Nerd Alert

This book is chock full of ‘nerd’ love, in the literary world. Not so far into the full on nerdy realms of fantasy, sci-fi, etc, but this is still really right up a nerd alley here. Maybe its the nerd in me (or is it a geek in this case? Are the two interchangeable? When can I say nerd? When can I say geek? Is it politically correct to say either?) but I’ve always loved maps, and there is a certain kind of fun in drawing and looking at maps. To picture somewhere new or strange laid out in map form. Its not just so simple as looking at Google Maps, there is something in seeing a map of say Middle – Earth or Westeros or even a galactic map of the Star Wars galaxy for example; its much more thrilling and interesting, seeing this fictional world (or worlds) brought to life.

In all honesty, what fan of Game of Thrones doesn’t love the opening intro to each episode? Or looking at the map of Westeros and Essos and Southeros? Or what fan of Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings and Middle – Earth doesn’t like looking to see what Frodo’s trek to throw the ring into Mount Doom looked like? Or what fan of Star Wars didn’t enjoy tracking the Yuuzhan Vong’s invasion into the Star Wars galaxy in the old Del Rey novels (Legends) New Jedi Order series?

Maps

The above image is one of numerous maps from the book; this one charting Odysseus’s journey in The Odyssey by Homer. As you can see each map is a beautiful full page (or usually two pages, sometimes even more) that shows the travels of a character (or characters) and the settings. The rendering from book to the computer doesn’t do it quite the justice it deserves, as these maps are brilliantly and beautifully drawn.

As the next map shows, from Watership Down:

This one depicts the various rabbits from Watership Down and their travels over the course of the novel. Whereas the one above showed the travels of Odysseus. Numerous other books are broken down into maps as well, depicting the travels of characters. Moby Dick, The Life of Frederick Douglas, A Wrinkle in Time, and much much more.

There is a brief bit about each book and the map and why the map is drawn the way it is that accompanies each map. The essays are written about the books, about the maps, and giving all kinds of little background information on the book in question (as well as the creation of this map).

Review

GoodReads blurb on Plotted:

This incredibly wide-ranging collection of maps – all inspired by literary classics – offers readers a new way of looking at their favorite fictional worlds. Andrew DeGraff’s stunningly detailed artwork takes readers deep into the landscapes from The Odyssey, Hamlet, Pride and Prejudice, Invisible Man, A Wrinkle in Time, Watership Down,A Christmas Carol, and more. Sure to reignite a love for old favorites and spark fresh interest in more recent works as well, Plotted provides a unique new way of appreciating the lands of the human imagination.

Plotted on GoodReads

Overall this is just a fun read. Each map is beautiful and well crafted. There’s a wide range of books that they picked from to cover, from beloved childhood books (Watership Down and Wrinkle in Time) to classics like Hamlet, Pride and Prejudice, and A Christmas Carol.

There is certainly something in this for anyone. For map lovers, for literary lovers, for essay lovers, etc. Its a relatively short read too but you’ll spend much more time devouring each map over and over and looking for little easter eggs and bits of info that you might have missed the first time.

My GoodReads Rating: ****
Global GoodReads Rating: 3.66 (as of 11.8.21)
My LibraryThings Rating: ****

Thanks For Reading

Thanks for reading everyone, and be sure to keep checking back daily for new updates her on The Beer Thrillers! November is still going strong with an article a day so be sure to check back often and regularly!

Cheers!

-B. Kline

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So Thursday was certainly an interesting day for the restaurant, bar, brewery, …. well just the service industry in general in Pennsylvania. I was out walking my dog and doing yard work, and then I had to grab my daughter Lily to run to the Hershey Library before they closed (had a book that was due), and while at the library and on the road with her, all hell broke loose basically.

Had about a hundred texts from co-workers, people in the brewery industry, my parents, everyone wanting to know whats going on, or telling us whats going on, or saying ‘where do we stand now’ or ‘should we defy orders’ etc.

Needless to say, I get Lily back to her mom’s, I handle some of the texts I can, and head home. Reading the news then at home, I see we had until Friday night at midnight to do our inside dining. Drew invited me out to his place as he was starting a stream, I told him I needed to get something to eat, so I walked down to Rubber Soul, ate in – had their fantastic and delicious pierogies and their newest release – Soul Breaker (beer review coming soon), and then walked home. Then went over to Drew’s.

He was playing Super Mario RPG for the SNES on his stream – Knights of Nostalgia. So I joined him and drank along with him as he played. His brother in law from New York sent him a shipment of beers he tells me, a whole assortment of beers, so I check out his mini-fridge and “oh hot damn!” moment, the beer is stocked full of Other Half beer! His brother in law sent him Other Half. Drew loves his craft beer, but didn’t know just how great Other Half was. So we proceeded to drink four and share some others while he finished out his stream.

(Oh, and for those who were wondering – yes, Drew was able to beat Super Mario RPG for the stream. Sorry, spoiler alert.)

I finally left Drew’s at 5:20AM. Now that the mandates and restrictions, both me and Drew are effectively unemployed for the next three weeks. So, you will probably get a lot more streams, and a lot more content here on the blog. Enjoy!

Now, lets get to the beer review!

Beer: Space Broccoli
Brewery: Other Half Brewing Co
Style: IPA – Imperial / Double
ABV: 7.9%
IBU: None
Untappd Description: Our classic Broccoli recipe with Mosaic, Simcoe, Hallertau Blanc and then we swapped the Cascade for a ton of Galaxy.

For those ‘not in the know’ Other Half Brewing Co is one of the top notch East Coast breweries, and one of the more traded and sought after breweries from New York. Other Half started in 2014, they have 975 unique beers according to Untappd, with over 2.4 Million (nearly 2.5 Million) ratings. Their average rating is 4.24. Which is just incredible to think about considering the sheer volume of ratings and number of unique beers. Their Untappd Description reads: “In 2014, Sam Richardson, Matt Monahan and Andrew Burman founded Other Half Brewing Company, a local brewery in New York City with a simple mission: to create beers that they wanted to drink from a company that they wanted to be a part of. Their vision was to build a passionate team that brewed great beers in the state of New York—done so with effort and thoughtfulness—to represent the “Other Half” of the industry. Today, Other Half craft beers in their Brooklyn brewery and are dedicated to collaborating with breweries both in New York as well as across the world in an effort to constantly move the industry forward while elevating the craft. The Other Half team believes that local breweries play an important role in their communities which is why they partner with these other likeminded brewers and brands in local nabes across the country and the world—but always return to their home state of New York and their Brooklyn taproom.” Their top beers are listed as – Forever Ever, Green City, All Green Everything, and a lot of various double dry hopped variants of their other beers.

Firstly, this is basically a New England IPA. It doesn’t say that on the label or on Untappd, but thats what it is. As you can see from the picture, it is a gorgeous, beautiful beer. Perfect New England hazy IPA look. Its bright orange, like orange juice, its hazy, cloudy, opaque, beautiful head to it – white, with interspersed and varied bubbles, and left a lovely lacing on the glass as I drank it down (quickly too).

