American Pale Ale

Febrewary Beer Club

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I’m a little behind on posting stuff here, so bear with me as I play catchup this week. At the beginning of every month, a bunch of friends from work and I meet up at a local BYOB and bring some new/interesting beers to try. This particular meeting was a long time coming, as weather and a hectic holiday schedule conspired to delay this session multiple times. We went to a different BYOB this month… it’s a legitimate restaurant, and thus the mood lighting wasn’t quite conducive to picture taking, but here’s what we brought (you can click for a larger version):

Febrewary Beer Club

The theme this month was beers with a picture of an animal on the label, though there were a couple of non-qualifying beers. Conditions weren’t ideal, so no grades here, but I’ve included some thoughts on each beer:

  • Jolly Pumpkin Bam Bière – My contribution to the theme went over pretty well, though it would probably make a better summer beer than a winter one. Still, it was quite refreshing, light colored ale with a little citrus. Again, would make a great summer beer.
  • Ravenswood Zinfandel Vintners Blend – Technically, it’s “beer and wine” club, but I don’t really have a clue when it comes to wine. Still, this one was pretty good. Sweeter and less dry than I’m used to from a red wine, but whatever… Also, hard to see in the image, but the Ravenswood logo is awesome.
  • Ballast Point Sea Monster Imperial Stout – I’d call this one an above average stout, a little more on the oatmeal side of things, and a good counterpoint to the other stouts people brought. I didn’t have enough to make a good judgement though, so it’s something I want to revisit at some point…
  • Terrapin Hop Karma IPA – The first in a hoppy trio of beers from Terrapin, this one was interesting, but ultimately didn’t blow me away. Again, didn’t have a lot of this, so I should probably reserve judgement. Cool label though.
  • Terrapin Rye Pale Ale – Seemed like a pretty standard, but well executed, Americal Pale Ale. Another cool label.
  • Terrapin Hopsecutioner: Pretty standared IPA territory here, though I love the label on this one. Little guy looks like a TMNT.
  • Weyerbacher Blithering Idiot – I’m going to review this one in detail at some point in the near future, so I’ll leave it at that. I’ll just say that it seems like a pretty good European style barleywine.
  • Founders Breakfast Stout and Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout – I’ve already written about these before. Coffee drinkers seemed to like the Founders one better than me, though I don’t think anyone thought it was as good as BA says…
  • River Horse Tripel Horse – I was looking forward to this, as River Horse is one of the few semi-local breweries I’m not that familiar with, and the Tripel is one of my favorite styles. However, I found it quite disappointing. I didn’t have a lot of it, but it didn’t seem much like a Tripel at all, and it had this strange kick to it that I’m having trouble remembering.
  • Wintertraum Christkindles Gluhwein – Another wine. Sorta. Not sure how this is classified, but it was super-sweet tasting reddish wine. Not bad for what it is, I guess, but not really my thing either.

Another successful beer club! Like I said, not exactly ideal conditions for formal reviews, but a great time. The restaurant we went to was pretty good too. Not the best sushi in the area, but a welcome addition that didn’t break that bank. As usual, I’m looking forward to next month!

Flying Dog

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A little while ago I picked up Flying Dog’s variety pack and in between all of the holiday beers and whatnot, I’ve been working my way through them and their awesome Ralph Steadman artwork.

Flying Dog Logo
  • In Heat Wheat: Sweet, light, crisp and wheaty – a rather typical wheat beer. More details here. B-
  • Tire Bite Golden Ale: Light and crisp, perhaps a small step above crappy “fizzy yellow stuff”, but not by much. C-
  • Old Scratch Amber Lager: Nice amber color, medium body, a little sticky and overall, it’s a very drinkable session beer along the lines of Yuengling lager (maybe even a little better, but that’s hard for me to admit!). B
  • Snake Dog India Pale Ale: A nice west-coast style hoppy, earthy IPA. It does well on its own, but pales (pun intended!) when compared to other good IPAs (including Flying Dog’s own Raging Bitch Belgian-style IPA). B
  • Doggie Style Classic Pale Ale: Solid hoppy pale ale, a little darker than the IPA, but a nice quality session beer and maybe the best overall beer in this pack. B
  • Road Dog Porter: Dark and a bit roasty, it wasn’t quite as complex as I’d have hoped. I’ve never been a big fan of the style though, so that’s probably part of my distaste. It’s not bad, but definitely not my thing. C+

Overall, while most of them are quite drinkable and solid beers, none are really all that exceptional. This isn’t to say that they don’t make exceptional beers though: Raging Bitch IPA is actually a big step up from the Snake Dog IPA, and I’ve heard good things about the Gonzo Imperial Porter.

Boxcar Original Ale

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Earlier this week, I lamented the beers of Yards, a local brewery that I’ve never really connected with. Last night, whilst on a drunken quest for pizza, I spied a sixer of Boxcar Brewing’s Original Ale. I’d just recently heard about this online, as the brewery is apparently located in West Chester, PA, which is where I live, so this is probably as local as it gets (distribution is limited to Southeast PA at this point). As we’ve already established, I’m a total homer, so I immediately picked up the six pack and anxiously awaited the pizza and beer meal I was about to consume.

boxcar original ale

Boxcar Original Ale: Pours a light, hazy yellowish color, with a small head. The head did retain itself and there was lots of “lacing” as the beer nerds call it as I drank. The smell was lightly sweet, with some citrus thrown in for good measure. Taste was also a bit mild, with some malts and hops coming through, and a hint of that citrus flavor as well (it’s a bit lemony, which is a nice touch). BA calls it an American Pale Ale, but it feels more German in style, maybe even something with wheat in it. It strikes me as a nice summer ale, light and crisp. Unfortunately, when you put all this together, you don’t really get anything that stands out too much. I don’t really detect anything wrong with it, but at the same time, there’s nothing particularly amazing about it either. It’s light and mild, which is fine, I guess, but not something I’m going to immediately run out and shove into people’s hands telling them that they need to try it. This is apparently the only beer that Boxcar makes right now (having just launched earlier this year), and it shows a lot of promise. With some tweaking, I think this beer would come out better, but as of right now, there’s not much to differentiate this from the throngs of other startups. I’m sure part of this is my homer instincts talking, but I’ll give it a provisional B- (I suspect some might rate it lower).

Beer Nerd Details: 5.0% ABV bottled (12 oz). Drank out of a pint glass.

I don’t really understand why new breweries start with this kind of mild beer. I suppose it’s inoffensive, but at the same time, it’s not particularly memorable either. I look forward to new and hopefully more ambitious efforts from this brewery. Even if I don’t see myself falling back on the Original Ale too often, I think it does show a lot of potential from this tiny upstart. In any case, Victory remains the champion home team for now.