Allagash/ Port Brewing at The Bishop's Collar

I decided to stop at The Bishop's Collar to meet up with some friends on my way home last night.  I knew I only had time for one beer so I went with the Allagash Curieux aged in Booker's bourbon barrels.  Curieux is a bourbon barrel-aged tripel aged in Jim Beam barrels. This version was aged in Booker's barrels, which is the highest grade whiskey made by the Beam family.  I was really intrigued to try this since I love both Booker's and Curieux.  Booker's is an extremely strong whiskey and the bottle of it I have at home weighs it at a whopping 129.1 proof (Jim Beam is 80 proof).  I was concerned that this beer would be a boozy fire bomb but it was actually much more tame and drinkable than I had imagined.  One of my friends had a glass of regular Curieux which was great for a side-by-side comparison.  The Booker's barrel provided a an extra warming oak, bourbon edge that blended really well with the sweet maltiness of this Belgian-style brew.  Overall, a pretty delicious tripel! 

Also had a few tastes of Allagash Yakuza (dry-hopped tripel) and Port Hot Rocks (dark lager).  Hot Rocks is good, solid beer that I've had before.  This was my first time trying Yakuza and I thought it was great.  Really wish I had time to drink a full glass of it but I'm sure I'll see it around soon enough. 

Funky Buddha at Prohibition Taproom

It's official, Funky Buddha is my new favorite brewery!  Everything they do reaches such a high degree of perfection.  Are these guys brewers, magicians or beer alchemists?  Turning raw ingredients into these spectacular brews is nothing short of a Wonka-esque feat. This was my third Funky Buddha event in the past three days and I got to try nine of their different offerings.  Not only were they all great, they were exceptionally delicious!

We arrived early to get a good seat at the bar while trying to beat the rush.  After waiting anxiously in anticipation the kegs were finally tapped.  Knowing these beers would fly, we ordered one of each to make sure we could try them all before it was too late.  The three beers on draft were Last Snow, No Crusts, and Bonita Applebaum.  Last Snow was the first to kick, and all three beers were gone in under an hour.  If you showed up late you truly missed out on this special event.

I started with No Crusts which is basically a PB&J brown ale.  Imagine opening a fresh loaf of bread, slathering on chunky peanut butter and grape jelly, then taking a big whiff of this inviting sandwich before enjoying your first bite. Notes of lightly toasted bread, waves of roasted peanuts and moderately sweet jelly kept swirling around in both aroma and taste.  This beer was extremely balanced with certain flavors popping up and down throughout the glass.

After my sandwich I moved on to dessert. Bonita Applebaum is a brown ale that tastes like apple pie in a glass.  Every expected flavor was here...pie crust, apple filling, cinnamon, sugar, maybe a bit of nutmeg and spice.  There's no other way for me to describe this beer than wringing out a freshly baked apple pie and extracting the deliciousness into your glass.  Perfection!

I finished with Last Snow, which happened to be my favorite beer of the night.  This deep brownish-black porter was just fantastic!  While I was blown away by the other beers, this one topped the list for me.  Dark chocolate, heaping amounts of coconut, roasted malt and light vanilla came together to form this liquid Mounds bar.  I enjoyed this more than the Maple Bacon Coffee Porter and it's possibly my all around favorite beer of the week so far. 

The most outstanding and impressive aspects of these beers is that they are so completely drinkable.  Never coming off as too sweet or disproportionate, the flavors continuously maintain control from top to bottom.  Funky Buddha has mastered the art of brewing and taken things to a whole new level.   

Thank you to Funky Buddha for coming up from Florida and sharing their incredible beers with everyone in Philly.  Thanks also to Prohibition Taproom and Bella Vista Beer Distributor.  Another great event!

http://thefunkybuddha.com/

http://theprohibitiontaproom.com/home.asp

http://bellavistabeverage.com/

Funky Buddha @ Woody's Bar

Who knew Woody's had over 20 taps of craft beer?  Who knew Woody's was involved in Philly Beer Week?  Who knew that Woody's would have such a dynamite draft list including 2 rarities from Funky Buddha?  Woody's is a well known gay bar, not a well known beer bar. My friend Craig read earlier in the day on BA (beeradvocate.com) that Woody's was hosting a Funky Buddha event.  We had just left Monk's and were pining for some Funky Buddha after basically get shut down at the prior event.  At any other bar these beers would've kicked instantly.  Thanks to the close-minded folks who stayed away and made this available to us when we arrived later in the day.  We grabbed seats at the bar with the other BA guys who just arrived and got the Maple Bacon Coffee Porter and Piña Colada Wheat.  Both were amazing and the kegs kicked shortly after we ordered.  Perfect timing! 

Maple Bacon Coffee Porter - The maple scent from this beer was so prominent that you could smell it as soon as you entered the bar.  It really smelled more like IHOP than a beer event.  Dark espresso in color with an intense taste of maple syrup, fresh roasted coffee, a bit of chocolate and a tad of smokiness.  I didn't pick up any bacon except for the mild smoke.  This is a complex beer that is brewed perfectly.  Overall, a great example of an experimental beer done 100% right. Not too cloyingly sweet, not too overpowering, just right!  

Piña Colada Wheat -  We weren't sure what to expect from this one but like all the other Funky Buddha beers we tried, it was outstanding!  The name speaks for itself...a wheat beer brewed with fresh pineapple and real coconut.  Extremely refreshing, not overly sweet and retaining the absolute juicy properties of the involved fruit.  No taste of artificial fruit and sweeteners here.  Between the Berliners we had earlier in the day and now this, it's pretty apparent that Funky Buddha has nailed the art of brewing with fruit.  Amazing job!!

