In a Dark Mood

I left work and headed for TJ's Restaurant and Drinkery in Paoli for a cold one.  I knew they had Serpent's Stout from The Lost Abbey for $3 as their keg kicker tonight.  It was great.  An 11% abv Imperial Stout from a great brewer for $3?  But I painted myself into a corner.  What could I follow that with?  Since I was already in a dark mood I decided on a Satellite Espresso Stout from Dock Street.  I enjoyed the roasted coffee flavors but I didn't think this was their best effort considering I love this brewer.  Then it was back home to enjoy a couple of Braumeister Pilsners from Victory currently on tap in my basement.  I'll say it again...this is one fine pilsner.

A Victory for Victory but not Necessarily for Me

I headed out to the Victory Brewing Company in Downingtown after dinner tonight to return a keg and pick up another one.  I figured I would have a beer at the bar while I'm there.  When I got to the parking lot it was clear I was not going to have a beer at the bar.  The place was packed.  I had to park about as far away from the entrance as possible without leaving the parking lot.  It took about 5 minutes to walk from the car to the Victory.  I didn't see an empty table or booth in the place.  I never even bothered to go to the bar.  I am confident it was packed as well.  I went straight to the retail shop, return my keg and picked up a new one.  This time it was Braumeister Pils.  This is a fantastic pils.  Crisp and clean.  Life is good.

Photos, Beers, Groceries and Various Errands

Well...we were in Exton anyway to have the kids pictures taken so if you are that close to Downingtown you might as well go to Victory Brewing Company for dinner and a beer.  I had (1) Hop Wallop cask conditioned, (2) Harvest Ale, (3) Harvest Pilsner, (4) Abbey 5, (5) Wild Devil and (6) Braumeister Pilsner.  All were excellent as you would expect from the Victory.  I also had a Dietrich sandwich apparently made from pastrami produced in-house.  It is essentially a Ruben but it is about the best Ruben I ever tasted, and that's not the beer talking.  Because I like to think I am efficient, I returned an empty keg of Yakima Twilight and picked up a fresh keg of Prima Pils since we were there anyway.

We needed milk and some other essentials so a visit to the Giant grocery store was in order.  We were about to go right past the Sly Fox in Phoenixville but I was pretty thirsty and I happened to have an empty Sly Fox keg in the trunk so I thought it would be a good time to return it.  It's great when you return a keg and not get a refill.  It feels like you are drinking for free.  In this case it was a tall Royal Weisse.  Yeah, this is a great summer beer but I ain't waiting until the summer to have one.

Lousy Weather Fabulous Saturday

Early afternoon on Saturday and the weather is lousy.  Sounds like a perfect day to visit the Craft Ale House in Royersford.  I start with a 21st Ammendment Live Free or Die.  This is a very nice IPA.  I follow that with a Coronado Hoppy Daze Belgian IPA.  This is a great beer.  It has a flavor that I can not compare to any other beer.  You gotta try this one.  Next up is an Ithaca Excelsior Ten.  This is a fabulous beer.  I like their Cascazilla Red and this one is like Cascazilla on steroids.  Awesome.

I make my way back home and my wonderful wife says that she would like to have dinner at Victory Brewing Company in Downingtown.  I said that would be satisfactory with me.  So with wife and 3 daughters in tow we go to Downingtown.  On the way, my 3-year-old falls asleep.  My wife stays in the car with her and I take my 1-year-old and 5-year-old in to the Victory to get started.  After 2 trips to the ladies room (1 trip for number 1 and a seperate trip for number 2) I am ready to enjoy the Braumeister Pils that is waiting for me.  Great start to my dinner.  This is a crisp enjoyable pilsner.  Since I haven't been to the Victory in a long while, I decide to order a sampler.  Victory has the best sampler deal I have ever seen.  YOU CHOOSE the number of different beers you want in your sampler and YOU CHOOSE which beers you would like from ANY that are currently on tap including cask conditioned beers (i.e. no exceptions).  These are not the little sample glasses you might be thinking of.  And it can get expensive but it is still a great program. 

The Wild Devil sample I got set me back $3.25.  I loved this beer when it first became available but either the taste of the beer has changed or my taste has changed.  I get the whole "wild yeast" thing and it seemed like the original version I had had a nice sour note, not overwhelming.  The new version seems astringent and not nearly as pleasant.  I say "original" and "new" version without knowing if Victory did indeed change the recipe.

The Harvest Ale (only $1.00) had a nice light taste not at all like the typical big Victory beers.

The Yakima cask ale sample was only $2.00 which I thought was a bargain.  This is a fabulous beer.  It is a dark copper color and all the big alcohol and big hops you would expect from the Victory.  The cask conditioning ensured a nice mellow flavor despite the big hops.

The Storm King Stout which really is an imperial stout was satisfying as usual.  Nice roasty flavor, it was like drinking a meal and for only $2.00.

Enough of these little glasses.  I had to get a pint of the Yakima Cask Conditioned IPA.  This still tasted just as good as it did in the little glass.

Oh yeah, we did eat also.  My 3-year-old had the hot wings which in my opinion are the best wings on earth.  My 5-year-old enjoyed her pizza.  My wife had the El Paso Ensalada which turned out to be too sweet (dressing) for her taste.  I had the Head Hunter sandwhich and this was great.  Chicken breast, BBQ sauce, mozzarella cheese and onion rings all on a soft roll.  Hurry if you want one of these.  It is on their "seasonal" menu. 

All in all it was a great day.