Archive for the ‘Out and About in the Burgh’ Category

September23

Oktoberfest in Pittsburgh!

By: Tim McFarland

The autumn chill has descended on us here in Western PA which means that it is time to let that little German person inside out for a good time.  Time to strap on your leiterhosen and raise a liter of Marzen to the wedding of Prince Ludwig to Princess Therese which took place just 201 years ago!  the two main celebrations going on in the Burgh are of course at the two major German restaurants : Hofbrahaus and Penn Brewery.  We took the liberty of trying both out for you, our readers, last weekend.

Penn has live German and contemporary music from 5 pm – 12 am tonight and tomorrow with a nice Sunday session from 4 -10 pm for you casual day drinkers.  Half gallon “milk jugs” of your favorite Penn concoctions are available for $15 each including : Penn Pilsner, Penn Dark, Oktoberfest, and Allegheny Pale.  I’m sure there are other sizes are available, but come on, it’s a milk jug full of beer!  The Oktoberfest takes over the parking deck area so there should be plenty of cover if/when the skies open up  (covered lower area, tented upper area).   The upper parking area gives one of the most undderrated views of the city at night.  Food options are plentiful from a selection of sausages and sauerkraut to some delicious pretzels.

Hofbrahaus’ celebration is pretty much what one would expect with some more boisterous patrons than usual.  Hofbrau’s outside seating is a good reason to sway you in this direction if mother nature cooperates.  Bottom line, you know what you are getting at the ‘Haus.  Take some friends and enjoy the festivities 

Whose oktoberfest brew is better?  Well, I don’t really want to aggravate any Germans, either here or in Munich, so we will leave that up to you.  If you get the chance to try both, that would make quite a night!  (Just be smart about it and arrange some safe transportation).  Prost! 

Jake love beer....

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September9

Big Pour 2011 Preview

By: Jake

With Big Pour less than 24hrs away we are starting to get really fired up.  This week has been full of great beer, craft beer, events all over the city.  The feedback from the events has been superb.  If you are looking for something to do tonight check out the list of events tonight at Big Pour or Craft Pittsburgh Magazine.  The pre-festival events have built the suspense well and it’s great seeing all the brewers in town.  It’s exciting for any brewery to be part of festivals, whether it’s the sales reps or brewers.  But there is something extra special about having the brewers in town. 

We checked out the list of breweries and listed a few exciting ones we want to visit. We selected these breweries, because of their previous beer festival performances or if they were new to us or if we’ve never seen them at a festival. 

  • All Saints – Had a great showing at Beer and Gear, good barley wine
  • Ommegang
  • Dark Horse – First time to Big Pour and relatively new to da burgh. Been pleasantly pleased with what has been on tap around town.
  • East End – The Big Pour Brew is going to be a must try.
  • Founders – Last year their Double Barrel Bourbon IPA , part of their backstage series, was AWESOME! What will they bring this year?
  • Furthermore – Last year was the first time we had an opportunity to really try their brews, and it was good.
  • Helltown – We were bummed to miss Helltown at Bocktown, but are glad we get to try them tomorrow. New local brewery, gotta give them a try! We’ve heard good things.
  • Sixpoint – New to Pittsburgh. Their variety case was a great sample of their stuff; IPA, Lager, Rye, Cream Ale. Stop by and welcome them to town and enjoy one of their great beers.
  • Southern Tier
  • Spargue Farms – I hope they wear kilts again!
  • TRASH – They will always bring something good to try.
  • Voodoo – They were kicked at Beer and Gear before we were able to get to their booth. Try one of everything, great brewery!

Along with Big Pour we would like to recognize the 5 year participants.

  • Ommegang, Church Brew Works, Dogfish Head, East End, Great Lakes, Mountain State, Penn, Rivertowne, Southern Tier, Spargue Farms, TRASH, Victory, Unibroue and Voodoo

Don’t forget about the delicious food vendors too.  Last year the food was amazing!  It was perfect having food intermixed with beer.

