Spring House Two Dudes Wet Paint Guava Ale

I noticed the the Spring House Tap Room had the Two Dudes Wet Paint Guava Ale on tap, so I decided to order a glass. The beer pours a brown color with a bubbly white head. The aroma consists of guava, caramel, malts, and nectar. The taste is smooth and sweet with a big guava focus here. There is a caramel base that peeks through the guava flavors before a dry finish with some cinnamon and nutmeg, even though it has neither of those ingredients in it. The alcohol content is 7.5% ABV. I thought this was a wonderful beer, although it is a tough one to nail down. The finish is what intrigues/confuses me, as I could not nail the exact flavor down, but it was dry like cinnamon.

Spring House Robot Bastard!

Another beer I ordered at the Spring House Tap Room was the Robot Bastard! The beer pours a translucent orange-amber color with a frothy white head. The aroma consists of pepper, banana, Belgian yeast, and orange peel. The taste is sweet and smooth with lots of banana, orange, and yeast. The finish brings out pepper, spices, and thyme. The alcohol content is 7.0% ABV. The Robot Bastard! is a wonderful example of a Belgian IPA and balances the sweetness and spiciness nicely. The thyme finish was quite memorable and sets this beer apart from other Belgian IPAs.

Spring House Beyond the Gates Double IPA

I took a day off of work to hang out with my friend Tim in Lancaster, and we went to the Spring House Tap Room. I ordered a glass of Beyond the Gates Double IPA. The beer pours an amber color with a frothy white head. The aroma is sweet with lots caramel, lemon, and pine. The taste is bitter, and by saying bitter once might not be enough, with pine and lemon hops right up front. A hint of caramel sweetness arrives on the tongue before a grapefruit bitterness completely dries out the mouth. The alcohol content is 7.9% ABV. I would say this beer is deliciously bitter and very hoppy, but it can be tough to finish an entire imperial pint due to the bitterness. If you order something after this beer, make sure to cleanse the palate with plenty of water, or you will taste nothing but hops.

Kuhnhenn 4th D

My friend Tim brought a bottle of Kuhnhenn 4th D with him from New York to share. The beer pours a dark brown color with a thin filmy off-white colored head. The aroma consists of oak, bourbon, malts, and raisin. The taste is bold and malty with lots of raisin and caramel. The finish is warming and brings out lots of alcohol, oak, and bourbon. The after taste is dry with alcohol and is wonderful. The alcohol content is 13.5% ABV. The bourbon alcohol bite in this beer was intense, but very enjoyable. It successfully balanced out the raisin and malt sweetness in the beer and made for quite a dynamic drink.

Voodoo Trapped Under Eisbock

I scored a bottle of Voodoo Trapped Under Eisbock from Al’s of Hampden and I decided to share it with some friends. The beer pours a dark amber color with a thin filmy white head. The aroma is malty and oaky with slight hints of cherry hiding in the background. The taste is smooth and malty with lots of raisin, malts, toffee, and caramel. There is a dry alcohol finish and an excellent cherry after taste that provides a nice twist to the beer, sweetening out the alcohol bite. The alcohol content is 14.0% ABV. Overall, Trapped Under Eisbock was a wonderful beer that stands above other eisbocks due to the oak aging and addition of cherries. I would like to see Voodoo make this beer once a year so that more people have the opportunity to try it.

Captain Lawrence Smoke From the Oak Imperial Smoked Porter Aged in Rum Barrels

As part of a beer trade, I received a bottle of Captain Lawrence Smoke From the Oak Imperial Smoked Porter Aged in Rum Barrels. The beer pours a black color with a bubbly tan head, but it was much more fizzy and lofty than the Apple Brandy barrel aged beer. The aroma consists of sweet rum right on the front end, chocolate, vanilla, oak, and toasted malts. The taste is smooth and creamy on the mouth with lots of chocolate on the front end, vanilla, and toasted malts. The sweetness gives way to a dry and bitey oak and rum flavors. The finish brings out the alcohol warmth and dries out the mouth a little bit. The alcohol content is 12.0% ABV. If you are look for a beer where the alcohol accent is more complimentary and does not take over, the rum barreled aged beer is for you. It is wonderfully smooth and easy drinking with just enough warmth.

Captain Lawrence Smoke From the Oak Imperial Smoked Porter Aged in Apple Brandy Bottles

As part of a beer trade, I received a bottle of Captain Lawrence Smoke From the Oak Imperial Smoked Porter Aged in Apple Brandy Barrels. The beer pours a black color with a bubbly tan head. The aroma consists of peat, oak, brandy, lots of smoke, toasted malts, and apple. The taste is bold and dry with plenty of smoke right on the front end. An apple sweetens accompanies toasted malts, chocolate, and caramel. The finish emphasizes the smoke again with some oak, vanilla, and peat. The after taste has a brandy dryness that lingers, warms, and dries the tongue. The alcohol content is 12.0% ABV. The intense flavors that come from the apple brandy barrels make this beer extremely enjoyable, but you must be a brandy fan as well, or this could be a bit intense.

