The Craft Beer Exchange
Volume 2 Issue 1 November 22, 2011
“Literal rain can’t even rain on my parade. #CBE5point1” This was one of many tweets sent on a dreary Tuesday evening from a tiny boutique restaurant on North Wayne Avenue, in Wayne Pennsylvania. The location was Teresa’s Next Door (TND,) a Gastropub on the Main Line, serving delicious hearty fare alongside meticulously chosen taps and bottles. On the evening in question (A “Tasty Tuesday” event,) the bar featured a large amount of beer from Victory Brewing out of Downingtown. On the taps were a few of Victory’s draft only selections. Their coffee brown ale; Victory Village, and two harvest brews; a Harvest Ale and Harvest Pils. But most importantly, in bottles, TND was serving last year’s release of Dark Intrigue; their Storm King Imperial Stout aged in bourbon barrels. To say that Dark Intrigue is rare, or difficult to find, doesn’t really do the beer justice. In actuality, the morning after our little dinner congregation, 300ish people would wait in line outside of Victory’s Brewpub in the pouring rain to purchase cases of this year’s release for $120. I for one felt pretty lucky to be able to order a glass at TND. Jeez, I haven’t even gotten to the Racer 5 they had on cask that night. Well anyway, the crowd was large, the dining room raucous, but our abridged CBE group was able to snag a table near the back, and sit down and enjoy a pre-Thanksgiving celebration. For the CBE had been taken on the road, to the Beer Yard in Wayne, and we had many spoils to discuss. If you are familiar with previous Newsletters, you already know that this is the story of the beers that were chosen during that drenching Tuesday evening, but more importantly how even horrid weather, cramped spaces, large crowds, and what one person would consider an early night, equaled a pretty unanimous choir of success from those able to attend. Enjoy… @TheCBEOfficial
Intro:
Before we get into the selections, let me give you a little background on what’s going on. We’ve moved to a blog, yes a blog. First, I’m going to come up with a cooler name for a blog, and we’re going to call it that. The name thing I’m still working on though, so for right now blog is ok. I’m going to extend the invitation to any member of the CBE who wants to contribute, the only rule is that it has to be CBE related, so pretty much beer must be included. Want to tell us about a restaurant in the city you just visited? Include the tap list and that’s acceptable. Want to wow us with a Thanksgiving leftover recipe? If you used or paired the recipe with beer, I’ll allow it. Want to tell us about that new album you just bought? Well if it goes well with a beer, you’re in luck, you can write about it here. You probably get the picture at this point, but just in case… If you want to make a statement about #OccupyWallStreet, or your fantasy football team, then GFY and start your own damn blog. These pages will be a safe haven for those of us that want to relax a little bit, not worry about the tile falling off your recently installed backsplash, or what caused half of the electrical sockets in the kitchen to no longer work, or the three trips to Home Depot or Lowes it takes to get anything f’n accomplished… I’m losing track, I apologize. So… just about beer, or including beer, nothing else. Bonus points for reviews of beers, especially CBE selections. Please at least give me this, and don’t ruin it by turning it into your journal. The format is going to stay pretty much the same, and I’m going to see if there’s a way I can upload the spreadsheet of all the beers we’ve tried so you can review whenever the mood strikes. I’m not sure if I’m going to be uploading pictures, I’m not even sure if I’m legally allowed. I wish we new a lawyer or something that had any background in copyright infringement. I might go back and just instagram the shit out of some of our selections and just use those pictures. I guess what I’m saying is as I become a little more savvy with the blog format, you can expect some more bells and whistles (or in this case pictures and sarcasm.)
This is officially the first exchange after the CBE’s one year anniversary. Thus the Volume 2, Issue 1. We’re going with 5.1 in the official books, because as you know it wasn’t a fully participated event. Lots of great ideas came up for future CBE’s as well as field trips, and I’m starting to think this little CBE thing is definitely a bit bigger than all of us. I hope you guys have enjoyed it so far, and are looking forward the CBE6, which will obviously have to be done prior to Christmas.
