Brouwerij Consendonk Abbey Pale Ale

I ordered a bottle of Brouwerij Corsendonk Abbey Pale Ale at the Abbey Bar in Harrisburg on $2 off Belgians night. The beer pours a golden color with a thin filmy white head. The aroma consists of banana, yeast, coriander, pepper, and lemon. The taste is yeasty and biscuity with lots of banana flavoring. Coriander and pepper provide spicy accents to the banana, and there is a drying hay and grass finish. The alcohol content is 7.5% ABV. The flavoring in this beer was spot on and I enjoyed the Belgian yeast and banana flavors the most. There was enough spicing and dryness to balance the sweetness of the yeast, making an all-around enjoyable beer.

North Coast Old No. 38 Stout

I received a bottle of North Coast Old No. 38 Stout from Bob Pack in a beer trade. The beer pours a black color with a bubbly beige colored head. The aroma consists of dark chocolate, sweet caramel, vanilla, and molasses. The taste is smooth and chocolaty with a nice roasted malt flavor and a great molasses accent. There are touches of vanilla and caramel, and the finish is dry and toasty. The alcohol content is 5.6% ABV. I really enjoyed the dark chocolate flavors in this beer with great molasses and caramel accents. It was quite the Irish dry stout, and I would love to get my hands on another beer.

Brasserie Thiriez Biere de Noel

I picked up a bottle of Brasserie Thiriez Biere de Noel from D’s Six Pax and Dogz in Pittsburgh. The beer pours a cloudy copper color with an extremely lofty off-white colored head that remains for a long time. The aroma consists of yeast, banana, nutmeg, sour cherry, and chestnuts. The taste is biting and spicy with nutmeg and yeast coming to the front end. After a significant watery flavor, some roasted coffee and chestnuts come out to dry the beer out. A hint of wood comes out in the finish. The alcohol content is 5.8% ABV. I was not impressed with this beer, particularly with the middle range of it, as it was very watery. While it wasn’t undrinkable, it wasn’t thoroughly enjoyable. The only part I enjoyed was the finish, with the roasted flavors that came out on the tongue. There was way too much carbonation as well, very seltzer-like, taking away from the flavor of the beer.

Abita 25th Anniversary Vanilla Double Dog

I picked up a bottle of Abita 25th Anniversary Vanilla Double Dog from Al’s of Hampden. The beer pours a dark brown color with a lofty and frothy beige-colored head that leaves some lacing on the glass. The aroma consists of dry roasted malts, chocolate, vanilla, and caramel. The taste is smooth and dry with plenty of roasted malts up front. There are coffee, chocolate, and vanilla accents with a caramel finish. The after taste leaves some dry grassy hops and brings back a toast flavor. The alcohol content is 7.0% ABV. If I had one criticism of this beer, it would be that it is too heavily carbed. The mouth feel is a little too bubbly and gets in the way of fully enjoying the great flavors in the beer, although they still are very well detectable. Overall, I liked the beer and would get a bottle of it again.

Heavy Seas Yule Tide Belgian Style Tripel Ale

I saw that Al’s of Hampden had bottles of Heavy Seas Yule Tide Belgian Style Tripel Ale, so I decided to pick one up and share amongst friends while watching hockey. The beer pours an orange-tinted amber color with a frothy white head with a faint bit of lacing on the glass. The aroma consists of banana, candi sugar, orange peel, pepper, biscuits, and grass. The taste is sweet with banana and yeast flavors, accompanied with candi sugar. A bit of pepper and orange peel dries out the mouth a little bit with a biscuity mouth feel and a grassy after taste is left behind with hints of pepper. The alcohol content is 10.0% ABV. There is a bit of booziness that arrives as the beer warms which, I thought, really helped balance out the sweetness. It may err on the sweet side with a bunch of extra yeast flakes, but for the price, this is a rather good tripel.

Birrificio Grado Plato Strada S. Felice

I picked up a bottle of Birrificio Grado Plato Strada S. Felice from Al’s of Hampden. The beer pours a murky brown color with a think filmy white head that does not linger very long. The aroma consists of a lot of caramel, raisin, fig, date, and chestnuts in the background. The taste is sweet and smooth with plenty of caramel and raisin on the front end. Some fig and dates peek through before some chestnuts dry out the finish a bit with a light alcohol burn. The alcohol content is 8.0% ABV. Thankfully the chestnuts were added to this beer, or it would be too sweet. I would put this beer in the decent category, but it wasn’t overwhelmingly memorable either.