So if you are going, enjoy! Let us know what you liked or didn’t like. If you see us there come say hello! We’ll be the ones with note pads, haha, yeah the nerds!

Cheers!

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September7

Appalachian Brewing Co. (Camp Hill, PA)

By: Tim McFarland

Standing outside ABC in Camp Hill

Appalachian Brewing Co. has three locations in the Harrisburg area : Downtown Harrisburg, suburban Camp Hill, and historic Gettysburg.  ABC has also recently opened a new location in Collegeville, PA to tap into the Philly marketplace.  While perhaps not as well known as the other Harrisburg brewery (Troegs), Appalachian offers a large variety of beer styles that often differ among the locations as all are functioning breweries.

My sister, Mel, lives in the Harrisburg area so I have found excuses to visit the Troegs brewery in the past.  However, I’d never been to any of the ABC locations before.  My family enjoyed an early dinner at the Camp Hill location this past weekend.  In a decidedly suburban setting, the building looks a little bit underwhelming but the bar inside is nicely decorated with beautiful wood and a handpainted ABC logo on the floor.  The dining room vibe fits a little bit better with the building exterior.  The bar is really the place to be.  Craving some wine?  The Camp Hill location has 12  wines on draught!

A special of the ABC’s Camp Hill location was the lineup of 3 double IPAs each made with only one type of hop : Nugget, Summit, and Cascade.  Jake and I have always talked about doing this.  What a great way to study the effect of different hop varietals on the pallet!

ABC's IPA Triple Play

 

Nugget (7.57 % ABV, 82 IBU) – Starts off with a very nice floral aroma actually more than the Cascade which I found very surprising. Overall this beer is crisp and clean with some notes of citrus with some bitterness towards the end.  The finish is overall well-balanced and not too dry.

Summit (7.57 % ABV, 87 IBU) - The best head of the three beers but missing any sort of noticeable aroma.  The flavor profile is complex with a sweet first taste followed by a sourness.  There are unmistakeable notes of citrus, primarily orange flavor.  The finish is more bitter and dry than the other offerings but still is relatively well-balanced.

Cascade (7.57 % ABV, 72 IBU) - The cascade has a good floral aroma which is not surprising.  Overall, the flavor is a bit bland but the finish is slightly sweet and a bit drier than the Nugget though not as dry as the Summit.

My favorite :  The Summit had the most standout flavor but the Nugget was a much more well-rounded IPA.  I’ll take the Nugget everytime.

I look forward to sneaking away from future family gatherings to visit ABC’s other locations.  The downtown Harrisburg location has a seperate Belgian beer bar, The Abbey!

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August12

5th Annual Millvale Brew Fest Preview

By: Jake

Rain or shine get ready to drink some beer in Millvale!  Whether you kayak, bike, walk or drive over get ready for a fun time at the 5th Annual Millvale Brew Fest.  The park is a great location right along the Allegheny River and on the bike path.  Looks like this year has a lot of really great breweries participating.  Some are old friends while others are relatively new to the Pittsburgh beer scene.  TDY will unfortunately not be unable to attend this year, as we are out of town.  Below are the breweries committed with some notes on what we would like to try if we could.  We would love to get some feedback on the festival.  Take pics, write notes, do whatever but let us know what you thought of it.

All Saints Brewing – They had a really good Barleywine at Beer and Gear earlier this summer.

Beaver Brewing – All around great nano brewery.  Had an excellent time sampling their brews at OTB.  Try them all!

Church Brew Works

Dogfish Head

Duquesne Brewing

East End Brewing – Always put on a great beer festival showing.  Let us know if they pour anything special or new.

Erie Brewing

Full Pint

Heavy Seas

Iron City – I’m guessing they are promoting the Mango, mmm mmmmango!

Lancaster Brewing – Strawberry Wheat is nice and refreshing on a hot day, but the milk stout isn’t bad either.

Leisure Sports Brewing – A new nano out of Lower Burrell, excited to hear about what they pour!  Please give us feedback.

Main Street

Morgantown Brewing

Mountain State Brewing – Solid amber and IPA

Otter Creek

Penn Brewery – Try the imperial Pils, it was really enjoyed during their anniversary party.

