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May the Fourth Be With You – From a Non a Star Wars Lover at RAR Brewing’s Star Wars Fest (Amy’s Column)

AmyMWolfe — Sun, 04 May 2025 15:43:18 +0000

May the Fourth Be With You – From a Non a Star Wars Lover at RAR Brewing’s Star Wars Fest

RAR during the Star Wars Festival on May 3rd

I went to the RAR Brewing “May the 4^th Be with you fest but on the 3^rd” but I am not a Star Wars fan. I don’t mean I don’t like Star Wars I just never fell in love with it. I loved watching the 3 OGs that came out years and years ago. I will drop quotes and funny memes. And I am assuming since I am dating the Editor of this blog, I will be forced someday to do an entire streaming of all things Star Wars. I am here for it.

(See our article: RAR Brewing’s May the 3rd Fest)

(See our article: RAR Brewing’s May the Fourth 2025 Beer Can Drop)

I’m a Star Wars….

We arrived on the scene in Cambridge Maryland and scoped out the parking lot. It was small and not surprisingly already full. We drove a couple blocks away to a free street parking spot and pulled in ready for an afternoon of enjoying a fun brewery and street festival. There was a mix of local older aged attendees mixed with Star Wars lovers and some dressed in Star Wars Cosplay. The entire layout of the Festival was welcoming and relaxing.

May the 4^th be with you; and I also with you (sorry, I can’t help it) fest but on the 3^rd was a fun, relaxing afternoon in the quaint town of Cambridge Maryland. There was art, music, beer, lots of beer, merch and good food.

It was a tad bit confusing on how to participate in the tasting tent at first but maybe I also can’t read the instructions. We quickly purchased our bracelets and tickets to sample all the themed beers. It was exciting seeing all the beers available for tasting for some stellar breweries; Bash Bros Collective, Imprint Beer Co, Burlington Beer Co, 2SP Brewing Company, Autodidact Beer, Tripping Animals Brewing, Clag, Spylgass Brewing Company, Maine Beer Company, Movement Brewing Company, Voodoo Brewing Company, Dewey Beer, Frost Beer Works, Four Point and Finback

We started off with the “Cuddle Buddies” 10% ABV Cream Triple IPA from Tripping Animals and 10.1%ABV “Even Fuller Very Circular” Triple IPA W/ Citra and Mosaic by Autodidact. I think you already know The Beer Thrillers come in heavy. These did not disappoint, and we quickly found a spot in the shade to chill and anticipate our next sample tastings.

Then we had to try a flight of the RAR themed beers for the day. Swamp Planet -Hop Saturated Ale 8.5% ABV, Desert Planet -Hop Saturated Ale 8.5%, Deep Fried Porg, College Deep Friend Beers -Hop Saturated Ale 10.1% and the Dark Side DELUXE -4% ABV Blueberry, Cherry, heavy Saber -Toasted Marshmallow, a touch of Roasted Habaneros, and Midnight Pastry. These all killed with Desert being the fav for us.

We were drooling over the food truck offerings of Fried Porg Bucket (chicken tenders with RAR seasoned waffle friends and choice of sauce), Mojo Pork Tacos, Birria Beef Tacos and Chicken tacos. The Friend Porg bucket arrived in a square brown container; we missed the novelty of the Porg bucket offering. The chicken tenders and fries were amazing along with a side of honey mustard. We saw many other attendees enjoying the “deep friend Porg” along with the various taco options.

RAR’s Deep Fried Porgs

Even Fett had to get in on the Galactic Grill. Good thing he removed his helmet before eating the fries.

The second music act Black Dog Alley band provided a very mellow and friendly atmosphere among Fest goers. Most folks walking by were swaying or bobbing their heads to the beat. A few folks were seen dancing together. We listened and relaxed to cover songs by the Beatles, Stevie Wonder and Gnarles Barkley.

The music at the event was wonderful

This dog friendly event gave dog loving fest goers plenty to enjoy. A friendly Pit bull puppy near us enjoyed some leftover Porg and fries. We were immediate friends and shared some cuddles.

We purchased beer to go, some merchandise and some art from a local vendor. We highly recommend checking out this yearly RAR May the 4^th be with you events even if you aren’t a Star Wars fan. We highly recommend checking out the quaint town of Cambridge Maryland and absolutely recommend checking out RAR Brewing company. We can’t wait to visit again!

Drink More Beer!
- Amy

RAR’s Promotional Material For the Event

For More Information on RAR Brewing

The following comes via Untappd.

RAR is a micro brewery from Cambridge, MD. They have 931 unique beers and over 549,000 ratings with a global average rating of 4.01 (as of 5.4.25). Their Untappd description reads: “Based in Cambridge, MD on the banks of the Chesapeake Bay. ”

You can follow them on these social media platforms:

RAR Brewing – Official Website
RAR Brewing – Facebook
RAR Brewing – Instagram
RAR Brewing – Twitter
RAR Brewing – Untappd

Amy’s Column Series

All of Our Nerd Content

Here’s all of our nerd content, served up best in one single place. Enjoy!

I know ya’ll here for the nerd reviews. So check out our other nerd reviews below:

Star Wars:

Futurama

Lord of the Rings:

Magic the Gathering:

New Belgium Teams Up with Magic the Gathering for Vastwood Seer IPA

Heroes of Barcadia:

Rollacrit Partners with Voodoo Ranger IPA for New Kickstarter, Heroes of Barcadia: Heroes for Hire Tabletop Game

Zelda:

Rick and Morty:

Beer Review: Peace Among Worlds (Cushwa Brewing Company)

Space Balls:

Beer Review: Moon of Vega (Equilibrium Brewery)

Game of Thrones:

The Simpsons:

Back to the Future:

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

Scrooged:

Beer Review: Scrooge IPA (Iron Hill Brewing)

Groundhog Day:

A Christmas Story:

The Peanuts:

Pro Wrestling:

Soccer:

World Cup:

Phillies:

Philadelphia Eagles:

The Philadelphia Eagles Running Back – D’Andre Swift – Visits Bald Bird Brewing Company

Matrix:

