Burley Oak Brewing Co. - The Beer Thrillers

Big 3 Day Weekend: Friday Recap

BKline — Sat, 22 Jan 2022 17:00:36 +0000

Flights at Dogfish Head Brewery

Where we started….

If you read the previous article – Big 3 Day Weekend – this is the first recap article in the series.

So Friday certainly was a day! We got to Dogfish Head at about 11:15AM. (Having left right after I finished and posted yesterday’s article.) And we hit it hard. First beer on the taster was the ‘Rip Van Wrinkle World Wide Stout’ which was a 18.4%. Then proceeded to follow that up with Orloso 120 Minute (a 15.4%) and 120 Minute regular. We did three flights at Dogfish Head Brewery before leaving for Burley Oak.

Well… we had to make an impromptu stop at Dewey Beer Co in Harbeson… then went to Burley Oak. At Dewey Beer we got several 6oz pours.

At Burley Oak we did a flight, and picked up our JREAMS Hydra and JREAMS Swerve that we ordered online. The flight was absolutely tasty.

We then traveled Tall Tales Brewery in Maryland on our way to Loakal Branch in Delaware to dip back into Maryland before hitting RAR Brewing.

RAR Brewing ended up being the last brewery stop of the day – as we got there only around 7PM. Its amazing how fast time travels at breweries. So, needless to say we did not hit the full list of breweries I planned.

Where We Ended Up

Yea… we never quite get to all of the breweries on my itineraries. Just how it is (I often get ‘scolded’ or over-planning or being too ambitious with my plans.

But, after RAR Brewing, we traveled all the way to Hagerstown from basically 9PM to 12-midnight to check in at our hotel in Hagerstown to spend the night and be prepared for the Cushwa Brewfest today. (Which, I am wrapping this article up, with the Uber on its way.)

Friday was still a very good day. We still got to six breweries – Dogfish Head, Dewey Beer Co, Burley Oak, Tall Tales, Loakal Branch, and RAR Brewing. Thats still a lot and we did plenty of traveling! (I got to have 36 beers in total at the various breweries, and quite a bit of food as well too.)

So now, I am wrapping this up, the Uber is nearly here, and we will be on our way to the Historic Springfield Barn for the Cushwa 5th Anniversary Celebration Brewfest. Maybe I’ll see you there! I know I can’t wait for it!

Thanks for Reading

This is definitely a brewfest that looks absolutely banging. You can get the details here: Cushwa 5th Celebration. I hope to be able to see some of you there, and I can’t wait for all the delicious brews!

Cheers!

-B. Kline

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Burley Oak Shipping To Your Door

BKline — Sat, 20 Feb 2021 01:25:00 +0000

Burley Oak Announces Its Shipping

Another Brewery Giant Shipping Into Pennsylvania

Hot off the presses of Southern Grist Brewing announcing that they will be shipping into Pennsylvania, comes another big ‘hype time’ brewery announcing they are also shipping into Pennsylvania – this time its Burley Oak.

Burley Oak, famous for their JREAMS series of beers, as well as high quality IPAs and other sours, has been sending beers to distributors in Pennsylvania, but now is offering shipping to residential. They join a large group of in – state breweries shipping state wide, as well as some bigger named breweries shipping into the state.

Burley Oak

According to Untapp, Burley Oak is a micro brewery from Berlin Maryland, with over 600 unique beers, and over 580,000 check ins, with a global average rating of 4.04. Their info blurb reads: “We built our brewery from the ground up, utilizing sustainable practices with local materials and craftsmen. We love our town of Berlin, Maryland and hope you join us in our taproom for a couple pints and growlers. Our goal is to produce distinctive beers with unsurpassed quality while blending contemporary and traditional brewing methods.”

You can visit Burley Oak’s social media pages here:

Shipping News

Burley Oak Articles on The Beer Thrillers

Cheers!

-B. Kline

Beer Review: FVCK COVID (Version 2.0) (Ale Asylum)

BKline — Wed, 05 Aug 2020 01:30:00 +0000

FVCK COVID by Ale Asylum

Bit late on getting this review up, been meaning to get this written, alongside the Stone Cold Steve Austin IPA we had that night, and I also apologize that there hasn’t been a new post in a bit, been a rocky few days for myself (not speaking for the other writers; just for myself). But…. here it is, and its about time I get this up.

I feel like this is a beer that well encapsulates a lot of people’s thoughts about the disease. I was going back and forth on how to write up the beer name for the title and in the article. The can itself reads as “FVCK COVID” – and it also shows up as such on Untappd, but I was also tempted to do F*CK COVID; but felt that actually looked more vulgar. I think the misspelling of it (even with a letter replacement that is meant to be similar) actually detracts from the vulgarity of it. Either way though, the beer’s title is FVCK COVID, and it exactly what everyone thinks of this virus.

