Hoppy Easter to One and All

It’s Easter again in Central Pennsylvania, and so its time yet again to take a look at some of our favorite Hoppy IPAs.

As Easter approaches, bringing with it the warmth of spring and the joy of renewal, it’s the perfect time to explore some of the hoppiest delights that Central Pennsylvania’s craft breweries have to offer. The region, known for its vibrant craft beer scene, produces a wide array of IPAs that promise to add an extra hop to your step this Easter. Whether you’re hunting for Easter eggs or just enjoying the springtime bloom, these five IPAs are sure to refresh and invigorate.

(You can check out our previous Easter articles here: Hoppy Easter Pennsylvania – 2023, Hoppy Easter IPAS of 2020, and our breakfast article – Hop Shoots Omelet, also don’t miss out on Amy’s column article: Peanut Butter Eggs, Easter Beer, and YAH Brew’s Shimmy Shack.)

1. Troegs Independent Brewing – Perpetual IPA

Troegs Independent Brewing’s Perpetual IPA

Nestled in the sweet surroundings of Hershey, Troegs Independent Brewing crafts the Perpetual IPA, a beacon of hoppy bliss. This Imperial Pale Ale combines a crisp and vibrant hop flavor with notes of citrus and pine, balanced beautifully by a robust malt backbone. It’s a perpetual favorite for those seeking a classic IPA experience, making it a perfect companion for your Easter feast.

2. Pizza Boy Brewing – Frontside Lipside

Frontside Lipside by Pizza Boy Brewing Company

From the creative cauldrons of Pizza Boy Brewing in Enola comes the Frontside Lipside, a West Coast-style IPA that’s as bold and adventurous as an Easter morning egg hunt. With its bitter bite and aromatic presence of tropical fruits and pine, this brew is a thrilling ride for the palate. It’s an excellent choice for those who like their Easter with a side of exhilarating flavor.

3. South County Brewing Co. – Liminal Moment

South County Brewing’s Liminal Moment

Spring is a time of transition, and what better way to embrace it than with South County Brewing’s Liminal Moment? This hazy New England-style IPA, brewed in the quiet town of Fawn Grove, captures the essence of spring with its juicy, hop-forward profile, bursting with notes of mango, pineapple, and citrus. It’s a smooth, creamy beer that balances bitterness with refreshing zest, perfect for sipping on a sunny Easter afternoon.

4. Ever Grain Brewing Co. – Joose Juicy IPA

Joose Juicy by Ever Grain Brewing Company

Easter is all about joy and rejuvenation, and Ever Grain Brewing Co.’s Joose Juicy IPA is here to uplift your spirits. This New England-style IPA, hailing from Camp Hill, is a celebration of all things hoppy and fruity. With a less bitter but flavor-packed profile, it offers a juicy burst of fruitiness that’s akin to discovering the most colorful egg in the Easter egg hunt.

Ever Grain’s Joose Juicy Packaging

(See also: Joose Juicy’s New Packaging.)

5. Appalachian Brewing Company – Hoppy Trails IPA

Hoppy Trails IPA by Appalachian Brewing Company

Finally, we journey to Harrisburg, where Appalachian Brewing Company crafts its Hoppy Trails IPA. This classic American IPA is a harmonious blend of hoppy bitterness with citrus and floral notes, reminiscent of a spring garden in bloom. It’s the perfect brew to round out your Easter gathering, offering a refreshing trail back to the beloved hop traditions.

This Easter, while you’re enjoying the festivities and the emergence of spring, let these Central PA craft beers add a hoppy twist to your celebrations. Each brewery brings its unique spin to the beloved IPA, crafting beers that are as diverse and vibrant as the Easter season itself. So, hop to it and explore these delightful brews that Central Pennsylvania has to offer!

For those who celebrate – we want to wish you a Happy (or should we say HOPPY) Easter. As well as everyone, we wish you a day spent with family, enjoying each other’s company, and enjoying great craft beer. Cheers!

See Also

• Hoppy Easter Pennsylvania – 2023,
• Hoppy Easter IPAS of 2020
• Hop Shoots Omelet
• Peanut Butter Eggs, Easter Beer, and YAH Brew’s Shimmy Shack.

Thank You For Reading

If you like this article, please check out our other many articles, including news, beer reviews, travelogues, maps, and much much more. We greatly appreciate everyone visiting the site!

Cheers.

Thanks again for reading everyone. Take some time to check out the site, we greatly appreciate it. We have affiliates and sponsors with Pretzels.com and Beer Drop.com, which can save you money on their products if you are interested. Check out our articles on them. Make sure to check out our beer reviews, brewery reviews, Amy’s weekly column, book reviews, hike reviews, and so much more.

As always, thank you everyone for reading! Leave your likes, comments, suggestions, questions, etc, in the comments section. Or use the Feedback – Contact Us – page, and we’ll get right back to you! You can also reach out to us at our direct e-mail address: thebeerthrillers@gmail.com

Thank you for visiting our blog. Please make sure to follow, bookmark, subscribe, and make sure to comment and leave feedback and like the blog posts you read. It will help us to better tailor the blog to you, the readers, likes and make this a better blog for everyone.

We are working on a massive project here at The Beer Thrillers. We are creating a map of all of the breweries across the United States. State by state we are adding maps of all of the different states with every brewery in each state. (We will eventually get to the US Territories, as well as the Canadian Provinces, and possibly more countries; as well as doing some fun maps like a map of all the breweries we’ve been to, and other fun maps.) You can find the brewery maps here:

• MAPS OF BREWERIES

We are also working on a project of creating printable and downloadable PDFs and resources to be able to check and keep track of all of the breweries you’ve been to. So stay tuned for that project once we are finished with the Brewery Maps of the US States.

You can check out our different directories here: Beer Reviews, Hike Reviews, Book Reviews, Brewery News, Brewery Openings, Brewer Interviews, and Travelogues.

