Stoudt's Bock

Another bottle I picked up at Stoudt's brewery was a 26-ounce bottle of the Bock. The beer is a reddish amber color with a light frothy head. It smells sweet and malty. The taste is malty and sour, with slightly toasted malts and caramel undertone. The alcohol content is 5.5% ABV. I thought that this is a unique and delicioius bock, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. If you get a chance to swing by the brewery and pick up a bottle (only place it's available as far as I know), I suggest you do so.

Stoudt's Brewers Reserve Belgian-Style Quad

When I was at the Stoudt's brewery, I picked up a 26-ounce bottle of the Brewers Reserve Belgian-Style Quad. I read that this was a limited edition on the website, so I could not pass up the opportunity to try it. The beer is purple-amber in color with absolutely no head at all. It has a sweet fruity aroma, consisting of hints of grapes and alcohol. The taste is powerful, filled with raisins, bananas, and of course alcohol. I thought that it really kicks with alcohol, which causes the beer to finishes a little dry. The alcohol content is 11% ABV. Overall, I thought that the Brewers Reserve Belgian-Style Quad was an excellent quad that definitely packs a punch. If you are looking for complex beer with a high alcohol content, this Quad from Stoudt will leave you satisfied.

Otter Creek Oktoberfest

Another bottle I piked up at Barley's and Hop's was the Otter Creek Oktoberfest. The beer has an orange amber color and pours with no head. There is a slight malt aroma. The taste is a little spicy at first, but does not finish with too much flavor. The alcohol content is 4.8% ABV. This beer was not bad, but I did not think that it was a great beer either. I've had plenty of better oktoberfests, and I would recommend you bypass this one and try another.

Atwater Blocktoberfest

I picked up a bottle of Atwater Bloktoberfest from Barley's and Hop's. The beer is dark amber in color with a sweet caramel aroma. There a frothy thick head from the pour. It has a sweet malty taste with a carmel undertone. There is a slight sour finish. The alcohol content is 6.3% ABV. I thought that this is a good oktoberfest, and the caramel accent is delicately balanced with the other flavors in the beer.

Thirsty Dog Barktoberfest

I picked up a bottle of Thirsty Dog Barktoberfest at Barley's and Hop's in Pittsburgh (Hey Pittsburghers: Check this place out!). The beer is amber in color with a fresh malty aroma. The taste is sweet and malty with a slightly sour finish. Surprisingly, the beer had a toasted malt undertone which I have not tasted in any other oktoberfest. The alcohol content is 6.0% ABV. This was a very good oktoberfest, especially with the toasted dynamic. It really adds to the flavor of the beer and makes it an original oktoberfest.

Lancaster Brewing Company Oktoberfest

I stopped into Lancaster Brewing Company to grab some food and a glass of their Oktoberfest. The beer is amber in color with a light frothy head. It has a malty aroma.The taste is sweet and malty with crisp hops on the tongue. There is also a slight hint of caramel. The alcohol content is 6.5% ABV. This was an excellent oktoberfest beer, and the freshness was apparent. It actually ranks up there as one of my favorite oktoberfest beers. I plan on making a return visit for another pint or two.

Troegs Mad Elf

I stopped by Troegs and they had freshly bottled 22-ounce pounders of Mad Elf available, so naturally I picked one up for myself. This is the most anticipated beer of the year for me. The beer is reddish amber in color with a creamy frothy head. It smells sweet of alcohol and cherries. The taste is slightly bitter chocolate with cherry hints. It finishes a little sweet with a honey undertone. The alcohol content is 11% ABV. This is the freshest I have ever tasted Mad Elf, and it was excellent. Letting the beer warm up a little too helps release all of the flavors on your tongue. The crispness of the hops hitting with the slight sourness of the cherries and sweetness of the chocolate and honey will make your tongue dance like the “visions of sugar plums.”

Flying Fish Oktoberfish

A bar in Philadelphia that I was at had Flying Fish Oktoberfish on draft and I did not hesitate to order a glass. The beer is amber in color and has a slight caramel aroma. The taste is hitting on sweet malts with hints of caramel and brown sugar. The beer finishes a little spicy due to the hops. The alcohol content is 5.5% ABV. I thought that this beer was very good overall. The caramel and hops played with each other, trying to be the more dominant flavor.

Manayunk Brewing Company

My buddy lives in Manayunk, so to start the evening off right we went to the Manayunk Brewing Company.