I think I can speak for everyone that was there, when I say even though the weather and parking were super shitty, we all had a really good time with our first Mainline CBE. A big thank you to @G_o_o_d_y, who should get total credit for the idea. I don’t think the Beer Yard did anything to wow any of us into thinking that we have to go back there immediately, but I appreciated the selection and the different breweries that we haven’t seen at Brewers Outlet. I also didn’t find an inordinate amount of dust on any of the beers I brought home; and that was nice. It is not easy selecting a case in there though. Several times I was having visions of a bull in a china shop and was worried I was going to domino several hundred cases into the dirt floor. Tangent again, sorry. The selections, although two short, were pretty phenomenal. TND was also a great time. The tap list, bottle list, and the food were pretty out of this world. Safe to say it was a good experience and everybody seemed to enjoy themselves.
And with that, let’s get into this bad boy with some witty banter and website linking…
Selections:
We got our third selection from Terrapin in CBE5.1; The Big Hoppy Monster. @gang_greeny had a few other brews that were in consideration, but went with a brewery that the CBE has been pretty happy with. The website is solid (http://terrapinbeer.com/,) has made me want to visit Athens, GA the two other times I’ve been on it, and offers this on the beer…
This mammoth imperial red ale leads with a tantalizing hop aroma that is quickly complemented by an enormous malt backbone & finished with a multitude of hoppy goodness.
Annual Release: August
The high content alcohol of these beers make them perfect for cellaring…hide them away and pull one out for a special event 2-3 years later.
WATCH OUT! THIS MONSTER BITES!
If you want to skip to the bottom to check out the Ba and RB reviews, go right ahead. I can just save you the trouble and tell you all of the beers selected in 5.1 were extremely outstanding according to those two sites. I can also tell you that because we’re such a mess of hopheads, this one was easily going to be a crowd favorite. One day, when the enamel on all of our teeth is gone, we’re going to wish we had more stouts in the selections, but until then I say we just continue to ride this wave of tongue biting bitter beers. Another big win from Terrapin. I just made myself thirsty and am going to grab one of these out of the fridge or there’s no way this newsletter is going to continue to even be slightly enjoyable… for both of us…*returns to computer* *smacks lips* *smiles*
And I’m back for selection two. Twitter should start comping me. Fact. As I slowly grow my social media empire, the electronic release of the Newsletter has brought another of our legion to twitting relevancy. That man, @pppantalones took the longest to soak in every inch of space the Beer Yard had to offer. Going back and forth many times, it didn’t help that so many hoppy beers had already been chosen at that point. Not wanting to make our only six selection case anymore hop forward than it already was, he finally settled on a world renown Doppelbock, from Schneider Weisse. The only problem, the gigantic bottles (to which glassware being a problem has already been of discussion on twitter,) only come in cases of twenty (FU metric system; I really didn’t know what else to blame it on.) There were a few very antsy, and pretty hungry and thirsty members of our group at that point, so we went with the Eisbock, Doppelbock, whatever bock, and some of us sucked it up with only three bottles. At over 8%, I don’t think that’s going to be a problem for anyone. It is important to point out that I lost the last bottle playing Rock Paper Scissors. The person I was playing against thought we were playing odds and evens. And I still lost. The website is definitely cool, has lots of fun commercials and videos. http://www.schneider-weisse.de/index.php Most of it is in German, so I couldn’t understand any of them, but they still looked pretty fun and interesting. The German also caused some confusion with what kind of beer this is, because it looks like the label for their Wheat Doppelbock and Eisbock are the same. Assholes. I’ll go with this from Wikipedia…
G. Schneider & Sohn is a Bavarian brewery company founded in 1872 by Georg Schneider I and his son of the same name, after they acquired the Weisses Brauhaus in Munich, the oldest wheat beer brewery in the city. In 1927 the owners, who to this day are descendants of Georg Schneider I, expanded their brewing operations into Kelheim and Straubing. After the breweries in Munich were destroyed in 1944 by bombing, the entire production was relocated to Kelheim.
Apparently, they are very good at brewing wheat beers. I would agree. Be careful with these, nasty headaches are right around the corner. It must be some combination of the 8.2%, GIGANTIC bottles, or the fact that it’s namesake is a hermit and friend of St Thomas Becket. Did I just make that up? Does it mean anything? I really don’t know. The internet is awesome.
