First, to catch up on some ancient history, I had the following beers at TJ's last Friday night and forgot to write about them. Red Rocket Ale from Bear Republic Brewing Company. This is a great red ale. Then I had a Victory Village Ale from Victory Brewing Company. This is a very good brown ale with a definite coffee taste. Then I had a Indie Pale Ale from Cisco Brewers. This is a very good IPA. Finally I had a cask conditioned IPA from Climax Brewing Company. I am not a big fan of this one. I guess cask conditioning brings out the flavor of beer so if it's a good beer then it becomes a very good beer but if it's not such a good beer...
This past Saturday I had a really good beer day. I went to a cask conditioned festival at General Sutter's Inn in Lititz, PA. All of the beers were cask conditioned and all of them were from the UK. First up was Dissolution IPA from Kirkstall Brewery. This was a fantastic IPA. I followed with a Meantime London IPA from Meantime Brewing Company. I didn't care for this one at all. I drank that one quickly and moved on to a Out Of Step IPA from Offbeat Brewery. Again, I was not particularly fond of this one. I ended with an Old Speckled Hen. I've had this in a can before and have always enjoyed this beer. I had high expectations coming from a cask but it was just OK. About as good as when I have a can (which is pretty good) so my expectations may have been unrealistic.
Afterwards, I went for my inaugural visit to Joboy's Brewpub in Manheim. This is a friendly place and owner Jeff did everything he could to make me comfortable. I started with the red ale which was pretty darn good. Then I had the IPA which was fantastic. I ended with a porter which was an enjoyable end to my visit. But in between I had one of the finest meals I've had in a long time. I had a pork sandwich with a Memphis-style BBQ sauce that was out of this world. Along with my sandwich I had collard greens and a heaping helping of fried okra. Man, was that good eatin'. I can't wait to get back out there again. Next time I'll take my family. I saw plenty of families coming in and I asked Maria Jo (the Jo in Joboy's) about it. She said they were definitely family friendly. I need to find a good excuse to get out to Lancaster County again...and soon.
Sadly, on the way home I stopped in at the Drafting Room in Exton for a quick one. I chose the ESB from St. Boniface. I really like this brewer but this one didn't sit right with me this night. It may have been the other beers I had before it...I don't know. I'm still a big fan of St. Boniface.
No comments:
Post a Comment