Troegs Scratch 88- Chocolate Stout

I went to Troegs tasting room to pick up a growler of Scratch 88- Chocolate Stout. The beer pours a black color with a frothy tan colored head that leaves specks of lacing on the glass. The aroma consists of dark Belgian chocolate, toasted malts, milk, lemon, and pine. The taste is very dry with chocolate powder and gristle on the tongue. Plenty of toasted malts arrive as well with some lemon and pine accents. It actually has quite a potent hop bite, but it balances well with the robust chocolate offering. ON the finish, a light hint of vanilla lingers behind. The alcohol content is 7.0% ABV. This beer tasted like biting into a bar of unsweetened chocolate, but was quite delicious. While it may have been a little powdery and gritty, it wasn't
 unbearable like some others I've had.

Troegs Scratch 87- Bourbon Barrel Troegenator

I stopped in to the Troegs tasting room eagerly to get a glass of Scratch 87- Bourbon Barrel Troegenator. For those that don’t know, Troegenator is one of my favorite beers and definitely a go-to beer for me. Therefore, barrel aging this beer was the best idea I’ve heard. The beer pours a dark caramel color with a fizzy and bubbly cream colored head that recedes quickly. The, aroma consists of caramel, raisin, coconut, vanilla, and a hint of bourbon. The taste is smooth with caramel on the front end. A wonderful toasted coconut accent arrives accompanied with vanilla. Oak hints carry raisin to the back of the throat and it finishes with alcohol and pepper spice. The alcohol content is 11.5% ABV. Oh my, my, my was this beer amazing. The bourbon plays so well with the doppelbock since the biting alcohol flavor pierces the sweet body. The oak added a great character and the toasted coconut was most memorable.

Troegs Scratch 85- Cocoa Porter

Another beer I tried at the Troegs tasting room was Scratch 85- Cocoa Porter. The beer pours a black color with a bubbly tan colored head. The aroma consists of dark chocolate, toasted malts, and coffee. It’s pretty simple on the nose, but quite enticing. The taste is dark and rich with lots of chocolate and cocoa on the front end. It has a good toasted malt base and a very dry and powdery finish. The alcohol content is 7.0% ABV. This was a wonderful cocoa based beer and was much better than the Scratch 54 attempt. It’s still powdery and dry, but is enjoyable and robust.

Troegs Scratch 84- Belgian Pale Ale

I went to the Troegs tasting room to try Scratch 84- Belgian Pale Ale. The beer pours a dark amber color with a thin bubbly white colored head. The aroma consists of Belgian yeast and spices and plenty of grass. The taste is dry and spicy again with Belgian yeast on the front end. Some grass and an earthiness arrive as well, carried by orange and lemon citrus flavors.. The alcohol content is 6.7% ABV. I’d say this was a very nice Belgian Pale Ale that had some citrus characteristics to it and was very easy to drink.

Troegs Scratch 83- ¿Impending Descent?

While at the Troegs tasting room, I picked up a case of Scratch 83- ¿Impending Descent?, the imperial stout released just in time for the end of the world. The beer pours a black color with a lofty and frothy tan colored head. The aroma consists of chocolate, coffee, vanilla, and sugar. The taste is bold and robust with lots of chocolate, toasted malts, caramel, vanilla, and almost a honey sweetness. Some touches of sugar hit before some alcohol booziness hits on the finish. The alcohol content is 10.9% ABV. I am absolutely in love with this imperial stout and I hope that Troegs makes this into a regular release. However, it was noticably hoppier from the bottle than it was on draft, and I liked the draft version better. I also feel it would benefit greatly from some different barrel aging experiments, such as rum, whiskey, and red wine.

Troegs Scratch 82- Belgian Style Trippel

I picked up a case of Troegs Scratch 82- Belgian Style Trippel from the brewery, a beer brewed with local honey and Westmalle yeast. The beer pours a golden color with a frothy white colored head that leaves lacing on the glass. The aroma consists of banana, Belgian yeast, grass, and spice. The taste is smooth with banana on the front end before a Belgian spice and honey sweetness takes over. The finish dries out a little bit and brings out some spicy and grassy hops. The alcohol content is 8.1% ABV. This trippel was decent, yet not great. The honey added some sweetness, but I think this beer will do very well with some age.

