FREE STUFF IS GOOD!

A few weeks ago I was contacted by a rep for CSN Stores. They offer a ton of stuff for sale on their site and they let me try one of their products for free as long as I reviewed it. This made me feel pretty good because who doesn't like free shit? Honestly, my friend refused to leave the Sixers game last Wednesday until he got a free shirt. Not to mention the fact he was there compliments of my free tickets and my free alcohol... "I get a free shirt every time I go, Chris!" ...Well, he didn't get a shirt, and let that be a lesson to all that America is a disappointment (he's from London). 

In a perfect world I would have liked to review beer for free. With that said, I ended up picking out a Lakers freezer mug. What better way could you drink your favorite beverage than in a freezer mug bearing the best team in the NBA? It was bigger than I thought it would be (thats what she said) and it held well over your standard 12 ounces. I did the Lakers correct and picked up sixers (irony) of Victory Storm King and Victory Hopdevil. After leaving the mug in the freezer for a few hours, I mixed up these two beauties in the frostiest of mugs and indulged. The mug kept my beer cold through two rounds and then I was off to the bar. I can only imagine how handy this will be in the summer time. Best of all, it went thru the dishwasher with no problem despite the warnings on the bottom.

Beer Review: Lagunitas Hop Stoopid

Lagunitas Brewing Company: Hop Stoopid
Petaluma, California
Style: American Double IPA
ABV: 8.0%
Beeradvocate Rating: A-, #49 on top 50 list of American Double IPAs
Serving type: 22oz bottle
Purchased at: Total Wine & More, Wegman's

Look: Copper

Smell: Floral

Taste: Rich

Feel: Medium-full bodied

Drinkability: High

There are plenty things you could say about this beer, but nothing could possibly explain to you how badly I want it right now as I am writing this review. This is the first beer I've ever developed a craving for. Normally, I just crave beer in general. After I tried this beer I have found myself craving it quite often. I picked this up on a jersey beer run the first time I tried it. I've also found them at the Wegman's back where I'm from. 

A thick head of foam accompanies the initial pour of this beer and it makes it look ever so tasty- just look at that picture! Carbonation rises to the top throughout the whole duration of this drink. And the head lasts til the last drop (story of my life ahhh). Taking in a big whiff, I realized that this beer was no joke. Signature beers have signature scents. It smelled amazing and tasted even better. This beer has 102 IBUs which is a measure of hop content. 102 is a HEALTHY amount of hops. There's a big hop punch but it is perfectly backed up with a fruity malt. The malt is sweet and tastes like passion fruit. Its sappy rich tastes masks the alcohol very nicely. While drinking this beer you find yourself craving the next sip. That's a lock on a grade A beer. Don't be STOOPID, try this beer!

My Rating: A+. Hands down top Double IPA for me (at the moment).

Beer Review: Anderson Valley Hop Ottin

Anderson Valley Brewing Company: Hop Ottin’ IPA
Boonville, California
Style: American IPA
ABV: 7.0%
Beeradvocate Rating: A-
Serving type: 6 pack bottles
Purchased at: Total Wine & More

Look: Copper

Smell: Floral

Taste: Bread

Feel: Full

Drinkability: High

The first time I had this beer was at the Foodery for my Friday lunch. It doesn’t look that appealing from the label, I know that sounds shallow (sorry beer), but I’m pretty good at figuring out where a beer stands from its presentation. Did a quick mobile check on Beeradvocate and found that it has an A- rating. Done.

This beer oddly has a mountain feel to it. I think that’s the only way I can explain it. It pours a hazy copper color and has a nice foamy head. As you drink it away, the head laces the glass. It’s a real bready beer. You can taste toasted grains and yeast. It packs a firm bite, but it is surprisingly light on the palate. The floral and maybe even sour scent throws you off the real path to the taste. Although it does have a light zest to the taste, it’s all that you’d expect from an American IPA.

My Rating: B+. Well Done.

