Victory Storm King on Cask

Another beer that Al's of Hampden was running a $2 special on while celebrating the addition of a beer engine was Victory Storm King. The beer pours a black color with a foamy tan head that's very solid. The aroma is chocolate and cream. The taste is oak and sweet chocolate with a bitter chocolate finish. There is also a a bit of cream mixed in there due to the beer engine and light hop bite. The alcohol content is 9.1% ABV. I was very impressed with the Storm King, especially on cask. The creaminess added by the cask worked really well with the chocolate and I think that the cask brought out the oak flavors even more in the beer.

Victory Hop Wallop on Cask

I stopped into Al's of Hampden to get Victory Hop Wallop on cask . Al's was running a special for $2 pints of cask beers to celebrate adding a beer engine to their capabilities. The beer pours a golden color with a frothy white head. The aroma is lemon and wheat. The taste is creamy and lemon with a good pepper taste. There is a piney bite on the back of the throat in the finish. The alcohol content is 8.5% ABV. The Hop Wallop was excellent and I think pouring it on the hand pump helped added a creamy flavor to the beer, which balances really well with the lemon and pepper.

Harrisburg Brewers Fest 2010

I attended Harrisburg Brewers Fest 2010, hosted by Troegs and for the benefit of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. It was an extremely hot day, but cold beers definitely helped the situation. Below are my tasting notes and pictures of the beers to accompany. Keep in mind that with smaller samples and an expedited schedule, my tasting notes a bit more brief than normal. If I get the chance to review these beers again, I will expand on them.

Bullfrog Fran-tastique Saison- The beer pours a cloudy yellow color. The aroma consists of wheat and lemon. The taste follows the aroma with lemon and wheat and nice slight hop bite. The alcohol content is 7.5% ABV. I thought overall that this was a very good saison that was clean and refreshing

Duck-Rabbit Marzen- The beer pours a nice amber color. The aroma is very malty with a slight sour hint. The taste is smooth and malty with great sour hops finishing off the flavor. The alcohol content is not available online.

Smuttynose Barleywine- The beer pours a golden amber color with a bubbly white head. The aroma is malty with a light citrus zest. The taste is malty and bitey (great hops included) with caramel and some orange and spice accents. The alcohol content is 10.0% ABV. This was a great barleywine and I would like to get an entire bottle of it rather than just a taste.

21st Amendment Brew Free or Die IPA- The beer pours a clear yellow color with a bubbly white head. There is a lemon aroma that is pretty faint. The taste is mostly lemon with some light pepper accents. The alcohol content is 7.0% ABV. I thought that this was a tame IPA, making it great to an IPA newbie, but still pretty good and easy drinking.

Market Cross Pub Red Ale- This beer was the winner of the home brew contest that Market Cross held previous to Brewer's Fest and it was available on hand pump. The beer pours an orange amber color with a bubbly white head. There is a nice malty aroma. The taste is malty, smooth, and creamy. There is no alcohol content available online. I thought that the Red Ale was delicious and one of my favorites, if not my favorite, beer of the day.

Erie Presque Isle Pilsner- The beer pours a yellow color with a bubbly white head. There is minimal aroma. The taste is sweet and wheat and overall light bodied. The alcohol content is 4.2% ABV. I thought that this pilsner was pretty decent but not mind blowing. I would definitely order this beer again for its easy drinking on a hot day.

Swashbuckler Mocha Stout- The beer pours a dark black color with a tan bubbly head. The aroma is coffee and chocolate with a bit of cream. The taste is coffee and cream with some good chocolate taste holding together the backbone. There is no alcohol content available online. This beer was excellent and smooth and made my list of great beers for the day. I would make this my second favorite beer of the day behind the Red Ale of Market Cross.

Otto's Pilsner- The beer pours a clear yellow color with a thick bubbly head. The aroma is filled with sour malts. The taste is malty and crisp with a good helping of sour hops. The alcohol content is 5.1% ABV. This pilsner was very refreshing and again is a great choice for a hot summer day.

Weyerbacher Double Simcoe- The beer pours a reddish amber color with a bubbly foamy white head. The aroma is filled with grapefruit, just the way I like my IPAs. The taste is really well balanced with caramel and grapefruit and a sweet sugary finish. The alcohol content is 9%. The Double Simcoe was an extremely delicious beer and I plan on tracking this beer down for home consumption.

Flying Dog Woody Crick White- The beer pours a yellow color and cloudy with a bubbly white head. The aroma is filled with wheat and light hints of lemon. The taste is lemon and wheat. The alcohol content is 4.8% ABV. I thought that this witbier was really good but might have been slightly over-carbonated. However, this is less intrusive on a hot day as the beer is very refreshing.