The first beer I had was the Schuylkill Punch, which is a raspberry lager. The beer came with no head and is a reddish-purple color. It has a sweet fruity aroma. The taste is light and malty with a nice raspberry accent. I thought that raspberry was not overdone and delicately balanced the malts. It has a slight hop finish. The alcohol content is 7% ABV. This was not a bad start to the warm evening, as it is a refreshing drink.

The second beer I ordered was the Wheat Wallop, which is an imperial wheat. The description completely intrigued me, as it is a hefeweizen “ramped up to wine strength.” The beer is an unfiltered gold color and it smelled like grapes and oranges. The taste was very sweet and fruity, definitely hitting on the grape accent. It had a dry finish due to the alcohol. The alcohol content is 10.6% ABV. I was very impressed with this offering, as there were more fruity flavors in this than a typical hefeweizen. I also very much appreciated the extra alcohol kick.

The final beer I tried at Manayunk was the Manayunk Lager, a marzen style lager. The beer has an amber color with a very light head. There is no aroma. The taste is sweet and malty and has a light finish. There are some slight sour tones on the back of the mouth. The alcohol content is 6.2% ABV. I thought that the Manayunk Lager was a good beer with a balance of sweetness and dryness.

Stoudt Pumpkinlicious

I stopped by the Stoudts Brewery on my way to Philadelphia to try the Pumpkinlicious, which is only available at the brewery. The beer is a golden orange color with a soft white head. The aroma is mostly comprised of ginger with a hint of pumpkin. The taste is heavy on pumpkin with accents of ginger and vanilla. The beer finished a little dry with an undertone of cinnamon. The alcohol content is not posted on the website, but I would guess around 7.5% ABV. I thought overall this is a very good pumpkin beer and was worth the side trip. Drinking this beer fresh from brewery could have also made the difference, as the freshness was very evident. I will make this side trip again.

Lost Abbey Judgment Day Ale

Katie at McGrath's suggested I try Lost Abbey Judgment Day Ale, and I took her up on the suggestion. The beer is copper brown in color with a light foamy head. The aroma is very sweet and hints at the intense alcohol content. The taste is malty and sweet, mostly comprised of raisins with a chocolate undertone. It finishes with large kick of alcohol on your tongue, as if you needed a reminder that you were drinking a Belgian style beer. The alcohol content is 10.5% ABV. Overall, I thought this beer was very complex and very tasty.

Stone 09-09-09 Vertical Epic

I was very excited to see that McGrath's in Harrisburg brought in a keg of Stone 09-09-09 Vertical Epic. The beer is black with a tan frothy head. It has a slight slight chocolate aroma. The taste is malty and consists of a sweet chocolate with hints of vanilla. The finish is slightly dry with a hop kick on the back of the tongue. The alcohol content is 8.6% ABV. I thought that the 2009 version of the Vertical Epic is very good and I hope that the keg is not kicked by the time I get back to McGrath's, as I definitely want another glass of it.

Bare Knuckle Stout

McGrath's in Harrisburg recently tapped a keg of Bare Knuckle Stout. I did not know until after drinking it that this beer hails from Anheuser-Busch. The beer is dark brown with no head. There isn't much of an aroma at all. It has a bitter taste with no flavor. The make up of the beer is very watery. I could not locate an alcohol content, but I would guess it to be around 5% ABV. Overall, this beer is not very good and I do not recommend it. As far as stouts go, this is a very poor one in my opinion.

Clipper City Heavy Seas Loose Cannon

The final (fourth) beer I had out of the Clipper City Heavy Seas sampler pack was Loose Cannon. It is described as hop-cubed ale, as it is a hoppy ale. It has a copper color and a very flowery aroma. The taste is all about the hops. It is sort of unrelenting in its hop bite, but has accent of citrus, most notably grapefruit. It has a crisp and slightly dry finish. The alcohol content is 7.0% ABV. Although this beer is very hoppy, the citrus accent makes it somewhat enjoyable. Be prepared for a hop kick in the tongue when trying this beer.

Clipper City Heavy Seas Small Craft Warning

Out of the Clipper City Heavy Seas sampler pack, the third beer I tried was the Small Craft Warning. This beer is labeled as an “Uber Pils.” For all of you It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia fans, when I read uber pils I think “pass, super pass, uber pass!” The beer is golden in color, cloudy and smells sweet with hints of lemon. The taste is slightly malty at first, and then the hops hit in the middle. It finishes a little dry with an accent of lemon and coriander. The alcohol content is 7.0% ABV. I thought that this was an excellent pilsner with fresh and crisp hop accents. It is very refreshing due to the lemon and coriander and not overly hoppy.