The Washington’s Crossing Brewfest was held this past Saturday in Washington’s Crossing Park in Soleburry PA just outside of New Hope. With over 50 breweries the competition was steep and beer flowing big. Firestone & Samuel Smith stole the show with some craft beer standard classics.
.
1. Firestone Walker Reserve Porter:
The Firestone Walker Reserve Porter flat out crushed the competition at the Washington’s Crossing Brewfest. The reserve porter is a robust style porter and made with premium 2-row malts, maris otter, crystal 77, crystal 120 with bitter, cascade and whirlpool hops. The Reserve Porter is dark, sweet, malty, slightly bitter with notes of caramel and toffee. It’s a banger! Good luck finding a better porter.
.
2. Samuel Smith Organic Ale
The Samuel Smith Organic Ale is Certified organic by the USDA-accredited UK Soils Association. A golden ale with beautiful malts and just enough kick from the hops. A classic ale.
.
3. Cigar City Maduro Oatmeal Brown Ale
The Maduro is an American brown ale and also got an A- on Beer Advocate. Enough said.
.
4. Climax ESB
We thought Fuller’s had the best ESB out there. We were wrong. The Climax Extra Special Bitter Ale has notes of honey, toffee and caramel, and a hop bitter kick.
.
5. Elysian Men’s Room Red Ale
The Men’s Room Red is made with Crisp 77 Crystal, Munich, Cara-hell, Cara-Red and Cara-vienne malts and hopped with Chinook and Cascade. A portion of the proceeds from this ale go to support military veterans. Get one today…
.
The worst beer of the brewfest? Beach Haus! We don’t care where it’s from and you won’t care how it tastes. Also, the lady at the tent handing out the beers was a total bitch.
The name CascaZilla is a play on both the name of a gorge in Ithaca called Cascadilla and the monster amounts of Cascade Hops we use to make the beer. The predominant flavor and aroma of this beer comes from fresh American hops. Made with 2-Row, Crystal, and Black malts, Cascade, Chinook and Crystal hops, then dry hopped with Cascade, Amarillo hops, the Ithaca Caskazilla has 50 IBU’s and 7.0% ABV.
Ithaca Caskazilla Tasting Notes: WOW! Deep thick Brown in color, thick and cloudy with sediment, a scent of fruit, scent of yeast, and sour taste. The Caskazilla flavor is heavy in hops, sour, dry and slightly bitter. With notes of fruit with a sweet taste, the dry crisp yeast and hops with slight malt give it a great balance. This is a great ale!
The Ithaca Ground Break American Style Saison
An Americanized hoppy Saison, the Ground Break is brewed with generous amounts of Amarillo, Crystal and Glacier hops and flaked rye. It’s fermented with a blend of Belgian and American yeasts.
Ithaca Ground Break Tasting Notes: The color is a brownish gold, slightly cloudy, with flavor full of the classic Belgian style yeast. Sweet with a thick mouth feel and slightly crisp, and a nice sour taste for a saison, the scent of fruit and Yeasty light malt finish is just a touch dry. An excellent and unique styled saison.
Water Supply Issues Create a Light, Easy, Drinkable Mexican Style
By Matt Goldstein & Tim Rodgers
Now, Mexican beers are at a disadvantage because of the water supply situation. One must remember to compare apples to apples when analyzing their brews. Mexico tends to be a warm, arid climate with spicy/salty cuisine. Therefore, the beers that would make the most sense would be your lighter lagers. All of which Mexico produces. Bohemia was by far the best beer we sampled. It could compare with a solid American IPA and tasted a lot like Flying Fish.
1. Bohemia, surprisingly crisp/clean with an unexpected subtle yet distinct hoppiness
2. Negra Modela, always consistently smooth with a nice malty finish
3. Dos Equis LagerEspecial, crisp flavors, solid lager
4. Carta Blanca, smooth, light, solid
5. Corona, always good, always refreshing
6. Cristal, actually from Peru, but fits in well with the Mexican style
7. Corona Light, great light beer but light on flavor
9 Tecate, just OK, light and smooth but far from great
9. Sol, awful, almost undrinkable, bad aftertaste
10. Modela Especial, the six-pack we bought was skunked, we know Modelo is a good beer but it will have to wait a few months for another chance to be reviewed.
Bohemia Pilsner is this year’s Mexican Category champion! It was a hot day in Chester down at the new MLS stadium PPL Park. We decided to conduct this categories beer tasting tailgating the Philadelphia Union soccer game. The dirt parking lot in July made it actually feel like a Mexican desert. Pure genius! To keep the theme going, we got burritos, chips, salsa and guacamole to cleanse our palates between each beer. We had Pork, Chicken and Beef burritos made with black beans, corn and rice.
