Philly Beer Week 2012

My first event for PBW 2012 (June 1 - 10) will be the Fourth Annual Bella Vista Beer Bash at Devil's Den on Friday, June 1st.  The lineup looks insanely amazing and I'm not sure if any other event can top this incredible list.  Needless to say, I'm already excited and can't wait for PBW to begin! 

http://www.devilsdenphilly.com/

http://www.phillytapfinder.com/#bar-devils-den-bella-vista-6-1-7pm

Dock Street Johnny Berliner

I went to see Cold Specks perform at Johnny Brenda's last night and was happy to see Dock St. Johnny Berliner on tap (a collaboration between Dock St. Brewery and Johnny Brenda's for Philly Beer Week).  This was a great brew and quite possibly the best offering I've had from Dock St. aside from their delicious RyePA.  Light, crisp, lemony and tart, Johnny Berliner is a great, refreshing summer beer and I want to have a steady supply of it at every BBQ I attend this year.  I really hope that Berliner Weisse becomes the next trend in brewing because I'd love to see this style more widely available. 

http://www.johnnybrendas.com/

http://www.dockstreetbeer.com/


PS- Check out Cold Specks!  Beautifully raw and honest music...get on board now before they blow up!

http://coldspecks.com/videos/ 

Stillwater Artisanal Ales Cellar Door

This past Sunday was Mother's Day and I split a bottle of Cellar Door with my mom during dinner.  The weather outside was beautiful and this beer totally complemented the day.  Cellar Door is a saison that is brewed with white sage.  The appearance of the fluffy white head paired very well with the funky, citrus scent.  Along with all other Stillwater brews, this beer has lots of complexity...Earthy, wheat tones combined with some floral grassiness ending in a dry, citrus finish.  This beer offered a great mix of light sweetness and a bit of spice.

Stillwater makes such delicious beers and everything I've tried from them has been excellent.  I met the head brewer, Brian Strumke, a few years ago at a Stillwater event in Philly.  He was extremely approachable and truly seemed to enjoy talking about beer and the brewing process. Stillwater Artisanal Ales is known as a gypsy brewery.  While Strumke is based out of Maryland, he told me that he brews all over the place.  Collaborating with other breweries and making frequent trips to Belgium seems like a pretty amazing life to me!  Cheers to Brian and Stillwater for putting out another great brew.

http://stillwaterales.blogspot.com/
   

Hawthorne's 3rd Annual IPA Block Party

IPA Block Party??!  I get to sit outside and enjoy from a variety of 24 different IPA's on tap??  Yes, I love springtime in Philly!

I was getting over a cold so I didn't feel great, but there was NO way I planned to miss this event.  Joined by my family (wife, 2 year old son, Mom and Dad), this was the perfect way for me to spend a Saturday afternoon.  We luckily secured a table upon entry where we proceeded to enjoy our food and drinks.  At one end of the block was a live band that provided an upbeat soundtrack for me to inhale a grilled sausuage and pepper sandwich. 

There was a nice turnout when we arrived and it never got too overcrowded.  The longest I ever had to wait in line for a beer was less than a minute.  Since I wasn't feeling 100% and had to rest up for the Broad St. 10-mile run the following day, I took it easy and only sampled a few beers.

AleSmith IPA
Russian River Blind Pig IPA
Captain Lawrence Captain's Reserve Imperial IPA
Port Brewing Mongo IPA

I've had all of these brews before expect for the Captain Lawrence, which was my favorite of the day.  All of the beers were delicious and it was a truly special event to have this impressive selection of IPA's served fresh on tap. 

We all had at great time and I look forward to making this block party an annual event for the whole family to attend. 

http://hawthornecafe.com/

Flyers Game / Crazy Tasting

Yesterday I got together with some friends to watch the first game of the Flyers-Devils playoff series.  The Flyers won, 4-3, in OT (woohoo!!!) and we opened some great bottles over the course of the day...and into the night.  I thought we'd just have a few beers but somehow that turned into a counter full of rare and delicious brews. 

(Left to Right) -  Brouwer's 2009 Imagination Ale (brewed by Port/ Lost Abbey; 34% ale brewed with honey, raisins and rosemary and aged in bourbon barrels 33% ale aged in bourbon barrels 33% ale with raisins and aged in wine barrels), De Cam Kriek Lambic, Olfabrikken 2005 Islay Cask Stout, DuClaw Double Naked Fish, Allagash Coolship Cerise, Founder's Kentucky Breakfast Stout, Upright Fantasia, Upright Late Harvest, Cigar City Campeador - Fergus Mor Ale, and Upright Fatali Four.


My favorites of the day were:
Olfabrikken 2005 Islay Cask Stout - Scotch and more Scotch!  Huge sweet waves of lightly charred wood and lots of smokey peat.  So smooth and unbelievably balanced. This was a special treat that I'll probably never get to taste again.
 
Cigar City Campeador - Fergus Mor Ale (2009; bottle #20 of 204) - Another incredibly rare bottle that I feel lucky to have tried.  This was a blend of Big Sound Scotch Ale, Bolita Brown and Imperial Stout aged in a Buffalo Trace bourbon barrel.  All of the flavors merged so well and this beer really blew me away.  Caramel, bourbon, dark fruits and maybe a bit of burnt vanilla highlighted the taste of this delicious brew. 

Upright Fatali Four - This was the third bottle we opened from Upright and my first time ever trying their beer.  I was highly impressed with everything I drank but this one took the prize.  Fatali Four is a saison brewed with fatali peppers (the 6th hottest pepper in the world).  The sour, citrus funk was met with a slow, subtle heat from the peppers.  The finish delivered a flavorful spiciness that lingered throughout my mouth while never overpowering the other tastes.  Very complex and one of the most memorable beers I've recently had.  Upright really nailed it on this one and I would definitely like to see more breweries experiment with hot pepper/ chili beers.  

The biggest disappointment was DuClaw Double Naked Fish, an imperial chocolate raspberry stout.  We all agreed that it tasted very dry and almost chalky.  Maybe this was just in comparison with everything else we had tried, but this brew certainly was the low point of the day.  I still have another bottle and look forward to drinking it at some point with a clearer palate.

This impromptu get together and tasting turned into an unforgettable drinking session.  Huge thanks to Craig and Eric for sharing some of these cellared gems. 

Team BrewOneFive - Tough Mudder

This Saturday, April 28th, the BrewOneFive team (me, Ari, Allison and Andrey) will be competing in the 2012 Tough Mudder.  GO TEAM!!!


Click to view full map and take a glimpse at the madness that awaits us. 

http://toughmudder.com/events/pennsylvania-2012/


LET'S DO IT!!!!!

Goose Island Christmas Ale

This beer seemed like a solid choice for a cold, rainy Sunday night.  Goose Island's Christmas Ale definitely wasn't as spicy as other Christmas ales I've had in the past. In fact, this really didn't seem like much of a traditional holiday ale at all.  That observation didn't keep me from enjoying it though.  The initial taste was subdued but after caramel, malt, cinnamon and some dark fruit, a lasting hop presence lingered from sip to sip.  This beer seemed less like a Christmas ale and more like some sort of special-release brown ale.  While I wouldn't go out of my way to buy more of this, I'll gladly finish off the 4-pack I purchased. Good, not great, but certainly served its purpose of being a satisfying beer to wrap up the weekend with.