Aroma is a heavenly bouquet of hops. It has that nice heavy handed hop aroma that comes with a very juicy New England IPA. The Simcoe and Mosaic hops come through on the nose the most. The Galaxy is a nice addition, and probably helps this better than the Cascade would have, I do love Galaxy Hops.

Wooooh booooooy….. this drank waaaaaaaay too easily. Especially for a DIPA…. not that I’m really complaining, and really at 7.9% its not too crazy ridiculous high, though its getting on the higher end of the spectrum. (I consider 7.5% the tipping point.) This is one of the best New England IPAs / DIPAs I’ve had, in a long time, or period, for that matter. Its downright juicy and so tasty. This is very smooth with no hop bite, no bitterness, no acidity at all. The mosaic hops give this a nice berry, fruity, stone fruit taste. The simcoe gives it a piney, earthy undertone, and the galaxy hops give it a very strong peach, citrus, passionfruit. The hops blend together very nicely in this. Nothing is too overpowering or too strong. You don’t get too much pine or too much berry or too much peach or citrus or passionfruit, you get them all in equal measures, and this works very well together. Its a very nice conjunction of hops and tastes and flavors, with nothing being too strong, nothing being off, nothing tasting funky or wrong or different. It all just blends so well together, like its a peaceful orchestra harmony or some kind of poetic crap like that. This is a beautiful New England Double IPA. Hands down, it looks beautiful, it tastes wonderful, its just amazing and fantastic. So mad props to Drew for letting me snag this from him (he got some of it too), and for his brother in law shipping quality beers like Other Half down to Harrisburg, and of course to Other Half itself for brewing such a great beer. Seriously, if you’ve never had the pleasure of Other Half, make a note, make ten notes, but make sure you get yourself some Other Half at some point. You won’t be disappointed, I know that much, their IPAs and DIPAs and TIPAs are complete ‘fire’ right now as all the cool kids would say. If you’re not from New York or NYC, your best bet might be to look up some Facebook beer trade groups or Beer Advocate and try and get it that way (trade or $); though $$ might be expensive with secondary mark up. But it will still be worth it. But in the meantime, in the Pennsylvania area, support your local breweries; first, otherwise they might not be here in the future. Anyway, I digress. Summary: Fantastic beer. Delicious. Great NE-DIPA. End summary.

My Untappd Rating: ****.5
Global Untappd Rating: 4.24 (as of 12.13.20)

Alright everyone, this is technically day two of the mandatory restrictions. I know a lot of places, restaurants, bars, breweries, etc, are disobeying the Governor’s orders. Its your decision on who to patronize and who to help and support. I’m not taking a side here or there. This is a tough climate and tough decisions for all of these businesses. I know its going to make things harder with them staying open, and gives the Governor more cause to keep the mandates and things going, but hopefully not, and hopefully the numbers will start lowering soon. Fingers crossed. The vaccines are rolling out. There is light at the end of the tunnel. Lets just get there! I want to go to some brewfests in 2021 dammnit!

Cheers!

-B. Kline

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!

For some other beer reviews check out:

• Beer Review: I Voted for Kang (Second Sin Brewing)
• Beer Review: I Voted for Kodos (Second Sin Brewing)
• Beer Review: The Pandalorian (Tattered Flag)
• Beer Review: Java the Stout (Jackie O’s Brewery)
• Beer Review: Wookie Monster (Fourscore Beer Co)
• Beer Review: Out of Order – Blue Milk (RAR Brewing)

Its now been a week since I’ve returned from my trip (my last day of my vacation and trip was last Saturday – November 14th, 2020; and today is now November 22nd, 2020). Each night I posted a quick recap of each day, and you’ll be able to find the links to that at the end of this article, as well as the links to the full articles as well.

I was debating how I wanted to do this, if I wanted to do them daily, with a new article for each day, or if I wanted to break it up into two or three day chunks (like day one through day three being one article), or just one giant article with all seven days in one. I’m not sure whats best, but I last second decision, I’m doing them as daily articles, and might do one long combined one as well (just copy and paste of the seven articles into one with some added post-scripts) for ease of readers who prefer one larger article.

I can’t easily break into geographically, because I go from Pennsylvania through West Virginia into Ohio, to Indianapolis, back to Ohio, jumping into Kentucky, to West Virginia, back to Pennsylvania – with days in between each state, so doing it geographically wouldn’t work; so I was left with just doing this chronologically.

For those of you used to my beer reviews and other articles, these travelogues are more rambling, more stream of consciousness remembrances of my trips and how they transpired. I keep things chronological, and I remember and recall them in order of how they happened, but I’m more prone to digressions, discussions of what happened, and I do a little less editing, so some of this might seem like rambling, or like George R.R. Martin writing a feast. But hopefully, you find it entertaining, and at least enjoy the read.

Firstly, an overview of my trip. I was given six days off – Monday through Saturday (with my natural days off work being Thursday and Friday; so I was really given Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Saturday – four days off). I called off Sunday (day one of this trip) to give myself a full seven days off. Ironically, due to having to ‘quarantine’ when returning, I got myself an extra ten days and it turned into a seventeen day vacation. But I’ll get to that later, probably at the end of the whole series.

Work has been hectic with vacation days due to how COVID-19 and the shutdown / lockdown and quarantine earlier in the year screwed up pretty much everyone’s vacation days. Once coming back we weren’t allowed vacation days or even PTO / requested days, and once they posted when vacation days were allowed, everyone jumped on them before I could even get to it. Despite being top twenty seniority, I was low man on the totem pole due to not signing up right away.

So, I was only given four days off rather than the standard week (whatever your week is, since we have different weekend off days). My plan was to drive out to Indianapolis, to be at the Vonnegut Museum and Library, on November 11th, Veteran’s Day, Armistice Day, Kurt Vonnegut’s birthday. And then drive back home. I wanted to stop out and do some hiking trails on the way out and back. And hit up a lot of breweries too of course. Planned hiking trails were Hocking Hills in Ohio, 1000 Steps Trail in Pennsylvania, and Ohiopyl in Pennsylvania.

I am not much of a driver, not a huge fan of it. Not really a big fan of driving for an hour just to get somewhere, and I think its one of the main reasons I’ve never been a huge traveler or even brewery jumper; I mean, I’ve hit every brewery near by, but unlike these guys in some of the beer groups and beer trading groups and such on Facebook / Twitter / etc, I’ve never been the most willing to drive an hour and a half to a brewery just to pick up a four pack (or a ton of four packs and mule them back) and then turn around and drive an hour and a half back home. The breweries I’ve visited were usually a result of being in the area for some form of vacation, trip, etc, especially when I was married and with my daughters. Go to the beach, hit a brewery in the area. Go to the Crayola Factory, hit a brewery in the area. Etc.