Now, Mexican beers are at a disadvantage because of the water supply situation. One must remember to compare apples to apples when analyzing their brews. Mexico tends to be a warm, arid climate with spicy/salty cuisine. Therefore, the beers that would make the most sense would be your lighter lagers. All of which Mexico produces. Bohemia was by far the best beer we sampled. It could compare with a solid American IPA and tasted a lot like Flying Fish. I think the most surprising beer was Carta Blanca. Based on our preconceived notions of the beer, I thought it would be mere swill. However, it would be up at the top of my choices if we were scarfing down tortilla chips and tacos on the roadside in Puerta Vallarta. Dos Equis Lager was also very solid. Again, based on the most the interesting man in the world advertising campaign, perhaps Dos Equis would bring more style than substance, but it was an enjoyable beer. The most disappointing beer was Sol. It basically tasted awful to everybody. Now, we’ve had Sol before and liked it, but this was just not its day. Tecate, we expected to be at the bottom, but it was a toss-up between Sol and Tecate for the worst of the day. Bohemia is officially the first beer to receive an automatic bid to the first annual Whiskey Goldmine March madness 64 beer tournament. Let the countdown begin!
The elusive Russian River Pliny the Younger has been called “The Best Beer in the World” and has caused near riots in Northern California where it is brewed. Brewed once a year and only distributed on draft to a very small handful of markets in California, Denver and Philadelphia, this brew creates a crowd anywhere you are lucky enough to find it poured.
At 11% ABV this enormous Imperial IPA, packs a punch. However, the true beauty of this beer lies in the fact that its heavy hop bill is so well balanced against a malt backbone just large enough to get the ABV so high.
Sipping this sublimely golden ale one might guess it weighs in closer to 8.0%–or less. A tropical citrus aroma emanates from the glass and these characteristics continue into the flavor but are also joined with an overwhelming piney resinous (maybe the reason “Pliny” is often misspelled “Pliney”?). Younger rounds out finishing surprisingly dry with little of the sweetness typically found in a brew this large. This beer is not a hop bomb like so many Imperial IPAs, but rather explodes with the balance that few, if any, beers achieve.
Is it the best beer in the world? Probably not. But the first time you are lucky enough to try Pliny the Younger, you may find yourself plotting, planning and missing work just to get a second glass of this big, balanced elixir.
Tempers Flare, Fight Ensues Before Highly Anticipated Goat Race, Beerfest
By Team Goldmine
At the Weigh in & Press Conference for the Sly Fox Goat Races there was a heated exchange between the Iron Abbey and Whiskey Goldmine. The argument turned into a brawl when Whiskey Goldmine’s racing goat “Coffee” bit the Iron Abbey’s goat named “Iron.” Just then, the other Iron Abbey racing goat named “Abbey” attacked Coffee the goat and a brawlerupted! Iron Abbey’s General Manager Rui Lucas started throwing bombs at WG’s publisher Matt Goldstein, punching and screaming, “What the heck does a whiskey web site know about craft beer and goat racing anyway?!?” After being punched multiple times Goldstein tackled Lucas saying, “Just because you show UFC PPV’s on Saturday nights doesn’t mean you know MMA!” At this point, a complete brawl erupted between 12 goats, all the bartenders at the Iron Abbey and about 10 drunken writers from the WG. It was absolute mayhem.
.
An anonymous source from the WG was quoted as saying, “Just because the Iron Abbey has the best craft beer and steak combination in the Philadelphia area doesn’t save them from getting crushed in the Sly Fox goat race by Coffee.” Rui Lucas responded with warning that his two goats “Iron” and “Abbey” are gonna “stomp on every goat in their way in order to get to Coffee.” When we asked Whiskey Goldmine Publisher & CEO Matt Goldstein for a quote on the Sly Fox goat races, Goldstein grabbed our camera and smashed it on the ground, kind of like Sonny in the Godfather during the infamous wedding scene. Unfortunately, because of this camera assault, we have no footage of the mayhem from the press conference. It will all have to be decided on Sunday at race time.
The festivities start at 11 am and the race kicks off at 2 pm. Its German bock day and the Sly Fox will have 5 different styles of bock beer flowing outside at the Phoenixville brewery. Tickets for the bus trip from the Iron Abbey are still available. A crowd of about 2500 is expected.
Green Flash Brewing Companies extravagantly hopped West Coast IPA has a pungent bitter taste at first sip but is complemented my many other flavors. With its sunset copper color, crisp taste, and floral hops it defines the qualifications of the West Coast IPA. The gangs of hops that impugn upon your pallet are Simcoe, Columbus, Centennial, and Cascade. These four different yet complementing varieties give the West Coast its pine, floral, citric and fruity flavors. This flagship IPA from San Diego County is the recipient of many awards and accolades for its American IPA Style. 7.3% ABV and 95 IBU’s.
.