Roy Pitz

Sixpoint – New to the Pittsburgh beer scene from Brooklyn NY.

Smuttynose

Stone

Stoudts

Straub

Troegs – Try any of the Scratch Series if available.  It’s there experimental beer series.

T.R.U.B. – Homebrew club from PGH.  Would also like feedback on what they are pouring.

Victory

Voodoo – You know we love their stuff.  Always a great time at any beer festival.  Try them all!  One of the top 3 breweries at Millvale this year.

Wolaver’s

Yards

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August8

TDY Does Golf

By: Jake

Earlier in the week we realized we all haven’t played golf for a few years. We thought with the great summer weather we better get out while we can before the summer is over. Of course your can’t play golf without a few brews. On our way out to the course we stopped at the House of 1000 Beers in New Ken. This place is AWESOME! Personally I was blown away when I saw this………Mother F’n Deschutes Mirror Pond.  I totally had a beer boner.

After spending a good 30-45 minutes browsing, we left with a wide selection: Victory Twelve, Deschutes Mirror Pond & Red Chair, Blue Point Hoptical Illusion, Shiner Ruby Redbird, Czechvar,  Iron City Mango for Tim (just kidding it was for Mark), Voodoo Eisbier, Strawberry Abita and 21st Admendment Brewing Hell or High Watermelon. (Ed. note: lies)

Our golf games were anything but consistent.  Here and there we had a few decent shots, but those were far and few between, especially for me.

The first beer of the course was the Victory Twelve (V-12).  The V-12 is a Belgian style speciality ale brewed by Victory out in Downingtown, PA.  Victory describes the beer as heady with a aromatic fruity start and taste along with hints of pear and apricot. The initial impression of fruitiness concludes in a refreshing dryness.  For the most part I would agree with this assessment.  It was incredibly easy to drink and packs a punch at 12% Alc by Vol.  Great beer for the golf course, it will relax you and give you confidance to make any shot.

This picture of Tim may look like perfect form, but don’t let that fool you.  The ball didn’t even pass the ladies tee.  Not sure if it was his clubs or the Voodoo Eisbier.  This was the first time I’ve seen a bottle of this brew.  TDY is big fans of Voodoo Brewing so we had to try it.  This beer has, from what we could tell, a deep amber color with a red tones depending on how the light hits it.  The first sip was tough to pick out the cherry flavor, but as we continued to drink the cherry flavor became noticable towards the back of the tongue.  This high alcohol brew didn’t drink like one.  It went down smooth.   In short it was an easy drinking bock style beer with some tart cherry finish at ~14+% alc by vol.

There were a few fruit beers in the rotation.  It was a very hot summer afternoon and they were both a pleasant change of pace.  The 21st Admendment Hell or High Watermelon was canned which sat in the golf cart cupholder nicely, even with the way we drove them.  If you like a light ale with a touch of watermelon flavor you should try this beer.  Very easy to drink on a hot day.

The other fruit beer was the Strawberry Abita.  One of the best fruit beers on the market.  Tim was wicked excited to find this one. Usually there is a mad scramble to buy this up when it is released.  This was one of the first beers Tim went for on the course. Unfortanly Strawberry Abita does not give you super human golf powers. Very smooth, fresh strawberry tasting ale.  It has a nice balance of fruit to beer flavor. 

In the middle we enjoyed Blue Point Hoptical Illusion, Czechvar and Shiner Ruby Redbird.  Blue Point Hoptical Illusion has been on tap around town. If you are a hop head you will enjoy this.  There is a nice citrus hop bite to this brew. I would like it be more bitter and less malty, but non-the-less its a solid IPA. Towards the begining of the bottle we were picking up on some sort of fruit, maybe apricot. This could also be related to drinking Hoptical Illusion after a fruit beer. 

Czechvar is an example of a classic pilsner, very similar to Pilsner Urquel.

Shiner Ruby Redbird is a fruit/vegitable beer with grapefruit and slight traces of ginger.  It was crisp and refreshing, but needed a little more flavor. 

