Pizza Boy Brewing Turkey Burglar (Tart Cherry)

On a recent visit to Al’s of Hampden, Al tapped his Pizza Boy Turkey Burglar (Tart Cherry), a Beliner Weiss. The beer pours a lemonade colored yellow color with a thin filmy white head. The aroma is tart with cherry, and lemon, but most interesting is this has an almost urine-like funk to it. The taste is dry and light with a tartness on the tongue. Lemon is prominent, but the cherry is very faint and almost undetectable. The alcohol content is 3.6% ABV. I really liked it, even more so than Dogfish Head Festina Peche. While the aroma may be slightly off-putting, the taste is completely worth it.

Selin's Grove Whole Hop IPA

Another beer I tried on a recent trip to Selin’s Grove Brewing was the Whole Hop IPA. The beer pours an amber color with a thin filmy white head. The aroma consists of tangerine, orange, grapefruit, lemon, and has a dankness. The taste is smooth and very rounded with a caramel base. Good tangerine, grapefruit, and orange accents shine through, providing a fresh, dry, and bitter flavor that has a peppery finish. Hints of spruce also linger behind and were quite enjoyable. The alcohol content is 7.5% ABV. This was an excellent IPA that had a wide variety of flavors, resulting in a fresh tasting beer that is a must try.

Selin's Grove Brewing Laird Apple Brandy Barrel Blonde

When the Selin’s Grove Brewing Laird Apple Brandy Barrel Blonde was tapped, a trip to Selinsgrove was triggered. The beer pours a golden color with specks of white head. The aroma consists of apple, brandy, yeast, and lemon. The taste is light and sweet with plenty of yeast on the front end, yielding a nice earthiness to the beer. The  apple brandy lightly burns on the finish and a toasted oak flavor appears in the after taste, but it takes a while to arrive. Light bubbles also tickle the tongue. The alcohol content is 7.0% ABV. I really loved the flavors in the beer, and absolutely appreciated how long the toasted oak flavor took to arrive on the tongue. However, the body was a little lacking, and I think this beer could have benefited from more time spent in the barrel. Either way, it is worth drinking, I just think more time would have made this beer a home run.

Ithaca Excelsior! Fourteen

While at the LeBleu release, I picked up a bottle of Ithaca Excelsior! Fourteen, a hoppy black ale. The beer pours a black color with a lofty and frothy cream colored head that leaves a thin lacing on the glass. The aroma consists of chocolate, lemon, toasted malts, cream, pine, pepper, and spruce. The taste is dry and has a pine, pepper, and lemon hop bite on the front end. A solid chocolate, toasted malts, and caramel base provides a great foundation for the beer, and it has a vanilla and cream tasting finish. The alcohol content is 8.2% ABV. This was a well put together black ale with plenty of hoppy, citrusy goodness. The best part was the light caramel, vanilla, and cream accents that really bridged the gap of all of the flavors.

Elysian Apocalypse Fallout Cardamom Pale Ale

My buddy Matt opened a bottle of Elysian Fallout Cardamom Pale Ale, one of the twelve beers of the apocalypse. The beer pours an orange tinted gold color with a bubbly white head. The aroma is floral with cardamom and has lemon accents aplenty. The taste is dry and floral that focuses on cardamom. Lemon, caramel, and pepper provide light background accents to the flowers. The alcohol content is 7.3% ABV. I liked the floral content in this beer, as it was extremely focused on that, and I believe it to be the intent of the beer.

Saranac High Peaks Chocolate Orange

I picked up a bottle of Saranac High Peaks Chocolate Orange while in Ithaca, NY. The beer pours a black color with a frothy tan head. The aroma consists of dark chocolate, alcohol, and orange. While other flavors were present, it was amazing to see how prevalent the alcohol actually was on the tongue. The taste overall was dark and dry with plenty of chocolate. Obviously some hints of orange and orange peel came out, providing a nice accent to the beer. The alcohol content is 9.0% ABV. I like the flavor of this beer, but I did think that the alcohol was a little too present in the beer and knocked it a little off balance.

Dogfish Head URKontinent

At Al’s of Hampden, I ordered a glass of Dogfish Head URKontinent. The pours a black color with a bubbly tan head. The aroma consists of chocolate, toasted malts, and flowers. The taste is hazelnut, coffee, chocolate, and toasted malts that hide somewhat in the background. It has a floral finish and a light cherry accent. The Belgian yeast provides a sweetness and a little bit of earthiness to the backbone of the beer. The alcohol content is 8.1% ABV. I enjoyed the variety of flavors in this beer, and appreciated how it was created from ingredients that originate all across the globe.

Troegs Scratch 64- Helles

I went to the Troegs brewery in Hershey, PA to get a glass of Scratch 64- Helles on the day that it was released. The beer pours a golden color with a frothy white colored head. The aroma is grassy with funky malts, lemon, and a certain earthiness to it. The taste is light and refreshing with a dry finish. Lemon, grass, and pepper all make appearances. The alcohol content is 4.8% ABV. This was a good and sessionable beer, and a top notch Helles. It was light to drink, but not light on the flavor profile.

Green Flash Palate Wrecker

I picked up a four-pack of Green Flash Palate Wrecker from Al’s of Hampden. The beer pours a beautiful amber color with a lofty and frothy white head that leaves some lacing on the glass. The aroma consists of tangerine, orange, grapefruit, marijuana, pepper, and spruce. The taste is bitter dry with tangerine, pink grapefruit, orange, and lemon citrus flavors on the front end. Pepper and spruce come out and completely dry the mouth and leaves a thin film on the mouth. The alcohol content is 9.5% ABV. This was such a wonderfully bitter beer with so much citrus flavor. The aroma reminded me of the hop candies that are sold at various places, and the flavor was even better.

Lincoln Abbey Straw Bear-E Wheat

My third installment of homebrew was a Straw Bear-E Wheat. The beer pours a cloudy pink-tinted golden color with a frothy white head. The aroma consists of fresh strawberries, wheat, yeast, grass, and shortbread. The taste is large on strawberries which I absolutely love. There are plenty of bubbles on the tongue with this beer, and it tingles a little bit. A dry grassy finish accompanies the wheat flavor in the beer. The alcohol content is approximately 6.0% ABV. I have to say I was more than impressed with the strawberry flavors that came out of this beer, and I wonder why more strawberry wheat beers don’t have this much flavor.

Masia Agullons Runa Brown

As part of the Michael Jackson Rare Beer of the Month Club, I received a bottle of Masia Agullons Runa Brown. The beer pours a dark brown color with a bubbly tan head the leaves a light lacing on the glass. The aroma consists of toasted malts, coffee, caramel, and a touch of vanilla. The taste is dry and toasty with a large smoked malt presence on the front end. Hints of coffee are pretty bold and the caramel and vanilla lightly sweeten out the finish. The alcohol content is 5.0% ABV. This was a nicely flavored and dry brown air that went down smoothly despite the strong toasted malt and coffee presence.

Flying Dog Wildeman Farmhouse IPA

My buddy Matt brought over some Flying Dog Wildeman Farmhouse IPA for me to try. The beer pours a pale golden color with a frothy white color that leaves some lacing on the glass. The aroma consists of lemongrass, pepper, lemon, grass, pine, and a hint of caramel. The taste is dry and biting with lemon, pepper, grass, and a bubbly mouth feel. A hint of funk and horse blanket hang in the background with a dry finish. The alcohol content is 7.5% ABV. This was a nice hoppy saison with a clean taste and a nice bite to it. There was a nice amount of citrus with a spiciness that was well appreciated.