McKenzie Brew House Saison Vautour

When staying with my buddy Matt in West Chester on a Union match evening, we stopped into McKenzie Brew House and I ordered a glass of Saison Vautour. I have heard many great things about this beer and had very high hopes. The beer pours a yellow color with a foamy white head. The aroma consists of wheat with lemongrass and orange. The taste is lemony and sweet with a perfect balance of rye and dry hops. The alcohol content is 6.5% ABV. This beer definitely lived up to its hype. The sweet lemon flavors played very nicely with the rye and dry hops. Furthermore, it was an extremely refreshing beer for the summer time.

Left Coast Hop Juice

While at TJ's in Paoli, I ordered a glass of Left Coast Hop Juice. The beer pours and orange amber color with a thin bubbly white head. The aroma consists of grapefruit and sugar. The taste is very smooth and round with no rough edges. The beer is full of grapefruit and sugar flavors and is a little bitter. There is a slight dry finish with a good alcohol bite. The alcohol content is 9.4% ABV. The Hop Juice was an amazing beer, so much so that I bought a bottle at Al's of Hampden when I saw it in the cooler. I highly recommend this beer, as it is very well balanced and has a great alcohol bite.

Brugse Zot

I ordered a glass of Brugse Zot from TJ's in Paoli. The beer pours a golden color with a thin filmy white head. The aroma is sweet with banana, candisugar, and yeast. The taste is also sweet with banana, yeast, and candisugar. I thought that overall, the taste was a little watered down and had no Belgian spice accents. The alcohol content is 6.0% ABV. Despite the watered down taste and mouth feel, the beer was satisfying and I would order it again. However, it did not fully excite my tongue.

Southern Tier 2XIPA

I ordered a glass of Southern Tier 2XIPA from Al's of Hampden. The beer pours a golden color with a thin bubbly head. The aroma consists of lemon and pepper. The taste is lemon and pepper as well that has a good bite to it, but very well balanced. The 8.2% ABV. I thought that this beer was extremely delicious and meets the high standards that I feel Southern Tier has for themselves. While there may not have been a great dynamic to the beer beyond the basic lemon and pepper flavors, the balance and taste was spot on. I enjoy their entire beer catalog (to this point), and this beer surely did not disappoint.

The Brew Works Space Monkey

I picked up a bottle of The Brew Works Space Monkey, which is a saison brewed with raspberry juice, from Al's of Hampden. The beer pours a red-tinted copper color with a very lofty and foamy white head that does dissipate quickly. The aroma has a wheat base but is dominated by the sweetness of raspberry. The taste is a great balance between wheat flavors and raspberry. This beer isn't overly sweet or sour, and the raspberry provides the perfect accent to the light wheat flavors. The alcohol content is 7.0% ABV. I really enjoyed the Space Monkey as it added a nice little twist to the world of saisons. Nothing was overdone, and it definitely wasn't a “fruity” beer. Pair this beers with a warm sunny afternoon, and experience all it has to offer.

Sierra Nevada 30th Anniversary Charlie, Fred & Ken's Bock

I picked up a bottle of Sierra Nevada 30th Anniversary Charlie, Fred & Ken's Bock from Brass Rail in Campbelltown. The style of the beer is an Imperial Helles Bock. The beer pours an orange amber color with a lofty and foamy off-white colored head. The aroma is sweet and malty with a caramel undertone and a light hop hint. The taste is smooth and malty, and also very sweet. There is a lot of caramel flavor in this one and it has a faint hop bite on the finish that has a pepper bite. The alcohol content is 8.3% ABV. This version definitely wasn't as watered down as some bocks can taste, but is on the sweeter side of beers. I did enjoy drinking this beer, but a few more hops may have helped balance out the sweetness just a bit. However, sour hops took over the flavor a bit once the beer warmed up and balanced the sweetness a bit.

Stone 14th Anniversary Ale- Empierial IPA

I picked up a bottle of Stone 14th Anniversary Ale- Emperial IPA. Stone attempted to make an original India Pale Ale, one that had added hops to make the voyage from the British Empire to the Indian colony. The beer pours a golden color with a foamy white head. The aroma is has a good wheat base with lemon and grass accents. The taste is very powerful and really awakens the taste buds. There are flavors of lemon and wheat, with good pepper and pine accents. The beer finishes a bit dry and bitter, yet refreshing. The alcohol content is 8.9% ABV. If this beer was what the British sailors drank in the past, sign me up for Her Majesty's Service. The beer was rather basic in element, but everyone of the flavors flourished and combined to make an amazing beer. The hops with welcoming and the wheat and lemon balanced out the beer rather well.

