Happy Thanksgiving - The Beer Thrillers

Round Guys Brewpub in Lansdale is Getting a Revamp

B. Kline — Thu, 24 Nov 2022 14:47:16 +0000

Round Guys Brewpub in Lansdale Pennsylvania (photo courtesy of Round Guys Brewing Company’s Facebook page)

Happy Thanksgiving

First off, let’s just jump in and dive in and say Happy Thanksgiving everyone. If you are American, you’ve probably been awoken to about a thousand e – mails from every company you’ve ever signed up with wishing you Happy Thanksgiving (…thanks Amazon …. thanks Target …. thanks K-Mart…. thanks Sears…)

Now that we got all that out of the way, while you are sitting around, watching the World Cup, or watching the parade, or getting food ready for your greedy family that is about to descend upon your household (remember, lock up the Trillium, the Tree House, the Other Half, the good beers… let them have the back of the fridge Hams and PBR’s), let’s get to discussing some craft beer news.

Round Guys Brewpub in Lansdale

Just 28 minutes ago (as of this writing), Round Guys Brewing Company’s Facebook page made this post about their brewpub in Lansdale Pennsylvania:

We want to thank everyone for showcasing the support, faith, and love of Round Guys, delicious local beer, and all things Lansdale that helped us grow into who we are today. We’re excited to share news of the changes coming to our pub that some of you may already know about.

Starting in January, Round Guys Brewing Company’s Brewpub will look a bit different than it does today. We’re joining forces with the same folks that brought you Butcher and Barkeep, and Northbound.

The new revamp is tentatively named “Round House.” At the end of the day, we took our pub experience as far as we could and opted to partner up w folks who can continue and surpass our mark.

Expect a facelift with some added seating in the coming months. Anticipate brilliant cocktails and delicious PA wine offerings. But most of all, know that the same beer you know, love and enjoy today will remain available on draft, in flights, and in 4 packs. All events remain in place, including Lansdale’s oldest running drag show, b/c the show MUST go on!

We built this link to help sherpa along our biggest fans to new updates and changes. Expect to see all news and any interviews be collected here. We can’t wait to show you what’s in the works! https://roundguysbrewery.com/round-house-lansdale
Round Guys Brewing Company – Facebook Post

I foresee a lot of Family Guy style “Round House” (ala Road House) jokes coming in the near future.

Road House

From the above linked website, in their “About the Establishment” portion, they state:

Round Guys Brewing Company announces a new partnership with JGCE, LLC to create and manage a new brewpub experience in Lansdale, PA.

Round Guys Brewing Company opened its doors in 2012 as Lansdale’s First Craft Brewery. The 324 W. Main St. establishment housed the original 7 barrel brewhouse and eventually expanded to the full service pub that resides there today. Current brewing operations moved across the street to 315 Derstine Ave, in the former “Reporter” Building.

JGCE, LLC currently runs and manages two establishments: Butcher and Barkeep, and Northbound.
Round House – Lansdale – About the Establishment

About Round Guys Brewing Company

According to Untappd, Round Guys Brewing Company is a brewpub in Lansdale, Pennsylvania. As of 11.24.22 they have 476 unique beers and 85, 917 ratings with a global average unique rating of 3.53. Their Untappd description reads: “A brew Pub in Lansdale with tasting rooms in Glenside and a Live entertainment venue called The Underground”

Scott Rudich is co-owner, head brewer, and one of the nicest guys around. He runs what he calls the oldest drag show in Lansdale.

For more information on Round Guys Brewing Company, you can check out their following links:

Round House – Lansdale
Round Guys Brewing Company (Untappd)
Round Guys Brewing (Official Website)
Round Guys Brewer – Twitter (note – it looks like this page has been somewhat recently deactivated)
Round Guys Brewing Company (Facebook)
Round Guys Brewing Company (Instagram)
Round Guys – Round House – Facebook Announcement

Brewery News

Interested in finding out about many other brewery openings, new locations, closings, movings, and in general brewery news? You can check out our links below:

Thanks For Reading

Just want to again thank everyone for reading. Since its Thanksgiving and all I should say what all I am thankful right? How else would everyone know I am a grateful person? All jokes aside, I am thankful for all of you who come to the blog and check us out. Read our articles, click our links, watch our video game streams, podcasts, videos, and everything else you do here. You can continue to support us by liking our pages, subscribe to us, follow us, and share our posts on social media. It is really, really, really, really, really appreciated! (And doing all of that is free too!) There is also monetary ways you can support the page as well (check the following paragraphs to see how).

So in that regards, the things that I’d like to say I’m thankful and grateful for are – firstly all those in my life; like Amy, Scarlet Emma, my family, my friends. As well as all of you dear readers, subscribers, and followers. Thank you all.

Scott Rudich is a good guy that we’ve talked to over the years here with the blog, personally and through the blog, especially during COVID – 19 and everything that went on during the pandemic. Please get out to Lansdale and support Round Guys. They are high up on our list of places to get to now that Scarlet Emma is born and we will get back out to traveling a bit more. They greatly deserve your support and I hope you will make it an effort to get out and visit them.

Once again, Happy Thanksgiving everyone. May your day be full of great food, great beer, good football, even better futbol and wonderful time with family and friends.

Cheers All!

-B. Kline

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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 #9 on FeedSpot’s “Top 40 Pennsylvania Blogs”. 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!

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The Trip to Indianapolis: Day Three: Salt Fork State Park, Southside Brewing Company, Blackhand Gorge, Wolf’s Ridge Brewing, Land-Grant Brewing Company, The Wandering Griffin

BKline — Sat, 28 Nov 2020 01:23:00 +0000

Salt Fork State Park

The subtitle I used for the recap article about Day Three was “I woke up in Washington and ended up in Dayton, how did I get here?” And its pretty accurate. Counting West Virginia (which I was only supposed to be in for all of about six to eight minutes) I traveled in three states and a fair bit of distance. So lets discuss how I got from Washington (Pennsylvania) to Dayton (Ohio) all in one day, and what all I did therein.

