Great Divide 16th Anniversary Wood Aged Imperial IPA

I stopped into Al's of Hampden to pick up a growler of Great Divide 16th Anniversary Wood Aged Imperial IPA. The beer pours an orange amber color with a bubbly white head. The aroma consists of caramel, toffee, grapefruit, and sugar. The taste is sweet and smooth with a heavy dose of caramel with some grapefruit. There is a good oak accent that dries out the beer. The alcohol content is 10.0% ABV. This beer was a very delicious brew with decent hop finish and great oak accent. Overall, I thought it was very well done and I hope to be able to get some more of this before it's gone.

Avery 17 (Dry Hop)

While at Al's of Hampden to pick up a growler of the mmmMaharaja, I decided to give the Avery 17 (Dry Hop) a try. The beer pours a black color with think bubbly tan head. The aroma consists of roasted malts with chocolate. The taste is roasted malts and bitter dark chocolate with a good dry hop finish. The finish actually stings and dries the tongue. The alcohol content is 8.69% ABV. The 17 (Dry Hop) was a really good beer that delivers chocolate taste without the heavy feeling. I thought it also had a surprising but yet balancing hop finish.

Avery Maharaja

I stopped in to Al's of Hampden to grab a growler of Avery Maharaja to watch a Union match. The beer pours golden amber color with a lofty foamy white head. The aroma consists of lemon and pepper with a light grapefruit accent. The taste is smooth and round with a good lemon punch. The beer finishes with some grapefruit flavors, and orange punch, and a warm caramel base. The alcohol content is 10.3% ABV. The caramel and alcohol have a nice way of warming the throat. The hops are definitely not overdone in this beer, but are meant to balance the sweetness. I highly recommend this beer, even if you don't love hops.

Smuttynose Barleywine Style Ale

I picked up a bottle of Smuttynose Barleywine Style Ale from Brass Rail in Campbelltown, PA. I thoroughly enjoyed the Gravitation brew from the BIG BEER series, so I was anxious to try the Barleywine. The beer pours an orange amber color with a foamy white head with some noticeable lacing. The aroma consists of orange, coriander, lemon zest, and a background of caramel and toffee. The taste is powerful is sweet, hitting first with a sweet orange punch and a powerful caramel and toffee base. The lemon comes in on the finish and a nice pepper and pine accent hits the back of the tongue. The alcohol content is 10.0% ABV. The barleywine was perfectly balanced, and the fruitiness was very welcomed as well. The orange and lemon kept the sweet caramel and toffee in check, and made for an excellent drinking beer, of which the alcohol content wasn't overly noticeable.

Dogfish Head Namaste

I stopped into TJ's in Paoli upon reading their tweet that they had bottles of Dogfish Head Namaste in stock. When I walked in, there was one bottle left, so I snatched it up right away. The beer pours a cloudy and unfiltered yellow color with a lofty foamy white head. The aroma consists of a heavy helping of lemongrass with wheat, orange, and coriander accents. The taste is light and refreshing, starting out with a wheat flavor and a good helping of carbonation. The flavor then transforms into lemongrass and coriander. The beer finishes clean with an orange accent and a faint sour hop bite. The alcohol content is 5.0% ABV. If you are looking for a light summer beer that is also complex, Namaste is the beer for you. It comes with multiple taste levels that will keep your tongue happy, but light and refreshing to drink outside in the sun.

General Lafayette Inn The Phantom

Another beer I ordered on my most recent visit to the General Lafayette Inn was The Phantom, their barleywine. The beer pours a brown amber color with a little bubbly tan head. The aroma is malty with toffee and caramel smells. The taste is toffee and caramel with a good scotch accent. The beer finishes with pine hops and a big alcohol kick. The alcohol content is 12.2% ABV. The Phantom was awe-inspiring and one of the best barleywines I have ever had. It was extremely sweet, but not in a manner that ruined the flavor, and had an amazing alcohol kick that teamed with a pine hop punch. If you are in the Philadelphia area, get to General Lafayette Inn and order one of these beers.

General Lafayette Inn Loch Ness Monster

I visited the General Lafayette Inn following a Union match for dinner and drinks. The first beer I ordered for the evening was the Loch Ness Monster. The beer pours a dark amber color with a thin bubbly tan head. The aroma is sweet with caramel, licorice, and chocolate. The taste is malty and sweet with a chocolate and licorice finish. The alcohol content is 8.5% ABV. The Loch Ness Monster was extremely smooth and delicious and was a perfect starter beer for the evening.

Monk's Cafe Sour Flemish Ale

Another beer I ordered on draft from Cafe Bruges in Carlisle was Monk's Cafe Sour Flemish Ale. The beer pours a red-purple-amber color with a foamy white head that is very thick. The aroma is sweet and fruity with a good bit of raspberry. The taste is sweet and lightly sour, mostly consisting of raspberry and grape. The alcohol content is 5.5% ABV. I though that the Sour Flemish Ale was very good and smooth drinking, and when I drank it I though that it tasted a little bit like church.

