Ground Break American Style Saison by Ithaca

At this point I have absolutely no clue how long we have had this beer. It held up really well for being maybe 10-12 months old, possibly even older.

Color:

Dark golden brownish, almost caramel in color, hazy, SRM 6-7

ABV:

6.2%

Smell:

Citrus, floral, tropical kind of like mango

Taste:

Citrus and pine overpower this beer. There is also a slight earthy, bitter taste that comes forward after the pine. It did have a bitter aftertaste, that wasn't too bad but I wasn't expecting it. It had a decent head and good head retention. The carbonation was in the goldilocks zone for this style, at least for me. It had a nice light to medium mouthfeel. This is a great spring beer, for just after all the snows melted and the flowers are starting to pop up.

Rating:

This was a decent saison. I'm not a huge fan of overly piney flavors but it just wasn't was I was expecting. Once I got past the expectation not being the beer, it was quite tasty and would be a good beer to have around as a "I don't have to think about it" beer. I was expecting more citrus and maybe a little tropical but it was an interesting mish-mash of pine and citrus.

Cocoa Porter by Tommyknocker

We grabbed this beer when we grabbed a couple other beers at the end of winter. We've never gotten anything from Tommyknocker before, so we were really excited to get to try this.

Color:

Black, full on black with maybe just the tiniest hint of caramel, SRM ~35

ABV:

5.7%

Smell:

Crisp malts, slight chocolate, in general very crisp smelling

Taste:

There isn't the any heavy roasting or well over roasted flavors with this beer. It's super smooth but not creamy. There are no flavors that overpower all the rest, no real strong flavors. It's very crisp for a cocoa based beer. Usually cocoa beers have strong chocolate aftertastes that linger for several minutes. This beer didn't have that; there was almost no aftertaste. It was a crisp, clean beer and I loved that about it. As the beer warmed up, there was definitely more of a chocolate taste. It didn't have a lot of carbonation which makes it odd that it had a light medium mouthfeel. Sometimes that can be a bad thing, but for this style it was super refreshing.

Rating

I will definitely be looking out for this when it comes back around to winter. It was refreshing while being warming and so smooth. The crispness was very different for this style so it made it unique.

Pure Evil by Evil Genius Brewing Company

Evil Genius has been on our radar for a couple years now. We first found out about this company at one of the BrewFest events that takes place every year on the grounds of The Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire at Mount Hope mansion. They are based in West Grove, PA but are brewing out of Connecticut at the moment. Pure Evil is Evil Genius Brewing Company's version of a Chocolate stout.

Color:

Very very dark brown almost black but with hints of dark red, SRM ~28-29

ABV:

5.6%

Smell:

Roasted dark malts, no espresso and a slight hint of chocolate

Taste:

This has a mild roasted taste with just a hint of chocolate. This starts with a very slight bitter taste, moves to the malts and then the chocolate kind of pops up out of no where. It has a nice semi-sweet chocolate aftertaste that lingers nicely. There is a slight roastyness that lingers in the mouth, it's not a heavy linger. It has a medium mouthfeel which works really well for this blend of flavors. If it was a heavy mouthfeel, I'm not sure I would enjoy it as much.

Rating:

I am super excited to see what this company goes on to do. This is very good chocolate stout. If it had a heavier mouthfeel with all the chocolate lingering, I probably wouldn't have enjoyed it as much. It could have been a super heavy, high chocolate beer but I'm really glad it wasn't. I ended up enjoying it more than I usually do with chocolate beers. I will definitely be on the look out for this company. Hopefully it moves to the Pittsburgh Area soon, but for now we will just have to make trips to eastern PA to get it.

Winter Warmer by Harpoon

We grabbed this just at the end of winter, which in Pittsburgh is like April. After all the PCBW stuff, we are finally writing up the review.

Color:

Darker copper brown with some red and gold, SRM ~ 15-18

ABV:

5.9%

Smell:

Spices, cloves, nutmeg, with a mild floral hoppiness, mild malts and very warming in a way

Taste:

This beer was mildly malty but very hoppy. It was not bitter in anyway. It had a lot of spice. The spices are almost overpowering though. There was a nice mild nutmeg aftertaste that didn't linger. It was there and then gone almost in a crisp way. It had a really nice full mouth fell that I expect from a winter warmer.