Matrix Monday

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles:

Beer Review: Terpenes in Time (BAREBottle Brewing Co)

Mario:

Beer Review: Level Up (Idiom Brewing)

HP Lovecraft / Cthulhu:

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

Seinfeld:

The Muppets:

Other:

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MAPS OF BREWERIES

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Beer Review: Up The Creek Extreme Ale (Thomas Creek Brewery)

BKline — Sun, 11 Oct 2020 02:32:26 +0000

Thomas Creek’s Up The Creek Extreme Ale

I always enjoy getting to review (and obviously drink) beers from out of state, ones that I most likely wouldn’t come in contact with. Don’t get me wrong, I love drinking and reviewing local beers and getting them some publicity, and I also love traveling and visiting breweries (just yesterday I was in Wellsboro Pennsylvania, visited the Pennsylvania Grand Canyon, and visited the restaurant and brewery – The Wellsboro House), but its also nice getting beers to review, from family, co-workers, and friends. (Hint…. hint…. for any friends, family, etc reading this…. )

A co-worker, Jam, was coming back from South Carolina, and he stopped at a bottle / can shop and grabbed a few beers for me and other co-workers. From Jam, I received a bottle of ‘Up The Creek Extreme Ale’, a can of Sidestepper (Charles Town Fermentary), a can of Pixels (Seminar Brewing), and a can of of a Red Ale / IPA by a collaboration with a radio station (the name eludes me and I left it in my friend’s fridge; but it had a tiger on it, thus why Jam got it for me due to me liking the Bengals). So this is the first of the South Carolina series of brews I’ll be reviewing. (I’ll be doing Sidestepper soon, because I just recently drank that; haven’t gotten to drink the others yet, will probably do the Pixels beer while streaming with D. Scott over at Knights of Nostalgia).

Quickly, before I go too much further, I want to throw a quick shout out to Josh; who is jumping back into the reviewing game (don’t call it a comeback son, he never left). He will have his first review since his Beer Review of Adroit Theory’s COLONIZATION back on November 11th, 2019. Stay tuned, I’m sure you won’t want to miss his newest beer review!

Also, in industry news, Howling Henry’s in Hummelstown just opened this week, as well as Rubber Soul, and Spigot Brewing in Ford City has announced they will be closing.

Now…. onto the review!

Up The Creek Extreme Ale (IPA) by Thomas Creek Brewery

Beer: Up The Creek Extreme Ale
Brewery: Thomas Creek Brewery
Style: IPA – Imperial / Double
ABV: 12.5%
IBU: 143
Untappd Description: Up The Creek is a hoppy behemoth of a beer with its 12.5% ABV well hidden under heavy layers of malt. The hops come through powerfully in the mouth, with rich roasted malt, sweet caramel, and a burst of vinous fruit. The finish is malty sweet and fruity, while the hops dissipate. Use caution or you’ll be Up The Creek!

Ok…. so firstly, let me just say, this is the highest IBU we’ve reviewed here on the blog. Probably by a pretty far margin. The highest IBU I’ve ever had, according to the Untappd records of beers I drank is – Gyroscopes and Infrared by Broken Goblet. It was 174 IBU. After that it was the Mean Manalishi Double IPA by Hoppin’ Frog Brewery, clocking in 168 IBU, and in third place is Mango Bomb by Pizza Boy – clocking in at 162 IBU. Up The Creek Extreme Ale is number 7 on my list (according to Untappd), and if you count home brews (at a home brew event I had one that would be number 5 on my list; called Idiot Parade by McCarthy Brewing.)

IBU is a term for IPAs that means: “International Bitterness Units are a chemical/instrumental measurement of the number of bittering compounds, specifically isomerized and oxidized alpha acids, polyphenols, and a few other select bittering chemicals, that make your beer taste bitter. (Last Call for IBUs: Fact, Fiction and What They Mean in Your Beer – May 3, 2017). Overall, its a term that’s not being used as much in the industry anymore, and many brewers aren’t even bothering with testing it or listing it when listing their beers on platforms like Untappd or Beer Advocate. But its still a valuable tool and measurement when it is listed, and I still like to keep track of it, and include it when doing the beer reviews here. Its just not the be – all – end – all it used to be in terms of understanding IPAs (especially since New England IPAs seem to be more mainstream now, actually, being made more than regular old school West Coast style IPAs).

This is an old fashioned high octane ‘pushing the envelope’ West Coast style IPA. Appearance and look for this is on the malty end of IPAs (West Coast IPAs). It has a brown / amber hue, slightly transparent, but mostly opaque. Malt colored and malt looking like a malt bomb through and through. Caramel colored. It has a very rich, frothy, foamy head to it, thick, creamy looking with lots of bubbles.

Aroma is caramel, sweet roasted malt, and then pungent face-punching, nose walloping, hop explosion (can’t even call it aroma, its about as subtle as a sledgehammer to the gonads). You get the idea that this is going to be bitter just by the hop nose to it, and the malt sweetness does nothing to cover it past that initial whiff of the malt.

This doesn’t quite live up to the description provided by Untappd. The Untappd description gives you the impression there’s a bit of hype to this, that there’s more complexity to this than there really is. It starts off with the barest of traces of sweet, or caramel, malt. And then takes a very heavy swan dive off the cliff into a sea of hops. A sea of bitterness, of super hop flavor, super hop bitterness, super hop everything. Overpoweringly so. Too much so. A blend and cornucopia of hops, that doesn’t let you really even distinguish and unique hop flavors or notes. Its just straight hop bitterness in such an overwhelming display of raw power and hop (bitterness) that it doesn’t leave you tasting much of anything else. The malt taste is so minuscule and minimal you don’t taste any of it as soon as you get your first taste of the hops. Unlike the description, the hops don’t really ‘dissipate’, they stay there, punching you like a… like a… like a hop drinking punching bag…. yea… like that! There is definitely no dissipation here. I also don’t really get any ‘fruity’ ending to this. Maybe subtle stone fruit notes… but I think its so awash from the hop bitterness that its too hard to tell, and its too hard to differentiate between hop notes and fruit (stone or otherwise) notes. I think its all just a blend, and whatever notes are supposed to be in there, are so overpowered by the hop bitterness, that its too impossible to tell or to be able to pull them out and take note of them or actually savor them. Now… all of this is to say its not a bad beer; its just not… a great beer. And particularly not my style as much anymore. I do like West Coast style IPAs, and the New England IPA craze hasn’t diminished that; its just… this is too much. Too bitter, too hoppy, not enough actual flavor to it, and too hard to differentiate and tell the various hop notes apart from each other. I’m sure theres lots of ‘ultra’ or ‘uber’ hop heads or hop nerds or beer nerds out there who will love this, and all the better for it and for them, this just isn’t particularly my favorite or something I would outright pursue again.

