Dogfish Head Noble Rot

On a visit to Brass Rail in Campbelltown, I ordered a glass of Dogfish Head Noble Rot. The beer pours a pale golden color with a bubbly white head. The aroma consists of sweet grape, lemon, grass, and pepper. The taste is sweet with a slight grape sourness. Pepper and grass have a strong presence, and wheat provides a good base with lemon accents. A nice bubbly and carbonated mouth feel greets the tongue on the finish. The alcohol content is 8.3% ABV. This combination of wine and beer makes for a rather tasty and pleasant experience. I think it would prove to be a great beer to give to wine connoisseurs to get them to convert to craft beer.

Left Hand Fade to Black Volume 3- Pepper Porter

I ordered a glass of Left Hand Fade to Black, Volume 3- Pepper Porter at Al’s of Hampden. The beer pours a black color with a bubbly tan head. The aroma consists heavily of chili peppers, chocolate, and toasted malts. The taste is smooth and dry with a bubbly mouth feel. There is good chocolate base, but the focus is a balanced pepper spice. There are also hints of toasted malts and caramel lingering in the background. The alcohol content is 6.8% ABV. I really enjoyed this version of Fade to Black, although probably not as much as last year’s version. It was a wonderfully put together porter with chili accents, and everything fell in to place nicely.

Straub Groundhog Brew

For Groundhog Day, I opened a bottle of Straub Groundhog Brew. The beer pours an amber color with a lofty and frothy cream-colored head that leaves some speckles of lacing on the glass. The aroma consists of caramel, grassy hops, and has a light sour malt hint. The taste is refreshing and very clean with a light caramel taste. Grassy hops take over a lightly bitter the mouth. The alcohol content is not posted online, but I would assume it to be about 4.5% ABV. While the reviews on Beer Advocate indicate poor, I believe it was from a previous run of this beer. This version was an extremely easy drinking beer with a good flavor, and just enough hops to provide balance.

Shipyard Applehead

I picked up a bottle of Shipyard Applehead from Al’s of Hampden as part of a mixed six-pack. The beer pours a golden color with a bubbly white head that lingers for a little while. The aroma consists of wheat, apple, cinnamon, caramel, and a hint of lemon. The taste is much better than the aroma is very reminiscent of apple pie with apples, caramel, cinnamon, and nutmeg flavors. There is a slight crust flavor as well as some lemon with a dry, grassy finish. The alcohol content is 4.5% ABV. This beer was much better than I expected, and it had a great apple pie flavor.It wasn’t quite like apple juice, which was also a good thing, keeping away from being too sweet.

Les Trois Mousquetaires Porter Baltique

I received a bottle of Les Trois Mousquetaires Porter Baltique as part of the Michael Jackson Rare Beer of the Month Club. The beer pours a black color with a lofty and frothy tan head that leaves lacing on the glass. The aroma consists of toasted malts, molasses, chocolate, vanilla, caramel, and grassy hops. The taste is bold and very chocolaty with a mixture of milk and dark chocolate. Plenty of toasted malts with a hint of smoke come out to play before being smoothed out by caramel and vanilla. The after taste leaves some grassy hops behind. The alcohol content is 10.0% ABV. I was entirely impressed this beer and the amount of flavor packed into a glass. Some much chocolate was present on the tongue, but toasted malts took the starring role, all tied together with caramel, molasses, and vanilla flavors.

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.

Stewart's Stumblin' Monk

Another beer I ordered at Belgium Comes to West Chester at Iron Hill was Stewart’s Stumblin’ Monk. The beer pours a clear golden color with a filmy white head. The aroma was very off-putting and consisted mostly of ammonia with some grass, but it was hard to detect anything over the chemical smell. The taste is sweet with banana, yeast, and pepper. A dry earthy finish comes out at the end. The alcohol content is 9.2% ABV. It all began with the smell, but this was not really that good of a beer. I didn’t take too kindly to the ammonia smell, and the flavors just felt thrown together, rather than blending nicely.

