Brasserie Artisanale De Rullés SPRL La Rulles La Grande 10

While at TJ’s 8th Anniversary Party, I ordered a glass of Brasserie Artisanale De Rullés SPRL La Rulles La Grande 10. The beer pours a golden color with a frothy white head. The aroma consists of hay, barnyard funk, lemon, and dirt. The taste is smooth and rounded with plenty of dry and grassy flavors up front. Hay, barnyard funk, and a hint of lemon take over, and make a wonderfully tasting beer. There is a bubbly finish with pepper spice and a slight warming after taste in the back of the throat. The alcohol content is 10% ABV. This was one of my favorite beers of the day, as it had a nice funk to it with a solid lemon citrus base.

Brasserie de l'Abbaye du Val-Dieu Grand Cru

I ordered a glass of Brasserie de l'Abbaye du Val-Dieu Grand Cru at TJ’s 8th Anniversary Party. The beer pours a dark amber color with red hues and a bubbly white head. The aroma is malty and consists of caramel, raisin, and cherry. The taste is mostly chocolate and raisin, but there is a nice sweet cherry accent that lurks in the background. The alcohol content is 10.5% ABV. This beer was quite delicious, but it definitely errs on the sweet side of the Grand Cru spectrum.

Xbeeriment Black Force One

One of the beers I was excited to try at TJ’s 8th Anniversary Party was the Xbeeriment Black Force One. The beer pours a black color with a lofty and frothy tan head that leaves a nice lacing. The aroma consists of smoke, gym socks, chocolate, and toasted malts. The taste is very smoky and dry with charcoal, a dark chocolate background, and a dry woody finish. The alcohol content is 10.4% ABV. I would say this beer is rather good once you get past the aroma. I wasn’t a huge fan of the aroma and its gym socks, but the smoky goodness of this beer is too hard to pass up In the future.

2010 BFM Brasserie Des Franches-Montagnes Abbaye de Saint Bon-Chien

I went to TJ’s in Paoli for their 8th Anniversary party, and I ordered a glass of 2010 BFM Brasserie Des Franches-Montagnes Abbaye de Saint Bon-Chien. The beer pours a red-amber color with a thin filmy white head. The aroma consists of raspberry, cherry, tartness, and some sugar. The taste is puckering with slight hints of vinegar, but mostly consisting of raspberry and cherry. Tartness comes out just before an oak finish with a pinch on the side of the mouth. The alcohol content is 11% ABV. I was wholly impressed with this beer, as its sourness was well hidden and it only let some tartness escape, causing a slight pucker.

Troegs Scratch 53- Helles Bock

I stopped in to the Troegs brewery to order a glass of the recently tapped Scratch 53- Helles Bock. The beer pours a golden color with a frothy white head. The aroma consists of caramel, grass, malts, and lemon. The taste is dry and slightly bitter with caramel, pine, and lemon flavors dominating the palate. There is a dry grassy finish that really balances the beer well. The alcohol content is 6.4% ABV. This was a rather smooth drinking beer that goes down way too easy, all while being full of citrus and caramel flavors. I’d say this was a hit for Troegs.

New Glarus Unplugged Cran-bic Ale

I received a bottle of New Glarus Unplugged Cran-bic Ale from Bob Pack in a beer trade. The beer pours a pink-tinted amber color that looks similar to Cherry 7-Up with a thin bubbly white colored head. The aroma consists of sour cranberries, vinegar, cherries, and pie crust. The taste is nice and smooth with plenty of cranberry and cherry flavor up front. There is a bit of sweetness underneath that is pie like. The mouth feel is bubbly, and very soda-like. The alcohol content is 4.8% ABV. This was such a wonderfully crafted beer with a great sweet cranberry pie flavor with just enough tartness and vinegar to balance it out.

Weeping Radish OBX Beer

My buddy Jeff brought me a bottle of Weeping Radish OBX Beer from the Outer Banks. I’ve had this beer many years ago when it was just named Kolsch, and absolutely loved it. The beer pours a pale golden color with a frothy white head that leaves some lacing on the glass. The aroma consists of lemon, wheat, pepper, and some hints of grass and caramel. The taste is smooth and light on the tongue with a nice lemon flavor that comes on the front end. The beer finishes with grassy and peppery hops that leave a bit of dryness on the tongue. The alcohol content is 6.0% ABV. This beer still stands as my favorite kolsch style beer, as it is the smoothest and most flavorful I’ve ever had with the style. IF you can get your hands on this beer, do so immediately.

