The 17th Annual AC Brewfest and Music Fest

The 17th Annual AC Beer and Music Fest just wrapped up this past weekend (June 3rd and June 4th), and once again – it was an absolute blast. This year was headlined by Dropkick Murphy’s and 311.

My buddy Drew (Knights of Nostalgia) and I went – as we’ve done for the past several years (of course excluding the COVID – 19 / pandemic / coronavirus year of 2020). And once again we had a great time, just as we’ve had every other year we went.

The 7 Best Beers We Had At The AC Beer and Music Fest

Here is the seven best beers we had this weekend at the AC Beer and Music Fest. In a rather loose order of ranking, but with the final beer definitely our 100 percent favorite.

7. Doppelbockalayna by Readington Brewery & Hop Farm

Beer: Doppelbockalayna
Brewery: Readington Brewery & Hop Farm
Style: Bock – Doppelbock
ABV: 8%
IBU: N / A
Untappd Description: Blank
Global Average Untappd Rating: 3.65

Why we chose it: This was a very pleasant surprise. Readington Brewery and Hop Farm (on Sunday when we got to their tent) was tucked in the very wee corner by the acoustic stage, and this was like finding a hidden gem. In a brewfest over flowing with IPAs, sours, kolsches, and other light beers, its fun to get to try a few different darker beers.

6. Juicy Pebbulls by Bolero Snort Brewery

Beer: Juicy Pebbulls
Brewery: Bolero Snort Brewery
Style: IPA – New England / Hazy
ABV: 6%
IBU: 20
Untappd Description: Who’s ready for some breakfast?After a bit of a hiatus waiting on the right hops one of our faves returns! We’ve really been dialing in the process on our hop forward beers since opening our Meadowlands digs for a softer, juicier beer, the result…JUICY PEBBULLS – Brewed with Cashmere, Lotus, Mich Copper and Cryo Citra and finished with freshly zest lime. Fluffy tropical fruit punch.
Global Average Untappd Rating: 3.81

Why we chose it: Returning again this year, a favorite of ours – both the brewery and the beer. This is a delicious, well done New England IPA, hazy, and very tasty. Definitely a full pour (or two) keeper at the brewfest.

5. Blueberry Brunch by Neck of the Woods Brewing Company

Beer: Blueberry Brunch
Brewery: Neck of the Woods Brewing Company
Style: Sour – Fruited Berliner Weisse
ABV: 5%
IBU: 12
Untappd Description: Brunch style sour ale brewed with oats, blueberries, vanilla beans and maple syrup.
Global Average Untappd Rating: 4

Why we chose it: Firstly… why wouldn’t we choose this one? It was absolutely delicious! Like breakfast in a glass (if your breakfast was blueberries smothered in vanilla and maple syrup). This is soft, sweet, tasty, and not much more than tart. A wonderful beer on Sunday when it got a bit warmer.

4. Brux Royale Belgian Chocolate Stout by Ross Brewing Company

Beer: Brux Royale Belgian Chocolate Stout
Brewery: Ross Brewing Company
Style: Stout – Imperial / Double
ABV: 11.7%
IBU: 50
Untappd Description: Rich, Decadent Belgian Chocolate Stout is a unique take on a dark and roasty beer. With actual 70% Belgian Chocolate in the mash, molasses in the boil and more Belgian Chocolate in the tank, Cacao Nibs and Vanilla give this beer a truly complex body and aroma. Belgian Abbey yeast provides a unique finish on this one of a kind stout. Decadence is the word. Treat yourself.
Global Average Untappd Rating: 4.02

Why we chose it: On Sunday at 3 PM Ross Brewing Company did a special bottle tapping of this beauty. This is a wonderful rich, strong, dark chocolate, going somewhat on the bitter side of chocolate. Not very sweet, but very heavy, strong, and a wonderful aroma. This was a definite treat to have right near the end of the brewfest.

3. Doughnut Soles by Departed Soles Brewing Company

Beer: Doughnut Soles
Brewery: Departed Soles Brewing Company
Style: Stout – White / Golden
ABV: 5.8%
IBU: N / A
Untappd Description: Our collaboration with the epic folks at Montclair Bread Company. Brewed to mimic our favorite type of doughtnut, the classic chocolate frosted, this white stout boasts a light, hazy tan body like the brioche baked confection, and is conditioned on milk sugar and Wilderness Poets Sweetened Cocoa Nibs, as well as Modcup coffee co Cold Brew, to elicit memories of sweet chocolate frosting and stouts (while looking nothing like either).
Global Average Untappd Rating: 3.76

Why we chose it: This was just delicious. Was the first one we had after our 5K run to start off the Sunday beer fest session. (We both did the 5K in under 40 minutes, including the 7 beer stops, and the line up at the Chickie Pete’s stop that took up 1 minute, plus the one water stand.) This had a nice doughnut, coffee, morning wake up call taste and flavor. Was a great way to kick off the brewfest on a just before noon Sunday morning.