To close out the course we cracked open the Deschutes Mirror Pond and Red Chair.  Both are pale ales from Bend, Oregon.  These beers were super flavorful and very easy to drink.  They were both very hop driven with little to no malty sweetness.  This does not mean they were as bitter as an IPA.  The west coast pale ales and IPAs are more focused on hop flavor without the malty sweetness than their east coast conterparts.  East coast pales and IPAs try to be overly balanced with hops and malt.  Don’t get me started on the idea of ‘balanced’ pales and IPAs.  It was refreshing to taste beers in this style category that were not malty, yet had a medium hop bitterness.  Deschutes is not readily available in PA, yet!  There are rumors of them entering the state in the near near future.  If we hear of anything we will let you know.

Vote now for who you think finished in 1st place; Tim, Mark or Jake.  Winner gets a random beer coaster from our collection.

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July20

Staircase Beer Review: Southern Tier Cuvee #2

By: Jake

We do our best Rick Seeback impression while sampling the Southern Tier Cuvee #2 on a local staircase.

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June21

Beer and Gear 10 Review

By: Jake

Another great Beer and Gear weekend.  We camped the entire weekend at Ohiopyle and enjoyed the rain/storms we got Friday and Saturday night.  Friday night was a perfect night to sit along the banks of the Yough and watch kayakers head into the rapids at sunset with a few adult beverages.

Saturday started off with a nice hike and lunch at the Firefly.  They have some great wraps.  Next time you are in Ohiopyle check them out.  Finally it was 3:30pm and it was time to start drinking!  The line to get in went around the corner and onto the bridge into town.  Once the gates opened and a train rolled by the line moved pretty well.  Everyone was greeted at the front gate with a full pint glass.  It was a huge crowd again this year.  Some were speculating it was larger than last year’s.  I would have to agree.  Voodoo Brewing was kicked within 1 hour.  Sadly we were unable to make our way over before they ran out.  Congrats to them for another good showing.

Here are some highlights:

Blue Canoe

  • Beer on a Stick – If you like candied apples in liquid form, then this is the beer for you!
  • Worse Beer Here – Actually it was the best beer there!  A Belgian saison; perfectly crisp, spiced, refreshing tasty summer beer.

Mountain State

  • IPA – Amber in color with a great head.  Citrus notes are present, especially after the beer warms.  Not overly hoppy.

Fat Head’s

  • Stout – One of the few dark beers on hand.  Surprisingly was a favorite in the warm weather.

Erie Brewing

  • Railbender – pretty common, no surprises, but a good clean enjoyable beer.

Morgantown

  • Brown – middle of the road brown, nice caramel notes with a dark brown color.
  • Pale Ale – amber/copper in appearance, small head.  a slight whiff of hops hits the nose and palate on the first sip.  Nicely hopped pale ale with a clean finish.

Victory

  • Summer Love – decent clean beer, not a ton of flavor but tasted great when it got really hot out

All Saints Brewing

  • Barleywine – damn good barleywine.  not a favorite style of mine, but it was good especially as it warmed up.

The video below pretty much sums everything up.  It took us a few takes to let the trains go by.

So did you attend Beer and Gear?  If so what did you like?  Try something NEW?

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June13

10th Annual Beer and Gear Fest at Ohiopyle

By: Jake

Beer and Gear (Ohiopyle) – June 18, 2011

Beer and Gear is a great outdoor beer festival hosted by Wilderness Voyageurs.  The festival combines great craft beer with the beautiful scenery of Ohioplye State Park.  The 3:30pm start time allows you the opportunity to enjoy a hike or get out on the Youghiogheny River before the festival.  Nothing beats being outside all day and finishing it off relaxing with a plethora of good beer while enjoying a nice summer day.  Last year we were impressed with the beer selection, but two breweries really caught our attention.  The first was Voodoo Brewing.  They served a pilsner (Pilzilla 7% ABV), an IPA, a brown ale (Wynona’s Big) and a very wild Love Child (brewed with raspberries, cherries, passion fruit).  The other brewery was Mountain State Brewing.  All of Mountain State’s offerings were very solid and refreshing; Cold Trail Ale (think summer Kolsch style), Amber and Seneca IPA.