New Holland El Mole Ocho- The beer pours a dark amber color. There is a chocolate and sour hop aroma. The taste is filled with chili and coffee, but in a great balance. The alcohol content is 8.0% ABV. I was very surprised as to how good this beer was. It was my first experience with a spiced beer and I really enjoyed it.

Thirsty Dog Siberian Night- The beer pours a dark brown color with a tan bubbly head. The aroma consists of coffee, chocolate, and oak. The taste is the same as the aroma, mostly with the coffee and the chocolate. The oak provides a nice finishing touch. The alcohol content is 9.5% ABV. Overall, this beer is very delicious and I enjoyed the oak accents.

Marzoni's Avalanche IPA- The beer pours a dark amber color which was very surprising with a bubbly head. The aroma is filled with grapefruit. The taste consists of toasted malts and grapefruit. The alcohol content is 6.9% ABV. Overall, a decent IPA, as it contained a great bit of grapefruit flavors and the toasted malts gave an interesting but pleasing balance.

North Coast Brother Thelonious

Another I beer I ordered at Al's of Hampden (for dessert!) was the North Coast Brother Thelonious. The beer pours a dark brown color with a thin bubbly head. The aroma consists of dark fruit, fig, and yeast. The taste is malty with heavy caramel, toffee, fig and some cherry accents. The alcohol content is 9.4% ABV. Overall, I would say that this beer was very delicious. It wasn't overly complex, but all the right flavors were there, making this the perfect dessert beer.

Port Brewing Wipe Out IPA

I stopped into Al's of Hampden for lunch prior to Harrisburg Brewer's Fest and with my pizza I ordered a glass of Port Brewing Wipe Out IPA. The beer pours a cloudy golden color with a bubbly white head. The aroma consists of lemon and caramel. The taste is mostly lemon and pepper with a fairly bitter bite. However, the beer has a surprising and noteworthy caramel balance. The alcohol content is 7% ABV. This was a very solid IPA and was extremely well balanced. The beer didn't leave your tongue bitter, as it only lingered it for a short time. The bitterness was replaced with a sweet caramel taste which was very satisfying.

Stone/Dogfish Head/Victory Saison du Buff

I was able to request a couple of bottles of the Stone/Dogfish Head/Victory collaboration (brewed at Stone Brewery) Saison du Buff. It was a bit hard to track down, but from what I heard, it was well worth the search. The beer pours an orange-yellow color with lofty bubbly white head. The aroma consists of orange and lemon with a strong kick of flowers, thyme, and parsley. The taste consists of a smooth and lightly buttery taste yet crisp with orange and lemon flavors and a nice spice bit consisting of thyme, parsley, sage, and rosemary. The finish is a little peppery and dries the mouth a little bit. The alcohol content is 6.8% ABV. This beer is not your conventional saison, but it sets the bar high for any other saisons created. The amount of spices thrown into this brew really make this multidimensional and an overly flavorful experience.

Southampton IPA

I ordered a glass of Southampton IPA from McGrath's in Harrisburg. The beer pours an amber color with a foamy white head. The aroma consists of lemony and citrus with a hint of grapefruit. The taste is very malty with caramel all over the tongue. There is a light grapefruit and lemon bite on the sides of the mouth. The beer is a little bitter on the finish. The alcohol content is 6.5% ABV. I thought that this IPA was really good. I enjoy the IPAs that have grapefruit flavors, and this one was very well done, nicely balanced, and had a great malt sweetness.

Roy Pitz Best Blonde Ale

On my most recent visit to McGrath's in Harrisburg, I noticed that they tapped a keg of Roy Pitz Best Blonde Ale. Roy Pitz is a new brewery from Chambersburg, PA. This was my first taste of their beer, and I was pretty excited. The beer pours a light yellow color with a thin bubbly white head. The beer is fairly clear and light colored. The aroma consists of wheat and apricot. The taste is also wheat and apricot and very light bodied. The alcohol content is 4.0% ABV. I thought that this Kolsch style was decent but not too special. It was very clean and crisp with a good apricot flavor.

Troegs Scratch 31- IPA "Citra of Brotherly Love"

I stopped by the Troegs brewery to pick up some six-packs of the latest Scratch Beer. Scratch 31- IPA, nicknamed Citra of Brotherly Love, was brewed for Philly Beer Week with citra hops, the first for Troegs. The beer pours a brilliant golden color with a bubbly white head that has a good lace that sticks to the edge of the glass. The aroma consists of sour grapefruit and a light hint of pepper. The taste consists heavily of grapefruit that is still somewhat sour and some lemon and pepper. The alcohol content is 7.4% ABV. This is exactly the IPA I would expect Troegs to make, as the grapefruit hops really make this very intensive yet extremely enjoyable. The hops are not overdone and this is a very smooth drinking beer.

