Trappist Week

Picking a favorite style is nearly as hard as picking a favorite beer! But, one of my favorite styles is Trappist Ale. So this past week I designated as WBM Trappist Ale Week!
Sunday I led off with Westvleteren Blond. This was an incredible beer and most certainly world class. I was mildly diappointed on Monday with my Westvleteren 8. Not that it was not a great beer, it was. It was just that the blonde set the bar so high. I guess I had expected each one to be better than the previous. Tuesday was the day I had looked forward to for years, literally! Westvleteren 12. The legendary Trappist Ale. It did not diappoint! I can now answer the question - if you were stranded on a desert island with only one beer .......? Each of theses beers were from Belgian Abbeys.
Wednesday was for the Tre Fontane Tripel from Italy. Thursday was Stift Endelszell Nivard from Austria. The week wrapped up with an American Trappist Ale from Spencer, MA on Friday and then Zundert 8 from The Netherlands on Saturday. What a tasty (and expensive) week! The Stift Endelszell beer was an “A” in my book. Sadly, it was the one I liked the least! The rest I had to create an “AA” category for. They were simply awesome. Cheers!

2019 begins

Hoppy New Year! 

Bent Run Brewing, our local brewery, scored a first place and two third places at the 2019 Farm Show in Harrisburg. Congrats to owners Phil and Denise Caudill! Great people brewing great beer!

I happened to stumble on BrewDog’s Jet Black Heart, a milk stout, recently. Wow! If you haven’t tried it - do so ASAP! Nice roasted malt flavors of coffee and chocolate.

Another recent great find was Evil Twin’s Don No! It is a Beliner Weisse with some mango and pineapple thrown in. Gotta remember that this summer!

Keep warm on the upcoming cold nights with a selection of winter warmers. If you need a suggestion or two, Deschutes Jubelale and East End’s Snow Melt winter ale good ones to start with.

Cheers!

Winter

It’s December, and that means Christmas is not far away. So it’s a safe bet I’m drinking a Christmas Ale as I write this. I am - Anchor Brewing’s 2018 Christmas Ale. One of their best, in my opinion. It is subtly spiced and, at 6.9% is definitely a winter warmer! Anchor changes their recipe every year so it’s fun to anticipate the new offering each year. If you store your beer ice cold (why???) you need to let this warm up some before the flavor really pops! If you can’t find Anchor, Bell’s has a good alternative with their Christmas Ale. It is classified as a Scottish ale. Another good bet is Great Lakes Christmas Ale. It’s a winter warmer st 7.5%. But, IMHO, the standard for Christmas Ales goes to St. Bernardus. It is a Belgian Quad and is 10% but you don’t know it - until you stand up!

By the way, the Anchor 2018 Christmas Ale is my unique beer number 3500!

Merry Christmas! 

Cheers!

Fall

Leaves are falling. Nights are cooling. Won’t be long until the high test beers get my attention - for those cold winter nights. But, in the meantime, I’ve scored some real winners. In addition to the Pumpkin and Marzen beers I mentioned last month, the creme de la creme for this month has been Cuvee d’or Rouge, an oak aged sour from Jack’s Abbey. I tried one from the local Mobil gas station (everybody buys great beer from gas stations, right) called them the same day and ordered 10 more. Truly outstanding! Another great one was The Lost Abbey’s Red Poppy. It is a barrel aged ale with cherries and poppy seeds. A third noteworthy beer was Grevensteiner by C&A Veltins from Germany. It describes itself as a”smooth rural-style beer”, whatever that means. All I can say for sure is that it was VERY good. At 5.2 % ABV, it was easy drinking and refreshing. October is going to be a hard act to follow, for sure.

So, once again, football season is upon us! That means Marzen, Spiced and Pumpkin beers are in the stores! My favorite beer season! A new high for the former style is the collaboration between Sierra Nevada and Weihenstephaner. Their Oktoberfest is not only the best Festbier I have ever had, but one of the best beers of any style! About what you would expect from one of the premier U.S. brewers and the oldest, and one of the best, brewers in the world. It is truly outstanding! 

You into pumpkin ales? Then, Uinta Pumpkin Ale is for you! While not, for my taste buds, as good as the pumpkin offerings from Captain Lawrence and Elysian, this is a very good Pumpkin Ale. One that I will certainly buy again. 

This beer season is complicated by football! In addition to which beer to drink I have to decide which game to watch - a new kind of beer pairing!

I’m back!

I’m back!

So, it has been a loooong time since my last blog. Retirement got in the way! After 12+ years of retirement, I have now gotten into a routine!
Last Wednesday, August 15, I was in the beer section of Giant Eagle in Indiana, PA. I abruptly stopped at an end cap and couldn’t believe my eyes. There was a big display of  pumpkin and Octoberfest beers! In August! Kind of like Christmas music before Thanksgiving.
In past years I would have been excited, but this year I am coming off a GREAT summer of Fruit, Gose and Sour beers. I hate to see this season end. There was a great fruit beer offering from Boulevard Brewing that I enjoyed immensely - Jam Band. Also, there were some wonderful Goses and Sours from Destihl Brewing and Mikkeller Brewing, amongst others.
But, I gave in to my desires and grabbed Elysian Brewing’s Night Owl, a pumpkin ale. Really glad I did. As good as Southern Tier’s Pumking but with a lower ABV. So, I guess I can say goodbye to my summer favorites, after maybe drawing it out a little bit longer, and welcome the fall brews!
Cheers!