Please be sure to follow us on our social media accounts – Facebook, Facebook Group, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and Influence. As well as our brand new Tumblr page. Please be sure to also follow, like, subscribe to the blog here itself to keep updated. We love to hear from you guys, so be sure to leave a comment and let us know what you think!

You can now find us on our Discord Server here: The Beer Thrillers (Discord Server). We’ve also joined LinkTree to keep track of all of our social media pages, as well as hot new articles we’ve written.

The Beer Thrillers on LinkTree can be found here: The Beer Thrillers LinkTree.

We have partnered with an affiliateship with Beer Drop.com. You can check out that partnership and receive great discounts, coupons, and more here: Beer Drop. Going here and logging in and ordering will help you receive your discounts and coupons as well as help support our page. Thank you for helping to support The Beer Thrillers and to help us maintain the site and blog and to keep it running.

The Beer Thrillers are a blog that prides itself on writing beer reviews, brewery reviews, travelogues, news (especially local to the Central PA brewery scene), as well as covering other topics of our interests – such as hiking, literature and books, board games, and video games which we sometimes stream with our friends over at Knights of Nostalgia. We are currently listed as #7 on FeedSpot’s “Top 100 Beer Blogs” and #8 on FeedSpot’s “Top 40 Pennsylvania Blogs”. (As of January 2023.) Thank you for reading our site today, please subscribe, follow, and bookmark. Please reach out to us if you are interested in working together. If you would like to donate to the blog you can here: Donate to The Beer Thrillers. Thank you!

You can also check out our partnership and affiliation with Pretzels.com, where ordering pretzels and using our affiliate code – AFFILIATE CODE IS THEBEERTHRILLERS20 – will help you get wonderful pretzels and help us maintain and keep this blog running. Thank you!

If you would like to reach out to us for product reviews, beer reviews, press release writing, and other media – please contact us at thebeerthrillers@gmail.com. Thank you.

(Thank you for reading. The opinions, thoughts, and expressions of each article posted on The Beer Thrillers represents the author of the content and only themselves. It does not express the opinions, beliefs, or ideas held by The Beer Thrillers or any company in which the author themselves work for. Each piece of written content is written by the creator(s) listed in the authorial section on each article unless otherwise noted. Their opinions, comments, and words on screen do not represent any company in which they work for and / or are affiliated with or any non – profits that they contribute to. Thank you.)

First Snowfall of 2024

As Ben posted on our Instagram page – The Beer Thrillers on Instagram – yesterday (Saturday, January 6th, 2024) we had our first snowfall of the year, and “so… it begins….”. (It is Pennsylvania Farm Show time of year after all, which all but guarantees its going to snow right?) It also made for absolutely perfect weather to meet up with Lew Bryson of “Seen Through a Glass” to do a podcast at Boneshire Brew Works.

Ah Yes, the first snowfall of 2024 for Central PA.  Temperatures keep dropping and it puts me in the mood for a nice toasty beer to warm me up.  It’s time to crack open the warmer beers.  I feel like I need to put on my big fuzzy slippers, an oversized robe and “I do enjoy a snifter of port at Christmas.” 

I love a high ABV (when I’m home or not driving!) warm beer when this time of year hits.  It absolutely does NOT mean your girl won’t enjoy an IPA during winter, especially a hazy IPA!  As soon as crisp air hits I start craving a warm stout, porter or barley wine.  I kicked off the season with the Santa’s Bake from YAH Brew, (see my recent article – YAH Brew: Desserts and Beer Pairings). There are so many wonderful options for high ABV winter beers – stouts, porters, barleywines (Ben’s favorite), pastry stouts, barrel aged beers (typically bourbon barrel aged stouts), Belgian Strong Ales (SueAnn’s favorite obviously being Mad Elf by Troegs Independent Brewing), schwarzbiers, and so many more. Stouts in particular are my favorite at this time of year.

Stout Season

Last week for New Years we dove into Chonky Boi by Rusty Rail and Valley of the Kings by South County.   The Chunky Boi is a Barrel Aged Imperial Smores milk stout and the Valley of the King is also a smores stout  CB comes in heavy with 11% ABV and VotK comes with 8% ABV.  Both are sweet, satisfying and will warm you up on a cold winter’s night.  The CB comes at you just a little bit boozier from being barrel aged. 

There is a special place in my heart for a barley wine.  And usually on a cold night it finds it’s way!  I introduce to you, Mistress of Evil by Ever Grain.  This behemoth comes in at a 14.2% ABV.  After seeing the ABV I no longer question why this was sold in the 12 oz cans.  I purchased this precious on Christmas Eve after Ever Grain posted about it on Facebook I knew it had to help us jingle in the Christmas holiday. 

Also because it is stout season I decided to crack open two different types of stouts with Grandmas SueAnn today. 

We enjoyed Luminous by Rusty Rail, a white chocolate and Macadamia golden stout.  We also enjoyed the Rocky Road Stout by Pothole City.  Grandma SueAnn was trying to be cute by having me guess which one she opened first, but the golden stout was easy to pick out because it is a golden or blonde color.  Luminous is light and fluffy with a tinge of sweetness from the white chocolate and the flavor different from the Macadamia.  I know I’ve had this one before and it should be a part of the yearly rotation.  Luminous is a 8% ABV. 

That second stout we split was a little heavier at 10% ABV.  Rocky Road Stout is that delicious ice cream favorite but in stout form.  It goes down way to easy and smooth to be a 10%. It was a perfect afternoon splitting a few stouts with Grandma SueAnn.

We highly recommend trying out a few warmer beers this winter season. Hopefully the above pictures give you some ideas and act as some good recommendations for you. (Click each image to see the name of the beer and brewery.)

Also be sure to follow us on Instagram and Facebook to see all of our beer related pictures, for more suggestions and ideas.