But, now that I am single (…hey ladies….) and divorced, and by myself, I have found I’ve been driving a bit more. Could be the single-ness and being by myself, could be COVID and having a lot more free time this year, but I’ve found myself driving an hour to go find a hiking trail and walking a hiking trail, like going to Pinnacle Overlook and Pulpit Rock in Hamburg, and then stopping at 1787 Brewing (check out my Hamburg Travelogue for more on that).

Last year, I had taken my daughters, just me and them, out north and west in Pennsylvania. Going up to Elk Country, to Kinzua Bridge, to Pittsburgh, to Bushy Run, and Johnstown, and back home. Was a way to escape and get away from the divorce that was beginning and happening, and the separation that wasn’t separating (hard to really call it a separation when she asks for the divorce and still stays in the house and lives in the same house for a while), and we had a wonderful time. You can check out those stories in the travelogue section as well. So this trip was going to follow a similar pattern, but instead of having with, it was just me. Not even my faithful canine companion Leela. Just me. On a six – now seven – day trip out to Indianapolis and back.

I did very little mapping for this, and did a lot more of the ‘winging’ it variety. Looking up some places in the morning / night before at hotels, and figuring out what I wanted, where I wanted to go, what I wanted to see and what I wanted to do. Typically I tried to break up my driving so I never drove more than an hour and a half at a time, and I would hit a small walk path or hiking trail or a brewery, just something to break up the monotony of driving, especially once you get into Ohio where its just all flat land.

Realizing that just Monday and Tuesday would probably not give me enough time to get to Indianapolis and hit some hiking trails, and do some drinking at breweries, I called off work Sunday, and started my trip a day early. I had to go to the Hershey Library and drop off some books, and so my trip started pretty much where it will end. Rubber Soul Brewing for a quick snack breakfast and wake up, then Hershey Library, and then on the road. Rubber Soul is right in town (Hummelstown) and will be the beginning and end to this trip, to give you some indication of my trip.

The above map shows you my first day’s trip and travel. Rubber Soul to Hershey Library, to Thousand Steps, to Juniata Brewing Company, to Ghost Town Trail, to Levity Brewing, and then right next to Levity (right across the street) was the hotel I spent the night in.

I typically tried to find a hotel / motel right (a block or two, or three at most) from the brewery I was last visiting, for many reasons, time, travel, safety, etc. Figured it was the best idea and limited issues that could pop up.

So, after dropping off books I had to drop off at the Hershey Library, I was on the road, about an hour or so to get to the Thousand Steps trail.

The parking lot / area for this hike path, is right along the highway. You pull off into a parking area and pull into parking spaces, and then walk about forty to fifty feet to the trailhead right alongside the highway. It was a gorgeous day, and I must say, I got extremely lucky for my entire trip. The first several days were the hottest, warmest, sunniest days of November that I can ever recall in my thirty five years of existence in Pennsylvania. The place was packed, so while everyone immediately went up the stairs, I turned left and took the Standing Stone Trail (North), which connects with the Thousand Steps trail.

This was a relatively simple trail, just at high altitude, and was off the beaten path of the Thousand Steps trail (which is primarily what everyone comes for). Didn’t pass a single soul on this two – three mile trail (a back and forth trail). Once back to the crossing with the Thousand Trails, I then went up the stairs.

I thought I was in shape. Really, not…. well, not “in shape” in shape. But at least not, dying any second, morbidly obese, shape either. Thirty five, I walk my dog a lot, I hike, I lift weights, but…. a thousand stairs / steps up, is pretty damn brutal, I won’t lie. I felt it. I think I gained one of those “booties” everyone is always talking about getting, just from walking up all the stairs.

My favorite quote, was, around the ledge, at I believe it was just over the 400 step mark, a rather rotund younger boy (probably 10 – 12) huffing, and puffing, leans against a tree, and says: “Thank god…. I’m never gonna do this again!” To which his dad then proudly points out that they are kind of at the halfway point. The look of pure dread and despair that crossed that poor boy’s face…. oh my.

These were all the pictures I took on the Standing Stone Trail, the Thousand Steps Trail, the various overlooks at the top, and the Dinky Shed at the top. (Its a large gallery, so you can either space your way through it or skip it.) (Yes, let this be your warning, that these travelogue posts will be including lots of pictures, and thankfully none of me, but lots of nature, waterfalls, lakes, parks, and of course… beer.)

While at the top, my internet kicked back in my phone, and as all the notifications and texts and everything pinged and pinged and came in, it was while sitting there at the top, that I got the notice that Alex Trebek passed away. I obviously never met him, and he never knew me or heard of me, but, I did grow up watching Jeopardy with my father, with my grandmother, and he always seemed like a person and a spirit that made the world better for having him in it. This is an unfortunate loss, to many, but he did fight, and he put up a good hard fight in the battle against Cancer. Hopefully some day we will defeat it, but in the meantime, its a fight that a lot will take on, and its not an easy one.

All told, my hiking was about 6 miles, and by the time I made it back to my car (where I nearly got hit by a dude flying on the highway, because I had to walk around a large SUV that didn’t want to fully pull up into their parking space) my legs were pretty tired. Nearby was Juniata Brewing Company, so that was my first brewery stop of the trip (outside of counting Rubber Soul at home).

This was a very nice location. Small, with a nice outdoor seating area. They had their own hops growing by the picnic area where you sat. And they did flights (which is my preferred method when traveling and trying new breweries for the first time). I got a flight of five.

My flight consisted of:

• Standing Stone Stout
• Rowdy Viking
• GAPA IPA
• Oktoberfest
• Raspberry Wheat

Beer: Standing Stone Stout
Brewery: Juniata Brewing Company
Style: Stout – Other
ABV: (None Listed)
IBU: (None Listed)
Untappd Description: A delicious stout brewed with Huntingdon’s own Standing Stone Coffee.
My Untappd Rating: 3.75
Global Untappd Rating: 3.98 (as of 11.22.20)

Beer: Raspberry Wheat
Brewery: Juniata Brewing Company
Style: Wheat Beer – Other
ABV: 5.4%
IBU: 15
Untappd Description: Lightly tart, slightly sweet. A good springtime companion!
My Untappd Rating: 3.75
Global Untappd Rating: 3.78 (as of 11.22.20)

Beer: Oktoberfest
Brewery: Juniata Brewing Company
Style: Marzen
ABV: 5.5%
IBU: 25
Untappd Description: A classic marzen with light toasted and roasted flavors and a slight bitterness. Dark amber in color.
My Untappd Rating: 3.75
Global Untappd Rating: 3.96 (as of 11.22.20)

Beer: GAPA IPA
Brewery: Juniata Brewing Company
Style: IPA – Black / Cascadian Dark Ale
ABV: 5.4%
IBU: 40
Untappd Description: This Black IPA balances caramel notes and a slight rye spice with the resinous aroma of Chinook hops and a pleasing bitter finish. Collaboration brew with Our Culture Brewing out of Atlanta GA.
My Untappd Rating: 3.50
Global Untappd Rating: 3.98 (as of 11.22.20)

Beer: Rowdy Viking
Brewery: Juniata Brewing Company
Style: Brown Ale – American
ABV: 5.5%
IBU: 20
Untappd Description: A honey brown ale: malty, roasty, with a dry finish. Notes of honey and floral hops.
My Untappd Rating: 4
Global Untappd Rating: 3.94 (as of 11.22.20)

On Untappd, Juniata Brewing Company is listed as a Micro Brewery from Huntingdon, Pennsylvania. They have 22 unique beers, 1,100 ratings, and an average rating of 3.89. They have no description on the site.

