A Variety of Beers

Last Friday I had to watch 2 of the kids while my wife had the 3rd at a Girl Scout meeting.  Since we all needed dinner I decided to take them to Appalachian Brewing Company in Collegeville.  I had a Grinnin' Grizzly first.  This is a Christmas beer and although I'm not usually a fan of spiced beers this one was OK.  But...the Fresh Hop IPA I had after it was much better.  Very nice indeed.

On Saturday, we had lunch at Victory Brewing Company in Downingtown.  I had a Helios which tasted different than what I remembered it to taste like.  Rather than an easy-drinking Saison, this was almost like a stronger Belgian-style ale.  I followed that with a Yakima Glory.  Ahhh, that's more like it.  This is a nice, darker-yet-hoppy beer. 

Later in the day on Saturday, I found myself at Rock Bottom in King of Prussia.  I had a cask-conditioned IPA which was actually better than I expected.

Today I had lunch at TJ's Restaurant and Drinkery in Paoli.  I had an IPA from Nebraska Brewing Company.  I enjoyed the heck out of this one.  But...it was $6.50 which I thought was a little steep.  My TJ's Burger was pretty awesome though.

Christmas Shopping and Such

I had a vacation day yesterday and went Christmas shopping at the King of Prussia Mall.  Of course lunch was at the Rock Bottom Brewery located in the mall.  I have returned to this brewery once or twice a year for many years now.  In fact I visited when it in a prior incarnation when it was called Brew Moon.  I always return with the hope that they will blow me away with their beers.  It just never seems to happen.  They are better now than I remember them to be but not great yet.  I had two beers yesterday and I don't remember their names and their website is no help.  The first beer I had yesterday was an IPA called something like Hoppy Haleeday".  It was a pleasant beer.  The second was a cask-conditioned Flemish Sour which was pretty good for an American brewer.  OK, I must admit this was very enjoyable.  I will visit again in a couple months to monitor their progress.

On the way home I stopped at the Sly Fox in Phoenixville.  First up was a Pikeland Pils to satisfy my thirst.  Then I noticed they had a couple different Saisons on.  I tried one called Casuelijck Saison which was very good.  I would like to taste this again with a Saison Vos next to it to see the difference.