Green Flash Summer Saison
To the untrained eye the Summer Saison has a fizzy yellow beer look to it, though if you had the slightest taste for craft beer you probably have a good idea of what’s going on in this beer. It is a light bodied beer with citrus, lemon, as well as hints of banana flavors which all can be tasted and smelt. I would compare it to many of good wheat beers. Hope I didn’t offend any Germans or Belgians by comparing styles. This Farmhouse ale by San Diego County’s Green Flash Brewery is a great choice on a nice hot summer day working the farm fields of Belgium or something of this nature . At 4.3% ABV Summer Saison is what I like to call a good duration beer, meaning that it can be consumed for long periods of time with less likely hood of falling over. Wheat or No Wheat its a great light and refreshing beer!
Niels Henrik David Bohr (1885-1962) was a Nobel Prize winning Danish physicist who made significant contributions to understanding atomic structure and quantum mechanics. Additionally, he was one of the physicists that worked on the Manhattan Project. In his honor, Danish brewer Mikkeller has collaborated with Cigar City on a beer that’s truly the bomb.
Cigar City Bohr (Cigar City Brewing; Tampa, FL; Imperial Stout; ABV: 10.0) is an astronomical effort from Cigar City and the gypsy brewery. Jet black in color, Bohr has rich notes of coffee, roasted malt, and raisins complimented by sweet dark chocolate and spices. Velvety smooth and well balanced, this imperial stout is quite enjoyable from start to finish. The dessert like character of Bohr will appeal to both aficionados of fine liquor and disciples of imperial stouts.
While I don’t have a degree in physics, I know a great beer. I strongly urge you to give Bohr a try.
.
Stopped by Mr. Beery’s over the weekend and was glad to see a collaboration ale between The Bruery and Cigar City was on tap. As the story goes, both breweries came up with the recipe over pints at the Falling Rock Tap House in Denver during the 2009 Great American Beer Festival.
The Bruery Marrón Acidifié (The Bruery; Placentia, CA; Imperial Oud Bruin; ABV: 8.5) is a magnificent sour ale. Dark amber in color, Marrón Acidifié has pronounced notes of cranberries and tart fruit such as cherries balanced by balsamic vinegar, roasted malt, and spices with nice dry finish. There’s a fine woody backbone from the barrel aging, and it gives this imperial oud bruin a smooth red wine character throughout. A couple of more snifters was enough to convince me that Marrón Acidifié is one of the best sour ales that I have ever had.
Many thanks to The Bruery and Cigar City for crafting this superb beer.
The Founders Imperial Stout is brewed with ten varieties of malted barley and hops are pushed to about 90 IBUs. The Founders Imperial Stout is dark, malty, chocolaty, sticky, dry and bitter with notes of coffee. It’s a perfect Imperial Stout. The dry and bitter but drinkable style imperial stout is often unmatched. We think the Imperial Stout is actually much better than the Founders Breakfast Stout, which isn’t peanuts. All we can really say is wow! I know, I know, all we write is Founders this, Founders that. Even our staff gets annoyed by it. Guess what? We don’t care. It’s not our fault Founders keeps putting a masterpiece in every bottle. Just drink a beer and shut up! If you have the chance, the Founders Imperial Stout is an absolute must.
Red, amber and copper ales are standard offerings from breweries during the spring, and I’m pretty sure this stems from a desire to give craft and micro brew drinkers an alternative to Killian’s Irish Red or Miller Lite with green food coloring in it on St. Patrick’s Day. While I do appreciate the chance to be “Irish” along with everyone else, I’ve always found beers of that ilk to be lacking in some way. After carefully inspecting Blue Point’s Spring Fling packaging and determining that it’s just flowers and other assorted greenery in the graphics (not a Shamrock in sight), I decided to try this copper ale and I’m glad that I did. Spring beer is tough; in the northeast it’s wet most of the time and even on the days when it is seasonable, it takes a while to warm up in the morning. Still, it gets cold at night. A brewer needs to be committed to making a beer that has some body but still goes down easily when being consumed in that occasional patch of sun. Spring Fling accomplishes this with a creamy, luscious head that leans a little more malty than hoppy in aroma, a smooth buttery taste and a very dry finish that leaves nothing behind but the hops suggested by the nose. Relatively speaking, Spring Fling does just as it should: Comes in like a lion and out like a lamb. Well done.
For those of us who have traveled down the New Jersey Turnpike, the best thing about Exit 13 is the IKEA in Elizabeth. Fortunately there’s an Exit 13 that has something to offer besides stylish, sometimes easy to assemble Scandinavian furniture. Flying Fish Exit 13 (Flying Fish Brewing Co.; Cherry Hill, NJ; Foreign Stout; ABV: 7.5), named for the exit that provides access to Newark International Airport and the Port of Elizabeth, is a delicious, very well balanced foreign stout. Jet black in color, Exit 13 has rich notes of dark milk chocolate and roasted malt complimented by vanilla spices and floral hops with a dry smoky finish. The chocolate and coffee backbone gives Exit 13 a nice warming effect, and it makes an excellent dessert beer.
Firestone Walker & Samuel Smith Steal the Show!
3. Cigar City Maduro Oatmeal Brown Ale
5. Elysian Men’s Room Red Ale
Recent Comments