After leaving Juniata Brewing Company, I drove to the Ghost Town Trails at the Hoodlebug connection. Apparently, this is much more of a bike path and trail than it is a walking path, especially at this conjuncture – if you want to see anything. It was also starting to get a bit darker (one of the problems about this trip being in November, was that by 4:00PM it was becoming dusk, by 4:30PM it was near dark, and at 5:00PM it was completely dark). There is a lot to see on the Ghost Town Trail, old abandoned buildings and such, but not where I walked. I walked the path for about 2-3 miles, and did the loop of the playground, and went back to my car.

After this, I drove up the fifteen or so minutes to Indiana and visited what was a wonderful brewery. Top three breweries of my entire trip, and in all of my travels, probably a top ten brewery I’ve visited (total, out of all the countless breweries I’ve visited) (thus far).

I absolutely loved my time here, had two wonderful flights, got to talk to Eric, who was a fantastic bartender, and as it turned out, was a co-owner, who even sent me on my way with some free beer. (Without even knowing about my blog, after my flights, and when I was leaving, he was asking me what my favorite beer from the flights were, and I told him, and he gave me a can of it to go.)

Eric was top notch, talking to me, coming by to check on me, asking about my trip, the book I was reading, etc. I cannot recommend this brewery enough.

Firstly, I’m not a foodie, I’ve mentioned this several times here on the blog, food is an afterthought to me. Much to the chagrin of many of my fellow brewery travelers, who go to visit breweries just as much for the food as they do the beers. (Deuene being a prime example.) But, these Yolo Dogs from Levity, are absolutely phenomenal, and if you are ever at the brewery, they are a must buy. Two hot dogs, covered in bacon, beer cheese, scallions, onions, and a ton of potato chips, go perfectly with two flights of amazing beers. You can’t go wrong with that.

I had gotten two flights, watched the Dallas – Steelers game, which being near Pittsburgh country, I was inundated with Steeler fans (ugh…. as a Cincinnati Bengals fan, coming out to Pittsburgh and through the area is always rough, especially football season), read my book about the President’s office (The Hardest Job in the World: The American Presidency by John Dickerson), and enjoyed amazing food and drinks.

My flights included:

• ICFC Straight Red
• Hoodlebug Brown Ale
• Headlamp Stout
• Knock and Howl (2019)
• Debacle Doppelbock
• Haze Frehley
• End of Haze
• Punky Bruiser

Levity Brewing Company (according to Untappd) is a brew pub in Indiana, Pennsylvania. It has 65 unique beers, with 34, 226 ratings and a global average rating of 3.76. The Untappd description for the brewery reads: “Levity Brewing Company is a small brewery and pub in Indiana, PA-about an hour east of Pittsburgh. We aim to brew clean, crisp, and dry examples of style and bring a diversity of beers to our community. At any time we offer a variety of IPAs, kettle-soured fruit beers, oak-aged wild beers, etc, etc, etc..”

Beer: ICFC Straight Red
Brewery: Levity Brewing Company
Style: Red Ale – American Amber / Red Ale
ABV: 4.9%
IBU: 18
Untappd Description: This soccer club amber ale – initially developed for the Indiana County Football Club – is an easy drinking but flavorful pick me up after the big game. Lovely amber, bready, nutty, crisp. Toss one back with your team, the competition, maybe even the referee.
My Untappd Rating: 4.25
Global Untappd Rating: 3.64 (as of 11.22.20)

Beer: Hoodlebug Brown Ale
Style: Brown Ale – American
ABV: 6.8%
IBU: 34
Untappd Description: This easy-to-love beer is loaded with caramel malts and is gently hopped. Well-rounded, great with your dinner, not too filling. This beer has hit a sweet spot with our customers making it one of our best sellers. Named after the Hoodlebug Trail – a popular rails-to-trails path right next to the brewery. And a portion of sales are donated to trail maintenance!
My Untappd Rating: 4.25
Global Untappd Rating: 3.76 (as of 11.22.20)

Beer: Headlamp Stout
Brewery: Levity Brewing Company
Style: Stout – Imperial / Double
ABV: 8.9%
IBU: 53
Untappd Description: Just like the coal mines under us in Western PA, this beer is deep, dark, and complex. Cherry cordial sweetness shines through the dark roast and chocolate creating a fascinatingly rich, desert-like beer
My Untappd Rating: 4
Global Untappd Rating: 3.83 (as of 11.22.20)

Beer: Knock and Howl (2019)
Brewery: Levity Brewing Company
Style: American Wilde Ale
ABV: 7.3%
IBU: None
Untappd Description: Our wild brown ale aged in well used bourbon barrels. Roasted oak and cherry pie on the nose. Sour cherry and caramel candy flavors with a Concord red wine finish
My Untappd Rating: 4
Global Untappd Rating: 3.83 (as of 11.22.20)

Beer: Debacle Doppelbock
Brewery: Levity Brewing Company
Style: Bock – Doppelbock
ABV: 7%
IBU: None
Untappd Description: (Blank)
My Untapped Rating: 4
Global Untappd Rating: 3.52 (as of 11.22.20)

Beer: Haze Frehley
Brewery: Levity Brewing Company
Style: IPA – New England
ABV: 6.7%
IBU: 42
Untappd Description: Hazy, juicy, grapefruit flavors out of this world. If you like IPA’s you are sure to enjoy this one. Bravo, Citra, & Mosaic, hops. You can smell the big tropical grapefruit aroma a mile away.
My Untappd Rating: 4
Global Untappd Rating: 3.79 (as of 11.22.20)

Beer: End of Haze
Brewery: Levity Brewing Company
Style: IPA – New England
ABV: 5.5%
IBU: None
Untappd Description: Sabro and Moutere hops are our secret weapon to defeat the powers of darkness invading our world. Combined, they hyper-blast out a fruity, tropical, citrus beam of pure energy.
My Untappd Rating: 4.25
Global Untappd Rating: 3.65 (as of 11.22.20)

Beer: Punky Bruiser
Brewery: Levity Brewing Company
Style: Porter – Baltic
ABV: 7%
IBU: None
Untappd Description: Baltic Porter is a lager that’s smooth, clean, and delicate from a long cool fermentation. Plum floats perfectly with the dark chocolate, and toffee flavors, but never overpowers.
My Untappd Rating: 4.5
Global Untappd Rating: 3.66 (as of 11.22.20)

Overall, both Levity and Juniata Brewing were great breweries. Levity Brewing gets my nod for being my favorite of the two, and Punky Bruiser gets my gold star for favorite beer of the day. Out of my hiking for the day, I really enjoyed the Thousand Steps trail. Was a beautiful trail, hard, but not impossible, with amazing, gorgeous views at the top.

