PBW Recap: Saturday in Northern Liberties: Part 2

And so, my journey through Northern Liberties continues. After throwing back a couple at good old Standard Tap we made our way across the street to The Foodery. I give this place a lot of credit for pushing me over the cliff as far as beer goes, this is where the courtship between craft beer and myself really started so I'm always trying to stop in whenever I'm in the area despite my general lack of monetary means. In any case, it's a great place to grab a beer whilst waiting for friends to arrive.

It just so happens that there was a complimentary Allagash tasting going on inside...don't mind if I do. We caught the tail end of the event so I didn't get to sample everything but perhaps they were saving the best stuff for last...Curieux and Odyssey. The Curieux was smelled quite sweet which was totally undercut by the very prominent bourbon flavors. I believe this was the first time I had tried a bourbon-aged tripel so I was really impressed by how well the Belgian spices complimented the bourbon. I wish I had gotten some more but the sample gave me a good idea of just how smooth and delectable this beer is. I wasn't as head-over-heels with Odyssey, the oak aged "Belgian-style" dark wheat. It was an aggressive mix of roasted coffee, bitter chocolate, and oak, reminded me of a lot of Quads and the sample was all I really needed of this one.

A couple of my friends finally met up with us but we were still waiting on one more so we all grabbed a beer to tide us over. I went with Illumination, the Double IPA from Central Waters Brewing Company. I neglected to jot anything down regarding this beer but from what I've gathered from memory...I was a fan (give me a break, Beer Week is a long 10 days). Once our whole group was together it was time to find some grub and get away from the crowds for a bit. On our way to our next stop we stumbled upon this empty Nugget Nectar sitting alone on the sidewalk, a sure sign that Philly Beer Week was in full swing.

Beer Week is a great time to try new things so we decided to head over to The Abbaye, a spot neglected by everyone in the group before. We snagged a table outside and ordered up, the perfect setting for a few evening beers. My clear choice from the draft list was Brotherly Suds 2, the collaboration beer brewed for PBW 2011 by Yards, Troegs, Nodding Head, Victory, and Stoudts at their Adamstown brewery. This clear golden lager's aroma reminded me of a farm, lots of straw and light malt with just a bit of a funky kick somewhere in there. The hops add a floral touch and come out a lot stronger on the tongue. The brewers said this was a beer FOR brewers, not the beer geek crowd, but I really enjoyed it. Perfectly balanced, clean, crisp, and refreshing with the slightest bit of fruitiness made for a well rounded beer that is just one example that proves not all "yellow fizzy beer" is bad. 

My buddy Steve had gotten up from the table to make a phone call and wandered off, seconds later I realized he was calling me into the bar where he had ordered up two pints of Victory's Summer Love. I'm not sure why this was a secret mission but it was one I was happy to take part in. This is just a good standby beer for this time of year folks. Nothing to write home about but an American blonde ale that I've been enjoying quite a bit this year now that they have released it in bottles. It's a light-to-medium body beer with a stronger malt presence than you might expect, pale malt with some wheat characteristics as well. The hops add some light touches citrus flavors along with a bit of earthy spice to finish things out, a very accessible beer to share with your more tepid beer drinking friends this summer!

I really enjoyed The Abbaye, it was a quiet little spot just a bit off the beaten path. They're not running any gimmicks and there was no snobbery to be found. Exposed brick, hardwood flooring, outdoor seating, great beers, very reasonable pricing...pretty much everything I look for in a bar. They also have a lot of "U Buy The Glass" nights where you buy a pint glass for $10 and get free refills for 2 hours, not too shabby at all. We weren't all quite ready to head home yet so for some reason we went all the way down to South Street for a couple nightcaps at Brauhaus Schmitz, Philly's one true German beer hall. 

There aren't many other ways I would have wanted to end my first day of Philly Beer Week.

Next Up: The Deschutes beer dinner at London Grill

Cheers!

Stout & Chowder Festival

What better way to spend a brisk November evening than with some robust beers and hearty chowder?

Join the Independence Seaport Museum (ISM) and Rolling Barrel Events for an evening filled with dark / seasonal beers and belly-warming soups.  Tickets to the event will include a commemorative glass mug (yes, real glass), access to over ten “Burly Beer Stations” featuring all local breweries, a special breakout session showcasing pumpkin beers, and numerous hearty soups, stews and chowders.  Proceeds will benefit the Independence Seaport Museum

Tonight is the First Annual Stout & Chowder Festival and the lineup looks mighty tasty. Corey from Rolling Barrel Events was kind enough to let me man one of the "Burly Beer Stations" at tonight's event at the Seaport Museum so there is even more reason for you to buy a ticket. Not sure what I'll be pouring yet but I'll be sure to throw some updates on Twitter. Sounds like it is going to be a great night so I hope to see you there! Get your tickets here!