Also, before we go on, I believe my picture above of the lake at Salt Fork State Park is an optical allusion (that or maybe I’ve finally fully lost it and I’m going nuts); but to me it feels like if you stare at the picture long enough it looks like the waves are moving. Let me know if you see it… or if I have just lost my marbles. (Maybe its both?)

Day three saw me leaving my hotel outside of The Meadows Casino around 9:30AM, and heading to Ohio. Unfortunately, I have to go through West Virginia to get to Ohio in this part of the region… and that involves me getting pulled over by a West Virginia State Trooper. Sigh. So it goes I guess, but it does suck, and is a needless 190$ expense to add to the total cost of my trip, it also made me a bit later getting to my first stop which was the Salt Fork State Park.

Salt Fork State Park

There is a large beautiful lake at Salt Fork State Park, as well as several hiking trails over by the golf course. The lake was gorgeous and so serene, and at 10:30-11AM the park and lake area was completely empty. Just me, some blobby dead jellyfish looking things on the beach, lots of deer footprints, and the sad, quiet, solemn sound of the waves of the lake lapping onto the beach. I sat by the beach for a fair bit of time, just taking in the quiet and solitude, the solemnity of the here and now and the sereneness of it all.

The wooded trails there were nice though easy and not much to see, but they were quiet, serene, and peaceful. The whole place had a very serene atmosphere, a malaise or laze-faire peace and serenity to it all. Seeing nobody in sight pretty much the entire time I was in the state park certainly helped add the elusive nature of the place, like I had stumbled back in time and found a beach and lake and small wooded grove that only I knew about and nobody else ever would.

From here I traveled further into Ohio on my way to Columbus. Stopping briefly at a brewery / winery / restaurant / pizzeria on a hill. The restaurant was called Georgetown Tavern on the Hill; the brewery located there was called Southside Brewing Company. Had a gorgeous view of a vineyard and down an impressive hill.

Georgetown Tavern on the Hill – Southside Brewing Co.

The pizza was very good, and the beer was refreshing and nice on a beautiful, gorgeous, sunny day.

Blueberry Wheat

Beer: Blueberry Wheat
Brewery: Southside Brewing Co.
Style: Wheat Beer – American Pale Wheat
ABV: 6%
IBU: 30 IBU
Untappd Description: Traditional wheat beer with a hint of blueberry.

It was refreshing, and nice and there was a hint of blueberry. Perfectly acceptable on a sunny day in early November as a quick-stop pint to grab while breaking up the drive through Ohio.

My Untappd Rating: ***.5
Global Untappd Rating: (Only 9 ratings, not enough for a global rating yet.)

Next up, I stopped at Blackhand Gorge. Which was a series of trails on two sides of a main road. On one side, you had a trail along the creek / river which also included being able to walk down into what was the remains of the Erie Canal; and on the other side you had a walk that took you through a rock tunnel and you could also climb to the top of this giant rock plateau. The one side of the river was more of a bike trail that stretched for miles and miles, the other was a hiking trail. Both were very cool, and had numerous spots to stop and take pictures.

Blackhand Gorge

The drive to Blackhand Gorge was interesting. At one point on the highway a firetruck was coming up behind me, so I got over for it, and soon after it passed me, its hose came unattached from the top, and followed behind the firetruck like a long kite tail until it eventually completely unattached. The firetruck unaware the entire time kept speeding on. I was making sure to keep a good 10 – 15 feet back from the hose, which was trailing for probably about 20 – 30 feet from the firetruck itself. Once it became unattached and flew back, I had to quickly swerve so it didn’t hit the car, and it nearly clipped the car behind me who was riding my tail pretty aggressively.

After the Gorge it was finally time to head into Columbus. On the way there, I passed the Longerberger Basket building, office, headquarters, what have you. Reminded me of my aunt who used to sell their baskets, as well as my (ex) mother in law who did as well.

Longerberger Basket Building

Once in Columbus, the first brewery to hit was Wolf’s Ridge Brewing. Parking was about a half block away, and was only 3$ for 6 hours, which for a city, is fantastic. Also, next to the parking lot was Elevator Brewing, where they were working on inside – unfortunately they weren’t open yet, and were still doing the work on the building, so I had to skip them. Wolf’s Ridge Brewing though more than made up for it.

Wolf’s Ridge Brewing Company

Due to COVID, instead of eating and sitting inside, they turned the alley to the side of their brewery into a make-shift patio with a construction set barrier around the place. I had two full drafts there while reading and talking to an amazing bartender / server. Very beautiful and sweet lady who chatted with me about their brewery, my trip, Indianapolis, Harrisburg, and all kinds of things.

Buchenrauch

The first beer I got was the Buchenrauch. I can’t turn down a Rauchbier when I see it on a menu. I just can’t. Always have to give it a try, just to see how the brewery handles doing such a hard beer style. Luckily (and unsurprising for anyone who knows Wolf’s Ridge Brewing) they absolutely nailed it.

Beer: Buchenrauch
Brewery: Wolf’s Ridge Brewing
Style: Rauchbier
ABV: 5.7%
IBU: 20 IBU
Untappd Description:

2016 Gold Medal winner: San Diego International Beer Competition

2016 Gold Medal: Alltech Commonwealth Cup

2017 Silver: Alltech Commonwealth Cup

2016 Bronze: Indiana Brewers’ Cup

2015 Bronze Medal winner: San Diego International Beer Competition

This traditional smoked lager style hails from Bamberg Germany. The name literally means “beech smoke,” which pays homage to the time honored tradition of smoking the malt over beech wood to create the signature smooth smokiness. Mahogany in color and rich in flavors of campfire smoke and crusty bread. Buchenrauch is crisp and savory. The lager yeast and cold aging provide smooth drinkability and will leave you wanting more than just one.

Delicious, lovely beer. Compared to the medals and awards this beer has won, my recommendation means very little, but I do certainly highly recommend it. If you are in the Columbus area, this is worth the stop at Wolf’s Ridge Brewing alone.