Firestone Walker Abacus

My friend Tim brought a bottle of Firestone Walker Abacus with him when visiting from New York and shared it with my friends and me. The beer pours a dark amber color with a thin filmy off-white colored head. The aroma consists heavily of oak with accents of alcohol, malts, and caramel. The taste has a smooth and sweet caramel base with toasted malts. There is a dry finish with lots of warming alcohol with a kick. There is a bitey, peppery, and spicy after taste that lingers for minutes. The alcohol content is 13.0% ABV. The Abacus was an absolutely wonderful beer that was warming from alcohol, yet welcoming with sweet caramel and toasted malts. The peppery after taste was the best part of the beer, as it lingered after the beer was finished.

Iron Hill Savage IPA

My friends and I were in a zone of sharing a bunch of bombers, and another beer we popped open was the Iron Hill Savage IPA. The beer pours a golden color with a frothy white head. The aroma consists of lemon, wheat, and caramel. The taste is smooth and oaky, making it dry, right before lots of lemon sweetens up the tongue. I thought it had a wonderful flavor and a fresh taste, and then there was a pine finish that topped off the experience nicely. The alcohol content is 6.5% ABV. This was an easy drinking IPA with great citrus flavors. The hint of dryness kept all of the other flavors in check and was a beer worthy of praise.

Goose Island Bourbon County Stout (2008)

My buddy Tim brought a bottle of Goose Island Bourbon County Stout (2008 vintage) with him from New York and we popped it open to share amongst friends. The beer pours a black color with a filmy tan head. The aroma consists of chocolate, vanilla, and lots and lots of bourbon. The taste is smooth and velvety with both milk and dark chocolates. There is a big bourbon accent that warms the throat and a smooth vanilla finish. The after taste is dry and stings with alcohol. The alcohol content is 13.0% ABV. I get what all the hype surrounding this beer is about; it is a wonderful beer that despite the alcohol content and biting bourbon flavors, it remains to be so silky smooth.

Iron Hill Oak Aged Saison de Sorachi

Another Iron Hill beer that my friends and I decided to share was the Oak Aged Saison de Sorachi. The beer pours a golden color with a thin bubbly white head. The aroma consists of lemon, sour funk, wheat, and oak. The taste is dry and smooth with lots of lemon and grass hops right up front. The wheat base shows after the hops subside and then has a wonderful oak finish. There is a nice Belgian yeast flavor in the after taste. The alcohol content is 7.3% ABV. The dry oaky flavors added a nice complexity to this beer by playing with the wheat and lemon flavors.

Iron Hill Ron Burgundy

A bunch of friends came over, and we decided to open a bottle of Iron Hill Ron Burgundy to share. The beer pours a red-tinted amber color with a bubbly reddish-white colored head. The aroma consists of sour blackberry, vinegar, funkiness, and yeast. The taste is bitter and tart up front with vinegar before a sour cherry and blackberry flavor attacks the tongue. The alcohol content is 11.0% ABV. The Ron Burgundy had a great sour accent co-mingled with a peppery accent as well. It was wonderfully crafted, and I had no idea it was 11.0% ABV while drinking it. So beware: it may have you adding questions marks to your sentences?

Captain Lawrence St. Vincent's Dubbel

My buddy Tim came to visit from New York, and he brought a growler of Captain Lawrence St. Vincent’s Dubbel with him. The beer pours a dark amber color with a thin filmy off-white head. The aroma is sweet with raisin, malts, and caramel. The taste is smooth and rounded with lots of malts present and raisins galore. There is slight spicy accent with some cinnamon all built upon a caramel base. The finish brings out a grassy hop accent. The alcohol content is 8.0% ABV. This was a wonderfully accented beer with the spices, and had a solid foundation of caramel, malts, and raisin.

Mikkeller Koppi IPA

I stopped in to Al’s of Hampden to try the Mikkeller Koppi IPA, and boy was I not disappointed. The beer pours a vibrant orange-amber color with a bubbly white head. The aroma consists of strong lemon and pine hops, orange, and plenty of hop oils. The taste is bitter with lots of lemon and pine up front. Caramel sweetens up as the base comes forward and orange, grapefruit, tangerine, and hop oil come out from behind the bitterness. The finish presents the twist: dry coffee flavor. The alcohol content is 6.9% ABV. The Koppi IPA had a wonderful light accent of coffee added to such a bitter beer to it worked really well and was one of the more enjoyable coffee-infused beers that I have had.

Samuel Adams Wee Heavy

While on a bar tour of Harrisburg, I ordered a glass of Samuel Adams Wee Heavy at McGrath’s. The beer pours a black color with a thin filmy off-white head. The aroma consists of malts, raisin, caramel, and oak. The taste is sweet, malty, and bold with lots of raisin and caramel. There is an alcohol bite mixed in with some oak on the finish. The alcohol content is 10.0% ABV. I thought this was an excellent Wee Heavy, but was somewhat sweet. Just beware of the alcohol content when drinking the beer.