Rating:

Overall it's a good winter warmer. I will get this again when the winter comes back around but I may try several other winter warmers before I pick this up again. This is in general what I think of when I think winter warmer. It's not lighting the world on fire but it's a very solid beer. This beer plus a great book with snow outside and a fire rolling feels like a great night to me.

A Flight of YETIS!!

YETIS EVERYWHERE!!!

Here we recount our experiences of being attacked by five yetis while dining at Hough's during Pittsburgh Craft Beer Week. All yetis have thick black opaque fur, this equates to a Snowman Resemblance Measure (SRM) of about 35-40. They also have an Abominableness by Volume (ABV) of about 9.5%.

Oatmeal Raisin Yeti

This yeti smelled like it rolled around in a pile of oatmeal raisin cookies. It gave a smooth heavy mauling and and left a lingering raisin taste in my mouth. All in all a distinctly different and pretty pleasant experience, as maulings go.

Chocolate Oak Aged Yeti

Rumor has it this yeti was found living in an oak house and eating nothing but chocolate. He attacked with a chunk of oak, and I think there was some chocolate smudged on me afterward. Living in oak made him bitter, but the chocolate diet balanced it to make him quite pleasant overall.

2014 Yeti of the Year

Clearly a fan of a smooth malty cologne. He gave a light, almost gentle mauling. Roasted and malty in character, he hasn't been around long enough to turn bitter. Still filled with the almost sweet crispness of youth.

2013 Yeti of the Year

A fan of the same malt cologne, but with age comes the wisdom to use it in moderation. The year has made him lose the crispness in favor of a little bitterness, but he manages to keep everything together and act smooth. Conversation with him was nice and mellow, but left me feeling bitter after he left. More likely to try to bite you than the 2014, but we left with all limbs intact.

2012 Yeti of the Year

Two years were enough to make this yeti very jaded and bitter. He's lost all his sense of timing and just hits you with everything all at once. We left the encounter feeling bruised and cynical, but still somehow happy about the experience.

Epilogue

It was tough getting past all five yetis and making it out. It was certainly an interesting experience though, and one that I'm glad we got the chance to have. If you're totally confused by what you just read, click here for an explanation.

Explaining our Yeti Encounter

If you have't read it yet, go check out the story of our yeti encounter before reading this.

Left to right: Oatmeal Raisin, Chocolate
Oak Aged, 2014, 2013, 2012

Hough's in Greenfield had a special event during Pittsburgh Craft Beer Week to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Great Divide Brewing Company with 20 of their beers on tap. We noticed that a number of them were variations on their Yeti Imperial Stout. As a bit of an experiment, we decided to order a flight of five different variations of the same beer to see how much difference there was in their flavors even though they all started with the same base beer.

When writing the post about our experience, we thought it would be interesting to write it as if they were actual yetis instead of beers. Thus the yeti post was born. If you go back and read it with a little imagination, you should be able to figure out what the actual beers were like. If you enjoyed this post, let us know by leaving a comment or saying something about it over on our Facebook page.

Kriek Lambic from Free Will BC

No flash = hard to see the color.

Today we bring you our reviews of the beer we drank from Free Will Brewing Company two Tuesdays ago. As part of Pittsburgh Craft Beer Week, Caliente played host to John, the brewmaster, and he brought along some fine beers. We drank a couple over a 'Philly Cheesesteak' pizza before chatting with John for a bit.

We also drank (and reviewed) their Chasing the Dragon.

Color:

Bright pink grapefruit, SRM ~10-13

ABV:

4.9%

Glass:

Tulip

Smell:

Slight tart cherry smell, not overpowering, no real malt or hop smell

Flash = NEON BEER!

Taste:

Nice sour cherry taste. Not heavy at all, light and crisp. No real malt or hop taste. very mild and smooth. I am in love with this beer; the crisp taste and the sour flavors. It is amazing that this beer is only aged for a year. They don't use the open air spontaneous fermentation usually used for lambics, and John, the brewmaster, says that they are categorizing the bacteria and yeast strains in their area. So maybe someday they will do an open air fermentation for this style.