• Drink More Beer!
• Amy

Amy’s Column Series

Since getting back to writing for the blog after a short hiatus, Amy has started up a weekly column style writing for the blog. You can find these articles here:

• Brewfests with Anxiety (Amy’s original weekly column start)
• I’ve Missed Drinking (A Look at Non Alcoholic Beers)
• Beer and Pretzel Review: Legends and Lore (St. Boniface Brewing Company) and Garlic Parm Pretzels (Pretzels.com)
• Peanut Butter Eggs, Easter, Beer, and YAH Brew’s Shimmy Shake (Beer Review)
• Cox Brewing Company: Back to Their Roots
• Amy’s Day Off
• It Was All A Dream (A Visit to YAH Brewing)
• Just Another Weekend (A Hike at Saint Pete’s Trail and Hares Hill Brewing)
• I’m Pretty Darn Lucky (Happy Mother’s Day)
• Ready to Kick of the Summer
• Beer Review: Beer Devil IPA (Niagara Brewing Company)
• World MS Day
• Have you ever picked a beer based on the can art?
• Happy Father’s Day
• What is Your Summer Time Go To Beer?
• Holiday Weekend and Bomber Bottles
• Baby’s First Ffej
• We Can’t Always Be a Glutton Right? – Perfect Portions and Allusion Brewing Company
• Beer Review: Pocono Punch (Barley Creek Brewing Company)
• Getting Sworn In: A Sneak Preview of Sworn Brewing
• Beer Review: Tropical Stout (Troegs Independent Brewing and Windy Bridges Brewing LLC)
• RAR Brewing Brings the Nostalgia with Muppets Out of Order Series
• Happy Birthday to Ben
• Brewery Review: Cold Spring Inn and Brewery
• Hummelstown Doesn’t Deserve Maritza
• Enchilada Stuffed Peppers and Sunshine Pilsner
• Master of Pumpkins, Cupcakes, Cookies, and Bacon Cheeseburgers
• A Beer Review by Grandma SueAnn (Beer Review: Braaaiins! by Spring House Brewing Company)
• Grandma SueAnn and More Beer: Beer Reviews of: Zoktoberfest (KCBC – Kings County Brewers Collective) and Devious Imperial Pumpkin (Fegley Brew Works)
• Oh Ever Grain: 7 Years, 7 Beers
• Pumpkin Beer Review with Grandma SueAnn – Abomination Brewing: Forbidden Pumpkin, Greater Good Brewing: Giant Pumpkin, and Pizza Boy Brewing: Sunny Side Up Double Coffee Pumpkin
• Grandma SueAnn Helps Review More Pumpkin Beers: 2 out of 3 Ain’t So Bad
• Halloween Candy and Beer Pairings
• Brewery Review: Otto’s Pub and Brewery
• Munching on some Thanksgiving leftovers?
• The Holidays Always Bring On Waves of Nostalgia For Me
• YAH Brew and Desserts Pairing
• Christmas Cookies and Beer Styles Pairing (Pairing Christmas Cookies with Beer)
• New Years Day
• Winter Beers
• You can find all of Amy’s articles here: Amy’s Archive of Articles.

(And please take a moment to fill out Amy’s survey on her ‘Holiday Weekend and Bomber Bottles‘ column.)

Thank You For Reading

If you like this article, please check out our other many articles, including news, beer reviews, travelogues, maps, and much much more. We greatly appreciate everyone visiting the site!

Cheers.

Thanks again for reading everyone. Take some time to check out the site, we greatly appreciate it. We have affiliates and sponsors with Pretzels.com and Beer Drop.com, which can save you money on their products if you are interested. Check out our articles on them. Make sure to check out our beer reviews, brewery reviews, Amy’s weekly column, book reviews, hike reviews, and so much more.

As always, thank you everyone for reading! Leave your likes, comments, suggestions, questions, etc, in the comments section. Or use the Feedback – Contact Us – page, and we’ll get right back to you! You can also reach out to us at our direct e-mail address: thebeerthrillers@gmail.com

Thank you for visiting our blog. Please make sure to follow, bookmark, subscribe, and make sure to comment and leave feedback and like the blog posts you read. It will help us to better tailor the blog to you, the readers, likes and make this a better blog for everyone.

We are working on a massive project here at The Beer Thrillers. We are creating a map of all of the breweries across the United States. State by state we are adding maps of all of the different states with every brewery in each state. (We will eventually get to the US Territories, as well as the Canadian Provinces, and possibly more countries; as well as doing some fun maps like a map of all the breweries we’ve been to, and other fun maps.) You can find the brewery maps here:

• MAPS OF BREWERIES

We are also working on a project of creating printable and downloadable PDFs and resources to be able to check and keep track of all of the breweries you’ve been to. So stay tuned for that project once we are finished with the Brewery Maps of the US States.

You can check out our different directories here: Beer Reviews, Hike Reviews, Book Reviews, Brewery News, Brewery Openings, Brewer Interviews, and Travelogues.

Please be sure to follow us on our social media accounts – Facebook, Facebook Group, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and Influence. As well as our brand new Tumblr page. Please be sure to also follow, like, subscribe to the blog here itself to keep updated. We love to hear from you guys, so be sure to leave a comment and let us know what you think!

You can now find us on our Discord Server here: The Beer Thrillers (Discord Server). We’ve also joined LinkTree to keep track of all of our social media pages, as well as hot new articles we’ve written.

The Beer Thrillers on LinkTree can be found here: The Beer Thrillers LinkTree.

We have partnered with an affiliateship with Beer Drop.com. You can check out that partnership and receive great discounts, coupons, and more here: Beer Drop. Going here and logging in and ordering will help you receive your discounts and coupons as well as help support our page. Thank you for helping to support The Beer Thrillers and to help us maintain the site and blog and to keep it running.

