Sunday Morning Stout from Weyebacher

Breakfast of champions.

Sunday Morning Stout is a rare coffee stout from Weyerbacher Brewing, located in Easton PA. We were really lucky to try this beer, from its first barrel to ever hit Western Pa. Harris Grill was super awesome for supporting this event and having an awesome brunch for Pittsburgh Craft Beer Week.

Color:

black with some mild caramel hues, SRM ~28-30

ABV:

~12%

Glass:

Tulip

Smell:

roasted coffee but not burnt, just a nice clean coffee smell

Taste:

This tasted like coffee, well coffee with some beer in it. Not like burnt American coffee that’s been sitting for hours on a hot plate, but like good fresh coffee. It wasn't overly roasted and had some interesting mild caramel flavors. The first flavor to hit is definitely coffee and then a nice malt profile comes through. It definitely had a coffee aftertaste as well, it wasn't heavy but it lingered around for a while. It wasn't heavily carbonated and it didn't start out with a thick head and the head disappeared pretty quickly. The mouthfeel was even like coffee, not watery coffee, but a good cup of joe. If it wasn't cold and I didn't know I was drinking beer, I would definitely think I was drinking a cup of coffee. It felt like the perfect way to finish brunch, it earned its name.

Rating:

If you're a fan of coffee stouts, this rates five pints. Even if you're not a particular fan it's still at least a solid four. It is a rare beer; this was the first barrel that has even come out to western PA. I usually don’t like coffee stouts but I am a big fan of this one.

Update from Pittsburgh Craft Beer Week

We've gotten to meet a lot of really awesome people so far. We met Lee from Stewards of Beer for a sampling of Flying Dog and Deschutes at a local bottle shop. Deschutes is new to the area and makes amazing session beers, 4 - 5.5% ABV. They are based in Bend, Oregon and have just started distributing in the Pittsburgh area. We decided to get six packs of Flying Dog’s Raging Bitch Belgian IPA and Deschutes Chainbreaker White IPA and Black Butte Porter. We will be reviewing those soon.

Saturday evening we took a trip to Kelly's Bar & Lounge for some VooDoo (the beer, not the magic, okay maybe a little magic). They had about half a dozen VooDoo beers, and one VooDoo brewer on tap for the event. We had a chance to talk to Kirt, the head brewer for VooDoo, for a bit while we were there. He is a self proclaimed fan of big, hoppy beers which really shows in their beer lineup. We tried a hoppy tripel, a hoppy pilzner, a hoppy stout, and a hoppy (duh) IPA. We're looking forward to hopefully seeing him again this Saturday out at House of 1000 Beers where they'll be tapping some rare brews from VooDoo's barrel room collection. Maybe we'll even work on planning a trip to see the barrel room in person sometime.

Yesterday we went to Brunch at Harris Grill in Shadyside. They were tapping a rare barrel of Weyerbacher Sunday Morning Stout. The first time a barrel of the stout has made its way to the western part of the state. We’ll have a full post review of that beer coming tomorrow.

We present: The Bug Not! Get your own here.

We then decided to head out to Bocktown in Robinson to meet Jason Cercone, the blogger of Breaking Brews. While there we got to do a taste test comparing our taste buds between bigbeer and microbeer. Lets just say there were some bigbeers that didn't taste like bigbeer. Neither of us did quite well enough to win the prize, but we did walk away with a pair of Bug Nots, a little plastic cap for your drink when you’re outside to keep bugs out. While we were there we also decided to get a flight of four collaboration beers brewed just for the Craft Beer Week. Thusly we now have a cover photo for our Facebook Page. While we were out, we picked up the book, "The Naked Brewer" which will get read and reviewed.

If you are in Pittsburgh and go to any of the PCBW events, don’t forget to get your picture taken with the BC Times Beer Guy or maybe just his poster, trending now #beerguyselfie. We might even post ours, just as soon as we figure out how to twitter.

CBC Belgian Triple from Victory Brewing Company

This beer is part of Victory’s Craft Brewers Conference Draft Series. The 2013 CBC was held in Denver from Monday April 7 to Friday April 11. I’m sorry if you didn't get to try this limited edition beer, but if they put it back on tap, make the trip to Downingtown to try it.

Color:

clear golden, SRM ~5

ABV:

9.1%

Glass:

Weizen

Smell:

tart, grape with a slight sour, earthy smell

Taste:

This was a very tart beer. With strong grape flavors, the pale malt was well balanced. It had a crisp, dry aftertaste that was slightly tart. It wasn’t a heavy, long aftertaste and it made me want to drink more. There was a nice low-medium mouthfeel and the carbonation made it tickle my nose slightly, kind of like sparkling wine.

Rating:

I am really loving these “mixed” beers, sort of wine but still beer. The grape plays nice and tart across the tongue. I am really enjoying this years innovative summer beers.