My Untappd Rating: ***.50
Global Untappd Rating: 3.60 (as of 10.10.20)

Be sure to check out some of our recent beer reviews:

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!

Peace, cheers, and prost!

-B. Kline

Hoppy Easter – IPAs

BKline — Mon, 13 Apr 2020 00:00:50 +0000

In honor of Easter (and what a weird Easter this is too), and since we’ve all been stuck inside all day. I figured I’d do a listicle of some of the IPAs we’ve reviewed. I’ve done a few other listicle articles (not too many, as I’m not a huge fan of them), but I figured its been a while, and since its Easter, lets do a “hoppy” one about the various IPAs we’ve reviewed.

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

From our friends at Let Us Drink Beer Blog:

ETA IPA by Wild Leap Brew Co.

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

Beer Reviews by J. Doncevic:

Colonization by Adroit Theory

Beer Review: Colonization (Adroit Theory)

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

Envie and and Envie 4XDH by Parish Brewing

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

Beer Review: Ekuanot Astronaut (BAREbottle Brewing Co.)

Ghost in the Machine by Parish Brewing

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

Enigma by Anchorage Brewing

Beer Review: Enigma (Anchorage Brewing Company)

Ectogasm by Drekker

Beer Review: Ectogasm (Drekker Brewing Co.)

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

IPA Beer Reviews by B. Kline:

40th Anniversary Ale by Sierra Nevada

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

Icicle by New Trail Brewing

Beer Review: Icicle (New Trail Brewing Co)

Trial by Wombat by Thin Man Brewing

Beer Review: Trial by Wombat (Thin Man Brewery)

Furious IPA by Surly Brewing

Beer Review: Furious IPA (Surly Brewing)

Back to Reality by Three 3s Brewing

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

Pete’s Secret Stache by Revision Brewing

Beer Review: Petes Secret Stache (Revision Brewing Company)

Loki by Karl Larsen at Newfangled Brew Works

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

Doppelganger by Tree House Brewing

Beer Review: Doppelgänger (Tree House Brewing)

This is the Way by Broken Goblet

Beer Review: This is The Way (Broken Goblet)

Julius by Tree House Brewing

Beer Review: Julius (Tree House Brewing)

The Hog by Boneshire Brew Works

Beer Review: The Hog (Boneshire Brew Works)

Citraquench’l by Heist Brewing

Beer Review: Citraquench’l (Heist Brewery)

Moon of Vega by Equilibrium Brewing

Beer Review: Moon of Vega (Equilibrium Brewing)

Paradise Lost by Southern Prohibition Brewing

Beer Review: Paradise Lost (Southern Prohibition Brewing)

Fuzzy Nudge named by Ffej by Troegs Independent Brewing

Beer Review: Fuzzy Nudge (Troegs Independent Brewing)

King Sue by Toppling Goliath

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

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

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

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

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

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

Grilling Easter Dinner

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

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

Have a Hoppy Easter!

Beer Event: For The Love of Beer

BKline — Sat, 05 Oct 2019 12:03:03 +0000

For the Love of Beer – Speakers: Dr. Alison Feeney, Hannah Ison, and Jeff Mussleman

Dr. Alison Feeney has recently published and released a book, called For the Love of Beer: Pennsylvania’s Breweries (clicking the link will take you directly to the book page on Amazon where you can purchase the book). In celebration of this and to kick off the Harrisburg Book Week and Festival she spoke (alongside Hannah Ison of ZeroDay Brewing Company and Jeff Mussleman of The Millworks) at the Mid-Town Scholar. The speakers talked from 7PM to 8PM with a beer tasting before hand from 6:30-7PM and afterwards from 8-8:30PM (times being rough estimates). Dr. Alison Feeney also signed copies of her book purchased at the Mid-Town Scholar. The Facebook event listing can be found here: For the Love of Beer – Speakers Conference and Symposium.

Dr. Alison Feeney is the professor of geography and earth science at Shippensburg University. A press release from the university about her book can be found here: Dr. Alison Feeney Releases a New Book. Shippensburg University has started up several courses and classes based on brewing, home brewing, the science behind brewing and making beer, as well as many adult classes (enrichment and for the work force and industry) based around beer and brewing. They were given a $70K grant to “boost beer brewers” and provide the education to make this possible. This grant was given by the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board (PLCB). To learn more about their brew science you can click here for the inquiry form to receive information. They are serving both the industry with these classes as well as home brewers looking to better their own craft for their own enjoyment. Shippensburg University cultivates future brewers : Home Brew Course Success. A listing of their courses, online information, and Shippensburg created articles about their brewing programs and classes can be found here: Shippensburg University Brewing Education.

So there is a lot to be excited for with the brewing future thanks to Shippensburg University and with Pennsylvania being such an integral part to the craft beer and brewing industry as a whole there is much to be excited for with the future of the hundreds of breweries in Pennsylvania. If you’ve been to just a few breweries in Pennsylvania, it might feel like you’ve been to a lot, but I guarantee you haven’t even scratched the surface. Pennsylvania is currently home to 300+ breweries and it is constantly a number in flux with openings, closings, and expansions. Thankfully there are far more openings than closings, but sadly there is some closings. Some websites and groups like Breweries in PA keep an updated list and map of all of the breweries in Pennsylvania operating.

