Playing Catchup Again

I can't believe it was before Thanksgiving when I last posted and now it is December 5th.  Where does the time go?  I had too many beers to remember since last post but here are a couple that I remember (I'll skip the ones I have well-documented like Russian River Blind Pig...awesome).  I had a Bell's Expedition Stout which I thought was pretty good and a Lagunitas IPA I thought was good as well.  At Craft Ale House one night I had a Babayaga which is a very nice smokey stout from Pretty Things.  At Appalachian I had a Keller Pils that I didn't care for that much and an ESB that was not that great either.    I had a Two Threads from McKenzie's which I've talked about before but is worth mentioning again because it is so good.  I think I'm going to score a sixtel of this.  The IPA I had at McKenzie's was not the best but as I got to the bottom of it I started to enjoy it more.  At the Lucky Lab in Royersford I had an awesome Oyster Po Boy sandwich and an even more awesome Racer 5.  The Smuttynose Old Brown Dog that followed was kind of ordinary.  Finally, I went to Victory and had some wings and a Prima Pils followed by a Yakima Glory.  I decided to bring a sixtel of Yakima Glory home with me.

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.

Dark...light...they're all good

Last Sunday I made my way to Union Jack's Inn on the Manatawny with the family.  We had 2 sleepers and 1 wide awake.  I went in with the 1 wide awake while my wife waited patiently in the car with the sleepers.  The day before Union Jack's was having their Back In Black event with a lot of very good dark beers.  I knew they would have leftovers and I was happy to help them finish them.  I have always considered Founder's Breakfast Stout the best Stout I have ever had.  I was told that they have a version that is also aged in Bourbon barrels called Kentucky Breakfast Stout.  That is what I ordered.  Clearly this beer is not the Breakfast Stout aged in Bourbon barrels.  It strikes me as thinner (mouthfeel) than the Breakfast Stout and even disregarding the barrel flavors you know this is not the Breakfast Stout.  That is not to say it isn't a great Stout.  It is.  But I still favor the Breakfast Stout.  For whatever reason, I went lighter on my next beer.  I ordered a Hop 15 from Port Brewing Company.  As always, this too was an excellent beer.  Altogether it was a fantastic trip to Union Jack's. 

Monday was a vacation day and my wife and I went shopping.  Somehow we ended up at the Victory Brewing Company in Downingtown for lunch.  I started with a Yakima Glory which is a very dark IPA although I wouldn't call it a Black IPA.  It is a very good beer.  I finished with a cask-conditioned Storm King Imperial Stout.  Storm King is always good but it is so much better from the hand pump.  It occurred to me that the lowest alcohol beer I had in the last 2 days is the Yakima Glory at a mere 8.7% abv.  I am looking forward to this winter season.  Bring it on.

On Wednesday I was back at the Victory in Downingtown to return a keg and pick up a fresh one.  That Yakima Glory I had the other day was pretty good so that is what I got.  While there, I went to the bar for a quick one.  I had a pint of the Pursuit Of Pale Ale (El Dorado).  It was OK.  I guess if this was some other brewer I would have said it was great but fairly or not, I hold Victory to higher standards.

Postscript - A quick search of my blog shows that I have already had the Pursuit Of Pale Ale and had the same opinion the first time.  Not very memorable.