So needless to say, once I saw this on Breski’s Beverages Facebook page, I knew I needed to pick up a four pack of it and give it a try for the blog. As always, I cannot recommend Breski’s Beverage enough. One of the best beer distributors in the Harrisburg (Pennsylvania) area. One of the best bottle (and can) shops, with lots of hard to find breweries and some ‘whale’ status breweries as well. Occasionally having Triple Crossing, Aslin Brewing, Burley Oak Brewing, etc on their drafts for crowlers / growlers as well is also nice. One of the best selections for mix-a-six packs (definitely hop on their deals for mix-a-sixes, a fantastic way to try new beers and breweries). So when I stopped in, I picked up a four-pack of FVCK COVID as well as the Stone Cold Steve Austin IPA from El Segunda Brewery. My first from either of these breweries. Look for the Broken Skull IPA review soon. (I know, I know, I’m a bit backlogged on the beer reviews.)

(Yes, like I said above… I am quite back logged on the beer reviews. I have a long list of word.doc’s on my computer of tasting notes, and factoids and things about a whole host of beers that I’ve had in recent months; just need to write them up and post them.)

I had picked up the two four-packs for one of our many video game streaming sessions at D. Scott’s. He runs a Facebook page where he streams various video games, and (B. Kline) I’m a somewhat regular on it. We’ve been doing a lot of randomizers for The Legend of Zelda – Ocarina of Time, as well as Majora’s Mask, and other games. You can check out his Facebook page here: Knights of Nostalgia. Definitely check it out sometime while we’re on. (Right now D. Scott is doing a stream where he’s doing the side scrollers of Wizards and Warriors, and I’m having it play in the background as I type up this article.)

Enough with all the pre-beer review shenanigans and lets get on with the beer review – which is what I’m assuming 99.999999999% of those reading this are really here for anyway (not the drunken ramblings of a mad man; but the beer reviews of a drunken mad man who rambles….).

Onward!

FVCK COVID Version 2.0 by Ale Asylum

Beer: FVCK COVID (Version 2.0)
Brewery: Ale Asylum
Style: Pale Ale – New England
ABV: 5%
IBU: None Listed
Untappd Description: The second installment of our FVCK COVID series. How about a shirt or neck gaiter to match the beer? Visit our Merchandise store at www.aleasylum and you can wear what we’re all thinking.

Ale Asylum is a brewery from Madison Wisconsin. They are listed as a Regional Brewery with 64 unique beers to their name and a global average rating of 3.72 on Untappd. Their Untappd description reads: “ALE ASYLUM is unfiltered and all natural. This is what we mean when we say our beer is FERMENTED IN SANITY. You know who makes it, you know what it’s made with.”

Starting off with appearance (as I usually do in my reviews) this looks like a typical New England style IPA or Pale Ale variant. In this case its a Pale Ale, and it is a bit lighter and not as full bodied looking as a New England IPA might. But it still has that same similar appearance; a hazy, orange, glowing, unfiltered drink. With a nice foamy white head with plenty of carbonation and good bubbles.

The nose to this isn’t all that particular or crazy exciting. Its a typical New England pale ale; and because of it being a pale ale versus an IPA, its not got that much of a hop aroma to it. Despite being New England, despite being unfiltered, the nose is minimal hop aroma, minimal fruit notes, more just blandish beer smell.

Taste, at least it gets a bit beyond bland. Its not a crazy ridiculous new taste, but its not bland. It is a pale ale and not an IPA so its a bit low on the flavor profile, especially as far as hops go. My notes from the night of on this is that its a nice beer, a bit light on flavor, light on hop flavor in particular, but it has a pleasant overall taste with no aftertaste or lingering bad taste. It is a bit strong on malt and has a noticeable malt sweetness to it. There is some floral-ness to it, but its a bit underwhelming. This is not a bad beer and I’m not taking anything away from it. Its malty, its sweet, its floral, its light hoppy, and its a good beer, and at 5% its easy to knock down the whole four pack in a sitting while playing video games with your buddy. This beer though is definitely sold on its name above all. I don’t want to take away from the beer, because its a good beer, just not great, but as far as marketing goes, the beer name kind of sells itself. Its a theme in craft beer; a cool name or a gimmick pop culture or cultural reference, or cool can art, sells the beer more than the quality of the beer itself does. Thats not completely and necessarily the case here, but it gets a boost because of its name in sales I imagine. I’m guilty of that, buying a beer based on can art, or like in the case of this – beer name. My guilty vices for this is any beer that is Star Wars or Futurama themed; their auto instant buys for me. This was still a very enjoyable beer, and I don’t mean to sound pessimistic or upset at it, its a good beer and enjoyable, and worth the drink.