The back of the book, as well as the Amazon description for Dr. Alison Feeney’s book is:

“Pennsylvanians have enjoyed a long, rich love affair with beer. The state not only ranks first in the nation for the number of barrels produced but the breweries, beer, and their craftsmen all have interesting stories to tell. This book examines Pennsylvania s brewing history, geography, and cultural richness while highlighting over 100 of the states thriving craft breweries. It explains some of the enjoyable stories and local legends behind the naming of beers, while detailing the unique buildings and architectural treasures that contribute to the renovation of urban areas and revival of small communities. Short descriptions of each brewery provide the reader with an understanding of which brewers use local hops, fruits, and grains in their recipes and how proceeds support local rail trails, waterways, animals shelters, and community events. From long-lasting breweries that survived Prohibition to the most recent openings with upscale food and cutting edge technology, this book describes how craft breweries in Pennsylvania have something to offer everyone. Set out on the road and record your visit to each brewery and enjoy first-hand facts about local breweries with someone who lives, works, and studies this fascinating and dynamic industry. “

Dr. Alison Feeney’s biography on Amazon reads:

“Alison Feeney is a Professor in the Geography and Earth Science Department at Shippensburg University. She earned B. A. degrees in both history and geography from the University of Connecticut, a M.S from Portland State University, and a Ph.D. from Michigan State University. She truly loves to blend work with pleasure as she travels around Pennsylvania to research breweries.

When she is not working she enjoys time with her friends and family riding bikes, playing tennis, snowboarding, kayaking, and learning to sail. Her passion for coral reefs leads her on several trips to the Caribbean each year to scuba dive and kill invasive lionfish. “

The Millworks’ Oktoberfest (with Albert Camus books in the background)

Just like most people, I love hearing people in an industry speak and talk about their industry. Shows like Seinfeld’s “Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee” and things like that are fascinating to me. To hear those who create discuss their creations, and those who do discussing their …. doings. So getting to hear Dr. Alison Feeney, Hannah Ison, and Jeff Musselman discuss their works and creations and their businesses (writing, brewing, owning a brewery), was a definite must for me.

I dropped my youngest off at her cheerleading practice at 5:45 in Hummelstown (don’t worry, her grandparents were picking her up, she wasn’t going to get left there), and I then went downtown. Arrived and parked by Mid-Town at about 6:15 (slow and go on I-83 due to the rain). Checked out the Mid-Town Scholar’s Tent Book Sale (which is going on today; Friday – as well as Saturday and Sunday). After finding a few books (I could literally buy thousands if I really had the energy to, but decided on just a few) I purchased them and then took them back to the car before heading over to the Mid-Town Scholar itself. Got inside around 6:30 and went up to the sample table immediately. Grabbed the Oktoberfest by The Millworks to begin my browsing of the store (my first time ever being inside it). Independent bookstores are such a low-level thrill (ok…. big high level thrill, but it just doesn’t sound as cool to say) for me. Browsing through endless aisles and tables at places like this, like The York Emporium, or at independent bookstores at beaches, is just love. Independent bookstores are losing more and more to the tide of places like Amazon, Wal-Mart, etc. in a similar way to how craft breweries have to constantly fight against InBev and Miller Coors; small independent bookstores have to fight against these giants. Sadly, where craft beer is doing pretty well (as a whole) against their large titan competitors, independent bookstores aren’t. So we all need to shop local, shop independent, shop individual, shop craft, over macro, over major, over non-caring owners, over-CEOs raking in $8Billion a year for themselves while paying employees 8.50$ an hour with minimal benefits.

(Ok, small rant over. Stepping down from my soap box.)

Grabbed another sample, this time “When Did We Get a Dog?” by ZeroDay. I had the watermelon version of this recently (at the RenFaire Brewfest). I then made my purchases (picked up Dr. Alison Feeney’s book, as well as The Rebel by Albert Camus, since I read it back in high school, loaned it out to a friend, who promptly lost it, and I’ve been meaning to give his canon and collection a re-read, so might as well start with lost Camus). I then grabbed a third sample – Single Hop Series #11 – Citra Hops – by The Millworks, and took my seat, third row to the right.

Setting up for the conference / symposium / speakers / whatever you want to call this event.

A worker for Mid-Town Scholar introduced the panel (sitting from left to right – Sara Bozich, Dr. Alison Feeney, Hannah Ison, and Jeffrey Musselman), and introduced the Harrisburg Book Week Festival, and discussed the slew of speakers they were having over the next several days, and mentioned the book sale tent outside, among other things.

Sara Bozich then took over as moderator and ran the panel (I guess panel is better term for it, than conference, or symposium, or motley crew, or whatever terminology one might use). She began introducing the members on the stage and discussed Dr. Alison Feeney’s work at Shippensburg and a barebones description of the book.

Hannah Ison of ZeroDay Brewing talking during the panel discussion.

Sara Bozich asked several questions of the panel that related to central themes to breweries and those in the book; like community, revitalization, diversity, the beer itself, and breweries in general.

Hannah and Jeff then talked about some future projects for their breweries and themselves (Hannah soon welcoming a child into the world, December due date; Jeff with The Millworks opening a second location in Camp Hill, hopefully spring 2020).

After about forty minutes or so of the panel they opened it up to an audience Q&A to close out the last twenty minutes. There was a wide range of questions during the Q&A. Topics ranging from women in the work force, diversity, things to know about as a brewer (like any head brewer will tell you, the job is mostly sanitation, cleaning, cleaning, cleaning), the new Pennsylvania brewery tax, Untappd, favorite beers/breweries/styles, and the last question went out to a woman who talked about community displacement. Like breweries coming in and displacing the current population. This possibly provided the most interesting question of the night. Dr. Alison Feeney discussed how Yards opening their giant new production and tap facility in Philadelphia, where once was a very urbanized and African-American central area, now has very few African-Americans, and that the lines into the brewery are predominantly white people (typically white males). Jeff discussed how despite what they are doing, craft beer is essentially a completely luxury, even moreso than macro beer. That beer in general is a luxury item, craft beer especially so. Where a pint might run 6-8 or even 10 dollars, compared to Bud Light or Miller Lite or Coors Lite always being 2-4$. And unfortunately there is no easy answer to this. Its a fine line to create a new thriving business where something didn’t exist before, and as much as a place (be it a brewery or any new business) wants to identify and become one with the community, there is going to be a change with that new business going in, and that business will already have its own clientele established before opening its doors, and that might not align with the local community one hundred percent.