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.

Devil's Backbone Brett Fermented Eight Point IPA

At Belgium Comes to West Chester at Iron Hill, they had Devil’s Backbone Brett Fermented Eight Point IPA on draft. The beer pours a golden color with a faint filmy white head. The aroma consists of brett, a funk, hay, and barnyard. The taste is dry and funky with hay and grass. Hints of lemon shine through, but mostly the beer has some earthy properties. There is a faint hint of caramel and a peppery finish with cloves. The alcohol content is 6.0% ABV. This beer was like saison meets IPA, a clash occurring in the old west. My buddy Matt was not a fan of this concoction, but I enjoyed the variety of styles that this beer represented.

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.

New Holland Blue Sunday

At Belgium Comes to West Chester, Iron Hill had on tap New Holland Blue Sunday. The beer pours a reddish amber color with a thin bubbly white head. The aroma consists of sour raspberry, cherry, tartness, and vinegar. The taste is tart and sour with raspberry and cherry with a surprising light smoked malt background. Vanilla comes out on the finish. The alcohol content is  9.0% ABV. Blue Sunday had a great overall flavor and couldn’t be described as just sour and done. The smoked malt background really added another dimension to this beer, making more than just another sour. It was quite memorable, and unlike any other sour that I have had to date.

Mikkeller From Via To Barrel Aged Bourbon

I picked up a bottle of Mikkeller From Via To Barrel Aged Bourbon from Al’s of Hampden. The beer pours a black color with an extremely lofty and frothy tan head that takes a while to fade. The aroma consists of bourbon, vanilla, chocolate, toasted malts, and caramel. The taste is smooth and chocolaty with a nice bourbon accent that isn’t too biting and adds a good vanilla flavor to it. Some caramel and toasted malts come out in the finish with a nice dryness. The alcohol content is 8.0% ABV. This was quite a well done bourbon barrel aged beer that wasn’t too overdone. The baltic porter base still has a large presence in this glass, and was not impaired by the bourbon flavors.

Saint Somewhere Cynthiana

I received a bottle of Saint Somewhere Cynthiana from the Michael Jackson Rare Beer of the Month Club. The beer pours an orange-amber color with a frothy off-white colored head that leaves speckles of lacing on the glass. The aroma consists of orange, coriander, grapes, biscuits, yeast, banana, and grass. The taste is biting and dry from a grape flavor with lots of pepper up front, orange, lemon, yeast, and grass. The mouth feel is bubbly and carbonated, but not too much, and has lots of biscuit properties.The alcohol content is 8.0% ABV. This beer had a great mouth feel and very complimentary flavors, balancing peppery spices with sweet yeast and citrus notes.

Bell's Cherry Stout

While out at dinner at the Black Gryphon in Elizabethtown, I ordered a glass of Bell’s Cherry Stout. The beer pours a black color with red hues and a thin filmy brown head. The aroma consists of chocolate, cherry pie, vanilla, and molasses. The taste is sweet with lightly sour cherries up front, dark chocolate to balance, and a dry powdery cocoa finish. Vanilla and molasses linger in the after taste. The alcohol content is 7.0% ABV. While not as good as the Cerise, the cherry flavors in this beer do provide a nice accent to the dark and powdery chocolate flavors.

Brouwerij Van Steenberge Biere Du Boucanier Dark

Another beer I ordered at the Abbey Bar on $2 off Belgians night was Brouwerij Van Steenberge Biere Du Boucanier Dark. The beer pours a dark amber color with a thin frothy off-white colored head. The aroma consists of caramel, alcohol, raisin, fig, prune, and date. The taste is sweet and malty with caramel, raisin, fig, date and prune flavors coming out, just as in the aroma. There is a dry grassy hop finish with light alcohol bite. The alcohol content is 9.0% ABV. If you are a fan of Belgian Quads, this is an excellent example of one and I recommend that you try it. It covers all of the dark fruit flavors without being too sweet.