The brewery list is as follows:

• Manayunk Brewing Co.
• Lancaster Brewing Co.
• Flying Fish
• Weyerbacher
• Dock Street
• Victory
• Philadelphia Brewing Co.
• Troegs
• Yards
• Intercourse
• Dogfish Head

Cheers!

Brewery Tour: Troegs Brewing Company

 
I went camping with majority of my family this past weekend out in Manheim, PA which is only 20 minutes or so outside of Harrisburg where the brothers Trogner have been brewing since 1997. I couldn't pass up the opportunity to visit one of the breweries that helped me get into craft beer a few years ago so I took a break from the wilderness and headed for the capital.

Luckily my girlfriend is used to these sorts of diversions on vacations (visiting Maui Brewing Co. when we were in Hawaii this summer was a priority) so she was my brewery co-pilot. We drove over the railroad tracks to find Troegs nestled away all by it's lonesome. I spotted a Troegenator van and got very excited about it, somehow I haven't become jaded yet and each new brewery I visit gets me all a twitter.

We had reservations for the 1:30 tour so with a little bit of time to kill we checked out the gift shop which had one of the biggest selections I've seen. They have a t-shirt and a glass for nearly everyone of their beers. Everything was priced pretty reasonably which made my decision on what to buy all the more difficult. I ended up grabbing a brewery work shirt for $10. They have a bunch of used work shirts with employees names still on them which I found to be much cooler than the regular swag.

Our group was called in for the tour which I was excited to realize would be led by Chris Trogner himself. I really appreciate when a tour is led by a brewery's founder or brewmaster rather than a schlub that works in the tasting room. Chris led a pretty standard tour, starting with the labs and mill room. There was one guy in our group that was constantly interrupting with completely irrelevant questions. I think he saw that they offered something free to do on a Saturday and decided that he should bring his entire weird family who couldn't have cared less about what was going on. Even Chris couldn't hide his annoyance with this guy, there always has to be "that guy" on a tour I guess.

 

The tour carried on and Chris led everyone through the whole process, handed out some grains and hops for everyone to see, told us that the spent grains get picked up by some farmer for his cows, same old same old. One exciting moment in the tour was when we were shown the hopback chamber. They only use it for a few of their brews (obviously Hopback Amber is one of them) and when Chris mentioned that that was where Nugget Nectar was born, all of the beer geeks started smiling and nodding their heads while their girlfriends just stared at the stainless steel chamber.

We ended up on the other side of the facility near the bottling line where they have a number of barrels stacked against the wall where they have some exciting experiments going on. These barrels are home to their Splinter Series, barrel aged brews that are only available at the brewery in very limited quantities. What we saw aging was their Russian Imperial Stout which after maturing for 8 months will be available around Christmas. The way Chris talked about it I really wish I lived closer because it sounded like it is going to be delicious.

The tour winded down and Chris stuck around for any lingering questions so I asked him about the big move to Hershey. He said that things were going well and as of right now they are on schedule and should be brewing by June 2011. I was shocked to hear that they were taking the entire operation to Hershey but from what I've read the new location is going to be much more spacious which will be great improvement because we were quite cramped on Saturday. The tasting room is going to have large windows which will allow visitors to watch while they brew, something that I can't wait to check out.

A mock-up of the new brewery

After the tour we grabbed a sampling tray since my girlfriend wasn't familiar with their selections. For $7 you get to try all 7 of their drafts which that day included their year rounds plus Dead Reckoning and Scratch 34, a Belgian style brown. The samples were pretty generous but I was really hoping they would have Mad Elf on tap, but alas. They also have Philly soft pretzels available and you can fill your growler for pretty cheap but of course I neglected to bring mine along for the trip. We finished our sampler and I picked up a bottle of The Flying Mouflan before we headed back to the woods.

The Troegs variety pack was one of the first few cases I bought when my roommates and I were starting to explore the world of real beer so it was a pleasure to visit it's home in Harrisburg. I'm also glad I got to visit their original location before they move out but I think their new brewery will be bigger and better so I would recommend planning a trip next summer. If you happen to find yourself in our state's capital, a place that can get pretty boring pretty quickly, head over to Troegs for a beer because they won't be there for long!

Troegs Brewing Company

800 Paxton St
Harrisburg, PA 17104

Cheers!