Single Hop #11 – Citra Hops, by The Millworks

After the Q&A the Mid-Town employee went over the panel one last time, and talked about the weekend’s events again, as well as brought up the beer tasting and book signing to follow.

During this part of the tasting I had the Watermelon When Did We Get a Dog?, the Mango Habenero staple from ZeroDay, and one last Oktoberfest while standing around chatting with Dr. Alison, Hannah, and Jeff.

Saying goodbye to the panelists (and their respective special persons) I dropped my books bag off at the car and walked a block and a half over to The Millworks brewery and enjoyed myself a flight of some of their recent beers, including two ‘PA Preferred’ beers, just discussed during the panel.

This was a wonderful two hour (ish) event with dedicated individuals who wanted to talk about their works, be it the author – Dr. Alison Feeney – or the brewers – Jeff Musselman and Hannah Ison or Sara Bozich who has helped collaborate and set up the Harrisburg Beer Week as well as many other events and activities in the Harrisburg area. The dedication, interest, and love for their work and the works of others, and for community, and for what craft beer and brewing can stand for was evident from all, and it showed in their talks.

I highly recommend picking up For the Love of Beer by Dr. Alison Feeney, I’ve begun reading it (started there at the bar at The Millworks) and I’m currently about thirty pages in (don’t worry, there will be a book review on here when completed), and I am enjoying it, and it is very informative.

For The Love of Beer by Dr. Alison Feeney

Please keep checking out the blog, make sure you like, subscribe, follow, comment, etc, we have a lot of exciting things coming out in the upcoming days, some even sponsored by breweries and lots of fun events. So make sure you keep up to date and check in on us daily, as we are looking to be posting daily!

Until next time, keep the brain sharp with books, and the liver busy with beer!

-B. Kline

Breweries Around the Outskirts of Harrisburg (9.6.19)

BKline — Fri, 06 Sep 2019 17:15:00 +0000

(Editorial Note: This article was originally written and submitted to Breweries in PA. They will be publishing it in roughly one weeks time on their page and FaceBook page. It was written by lead writer here at The Beer Thrillers – B. Kline, and is being posted here as well. This was a guest-article written by B. Kline for Breweries in PA. Since there is some pertinent and timely information included in the article [namely Tattered Flag & Levante’s Tap Takeovers and Can Releases for 9.7.19] this article is being posted here and now. When it is posted on the Breweries in PA website and FaceBook page, links will be provided to the article’s locations there. Likewise, since this was created for their site and blog, as well as written in Microsoft Online Word DOC the formatting may be off in some places. When the mistakes are noticed, we will try and correct them. -The Beer Thrillers staff.)

Breweries Around the Outskirts of Harrisburg
By: B. Kline

In the area surrounding Hummelstown (17036), there is several breweries. In all directions, roughly within 5 miles, there is some fantastic breweries in Hershey, Middletown, and the outskirts of Harrisburg like Rutherford and Union Station. I’m going to take a look at a few of these and suggest a nice weekend trip to these locations that won’t take a lot of your time up, and what all events and plans they currently have going on. In this article, we will be taking a look at Troegs Brewery, Boneshire Brew Works, Newfangled Brew Works, and Tattered Flag Brewery and Distillery.

There is a lot of great choices of breweries in Pennsylvania, and even in just Harrisburg itself, there is several fantastic choices. Coming from the small town of Hummelstown itself (where I’m located – B. Kline – writer for the blog The Beer Thrillers). In Harrisburg central there is ZeroDay Brewing, The Millworks, and The Vegetable Hunter. Along the outskirts of Harrisburg in Rutherford you will find Boneshire Brew Works and in a small development off of Union Deposit in Union Station you’ll find Newfangled Brew Works. In Hershey you’ll find Troegs Independent Craft Brewing and Iron Hill Brewery. In Middletown you will find Tattered Flag Brewery and Distillery. And soon, in the future in Hummelstown you’ll be able to enjoy some beverages at the old police station by Rubber Soul Brewing.

I’ve decided to write this in the best route method for driving and convenience. I debated exactly how I wanted to write-up the breweries of Boneshire Brew Works, Newfangled Brew Works, Tattered Flag, and Troegs, and decided this might be the best and most logical way. The times I’ve done this ‘brewery trail’ this is always the way I’ve done it, and it also stops the ‘why was X first and Y last’ arguments. So lets take a look at these four breweries, what they got to offer on tap, what they got going on, and why their worth a stop in and check out.

Newfangled Brew Works

Located At: 8001 Union Station Blvd, Harrisburg, PA 17111
Untappd Link: https://untappd.com/NewfangledBrewWorks

Newfangled Brew Works is located inside Union Station, a recent development built off of Union Deposit Road (a long road that connects Harrisburg to several of the smaller towns in the area like South Hanover Township, Union Deposit, Hoernerstown, and even to Hershey). It is right as you enter into the development in a large building conjoined with its restaurant pairing – Koda. Koda is a high scale restaurant located to the right of the main entrance into Newfangled. Newfangled also has its own built-in Taco Truck tucked away in the back lefthand corner.

Lets discuss the food first, the taco truck has fabulous tacos, quesadillas, and other taco and Mexican related foods. Artisanal tacos is the best way to describe these, as this is definitely no Taco Bell menu (and a whole heck of a lot better tasting too). Their food menu can be found here: Food, their hours of operation are: Sunday 11AM-9PM, Monday-Friday 4PM-9PM, and Saturday 12PM-10PM.

Pictured here is the quesadilla taco from the taco truck, with the added beef meat it came to be 7.42$ (pre-tip). Beer picture is the Guava Lemonade Kettle Sour. The taco was extremely delicious and the kettle sour washed it down perfectly. This is the side-porch and patio area to the left of the building (when facing the entrance).