Wow, when I don’t have pictures to fill in some of the space on this Newsletter, I end up writing a lot more.
Well, well, well. @G_o_o_d_y picked a beer from a brewery in… you guessed it, The Centennial State. Yep, I didn’t know CO was nicknamed that either. Seems pretty lame, especially because of all the good beer they have there, but oh well. There are more important things to discuss, and as I have mentioned, this is a blog about beer and the CBE. Not Colorado’s stupid nickname or how bad the Eagles are. Hibernation Ale… Hey Great Divide website, tell me a little bit about it…
Hibernation Ale
Great Divide’s award-winning Hibernation Ale is Colorado’s original strong ale – it has been our winter seasonal each year since 1995. Since that time, Hibernation has become the most sought-after winter beer in Colorado. Hibernation’s massive flavors are so intense that it requires over three months of aging each year. Each summer, while our brewers are still spending their weekends in flip-flops and shorts, they prepare for July’s Hibernation brewing schedule.
We cellar Hibernation until late October, when it reaches the peak of perfection. This lengthy aging process gives Hibernation its revered malty richness, complex hop profile and hearty warming character, which is perfect right out of the bottle or cellared for longer periods of time. Hibernation is a lively treat that really beats the winter chill. This scrumptious, collectible, and imminently cellarable ale is only available for six weeks each year, from November 1 to December 15. Hibernation Ale is the perfect gift or accompaniment to your winter festivities.
*SHOUTS* I said a little bit you jerk website. You’re hogging all my joke making room. In slightly more seriousness news, Great Divide’s Brewery slash tasting room (http://www.greatdivide.com/theskinny/findus.htm,) is easily one of the top five beer places that I’ve ever been. And I made Amy take a vacation to Portland, OR (Which on a side note, is nicknamed the Beaver State, and more informally known as Beervana, so suck it Colorado.) They give you some free samples, then you can buy pints, then guys from the food trucks outside come in so you can order tacos and pizza. It pretty much has everything that I’ve ever wanted in a brewery, and also Yeti Imperial Stout in several different varieties. I liked the Hibernation, but should have saved more them for December when it won’t be 65 degrees outside. Stupid global warming.
I once went to Phillies Spring Training in Clearwater. By the way, this isn’t a baseball story, it’s a bachelor party story. We went to a place called Mons Venus. It’s the type of place that lets you be a DJ if you have enough quarters, and other gentlemanly things happen there. They also have this ugly electronic scroll that every once in a while invites you to go to a place called Cigar City to pick up a growler of beer to bring into the establishment you’re currently sitting in. Alas, Cigar City was well closed by the time I saw the scroll. But it is where our next beer is from…
Jai Alai, a game native to the Basque region of Spain, is played on a court called a fronton. Jai Alai players attempt to catch a ball using a curved mitt whilst the ball travels at speeds up to 188mph! Proving they have a sense of humor the Spanish dubbed this game, with its ball traveling at racecar speeds, “the merry game.” Tampa was once home to a bustling Jai Alai fronton but sadly all that remains of Jai Alai in the Tampa Bay area is this India Pale Ale that we brew in tribute to the merry game. The India Pale Ale style of beer has its roots in the ales sent from England to thirsty British troops in India during the 18th century. Pair Jai Alai India Pale Ale with Beef Empanadas, Deviled Crabs and other spicy dishes.
Pours copper in color with notes of citrus and tropical fruit in the aroma. Flavor has upfront citrus bitterness with a hint of caramel and citrus and tropical fruit hop notes in the finish.
We get it, Tampa’s famous for Cigars, some weird Spanish game, and now awesome IPA’s, For those of you who watch Drinking Made Easy on HD Net, it also made the Pleepleus Plantain Wheat Beer. And I’ve never had that, but it looks awesome. Thanks to @stavypapa for pretty much slam dunking his selection. http://www.cigarcitybrewing.com/
Someone couldn’t make it, but still wanted in on the exchange. Can you blame him? Firestone Walker Union Jack, a new classic among CBEers…
An instant classic, Union Jack is the recipient of numerous awards including back to back wins at the Great American Beer Festival. Union Jack is abound with hop aroma and character. In fact this well balanced, west coast IPA is dry hopped 3 separate times, each lot giving it more and more of the grapefruit citrus hop aroma and flavor it is known for. Overall it utilizes over 4 pounds of pacific northwest hops per barrel.