Rating:

I love this beer. If I found out this was being poured somewhere, I would make a trek to go get it. I was super excited about this beer. Getting to talk to the Brewer was just icing on the cake.

Chasing the Dragon Double IPA from Free Will BC

Today we bring you our reviews of the beer we drank from Free Will Brewing Company two Tuesdays ago. As part of Pittsburgh Craft Beer Week, Caliente played host to John, the brewmaster, and he brought along some fine beers. We drank a couple over a 'Philly Cheesesteak' pizza before chatting with John for a bit.

We also drank (and reviewed) their Kriek Lambic.

Color:

Caramel brown with golden hues, unfiltered, SRM ~12-15

ABV:

9.6%

Glass:

Goblet

Smell:

Floral and citrus smells

Taste:

This had a bitter taste which lingered but not too long. Eventually there was a slight citrus taste. Definitely piney and earthy. It was very hop forward (duh). The unfiltered nature gave it a heavy mouthfeel but not like drinking lunch.

Rating:

This is a good double IPA but I need to be in the mood for something this hoppy.
(Hence why I ordered it, not you. ~David)
(Hence why you're a jerk. ~Meredith)

Finch's Beer Company

This is a quick overview of the samples we had Monday at the Sharp Edge Creekhouse during PCBW. These beers are all from Finch's Beer Company in Chicago. We were very happy to meet Mike Finch from the Company and hopefully will get to try some more of their beer soon.

Wet Hot American Wheat Ale

Color:

Clean Crisp Pale Gold, SRM ~5

Smell:

Hard to place smell, slight citrus, slight sweet

Taste:

Light, malty profile, Slightly wheat with a little pine. It had a bitter aftertaste.

Threadless IPA

Color:

Mild red with caramel and gold hues, SRM ~10

Smell:

Floral

Taste:

Floral taste with very mild malts and a slight bitter forward taste

Secret Stache Stout

Color:

Nice black with mild caramel and red hues, SRM ~30

Smell:

Vanilla

Taste:

Mild chocolate malts with some smooth vanilla

Stache in the Wood

Color:

Nice black with mild caramel and red hues, SRM ~30

Smell:

Slight bourbon smell

Taste:

Slightly alcoholic like bourbon, very similar to Secret Stache, I mean it is Secret Stache barreled in bourbon barrels.

Pittsburgh Craft Beer Week

Some of you might remember that we mentioned that last week was Pittsburgh Craft Beer Week. We were so busy going out and attending events we didn't get around to writing about them. Now that the marathon of beer is over, here's a recap of what we remember happening. This post is going to cover the events we attended through the week. We'll have more posts up soon reviewing some of the beers we drank as well.

Monday

We were lucky enough to get to have one of our close friends, Clare, join us for the evening. We started with heading out to the Sharp Edge Creekhouse for dinner with Finch's Brewing Company. The best quote of the dinner was when Clare asked "What is Craft Beer." (This question prompted my head hitting the table a Dave doing a textbook facepalm.) Finch's is located in the Chicago area, so Clare enjoyed talking to Mike Finch about Chicago. Dave got the special beer dinner that included 3 courses each paired with a beer from Finch's. We also got a rare chance to sample their barrel aged Stache in the Wood. A bottle of their Awesome Cabeza Mexican style lager is now in our queue of beers we need to drink and review. A short review of the beers we tried will be posted sometime soon.

We then made our way over to Rivertowne on the North Shore. They were having a giant Meet the Brewers night. Between the three of us we got to try a lot and meet plenty of really cool people. Jason from Breaking Brews shared his love of both beer and Disney/Pixar movies. We didn't get a chance to talk to all the brewers that were there, but we got to meet the brewer from Draai Laag, as well as a brewer from Penn Brewery who is in the process of leaving the beer industry, but not brewing, to start making mead. I know we're looking forward to visiting him once that gets off the ground. We also got to meet brewers from East End Brewery (who was not a huge fan of all the pictures Clare wanted to take of him) and the Hop Farm, a fairly new brewery. They grow most, if not all, the hops they use. This was a great event and on top of it the Pens won that night.