My Untappd Rating: ****.25
Global Untappd Rating: 3.69 (as of 11.27.20)

Dire Wolf

Beer: Dire Wolf
Brewery: Wolf’s Ridge Brewing Company
Style: Stout – Russian Imperial
ABV: 10.4%
IBU: 50 IBU
Untappd Description: 2017 Gold: Beer Army Beer Wars

2016 Silver Medal: Best of Craft Beer Awards

2015 Gold Medal winner: San Diego International Beer Competition

Canis Dirus, or “fearsome dog,” is the scientific name for the Dire Wolf. One of the largest known breeds of wolf, the Dire Wolf went extinct at the end of the last ice age. Similarly, the Russian Imperial Stout was a beer style destined for extinction until craft brewers in America began to resurrect historical styles. Our Imperial Stout is named for the Dire Wolf because it is big, bold, and fearsome. Brewed with copious amounts of oats and brown sugar. Black as night with a dense tan head and chewy texture. Notes of dark chocolate, caramel, and espresso stand against a hefty bitterness to balance this monstrous beer.

Another style I absolutely love – Russian Imperial Stouts (RIS). For any Game of Thrones geeks out there, the name is great too. This was a boozy, heavy, delicious, rich, strong and very powerful beer.

My Untappd Rating: ****.5
Global Untappd Rating: 4.04 (as of 11.27.20)

Sadly, I had to move on and say goodbye to the bartender and the great brewery. I had enough time to hit one more brewery in Columbus before heading out to Dayton, my stop for the night (to shorten the trip for the next day). The second brewery I got to try out in Columbus was Land-Grant Brewing Company. Which was kind of set in a hipster like location, right across the street from BrewDog Ohio. Their ordering system was all on the phone, and was actually a bit of a challenge, as you had to pick your flight of beers all from their online menu which made things a bit more difficult than need be, but I don’t begrudge any breweries right now with strong COVID-19 / coronavirus safety protocols.

At Land-Grant Brewing, I ordered a flight that I had to wolf down pretty quickly to be able to get to Dayton in time for both the brewery there and the hotel and to call it on the day, and be somewhat near Indianapolis for tomorrow. According to Untappd, Land-Grant Brewing is a micro brewery; obviously located in Columbus Ohio, it has 531 Unique Beers, and over 163K ratings, with an average rating of 3.7 (as of 11.27.20). There is no Untappd description for the brewery.

The flight I ordered was:

Beard Crumbs
Make Mine Irish
Skull Session
Son of a Mudder
Bottomless Coffee

Beard Crumbs by Land-Grant Brewing

Beer: Beard Crumbs
Brewery: Land-Grant Brewing Company
Style: Stout – Oatmeal
ABV: 6.8%
IBU: 42
Untappd Description: Beard Crumbs is a smooth dark stout teeming with notes of chocolate, coffee, and an extra punch of holiday cheer via the addition of carmelized raisins. It delivers the joy of an oatmeal raisin cookie, minus the crumbly clean up.

It’s a festive ale that old Saint Nick himself would love.

This was a fun, tasty oatmeal stout. Ginger, nutmeg, or cinnamon rounded out the chocolate and coffee to make it feel more ‘festive’ and like a Christmas or Thanksgiving beer.

My Untappd Rating: ****
Global Untappd Rating: 3.71 (as of 11.27.20)

Make Mine Irish

Beer: Make Mine Irish
Brewery: Land-Grant Brewing Company
Style: Stout – Coffee
ABV: 8.4%
IBU: 33
Untappd Description: Sometimes a well brewed cup of coffee isn’t quite enough on its own. Sometimes a well brewed glass of beer needs a little something extra to push it over the top. Both benefit from a warming dose of whiskey. For that reason we brewed this hearty Irish Coffee Stout with Stauf’s whiskey-barrel-aged coffee beans, creating a compound of smooth chocolaty stout, roasted coffee, and rich, smoky whiskey. So when you’re craving a beer, a coffee, or a whiskey, might as well make yours Irish.

A good ‘Irish’ coffee stout. Strong and bold and powerful. Good full stout flavor even in a taster, very nice.

My Untappd Rating: ***.75
Global Untappd Rating: 3.89 (as of 11.27.20)

Skull Session by Land-Grant Brewing

Beer: Skull Session
Brewery: Land-Grant Brewing Company
Style: Lager – Red
ABV: 5.8%
IBU: 15
Untappd Description: This easy drinking Scarlet Lager owes a tip of its cap to a timeless autumn tradition. A chance to clear your mind before Saturday’s main event. This beer draws its ruddy hue from Red X malt, while maintaining a bright, classic balance from the addition of Tettnang and Chinook hops. This is a lager that’s in formation and ready to march.

An interesting lager. A lot going on flavor wise, but still pretty crispy. A fun and interesting take on the lager style. Wouldn’t mind trying some more Red Lagers in the future especially back home; see how other breweries do the style.

My Untappd Rating: ***.75
Global Untappd Rating: 3.63 (as of 11.27.20)

Son of a Mudder by Land-Grant Brewing

Beer: Son of a Mudder
Brewery: Land-Grant Brewing Company
Style: Brown Ale – American
ABV: 6.1%
IBU: 30
Untappd Description: Nevermind the conditions. This Brown Ale’s father was a Mudder, and his mother was a Mudder. This is a true and true American Brown Ale with a subtle hop presence at the turn and toffee, caramel, and coffee notes waiting at the finish line. When they’re calling for rain, dig in deep and grab a Mudder. It’s a sure thing.

I love brown ales, and I think the older I’m getting (ugh, scary thought) the more I’m enjoying them even moreso. This was no exception. Fantastic brown ale that is true to the style.

My Untappd Rating: ****
Global Untappd Rating: 3.6 (as of 11.27.20)

Bottomless Coffee by Land-Grant Brewing

Beer: Bottomless Coffee
Brewery: Land-Grant Brewing Company
Style: Lager – Vienna
ABV: 5%
IBU: None
Untappd Description: Perfect any time of day, this easy drinking Vienna Lager gets a rich, roasty pick-me-up from a big old pot of Stauf’s India Malabar Coffee beans—roasted right here in Columbus, Ohio. Grab a stool, get comfortable, and we’ll keep your cup topped-off.