The Keystone State Showcase at The Boilermaker

I finally made it over to The Boilermaker!  This is a really cool bar with a great, candle-lit atmosphere...possibly darker than Farmer's Cabinet.  I like dark rustic bars, especially ones like this and FC that constantly have incredibly solid draft lists.  The Keystone event featured 40 PA brews on tap.   I only had a few beers here (Old Forge Eleven black IPA, Free Will Napoleon farmhouse sour) but one particularly stood out from the rest.  Round Guys Berlinerweister - Weisterberliner was really something else!  As soon as the glass was placed on our table I could immediately smell the funk.  The dominating aroma of room-temperature Swiss cheese instantly filled the air.  Hmmm!  The taste was sour, tart, citrusy and cheesy with notes of lemon, wheat and....more cheese.  This description might put some people off, but I actually loved this beer.  It was different than any other Berliner I've tried and definitely the most unique beer I tasted over the weekend.  The Boilermaker has some great events lined up for the rest of Philly Beer Week and I will definitely be back in a few days.

From L to R: Round Guys Berlinerweister, Old Forge Eleven, Free Will Napoleon

http://roundguysbrewery.com/

http://www.theboilermakerbar.com/

Funky Buddha at Monk's

This picture sums up the Funky Buddha event...crowded, hot, annoying and every other synonym of crowded, hot and annoying.  The "line" was coming out of the back room when we arrived and at no point did it even seem possible to get anywhere near the bar.  By "line" I mean, EVERY person spread across the room was trying to get served.  Oh well, Monk's is a small place and the demand for these beers is clearly very high.  Nobody's fault, just the way these things tend to go at times. 

While I didn't have my own full glass, GIANT thanks to Eric, Craig and the others from BA for sharing their beers with me.  In the end, I got to try the Key Lime Berliner Weisse, Passion Fruit Berliner Weisse, Peach Berliner Weisse and Nib Smuggler (chocolate porter). These beers were excellent, especially the Key Lime and Passion Fruit Berliners...the fruit flavors smelled and tasted so naturally fresh, tart and delicious.  While I wish the scene would've been more bearable, I'm just happy that I got to try this assortment of great brews from Funky Buddha!   

Cirque Du Saison at Tapestry

The weather was beautiful this past weekend and going to Tapestry for Cirque Du Saison was the perfect place to be.  An outdoor family-friendly event with a live band, face painting (my son got a cool robot), juggling, balloon animals, BBQ and approximately 30 amazing saisons!  I had such a great time on Saturday that I went back on Sunday with a different group of friends.  Good times had by all!

It was hard to decide what to drink, but here's what I went with:
- St. Somewhere/ Funky Buddha Citron Partie
- Stillwater/ Hof Ten Bronze Age
- Bridge Road/ Nogne O India Saison
- Evil Twin Ron And The Beast Ryan
- Stillwater As Follows
- Professor Fritz Briem 1809 Berliner Weisse

Shared with friends (thanks guys):
- Stillwater Bri-Witter
- Piccolo Birrificio Seson
- Del Ducato Nuovo Mattina

All of these beers were really good with some being more enjoyable than others.  My favorites were Evil Twin RATBR and Bridge Road/ Nogne O India Saison. 

Thanks again to Tapestry for making this happen!  I hope Cirque Du Saison becomes an annual event associated with Philly Beer Week. 

http://www.tapestryphilly.com/

Fourth Annual Bella Vista Beer Bash

Philly Beer Week has officially begun! As expected, the selection of brews last night at Devil's Den was incredible.  It was a mix of rare beers that will probably never be seen again together at one location.  Here is what I drank last night (descriptions taken from Draft List):

Williamsburg AleWerks Chaka Latte (limited firkin) - Coffeehouse Stout aged in Virginia Gentleman reserve bourbon barrels with Dutch chocolate and vanilla beans added to the firkin. 8% 10.5 oz

Cigar City Marshal Zhukov's Imperial Stout (aged in apple brandy barrel) - limited - Rich roasted malt body notes of espresso, chocolate, toffee, molasses, with notes of apples, boozy, vanilla & oak. 11% 10.5 oz

Fifty Fifty B.A.R.T. - limited - (Barrel Aged Really Tasty) A one-off beer that was made on the brewer's whim, this is a blend of Old Conundrum Barleywine & Eclipse Imperial Stout. 7% 10.5 oz

Central Waters Exodus - only keg in Eastern USA - Belgian blonde ale, aged in oak with Door County cherries & brett. Sour wild funky fruit ale. 5% 10.5 oz

Myth of Saison - limited collab between Hill Farmstead & Tired Hands - saison brewed with Citra & Amarillo hops, 120 lbs. of Vermont wildflower honey & 120 lbs. of Basswood Pennsylvania honey. 7% 10.5 oz

I started off with a flight of stouts because I thought they would be the first kegs to kick.  Next I ordered the Myth of Saison and ended with Exodus.  Great, refreshing way to top off this awesome event.  Everything I had last night was excellent but the true highlight for me was the Chaka Latte.  The initial taste of bourbon and dark chocolate was met with notes of vanilla and oak...just absolutely delicious!  This beer was creamy, smooth and perfectly balanced without any one flavor dominating throughout the glass.  

The Fourth Annual Bella Vista Beer Bash at Devil's Den was a truly special event. If you missed out last night it's time to start planning for next year NOW.

From L to R: Chaka Latte, Marshal Zhukov, B.A.R.T.