I almost forgot to mention, that, I ran into a group of hikers all in various brewery / hop logo attire (shirts / hoodie), and I was wearing my Boneshire Mug Club shirt, and we were talking about Boneshire Brew Works, and the one was saying he had a roommate who worked there, and the woman was saying how she kept going back to their tent at the Gettysburg Brew Fest they went to. I had ran into the brother-in-law of Matt Trevan, a bartender at Boneshire Brew Works, when I went to Hawk Rock (you can read about that in the travelogues section).

After leaving Levity, and talking to some bikers (cyclists), and Eric, and Nathan the other bartender, I made my way over to the Wyndham across the street, got my room for the night, and promptly crashed. I believed I started watching some of the Sunday Night Football game, and I can’t even recall who it was, if it was the horrible Tampa Bay / Saints game or if that was the Monday night game, I don’t even remember, because I was soon fast asleep.

The next update on this series, will take me into Pittsburgh and to Washington, and then day three begins my trip into Ohio.

I hope you enjoyed this. You can read more about the individual days in quick recap form below, and you can read and see the many other travelogues I’ve done. You can also check around the site for beer reviews, brewery reviews, brewery news, brewer interviews, and what have you. Please comment, follow, and subscribe, I always love hearing from you guys.

Thanks for reading, and please stay safe out there everyone, as we get near the Thanksgiving season, this has certainly been a trying and difficult year, hopefully everyone stays safe for the holidays, and we all make it to 2021 safe and sound.

Cheers!

-B. Kline

The Trip to Indianapolis – Full Articles:

• Day One: Thousand Steps Trail, Juniata Brewing Company, Ghost Town Trail, Levity Brewing
• Day Two:
• Day Three:
• Day Four:
• Day Five:
• Day Six:
• Day Seven:

The Trip to Indianapolis – Recap Articles:

• The Trip to Indy
• The Trip to Indy – Day One Recap
• The Trip to Indy – Day Two Recap
• The Trip to Indy – Day Three Recap
• The Trip to Indy – Day Four Recap
• The Trip to Indy – Day Five Recap
• The Trip to Indy – Day Six Recap
• The Trip to Indy – Day Seven Recap
• Recap and Stats

August (2019) Road Trip Series:

• Going on the Road
• The Trip: Day 1 Recap
• The Trip: Day 2 Recap
• The Trip: Day 3 Recap

Rickett’s Glen (2020) Road Trip Series:

• A Road Trip to Rickett’s Glen
• The Trip to Rickett’s Glen

Monocacy Battlefield Road Trip:

• Impromptu Two-Day Trip to Frederick Maryland
• Road Trip to Monocacy Battlefield (June 19th – June 20th, 2020)

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:

• Brewery Touring York and Hanover PA
• Brewery Hopping – 12.27.19
• Breweries Around the Outskirts of Harrisburg – 9.6.19

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:

• A Sneak Peak at the New Rubber Soul Brewery in Hummelstown
• A Brewery Tour of Mellow Mink
• Brewery Review: Battlefield Brew Works
• Brewery Review: Cushwa Brewing
• A Trip to Gettysburg and Beer Review: This is Nut the Fluff You’re Looking For (Fourscore Beer Co)
• Beer Review: Road Trip Snacks (Panther Island Brewing)

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

• Beer Review: Dreams of Orgonon (Human Robot)
• Beer Review: Unicorns Stomping on Lanternflies (Saucony Creek Brewing Co)
• Beer Review: Griddle (Funk Brewing Company)
• Beer Review: Out of Order: Blue Milk (RAR Brewing)
• Beer Review: Up the Creek Extreme Ale (Thomas Creek Brewery)
• Beer Review: Hershey’s Chocolate Porter (Yuengling Brewery)
• Beer Review: Dropout (Rubber Soul Brewing)
• Beer Review: Pigtoberfest (Boneshire Brew Works)
• Beer Review: I Voted Today (Tired Hands)
• Beer Review: Super Villain (Urban Village Brewing Company)
• Beer Review: Wookie Monster (Fourscore Beer Co)
• Beer Review: Shallow Grave (Nitro) (Heretic Brewing)
• Beer Review: The Growfather (Stickman Brews)
• Beer Review: The Pandalorian (Tattered Flag)

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!

This is what a post-blood donation meal looks like. A nice beer, a big quesadilla from Sheetz, and not pictured but there, a big bucket of Sheetz fries as well. Typically I would do a huge stout to build back up, but I decided to keep working into the beer mail I got, and I chose this – Daebak (Berry) Kettle Sour by The Booth Brewing Company (out of US).

The Booth Brewing Company originally started in Seoul South Korea before moving to the United States. (Eureka California to be exact.) As per their Untappd page: “At The Booth Brewing Company, we brew more than just beer; we create a lifestyle. We craft our beer with all natural ingredients, both traditional and innovative brewing ingredients. We embrace big and bold but specialize in balanced and tasty. If you are ready to challenge your taste buds and “follow your fun”, come join us for any one of our special brews!” They have 41 unique beers listed for a global average rating of 3.82 (as of 2.25.20). They are listed as a micro-brewery. The Korean page for The Booth Brewing on Untappd – The Booth Brewing Korea – has 49 unique beers and has a global average rating of 3.35 (as of 2.25.20).

The Daebak Kettle Sour came from Eureka California in a beer mail trade I did. Its the third from the package to be reviewed here on The Beer Thrillers (I previously did Sunshine and Opportunity and Chocolate Confidential). The rest will follow in the days / weeks to come, have no fear.

Beer: Daebak Kettle Sour
Style: Sour – Other
ABV: 3.5%
IBU: None Listed
Untappd Write-Up: (Blank)
Can Write-Up: Daebak (Sour Ale) 1 Pint. Follow your fun…ky? Thanks to the suggestion from our social media supporters, Boothman is changing up the bass line and bringing the funk to your taste buds in this brand new kettle sour! Featuring delicate notes of blueberry and vanilla…. A splash of tart, a taste of fruit! The Booth Brewing Co. started in Seoul, South Korea. Our three founders set out to create a place where young like-minded people could gather to drink quality craft beer and change the world.

