under: Belgian, Cellar, Reviews, Stone Brewing Co., Vertical
Brouwerij Van Steenberge – Monk’s Café Flemish Sour Ale
Sours just aren’t my thing yet. This is something I’m actively working to change, broadening my horizons to include this remarkably diverse style of beer. We all started somewhere, in fact, our own Russ Beck didn’t always care for the style. Weird faces aside, I’m always glad when someone offers to share something to better introduce me to the style. This, much like the North Coast Pranqster I recently reviewed, was shared with me by a … Read entire article »
Filed under: Beer, Belgian, Brouwerij Van Steenberge, Monk's Cafe
Recap: Barrel Room Collection Release at Voodoo Brewery
Last weekend, Greg, Russ and Kenton made the trip to beautiful northwestern PA to see the brand new Voodoo Brewpub and hopefully buy some delicious barrel aged beers. This weekend was no normal weekend, it was the long awaited Barrel Room Collection release. For our faithful readers, you’ll remember our attempt to liveblog the event, but we figured it warranted a full writeup as well. A lot of people speculated as to when everyone would start to line … Read entire article »
Filed under: Beer, Beer Release, Breweries, Buffalo Trace, Imperial Stout, Laird's Apple, Pappy Van Winkle, Tripel, Voodoo Brewery
North Coast Brewing Company Pranqster
There are a lot of beers out there that are great, but probably wouldn’t catch my eye as I browse the aisles of an area beer store. As such, I’m always delighted whenever a friend offers up a new brew to share, particularly when it’s one of these I otherwise might have passed over. It’s even better when paired with great food. The Pranqster, by North Coast Brewing Company was one such beer – and was … Read entire article »
Filed under: North Coast Brewing Co., Strong Pale Ale
Belgian / Dutch Beer Tasting
Over the past year I’ve done a couple of beer and running related posts. I first talked about my love of running and beer in this post and how the former lets me enjoy more of the latter. I followed that up recently with a post about Hashing so when a running-buddy wanted to get together for a long run followed by a beer tasting he didn’t have to ask me twice. We got together for a … Read entire article »
Filed under: Belgian Pale Ale, Belgium, Lambic, Netherlands, Oude, Saison, Strong Dark Ale, Witbier
Better From The Barrel: Stone’s Vertical Epics
Churchkey’s night of Vertical Epics not only featured Stone’s yearly special releases all the way back to 2003, it had a few of the offers aged in various barrels as well. Having never had a true barrel aged beer from Stone, I saw this as a unique opportunity to discern whether or not any were better from the barrel! Churchkey had the 07.07.07 Belgian strong pale ale (BSPA) and the 09.09.09 Belgian strong dark ale … Read entire article »
Filed under: Beer, Better From The Barrel?, Oak, Stone Brewing Co., Strong Dark Ale, Strong Pale Ale, Wine
One Night: Nine Years of Stone’s Vertical Epic
12.12.12 at Churchkey in Washington, DC was truly a day we all won’t soon forget. The bar managed to tap nine years worth of Stone Brewing Company‘s Vertical Epics: 03.03.03 through 12.12.12, including special versions of ’07 and ’09 aged in red wine barrels and ’10 aged in French Oak barrels. To top that, Sam Calagione (yes, of Dogfish Head) was in the building to promote his collaboration with Bluejacket. I got to have a quick conversation … Read entire article »
Filed under: Beer, Belgian Pale Ale, Belgian Stout, Cellar, IPA, Oak, Stone Brewing Co., Strong Dark Ale, Wine
Upland Sour Reserve
Upland Brewing Company is known for producing top notch American Wild Ales,* so it came as no surprise when batch 1 of their Sour Reserve sold out in mere minutes on Upland’s website. Much to my dismay, I was not fast enough to get a bottle. Luckily, Upland opened up batch 2 to a lottery system and this time my luck turned for the better! I tasked a friend of mine who was studying at … Read entire article »
Filed under: American Wild Ale, Beer, Gueuze, Upland Brewing Co., Wine
Cantillon Zwanze 2012 – Rhubarb Lambic
Now that we’ve covered Churchkey’s iteration of Cantillon’s Zwanze Day only one question remains: How was the beer? Typically when we review a beer it covers the thoughts of one person. Tonight you’re getting a review encompassing the thoughts of all who attended! Cantillon’s Zwanze is a special beer brewed once a year and typically is different each year. This year’s, however, is a recreation of the 2008 variation: a lambic brewed with rhubarb. Why … Read entire article »
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