Beer Club: May the 4th Be With You

Today is Star Wars day! And Beer Club! Due to schedules and various other factors, this month’s beer club was a rather small gathering, but there were still some great beers to be had, as well as some wine and even homemade hard cider.

The theme this month was local brews, but as you can see from the picture, there were really only 4 beers on the docket this month (again, this was due to the fact that less people came and not because of any difficulty finding local beers). For reference, here’s what we had:

• Dogfish Head ApriHop – A fellow beer clubber had visited Dogfish Head’s brewpub earlier in the week and got themselves a growler of ApriHop. It survived the trip reasonably well, though the brew was a bit light on the carbonation. It was still quite good though. It was quite a pleasant IPA, with a ton of fruity citrus character (apparently from Apricots added during the brewing process). B+
• Dogfish Head Hellhound On My Ale – A play on famed blues guitarist Robert Johnson (who, legend has it, sold his soul to the Devil to create the amazing music he did), this was actually the first beer of the evening, and I don’t know if it was because I’d had a particularly long day, but this was amazing. It tasted like a very refreshing pale ale, along the lines of, say, Dale’s Pale Ale. Imagine my surprise, then, when I found out that it was a 10% ABV double IPA with 100 IBUs. Astounding! The alcohol was incredibly well hidden, and despite the high IBUs, it wasn’t overwhelmingly bitter (again, I thought of it more as a regular pale ale rather than an IPA and would never have guessed that it was a DIPA). Very sweet with lots of citrusy hop character and a nice bitter kick. There’s something else here that I can’t quite place, but in the end, it’s a very complex and yet well balanced beer. As it warmed, the alcohol seemed to become a bit more prominent, but it was still a triumph of a beer. A-
• Sly Fox Saison Vos – My contribution for the evening was a pretty well crafted saison from local Sly Fox brewery. Nice clear pour with lots of head, a spicy Belgian yeast aroma, and that sweet and spicy taste with a harsh mouthfeel that I’ve come to love about saisons. There’s a bit of a bite to this beer that isn’t particularly pronounced, but which adds a welcome bit of complexity. If my upcoming saison homebrew turns out this well, I’d be over the moon. B+
• Yards Brawler – Labeled as a “Pugelist Style Ale”, this one is probably more accurately described by the Beer Advocate style of English Dark Mild Ale. I’ve actually had this a few times before, and I’ve always thought of it as a solid if unremarkable beer. Tasting it after the above was a bit of a letdown though. It’s a bit thin and subtle, but it would make a good session beer and would probably stand out better if it didn’t have to compete with the likes of Dogfish Head or Sly Fox. A tentative B-

And that just about covers it for the beer. I had a couple of the wines (including a Chaddsford Spiced Apple Wine that sounded and smelled great, but the taste was quite off for me – would have wanted some sort of carbonation there) and the hard cider, but none of those really stood out as much as the beers.

Despite the small session, good times were had by all that managed to attend, and I’d count it as yet another success. As usual, I’m already looking forward to the next meeting!