The brewery itself currently has 16 beers on tap for consumption. Some of their own, and a few others. Of their own currently on tap they have:

Passionfruit Blonde Ale – Blonde Ale – 5%

Ariana Flockhart – Blonde Ale – 4.9%
Blood Orange Blonde Ale – Blonde Ale – 5%
Guava Lemonade Kettle Sour – Sour – 5.6%
Kettle Sour – Sour – 5.6%
Brut IPA – IPA – Brut – 7.7%

Double IPA – IPA – Imperial – 8.2%
Irish Red Ale – Red Ale – Irish – 6%
Saison – Farmhouse Ale – Saison – 6.8%
Newfangled American Wheat – Wheat Beer – 5.2%
Lager – Lager – 5.2%

IPA – IPA – American – 5.8%
Stout – Stout – American – 6.5%

The non-Newfangled Beers on tap are:

Yuengling Lager – Lager – 4.5% (Yuengling Brewery)
Standard – Cider – 5.5% (Big Hill Ciderworks)

I have currently had all but their lager, double IPA, Brut IPA, and the blood orange blonde ale. I have enjoyed everything I’ve had so far. Found nothing to be horrible or terrible and no off flavors or infected beers.

They offer their beers right now in pints or traditional pours, dependent on the style, as well as half pours and flights. Pricing is your normal fair for a craft brewery (5$-7/8$ depending on style and costs to make the beer).

Currently, Newfangled Brew Works has produced 22 unique beers, and has a global average rating of 3.73.

Upcoming events for Newfangled are:

Live Music – Fridays and Saturdays 7PM – 10PM
Trivia – Wednesdays 630PM – 830PM

Boneshire Brew Works
Located At: 7462 Derry St, Harrisburg, PA 17111
Untappd Link: https://untappd.com/BoneshireBrewWorks

Coming down the road from Newfangled and getting onto Nyes Road it will lead you to Derry Street. From there you take a right hand turn and find yourself after a few blocks at Boneshire Brew Works. Boneshire was started by Alan Miller, Carson Brooks, and Alex Govelovich.

Boneshire’s brewery is a small little ‘pub’ style brewery. As soon as you enter you feel already a member of a club where everybody knows your name. If you’ve been there once, your second time there, you are a ‘regular’ and quickly become on a first name basis with all of the staff.

Currently food is limited to a few behind the bar items like pickle flights and bologna, but it is a BYOB environment with a pizzeria just two doors down (to the left of the building is a Crossfit and after that is the pizza shop, how lucky are those crossfit hard-workers being “stuck” between a pizza shop and a brewery?).

Boneshire currently offers a taplist of their own, as well as a taplist of several breweries from Pennsylvania. Their current taplist is:

Their own:

Dillston – Red Ale – Irish – 5.5% (made with Greystone Public House)
Caucus-Race (6.0 Zappa Hops) – IPA – American – 7.5%

Harrishire – Smoked – 7.3% (made in collaboration with Harris Family Brewery)
AuZealand 2.0 – IPA – American – 6.3%
Dark of the Forest (barrel aged) – Stout – Coffee – 10%
Derry St. Wheat – Hefeweizen – 5%
Good Walk Spoiled – Sour – 4.5%

Guest tap lists:

Jelsa – Mead – Melomel – 12% (Larsen Meadworks)
Magic… Under Where? – Pale Ale – 5.5% (Pizza Boy Brewing)
Kriek Nouveau – Sour – 6.9% (Free Will Brewing Co.)
Brawler – English Mild – 4.2% (Yards Brewing Co.)

Pils – Pilsner – German – 4.7% (Stoudts Brewing)
Summer Scrumpy – Cider – 5.5% (Big Hill Ciderworks)
Fruit Wagon – Sour – 6.3% (Saucony Brewing Company)
Java Cask – Stout – Imperial Double – 14.3% (Victory Brewing)
Pikeland Pils – Pilsner – German – 4.9% (Slyfox Brewing)

Boneshire Brewery has a steady string of events going on. Mondays are D&D nights, Tuesdays alternate between Open Mic Nights and Bar Bingo nights, Wednesdays are trivia nights, Thursdays are live music nights. Their Facebook page has a full list of events with the band names already signed on for each Thursday through October. They also occasionally have live music on Saturday nights.

Boneshire also does cans to go, in 4-packs of most of their in-house made beers. A few exceptions based on styles and things, but nearly all of their brewery beers are set to go. And typically at much better prices than a pint at the bar. They also do growler fills.

They currently have 126 uniquely produced beers with a global average rating of 3.82 on Untappd.

Tattered Flag Brewery and Distillery

Located At: 1 S Union St Middletown, PA
Untappd Link: https://untappd.com/TatteredFlagBrewery

Leaving Boneshire we can get right up onto 322 from Derry Street. There we can then turn right and get off at the Hummelstown / Middletown exit and go along Middletown Road (which becomes Vine Street), not much further we’ll turn right onto Main Street and then turn left to get onto Union and we are at our next destination. Middletown’s first (and so far only) brewery and distillery – Tattered Flag.

Veteran owned and having just hit their third anniversary they have really been pumping out some outstanding beers in recent history. With new brewing crew of Dave Marrow, Justin Hoak, and Cliff Plank, they have been putting out exceptional IPAs (NE IPAS specifically) and sours. They were just voted Harrisburg best Brewery and Distillery.

They have been doing some excellent collaborations with numerous breweries in the last few months as well. Beers with Wolf Brewing Co. , Levante Brewing, Abomination Brewing, and up and comer Pilger Ruh Brewing.

They have a downstairs bar that is also their coffee shop as well as the distillery area. It was called the Nuclear Bean but on Untappd they refer to the bar as the Distillery Bar now. They also have their main restaurant and bar upstairs, though you can order food at either location.