Uncle Teddy's Bitter - Cask Conditioned from Victory Brewing Company

Uncle Teddy’s Bitter is a cask conditioned bitter. Victory had 3 cask conditioned beers on tap and we chose this one since it isn't one of their beers we've had before. They do seem to serve this on nitro but that was not available when we went.

Color:

pale golden red, unfiltered looking, SRM ~11

ABV:

3.9%

Glass:

Nonic

Smell:

yeast and mild malts, mostly yeast, sort of bready

Taste:

Uncle Teddy’ Bitter is the complete opposite of Victory’s CBC Belgian Triple. It is yeasty and quite bready. It has a smooth taste and almost creamy feel with no tartness. It is very yeasty, though it is cask conditioned so there is some expectation for yeasty-ness. There weren't any heavy hops, floral or bitter tastes. It even had a slight yeasty aftertaste. It has a nice medium mouthfeel, which worked well with the breadyness of the beer. If it had a heavy mouthfeel, I may have thought I was drinking bread. It’s a good beer; it’s just not my pint.

Rating:

This is a very different form of bitter. With it’s bready, yeasty taste it was different but I’m not personally a fan. If you really like yeasty beer you will like this, but it just wasn't for me. We’d get it again but Victory has so many beers on tap, that it we would definitely try others first.

Victory Brewing Company

We forgot to take a picture of the place while we were there so we're "borrowing" this one from Victory's facebook page.

As part of our adventures in southeastern PA, we also got to visit with some old friends. For Dave this meant meeting up with Darby and for me it meant Victory. So we decided to combine the two. The first time I went there it had been open at most 2 years. Let’s just say trying to find it was an adventure, they only had a small open sign at the time. My dad and I almost missed it completely thinking that all that was in the warehouse where it is located was a warehouse. We drove past it then had to turn around and realized that from the other direction there was a small sign in one of the doors. We weren't expecting to walk in to a large bar with open seating areas and several pool tables. They have definitely changed since 1996 when they opened. They now have 24 rotating taps and have brewed more beers than I can count.

Service

The service was very quick. We were seated almost immediately upon arrival and we came at probably close to peak diner time. They have a lot more seating now than they used to. Our beers came quickly as did our food. We weren't waiting an hour for food. But with the pleasant company any time we waited seemed little. We had no place we needed to be and no one expecting us to be somewhere by a certain time.

Food

I got the jerk chicken grinder and Dave got a pastrami sandwich. The homemade chips were nice and crispy. The jerk grinder had a decent amount of spice to kick you in the face if you aren't expecting it. This made it a perfect jerk sandwich. I hate when something says jerk and has no kick to it. Dave’s response to the pastrami sandwich was “good. Lots of meat.” That’s about as high of a compliment you can get out of him. They serve very eclectic pub fare, from southern to German. Their main plates show how eclectic their food is: gnocchi, soft tacos, baby back ribs, and fish & chips. They also have pizzas and plenty of specials each day.

Atmosphere

Victory has had a drastic overhaul since I was there last. They used to have a massive bar as soon as you walked through the door, which is the door close to the merchandise area now. They have a new larger door with a waiting area. This is located were the pool tables were. The bar has been moved and the area that was the bar is now seating and brewing equipment. This is the area we sat in and I didn't get to explore further back into the restaurant. It used to be a very open seating plan in the back, where the bar has been relocated. I also remember it being very bright and light inside, I’m pretty sure with windows up along the top. It has a darker feeling now, not too dark. They’ve also utilized some older copper brewing equipment for lighting fixtures, which gave it sort of a slight steampunk vibe. There are a few windows to see some of the brewing equipment through; they also do some brewery tours. They host a ton of different events through out the year, from beer pairings to tappings. They seem to have something going on all the time.

Beer

They have 24 rotating beers on tap at the restaurant. While we were in the area they had a specialty line called the Craft Brewers Conference Draft Series. They also cask condition several beers and have those on draft at different times. Their beer ranges from ultra hoppy to light and citrusy to dark and mysterious. Victory definitely has something for everyone. Look for an upcoming review of the beers we decided on, which was a really difficult decision, did I mention 24 drafts. They have a pretty large distribution area now, something like 34 states and internationally. So if you can’t make it to the brewery you should be able to find bottles somewhere close.

Overall

Victory and I go pretty far back. I have seen them change and come of age. They are very different from other breweries that have been around for the same amount of time. They are ever expanding and will soon be opening a second brewpub location in Kennett Square. If you are in the Philly area, you must take the time to get to Downingtown. Personally Philly’s brewing scene is a five pint scene. It has so many breweries to try that this area is amazing. This and Sly Fox are, to me, two of the flagship breweries that are a must if you head to the region.

Rating

American Brown Ale from Stewart's Brewing Company

We visited the eastern part of PA for a couple days and so we met up with my parents for lunch at Stewart’s Brewery in Bear DE.