Another interesting lager take. A coffee Vienna lager. Not your normal thought for a lager is coffee. This works really well though actually, and I really enjoyed it, more than I thought I would. I always love it when a beer exceeds my expectations.

My Untappd Rating: ****.25
Global Untappd Rating: 3.51 (as of 11.27.20)

Sadly, I pretty much had to wolf these beers down and bolt, and couldn’t stay and enjoy the ambiance of the place. In an outdoor patio next door looked like there was a big game of trivia going down. Not sure if this was tied in with Land-Grant Brewing or with the BrewDog from across the street. It might have been a communal area or for just the one brewery. If I had to guess, I would say it was tied in with Land-Grant Brewing or maybe the old school bar nearby too. I don’t think it was tied in with BrewDog. But it looked impressive with a big seating area, a huge screen for the trivia, and a lot of people…. hopefully socially distanced and wearing masks when not drinking.

The inside of Land-Grant Brewing Company

But, I was off now to my last stop, and had to book it too. I had to get to Dayton, and had to get there fast. I was heading to The Wandering Griffin, a brewery just outside of Dayton (technically considered Beaver Creek, Ohio) and right by my motel stop for the night. From Land-Grant to The Wandering Griffin its a 1 Hour and 1 Minute drive if Google Maps is to be believed. I wanna say I made it there a bit faster than that… but not going to incriminate myself.

The Wandering Griffin (courtesy of their Facebook and media pages)

I get to Dayton (or Beaver Creek) just before shutting down. I sit outside on their patio and enjoy a pint of Oktoberfest (2020). The place had an Applebee’s turned brewery vibe to it, or pick your own chain restaurant type place. Chili’s, Red Robin, Jiffy State, or whatever is local to your area type place. Not taking anything away from the place, it was nice, great patio area, nice bartender / server / worker, and the beer was good too.

According to Untappd, The Wandering Griffin is a brew pub in Beaver Creek, Ohio. They have 41 Unique Beers with 2,400+ ratings and an average global rating of 3.66 (as of 11.27.20). Their description reads: “We are The Wandering Griffin Brewery. We brew some really killer beer. We have lots and lots of room (over 10,000 square-feet) for you to drink our killer beer. Our floor is brown. We also have one really big ass patio. You can drink our killer beer there to. We also make some really killer grub. Did we mention that our beer is really good? We look forward to seeing you soon. Really. Parking? We have the largest parking lot in Dayton. Bring the bus! Brewery, full-service restaurant, beer garden and 3 bars. Great space for your event – large or small! Conveniently located off 675 exit 15 near WSU, WPAFB and Nutter Center.”

I ordered the Oktoberfest (2020), and went out to the patio to sit, it soon started to drizzle slightly, but nothing horribly, and I had a table umbrella over my head, so I enjoyed my pint.

Oktoberfest by The Wandering Griffin

Beer: Oktoberfest (2020)
Brewery: The Wandering Griffin
Style: Lager – Amber
ABV: 6%
IBU: 28
Untappd Description:

Prost! Our 2020 Oktoberfest is brewed using a blend of select German hops, Pale, Munich, and Vienna malts. Together, these ingredients bring notes of freshly toasted bread and a touch of fruit character to the brew. At 6% ABV and 28 IBU, this year’s Oktoberfest is a big yodel to beer’s biggest party…Even if we’re doing it from 6′ apart.
Küss unseren Arsch COVID!!!

I enjoyed it. It was a little weaker than some Marzens – probably because (according to their Untappd page for it) its a Lager – Amber rather than a Marzen, but it was still serviceable, especially after I’ve already stopped at two breweries in Columbus and the one earlier in the day (like a lifetime ago) in Georgetown. Was a nice enough end cap to the day.

My Untappd Rating: ***.50
Global Untappd Rating: 3.63 (as of 11.27.20)

After bidding adieu to the bartender / server I hopped the two blocks over to my motel and finally crashed for the day. Day three in the books. It brought me from Washington Pennsylvania to Dayton Ohio. As I carried my stuff into the motel, it started raining (more than a drizzle, but not hard), my friends at home said it had poured earlier in the day. Fun note – this would be the only rain and “bad weather” on the entirety of my trip. And it was overnight while in Dayton. Can’t say a bad thing about the weather I had in early November while traveling from PA to IN. I got extremely fortunate there. So as Tuesday came to a close, I had another wonderful day on my trip. I went to a State Park, went to another hiking place (Blackhand Gorge), visited four breweries in three different cities of Ohio (Georgetown, Columbus, and Dayton) and pretty much traveled the entire way across Ohio. Tomorrow brings on Day Four and takes me into Indianapolis to finally make it to the Kurt Vonnegut Museum and Library – the reason and purpose for my trip. So make sure to come on back to check in with us here at The Beer Thrillers for that! We still also have Days Five, Six, and Seven to get through! Be sure to come back to read the conclusion to the whole trip!

Thanks for reading everyone. Hope you are all having a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend, happy Thanksgiving, Black Friday, etc. Make sure to shop craft beer and not just scoop up the Goose Island Bourbon County crap, help the local breweries in these hard times, especially as the virus numbers keep getting higher and higher and shut downs look imminent. Cheers everyone!

