I Get Around for an Amateur

Saturday afternoon the weather was so miserable (high winds, heavy rain) that I thought it would be great to go out and have a nice beer or two.  I went to the Craft Ale House in Limerick where I found many folks with the same mindset...lousy weather, go out for a good beer.  I ordered a Curieux from Allagash Brewing Company.  This was described on the menu as a tripel with notes of coconut and vanilla.  No kidding.  Both flavors were well represented.  It was a very nice tripel albeit American.  When I got out to the car the kids were still asleep so my wife suggested I go to Union Jack's Congo Hotel for another beer.  As usual I followed my wife's recommendation.  I got to the Congo Hotel and like the CAH it was busy.  I managed to get a seat at the bar and tasted a Legbiter Irish Ale from Strangford Lough Brewing Company which I believe are out of Northern Ireland.  I suppose it was on because of St. Patty's day.  It was a nice enough beer but not what I was in the mood for.  Now Troeg's Nugget Nectar was just right.  Does anyone know why Troeg's doesn't have this as a year-round offering?  It is such a nice beer.  I would have loved to stay longer but suspected the kids would be waking up any minute and in fact they were awakening just as I got to the car.

On Sunday my wife was out of town visiting her parents with my oldest daughter.  That left me with my 1 year-old and my 4 year-old daughters.  Since my wife was out of town my mother volunteered to sit in the car with the sleeping kids while I went into Union Jack's Inn on the Manatawny.  I only stayed in long enough to enjoy a Hopsecutioner from Terripan Beer Company.  I like this American IPA and I really like this brewery out of Athens, GA.  My mom did a great job filling in for my wife while she was away.  Thanks mom.

So summing up my weekend I visited the Flying Pig Saloon in Malvern, the Sly Fox in Phoenixville, Craft Ale House in Limerick, Union Jack's Congo Hotel in Barto and Union Jack's Inn on the Manatawny in the middle of nowhere.  All in all it was a good beer weekend.

Sweet Wipeout and Sour Consecration

Saturday afternoon we were traveling through Limerick and I had two sleepers in the car.  My wife agreed that I could go into Craft Ale House provided I take the remaining awake daughter in with me.  So in we went.  I got a Wipeout IPA from Port Brewing Company.  It was awesome as usual.  My daughter got a lemonade which was apparently awesome as well.

We got a little farther down the road and since the two kids were still asleep I got the great idea of stopping in at Union Jack's Inn on the Manatawny.  I was unaware that they were having an event at the time.  It was a Strong Ale Fest.  All beers were over 10% abv.  Shortly before getting there the kids woke up.  What could I do?  We already committed to going to Union Jack's so I convinced my oldest daughter to keep the other two entertained while I go in.  These are the little things I do for my wife.  She shouldn't have to worry about keeping the kids entertained while I am at the bar.  I ordered a Consecration from Russian River Brewing Company.  I am a little leary about ordering Belgian style beers (i.e. beers in the Belgian style but not brewed in Belgium).  It is hard to make a beer as good as the Belgians.  And this particular beer is a sour ale which I would imagine is even more difficult to reproduce.  Russian River has done it with this one.  The taste was a lot like a Rodenbach except that the Consecration was probably more tart and definitely higher in alcohol content.  This is an excellent beer and particularly impressive is the fact that it was produced in California and not Belgium.

Union Jack's Inn and Polish Beers

What a gorgeous day in southeastern Pennsylvania.  Temperature is in the mid 40 degrees with a bright sun.  It was a perfect day to visit Union Jack's Inn on the Manatawny.  I only had time for one beer because my wife was in the car with only 1 sleeper (the other 2 were awake and not happy about sitting in the parking lot of some bar).  I had never heard of Issaquah Frog Rye IPA so that is what I ordered.  Wow!  This is a fantastic beer.  I have always been partial to rye beers but this one was exceptional. 

After Union Jack's we went to my mother's house for a visit.  My sister stopped by with a couple of Polish beers (there is no punch line here).  They were Zywiec (Zywiec Breweries PLC), Lezajsk 1525 brewed by Zakłady Piwowarskie w Leżajsku S.A. and Lech Premium beer from Browary Wielkopolski.  There is no need to go out and find any of these in a hurry.   It is nice to try new and different beers like these but I wouldn't want anyone to think these are worth going out of your way for.  None the less they were appreciated.

I still have room for a new keg in my kegerator.  Perhaps tomorrow we will go shopping.

Cabin Fever Relief

We had a big snow on Saturday.  Probably about a foot of snow fell at the house.  So Saturday was hard work shoveling snow and goofing around with the kids.  By Sunday I felt like the kids were getting cabin fever so we loaded up the car and went for a ride in the country.  As luck would have it we were out near Union Jack's Inn on the Manatawny about the time the kids fell asleep.  My wife was OK with it so I went into Union Jack's while they slept in the car.  I ordered a Santa's Little Helper Imperial Stout from Port Brewing Company.  This brewer continues to impress me.  I never thought anyone could come close to making a stout as good as Founder's Breakfast Stout but this one does.  I would like to have Santa's Little Helper and Breakfast Stout side by side for the sake of comparison.  And in fact I could have done that at Union Jack's today as they had both on tap.  But with the wife and kids in the car I decided to save that comparison for another day.

Fast Weekend

Well that weekend came and went pretty fast.  I did manage to get up to Union Jack's Inn on the Manatawny.  As usual, I had 20 minutes before my wife was coming to pick me up so I made the most of it.  I started with a Lagunitas Little Sumpin' Extra.  This is a really good double IPA.  Nice hop flavor and plenty of alcohol at 8.7% avb.  Next up was a Green Flash Barleywine.  I found it to be kind of harsh tasting, mabye a little green.  Put this keg in the cellar for about two years and I'll bet it will mellow into a really nice barleywine.

Belgian or Not Here I Come

Saturday afternoon I was able to stop into Union Jack's Inn on the Manatawny.  My wonderful wife dropped me off for a 20 minute break while she kept the kids asleep by driving though the countryside.  With only 20 minutes I had to work fast.  Up first was a Dock Street Rye IPA. I am partial to Rye beers and this one is up there with the best of them.  It is nicely balanced, not overdone with hops the way some IPA's can get.

My next beer was something I never heard of.  The tap said "Butuese Brassin".  The bartender said it was a Tripel.  I was in a Tripel kind of mood so I got one.  It was a very nice Tripel at that.  But was it a Belgian Tripel or a Belgian-style Tripel?  Honestly, I wouldn't know until I got home to my computer.  Union Jack's website called this beer "LE TROU DU DIABLE BUTUESE BRASSIN SPECIAL".  A Google search took a little more effort than usual to find this beer.  As it turns out, it was a Belgian-style Tripel (not a real Belgian Tripel) but worse...it was from Canada.  I have to give them credit though.  I couldn't tell that it was not a true Belgian beer.  Would I order another one.  You bet.

Playground Delayed But Not Denied

We were on our way to the playground when suddenly I got thirsty.  We stopped in ever so briefly at Union Jack's Manatawny.  I ordered an Otto's Double D Imperial IPA and 2 lemonades.  This is a very very good beer.  Nice mouthfeel and plenty of big IPA flavor.  It is advertised at 9.6% abv and at Union Jack's they pour it in an 18 oz vessel.  Needless to say, I only had one.  My daughters both said the lemonade met their satisfaction.