The can art is pretty cool for this, inspired by Pac-Man it certainly looks interesting. Here’s two promotional pictures from The Booth’s website:

And who doesn’t love Pac-Man? He’s a staple and a video game stalwart. I just find the can label cool, simplistic, but obvious and recognizable. I do love the can art and labels that craft breweries come up with and its such an essential part of marketing and branding; not just for the particular beer but for the brewery and company as a whole.

Ok, with no further adieu, lets get to the beer.

Appearance is light honeyed golden yellow. It has the bright glow of a tart sour, and it has the bubbly nature of one as well. Its translucent and got great clarity with a fantastic head to it. This looks exactly in line with tart sours like berliner weisse’s and farmhouse saisons. None heavy fruited sours (and kettle sours) can also look this way.

Aroma has a crisp tart smell to it, berry notes with a hint of funkyness. You can smell raspberry and blueberry, but “funked up”. It has a very crisp clean smell to it, nothing extreme, nothing super strong, nothing assaulting your nostrils, and certainly nothing off or bad. The aroma for this is actually kind of tame.

Taste is tart, crisp, bubbly, with hint of berry. The berries in this – raspberry and blueberry – are pretty mellow, but they are there, and they are funky. This is a kettle sour, This does bring the funk and does bring the tartness. Its crisp and clearness is nice and pleasant. The ABV is ridiculously low on this (3.5%) so you don’t even feel it, even after donating a liter of blood. This is a good refreshing beer, a four pack of this would go down easily, or it’d make a great starter beer for a night of fun. Its just a simple, pleasant beer that delivers exactly what you’re hoping and looking for with it – clean, crisp, well made, tart, funk, berry flavored kettle sour.

My Untappd Rating: ****
Global Untappd Rating: 3.65 (as of 2.25.20)

This was supposed to be finished before work, but didn’t quite make it in time, so I finished it just before getting to D. Scott’s for the podcasts. As you can see, after work yesterday (Monday, Feb. 24th, 2020), I dropped Chris (a co-worker) off at his mechanic to get his car back, then went to the Hershey Library to donate blood. I try to donate regularly, as close to my eight week mark as I can. One donation can save up to three lives. For more information on donating blood in the Central PA area – check out: Central Pennsylvania Blood Bank. Please, check it out, and if you are able to, donate.

Ok, coming down from my soap box, lets talk about the next few days for me and the blog here at The Beer Thrillers. Tonight (literally as soon as this publishes), I am doing two podcasts with the guys at So a Mexican and a Scot Walk Into a Bar…. the first is the next episode of our LOST Podcasts – covering Seasons 3 and 4, this podcast will be with myself, Esteban, and Trevor. The second podcast tonight, is a commentary track of Evil Dead. (I will update this with the links as Drew gets them done and online.)

Tomorrow then around noon I’m walking down to Rubber Soul to tour and check out their new facility here in Hummelstown. That will be fun to get to check out their place and building, I’ll be sure to post pictures on our Facebook and Twitter, so be sure to follow along there and check it out. I will then be doing a write-up that evening as a blog article with the pictures as well.

Then on Thursday I am doing a call in with Beers with Strangers. It will be about a 40-45 minute podcast with the two of us talking via phone. Look for my episode to go live around middle of March (I’ll post here when it does). This looks to be fun and interesting.

If you’re new to the blog and want to check out some of our older articles, you can here: Loki – Wild IPA, Pete’s Secret Stache, I Cannot Tell a Lie, Back to Reality, Intemperance, Sunshine and Opportunity, Chocolate Confidential, Furious IPA, Brewery Visit: Mellow Mink, Miami Vice JREAM, Enigma, Colonization, Koko Bunni, and Default Brewing.

We are still ranked #9 on The Top 100 Beer Blogs list, as of February 24th.

Be sure to follow us on Facebook and Twitter, and like and subscribe here to keep updated.

We appreciate all feedback and comments, so be sure to let us know your thoughts. And as always, thank you for reading. Cheers!

-B. Kline

This is a monumental beer, and a monumental achievement, and it was released on a monumental day. This is Troegs Independent Brewing’s 400th scratch beer on their scratch system. Not their 400th beer released in total, just their 400th scratch. A very significant feat, and given the improvements they’ve made to their scratch system (and upgrades in general to their brewery) I don’t think it’ll take us long at all to get to Scratch 500. I know I personally can’t wait.

Just like I’m finally publishing this article on a significant date (2.2.20, palindrome day, Groundhog’s Day, Super Bowl LIV Sunday), this beer was released on a significant date – January 16th (2020). January 16th is known as “Prohibition Day”.

Let’s take a quick look at the history of it, from our favorite historical perspective news source – Wikipedia:

In the United States, after the battle against slavery was won (and even prior to it with the 1851 Maine law), social moralists turned to other issues, such as Mormon polygamy and the temperance movement.^[11][12][13]

On November 18, 1918, prior to ratification of the Eighteenth Amendment, the U.S. Congress passed the temporary Wartime Prohibition Act, which banned the sale of alcoholic beverages having an alcohol content of greater than 1.28%.^[14] (This act, which had been intended to save grain for the war effort, was passed after the armistice ending World War I was signed on November 11, 1918.) The Wartime Prohibition Act took effect June 30, 1919, with July 1, 1919 becoming known as the “Thirsty-First”.^[15][16]

The U.S. Senate proposed the Eighteenth Amendment on December 18, 1917. Upon being approved by a 36th state on January 16, 1919, the amendment was ratified as a part of the Constitution. By the terms of the amendment, the country went dry one year later, on January 17, 1920.^[17][18]

On October 28, 1919, Congress passed the Volstead Act, the popular name for the National Prohibition Act, over President Woodrow Wilson‘s veto. The act established the legal definition of intoxicating liquors as well as penalties for producing them.^[19] Although the Volstead Act prohibited the sale of alcohol, the federal government lacked resources to enforce it.

Prohibition was successful in reducing the amount of liquor consumed, cirrhosis death rates, admissions to state mental hospitals for alcoholic psychosis, arrests for public drunkenness, and rates of absenteeism.^[5][20][21] While some allege that Prohibition stimulated the proliferation of rampant underground, organized and widespread criminal activity,^[22] two academics maintain that there was no increase in crime during the Prohibition era and that such claims are “rooted in the impressionistic rather than the factual.”^[23][24] By 1925, there were anywhere from 30,000 to 100,000 speakeasy clubs in New York City alone.^[25] Wet opposition talked of personal liberty, new tax revenues from legal beer and liquor, and the scourge of organized crime.^[26]

On March 22, 1933, President Franklin Roosevelt signed into law the Cullen–Harrison Act, legalizing beer with an alcohol content of 3.2% (by weight) and wine of a similarly low alcohol content. On December 5, 1933, ratification of the Twenty-first Amendment repealed the Eighteenth Amendment. However, United States federal law still prohibits the manufacture of distilled spirits without meeting numerous licensing requirements that make it impractical to produce spirits for personal beverage use.^[27]

Source: Prohibition in the United States (Wikipedia)

And thank goodness that madness has ended. Not going to go into the politics of it all and not really going to discuss the politics of the time (or now) as I like to keep this blog readable for all. But I think everyone reading this blog can agree on this one thing – Prohibition was a bad idea.