REMEMBER: Watch for bottled on dates located on the necks of our beers. Our beer is not pasteurized, so it is best when stored at 44F or below, out of light and within 110 days of the bottled on date...this ensures freshness and ultimately a great Firestone Walker beer!
I don’t have a whole lot to say about this one. The website is pretty cool. http://www.firestonebeer.com/beers/products/union-jack They make a Double Jack that you can get at @WFM_PlymouthMtg. It’s awesome, and dangerous. The guy that was on the Bachelor that one time has something to do with the brewery (maybe,) and I think their also somehow related to the tire fortune (again maybe, you can’t expect me to check all these facts, especially if they don’t have anything to do with beer.)
Finally, a beer that someone has already likened to “soy sauce,” but the rest of the beer drinking world thinks is a A-/98, the Duck-Rabbit Dopplebock. This company is a self proclaimed “dark beer specialist,” out of North Carolina. Apparently, they have dark beer in NC, but not the internet, because this website sucks. It looks like it was made on Geocities in the 90’s, and doesn’t even contain their seasonal brews. (Great Geocities reference, I continue to amaze myself, and am rewarding myself with another beer.) *opens Aventinus* *finds most GIGANTIC glass in house* So I thought this beer was pretty awesome, and definitely didn’t think it tasted like soy sauce. But maybe if you’re really into hops, everything else just tastes like crap. At least it’s not Dogtoberfest, I lost sleep over that one.
And that Gentlemen, brings us to the epic conclusion of Newsletter Volume 2, issue 1, or CBE5.1. I hope you all had a chance to enjoy some of these with friends and family over the Thanksgiving Holiday, according to Twitter, it looks like most everyone did. CBE6 is right around the corner, so if you missed out on this awesome one, don’t worry, there’s plenty of beer we haven’t tried yet.
The Back Pages
Future potential events
· Surprise, Surprise. Amy thinks I have too much beer hidden all over the house. Want to come over and drink some?
· Philly Bar Crawl – still awaiting sponsorship. Lots of great places to go check out. Anyone been to Yards or Philly Brewing Co?
· Bus trip to Troegs in Hershey. Invite your significant other, in my dreams, this is a very large bus.
· CBE6 – this one’s right around the corner. I think for 100% involvement, we stick to what works best, or I’m open for ideas. Also, we need to come up with the breakdown for the styles. Anyone want to chime in?
Some extras – check out the http://phillytapfinder.com/ website. They also have a twitter account; @PhillyTapFinder If you’re interested, download the app for Untappd, or check out the website http://untappd.com/. It’s a pretty easy way to remember beers your checking out, whether or not you liked them, and they got me into a sweet Sam Adams tasting while I was at GABF (if you see Griffins Bow on a bottle list somewhere, GET IT!) I would also check out the http://www.beermenus.com/ website. That’s how I stay so in tune with what they have over at @WFM_PlymouthMtg, and they also have a list for the Whole Foods in Devon.
For those of you that haven’t, please stop screwing around and join twitter already. Seriously… (thank you to those who have already taken this advice.)
CBE5point1 Selection Sheet:
Brewery | Beer | CBE Member | ABV | Ba | RB |
Terrapin | Big Hoppy Monster | @gang_greeny | 8.75% | A- | 99 |
Schneider & Son | Aventinus | @pppantalones | 8.2%% | A | 100 |
Great Divide | Hibernation Ale | @G_o_o_d_y | 8.1% | A- | 98 |
Cigar City | Jai Alai IPA | @stavypapa | 7.5 | A- | 99 |
Firestone Walker | Union Jack IPA | RA | 7.5% | A- | 99 |
The Duck-Rabbit | Doppelbock | @SKJ131W8th | 8.5% | A- | 98 |
