Iron Hill Grandma Drum's Wee Heavy

On a recent visit to Iron Hill Lancaster, I ordered a glass of Grandma Drum’s Wee Heavy. The beer pours an amber color with a frothy beige colored head. The aroma consists of caramel, raisin, and scotch. The taste is smooth but spicy with caramel, raisin, and fig on the front end. There is a scotch alcohol bite and a smooth and sweet finish that leaves a pepper and spice after taste. The alcohol content is 8.3% ABV. This was a nice and easy drinking Wee Heavy that did have a little bit of an alcohol bite. Overall it was quite enjoyable and I’d have another one.

Iron Hill For Richer or Porter

I went to Iron Hill in Lancaster for dinner and I ordered a glass of For Rich or Porter. The beer pours a black color with a frothy tan colored head. The aroma consists of toasted malts, chocolate, and milk. The taste is full of roasted malts, toast, and dark bitter chocolate before sweetening up a little bit with vanilla and milk. The alcohol content is 8.7% ABV. Robust and delicious, For Richer or Porter lingers for a while on your tongue and lets you savors the chocolaty and toasty goodness.

Iron Hill Funkadelic Cherry Brown Ale

Another bottle my buddy Ed brought over a bottle of Iron Hill Funkadelic Cherry Brown Ale to share at our weekly bottle share. The beer pours a brown color with a thin filmy tan colored head. The aroma consists of vinegar, cherry, toasted malts, and caramel. The taste is full of vinegar, cherry, toasted malts, and caramel. There is a dry and sugary finish. The alcohol content is 6.2% ABV. This was a great sour brown ale with a wonderful cherry presence and nice vinegar bite.

Iron Hill Flemish Red

My buddy Ed brought over a bottle of Iron Hill Flemish Red (not F*Red) to share at our weekly bottle share. The beer pours a brown color with a very thin filmy white colored head. The aroma consists of tart cherries, vinegar, and sugar. The taste is tart and full of vinegar, tart cherries, raspberry, and sugar. The alcohol content is 4.8% ABV. This was a wonderful flemish red with a great tart cherry flavors and was fully of vinegary goodness.

Troegs Scratch 67- Brotherly Suds #3

Troegs recently tapped their Philly Beer Week 2012 collaboration Brotherly Suds #3, so I stopped in to give it a taste. The beer is a Vienna Lager and was brewed with brewers from Iron Hill, Sly Fox, Stoudt’s, Yards, and Victory. The beer pours an amber color with a frothy white head that leaves a little lacing on the glass. The aroma consists of caramel, lemon, and grass. The taste is smooth and sweet with caramel before a delicately balanced bitterness comes into play. Lemon, grass, and pepper all come out and dry the finish, leaving a light residual film on the tongue. The alcohol content is 5.2% ABV. This was a well done beer that had a nice balance of flavors, with none overpowering the others. It was refreshing and easy to drink, which is perfect for the summertime.

Iron Hill Octagon

The final beer I ordered at Belgium Comes to West Chester was Iron Hill Octagon, a quad. The beer pours a dark amber color with a frothy beige head. The aroma consists of alcohol, raisin, oak, and caramel. The taste is sweet with raisin, fig, date, and caramel. The finish brings out vanilla and even more caramel. The alcohol content is 15.0% ABV. I was quite impressed with the Belgian Quad, as it was well put together, and the alcohol content was well hidden. The good, sweet flavors made their presence known, but this was not a sweet-bomb.

Iron Hill Blackberry Saison

I ordered a glass of Iron Hill Blackberry Saison while at Belgium Comes to West Chester. The beer pours an amber color with a spotty and filmy white head. The aroma consists of blackberry, lemon, pepper, and hay. The taste is sweet on the front end with lots of blackberry before some lemon, grass, hay, and barnyard funk bitter and dry out the flavor. The alcohol content is 5.5% ABV. This was a dry and delicious beer with a nice fruity accent. It wasn’t quite what I was hoping for, but enjoyable nonetheless.