So thankfully that horrific time is over, and thankfully its now 2020, and we can enjoy fantastic and wonderful beers like this Scratch 400 from Troegs. (See how I segued that? Like a champ!) And this really is a wonderful and tasty brew from Troegs, regardless of the significance behind the numeration. If this was Scratch 1, 400, 69, or 285, it wouldn’t matter, it’d still be a great drink.

I started this article up on the night of January 16th after my date night with my youngest (six at the time, just now turned seven the other day). But this was written during the blog’s getting ready for the Mellow Mink article going live, and so I pushed it back, and figured today’s important numerical (2.02.20 – palindrome day!) significance would be a more meaningful time to publish this. (I wrote the beer review then, everything else being written now.)

So, February 2nd, 2020, Groundhog’s day seems like a very appropriate time to be posting this article. And heres another segue – I wouldn’t mind if this was the beer I was drinking if I had to be stuck on a time loop on Groundhog’s Day.

So, in honor of Punxsutawney Phil lets move on and review this beer!

Beer: Scratch 400 – Pre-Prohibition Lager
Brewery: Troegs Independent Brewing
Style: Lager – American
ABV: 4.3%
IBU: None listed
Untappd Write-Up: For our 400th Scratch beer, we’re turning back the clock for a pre-Prohibition lager, and we pulled a few extra levers to let our house lager yeast shine. For starters, we included blue corn grown in Imler, Pa., in the malt bill. Blue corn, floury and high in protein, lowers the free amino nitrogen in the wort, which elevates the esters of the yeast. We also open fermented this beer, an old-world technique we use for every batch of DreamWeaver Wheat. This also helps to bring out the yeast flavor. A session Troegenator? We like the sound of that. We taste: notes of corn, dried stone fruit, and subtle caramel and nuttiness.

A session Troegenator might be a great way to describe this. Far lighter, thinner, definitely lower ABV (only 4.3% !) and certainly less heavy then Troegenator. But that doesn’t take away anything from this beer though either.

Appearance is a beautiful chestnut, light brown, clearish hue. This is finely filtered, there’s no particles, no sediment, no haze, no dankness, nothing opaque, just a nice fine, well crafted, well brewed lager. Its not completely see through, but it has definite clarity and is somewhat transparent. It has a fine head with diverse bubbles, and the head retention is strong, it also leaves beautiful lacing on the tall boy glass that Troegs serves this gorgeous beer in.

Aroma is wheat and corn heavy. You get almost an acorn smell, a very heavy farm field to it (in a good way, not in a knee-deep in ‘cow patties’ kind of farm field smell). A nice rainy day aroma where you can smell the wheat, barley, grass growing. Something only a ‘good ol’ local boy’ might be able to rightly describe to you, and even then it wouldn’t be precise. This is a more subtle beer smell then some of those big macro Lagers that just have that stale, old, unwanted beer smell. The smell most of us grew up on smelling off grandpa’s breath at the family reunions and parties. Whereas this smells homely, crafted, and far better.

This is what Yuengling should pretty much be. An old fashion style, old fashion created, and old fashion lager. Germanic pride in the glass right here. Its malty, its corny, it has a bit of a nutty taste, its kind of heavy on the palate but also a bit thinner then say the Troegenator, it does still have a full body to it, and despite its only 4.3% ABV its still a hearty beer. It does have an ending sweetness to it, nothing cloying, but a fine stickyness that hangs to your palate and tongue. Nothing in a bad way about that, it just provides a nice ending sweetness. The open fermentation, the house yeast strain, and the PA home grown blue corn, definitely gives this a flavor all to its own. A uniqueness to it thats not going to be reproduced outside of using these exact means. I get notes of acorn, corn, nuttyness, malt, some sweetness from caramel malts, maybe kind of a plum like note to it, wrapping up all very nicely. This is a fine tasting brew I wouldn’t mind them possibly tweaking a bit, or keeping even as is, and releasing yearly on January 16th (or approximate) as a small seasonal run. It would most likely do well, and could have a catchy name like “Prohibition Lager” or “America’s Lager” or “Before The World Went Crazy Lager”. Eh, who knows about good names, actually, you know who does? Ffej, with his Fuzzy Nudge. Now thats how you name a beer! Either way, what I *DO KNOW* is that this is a fine tasting beer, that won’t last much longer at Troegs, and was a very significant beer for them, and for all of us fans of Troegs and fans in the Central PA area. So make sure you stop by Troegs brewery, drink up, and enjoy before its gone!

My Untappd Rating: ****
Global Untappd Rating: 3.82 (as of 1.17.20)
Updated Global Untappd Rating: 3.83 (as of 2.2.20)

To read up even more on Scratch 400, you can check out Derek Markel’s excellent article over at ItsABrewLife: Troegs Scratch #400 & Beyond. ItsABrewLife is a wonderful blog written by Derek and Chelsea Markel. They are wonderful writers and a great influence on the scene in Central PA. She’s one of the co-founders of Harrisburg Beer Week, and he is an accomplished homebrewer who makes some delicious beers. So definitely pop over there and read this excellent article.

Here at the blog, we’ve been super busy as always. I’ve been writing nonstop it seems in the last few days. Beer reviews for This Is The Way by Broken Goblet, my series of Tree House beers – Sap, Autumn, Haze, Julius, and Doppelganger. Our beer review of Scarlet Sunrise by Mellow Mink, as well as our visit to Mellow Mink. The sad news of Crystal Ball’s Closing in York PA. Beer review of Hill Farmstead’s Florence. Also been doing several podcasts, LOST Seasons 1 and 2, LOST Seasons 3 and 4, Rise of Skywalker and The Mandalorian, and possibly soon one on the final season of BoJack Horseman. We also have much more content coming out, more beer reviews, visits to breweries, openings, an article on Liquid Noise opening in Marysville PA, an article on the progress of Rubber Soul opening in Hummelstown PA, and much more. So please be on the lookout for all of that great content. Click the follow here. Use the RSS feed to follow us or enter your e-mail, or if you already have a WordPress account, you can sign right up with that (probably the easiest way to get our blog).

Also, please follow us on Facebook: The Beer Thrillers.
Or on Twitter: The Beer Thriller.

Also, if you ever check out FeedSpot’s Top 100 Beer Blogs, you’ll see we are currently sitting in the #9 position now since January 15th. (Previously we were #11). We are super proud to be in the Top 10. (Especially since #3 and #4 are the same link, so I guess that sort of, pseudo, technically, maybe, makes us really #8… I dunno.) So give that a click, and then click on us coming back, show them how much you love us!