Troegs Scratch 81- Export Lager

My sister brought over a growler of Troegs Scratch 81- Export Lager to share (guess I forgot to snap a photo). The beer pours a golden color with a frothy cream colored head that leaves specks of lacing on the glass. The aroma consists of lemon, caramel, malts, and grass. The taste is smooth and very easy to drink with a large malty profile and lemon accents. A light grassy and peppery hop balance compliments the beer very well. The alcohol content is 4.9% ABV. This was a very nice and easy drinking beer from Troegs that had enough of hop spice to it to make it very enjoyable. I probably would have liked it a little bit better if it was released in late Spring or early Summer.

Troegs Scratch 80- Belgian Brown Ale

As per my normal protocol, I stopped in to the Troegs tasting room to order a glass of Scratch 80- Belgian Brown Ale. The beer pours a dark amber color with a bubbly cream colored head. The aroma consists of caramel, chocolate, fig, date, and apricot. The taste is sweet with caramel, fig, and date before a dry chocolate and grassy finish. A Belgian yeast after taste lingers a bit with an earthy accent. The alcohol content is 7.2%. I thought that Troegs has offered a very nice Belgian Brown that would make some monks very proud. A great balance of dark fruits and an earthy spiciness danced on the tongue and made for a wonderful experience.

Troegs Scratch 79- Master of Pumpkins

I stopped in to the Troegs tasting room to try Scratch 79- Master of Pumpkins. I was thoroughly happy that after years of refusing to make a pumpkin beer that Troegs finally caved and created one, especially using locally grown pumpkins. The beer pours an amber color with a bubbly off-white colored head. The aroma consists of pumpkin, cinnamon, and pepper. The taste is bold on pumpkin that has some light roasted flavors to it. Spicy cinnamon and nutmeg are paired with a peppery and dry finish that leaves hints of vanilla behind. The alcohol content is 8.4% ABV. The saison yeast provided an interesting spiciness to this beer. I’d say if they kept that and pulled back on a few of the other spices, this would be an absolute winner. For a first attempt at a pumpkin ale, I loved it and can hope for another version next year.

Troegs Scratch 78- Fresh Hops Ale

I picked up a case of Troegs Scratch 78- Fresh Hops Ale from the brewery. The beer pours a golden color with a frothy white colored head that leaves a thin lacing on the glass as it subsides. The aroma consists of orange, tangerine, hop oil, funk, and grapefruit. The taste is funky and hoppy with tangerine, orange, and grapefruit. There is a peppery spice on the back of the tongue with a nice caramel backbone. The alcohol content is 7.7% ABV. I loved the citra hop flavors that were complimented very nicely with the nugget hops, hinting that it is only a few month away from Nugget Nectar.

Troegs Scratch 77- Rye IPA

As per usual when a Troegs scratch beer is release, I show up to the tasting room to try it. This time it was Scratch 77, a Rye IPA. The beer pours a cloudy orange-amber color with a frothy cream colored head that leaves plenty of lacing on the glass. The aroma consists of hop spice, rye, lemon, and orange. The taste is dry and spicy with solid citrus background including orange and lemon. A solid rye presence on the finish makes the beer announce itself. The alcohol content is 6.3% ABV. I would be happy with this beer being served at my wedding, as it was brewed for one of the employee's weddings. The spiciness blended very well with citrus flavors and it had a solid backbone to carry the flavor through the experience.

Troegs Scratch 76- Special Hops Ale

I stopped in to the Troegs tasting room to try Scratch 76- Special Hops Ale, a beer brewed for the underwater marathon helping injured military personnel. The beer pours a red amber color with a frothy cream colored head. The aroma consists of caramel, pine, lemon, spruce, grass, and just an overall fresh smell. The taste is bitter with lemon, lots of pine and spruce, and a solid caramel and toffee backbone. On the finish, the beer is dry with grass and hop oils. The alcohol content is 7.5% ABV. I absolutely loved this beer and to me it tasted like the median of Nugget Nectar and HopBack. It was so good that I proceeded to buy a case.

Troegs Scratch 73- Fest Lager

I went to the Troegs Tasting Room to try a glass of Scratch 73- Fest Lager. The beer pours a red-amber color with a frothy white colored head. The aroma is malty and has caramel, grass, and funky hop smells to it. The taste is malty and biscuity with lots of caramel. A spicy hop finish with pepper rounds out the flavors. The alcohol content is 5.5% ABV. I thought this was a delicious oktoberfest with all the right notes. I would, and could, drink plenty of these in one sitting.