At the downstairs Nuclear Bean / coffee shop / distillery bar, you can order drinks. Their taplist there currently is:

NP Project – Kombucha (Renewal Kombucha)
Nuclear Bean Nitro Cold Brew – Coffee

Blue Raider Kolsch – Kolsch – 5.2%
Teutonic Knight Hefeweizen – Hefeweizen – 5.4%
Fatum Series Ale – Strawberry – Sour – 6%
Because I Was Inverted (Mango) – IPA – Milkshake – 6.6%
Makin’ Love at Midnight (2019) – IPA – Milkshake – 7.8%

Silent Professional Foxtrot – Farmhouse Ale – Saison – 7.8%
New Zealand Hop Test – IPA – Imperial Double – 8%
Don’t Cryo’ver Spilled Milk – IPA – Milkshake – 8%
TMI IPA – IPA – American – 6.5%

They also have cans to go, which you can pick up upstairs or downstairs, there list of cans to go currently are:

Tattered Abomination – IPA – New England – 7.8% (made with Abomination Brewing)
Prepare to be Flabbergasted – Sour – 7%
Teutonic Knight Hefeweizen
Blue Raider Kolsch
O’Dusseldorf Rules – Altbier – 5%

Honey I Added More Hops – IPA – New England – 7%
Double Knife Fight in Space – IPA – New England – 8%
Makin’ Love at Midnight 2.0 – IPA – American – 7.5%
Step 1 Brew Beer Step 2 ? Step 3 Profit – IPA – New England – 8%
Makin’ Love at Midnight (Sour) – Sour – 7.8%

TMI IPA

Their taplist upstairs currently is:

Silent Professional Foxtrot
Blue Raider Kolsch

Teutonic Knight Hefeweizen
DDH Double IPA – IPA – Imperial / Double – New England – 8.4%
Swattier Divide (2018) – IPA – New England – 8.2%
Step 1 Brew Beer Step 2 ? Step 3 Profit
TMI IPA

Don’t Cryo’ver Spilled Milk
Should’ve Got a Warrant – Sour – 7.6%
Stars and Stripes 20.19 – IPA – New England – 7.8%
Sparklerz (Meyer Lemon) – Hard Seltzer – 5%
Five Sided Puzzle Palace – Stout – Imperial / Double – 12% (Levante Brewing colab)

Because I Was Inverted (Mango)
Double Knife Fight in Space
Groundhops Day – IPA – New England – 6%
Honey I Added More Hops
Makin’ Love at Midnight (sour)

Prepare to be Flabbergasted
Tattered Abomination

Make sure to check out my blog (The Beer Thrillers) for reviews on Prepare to be Flabbergasted, Tattered Abomination, and Makin’ Love at Midnight (Sour) all due to being posted within the next several days.

I’m not much of a foody, but I do love going to Tattered Flag or helping with their canning run, just to get to eat there. It is top notch gourmet style food. All bases covered, from hot dogs and hamburgers, to salads, to tacos and quesadillas, to steaks, and seafood. Everything is covered and everything is absolutely phenomenal.

This weekend, Tattered Flag and Levante Brewing are doing their big release. Saturday, September 7^th, starting at 11AM, they will be selling cans of their collaboration with Levante Brewing – Wasted Away Again, a key-lime pie sour. They will also be selling cans of their collaboration with Levante Brewing – Five Sided Puzzle Palace. As well as having several of Levante’s beers on tap in the brewery. Ontop of this, from 1PM to 4PM the Hershey Biergarten in downtown Hershey will be selling their cans and having the beers on tap as well. Tattered Flag and Levante will also be featured at sip of Soma.

Of course I have to mention that you should check out the distillery if you have any inclination in liquors. Dan, the distiller for Tattered Flag is amazing and provides exceptional spirits. (He also does ghost tours in Gettysburg.)

Tattered Flag Brewery has 351 uniquely produced beers with a global average rating on Untappd of 3.77.

Troegs Independent Craft Brewing
Located At: 200 Hersheypark Dr, Hershey, PA 17033
Untappd Link: https://untappd.com/troegsbrewingcompany

And last but not least of our little tour is Troegs Brewery. Which at this point, really needs no introduction. They are always some of the top rated beers in the state, and is generally considered “the top” of the craft industry in the state (behind Yuengling). The brewery itself is always jam packed, weekday, weeknight, afternoon, or evening. Some of which is due to its fantastic location next door to HersheyPark, and some of that due to the excellent beers in production, as well as a top of the line brewery tour.

They have certainly been expanding too. Adding the foeders and making a larger cellar room. They’ve added a beer garden outfront. And lots and lots more parking. Which somehow still doesn’t feel like its enough!

They have also branched out and done a lot more of their Splinter Series beers, done more and more regular scratches, and even begun to can some of the scratch beers, and upped the number of rotational/seasonal beers. Releasing some big hits like Lollihop, Golden Thing, and various Scratches in beer can that have all gotten great reviews.

They have also added an upstairs loft with its own food menu and its own bar (though the taplist is the same as it is in the side-room by the foeders and at the main bar, just slightly more limited). The pizza upstairs is the best new feature total though, hop on that immediately!

Their current taplist at the main bar is:

Perpetual IPA – IPA – American – 7.5%
Troegennator Double Bock – Bock – Imperial – 8.2%
Sunshine Pils – Pilsner – 4.5%
HopBack Amber Ale – Red Ale – Amber Ale – 6%

DreamWeaver – Wheat Beer – 4.8%
JavaHead – Stout – Coffee – 7.5%
Hop Knife – IPA – American – 6.2%
Nimble Giant – IPA – Imperial / Double – 9%
Naked Elf – English Ale – 6.9%

Golden Thing – DDH – IPA – Double – 8.2%
Boysenberry Tart Ale – Sour – 4.5%
Raspberry Tart Ale – Sour – 4.5%
Fest Lager – Lager – Marzen – 6.1%
Dear Peter – Farmhouse Saison – 7.6%

Hazy IPA (Scratch 387) – IPA – New England – 5.2% (same as Trail Day Pale Ale)
Tangerine Passionfruit Guava Tart (Scratch 386) – Sour – 4.6%
Krausened Dunkel Lager (Scratch 385) – Dunkel – 5.4%
Tangerine Blackberry Guava Tart Ale (Scratch 384) – Sour – 5%

In Bottles Only:

LaGrave Triple Golden Ale – Belgian – 8%
Jovial Dubbel Ale – Belgian – 7%
Mad Elf Grand Cru (2018) – Belgian Strong Dark – 11%
Wild Elf – Farmhouse Wild Ale – 11%
Bourbon Barrel-Aged Impending Descent – Russian Stout – 12%

Bourbon Barrel-Aged Troegenator – Double Bock – 9.8%
Bourbon Barrel-Aged Flying Mouflan – Belgian – 11.5%
Dear Peter
Farmette – Farmhouse Saison – 6.5%
Blackberry Tizzy – Sour – 7.8%

Mortal Cherry – Farmhouse Wild Ale – 6.6%
Apricot Farmette – Farmhouse Saison – 7.4%

Troeg also has cider from Big Hill Ciderworks as well as numerous non-alcoholic sodas in bottle (for children and non-drinking drivers).

