Dogfish Head Old School Barleywine

While at TJ's in Paoli, I ordered a glass of Dogfish Head Old School Barleywine. The beer has a copper color with a thin bubbly head. The aroma is malty with toffee and caramel. The taste is sweet with molasses, caramel, and toffee. I was very impressed as to how smooth this beer was. There was also a nice alcohol bite on the finish with a fig hop taste. The alcohol content is 15.04% ABV. AS far as barleywines go, this was a solid performer and hit on all of the flavors that you look for in a barleywine. It may end up a little on the sweet side, but that is forgivable with the nice alcohol bite.

Pretty Things Jack D'Or Saison

My buddy picked up a bottle of Pretty Things Jack D'Or Saison and recommended that try some of it. The beer has a straw color with a lofty foamy head. The aroma is lemony and and fresh. The taste is sweet and lemony and is very bubbly on the tongue. There is a nice citrus bite on the finish. The alcohol content is 6.4% ABV. I thought that the Jack D'Or was extremely tasty and refreshing. As far as saisons go, this was one of my favorites, and I am a big fan of saisons. Therefore, I recommend you try this beer, especially on a nice warm spring day.

Allagash Black

I was perusing the refrigerator at McGrath's in Harrisburg and noticed that they had some bottles of Allagash Black. The beer has a dark black color with a light tan head. The aroma licorice and chocolate. The taste is heavy on licorice with chocolate accents and a surprising banana finish. The alcohol content is 7.5% ABV. I thoroughly enjoyed this bottle of beer, and it would make a great dessert beer. The chocolate and banana play with each other very well, and make a delicious tasting beverage.

Brasserie Dubuisson Frères sprl Cuvee Des Trolls

McGrath's just added Brasserie Dubuisson Frères sprl Cuvee Des Trolls to their draft lineup, so I decided to give it a try. The beer has a straw color with a foamy white head. The aroma is creamy smelling, The taste is very light on the tongue and smooth, filled with banana flavor and yeast accents. There is a light pepper finish. The alcohol content is 7.0% ABV. I thought that the Cuvee Des Trolls was really good, and an excellent example of a Belgian Strong Pale Ale.

Blue Point IPA

McGrath's in Harrisburg recently added Blue Point IPA to their draft list, so I ordered a glass. The beer has an amber color with a bubbly white head. The aroma is citrus and grapefruit with light pepper accents. The taste is lemon and grapefruit, but mostly grapefruit, with a nice hop accent that is not overwhelming. The beer also has a smooth hop finish. The alcohol content is 7.0% ABV. I'm going to assume that this is the 10th Anniversary IPA from Blue Point, as the original IPA has been retired for some time. However, I really enjoyed this beer with the heavy grapefruit flavor.

Clipper City Heavy Seas Marzen

I ordered a glass of Clipper City Heavy Seas Marzen from McGrath's in Harrisburg. The beer has a copper color with a light foamy head. There is a faint malty aroma. The tasty is malty and sweet with a healthy dose of caramel accents. The beer has a clean fresh finish with light hops. The alcohol content is 5.75% alcohol. I thought that this Marzen was a pretty clean beer with a great compliment of caramel, without being too sweet.

Duck Rabbit Milk Stout

McGrath's in Harrisburg recently picked up Duck Rabbit Milk Stout, so I decided to give it a try. The beer has a dark black color with a light tan head. The aroma consists of chocolate and toasted malts. The taste is plentiful of toasted malts with chocolate accent. The beer finishes smooth and creamy, The alcohol content is 5.7% ABV. I thought that the Milk Stout was an excellent tasting beer and was very smooth. There was plenty of flavors from the chocolate and toasted malts, making it more complex than anticipated.

Nogne-o #100 Barley Wine Style Ale

I picked up a bottle of Nogne-o #100 Barley Wine Style Ale on my last visit to New Jersey. The #100 is the 100th beer the Nogne-o produced, and it was put into production by popular demand. The beer pours a dark brown color with a very lofty and foamy tan head. The aroma is sweet with toffee accents. The taste is sweet and mouthwatering (an odd description, but try it and you will understand). It has a mandarin orange accents with a chocolate undertone and a dry finish of light hops and a warming alcohol. The alcohol content is 10% ABV. This was an amazing barley wine that had so many different flavors and levels. It was very smooth and easily drinkable. The entire experience was amazing and I highly recommend trying this beer.

Ithaca Excelsior alphalpha

In a beer trade with Lee from Hoptopia, I acquired a bottle of Ithaca Excelsior alphalpha. The beer pours a golden color with a foamy head. The aroma consists of lemon and light fresh hops. The taste is sweet with caramel at first and transitions into a nice pepper bite. The beer finishes with a dry hop bite on the back of the mouth and a refreshing lemon taste on the tongue. The alcohol content is 8.5% ABV. I really enjoyed the smoothness and excellent flavor with the alphalpha. It wasn't overly hoppy, but very dynamic, especially with the addition of caramel. I feel that this could be used to introduce someone to the world of hops without scaring them away.

Blue Ridge Brewing Company

I visited Greenville, South Carolina for a wedding of a buddy of mine. Prior to traveling, I Googled breweries in Greenville, and I stumbled upon Blue Ridge Brewing Company. Knowing that I would be hungry for dinner and thirsty for drinks, making a visit to Blue Ridge only seemed logical.

The first beer I ordered was the Black Honey Imperial Stout. The beer pours a deep black color with a thin tan head. The aroma is filled with chocolate and coffee. The taste is sweet and malty with a good chocolate taste. It has a light bitter coffee finish. The alcohol content is 10.5%. This was my favorite beer from Blue Ridge, and I ordered a second one later in the evening.

The second beer I had was the Rainbow Trout ESB. The beer pours a copper color with a foamy white head. The aroma is faint but what is there is creamy and malty. The taste is malty with a dry hop finish. The alcohol content is 4.7% ABV. I thought that the ESB was slightly over carbonated, and did not follow the “real ale” movement for ESBs.

The third beer I ordered from Blue Ridge was the Colonial Paris Pale Ale. The beer has an orange amber color and a non-existent head. The aroma consists of light hops and malts. The taste is smooth and round and is lightly hoppy and malty. The alcohol content is 5.0% ABV. I though that the Pale Ale was very tasty and smooth and a pretty solid pale ale.

The fourth beer I ordered from Blue Ridge was the winter seasonal Santa's Little Helper. The beer pours a dark brown color with a foamy white head. The aroma consists of chocolate and has a nutty undertone. The taste is smooth at first with nutty bite. The alcohol content is 7.8% ABV. I thought that the Santa's Little Helper was pretty good with a nice finish.

The final beer I ordered from Blue Ridge was the Kurli Blonde Ale. The beer has a light straw color with no head. There is a little wheat aroma, but it is very faint. The taste is light and surprisingly malty with a light caramel finish. The alcohol content is 3.9% ABV. Overall, this beer was decent for as light as the beer was, but I do not recommend trying this beer last as I did.

Appalachian Brewing Company Purist Pale Ale Cask

On my last visit to Appalachian Brewing Company, the had the Purist Pale Ale on cask. The beer pours a cloudy gold color with a creamy white head. It has a light lemon aroma. The taste is soft, very delicate, and rounded. The lemon flavor is brought out with less carbonation from the cask serving. The alcohol content is 4.8% ABV. I thought that by putting the Purist Pale Ale on cask, Appalachian Brewing Company changed the flavor of the beer to have a good hops taste, but not a hop bite. It was really a remarkable beer on cask.