-B. Kline

The Trip to Indianapolis – Full Articles:

Day One: Thousand Steps Trail, Juniata Brewing Company, Ghost Town Trail, Levity Brewing
Day Two: Rock Furnace Trail, Allusion Brewing Company, Couch Brewery, Riverview Park, Hop Farm Brewing Company, The Meadows Casino
Day Three: Salt Fork State Park, Southside Brewing Company, Blackhand Gorge, Wolf’s Ridge Brewing, Land-Grant Brewing Company, and The Wandering Griffin
Day Four:
Day Five:
Day Six:
Day Seven:

The Trip to Indianapolis – Recap Articles:

August (2019) Road Trip Series:

Rickett’s Glen (2020) Road Trip Series:

Monocacy Battlefield Road Trip:

Visiting Reading Pennsylvania:

A Visit to Reading
The Birthday Trip to Reading Pennsylvania – The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly

A Road Trip to The PA Grand Canyon:

Visiting Wellsboro PA and the Grand Canyon

Hiking Hawk Rock

Hiking Hawk Rock and Visiting Liquid Noise Brewery

Hiking Pinnacle Trail and Pulpit Rock

Hiking to Pinnacle Overlook, Pulpit Rock, Visiting 1787 Brewing and Schaylor Brewing

Hiking Around Ephrata Pennsylvania:

Hiking Around Ephrata Pennsylvania – Pour Man’s Brewing, Black Forest Brewery

Hiking Sunset Rocks and Checking Out Maxie’s Brewhouse:

Hiking Sunset Rocks and Checking Out Maxie’s Brewhouse in Shippensburg Pennsylvania

Other Brewery Hopping Articles:

My Article for Breweries in PA:

Touring Breweries Around Harrisburg

My Podcast About Breweries in Central PA:

Beers with Strangers – A Beer Thriller in Hershey

Some other brewery tour and road trip articles:

Also, be sure to check out some of our other beer reviews in recent history:

Please be sure to follow us on our social media accounts – Facebook, 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!

Beer Review: I Voted for Kodos (Second Sin Brewing Company)

BKline — Thu, 26 Nov 2020 13:04:00 +0000

Don’t Blame Me…. I Voted for Kodos

As with everything, if I can push the blame off me (yet still take credit when I can), I will… so let me be the first to say: I voted for Kodos (Kodos Johnson to be exact), so you can’t blame me.

In one of the funniest bits from The Simpsons as a whole, and from the various Treehouses of Horror, the Citizen Kang segment from Treehouse of Horror VII. For the uninitiated, Kang and Kodos are aliens (Rigellians) from the planet Rigel 7. They appear (sometimes as main segments, sometimes as just cameos) in every Treehouse of Horror episode of The Simpsons. The episodes; especially through the first years; are humorous parodies and looks at different horror movies, thrillers, or cultural cues. In later years they’ve begun to parody just about anything popular at the time.

We Must Move Forward, Not Backward, Upward, not Forward, and Always… Twirling, Twirling, Twirling Towards Freedom

Each Treehouse of Horror episode is broken down into three segments or acts. In Citizen Kang (which is the third act of Treehouse of Horror VII – season 8), Kang and Kodos abduct Bill Clinton and Bob Dole and basically steal their identity and ‘body snatch’ them and replace them with themselves. This ends up leaving people with no real chance of voting, because…. who can vote third party? (Sorry Ross Perot.)

Twirling… Twirling… Twirling

Should you ever see two combatant politicians hold hands as they walk around town… you should immediately know something is up. Could you imagine Donald Trump and Joe Biden or Hillary Clinton holding hands? Or Bush Jr and Al Gore? Or anyone with Putin? Not likely. So always be leery and on the lookout for tell tale signs like this. Also – if your politician tells you that you need to always be twirling… twirling… twirling towards freedom…. most likely he’s an alien in disguise… or a former cheerleader and gymnast who got stuck at a podium and is crying out for help.

Twirling Towards Freedom

Having grown up on a steady diet of Simpsons and pop culture and now in my fast becoming late 30s (le sigh) once I heard of these two beers being released (I Voted for Kodos and I Voted for Kang) by Second Sin Brewing Company; I got all the feels and the nostalgia and member-berries and had to have them. Like all of the Star Wars beers I’ve reviewed, I had to also get ahold of these to review as well. Luckily, from the brewery itself, I was alerted to the fact that there’s a Facebook group for Second Sin Brewing called Disciples of Second Sin. Since it was unlikely I would make it to Bristol PA before they were sold out, I was trying to trade / buy from someone who lived in the area and could ship or bring closer, and luckily Steve Orbanek contacted me with the hookup. So big shout out to him and major props and huge thank you’s go to Steve Orbanek for the hookup and to Second Sin Brewing for alerting me to the group.

When I got home from my Indy trip, the package was on my doorstep which was all the cooler as a nice return gift. Steve even threw in a third beer for me (for free) for a future beer review, so I’ll keep you all in suspense and just say that you all will get a bonus beer review soon thanks to Steve.

Second Sin Brewing Company is a micro brewery from Bristol Pennsylvania. According to Untappd they have 138 unique beers and a global average rating of 4.07 (as of 11.26.20). Their Untappd description is blank.

I Voted for Kodos by Second Sin Brewing Company

Beer: I Voted for Kodos
Brewery: Second Sin Brewing Company
Style: IPA – New England
ABV: 6.7%
IBU: None
Untappd Description: I Voted For Kang and I Voted For Kodos, conceptually, are like two peas in a pod. They both started with the same base of 2 row malt, Malted Oats, and light Crystal. Both are supported with Galaxy and Idaho 7 hops to round out their flavor profiles.

However, don’t let anyone tell you that these candidates are the same…oh, no. Kang is primarily hopped with the tropical and fruity Citra, while Kodos is loaded with dank and melony Mosaic.

Steve was kind of enough to trade me both I Voted for Kodos and I Voted for Kang; so be on the lookout soon for the second of these two reviews (as well as the bonus beer that Steve sent). I started with Kodos (primarily just for the “don’t blame me I voted for Kodos” line).

Appearance is a very golden New England IPA look, hazy, opaque, no sediment, bright golden brew. This looks like a slightly darker and heavier looking orange juice. It has a foamy, creamy, white head, with great carbonation, and varied and diverse bubbles; and left a beautiful lacing on the glass.

Aroma is a bouquet of hops, a buffet of hoppy smells, like diving your nose right into a bag of the good stuff. The galaxy, Idaho 7, and Mosaic hops create a wonderful hop aroma, heavy, dank, melon, some grapefruit, stone fruit, some citrus, and a whiff of pine. Some peach, some passionfruit rounds out the cornucopia of hop aromas and mouth watering smell.