The Beer Thrillers are a blog that prides itself on writing beer reviews, brewery reviews, travelogues, news (especially local to the Central PA brewery scene), as well as covering other topics of our interests – such as hiking, literature and books, board games, and video games which we sometimes stream with our friends over at Knights of Nostalgia. We are currently listed as #7 on FeedSpot’s “Top 100 Beer Blogs” and #8 on FeedSpot’s “Top 40 Pennsylvania Blogs”. (As of January 2023.) Thank you for reading our site today, please subscribe, follow, and bookmark. Please reach out to us if you are interested in working together. If you would like to donate to the blog you can here: Donate to The Beer Thrillers. Thank you!

You can also check out our partnership and affiliation with Pretzels.com, where ordering pretzels and using our affiliate code – AFFILIATE CODE IS THEBEERTHRILLERS20 – will help you get wonderful pretzels and help us maintain and keep this blog running. Thank you!

If you would like to reach out to us for product reviews, beer reviews, press release writing, and other media – please contact us at thebeerthrillers@gmail.com. Thank you.

(Thank you for reading. The opinions, thoughts, and expressions of each article posted on The Beer Thrillers represents the author of the content and only themselves. It does not express the opinions, beliefs, or ideas held by The Beer Thrillers or any company in which the author themselves work for. Each piece of written content is written by the creator(s) listed in the authorial section on each article unless otherwise noted. Their opinions, comments, and words on screen do not represent any company in which they work for and / or are affiliated with or any non – profits that they contribute to. Thank you.)

Riff Mountain

I first tried this beer (the first iteration / the first version of it / the first variant of it) when kicking off my three – week furlough from my full-time job. Of course, I decided to kick off my work furlough, while celebrating still having a full-time job, by joining friends at South County Brewing Co. It was a wise decision. Riff Mountain took me on a smooth hop ride that was fitting to kick off a three – week furlough to disconnect from work and a global pandemic.

Beer Review

Beer: Riff Mountain #7
Brewery: South County Brewing Co
Style: IPA- Imperial/Double
ABV: 8.8%
IBU: None
Untappd Description: There is no description for #7. (However, the first two have descriptions listed.)

#1 This is a rotational double IPA series.  Mainly focusing of process technique and hop combinations within the New England IPA style.  Each release will be numbered in the date code.

#2 Waves of tangerine pineapple, sweet coconut, dark green and fresh orange juice.

The description on the website “ 8.8% ABV. This series focuses on big bodied, massively dry-hopped New England style double IPA’s. The use of malted oats, flaked oats and white wheat malt creates a rich, almost silky, texture. The yeast fermentation profile has been developed to drive tropical and fruit esters. Each rendition will be denoted by numbers e.g. #1,#2, #3 etc”

Seven different Riffs in this series and I am in love with every single one.  I don’t know if I could pick out the different numbers in the series.  But each time the guys at SC canned a fresh batch I am either picking up at the brewery or picking up at my local distributor.

Each one is a mountain of hop flavor but sneakily at the same time very light on the palate.  That first nose is a citrus grapefruit but quickly escalates to a soft glide on a tropical ride.  And just when you think the citrus and tropical flavors are over, they linger on the tongue followed by a dank and grassy taste but still very light on the palate.

RM will continue to take you on this adventure with each sip.  This very hazy DIPA carries such a mix of these flavors you are take on a cozy ride and even at 8.8% you don’t taste a boozy sip. 

Typically, I would say to drink a hazy IPA in the warmer months, but this riff ride can take you out all year long.  It’s a cozy but light ride to that relaxation we all need while navigating life during a global pandemic.

My Untappd Rating: ****.5
Global Average Untappd Rating: 4.19 (as of 12.28.21)

Thanks For Reading

Drink more beer!

Cheers,

Amy

Thank you for visiting our blog. Please make sure to follow, bookmark, subscribe, and make sure to comment and leave feedback and like the blog posts you read. It will help us to better tailor the blog to you, the readers, likes and make this a better blog for everyone.

Please be sure to follow us on our social media accounts – Facebook, Facebook Group, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and Influence. Please be sure to also follow, like, subscribe to the blog here itself to keep updated. We love to hear from you guys, so be sure to leave a comment and let us know what you think!

Firstly, the other listicles I’ve done:
* Our Most Viewed Articles (September, 2019)
* Some Old Posts (September, 2019)

From our friends at Let Us Drink Beer Blog:

Beer Review: ETA IPA (Wild Leap Brew Co.)

Beer Reviews by J. Doncevic:

Beer Review: Colonization (Adroit Theory)

Beer Review: EBK – Gashadokuro (Ghost 782) – Adroit Theory

Beer Reviews: Envie and Envie 4XDH (Parish Brewing)

Beer Review: Ekuanot Astronaut (BAREbottle Brewing Co.)

Beer Review: Ghost In The Machine (Parish Brewing Co.)

Beer Review: Enigma (Anchorage Brewing Company)

Beer Review: Ectogasm (Drekker Brewing Co.)

After a few months of us doing the beer reviews, I added the category – styles; where you can click through to find your favorite style or if you want to check out reviews for a particular style. I haven’t gotten to go back through and add the old reviews to the new categories, but I will. In the mean-time, we currently have 26 (and growing) in the IPA Category. You can find it by clicking it here: Categories: Style: IPA.

IPA Beer Reviews by B. Kline:

Beer Review: 40th Hoppy Anniversary Ale (Sierra Nevada Brewing Company)

Beer Review: Icicle (New Trail Brewing Co)

Beer Review: Trial by Wombat (Thin Man Brewery)

Beer Review: Furious IPA (Surly Brewing)

Beer Review: Back to Reality (Three 3s Brewing Co)

Beer Review: Petes Secret Stache (Revision Brewing Company)

Beer Review: Loki – Wild IPA (Newfangled Brew Works)

Beer Review: Doppelgänger (Tree House Brewing)

Beer Review: This is The Way (Broken Goblet)

Beer Review: Julius (Tree House Brewing)

Beer Review: The Hog (Boneshire Brew Works)

Beer Review: Citraquench’l (Heist Brewery)

Beer Review: Moon of Vega (Equilibrium Brewing)

Beer Review: Paradise Lost (Southern Prohibition Brewing)

Beer Review: Fuzzy Nudge (Troegs Independent Brewing)

Beer Review: King Sue (Toppling Goliath Brewing Co.)

