New Glass

Sometimes when I am out drinking I’m come across glasses that I really would like to have. Sometimes they somehow make their way from the bar back to my house. These are the most recent additions to my glass collection. The glass on the far left is a Rogue Dead Guy Ale glass. The middle glass is a Flying Fish Brewing Co. glass and the glass on the far right is self explanatory. I have at least 20 glasses or so in my collection, but don’t be fooled, amassing that many glasses can only be done by a pro (like me). 

Your Thursday Plans!

Here are your Thursday night plans! Take heed! Victory Brewing Co. is celebrating their 15th anniversary this Thursday at Kraftwork from 5-8pm. There will be over 20 Victory beers on tap. As I imagine all of the delicious beers Victory has to offer available all at one place and time, I cream my pants. Vivid. But anyway, I'm really just trying to express how important it is for you to GO TO KRAFTWORK THURSDAY. You'll be able to sample virtually every beer they have by ordering them in "flights of 4". That means you try four different smaller beers at once for like 10 bones. Its old head friendly (for those with grown man jobs), so you can get your drink on and still make it home well before Jersey Shore (vomit) comes on. BE There.

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=187874637904461

Beer Review: Dark Horse Crooked Tree IPA

Dark Horse Brewing Company: Crooked Tree IPA
Michigan, U.S.
Style: American IPA
ABV: 6.0%
Beeradvocate Rating: A
Serving type: Bottle
Purchased at: The Foodery

Look: Copper orange body, Creamy head

Smell: West Coast-like, Citrusy & Piney

Taste: Sweet, Grapefruit, Orange, Subtle Pine.

Feel: Medium carbonation, Crisp

Drinkability: High

The crooked tree IPA is a year round beer and is “Inspired by West Coast I.P.A.'s, but brewed with Michigan style.” It really goes in on the dry hops. I’ve seen this beer on tap at a few places around Philly, but when I go to the bar I like to get drunk. Drinking a 6% will take me all night.

This pours into a deeper copper color than I expect from IPA’s with a 6% ABV. There’s a creamy head that remains until the last sip. When I cracked this one I noticed it smelled strongly of pine and citrus, which is how West Coast IPAs tend to smell. You can definitely taste the grapefruit in this brew with a touch of piney hops. I expected it to have more of a pine taste based on the smell, but overall it has a well balanced taste with a light hop bite. It is sweet and smooth with a very crisp mouth feel. It’s smooth taste and low ABV for an IPA makes this one very drinkable. I believe I had this beer on tap a few months back at Swift Half Pub (before it closed) in Northern Liberties. Its unfiltered style and presentation remind me of a Racer 5 IPA.

My Rating: B. Nothing special here, but a solid IPA

Flashin Cash: The Irish Pol

Victory Hopdevil/Storm King Stout

The Irish Pol (Olde City)

On my most recent night at the bar, I went to The Irish Pol in Olde City. It is one of my favorite bars and I’ve been there plenty of times. The Pol offers around 40 different beers on tap and at a good price. I went to the bar around 11pm with my friend and it was still a bit busy. They had a good variety of beers on tap, boasting the “Most taps East of the Schuylkill”. I started with a Troegs Troegenator, which is a DoubleBock with an ABV of 8.2%, which my friend recommended I try. It was an okay beer, I wasn’t that impressed. I noticed they had both Victory Storm King stout and Hopdevil IPA. For those of you that don’t know, If you mix the two together it makes for a damn good beer. I ordered that as my second beer and it was phenomenal. I think they regularly have Storm King and Hopdevil on tap because I had it before at the Irish Pol, so I suggest you try it. I started slowing down (drunkk) because I had already been drinking before I went to the bar (always). 

They had the Mad Elf knock off beer called Rude Elf as well and my friend ordered it. I took a sip and it was really good, but too syrupy for my liking.  I ordered some fries and an Oskar Blues Gordon Ale. The Gordon Ale is an Imperial Red Ale with an ABV of 8.7%. I don’t really remember drinking it, so it couldn’t have been that good. Right before we were about to settle our tabs they tapped Troegs Nugget Nectar. I wanted to have one, but I couldn’t because I still had to drive home later. I doused the fries in ketchup, killed em, and left. All in all the Irish Pol is a solid bar and I say solid because they maintain about 35-40 taps on a daily basis. Most beers are only $5 for a pint. During their daily happy hour, most beers are only $3. They also have a 2^nd floor upstairs, but it wasn’t open the night we were there.  If you can handle the occasional Nickelback song, then give this place a try.