Iron Hill Bourbon Vanilla Tripel

I got to try a glass of Iron Hill Bourbon Vanilla Tripel at Belgium Comes to West Chester. The beer pours a golden color with a frothy white head that leaves a lacing on the glass. The aroma is grassy with a hint of vanilla, but it is a very faint aroma. The taste is dry up front with grass but has a lot of banana. A big vanilla sweetness takes over the beer, and sadly is taste like extract rather than vanilla beans. Some bourbon comes out in the finish and warms the back of the throat with pepper bites, but it is not significant. The alcohol content is 9.0% ABV. I set my expectations high with this beer, and was somewhat let down, as the vanilla tasted like extract and the bourbon wasn’t as pronounced as I would have liked.

Iron Hill Rudolph's Revenge

While shooting engagement photos, the fiancee and I stopped in to Iron Hill in Lancaster, and I ordered a glass of Rudolph’s Revenge. The beer pours a golden color with a foamy off-white colored head. The aroma consists of banana, grass, and has some hints of grapefruit. The taste is big on banana and very sweet at first. Some grassy dryness surfaces before the finish brings out hints of grapefruit and is nice and bitter. The alcohol content is 8.6% ABV. I like that Iron Hill created a spiced beer that is different from the traditional Christmas beers. More so, it has a great dry finish that balances the sweet banana flavor really well.

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.

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.

Iron Hill Great Pumpkin Stout

I went to Iron Hill in Lancaster for dinner and I ordered a glass of Great Pumpkin Stout. The beer pours a pours a black color with a thin frothy tan head. The aroma consists of chocolate, toasted malts, and has some faint hints of sweet pumpkin. The taste is chocolaty at first with dark chocolate before sweet pumpkin comes in to play. Cinnamon and nutmeg kick in with the perfect balance of spices and hints of vanilla come out on the finish with a light toasted malt flavor. The alcohol content is 9.4% ABV. This was quite an enjoyable beer, with plenty of chocolate flavors, but not so much that the pumpkin was masked. The spices in this beer were very enjoyable as well, without being too overpowering.

Iron Hill Bourbon Pumpkin Patch Porter

Another beer I ordered at Iron Hill Lancaster’s Great Pumpkin Harvest Party was the Bourbon Pumpkin Patch Porter. The beer pours a dark brown color with a thin tan bubbly head. The aroma consists of toasted malts with caramel and bourbon accents and the faintest hint of cinnamon. The taste is oaky with a warming bourbon taste on the front end. I thought the toasted malts take a back seat before some pumpkin, caramel, and vanilla come out on the finish. The after taste leaves hints of chocolate. The alcohol content is 8.8% ABV. For a bourbon barrel aged porter this was a wonderful beer. However, the toasted malts and bourbon were way too overpowering to focus on the pumpkin flavor. Not to say I didn’t like this beer, but I don’t think the addition of the pumpkin was necessary.

Iron Hill Belgian Harvest Ale

The final beer I ordered at Iron Hill Lancaster’s Great Pumpkin Harvest Party was the Belgian Harvest Ale. The beer pours a cloudy golden color with a thin filmy white head. The aroma consists of pepper, grass, pine, lemon, and candi sugar. The taste is lemony and citrusy with dry grassy hops. Pepper and a nice spice accent comes out before a dry hay after taste. The alcohol content is 5.7% ABV. The Belgian Harvest Ale provided a great finish to the meal, as it was refreshing, light-bodied, smooth, and has some sweet characteristics to it. I left the event very satisfied.