Both Voodoo and Mountain State will be back again this year and we are excited for new comer All Saints.  Other breweries include: Erie Brewing, North Country, Fat Heads, Rivertowne, Otto’s, Penn, Morgantown Brewing plus many more.  There is only one session, 3:30pm – 7pm.  Cost of admission is $20 and includes a full pint tasting glass and live music.  There will also be a ‘gear’ section to the festival.  The gear section includes kayaks, clothes and outdoor gear retailers.  Last but not least at 9am there is a Beer and Gear 5k run. 

Grab a campsite, bike/kayak, wrap from the Firefly and then head over to the festival.  We’ll see you there!

http://wilderness-voyageurs.com/beer-and-gear.html – for more details

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June13

2011 Pennsylvania Microbrewers Fest

By: Tim McFarland

Last Saturday turned out to be a perfect day for the first major beer festival of the summer season.  We made it out Penn Brewery to enjoy the afternoon session with a few extra visitors.  The wonderful weather, live music, and all the beer we could drink in three hours combined with a fantastic view of downtown Pittsburgh made for a great kickoff weekend to our summer.

Thirty different breweries were represented, with many bringing more than 2 beers apiece.  We were particularly eager to try offerings from a few new faces: Lavery Brewing Co. and and Union Barrel Works as well as welcome back some our favorite local and not so local brews.

I’m happy to report that an Ommegang representative brought a delicious Belgian Pale Ale as well as the always outstanding Three Philosophers.  So complex in flavor, Three Philosophers continues to be one of my favorite beers of all time.  While it’s tempting to camp out at the Ommegang station, Jake and I got out there and tasted around.

Here’s some of the highlights :

Union Barrel Works Pale Ale – Jake and I had split opinions over this one.  The aroma is overwhelmingly sweet and the taste is light and citrusy.  More flavor than your standard pale ale.  Our major point of contention is in this description as a pale ale at all.  Definitely a summer type ale worth trying.

North Coast Brother Thelonious – I always considered the B.T. to be the West Coast answer to Three Philosophers.  While the flavor profile is not complex, this is a big bold beer in the style of a Belgian Dubbel with some unique craft beer twists.  It’s great to see this at a beer festival because like Three Philosophers a bottle of B.T. can run you a pretty penny.

Lavery Brewing Co. Imperial Red – Cascade/Amarillo like floral aroma.  The bitterness is present in this beer from the hops but the addition of darker/roasted malts (caramel?) adds additional sweetness to this beer.  This is a nice mixture of beer styles that combines the best characteristics of an IPA and a Red ale.

Southern Tier 2X IPA – While there are always many contenders in the IPA category, the Southern Tier really stood above as everything that an IPA should be.  It’s well balanced between bitterness and body but does not have a residual sweetness.  Many other IPAs and Imperial IPAs too often fall into this trap.  While plenty bitter, there are notes of citrus which make this a much more drinkable IPA in the hot weather.

Rust Belt John Young Double Bock  - A biscuity brown ale on steroids is apt description of this delicious brew from Youngstown based Rust Belt Brewery.

TRASH – We were able to sample a few homebrews as well.  It was good to see the homebrewers being represented at the festival.  There was lots to choose from and nothing was absolutely terrible.  The Oatmeal Brown stuff in my head as a favorite.  My notes didn’t make it, but if memory serves me right it was a smooth delicous oatmeal brew.  Think oatmeal stout but not as heavy.

Best Newcomer Beer : Lavery Brewing Co. Imperial Red Ale

Thanks again to everyone who organized this beer festival.  It’s always a smooth flow and lots of beer to sample and the lunch hit the spot.  Plus the Porta Trough made the guys bathroom line move very quickly.

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June12

TDY Gets Married!

By: Mark Wanczak

Please join me in congratulating Mr. and Mrs. TDY Tim McFarland on their marriage.


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