Now lets get to the fun part of this… drinking this beauty. And hmmmmm is this tasty. It is a dank, juicy, New England IPA, with a lot going for it. It has an interesting mild ‘spice’ kick, subtle, but you get it as you drink, its an interesting note that adds to the beer. The primary flavors though come from the blend of hops used – Galaxy, Idaho 7, and Mosaic. Strong flavors of the stone and tropical fruits, a heavy dose of peach and passionfruit, light grapefruit notes (which could also provide a bit of the kick too), and the faintest lingering taste of sticky pine and a small dollop of earthy notes and tones (faint, ever so faint, but slightly discernible). This is a smooth drinking beer too. It has just the right mouthfeel and texture, and slick and smoothness to the drink. A four pack of this could easily be crushed sitting out, or mowing, or reading, or hanging out with friends, or even sitting around a campfire. At 6.7% its a good buzz inducing beer that won’t knock you right out either, so its perfect to sit around with friends or mowing. The hop blend is really wonderful here, the peach, to passionfruit, to citrus, to melon, and melon rinds, with the hint of grapefruit, pine, wee bit of kick at the finishing touches, leaves a great taste in your mouth, and makes this just a delicious brew all around. This was my first beer by Second Sin Brewing, and I am totally sold by them, and can see why they have a 4+ average rating. This is smooth, silky, nice mouthfeel, not watery, hoppy, dank, juicy, and with a blasting amount of flavors. This is just a well crafted beer through and through.

My Untappd Rating: ****
Global Untappd Rating: 4.19 (as of 11.26.20)

Thank you everyone for taking the time out on Turkey Day – Thanksgiving – to give this a read. I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving, either with friends, family, or with your own small(er) gathering this year. This is certainly a different Thanksgiving for most of us than we’ve been used to. It has been quite the challenge this year, but hopefully everyone can stay safe, healthy, and have a happy Thanksgiving, as we push towards the end of the year and the merrier time of the year.

Cheers everyone!

-B. Kline

For more info on Kodos:

Multiple Beer Review: Scratch 394, Scratch 395, Scratch 396, and Mad Elf (Troegs Independent Brewing)

BKline — Fri, 29 Nov 2019 22:56:54 +0000

My flight of beers from Troegs on Thanksgiving Eve – Scratch 394, Scratch 395, Scratch 396, and Mad Elf.

‘Twas the night before Thanksgiving,
And all of Troegs was all-a-bustle,
So loud was the taproom,
That nobody even heard The Great Turkey,
There were friends and families commingling,
There was new friends and old friends all meeting,
For it was the night before Thanksgiving,
When The Great Turkey appears,
And all who are grateful hold each other so dear,
The day before the consumerism takes over for Black Friday,
And thousands of ‘craft beer seekers’ go running for Goose Island Beers,
But on this day, at this time, it was the night before Thanksgiving,
And with a mighty big cheer, one and all shouted:

“HAPPY DRINKSGIVING!”

So, after working a very stressful day on Wednesday, and before going home, I stopped at Troegs where normally I would pick up essentials for Thanksgiving (ie. the cranberry porter scratch beer); but alas, this year there was no cranberry scratch beer made, so I contented myself with ordering a flight, enjoying it, and then going home and running some errands with my daughters.

Unfortunately given my job, I don’t get ‘extra days off’ or even get holidays off unless they fall on my natural days off – and my natural days off are Thursday and Friday. So at least, each year, I have one holiday off – Thanksgiving. And as I said in the previous blog post – my review of Azathoth – my plans were the in-laws followed up by my sister’s.

But on this Wednesday night, the night before Thanksgiving, it was me time, and it was Troegs time. So I ordered a flight – Scratch #394 Mango Tangerine Lime Tart Ale, Scratch #395 Pineapple Passionfruit Guava Cherry Tart Ale, Scratch #396 Dry Hopped Pale Ale, and Mad Elf.

I’m only going to go over Mad Elf lightly, as I may/may not do a full review on Mad Elf. The thing about Mad Elf is that its the staple and the one that put Troegs on the map. While Nugget Nectar and Nimble Giant might be their best beers, its really Mad Elf that got Troegs known, and what everyone really knows them for, and why people flock to the brewery in Fall/Winter. So, on one hand I want to review it because its so popular, and well known, and on the other, thats precisely why I don’t want to review it. I tend to stay away from doing the staples, the beers that have been made for 15+ years, the beers that are the flagship ultra-known beers. But, I think there is a place for these beers to be reviewed as well, so I’m going to be flipping a coin about a hundred times in the next few days to decide if I should do it.

Scratch 394 – Mango Tangerine Lime Tart Ale – by Troegs Brewing

Beer: Scratch 394 – Mango Tangerine Lime Tart Ale
Brewery: Troegs Independent Brewing
Style: Fruit Beer
ABV: 5.6%
IBU: None
Untappd Write-Up: We’re aiming to add a fourth beer to our Tart & Fruit Series sometime down the road, so we’ve been testing new fruit combinations on our Scratch system. For this week’s release, we’re betting on sweet and juicy mangoes. Tangerine adds depth to the fruit profile, a hint of lime adds a citrusy kick, and a dash of sea salt amplifies the refreshing flavors. We taste: ripe mango, sweet citrus, hint of lime.

Appearance is light, shiny, see-through translucent, sour (non-smoothie sour) looking, clear, and crisp. It has the light yellow straw coloring. A thin head. Nice bubbles.

Aroma is fruity through and through. You get instant notes of mango and tangerine. You can a subtle hint of lime, and some citrus. But upfront its all mango and tangerine. It has an overall tart smell to it that you expect.

Taste is a tart kick in the teeth. It is tart, it is tasty, it is crisp, it is refreshing. Its a mixture of all of these things all rolled up in so much and in so small a space, its a wonderful explosion. The mango and tangerine work really well together, and the lime provides a nice kick especially at the end of the drink. Its like at HersheyPark with those new soda machines that let you add flavors to regular sodas (love doing grape and lime with mountain dew).