Nodding Head 60 Shilling

The final beer I tried on my first visit to Nodding Head was the 60 Shilling thanks to the recommendation of Ethan (Brewniversal).  The beer pours a dark amber color with a bubbly white colored head.  The aroma consists of caramel, malts, grass, and pepper.  A slight malt funkiness also creeps in to the beer. The taste is smooth and sweet with plenty of caramel and sweet malts making up the profile of this beer. A dry grassy finish accompanies the beer and balances the sweetness rather nicely. The alcohol content is 4.75% ABV. I would have to say that Ethan was right in saying that the 60 Shilling was an excellent beer. A variety of flavors keeps the tongue busy, and all of them are tied well together.

Nodding Head BPA (Bill Payer Ale)

Another beer I ordered on my first ever visit to Nodding Head in Philadelphia was the BPA (Bill Payer Ale). The beer pours an amber color with a frothy white colored head. The aroma consists of tangerine, grapefruit, pine lemon, and caramel. The taste is bitter and dry with lots of citrus on the front end. Grapefruit, tangerine, and lemon all pop out before some bitter pepper and pine dry out the mouth. The alcohol content is 5.0% ABV. This was a rather delicious and dry pale ale, but beware that it is a dry and bitter pale ale.

Nodding Head George's Fault

While in Philadelphia, I stopped in to Nodding Head Brewery for my first ever visit there. The first beer I ordered was George’s Fault. The beer pours a golden color with a thin filmy white head. The aroma consists of orange, coriander, honey, and grass. The taste is sweet and citrusy with plenty of orange flavor on the front end. Coriander and toasted toffee show up in the background, with a honey sweetness comes out in the finish and has a grassy after taste. The alcohol content is 9.0% ABV. I enjoyed this beer a lot with its citrusy profile, but what made the beer was the spicy accents and a touch of honey.

De Struise Brouwers Sint Amatus 12

The final beer I ordered at Monk’s in Philadelphia on a recent lunch trip was De Struise Brouwers Sint Amatus 12. The beer pours a caramel color with a thin filmy off-white colored head. The aroma consists of caramel, cocoa, raisin, and malts. The taste is boozy and malty with lots of caramel, raisin, and fig. Some chocolate figures its way in to the flavor with some yeast as well. There is a dry alcohol finish and the after taste also dry with plenty of booze. The alcohol content is 10.5% ABV. As for the style of Belgian Quad, this beer hits the nail on the head. It has great dark fruit and chocolate flavors with a dry boozy accent that lets you know it’s a double digit alcohol beer.

Klosterbrauerei Weissenohe Monk’s Christmas Beer

Another beer I ordered while at  Monk’s in Philadelphia for lunch was Klosterbrauerei Weissenohe Monk’s Christmas Beer. The pours a brown color with a frothy beige head. The aroma consists of raisin, fig, cinnamon, nutmeg, caramel, and molasses. The taste is full of dark fruits such as fig, date, and raisin. There is a caramel background that also has a bit of molasses sweetness on the finish with grassy hops. The alcohol content is 5.1% ABV.  This was a decent beer, but definitely was on the sweeter side, as only faint grassy hops came out to balance the dark fruit flavors in the beer.

Brouwerij De Ranke Pere Noel

My fiancée had to get here hair done in Philadelphia, so I rode along and went to Monk’s for lunch while she was her appointment. I ordered a glass of Brouwerij De Ranke Pere Noel. The beer pours an orange-gold color with a foamy white head that leaves speckles of lacing on the glass. The aroma consists of hay, grass, pine, orange, and lemon. The taste is dry and grassy with an orange citrus background. A hint of caramel hits the tongue and some faint roasted malts linger in the background. A dry hay after taste kicks in, and makes for an enjoyable experience. The alcohol content is 7.0% ABV. I thought this was a great start to my lunch with a wonderful orange citrus flavor dried out with hay, giving both a sweet and slightly funky experience.

Weyerbacher Hops Infusion

I ordered a glass of Weyerbacher Hops Infusion while at Al’s of Hampden. The beer pours an amber color with a bubbly thin white head. The aroma consists of tangerine, grapefruit, lemon, and caramel, but it is a faint aroma. The taste is bitter with grapefruit and tangerine and hints of lemon. The background has some caramel before pepper kicks in on the finish. The alcohol content is 6.2% ABV. While this beer had some good flavors, it did not blow me away. I would drink it again, but not seek it out or travel specifically for it.