Color:

Dark Brown with red, quite a lot of red, SRM ~21

ABV:

5.8%

Glass:

Pint

Smell:

strong floral smell

Taste:

It starts with a nice floral taste then it has a secondary malty flavor. After the malt had played over my tongue there was a mild bitterness with floral under notes. It all blended smoothly from one taste to another. There was also a very mild floral aftertaste. There was a nice medium mouthtaste, not too heavy for something as nicely floral.

Rating:
This is a really enjoyable floral brown. I enjoyed how all the flavors blended into one another without there being a distinct line. The smoothness of this blend is splendid.

Wind Blown Blonde from Stewart's Brewing Company

We visited the eastern part of PA for a couple days and so we met up with my parents for lunch at Stewart’s Brewery in Bear DE. This Kölsch has won Gold medals at the WBC and GABF in 2008.

Color:

beautiful clear pale golden, SRM ~5

ABV:

5.3%

Glass:

Stange, it's hard to tell from the picture but it is a stange

Smell:

lightly floral with a mild citrus smell, not a heavy cascade hops smell

Taste:

This beer was light and crisp with just the right amount of smooth pale malts and citrus flavor. It wasn't overly hopped making it lightly floral. It was full bodied without being heavy. It had a solid mouthfeel and was not watery in any way. I nursed this beer for the entire lunch.

Rating:

This is the best summer beer; it was perfect. I am so used to summer beers being watery and light that this is beautiful wake-up call to summer beers.

Oyster Stout from Stewart's Brewing Company

We visited the eastern part of PA for a couple days and so we met up with my parents for lunch at Stewart’s Brewery in Bear DE. This beer won a silver medal at the GABF 2012.

Color:

Dark brown with red hues, SRM ~25

ABV:

5%

Glass:

Pint

Smell:

Smooth malty with a slight different smell I couldn't place, not fishy, not like oysters but different, not yeast, not hops. Could be the calcium from the shells.

Taste:

This was an amazingly delicious. It was malty but very smooth, caused by the calcium in the oyster shells. There’s no weird oyster or fish taste. It had a very mild coffee aftertaste, like a very mild Americano, not burnt like American coffee and it didn't linger long. There was a slight roasted taste once you get past the smooth front taste but it was a very mild taste barely discernible. It had a heavy body and heavy mouthfeel while retaining an amazing smoothness.

Rating:

This was delicious, smooth and rich. If you are in the area, this is definitely a beer to try. It is an amazing beer and worth the trip.

Midnight Cast Black IPA from Mudhook Brewing Co.

When we visited Mudhook Brewing Company (in York, PA), we drank some of their beers (duh).

Color:

Very dark brown with some red hues, SRM ~24

ABV:

7%

Glass:

Pint

Smell:

roasted malt and floral

Taste:

It was a very floral hoppy beer with a deep roasted taste. It had a mild chocolate and very hoppy aftertaste. It was more a more floral of an IPA but it still had a slight bitter side. It had a medium mouthfeel.

Rating:

It was a pretty basic floral roasted IPA. There was no real pizzazz; it was a decent black IPA.

Wild River Weizen from Mudhook Brewing Co.

When we visited Mudhook Brewing Company (in York, PA), we drank some of their beers (duh).

Color:

pale gold, some very mild light red brown hints, unfiltered, SRM ~5

ABV:

5%

Glass:

Pint

Smell:

mild, with sweet undertones and almost citrus heavy

Taste:

This beer was very citrusy. It had very mild pale malts with low hop flavor. It tasted like it was full of cascade hops. It almost tasted like malty orange juice in a way, which made it interesting. It was very full bodied but seemed like if it had been filtered it would be watery.

Rating:

It was a decent hefeweizen and of the beers we had that night I would most likely grab this one to drink. It seems like it would be a pretty good summer beer.

Deep Sea Stout from Mudhook Brewing Co.

When we visited Mudhook Brewing Company (in York, PA), we drank some of their beers (duh).

Color:

Black Brown, almost black with very mild red hints, according to Dave it was “the color of methylnaphthalene, it’s not a bad thing” SRM ~27

ABV:

7.4%

Glass:

Pint

Smell:

chocolate, espresso, roasted

Taste:

This beer was a heavily roasted stout. It was a basic dark stout with more chocolate and roasted flavors. It had a strong espresso aftertaste that lingered for a long while. I still had the taste of coffee in my mouth 5 minutes after having a sip. It had a full body and mouthfeel with low carbonation. All I can say is that it was just very roasted. It was such a basic stout that it tasted like every other super basic stout. That’s not bad; if I was judging it in a competition of what fits the perfect requirements for a basic stout it would do well, but it was kind of boring.

Rating:

It was so basic that I would have forgotten about it after drinking it if not for that lingering coffee taste.