Great Saturday Out

With daytime temperatures in the teens it was a good day to stay inside.  It was a Saturday full of good beer.  I visited the Bethlehem Brew Works where I sampled all 6 of their seasonals. (1) ACH-47 is a pretty nice Double American Pale Ale.  (2) Hop Monster Double IPA was not that great.  It was OK if all you really need is the alcohol which is 10% abv.  (3) Big Red is a good Doppelbock and that is not a style I usually go for.  (4) Elongator Doppelbock was very good.  It may be that these Doppelbocks were appealing to me because they go well with the French Dip sandwich I was having.  (5) Black Forest Dark Wheat Lager was an interesting beer.  There was kind of a smokey flavor I wasn't expecting.  (6) War Hammer Baltic Porter was a really good porter.  Nice coffee and chocolate tastes.

Next stop was Tap and Table  in Emmaus where I had a Cherry Stout from Bell's Brewery.  Did I mention it was from a firkin?  Wow.  This is a complex beer.  Luckily for me the cherry taste was subtle but the tartness was not.  This was a fantastic beer.  I really wanted to stay and have another couple of beers but my wife and kids were in the car and I was limited to one.

Last stop was Craft Ale House in Limerick.  I started with Hop 15 from Port Brewing Company.  I have already gone on and on about this beer in previous posts.  Fantastic.  Next up was Centennial IPA from Founders Brewing Company.  This is a really nice IPA.  Yeah, I should have had this one before the Hop 15 and I might have been able to taste it better.  I ended with a Dead Reckoning from Troegs Brewing Company.  This is a nice porter...no surprises.

Good Beer Means No Parking

TJ's looked like they had a pretty good lineup tonight so after work I made my way to Paoli.  Would I get Founder's Double Trouble...Terrapin Hopsecutioner...Ithaca Cascazilla...Stone Oaked Arrogant Bastard...oh I couldn't wait to get there and decide.  But after a couple of trips around the parking lot I finally left in frustration.  Luckily the Flying Pig Saloon was right down the road in Malvern.  Unfortunately I had the same issue with parking.  Well it is after all Friday night.  I eventually found a spot to park and got inside the Flying Pig but had to stand while drinking my Dock Street Pale Ale.  It was a nice beer and luckily a spot opened at the bar so I could order a second beer.  This time it was an Imperial Stout from Thirsty Dog Brewing Company.  I was disappointed because it reminded me of the stouts I used to make as a homebrewer.  Although I always thought my stouts were pretty good for a homebrewer I expect more from a professional brewer.  Don't get me wrong.  This was not a bad beer...it brought back good memories.

Hey Tap #2...You Make Me Whole

Although I love my Victory Prima Pils on Tap #1 in my basement I kept staring at that empty Tap #2 and couldn't help but get that empty feeling in my heart.  It was time to visit Exton Beverage Company.  Actually it was time to visit their website to view the available kegs.  They do a great job keeping their on-line listing updated.  My only complaint is that they don't list their prices along with their selection.  They are however, very good at responding to my email requests for pricing.  After getting their email I decided on Ithaca Flower Power.  After dinner I ran down to pick up my keg.  Once I got there I couldn't resist looking at their available kegs one last time.  Not because I was going to change my mind but because it is so much fun.  You see, they have this big flat screen monitor which shows their available kegs and this time the prices are displayed as well.  They hand you a remote control so you can scroll through the pages of available kegs.  I'm telling you this is better than anything on TV.  So after viewing all the pages and pretending I was making my choice I confidently told them I had decided on the Ithaca Flower Power.  When the guy took my credit card (and saw my name) he said, "Hey didn't you email me earlier today about this beer"?  So much for my ruse. 

I tapped the Flower Power and as I have said before, this is a really good IPA.