Appalachian Brewing Company Batch No. 666

I stopped into Appalachian Brewing Company to pick up a couple of bottles of Batch No. 666. This beer had been released previously, but the brewery decided to bottle and sell it. The beer pours a black color with a frothy tan head. The aroma consists of a heavy dose of chocolate, coffee, and cream. The taste is very bold and empowering in the mouth. There is plenty of chocolate and coffee on the front end that is sweetened a bit by some honey. The alcohol also has an immediate impact in biting the sides of the mouth. The flavor then transforms into an oak/wood flavor. The finish brings a bit of fig and dark fruit along with it and dry out the back of the mouth with cinnamon and nutmeg. The alcohol content is 7.7% ABV. This was a thoroughly delicious brew, but I would only have to question the timing of the release in bottles. It is somewhat of a winter warmer, and it was released a week before summer starts. I don't mind terribly, as I will drink a good beer anytime of the year. This beer definitely fits the bill of a beer that I will drink anytime, and I recommend you get a bottle before it's gone...forever?

Troegs Sunshine Pilsner

I picked up a case of Troegs Sunshine Pilsner for poker night at my house (I'm pretty nice to my guests, aren't I?). The beer pours a clear yellow color with a frothy white head. The aroma consists of sour hops with a healthy backbone of malts. The taste is light and malty with a crisp hop bite on the side of the mouth. There is a light lemon zest hidden in the background of this beer with a nice helping of wheat as well. The alcohol content is 5.3% ABV. I thought that Troegs has nailed the pilsner style and has provided a perfect, refreshing beer that actually has flavor unlike the mega-breweries' yellow fizzy water. On a hot day in the summer, Sunshine Pilsner is the beer you want to be drinking.

Avery-Russian River Collaboration Not Litigation Ale

I picked up a bottle of the Avery-Russian River collaboration brew called Collaboration Not Litigation Ale. The beer pours a dark golden color with a foamy white head. The aroma consists of yeast, honey, plums, and some toasted malts. The taste is sweet and full of yeast and honey. The taste has a healthy dose of candisugar as well, with an added bit of plums. There is a bready finish as well with a light hop bite of the back of the tongue. The alcohol content is 8.21% ABV. This was a very interesting brew/ I definitely did not hate it, but I couldn't come around to love it either. There were plenty of flavors to excite the tongue, but I almost feel that they didn't blend well with each other. Regardless, I wouldn't turn this beer down if I was offered it, I'm just not so sure I would go out and buy it again.

Founders KBS

I was lucky enough to secure a bottle of Founders KBS (Kentucky Breakfast Stout) from Brass Rail in Campbelltown. The beer pours a dark black color with a thin bubbly tan head. The aroma is deeply filled with chocolate and coffee and a hint of cream. The taste packs a powerful punch of chocolate and coffee and does not shy away from hinting at a high alcohol content. In the background is some oak and bourbon tastes that stick to the outside of the mouth. The finish to the beer is slightly creamy, but really bites with alcohol and some floral hops. The alcohol content is 11.2% ABV. I am not surprised as to how delicious this beer is, as the beer is aged for an entire year in bourbon barrels. The normal chocolate and coffee flavors are ever-present, but the oak and bourbon additions really make drinking this beer a pleasurable experience.

Southampton Grand Cru

I picked up a bottle of Southampton Grand Cru from Al's of Hampden. The beer pours a golden amber color with a lofty bubble white head. The aroma consists of of orange citrus and coriander with an underlying smell of cream. The taste consists of very spicy at first with coriander, but finishes smooth and sweet with an orange flavor. There is a lot of carbonation in this beer, but it does not ruin the texture or flavor. The beer has a burnt caramel finish on the back of the tongue. The alcohol content is 9.8% ABV. It is noticeable in the flavor and by the pinch on the tongue that this beer has a high alcohol content. I was thoroughly impressed with this Grand Cru. I was overwhelmed with the orange flavor and it was delicious. I will definitely seek this beer out again to purchase.

Smuttynose IPA

I ordered a glass of Smuttynose IPA on my last visit to Brew House in Camp Hill. The beer pours a golden color with a bubbly white head. The aroma is faint but what is there is big on lemon and pepper. The taste is very lemony with sugar with a hint of grapefruit and pepper. The finish is dry on the back of the mouth and lingers. There is also some orange too with hints of pine. The alcohol content is 6.9% ABV. This was a solid performer as an IPA and was very enjoyable. I like the grapefruit hints in the beer that really added to the lemon and pepper base.