And there are plenty more too! From breweries like Boneshire Brew Works, The Millworks, Tattered Flag, South County, New Trail, Troegs Brewing, Anchorage Brewing, Rotunda Brewing, ZeroDay Brewing, Newfangled Brew Works, and so many more! With more getting added constantly.

We’ve been running this blog since late May last year. I (B. Kline) have done a few podcasts (for both beer and pop culture). I am also doing a Beer Education series right now, with a running table of contents. You can see the table of contents (so far) below:

The Beer Education Series:
* Beer Education: Series
* Beer Education: Syllabus
* Beer Education: Introduction
* Beer Education: Module One: The History of Beer Brewing
* Beer Education: Module Two: Barley and Malting
* Beer Education: Module Three: Water

Hopefully (fingers crossed) there will most likely be Module Four released and posted tomorrow.

I hope everyone had a wonderful, hoppy, and happy Easter. It wasn’t my usual, but it was an Easter spent with family. So that in and of itself made it a good day. Got to do some grilling for Easter dinner:

Nothing beats grilling and drinking a wonderful (D)IPA like Time Keeper by Fourscore Beer Co.

So from us here at The Beer Thrillers to your family, we hope you had a wonderful hoppy Easter. Please stay safe, and cheers everyone!

(Just a quick note, late addition on this, this is going to be a two-part article. First part a look-back at The Beer Thrillers articles of 2019, and the second part about our top beers, top breweries, and other happenings of 2019 for myself personally and the blog, and some of our friends in general. So make sure to check out both parts.)

So its the end of the year… end of decade even…. and thus its time to reflect back on where we came from, how we got to where we are, and where we are going. Humanity, since the inception of time, and creating of calendars and years and New Years Eves and New Years Days have always taken the last few days of each year to look back on their year, their life, and reflected, and thought about how they could better themselves, come up with “resolutions” for the upcoming year, and join in with friends and families as they ring in the new year. “New Year New You.”

We here at The Beer Thrillers are going to do something …. similar. Not fully introspective though, because we don’t take ourselves that seriously. But just a fun look back at the year that was 2019. I can’t speak for my co-writers, but I can say for me, personally, 2019 had its fair share of ups, downs, in-betweens, lefts, rights, diagonals, crosses, bounces, turns, jukes, and jives. But I’m still here and better for it all. But I’m not going to go on and on too much about myself personally.

Rather, I’m going to write about how the blog has done, where we started from, where we’re headed, etc. And yea, I’ll probably get a little personal. But nothing deep or philosophical or introspective. More along the lines of what were some of the best beers, breweries, or events I’ve done of the year. So don’t worry, the blog will uphold the Seinfeld idea of “Nobody learns, nobody grows, nobody hugs”.

I started this blog back on May 17th, 2019. (This year!) It was a Thursday, my girls (my daughters) were at school, I was bored, and trying to figure out what I’m doing / was doing. I needed something for my days off while the kids were at school, something that was fun, something I was passionate about, something that let me feel like I was being creative, using my talents, and something I knew about. I’ve been reading blogs, and news sites, and all kinds of things about beer for so long, and I have a lot of experience drinking… …and writing… that I figured why not combine the two? I was feeling like I was in a rut, my job is the same its been for the past seven years, I wasn’t doing anything outright ‘creative’ and needed an outlet for it, and we are in a review culture. I do all kinds of reviews all the time, in small nondescript and unimportant ways. Like reading books when I’m finished, I write up a review of them when I check them off on GoodReads. Same with Untappd, when I drink a beer, I write up a small (Tweet size) review of it. I also felt, I was in a unique spot to start this up. I was getting to a spot where I knew enough people “on the inside” or “in the business”, and I was also doing stuff beyond just being a consumer; like home brewing, growing hops, helping can at Tattered Flag, being engaged in conversations with home brewers and professional brewers a lot, that I felt like I could provide some interesting conversations and articles to the world.

Mainly…. I was looking to not be bored, and to do something I love doing – writing and drinking beer.

So I started the blog up on May 17th, 2019. Basically having no clue what I was doing. I started up using WordPress and here we are. Its still WordPress, albeit the ‘weaker’ version (fingers crossed come sometime the new year, I switch over to the more advanced version, where I have more control over the site and the appearance). I did a little bit of research, chose a name – which to be frankly speaking – the name “The Beer Thrillers” just popped up to me. Nothing too deep or crazy or interesting behind it. I was honestly conjuring up the idea that it would be me, and a few of my friends writing, thus the “Thrillers” and not “Thriller”. I thought me, Drew, Dan maybe, and a few others would all writing all kinds of blog posts and contributing. Maybe some of the insiders in the business I know too… …while this hasn’t happened exactly; I have enlisted friends and other writers over the year to help out. (More on that as I get to their participation.)

Outside of creating the home page and starting up the site, my very first article on the blog was a beer review of Troegs’ Scratch 375 – The CocoNator. As far as first time articles go, I have no problems with it. Counting the writing of my colleagues and fellow contributors and cowriters to the blog, we’re now up to 130 blog posts (this being #131). I definitely think I’ve come a long way from that first blog. But I also like to think I laid the foundation there. I set up a system for how the beer reviews (I do) are written, presented, and I hope they are written in a fun, interesting, educational, and most importantly entertaining way.

When I started this in May, I had just gotten a couple of cans from my shift manager at work – Jordan and used them a the base for my first few beer reviews. The CocoNator was quickly followed by two South County beer reviews – Painting with Light (May 19th) and Sundrifter (May 30th). Also during this time, from my recent volunteer work helping can at Tattered Flag I worked with and gotten quite a few of their cans (hard work and sweat at their brewery resulted in many cans of whatever beer was being canned that day, as well as lots of other cans they still had from past canning runs). Two of these resulted in the beer reviews of Boulangerie Stout – Imperial Churro (May 22nd) which was a collaboration between Derek Wolf of Wolf Brewing Co. and Tattered Flag and You Hoppin’ On Me? (May 24th).