2. Vanilla Scoop by Southern Tier Brewing Company

Beer: Vanilla Scoop
Brewery: Southern Tier Brewing Company
Style: Strong Ale – American
ABV: 8.6%
IBU: N / A
Untappd Description: Southern Tier is proud to partner with our Western NY neighbor, Perry’s Ice Cream. We used their delicious signature vanilla and milk sugar to deliver a creamy, full-bodied beer unlike anything else.
Global Average Untappd Rating: 3.94

Why we chose it: Ever had a vanilla scoop of ice cream? But… it was really beer? Then you had this beer didn’t you?! Because thats exactly what this is. This would probably mix perfectly with a root beer, to give you a root beer float. (Drew was told to skip Sixpoint Brewery’s tent and go here instead, so we did, and definitely don’t regret it.)

1. PB & Cookies by Three 3’s Brewing Co.

Beer: PB & Cookies
Brewery: Three 3’s Brewing Co.
Style: ‘Other’
ABV: 4.8%
IBU: N / A
Untappd Description: Yippie skippy! This outlandish take on a Vienna ale is dry nutted with an absurd amount of roasted peanuts and conditioned on that chocolate sandwich cookie from our childhood. Smooth and creamy with all that nutty goodness.
Global Average Untappd Rating: 4.1

Why we chose it: Where the other six beers could be moved around a bit, this one is a guaranteed lock at number one. (Though Drew argues this and the Vanilla Scoop could co host as ties for first.) Either way, this is an absolutely banger of a beer. It tastes exactly like what its describing. And that right there is always a plus. At 4.8% its also not going to be knocking you on your ass, making it great to have a pint of… or two. (Hell, maybe even three!)

The Atlantic City Beer and Music Festival

Once again, just want to say how great of a time we had. There were some complaints about longer than usual wait times on Saturday, and port – a – pot related issues, but it kind of happens every year. This year was a sell out (first I remember that happening in a while), they did have Dropkick Murphy’s performing after all.

All in all, it was a blast, just like every other year. Thanks for reading, and thanks for checking out our other AC Beerfest articles.

Thanks For Reading

If you like this article, please check out our other many articles, including AC Beerfest recaps, and much much more. We greatly appreciate everyone visiting the site!

Cheers.

-B. Kline

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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!

In the immortal words of Eminem:

Look
If you had
One shot
Or one opportunity
To seize everything you ever wanted
In one moment
Would you capture it
Or just let it slip?Yo
His palms are sweaty, knees weak, arms are heavy
There’s vomit on his sweater already, mom’s spaghetti
He’s nervous, but on the surface he looks calm and ready
To drop bombs, but he keeps on forgettin’
What he wrote down, the whole crowd goes so loud
He opens his mouth, but the words won’t come out
He’s chokin’, how, everybody’s jokin’ now
The clocks run out, times up, over, blaow!
Snap back to reality, oh there goes gravity
Oh, there goes Rabbit, he choked
He’s so mad, but he won’t give up that easy? No
He won’t have it, he knows his whole back’s to these ropes
It don’t matter, he’s dope, he knows that, but he’s broke
He’s…

Eminem: Lose Yourself

I can’t possibly be the only person who as soon as they read the can “Back to Reality” started hearing the lyrics to Lose Yourself in the back of their head right? Yea, I know, the can label is all about Back to the Future complete with the Deloreaon, but still…. ….I’m not the only one right? Right?

Maybe I am, maybe everyone else mentally runs with the Back to the Future imagery and goes with that. Perhaps its my generation, who grew up on Eminem, Limp Bizkit, Creed, Nirvana, Foo Fighters, Staind, Disturbed, Korn, etc, etc, etc, that might think of Eminem. Maybe I just have a wire loose in the old noggin. (Most likely that…. 13 concussions and all that……)

So lets snap back to the present (…or to reality…………) and talk about this fun, delicious, bright beer. Sadly, I’ve only had a handful of beers from Three 3’s Brewing, but nothing has disappointed, that’s for sure. I’ve enjoyed them all and they’ve all been fun, delicious, tasty brews. They’re another of a handful of fun breweries doing fun beer names and labels. And luckily, unlike some breweries, they actually have the beer brewing chops behind them to insure you still get a good beer rather than like some that just coast on beer name and label alone on the hopes of you buying their beer. This is The Way by Broken Goblet is a good example of a beer name, label, (can art), and backstory that will sell cans… but is also a really good beer. Sadly, for every good example like This is the Way and Back to Reality, there is an equal or larger number of beers that don’t deliver despite their cool name and can art.

But before we get into the future, or go too far into the past, let’s stay in the moment, in the present, in reality, and review this tasty delicious beer:

Three 3’s Brewing Co. is a micro brewery out of Hammonton New Jersey. On Untappd they have 130 unique beers listed with a global average rating of 3.8 (as of 2.18.20). Their description on Untappd reads: “Stop in for a pour, taste and to grab a growler to go! Follow us for tap list updates and events! Just 30 mins from A/C & Philly.”