Beer Selection: A
Price: A

Beer Review: Blue Point Hoptical Illusion

Blue Point Brewing Company: Hoptical Illusion
Long Island, NY
Style: American IPA
ABV: 6.8%
Beeradvocate Rating: B+
Serving type: Bottle
Purchased at: The Foodery

Look: Golden orange

Smell: Pine, Lemon

Taste: Citrus, Orange, Floral/piney, Grainy

Feel: Light to medium body, Low carbonation

Drinkability: High

I’ve been meaning to try this beer the last five times I went to Wegman’s back home, but I always end up getting something different. My first encounter with a Bluepoint beer was with their seasonal “Toxic Sludge” IPA.  I had it on tap at Kraftwork and was very pleased. With that said, Hoptical Illusion had a lot to match up to.

The beer pours a golden orange color, similar to that of a Dogfish Head 60 minute IPA. When you crack this one pine and lemon zest scents escape the bottle. It tastes slightly sweet up front with notes of citrus, particularly oranges. Piney/floral hops dominate this beer accompanied by a grainy-bread malt backbone. Overall it is solidly bitter throughout with a well balanced and dry finish. The bitter taste fades. This is a good IPA, but nothing special. I’d still take the Toxic Sludge over this beer any day.

My Rating: B

Beer Review: Ballast Point Sculpin IPA

Ballast Point: Sculpin IPA
San Diego, CA
Style: American IPA
ABV: 7.0&
Beeradvocate Rating: A. #1 no top 50 American IPA List
Serving type: Bottle
Purchased at: The Foodery

IBU’s: 70

Look: Golden

Smell: Fresh hop, Fruity

Taste: AMAZING

Feel: Thin, Crisp

Drinkability: VERY High

I’ve been wanting to try the ever so elusive Sculpin IPA since I started drinking IPAs because it’s the #1 ranked American IPA on Beeradvocate.com. I’ve seen it before at the Foodery, but only in 22oz bottles that cost $15 and I don’t ball like that. Out of nowhere they got in the 12oz bottles and I picked one up in my mixed sixer the other day.

This beer pours an amazing gold color. As soon as I started pouring, the aromas of apricot, peach, lemon, and even mango gave me a craft beer boner. It tastes just as good, if not better than it smells. It starts off sweet and a bit tangy, follows thru with a fresh hop bite, and finishes crisp and clean. Perfect taste, perfect balance, perfect everything for this Sculpin IPA. That’s all I have to say about this beer. Def one of the best and possibly the top IPA I’ve ever had. It’s a king’s beer and well…I'ma King.

My Rating: A+

Beer Review: Troegs Nugget Nectar

Troegs: Nugget Nectar
Harrisburg, PA
Style: Imperial American Amber/ Red Ale
ABV: 7.5%
Beeradvocate Rating: A, #1 on top 50 American Amber/ Red Ale list
Serving Type: Bottle
Purchased at: The Foodery

Hop Bitterness (IBU’s): 93
Malts: Pilsner, Vienna, Munich
Hops: Nugget, Warrior, Tomahawk, Simcoe, Palisade
HopBack Hops: Whole leaf nugget
Dry Hops: Nugget, Warrior

Look: Straw/orange

Smell: Nectarine, Tangerine

Taste: Sweet, Tangy

Feel: Sharp, Bitter, Dry

Drinkability: High

I found the extra brew notes above on the Troegs website. This beer is a seasonal beer and is available January thru March. I’ve been meaning to try this beer since I saw it at the Foodery on one of my Friday lunch break visits. As you can see I drink a ton of IPA’s, but I do drink the occasional red ale (ABV permitting). I had no idea that it was rated at the top of its category, it was actually the 7.5% ABV that won me over and I wanted to try something different.

It pours the perfect amber color with a soap sud like head. Instantly you smell nectarine, tangerine, and peach. There are also floral hops present. Nugget nectar tastes sweet and tangy with a hint of apricot. It really has an unparalleled taste. There’s a smooth transition from sharp and bitter upfront to a dry finish. It has decent hop presence all throughout, yet a simple taste compared to scent expectations. I expected a fuller beer, but I’m not complaining. Low carbonation.

My Rating: A. You could def down a case of this over a weekend