I was trying to write fast, furiously, and get some articles out there as a starting blog, I knew content was going to be the main driving force (and still is). Quality content even better. Hopefully I provided the quality content. I guess thats all up to you guys to decide, but I like to think I did (or at least, like I said, hope I did). As you can see from my picture of the Imperial Churro; often times in the background or foreground or beside the beers you’ll see some of the recent books I’m reading, as well as my dog Leela – especially if I’m drinking at home where she typically has to get her nose into the business of all involved. On May 27th, I conducted a bit of a science experiment when I found an old (over a year old) Black and Blue Tastee from The Veil. I had gotten a four pack from one of my favorite bartenders – Chris – who had traveled down and muled some back up. I wrapped up May, my first month of writing for the blog, with my first beer review from a bar – Warwick Hotel – on May 31st with a beer review of Cinnamon Toast Crunch by Collusion Tap Works.

May finished, and my first month done; even if I had only started late in the month on the 17th, I felt accomplished with the blog. I published 9 total blog pages; which included the home-page, the author-bio page, the contact page, and other necessary background pages. Word was slowly trickling out about the blog, I was up to 59 visitors and 121 views. Not a bad first month – especially considering it was basically just two weeks (the 17th through the 31st). Lets say I was “pleased as punch” with the start of the blog. June was looking bright!

June started with a beer review from the Bissell Brothers Brewing Company – Baby Genius on June 3rd. Followed up by a bottle of LazerSnake by Three Floyds on June 9th.

On June 13th, I did my first multiple beer review, and my first beer flight review – from Troegs Independent Craft Brewing – of course. What other place would I do my first beer flight review? Troegs was basically my initiation into the craft beer scene when I was ….cough turning 21…. and was the start of my craft beer love. Troegs is still a wonderful brewery, a fantastic venue there in Hershey, and overall holds a definite soft spot in my craft beer loving heart.

June 14th ended up being my first “double blog post” day. Earlier in the day I had stopped in at Tattered Flag to pick up a four-pack, had a beer, and when home, wrote a review, and later that night, with my daughters, I stopped in at Boneshire Brew Works, had a beer, and did a review before bed. At Tattered Flag I had the Abra Collabra beer, and at Boneshire I had the Sunburst beer. A week later I did my first brewery review, when I took my oldest daughter to Gettysburg for the day to visit the battlefields and monuments. Before visiting the sites, we stopped for lunch at the Battlefield Brew Works. A day later I was back at Warwick for another beer and review – Manayunk’s King Crunch.

Around this time, looking to expand, I enlisted the help of a buddy and fellow craft beer aficionado and enthusiast, and Boneshire lover – Josh Doncevic. We had a few talks at Boneshire Brew Works, and we chatted on the Central PA Whalerz group, and discussed this and that and everything beer related, and I thought he’d be a perfect fit for the blog – and he is and still has been. And on June 27th, he took his plunge into the world of blogging with his first beer review Northmont by Yellow Bridge.

A flurry of beer reviews followed – Should Have Put Him in Custardy, a beer flight from Hershey Biergarten, helped close out June and start July with Josh’s review of Ectogasm. June saw the blog grow by massive leaps and bounds, we went from 59 visitors in May to 848 visitors in June with 1100 some views. July was looking to be a great month for The Beer Thrillers, and it certainly delivered some amazing beer reviews! Pink Guava, Inexplicably Juicy, Miami Vice, Old 51, Dillston, Saison and Hurry up and Wait, a beer flight from Tony’s travels up north at the Black Gryphon, Wolf Prints, and Mango Guyabano sWheat Tart.

On July 19th we launched our Twitter page. Which just a few days ago, we hit our 100th follower! (Time for me to plug in here and suggest everyone head over there briefly to follow us, then come back here.) On July 23rd we also started our Instagram page. I will be the first to admit that we don’t do as much with Instagram, primarily because I don’t know enough about it yet. Looking to learn more about it in 2020 and get that page going a lot more.

July continued with some more beer reviews like Enigma, Green Zebra and Next Coast, Good Walk Spoiled, another beer flight from Troegs, and Road Less Traveled. I ended the month by discussing my upcoming road trip with my daughters.

July also saw some fun and interesting events I got to do for the first time. I lost my Ffej of July cherry, getting to make it out to possibly the biggest, baddest, most sickest birthday bash / lawn party ever. Me and Drew also attended the Moo-Funk Home Brew event as well. July was certainly a fun month, but August was looking to be even better.

August started off with a bang, I took my daughters up north PA to visit Elk Country, then we visited Straub Brewery, then we went to Kinzua Bridge and after that stopped at Logyard Brewery and next door to it was Twisted Vine Brewery. That was Day One. Day two saw us hitting the Pittsburgh area. First at dawn we hiked McConnell’s Creek, then went to ShuBrew before going into Pittsburgh proper and visit the city where we did a whole slew of things like see Fort Pitt, take the Duquesne Lift, check out medieval Catholic relics, stop by a Jewish synagogue, see the outfield wall still standing, and we also checked out a few breweries like Cinderlands Warehouse, The Church Brew Works, and we finished the day staying at a motel right next door to Yellow Bridge Brewing. Day Two was a lot busier than day one, but just a much fun.

We didn’t slow down for Day Three. We had a whole host of driving to do on day three. We started at Bushy Run to watch the reenactment and check out the events, then went to the Alleghany Portage and Railroad Museum, and then went into Johnstown to see the Johnstown Flood Memorial and there we checked out the brewery Stone Bridge Brewing. From there we Staple Bend Tunnel Trail and then we stopped and paid our respects at the Flight 93 Memorial. On the way back home to the Hershey area we stopped at Olde Bedford Brewing.

