Brewnotes » Prelude

Troegs Java Head Stout

Ben Brouse — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 21:46:26 +0000

Last evening at Metropolitan, Firkin Thursday featured Troegs Java Head Stout.

”JavaHead’s recipe is based off of our original oatmeal stout. After the boil, the hot wort passes through our hopback vessel on it’s way to fermentation. Packed full of whole leaf hops and a bed of ground coffee beans, the hopback vessel is similar to using a huge French press, intensifying the coffee nose and releasing subtle hints of coffee flavor. The result is a lush oatmeal mouthfeel balanced with cocoa, roast and subtle coffee flavors.”

Nice to see a brewery delivering a well executed brew without resorting to the trendy hop bomb. I was amazed at how easy drinking this beer was for a hot summer day. Well Done.

Current Beeradvocate Rating: B+

Weyerbacher Hops Infusion IPA

Ben Brouse — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 13:55:50 +0000

Weyerbacher, a north-eastern Easton, PA brewery, seems to be turning out quite a bit of brews. I was able to taste the Hops Infusion IPA on cask last Thursday @ Metropolitan.

I was told there were 7 hops in this beer and was able to pull out 4 of them. I had never heard of Pilgrim prior to this tasting.

This beer offered an assertive hop profile that stuck with you long after you were finished with your pint. Tons of citrus notes and caramel malts. Overall – it was an extremely pleasant IPA and nicely executed example.

Current Beeradvocate Rating: B

Oliver Ale Biere de Garde

Ben Brouse — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 13:55:54 +0000

Had the pleasure on Thursday evening to head into the city. Hopes were running high as we wanted to try the latest trick on the beer engine from Stephen Jones, the brewer at Pratt St Ale House.

From Wikipedia – “Typically, beers of this style are of a copper colour but vary from golden to almost black, and as the name suggests the origins of this style lies in the tradition that it was matured/cellared for a period of time once bottled (and most sealed with a cork), to be consumed later in the year, akin to a Saison.”

This beer was delightful and something that grew on me the more I had. 5.5% ABV, dark amber color, a medium mouth-feel, pronounced maltiness and a little fruity character upon warming made this worth the trip!

As an added twist, it just happened to be the 100th firkin Thursday @ Metropolitan with several notable members of SPBW in attendance.

Tupper’s Hop Pocket Ale

Ben Brouse — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 16:15:07 +0000

A change of pace this time, as Bob Tupper is interviewed on dcbeer.com about his legendary Tupper’s Hop Pocket Ale. Great insight into getting this beer back into production.

“Amber-gold in color with a huge hop aroma. Striking hop and deep malt flavors, yet remarkably smooth.

6% alcohol by volume

55+ IBU

Dry Hopped

Bottle and Keg Conditioned

Six week conditioning process (most ales take 6 to 8 days).”

If you can find it, try it. The Pils was always my favorite. Not too much longer to wait (March!)

Victory Prima Pils

Ben Brouse — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 15:42:04 +0000

Victory brewing co in Downingtown, PA offers a fantastic repertoire of beers. One of the older brews is Prima Pils. “Heaps of hops give this pale lager a bracing, herbal bite over layers of soft and smooth malt flavor. This refreshing combination of tastes makes Prima a classy quencher in the tradition of the great pilsners of Europe. Dry and delightful, this is an elegant beer.” 2-row pilsner malt and whole German & Czech hops make for a simple recipe that is difficult to execute.

Current Beeradvocate rating: A-

My take: Great hop bite with a solid malt backbone. Pours a nice white head, golden straw color. Nice Czech Saaz aroma. Good mouth feel and beautifully carbonated.

You owe it to yourself to try this american made pilsner. Easily one of the best in the US.

Redhook Triple

Ben Brouse — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 03:02:47 +0000

“Belgian Tripel is deep golden hued with subtle hints of vanilla, clove and cinnamon. Fruity, spicy and warming with a complex but soft malt character.”

Current Ratebeer rating: 73 percentile.

The great thing about this beer is that it is a limited release and I will never have to taste it again. An extremely floral aroma and tons of clove spice abound. I found this beer to be very unbalanced, somewhat tart and sour. I’ve liked a few of their beers in the past but not this one.

Siren Noire

Ben Brouse — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 16:01:28 +0000

Had the pleasure of tasting the latest offering from Heavy Seas at Frisco Grill last night on Firkin.

”This Imperial Chocolate Stout, fermented and flavored with imported Belgian chocolate nibs, is a new recipe that will be available in 22oz bottles and limited draft. 8% ABV.” from beernews.

Current Beeradvocate rating: Too early!

This was a fantastic beer to forget about all this wintry mix for a while. Good malt foundation. Hops are present for a stout but the cocoa flavors were unreal. This beer is a mouthful. If you can find this in firkin, do yourself a favor and try it.

My take: get out and support your local brewery. They are making some good beer.

Two Turtle Doves

Ben Brouse — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 21:53:37 +0000

The Bruery, out of the Los Angeles area of CA, is turning out some fine beers these days. We typically don’t see too many of these on the east coast so I jumped on the chance to taste this one.

Here is the description straight from the brewers: “2 Turtle Doves is the second in the 12 Days/Years of Christmas Services. We decided to take our inspiration from the name and base the beer on the "turtle" candy, brewing it with cocoa nibs, toasted pecans, caramelized sugar and a lot of caramel malts. Somewhere between a Belgian-style Dark Strong Ale and an Imperial Porter, this beer is designed to take the journey through time until 12 Drummers Drumming.”

Current Beeradvocate rating: A-.

My impressions: Pours a very dark brown with a fast receding head. Definite mocha smell with a little anise. Extremely smooth (maybe even too much!). A sipping beer due to the alcohol content – 12% ABV. Not a super complex beer and the body was a little thin.

Definitely not my favorite but worth the adventure if you can find one to try for yourself.

Sam Adams Noble Pils

Ben Brouse — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 01:25:33 +0000

This past week, I can’t seem to get away from this beer. So why not just embrace it? Believe me, I couldn’t have been more than skeptical.

The brewery describes it as follows: “brewed with a blend of 5 Noble Hop varieties from each of the world’s only remaining Noble Hop growing regions. The spicy, herbal and citrus hop character is well balanced by the Weyermann Bohemian Pilsner malt, adding honeyed malt character and full body without sweetness.”

This beer is clear, golden and pours with a nice white head. Citrus and floral notes abound. Hop dominate but not too bitter. Coming in at a mere 4.9% ABV, this beer is a great drinker. Clean classic Czech style Pilsner.

Current Beeradvocate rating: A-.

My take: This is a fantastic beer and I couldn’t be more surprised. This is one of the better examples of this beer style outside of the Czech Republic.

Dogfish Head Shelter Pale Ale

Ben Brouse — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 02:47:34 +0000

Dogfish Head produces so many wildly crazy brews these days. But it all started with Shelter Pale Ale.

A very approachable beer with good malt (caramel notes and biscuit)and just enough hops to balance it; 5% ABV and 30IBUs, caramel color and a nutty flavor. Columbus and Willamette hops provide some citrus notes.

Current Beeradvocate rating: B-

My take: many people put this beer down because most of the DFH beers represent something much bigger. This beer is very quaffable and close to a session beer if the alcohol was a little bit lower. Easily, one of the easiest drinking beers around.