Craft Beer Express Recap

This past weekend the long awaited craft beer express made its way thru good ol Philadelphia. As I had said, I carefully picked which bars to go to in order to maximize the drinking experience. We caught the bus at Standard Tap, but didn't even get a drink there. We made our first stop at The Institute. Their theme of beer was barleywine. Barleywines normally carry a very high ABV. As you can see below, most of the barleywines are over 10% ABV.

The Institute's Draft Board

I was looking forward to making this bar my first stop and for good reason. They were offering a varitey of brats to accompany the barleywines. I went with the buffalo chicken sausage sandwhich. Bleu cheese crumbles and hot sauce lined the sausage. Phenomenal. I should have taken a picture, but I was too hungry to take the time to do it. Fries got the thumbs up too. Our next stop was Kite & Key. They were offering up a large variety of Bell's Brewing. In particular, they were offering one of the best IPAs out there: Bell's Brewing Hopslam. Kite & Key was packed wall to wall. I knew we could only stay for one drink. I drank a delicious goblet of Hopslam which actually turned out to be the best brew of the day. It is easily one of the best IPAs I've had. Nature called, I took a dump real quick, then left.

The buses ran a pretty quick schedule, much to my surprise. A bus would hit each bar roughly every 25 minutes. Next we went to Jose Pistolas which had a line up of Southern Tier brews and a cute girl with curly brown hair. I had a Southern Tier Hoppe EPA. Which was okay, but nothing special to me. The good thing about Jose Pistola's is that there are two floors and two bars. There is plenty of space and thankfully we got a spot at the bar. Keep in mind that all of these beers are meant to be savored, so there is no reason to rush to a state of intoxication. Naturally, I became drunk as the day progressed.

Our next stop was Sidecar which I knew would absolutely result in me being tossed into a ring of intoxication. As I had mentioned in previous posts, they were rolling out some of the best IPAs. They had Sculpin IPA, Russian River Blind Pig, Imperial Hatter, and a ton more top quality IPAs. I got the New Holland Imperial Hatter as my first beer and it was excellent. It was similar to the Bell's Hopslam and thus was the second best beer of the day. The ABV of 9.4% put me in a good spot and I disappeared to releive myself in the alley. There were too many people in line for the bathroom. I came back and there was some drunk girl that vicked my seat, but I made her get her ass up (she was a deuce). My second beer at sidecar was Terrapin's Hoptaneous Combustion. From what I hear, this beer is pretty rare and was only brewed once. Its a Smoked double IPA carrying an ABV of 9.3%. All I remember is that I've never tasted an IPA like it before. It was very different.

The next bar was P.O.P.E. It was packed. And there were a lot of dyke femz there. The pisser was like 2 steps from the bar, which was a bit gross. Other than that, they had a damn good selection of bottles/cans written up on a chalk board over the bar. I took it as the draft list (drunk) and I ended up missing out on Dogfish Head Aprihop and Burton Baton IPAs. Tried to go to Geno's for the second night in a row while waiting for the bus, but the line was too long. Devil's Den would end up being the last stop. It was the first time I've been there and it surprised me. It was a quality bar. There was a good amount of seating and a great draft list. I can't even remember what I drank because I was drunk, but I know my friend had Russian River Damnation. We got a table and I had a braised pulled pork panini. Phenomenal. A very reasonably priced place. Stumbled out to a cab and was asleep by 10pm.

Craft Beer Express THIS WEEKEND!

Everybody knows that March is a heavy drinking month. We got Fat Tuesday, St. Patty’s day, and Erin Expresses running back to back Saturdays. The thing that makes this weekend so special is the fact the Craft Beer Express is running this Saturday, March 12^th. The Craft Beer Express is geared toward the more mature beer drinking crowd. I’m sure everybody’s had their fair share of Erin express experiences with loud, drunk, and rookie drinkers.  I don’t need some clown puking on my Jordans because he drank one too many Miller Lites. The Craft Beer Express is designed to be a quality experience. Better beers and a better atmosphere. The event is organized by a bunch of local bar owners and the tickets are limited to ensure a comfortable drinking sesh. It only costs $10 for a ticket to climb aboard the Craft Beer Express. The bus will run between 12 different bars with each bar running a different beer theme. Below is a list of the bars participating and the expected theme:

Kraftwork: The Bella Vista Experience- Beers selected from around the world

Johnny Brenda’s: Stout Brunch & Smorgasbord

Standard Tap: Big Wood Weekend- All things wood, smoked, and barrel aged

The Institute: The Beast of times, the wurst of times- Beastly Barleywines, hot dogs, sausages.