Was a fun three days where we got to see lots of cool places, museums, memorials, monuments, and nine breweries to boot. Can’t beat that!

The beer reviews weren’t going to slow down in August either. Ghost in the Machine by Josh, a beer flight at Twisted Bine, Juicy Fruit sWheat Tart, and Caucus Race 6.0. Then shortly before my oldest daughter’s birthday I took her and my second oldest down to Antietam to see the battlefield there and on the way back home we stopped at Cushwa Brewing. Which I did a brewery review of.

They have since moved out of that building but they are still close by to the location. August still had plenty more beer reviews for you guys starting with Harrishire, Kettle Sour Series – Raspberry, Ghost in the Machine by B. Kline, Good Vibrations, and then I did a dual beer review from two beers I had at a Harrisburg Senators game – a Pineapple Kolsch and a Dry Irish Stout, Reve Coffee Stout, Rye for an Eye (my birthday blog post and beer), and that closed out the month of August. As for events in August, me and my friend Ming went to the Lancaster Brewfest and afterwards went to Mad Chef Brewing (my first time there) which was an overall fun event.

Moving onto September started with my cashing in my birthday taco coupon at Newfangled Brew Works and had a really tasty Kettle Sour from them. In September I wrote a piece for Breweries in PA and also posted it on my blog – the version on the blog is found here: Breweries Around the Outskirts of Harrisburg (9.6.19). It has become one of the most popular pieces on our blog, and I believe it has done very well for the Breweries in PA crew as well. Beer reviews certainly didn’t slow down: a flight of Levante and Tattered Flag beers, a flight of Troegs beers, Fresh Fest and Trail Day Pale Ale, a flight of beers from Mount Gretna Brewery, and Spundae.

September also saw me do our first listicle articles. With two – one celebrating our oldest posts – and one celebrating our most viewed posts. Followed by, as always, more beer reviews – Key Lime Pie, They Burn Them All Away, AuZealand, a flight of Ever Grain beer, Vanilla Ice Cream Stout, and a Sour Blueberry wrapped up September.

October started off with a couple of Boneshire Brew Works beers – Tried and True (Mango) and Iscariot. I then got to attend Dr. Alison Feeney’s seminar and event at Mid-Town Scholar “For the Love of Beer“. Afterwards I went to The Millworks and had a flight. I did a book review of Dr. Alison Feeney’s book – For the Love of Beer. We finally joined Facebook on October 17th, you can find our Facebook page here. We are now up to 154 followers on Facebook, hoping to grow more! Did a beer review of Salted Caramel Moo-Hoo next.

I was contacted back in September by Midwest Coast Brewing Company to do an advertisement article and announcement article about their brewery opening. And I think it turned out very well. This was the first time a brewery reached out to us and asked us to do a piece for them and I think it turned out very well. I did a bit of an interview with the owners / brewers, and talked about their brewery’s opening. This has led to Mellow Mink reaching out to us and inviting us to their place to check them out and do an article (January 2nd we’ll be doing that).

J. Doncevic did a review of Ekaunot by Barebottle. We then covered Rotunda Brewing Company’s rebranding of Irv’s Pub into Rotunda Brew Pub. Also did a news article on Pennsylvania breweries that won at the 2019 GABF. That was my first straight up news article for the blog.

More beer reviews: Athena, Sour Me Peach, Irish Table, Envie and Envie 4X, Yuengling’s Hershey’s Chocolate Porter, and to wrap up the beer reviews of October I did Fatum Series: Member Berries. We also covered Boneshire Brew Works’ 3rd Anniversary Celebration.

November was a crazy month for me. I challenged myself to doing 30 blog posts, one per day – MINIMUM, and I am proud to say I achieved that and met my goal. It was certainly daunting a task, but I did achieve it.

Here’s the list of my articles in November: Pumpkin Stout, St. Thomas, Walker Station Stout, a flight by ZeroDay, King Sue, Intergalactic Warrior, s’Mores LazaRIS, There’s Nuttin Butter Than a Nice Pair of Camo Pants, Secret Machine, Broken Heels, Animal Adjective, 556 Stout, Boat Drinks, a flight of Tattered Flag – Newfangled Brew Works – and Cox Brewing beers, Alpha Abstraction, Double IPA, Lager, Birra Di Levante, Tickle Parts – Passionfruit, a flight of beers from Appalachian Brewing Company, Default Brewing, Darwin’s Salted Forehead, Newfangled Pils, Gotta Get up to Get Down, Paradise Lost, Moon of Vega, Citraquench’l, Azathoth, a flight of Troegs including Mad Elf, and finally a review of Official BBQ and Burgers – Pizza Boy’s second location. WHEW! That was a lot to get out, you can read about it in the November Recap.

November also saw Default Brewing join us here at The Beer Thrillers. Headed by AJ Brechbiel, they are a group of home brewers who will be providing home brewing articles for the blog from time to time. They gave us a welcoming post in November: Cheers from Default Brewing.

I also started up a collaboration with Let Us Drink Beer blog. Where we would be guest writing and contributing to each other’s blogs occasionally. They are down south, and with us being here in PA, it seemed like it’d be a nice fit. Provide some information and beers and breweries that readers might not normally get to see. They posted their first article “Five Must See Breweries in Atlanta” in November.

Josh also wrote two beer reviews in November: Ghost 782 and Ghost 779.

December started off a little slower here for us, probably because I was a bit tired from November, or perhaps just because its the holiday season, I don’t know. But my first beer review was Ice Dreamz. I did a few more beer reviews in December – My Watch Has Ended, The Hog, Scrooge IPA, Sap, and Autumn.

Default Brewing gave us an introduction to their crew: “Meet The Crew at Default Brewing“.

I covered the guest blogging that was going on and Let Us Drink Beer gave us a review of Koki Bunni.