As you can see in the pictures here, this was my daddy-daughter date night with my youngest. She absolutely loves Troegs. She loves the smell of the brewery (as does my ten year old) as soon as we get in. I picked her up from an after-school function. Took her to the Hershey Library, she picked out two books, and then we had dinner at Troegs. We read her books, she devoured her fries (which, by the way, Troegs has some of the absolute best fries ever) and I enjoyed Scratches 399 and 400. Both were fantastic beers, and Mara had a great night. The laid back atmosphere of Troegs is a nice family-friendly place, that all three of my daughters love coming to. If you are ever in the area, and never been here, I highly recommend it. Yes it gets pretty full in the summer time and with lots of kids from the park, but its still worth at least a one time visit.

And as always, we greatly appreciate all of you, our fine readers. Thank you so much for stopping in, checking us out, and giving us a read. We hope you liked what you read and choose to stick around and check out our other articles. We have tons of stuff here on the blog, from beer reviews, to home brewing stuff with Default Brewing, to some guest writing from LetUsDrinkBeer’s blog and their contributions, to brewery reviews, beer events, even some book reviews, and much more.

Final note, tonight’s the Super Bowl, or technically as everyone who isn’t the NFL has to call it “The Big Game”. San Fransisco 49ers vs. Kansas City Chiefs. It should be a good game. I am going against the grain, and thinking it’ll be low scoring, and I’m predicting San Fran 21 to Kansas City’s 10.

So you heard that here folks, that as of 9:42AM, I, B. Kline, predict this as your Super Bowl LIV Final Score:

San Fransisco 49ers: 21
Kansas City Chiefs: 10

Leave your thoughts, comments, score predictions, and other esoteric antics (call back to the podcast!) in the comments section. Love to hear from you all. We greatly appreciate all the feedback we get. It means so much to us! Cheers, and thank goodness that ground hog saw no shadow! Spring is clearly on its way, rodent meteorology for the win!

-B. Kline

Some days turn out to be more productive than others. Some days you get lots of things done. Some days you PLAN on getting lots of things done. And some days… you start getting things done… and then you start drinking a 13% Belgian Quad at the bar…… at noon…. ….and there goes the day’s productivity right there.

This was one of those kinds of days.

Up and early at 6AM to get kids ready for school, drop people off at various places, walk younger ones to their school, and then back home to do chores around the house til 10AM. Thats when it was “errands” time. Which required getting to a printer, printing labels, sending beer mail, going to Target, the Hershey Library, and a host of other activities, and get them all done before said kids are done at school.

And of course thats when you get that text from your buddy at noon that just says “Boozin” and nothing more. *Shakes fist* And *shakes fist* at Boneshire Brewery being along the way (sorta…. kinda…. not really….) to Target. So needless to say, one (ie. me) never made it to Target until late at night (same thing with the Hershey Library happening much later as well). But I did get my shipment of beer mail sent before noon. So…. accomplishment and success? ….Calls for a beer! (Or two!)

Beer: They Will Burn Them All Away
Brewery: Broken Goblet Brewing
Style: Belgian Quadruple
ABV: 13%
IBU: No IBU
Untappd Write-Up: THEY BURN THEM ALL AWAY is a 13% Belgian Quad that not-so-subtly knocks you on your butt after you take in the balanced fruit and spice notes against the toasted caramel background. Raisins, plums, and a hint of wine can be expected, as will the giggles and a need to sit down after about 10 minutes.

Nothing like walking into your small-time local brewery right as their opening their doors and getting to smell the wonderful delicious smell of a brewery in operation. Shawn was manning on the bar and welcomed me right away and I took a seat at the bar and we chatted about how his old BBQ truck next-door to Boneshire Brewery (in between Boneshire and the 717 Armory) “Nomad BBQ” has been bought by a group of guys and they’ve rechristened it “Blues BBQ”. He seemed happy it was being put to good use, but at the same time, we said its like driving by your old home. The tree out back you planted has been cut down. There’s different doors and windows. The side-room has new siding thats a different color. They added a patio that doesn’t seem to match. The garden is gone. Etc.

D. Scott finally made his way in and got a Boneshire Brew and the three of us chatted, while Alan Miller (head brewer and owner of Boneshire Brew Works) occasionally popped his head out from out-back hard-working to bring us more brewskies in the future.

Enough about the crap surrounding the event, and more about the beer. This is a good Quad. But good god… you are going to feel it, and you are going to feel it right away. 13% is a good high number (most regular IPAs are around the 6-7% benchmark, DIPAs around the 9% area, and even TIPAs usually around the 10-12% area). So on an empty stomach at noon, 13% is feeling pretty grand and wonderful.

Lets start off with the basics though, aroma – very Belgian, very dark and heavy. You get plum and raisin, you get an underlying boozyness and smells like the empty bottles of wine (freshly emptied, not days old emptied). Stone fruit kind of dark heavy fruit smell. Some spice notes but everything else pretty much blocks it out – the spice just barely peeks through. There is a dark malt note as well, probably caramel, definitely not roasted.

Appearance is jet-black dark. Almost purplish in hue, with a nice thin head to it. Bubbles on top are good and varied. Its not a reflective dark but a more ‘enveloping dark’. (If any of that makes sense…. it does in my head at least, not sure how that translates to you the reader.)

First sip has the characteristics of a Belgian, especially a dark Belgian, but as the booze hits you it picks up and speeds across your tongue and BAM you realize this is definitely a QUAD and not even a DOUBLE. The booznyess is a bit upfront, bit more so than necessary, but probably too hard to hide given the wine notes and the high (13%!!) ABV. The booze burn slowly fades out and you begin to get the notes of plum, raisin, wine, and the malt characteristics of caramel. There is some spices to it (not pepper and not heated, just notes of various kitchen cabinet spices) that adds a bit of a flourish to it. But this is mostly straight forward dark stone fruit taste combined with a wine boozy overflow to it. The mouthfeel is a bit heavy but not cloying and nothing unpleasant. No after taste that disrupts anything either.

My Untappd Rating: ****
Global Untappd Rating: 3.95 (as of 9.21.19)

After this, me and D. Scott had a second (I had the new version of AuZealand by Boneshire – AuZealand 2.0 w/Lactose, and D. Scott had the Harrishire). So needless to say before I knew it, I’m leaving Boneshire at 2:30, just in time to get home, eat, down some mouth wash, brush my teeth, spray myself with cologne, and get the girls from school.

Productivity had to wait til later (and I did manage to get my errands down, just dispersed throughout the day instead of all at once). So all in all it was a successful day.

Look for an AuZealand review coming soon, as well as much more, and with the 6th Annual Lititz Brewfest happening tomorrow (9.22.19) look for some stuff coming out from that. Should be a fun day. The Lititz Brewfest is always one of the best in the state and goes to a great cause, and its due to be a beautiful 88 degree day.

Cheers All!

-B. Kline