Boulevard Smokestack Series Dark Truth Stout

I received a bottle of Boulevard Smokestack Series Dark Truth Stout as an extra from Bob Pack. The beer pours a black color with a frothy tan head that leaves some lacing on the glass. The aroma consists of chocolate, smoke, toasted malts, and vanilla. The taste is very dry and extremely smoky, similar to a charcoal grill. Behind the smoke, there is some dark chocolate, toasted malts, and and light vanilla flavor. The finish is dry and really brings out the toasted malts. The alcohol content is 9.7% ABV. This beer has a great smoke content, and starts out that way, but the best part about it is the smoked malts that come out in the finish. It is dark and chocolaty, but all about the toast and smoke.

Brasserie Fantome Magic Ghost

I received a bottle of Brasserie Fantome Magic Ghost from the Michael Jackson Rare Beer of the Month Club. The beer pours a Ecto-Cooler green with a bubbly white head that will foamy up rapidly and recedes just as quickly. The aroma consists of vinegar, hay, swamp air, and barnyard funk. The taste is certainly interesting with vinegar, tea, grass, melon, pepper, lemon, and earthy. The finish is really herby and leaves a funky and dirt-like flavor behind in the mouth. The alcohol content is 8.0% ABV. While this beer has a bit of sourness to it, it is truly made by its funkiness. Rounding out the funk is a touch of honey, which makes everything perfect.

Telegraph Winter Ale

As part of Michael Jackson’s Rare Beer of the Month Club, I received a bottle of Telegraph Winter Ale. The beer pours a dark brown color with a frothy beige colored head the leaves some lacing on the glass. The aroma consists of raisin, cinnamon, nutmeg, gingerbread, allspice, and caramel. The taste is dry at first with plenty of spices including cinnamon, allspice, and gingerbread. The flavor then pops out some raisin and caramel with a dark chocolate flavor before nutmeg hits a really dries out the mouth. The finish has the faintest of hints of chilies, giving the beer a nice spicy kick. The alcohol content is 7.5% ABV. This was quite a tasty winter ale with plenty of spices to dry out the mouth, but just enough caramel and raisin to sweeten the beer and get the tongue through the spices.

Iron Hill Fe 15

I picked up a bottle of Iron Hill Fe 15 from the Lancaster location, a beer in celebration of their 15th anniversary. Stylistically, this beer is an American Imperial Tripel, which is a new one to me, and I was unsure as to why the tripel needed the imperialization. The beer pours a golden color with a frothy white colored head that leaves some lacing the on the glass. The aroma consists of banana, yeast, pepper, orange, honey, and biscuits. The taste is smooth like no other beer I’ve had and sweet with plenty of banana, clementine, orange, and what I believe to be butterscotch that really sweetens the whole beer. There are hints of grapes, pepper, and grass. ON the finish, an alcohol warmth, not a burn, comes out and hits the throat. The alcohol content is 15.0% ABV. I literally have not encountered a beer with as many flavors in one bottle as there were in this beer. My face lit up upon sipping this beer for the first time, and I was blown away at its composition. While it definitely falls on the sweet side, it is rather delicious.

Weeping Radish IPA 25

As part of the sampler pack, my buddy Jeff brought me back a bottle of Weeping Radish IPA 25. The beer pours a golden color with a frothy white head that leaves some lacing on the glass. The aroma consists of lemon, orange, grass, pine, and a hint of caramel. The taste is big on lemon flavor with a slight pucker built upon a slight caramel base. The focus quickly shifts to the dry, but clean, hop finish that has lots of grass flavors. In the background, there is a hint of pine. The alcohol content is 6.5% ABV. This was a refreshing beer with plenty of lemon and orange citrus flavors that I enjoyed very much, and also liked the dry grassy finish.

Iron Hill Russian Imperial Stout

I picked up a bottle of Iron Hill Russian Imperial Stout at the Lancaster location on my last visit. The beer pours a black color with a frothy tan head. The aroma consists of chocolate, coffee, vanilla, and toasted malts. The taste is full-bodied chocolate, mixing both dark and milk chocolate, with some toasted malts. There are hints of lemon and orange in the background, but the are quickly overtaken by molasses. The finish brings out some vanilla and cream before a coffee and espresso after taste dries out the mouth a bit. The alcohol content is 9.5% ABV. I completely understand how this beer won a gold medal, as it is wonderfully balanced, but focuses heavily on the chocolate and coffee flavors.

Weeping Radish Black Radish

My buddy Jeff brought me a bottle of Weeping Radish Black Radish from the Outer Banks. The beer pours a caramel color with a frothy beige colored head. The aroma consists of caramel, pepper, toffee, and plenty of malts. The taste is smooth and sweet with a light sour hop pinch on the side of the mouth. There are plenty of caramel and toffee malt flavors that make up the base, but there is a nice dry, earthy hop flavor on the finish. The alcohol content is 5.3% ABV. This was a solid lager with a wonderful sweet malty presence, but it’s the dry hop finish that makes it overly enjoyable.