Troegs Scratch 75- English IPA

Another beer I got to try while at the American Homebrewers Association rally at Troegs was the Scratch 75- English IPA on cask. The beer pours an amber color with a thin bubbly white colored head. The aroma consists of toffee, caramel, butterscotch, and grass. The taste is sweet and spicy with flavors of grassy hops and lemon. The finish brings out burnt toffee, caramel, and a bit of a funk. The alcohol content is not posted yet, but I would assume it to be about 6.5% ABV. Scratch 75 falls under the category of sweeter IPAs and it definitely had the English hop funk to it. It’s not quite what I am used to in IPAs, but is a nice throwback to the original style.

Troegs Naked Elf

I ordered a glass of Troegs Naked Elf at a recent trip to the brewery. This beer has graduated from Scratch Beer to brewery-only seasonal, and I look forward to it every year. The beer pours a red-tinted amber color with a frothy off-white colored head. The aroma is sweet and consists of Belgian yeast, spice, and earth. The taste is sweet and yeasty with a Belgian spice, pepper, and a biscuity base. The alcohol content is 7.8% ABV. While it’s hard not to make comparisons of this beer to Mad Elf, it does a nice job of standing by itself with solid earthy flavors and a great Belgian yeast taste.

Troegs Scratch 74- American Brown Ale

While at Troegs for the American Homebrewers Association rally, I got a class of Scratch 74- American Brown Ale on cask. The beer pours a brown color with a frothy beige head. The aroma consists of toasted malt, pine, lemon, and toffee. The taste is dry and toasted malts, but most notable it is pretty hoppy with lemon, pine, and spruce flavors abound. There is a nice chocolate finish to round out all of the flavors. The alcohol content is 7.1% ABV. While this isn’t your typical brown ale, it was rather delicious given the elevated hop content, dialing in at a whopping 68 IBUs.

Troegs Scratch 72- Tim's Brown Porter

My buddy Matt brought over a growler of Troegs Scratch 72- Tim’s Brown Porter to share. The beer pours a dark brown color with a lofty and frothy tan colored head that leaves a thin lacing on the glass. The aroma consists of chocolate, coffee, toasted malts, and milk. The taste is dry and roasty with plenty of toasted malts on the front end. A bitter coffee flavor takes over and finishes with a hint of chocolate. A light milk accent sweetens the experience. The alcohol content is 5.5% ABV. This was a well done porter with plenty of toasted malt, coffee, and chocolate flavors that blend really well together.

Troegs Scratch 71- DMB Wit

I picked up a case of Troegs Scratch 71- DMB Wit. The beer was named to attempt to lure the band to the brewery on a recent concert trip in Hershey. The beer pours a pale yellow color with a frothy white colored head that leaves a little lacing on the glass. The aroma consists of thyme, coriander, lemon, wheat, and pepper. The taste is refreshing and light with a strong lemon presence. Coriander, pepper, and thyme leave a lasting impression on the tongue and provides a wonderful balance to the beer. The alcohol content is 5.2% ABV. This is one of the more refreshing wit beers that I have had, and the best of the three I have had from Troegs. I hope they continue this beer’s production some point in the future, possibly as a summer seasonal.

Troegs Scratch 70- Fancy That Triple IPA

On Father’s Day, I stopped in to the Troegs tasting room to try Scratch 70- Fancy That Triple IPA. This was one of the top three finishers in the homebrew contest that saw the Mango Triple IPA win. This beer pours a golden color a bubbly white head. The aroma consists of caramel, tangerine, grapefruit, pepper, and spruce. The taste has a sweet caramel base, bitter citrus including tangerine, grapefruit, lemon, orange, candy, and an after taste that has a spicy pepper and spruce flavor. The alcohol content is 10.4% ABV. This was a wonderfully bitter beer with great citrus flavors that play very well with each other. It was so great, that I decided to order a second glass.

Troegs Scratch 69- More Helles, Less Bock

I picked up a case of Troegs Scratch 69- More Helles, Less Bock from the brewery. The beer pours a golden color with a frothy white colored head that leaves some lacing on the glass. The aroma consists of sweet caramel, toffee, grass, and malt. The taste is sweet on the tongue at first with caramel and toffee, along with some strong malt presence. The finish has a nice grassy balance and leaves some earthy hops on the tongue. The alcohol content is 5.6% ABV. I thought this beer may have been a little too sweet, but it was somewhat palatable. I wouldn’t want several in a sitting, but having one was refreshing enough.