Iron Hill Bourbon Pumpkin Dubbel

I went to Iron Hill in Lancaster for their Great Pumpkin Harvest Party. The first beer I ordered was the Bourbon Pumpkin Dubbel. The beer pours a murky brown color with a thin filmy off-white colored head. The aroma consists of cherry, sweet bourbon, fresh pumpkin, and raisin. The taste has raisin and molasses right up front with some sweet pumpkin accents and a dry cinnamon accent. Overall, the flavor was comparable to a mincemeat pie or hot spiked cider. The finish has a light warming bourbon flavor that was just wonderful. The alcohol content is not available online, but I would guess it to be about 8.0% ABV. This was my favorite beer of the evening, as it had such wonderful fall-like qualities to it, including pie and cider. There is nothing I would rather be drinking as the leaves change color than this Bourbon Pumpkin Dubbel.

Iron Hill The Great Imperial Pumpkin Ale

I stopped in to Iron Hill Lancaster to pick up a bottle of Iron Hill The Great Imperial Pumpkin Ale. The beer pours a dark amber color with a frothy beige head that dissipates rather rapidly. The aroma consists of cinnamon, nutmeg, caramel, and a hint of pumpkin. The taste is way better than the aroma and has a soft Belgian-like base with plenty of yeast and a thick molasses mouth feel. A big helping of caramel comes out with hints of cinnamon, nutmeg, candi sugar and allspice. Sweet pumpkin comes out in the finish and some graham cracker crust that lingers around. The alcohol content is 9.0% ABV. This is not your typical pumpkin ale, as the Belgian element to it really brings out a wonderful sweetness with some fall spices that round everything out nicely.

Iron Hill Rauchtoberfest

I stopped in to Iron Hill Lancaster to sign up for the mug club and pick up some pumpkin beer bottles. While there, I ordered a glass of Rauchtoberfest. The beer pours a dark brown color with a frothy cream colored head. The aroma consists of roasted malts, caramel, grass hops, and a hint if smoke. The taste is roasted malts with a soft and slightly dry smokiness and a sweet and smooth caramel base. Some grass comes out in the finish along with a hint of salt. The alcohol content is 6.0% ABV. The waitress cautioned that this beer was rather smoky, but I thought that the smoke was subtle and not overpowering. I highly recommend this beer, as the smoke provides a nice balance to the caramel sweetness.

Iron Hill Sayonara IPA

I ordered a glass of Iron Hill Sayonara IPA while at the Lancaster location for dinner. The beer pours a golden color with a bubbly white head. The aroma consists of lemon, tangerine, grapefruit with sugar, and pine. The taste is bitter with lots of lemon and grapefruit comes out in the finish, drying out the mouth. Pine arrives in the after taste, and it lingers on the tongue for a while. The alcohol content is 6.8% ABV. This was a great bitter beer with plenty of citrus flavors. There was a faint caramel base associated with this beer, but it is difficult to detect with all of the citrus and bitter pine flavors on top of it.

Iron Hill Belgian Witbier

I went to Iron Hill in Lancaster for dinner with my buddy Tim when he was visiting from New york. I ordered the Belgian Witbier first, as it was a warm day and we were sitting outside. The beer pours a golden color with a thin bubbly white head. The aroma consists of lemon, wheat, and orange. The taste is smooth and sweet with lots of citrus, especially orange, flavors. There is a peppery finish with other spices as well that bite the tongue. I can’t located the alcohol content online, but if I recall, it was listed around 5.5% ABV. I thought Iron Hill’s Belgian Witbier was an excellent example of the style and the perfect beer for drinking outside in the warm summer sun.

Iron Hill Savage IPA

My friends and I were in a zone of sharing a bunch of bombers, and another beer we popped open was the Iron Hill Savage IPA. The beer pours a golden color with a frothy white head. The aroma consists of lemon, wheat, and caramel. The taste is smooth and oaky, making it dry, right before lots of lemon sweetens up the tongue. I thought it had a wonderful flavor and a fresh taste, and then there was a pine finish that topped off the experience nicely. The alcohol content is 6.5% ABV. This was an easy drinking IPA with great citrus flavors. The hint of dryness kept all of the other flavors in check and was a beer worthy of praise.