Tuesday

Philadelphia's own Yards Brewing Company was in town for an event at Hough's in Greenfield (Which is apparently pronounced 'Huffs" for some reason I don't understand). Got some food and played trivia. Let’s just say we are really bad at trivia, like really bad. At least we didn't do too badly at the round that was all about Yards. Hough's is turning into one of our favorite places to go. They have great food and 71 beers on draft thanks to an impressive looking 'tap wall.' Pair that with a nice atmosphere and friendly staff and we'll certainly make our way back there.

Wednesday

We decided to take a break on Wednesday. I was feeling a little burnt out and Dave wanted to play volleyball.

Thursday

We finally made it to Jason's new favorite place, Caliente, to get some Free Will. I had their deliciously sour kriek lambic, which will be reviewed very soon, and Dave had their Chasing the Dragon double IPA. While we were there we overheard another customer saying that this was their favorite place to get pizza in the city. After having their special Philly Cheesesteak pizza, I can see how that could be. Dave griped about it being called a Philly Cheesesteak and having peppers on it, but we both still really enjoyed it. We also got a chance to chat with the brewer from Free Will for a few minutes.

After dinner and a nice chat, we headed toward Independent Brewing Company to meet the brewers from Lavery and East End. Unfortunately the guys from Lavery had already headed home by the time we got there, but we did get to spend some time drinking the collaboration beers from their brewery. While we were there, some fine fellows from Stay Tuned stopped by. We had a great time learning more about their distillery and other endeavors while sipping some of their PathoGin.

Friday

We started our Friday night off at Franktuary, in Lawrenceville, who was hosting Straub. The had a firkin of their IPL infused with mango. We liked Franktuary but the limited menu with mostly hot dogs and poutine along with the fact it's in hipster land makes it unlikely you'll see us becoming regulars.

We made a quick, and by quick I mean grabbed a pint and ran, stop at Caliente in Bloomfield to try a collaboration firkin from Church Brew Works and Apis meadery. Honey I Spiced the Wit was very different, heavily spiced with cinnamon and a nice sweet honey flavor. The firkin aging added a very rounded warm flavor to the brew. With something like this, the spices won't open up until the beer has warmed slightly. We finished off Friday back Hough's for the Great Divide 20th anniversary celebration. They had 20 different Great Divide Brews on tap. This just finalized our love of Hough's. Dave decided to grab the reuben which according to him was "close to, if not the, best reuben I've ever had." It came with chunks of corned beef brisket instead of the usual deli variety. I had the mac and cheese again, and have officially made this my favorite mac and cheese in Pittsburgh. Of course we had a handful of different beers and finished the night with a flight of Yetis.

Saturday

We journeyed out to House of 1000 Beers to try some rare Voodoo Brew. We were discussing some things with Kirt and he admitted to being a big fan of barrel forward beers which really showed in all of the aged beers he made. We got to try The K13 barley wine, Wynona's on cask, Tenacious Wee Scotch Ale aged in Eagle Rare barrels, and the Grande Negro Voodoo Papi in Lairds Apple Brandy barrels. While The K13 was the rarest of the brews, the most interesting was the Grande Negro Papi which is aged with ghost peppers giving it a spicy kick. It was great to see Kirt again and finally check out House of 1000. They have a huge (but not infinite) selection of beers that can be hard to find otherwise.

Sunday

On sunday we decided to make a trip to Caliente for the unofficial end of PCBW bash featuring Stone. We checked out their new downstairs bar and were glad we did. The downstairs has a much quieter, more relaxed atmosphere that better suits our style. While sampling some of the 20 beers from Stone they had on tap, we enjoyed some food and conversed with some of our fellow bar patrons and participated in the debate about the name of the iron horse head mounted behind the bar. (Thor is a much better name than Ginger.) This brought a quiet but pleasant end to the hectic week that was PCBW.

This was a full week; full of fun; full of beer. Thank the kittens it's over. Though I loved every minute of PCBW, there was so much to do and see and taste that it was impossible to do it all. We met a lot of great people and drank a lot of great beer. We're looking forward to doing more of the same all year, just at a little bit slower pace.