My Untappd Rating: ****
Global Untappd Rating: 3.71 (as of 11.29.19)

Scratch 395 – Pineapple Passionfruit Guava Cherry Tart Ale

Beer: Scratch 395 – Pineapple Passionfruit Guava Cherry Tart Ale
Brewery: Troegs Independent Brewing
Style: Sour – Fruited
ABV: 6.2%
IBU: None
Untappd Write-Up: This week’s small-batch Scratch release is all about fruit. Guava, an aromatic fruit grown in the tropics, lays down a backbone of juicy pear and mango notes, and fresh passionfruit pulls in a pleasantly sweet-and-tart tang. Pineapple adds refreshing tropical notes that are amplified by the Horninal Kveik yeast, and a dash of cherry juice gives this beer a soft pink hue. We taste: fresh guava and passionfruit, juicy pineapple, pleasant tartness.

Wow, this is an interesting one to even begin on. On all three fronts (well, at least on aroma and taste; the appearance is pretty clear cut). Its dark, its hazy, and its dank. Its sour, but it has the sour – smoothie style look, though its not really a smoothie, and its not really thick despite its appearance.

Aroma is a bomb of fruity notes. Just like scratch 394, this one is all over the place as well. I think this concoction is a bit too much though. And perhaps its just me with Guava, but I’ve had it in a few now – Wolf Prints (review here) and Fatum Guava (review here) – as well as others, like Tattered Abomination, some various Troegs scratch one-offs, etc. ….and the more and more I have guava in a beer…. I think I’m becoming less and less of a fan of it. There is just too much to it and it dilutes and changes the taste and aroma of the beer too much. And for this one, it has to compete with passionfruit (one I like), pineapple (one I’m indifferent to) and cherry (one I’m not a big fan of in beer). So this concoction of a beer has a lot to it, and so much competing notes.

And taste is the same way as the above. There is almost too much here. Its not altogether bad, it is certainly different, and it is certainly a lot to take in. There is the passionfruit and pineapple, and the guava, and the cherry, and its all mixed up in a thick tart sour. The passionfruit and guava take center stage, with the pineapple and cherry kind of playing backburner. But there is just so much here, that it is kind of overwhelming. The tartness is nice, and the flavors aren’t abhorrent, but its just a lot.

My Untappd Rating: ***.75
Global Untappd Rating: 3.81 (as of 11.29.19)

Scratch 396 – Dry Hopped Pale Ale by Troegs Independent Brewing

Beer: Scratch 396 – Dry Hopped Pale Ale
Brewery: Troegs Independent Brewing
Style: Pale Ale – American
ABV: 5.5%
IBU: None Listed
Untappd Write-Up: We’re starting to fine-tune an aromatic hop combination that we’re planning to use for something special down the road. This Scratch pale ale showcases Citra, Idaho 7, Chinook and Azacca. Look for notes of passionfruit, orange, grapefruit and subtle white pine. London 3 yeast will keep the beer dry and allow subtle malt and nut notes to come forward.
We taste: passionfruit, citrus rind, white pine

Appearance is similar to the above scratch 395, a thick, orange yellow beer color. The amount of hop in it creates the dank, heavy-set look to it, and it is certainly that. Its got a juicy, thick, hazy, sediment free, dank near-IPA like orange glow to it.

Aroma is pretty hop strong. You get the notes of the Chinook, Citra, and Azacca hops upfront. This is where you get the notes of passionfruit, orange, grapefruit, melon rinds. Its a bright powerful hop burst inside your nostrils.

Taste is juicy, but it has a dry component to it. Its got a very strong finish to it, and its got a nice thick mouthfeel. It is only 5.5% so its barely alcoholic, and you won’t get a big buzz from this, but you will get that sweet hoppy tiredness. This is bursting at the seams with hoppy goodness. You get the citra and chinook fruity citrus hop notes, and the azacca is similar just a bit more muted. There is flavor of passionfruit, orange, not much grapefruit, but I get a little bit of pine and some melon rinds. Its a nice finish that lingers on the tongue very well.

My Untappd Rating: ***.75
Global Untappd Rating: 3.86 (as of 11.29.19)

Mad Elf by Troegs Independent Brewing

This is going to be a quick, brief, glossing over of this. As I’m pretty certain I’ll be doing my own review for Mad Elf. A beer I’ve had regularly, quite often, and nearly religiously now every year for the past 10-11 years. I’ll do much more in-depth on it, and I’ll do some discussion on its history, as well as the off-shoot variants of it like Naked Elf and Wild Elf (as well as the Grand Cru).

Beer: Mad Elf
Brewery: Troegs Independent Brewing
Style: Belgian Strong Dark Ale
ABV: 11.5%
IBU: 15
Untappd Write-Up: The holidays at Tröegs start with our inner Mad Elf momentarily taking over the brew deck. So blame “him” for this cheerful ruby red creation brewed with honey, cherries and Belgian yeast reminiscent of cinnamon, clove and allspice.

So lets just say, this was my first Untappd check-in. This was how I fully got introduced to Troegs back in the day, (back in their Paxton Street days) before the move from Harrisburg to Hershey. Every year Troegs splurges and puts out the money to get a badge for this on Untappd as well (or at least usually every year).

I will say a cautionary note on the beer, I’ve become less and less in love with it as I’ve gotten older, as I’ve had more different and various craft beers, and as the brewing system at Troegs has grown, changed, and evolved. I’ve left my original rating for the beer what it was when I first had it, and was a pretty naive beer drinker – a five star beer. Each year’s vintage, I check in fresh, and then later on when I drink an aged bottle of it. And I give a different rating for it fresh; as well as for it aged. So if you look through my vintages and my actual Mad Elf ratings, you’ll notice a fluctuation in changes almost per time I drink it. Is this a five star beer? Probably not. And its definitely not anymore. Is it still a very good beer? I think so. Was it ever a five star beer? Probably not. Is there really any five star beers? Eh. Thats a matter of debate and dispute. What constitutes five star? For movies, for literature, for wrestling matches, for everything, five star either symbolizes complete perfection, or the extreme best. It depends on the critic, the rating system, those involved, the time of day, mood, etc. There is just so many factors. If I had this beer now, for the first time, I think it would be consistent with whatever I give the vintage for that year.