Middle Ages Druid Fluid

I picked up a bottle of Middle Ages Druid Fluid from Al's of Hampden. The beer pours an orange amber color with a foamy off-white head. The aroma consists of sweet malts and a heavy helping of pine hops. The taste is sweet with caramel, toffee and raisin with some orange accents mixed in there as well. The beer finishes with a peppery hop bite that really does wonders for this beer. The alcohol content is 9.5% ABV. This beer is very bubbly and light drinking, unlike some other barleywines out there. However, it was really enjoyable and I liked the added hop accents that really made this a dynamic brew.

Moylen's Moylander Double IPA

While at Al's, I picked up a growler of Moylen's Moylander Double IPA for a Fourth of July picnic. The beer pours a copper color with a foamy white head. It has a pine and orange aroma with caramel sweetness. The taste is sweet with caramel with a good pepper bite and some excellent lemon accents. The alcohol content is 8.5% ABV. The Moylander was delicious and really enjoyable and has a good bite for a hot summer day. The hop bit was bitter, but the caramel and lemon balanced it out nicely.

Mikkeller 1000 IBU

I stopped in to Al's of Hampden to order a glass of Mikkeller 1000 IBU. The beer pours an orange amber color with a thick foamy white head. The aroma is very hoppy and is extremely noticeable from a distance (read: table to nose). The taste is hoppy, as expected, and piney with a lemon and caramel base. The alcohol content is 9.6% ABV. Surprisingly, this beer had a good balance and was not overwhelmingly hoppy. I was expecting somewhat of a hop-bomb, but that is not how the beer drinks. It was a little bitter but still a very enjoyable brew.

't Smisje Catherine Imperial Stout

For dessert at Cafe Bruges, I decided to order a bottle of 't Smisje Catherine Imperial Stout. The beer pours a red amber color with a foamy tan head which was surprising to me, as I was expecting a dark brown or black color. The aroma consists of roasted malt and is sweet. The taste is strong, malty, and powerful with strong tastes of raisin and toasted malts and a good helping of vanilla. The alcohol content is 10% ABV. This beer was amazing and it honestly lit my eyes up, most likely due to the good alcohol punch. It completely defies definition as it does not follow the properties of a stout at all, but was an excellent experience.

De Dolle Bos Keun

Another beer I ordered from Cafe Bruges in Carlisle was the De Dolle Bos Keun. The beer pours a golden color with a foamy white head that is very lofty. The aroma is sweet with tangerine and citrus. The taste is sweet with plenty of candisugar and lots of tangerine flavor. There is a base of toffee in the background and the beer finishes with a hop bite of pine. The alcohol content is 10% ABV. The Bos Keun was a very delicious and active brew that spices your throat up like a warmer. I highly recommend trying this beer.

De Ranke Guldenberg

I went to Cafe Bruges in Carlisle based on high recommendations from several people. The first beer I ordered there was the De Ranke Guldenberg. The beer pours a golden color with a foamy white head. The aroma consists of candisugar, yeast, banana, and pine hops. The taste is smooth and light with a little bit of sour hops. The most noticeable property of this beer was that is highly carbonated. The beer also had a good taste of sweet malts and some orange zest on the finish. The alcohol content is 8.5% ABV. I thought that this beer was delicious and refreshing and a good start to the evening. If you aren't a fan of carbonation, you may want to shy away from this.

Left Coast Asylum

I picked up a bottle of Left Coast Asylum, a Belgian Style Tripel Ale, from Brass Rail in Campbelltown. The beer pours a brilliant golden color with a thin bubbly white head. The aroma is banana and pepper with some candisugar. The taste is smooth and sweet with strong flavors of Belgian yeast, banana, and some pepper accents. The alcohol content is 11% ABV. Overall, this was a good take on the Belgian tripel with great banana flavors and pepper accents. I really enjoyed the generous amount of Belgian yeast flavors that accompanied this beer. It was good enough of a beer that when I saw it at Flat Rock in Manayunk, I didn't hesitate to order a bottle.

Troegs Drafting Room 16th Anniversary Ale

I got the email from Troegs that their Drafting Room 16th Anniversary Ale was available in the brewery, so I sent my roommate to grab a growler that we could split. The basic breakdown to this beer is that it is Nugget Nectar with Belgian westmalle yeast. The beer pours a brilliant amber color (similar to that of Nugget Nectar) with a hefty and foamy white head. The aroma consists of candisugar, bubble gum,, and fresh earthy hops. The taste is sweet at first with a good helping of Begian yeast, candisugar, and bubble gum. It finishes with a nice pine hop bite that dries the back of the tongue. The alcohol content is 7.5% ABV. The hops in this beer were not too overwhelming, but if you are familiar with Troegs beers and their hop content, you will very much enjoy this beer. The Beglian yeast really throws this beer over the tops in a clash of America versus Belgium, a war that is won by the beer drinker.