Beer: Back to Reality
Brewery: Three 3’s Brewing Co.
Style: IPA – New England
ABV: 6%
IBU: None Listed
Untappd Write-Up: A bright IPA in the truest sense. Heavy additions of wheat and oats create a lush mouthfeel. We walloped this one with some of our favorite American hops (Amarillo, Mosaic and Simcoe) in the whirlpool and dry hop. Notes of ripe orange peel, fresh picked tangerine and citrus. An all-day crusher that won’t tire the palate.

I love it when a description for a beer uses a word I’ve used several times (without me even knowing its in their description). It either makes me think I’m smart (to some degree anyway) or makes me wonder (and go insane doing so) if I had read the description and the word has entered my subconscious about the beer. The word for this one is: bright. I used it a few times talking about its appearance, and it is certainly bright. It has a orange hue, bright, a bit dank and hazy, not fully filtered, but not completely unfiltered either. There is a nice white foamy head and it left nice lacing on the glass.

Aroma is a blast of hop. You can definitely pick out the citrus of the Amarillo and the defined notes of Mosaic and Simcoe hopes. The dry hopping for the beer really brings these to the forefront, particularly Amarillo’s citrus and Simcoe’s defined, unique hop aromas and notes. The hops leave you with notes of citrus, tangerine, orange (mainly peel / rind) but you also get some distinct blood orange aroma notes.

Firstly, this is a smooth beer. There is no hop bite, and its all the more citrus and citrus fruit notes, so there’s no pine, no earthy, no musky, nothing but the bright fruit flavors that go with these kind of citrus notes. Been using the term ‘bright’ for this beer quite a bit in this review, but its just so apt. From appearance to aroma to taste, it just feels bright, it feels flavorful, it feels bold, it feels open, fruity, citrusy, it feels light. This feels like walking through a Florida orange orchard or grove or farm or whatever the terminology is for orange trees and growing and farming and what not. (I’m pretty sure its orchards… like apple orchards… etc.) Great orange, tangerine, blood orange, citrus, zest, all kinds of the bright orange fruit flavors just pounce on you as you drink this down. And it is incredibly smooth and easy to drink. Its practically like drinking orange juice. Luckily the low ABV (6%) makes this not a problem at all. Sadly I only had one can to drink, because I could easily drain a four pack of this in an hour’s sitting no problem at all.

My Untappd Rating: ****.25
Global Untappd Rating: 3.85 (as of 2.18.20)

This was one of many beers D. Scott had picked up from Breski’s Beverages mix-a-six. They have a wonderful selection of New England IPAs, singles, and great cans and bottles from a variety of breweries you won’t be getting at your normal distributors. Well worth checking them out for that.

So I know I said I might do the Intemperance last night as a double-blog-day, but I ended up at D. Scott’s where we worked on finishing his keg of Nugget Nectar and watched RedLetterMedia and talked about upcoming podcasts.

So a Mexican and a Scot Walk Into a Bar… is the podcast that my friends D. Scott, Esteban, and myself and a random assortment of other people do. They recently did a commentary track for “My Bloody Valentine (1981)“, so be sure to check that out. Me and Esteban will be finishing up the series on LOST soon, we’ve done one for Seasons 1 and 2, and will be doing two follow up ones – for seasons 3 and 4; and 5 and 6.

Speaking of podcasts, exciting news for me – B. Kline. I am going to be on two upcoming podcasts (dates and times to be determined). John Wilcox has invited me out to Exton PA to do a podcast with him about beer. John’s podcasts are called “Might Be Brews“. And Tony Russo in Maryland is going to have me as a call-on on his podcast “Beers with Strangers“. They have a nice, full complete library of podcasts you can listen to here: Beers with Strangers Podcasts. You can check out both Might Be Brews and Beers with Strangers on Facebook and Twitter as well.

Also, exciting news, Rubber Soul Brewing (soon to open here in my hometown of Hummelstown) has invited me out in the upcoming for a check-out of the facility and building. So I should be able to give an in-depth write-up soon. I’ve been wanting to write up about them opening, but been waiting to pull the trigger on it. Breweries in PA jumped me a bit by doing a write-up yesterday (2.17.20) on them. If you’ve been following our Facebook page you’ll see some pictures I’ve taken of the building when I’ve walked by it recently.

Speaking of Facebook, we’re currently at 399 followers. Can’t wait to hit 400, hopefully today! If you have friends, invite them to the page and let them know!

You can also see some of our recent posts – I Cannot Tell a Lie, Florence, Loki – Wild IPA, Brewery Visit to Mellow Mink, Doppelganger, Beer Share at Tattered Flag, and Valentine’s Day Beers.

Until next time everyone, peace, and cheers!

-B. Kline