Quick One at TJ's

In between Christmas parties today I found myself with about 10 minutes of free time.  As it happens we were not far from TJ's Restaurant and Drinkery in Paoli.  Time enough for one beer.  The kids were asleep in the car and my wife was OK with it so in I went.  I ordered a Rogue I2PA (I squared PA, or Imperial India Pale Ale, get it?).  This is a fine tasting IIPA without being overly bitter.  I'm ready for another but time does not allow today.

A Cold and Snowy Saturday

Saturday afternoon and the snow was coming down.  I wasn't going to go to TJ's Restaurant and Drinkery for the anniversary celebration but the snow changed my mind.  Always the contrarian, if people are going to stay away because of the snow I am going to go.  I will have all that good beer to myself.  Boy was I wrong.  The place was packed.  But...since I was there already I made my way inside and ordered a Pliny the Elder from Russian River Brewing Company.  As I have stated before (and as evidenced by the "Favorite IPA's" at the top of this blog) this is a great DIPA.  I had to drink it standing up as I was unable to get a seat due to the crowd.  One of my beer drinking rules is that I will drink one beer standing up.  If a seat does not become available by the time that one is done I will not stand for another.  So despite the fact that they had a phenomenal lineup on, it was time to go.


Next stop was the Sly Fox in Phoenixville.  I thought it was kind of funny that on this cold and snowy night I was in the mood for a Royal Weisse but that is what I ordered.  I placed a to-go request for a couple orders of hot wings and crab dip and a Renard D'or for the wait.  This Belgian-style golden is a nice change of pace but it is not as good as their Saison Vos.

TJ's For Lunch - Great

My wife called with a really great idea this morning.  "Take me over to pick up my car at the shop and we can have lunch together...at TJ's".  It was a great idea because I love TJ's Restaurant and Drinkery in Paoli and because she and I don't have lunch together nearly often enough.  We both had the Cajun Chicken sandwich (my usual) and it was great.  I had a Bear Republic Racer 5 from the cask.  It too was great.  In fact the only thing that kept "great" from being "excellent" was that I had to pick up the tab.  Small price to pay for a great lunch, great beer and great company.

P.S.  I just looked at TJ's website and I see that the Racer 5 has been replaced by Port Brewing Hop 15.  If you haven't had this DIPA you owe it to yourself to get one.  See list of my favorite IPAs at the top of this blog.