Some stats:

My Mad Elf Untappd Rating: ***** (like I said above, for why, and why it hasn’t changed in the system)
Global Untappd Rating: 3.83 (as of 11.29.19)

My Mad Elf 2019 Untappd Rating: ****.25
Global Untappd Rating: 4.12 (as of 11.29.19)

My Mad Elf 2018 Untappd Rating: – Fresh – ****.25 – Aged – ****.50
Global Untappd Rating: 4.06 (as of 11.29.19)

I will break down some of these statistics, and my full thoughts on the beer, more thoroughly when I do the full Mad Elf review. So please look for that. I would really appreciate hearing all of everyone’s thoughts on Mad Elf, it is a very interesting beer to discuss with craft beer enthusiasts.

Until that time, cheers everyone!

-B. Kline

Beer Review: Azathoth (Edmund’s Oast Brewing Company)

BKline — Fri, 29 Nov 2019 04:57:36 +0000

Azathoth by Edmund’s Oast Brewing Company

First off, let me say – Happy Thanksgiving; from The Beer Thrillers family to yours. We hope you had a wonderful day with friends, family, and/or co-workers, that you had wonderful food, great conversations, and even better beer. That you remain grateful despite tomorrow being Black Friday, and that you continue to be thankful for what you have in life. We hope the day brought you much joy, merriment, and happiness.

Ok, now, lets get down to business.

Started off the day traveling to the in-laws for Thanksgiving there. Had a nice time, and a wonderful meal, though despite bringing my own craft beer, I was told to leave it in the car, and drank the Corona with them instead. (Ok, I can be sensible enough with in-laws to not fight them on this, enjoy the free beer, thank them for it, and enjoy my craft beer later.)

Afterwards, drove by Official BBQ and Burgers on the way home to see where its at, and realized its located really close-by. This is going to be the ‘future’ (future as in tomorrow) secondary location for Pizza Boy Brewing. In a joint fashion, they are opening a bar room up, and will be having Pizza Boy beers on exclusively. (So far as my understanding of things go.) They are due to go live tomorrow – Black Friday – 11.29.19 – and begin pouring the Pizza Boy beers from anywhere from 5-20 taps I’ve heard. I perhaps might be stopping in tomorrow to see what the news is, and to get the details.

I must say I am stoked to have a place with upwards of 20 taps exclusively for Pizza Boy so close (~10 minute drive). A ten minute drive versus roughly twenty to twenty-five minute drive, and also with a different set of food (BBQ and Burgers rather than pizza) so a bit of variety on the food and beer side of things in the nearby area, sounds fantastic. Sign me up.

After all this, I then went over to my sister’s for a wonderful traditional Thanksgiving meal with a flare of Mexico as well. Was very nice, interesting, and different. I brought along Azathoth to drink with the meal, and then while hanging out with friends and family I drank a Mango Guyabano sWheat Tart (that I still had apparently in my fridge) and then during the Spanish Loteria game, I had a Double Knife Fight in Space. (If you click the link, you can read J. Doncevic’s review of the Mango Guyabano sWheat Tart.)

So…. lets get to the beer, because you could care less about how I wracked it up playing Loteria with my sister and her family and her in-laws. And you want to hear about the beer.

Beer mail is the best mail

I had gotten the Azathoth in a beer mail trade. It was a southern box from a trade I did – local for local – with a person on BeerAdvocate. I traded (as per typical of me, and anyone whose read previous blog posts would know this already) Boneshire Brew Works, Tattered Flag, Troegs Brewing, and Pizza Boy, and received Edmund’s Oast, Westbrook, Heist, Creature Comforts, Pretoria Field Collective, Fonta Flora, and Wild Leap. Not a bad trade if I may say so myself.

Getting ready for Thanksgiving Dinner

Beer: Azathoth
Brewery: Edmund’s Oast Brewing Company
Style: Stout – Imperial / Double
ABV: 11.5%
IBU: None
Untappd Write-Up: Notes of fresh coffee & bakers chocolate

I started with the stout figuring it’d go with the meal the best, and I certainly think it achieved that and then some.

Appearance is very black, dark deep stout black. With a very good brown head to it, creamy looking, thick, it left good lacing, and had nice bubbles that were disperse, random, and various sizes.

Aroma is slightly coffee, heavy roasted malts, with some deep dark chocolate notes. There is certainly a ‘baking chocolate’ aroma that mixes in with the roasted malts, and the coffee peeks out around these notes. Its not a super aromatic beer, but when you inhale deeply you can get the separate and distinct notes.

Taste is very full stout heavy flavorful. The 11.5% ABV is very well hidden. You know its there with how deep and dark and heavy the mouthfeel and stout tastes and feels, but the actual booziness of 11.5% is hidden. There is no alcoholic bite. There is a distinct bitterness in a two-pronged way; one being the coffee notes, the other being the baking chocolate. Both give off distinct, separate, but not bad, bitter flavoring notes and tastes. They combine nicely for a well defined beer. One that paired very well with turkey, mashed potatoes, and all of the other Thanksgiving traditional food – as well as tomalies, and jalapeno poppers, and pigs in a blanket (which was supposed to be for the kids…. but I yoinked a few).

My Untappd Rating: ****.25
Global Untappd Rating: 4.01 (as of 11.28.19)

Hope you all had a good Thanksgiving, and see you back here tomorrow for a Black Friday post. Maybe I’ll even get into anything. I know I won’t be going crazy trying to get the latest Goose Island Bourbon County bottles, but who knows, maybe I’ll get into something else for the day? Maybe check out the new Pizza Boy location? Who knows, check in here to find out! Or stay posted to our Facebook and Twitter feeds to find out!

-B. Kline