Bishop’s Collar: Unibroue Tap Takeover

Kite & Key: Barrels of Bell’s Brewing- HOPSLAM!

Jose Pistolas: Southern Tier Brewing & Live Music

Sidecar: IPA’s Greatest Hits- Top 30 IPA’s available in the area

P.O.P.E.- Girls Day Out- Female reps from Sly Fox, Dogfish Head, and Ommegang

Devils Den: West Coast Extravaganza- Russian River, Stone, Lagunitas

Brauhaus Schmitz: Best German beers not from Germany

Race Street Café: Great Lakes Brewing- Great Lakes drafts, giveaways, live music

Basically, planning a solid plan of attack is paramount in this situation. You can start at any bar of your choice and tickets can be bought ahead of time online or at any of the 12 bars. Naturally, I’ll be starting at Standard Tap because it is the closest. I plan on giving priority to bars I haven’t been to before. I’ll def be going to The Institute because of their eats as well as Bishop’s collar. I haven’t been to either of those bars before. Kite & Key is also a must-go because it will have Bell’s Hopslam on tap. Jose Pistolas, P.O.P.E., and Race Street Café all look like they offer decent entertainment (female reps), so make sure you get a few in you before you go. Sidecar’s theme is by far the most impressive. They will be tapping 30 of the highest quality IPAs you can get on 3 consecutive days. It’s called “IPA’s Greatest Hits”. More to come soon…

UPDATE

I know, I know, its been a minute since my last post. A week to be exact. But I didn't forget about my loyal 11 followers! hahah...I've actually been taking a slight hiatus from drinking beer and have been enjoying the delights of whiskey. Unfortunately, whiskey isn't always delightful to you the day after. I've also been battling a pretty nasty sinus infection/head cold, which wasn't alleviated by my alcohol consumption (surprise!). Well, enough of all of that. I have some good things in the works for this blog. The first being a product review for CSN Stores. They offer a ton of different things from TV stands to cookware to adjustable bar stools. <---Shameless plug! I promise I'll be reviewing something you will be jealous of. If you didn't already know, there are a ton of things going on in Philly over the next week. I'll be covering all of that and much more over the next week or so. And of course more beer reviews!

Beer Review: Founders Red's Rye PA

Founders Brewing Company: Red's Rye PA
Grand Rapids, Michigan
Style: Rye Beer
ABV: 6.6%
Beeradvocate Rating: A-, #1 top rated rye beer
Serving type: 6 pack bottles
Purchased at: Total Wine & More

Look: Nut Brown

Smell: Spicy

Taste: Sharp 

Feel: Smooth

Drinkability: High

I had no idea that this beer was a top rated beer on Beeradvocate. If you haven't been to beeradvocate.com you are missing out on an integral part of being a beer-drinkin-sum'bitch. Its basically the bible of beer. In any case, i picked this beer because I've had rye IPAs before and 'm a fan of Founders pale ales. It carries 70IBUs and a decent amount of alcohol so at $9.99 I went for it. 

It pours a creamy caramel head. The beer appears thick and brown in color. Red's Rye PA is really unique. It has a peppery, spicy aroma with hops thrown into the mix. The taste is just as good and unique as the smell of this brew. First you're hit with the floral hops. Then, it transitions to a spicy rye with hints of nutmeg and cinnamon. Finally, Theres a smooth, dry, bitter finish. The complexity of this brew is superb. It takes every sip of that first beer to really get a feel for the whole taste profile of the beer. Perfect carbonation and complex malts to match hops (thats good). Overall this beer is one of the bests I've had outside of an IPA.  

My Rating: A. Git r Done (sp?)