Finally, the last article posted in all of 2019 (outside of this one now) was a travelogue of me and Drew brewery hopping around Harrisburg. Starting at Boneshire Brew Works, and going to The Vegetable Hunter, The Millworks, The Sturges Speakeasy, and ZeroDay Brewing. Was a fun day jumping around from place to place.

Hopefully you enjoyed this look back on 2019 with The Beer Thrillers. The second part of this article will most likely be posted January 1st, possibly before work, possibly after work. I have to leave for work now, and work until (at least) 8PM, and will most likely be going right out to enjoying New Years Eve festivities with my daughters. Tomorrow I work 10-6, and afterwards will be doing a podcast with Esteban about LOST.

The second part of this series will cover top beers, top breweries, and other things about the year for The Beer Thrillers and myself. For example – podcasting.

So make sure you check out part two then as well!

As always, I hope you have a Happy New Year, enjoyed the blog, and continue to do so! Without you, we don’t need to write, so we hope you are having as much fun and entertainment with this as we are!

-B. Kline on behalf of The Beer Thrillers staff.

#1. Sundrifter by South County Brewing Company

#2. Enigma by Anchorage Brewing Co.

#3. King Crunch by Manayunk Brewing

#4. Battlefield Brew Works

#5. Painting with Light by South County Brewing Company

#6. Multiple Beer Review: Dark Skies (New Trail), Blood Money (Conshohocken Brewing Company), Lost Toys #3 (Wicked Weed), Medora (Wicked Weed)

#7. Black and Blue Tastee by The Veil Brewing Company

#8. Two Beers – Green Zebra (Founders Brewing) and Next Coast (Goose Island)

#9. Cinnamon Toast Crunch by Collusion Tap Works

#10. Inexplicably Juicy by Tattered Flag Brewing

Hopefully you all enjoyed this stroll down memory road, and for our newer followers, gotten to see some of our older beer reviews and brewery reviews. We love hearing from you guys, so make sure to comment on what beers you like or what beers you’d like to see reviewed, or what styles you prefer. Also, make sure to spread the word and help us get more people reading and enjoying our blog.

(Also, just as a FYI, we debuted on the Top 100 Beer Blogs list at #120… but as of this morning [9.18.19] we are currently listed at #11. So definitely check us out there and see some other great blogs as well. Very cool to see our blog explode to that high up on the list, and its thanks to all of you readers!)

Cheers!

-B. Kline

Another weekend in May means another chance to mow… or to try and put off mowing until you absolutely have to, which is just as wise. Even wiser when you have a fantastic beer to drink and sip and read rather than do that sweat inducing mowing!

And today’s beer for the task of procrastination is “Sundrifter” by South County Brewing Company. An absolutely fantastic and refreshing IIPA New England that is pure deliciousness.

So let’s dive into this fantastic beer!

Name: Sundrifter

Brewery: South County Brewing Company

Style: Double Imperial New England IPA

ABV: 8%

IBU: 15

Untappd Write-up: A soft bright New England double IPA, brewed with Pilsner malt, wheat and oats. Pacific Northwest and German hops. We get notes of light pineapple, white peach, white gummy bear, pear and a hint of white wine.

Canned Date: 4.9.19 (Consumed: 5.30.19)

The coloring is a light straw yellow, not incredibly hazy for a New England IPA but a soft see-through-able light yellow. It has a terrific head to it that stays and doesn’t go away.

The aroma is a sweet pineapple and peach with the smell of a brewery in process. That distinct muted hop smell blended in with the fruity aromatic notes. Its distinctive to anyone whose ever stepped foot in a working brewery, the smell of the malts and oats and the hops all blended into a perfect smell lingering in the air. Like at a bakery or a deli that just simple perfect smell.

As soon as you take a sip of it you realize how crisp and refreshing and simple the beer is. Its light, seemingly too light for a 8% DIPA, but that it definitely is. The hops lend a very mellow pineapple, peach, and mango flavor that is smooth and has zero bitterness. A creamy smoothness from the malt-oats that lends it the crisp and clear and easy drinking beer. Add this to the column of easily deceptive “crushable” 8%+ IPA/IIPA’s.

My Untappd Rating: ****.25

Global Untappd Rating: 4.14 (as of 5.30.19)

-B. Kline

Another day calls for another beer review. This time, after a long day’s work (yes, I work Saturday’s, thus why I’m drinking a beer and reviewing beer) as well as some yard work afterwards results in the need for a nice, cold, crisp beer. And today’s beer is Painting with Light, a DIPA (Double India Pale Ale) by South County Brewing Company.

So, since all of my adult duties are done for the day, without further adieu lets move right on to the beer!

Beer: Painting with Light
Brewery: South County Brewing Company
Style: Double IPA
ABV: 8.2%
IBU: (Untappd Lists No IBU)
Hops: Simcoe and Columbus
Notes from Untappd: A Bright and crisp IPA with earthy pine and sweet citrus pulp aroma. Medium body with resinous undertones, citrus fruit and pineapple/mango notes. Brewed with Simcoe and Columbus hops.

Canned: 4.25.19
Consumed: 5.18.19 (Hummelstown PA)

Pours a golden light orange/yellow body very similar to a lighter orange juice. The aroma is immediately mango notes upfront but with a hop-stickyness that for lack of better word (and over-usage) can be described as hop resinous.

The hoppy aroma is a bit surprising given how very little hop bitterness there is to the beer. As you drink it down you get some of the ‘burn’ of the hop but very little and only near the end of the glass (settlement). As far as DIPA’s go, its a very clean, smooth, sippable beer, and easily crushable (reminding me of Nimble Giant in that aspect, where its easily drinkable hiding its 8.2% [in this case, and the 9% of Nimble Giant] until you are onto your second and you begin to feel it – especially at my 155 lb weight).

I definitely recommend tracking this beer down and getting yourself at least one (even better, a four pack) and enjoy, especially on these upcoming hot summer nights.

My Untappd Rating: ****.5

Global Untappd Rating (as by 5.18.19): 4.15

-B. Kline