My Untappd Rating: ***.75
Global Untappd Rating: 3.46 (as of 8.4.20)

Sorry this took so long to be posted. I’ve been working on several articles all at once (including several Black is Beautiful beer reviews), as well as working on other side stuff too. But, my August hasn’t gone quite to plan. I haven’t gotten as much accomplished as I’ve wanted. A lot of things going on, an increase in hours at work (50-55 hour weeks), amongst a lot of other things going on in my life (personal and otherwise). It is interesting, a year ago this past few days is when I took my daughters on our trip – on August 1st, 2nd, and 3rd – and went up Elk Country to Kinzua Bridge to Pittsburgh to Bushy Run and back to Central PA.

You can read about those here:

August (2019) Road Trip Series:

Stay tuned for some stuff coming out soon, like the huge backlog of beer reviews like I’ve mentioned earlier, as well as any day now a new interview with a beer scientist from Cape May Brewing with A. Parys. As well as an interview I’ve done with Scott Smith of East End Brewing. I’m also excited to do beer reviews for several of the Black is Beautiful beers, including the Ever Grain / Harris Family / Wolf Brewing collab, the Spring House Brewing one, and hopefully if I can snag a can (or more) Thursday at Troegs Brewery the Harris Family / Troegs Brewing collaboration.

Lots of stuff to see and do here at The Beer Thrillers, so be sure to subscribe, like, and follow us here, as well as on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Thank you everyone for reading, and please be sure to leave a comment!

Cheers!

-B. Kline

Beer Review: Miami Vice J.R.E.A.M. (Burley Oak Brewing Co.)

joshdoncevic — Sat, 06 Jul 2019 20:32:12 +0000

What does a 1980’s cop-duo drama starring Don Johnson and Philip Michael Thomas chasing after cocaine smuggling criminals in sunny Miami have to do with beer? Nothing really. I just decided to bring it up since this little brewery in Berlin, Maryland saw fit to name a beer after the show.

If you’ve heard of Burley Oak, you have no doubt, heard of their incredible J.R.E.A.M. series of sours. If you’ve never heard of Burley or their J.R.E.A.M. series, I have one question; what rock have you been living under?

The Brew

Beer: Miami Vice J.R.E.A.M.
Brewery: Burley Oak Brewing Co.
Style: Sour – Fruited
ABV: 7%
IBU: 6
Untapped Desciption: Our first J.R.E.A.M. cuvée, this imperial sour ale is a blend of both our Double Strawberry Daiquiri and Double Pina Colada J.R.E.A.M.s.
Enjoy In: Anything with an opening
Enjoy At: 50-55 degrees Fahrenheit

The Review

I would like to open with a BIG thank you to my buddy Chris for trading this gem of a beer.

Now to the matter at hand, the beer. Burley has a reputation with their J.R.E.A.M. series that not many breweries can lay claim to, and that is a consistent, knock-down, drag out, true-to-the-flavor-on-the-tin sour beer that aims for the fences every. single. time. PERIOD.

Usually there is no issue with opening a can from Burley or any other brewery, but ask anyone who’s had Miami Vice, and they will tell you that popping this one was an exercise in patience and might have required a wetsuit or a sink. My experience was a bit of a mix. I opened the can over a sink, and for a little bit, just a little hissing. Then it got excited. As in frothing at the mouth excited. That could have gone worse. Your mileage may vary.

The beer itself was a complete one-eighty from my first impression. It poured a light strawberry gold, with a loose, bubbly head. Happy to be out of the can I assume. Given ten seconds and the once prominent foam subsided and I was able to fill my tumbler with the remaining contents right to the brim. Perfect.

There are supposed to be five flavors from pineapple, strawberry, lime, coconut, and vanilla. I’ll be honest, I really only counted three. Of those flavors listed, I picked up on an additional note not listed: apple. I’m not taking points off for the apple, but I would definitely have liked there to be a bit more lime and coconut backed up with a touch more strawberry.

There is a reason Burley Oak gets a lot of hype surrounding their J.R.E.A.M. series and Miami Vice only bolsters this record. Perfect for sitting on the back porch, at the beach, or sipping at home. Beg, borrow, or “steal” a can, trade if you must, but do yourself a favor and try it if you’re able.

My Untappd Rating: ****-3/4
Global Rating: 4.26 (As of 7/6/19)

PROST!

-J.Doncevic