Struise Mikkeller (Elliot Brew)

I went to Cafe Bruges in Carlisle with family for dinner and I ordered a bottle of Stuise-Mikkeller (Elliot Brew). The beer pours a copper color with a lofty and foamy white head. The aroma is malty with orange and caramel. The taste is bitey and bubbly with a good caramel base and plenty of orange and yeast accents. The taste rounds out with a good helping of candisugar and good spice accents with light hop bite. The alcohol content is 9.0% ABV. I thought that this beer was an excellent drinking brew and had a great mouth feel. I would describe this beer as having a lot of pep in its step, as it will attack the sides of your mouth with spice and hops, but in a very good way.

Iron Hill Cherry Tart

The final beer I ordered on my last visit to Iron Hill in West Chester, for dessert no less, was the Cherry Tart. The beer pours a golden color with a bubbly white head that has good lacing. The aroma consists of cherry and wheat. The taste is light cherry but slightly sour and a good wheat balance. The taste has a light sugar sweetness and is not too sour or weak. The alcohol content is 5.8% ABV. Overall, Iron Hill achieved their goal in making this beer taste just like a cherry tart. I was surprised that the cherry wasn't too overpowering in its sourness, but it was a great tasting beer, especially for dessert.

Iron Hill Maholo Apollo

While at Iron Hill in West Chester on my last visit, I ordered a glass of Maholo Apollo. The beer pours unfiltered yellow color with a bubbly white head. The aroma consists of lemongrass, wheat and thyme. The taste is sweet with lemon, wheat, and thyme and has a biscuit undertone. The beer has a pleasant rounded flavor that is easy drinking and smooth, but yet a light pepper finish. The alcohol content is 6.9% ABV. I really enjoyed the Maholo Apollo and will definitely order this beer on subsequent visits to Iron Hill. The twist for me was the thyme spice accent that really danced on the tongue.

Iron Hill Hopzilla

On an evening following a Union match, my buddy Matt and I stopped into Iron Hill in West Chester for dinner. The first beer I ordered was the Hopzilla. The beer pours a copper color with a thin bubbly white head. The aroma is strong lemon and light pepper. The taste is also lemon and pepper with same caramel undertone. The alcohol content is 7.0% ABV. The Hopzilla was a delicious IPA, but nothing too special either. It is a great beer to order while at Iron Hill, but not worth the trip there alone.

Troegs Scratch 32- Keystone Common

I stopped in to Troegs to pick up a case of the newest Scratch Beer series, Scratch 32 Keystone Common. This beer is a spin off of a California Common, but with a little bit of Pennsylvania flavor and hop addition. The beer pours a pale yellow color with a medium-sized white foamy head. The aroma consists of sour malts and a light hop accent.The beer is a light drinking malty brew with a good lemon hop accent. The beer is a little dry on the finish, but has a great hop character. The alcohol content is almost sessionable at 5.4% ABV. The Keystone Common makes a great summer drinking beer, as it is a light beer. However, the addition of hops really makes the beer a little more complex than a typical common, and very enjoyable.

Nebraska Brewing Company Melange a Trois

When I was at Brass Rail in Campbelltown, they placed a few bottles of Nebraska Brewing Company Melange a Trois on the shelf, their first shipment into the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It took some deliberation on my part to fork over $34 for a 25.4 ounce bottle, but I caved in a bought it. The Melange a Trois is a Belgian-style ale aged in Chardonnay bottles. This was my first beer from Nebraska Brewing Company, and I was excited to try it, given the reviews I have seen. The beer pours a brilliant golden color. From the pour, my first thought was “Holy head!” The pour takes off with an extremely lofty and foamy white head that hangs around for a while, sticking to the glass as it subsides. The aroma consists of banana, pepper, candisugar, white grapes, and Belgian yeast. Once the head subsided in about three minutes, I moved on to tasting the beer. The taste is full and powerful from the start. The carbonation attacks the tongue quickly, followed by flavors of candisugar, banana, and sweet yeast. The finish to the beer has a bit of a pepper and alcohol bite, drying the mouth as it goes down. The Chardonnay aging is present in the finish, as remnants of white grapes and Chardonnay linger in the mouth. The alcohol content is 10.0% ABV. I must say that I was very impressed with the Melange a Trois. My first experience with Nebraska Brewing Company was a positive one, and I look forward to trying more of their beers. However, the $34 price point was pushing my limits a bit, but I'll blame some of that on the Pennsylvania taxes on beer.

Otter Creek Imperial IPA

When I was at McKenzie Brew House, they had Otter Creek Imperial IPA as a guest beer. The beer pours a copper color with a thin white bubbly head. The aroma is strong with caramel and lemon. The taste is sweet and caramel and a strong alcohol bite. There are some light lemon accents mixed in there as well, but not overpowering. The beer has a slightly dry finish with a light pepper bite. The alcohol content is 11.0% ABV. I was extremely impressed with this beer, especially with the strong caramel presence and the ever-present alcohol bite.