Troegs currently has no events listed for this weekend in their brewery. It has seemed they do less and less events in house at the brewery, and more and more out at various places. Most likely due to how full the brewery already is getting plus it expands the brand more to do these events at a wider range of places.

They do however have a big event coming up on October 4^th weekend – their annual Hop Harvest Fest. Which since putting in the beer garden they’ve been putting to good use with this. Look for more information to come out soon on bands performing and beers they will be releasing.

If you’ve never been to Troegs Brewery before, make sure you take the walking tour. It’s a quick 5-10 minute self guided tour but you get to see some neat things along the way (like the krausen for DreamWeaver as well as their bottling and canning lines).

Troegs currently has 385 uniquely produced beers (according to Untappd, which is a bit dated on this, since a lot of their scratches were released before Untappd was created, and they are currently up to Scratch 387) with a global average rating on Untappd of 3.79.

Thank you for checking out this brief brewery hopping tour around the outskirts of Harrisburg and centralized around Hummelstown. I hope you all found it informative and helpful and will give these four great breweries a look over. They all definitely deserve your time and attention as they are all pumping out some wonderful beers and have great stuff going on at their breweries all the time.

And lastly, make sure you hop on over to my beer blog – The Beer Thrillers, where me and beer buddy J. Doncevic have been writing some wonderful beer reviews, brewery reviews, trip recaps, beer event reviews, and all kinds of other beer related things in the Central PA area since May. Make sure to stop and check us out and let us know in the comments that you came from here, we’d greatly appreciate seeing you there!

B. Kline
The Beer Thrillers
https://thebeerthrillers.com/
http://twitter.com/thebeerthriller/

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

joshdoncevic — Mon, 05 Aug 2019 03:01:36 +0000

When discussing the concept of whales in regards to beer, it usually refers to a brew that is so desirable that it becomes difficult to procure. Sometimes this is because of regional availability, or the brewery just doesn’t make enough of said beer — on purpose, or it is just that popular –, or in the case of some there is an entire day devoted to it (insert Dark Lord here). Pennsylvania does not yet see distribution from Parish Brewing Company, which means it’s a trip down to the great Bayou state, find a friend that can ship a few, or do what I did and purchase it from Tavour (more on this later).

The Brew

Beer: Ghost In The Machine
Brewery: Parish Brewing Company
Style: IPA – Imperial/Double
ABV: 8.5%
IBU: 100
Untappd Description: “Welcome to the future. Our collective human consciousness, or Ghost in the Machine, has gained a tolerance for hops beyond what mankind has ever known before. This Double India Pale Ale is the necessary outcome.”
Enjoy In: Teku or Harmony Tumbler
Enjoy At: 50-55 degrees Fahrenheit

The Review

Ghost In The Machine is one beer that I have been wanting and waiting to get my hands on since I found out about it. Hang around any beer circle long enough and eventually Parish of Ghost will pop up in conversation. Fortunately for me, Tavour was that beer nerd, and a notification showed up on my phone that bottles were available for purchase. Hot dang! Another Untappd wish list item can be crossed off.

Let’s start with the color, which for something that was bottled on 6/24/19 is actually quite amazing. Ghost In The Machine is classified as an Imperial/Double IPA, but is it really? According to Parish, GITM is a Double New England IPA (Double Hazy IPA for the West Coast), but that classification isn’t official…yet. Considering all of this, the pastel orange liquid cannot be seen through.

In terms of mouthfeel and taste, Ghost exhibits a soft, grapefruit forward bite that evolves into a dry, bitter finish. The bitterness is not excessive and compliments the fruit notes which are just prominent enough to make a second sip all but required. Per style, the tasting notes land it squarely in the Double IPA range, making this a good example.

I would like to point out that Ghost In The Machine is often compared to two other very heavy hitters: 3 Floyd’s “Zombie Dust”, and Toppling Goliath’s Pseudo Sue. In truth this is not a fair comparison and it has nothing to do with bias or the breweries. What it actually comes down to is style. Zombie Dust and Pseudo Sue are both Pale Ales, while Ghost is an Imperial/Double IPA.

Did I like Ghost In The Machine? Yes. GITM is a very solid beer and punches well within the Double IPA group. Would I recommend this beer? Yes, but not to everyone. This will satisfy the beer drinker looking for an IPA that offers more citrus up front, a little sweetness and has a bit more weight to its body.

My Untappd Score: ****-1/2
Global Rating: 4.29 (as of 8/4/19)

PROST!

J.Doncevic

(Post script: Fellow writer B.Kline on The Beer Thrillers also just reviewed [on 8.22.19] Ghost in the Machine by Parish Brewing Co., the review by B.Kline can be found here: B. Kline’s Ghost in the Machine Review.)

Multiple Beer Reviews: No Use For Smugglers (Brick and Feather Brewery), Strong Suit, Glimpse (River Roost Brewery), Realism, Double Obsession (Obercreek Brewing Company) [Toeny’s Travels Flight]

BKline — Thu, 18 Jul 2019 17:43:00 +0000

Toeny’s Travels Flight (July 2019)

Wednesday last week (July 10th) kicked off a nice three day weekend for me (Thursday, Friday, Saturday), with beer events on Friday night and Saturday night, and getting to try new beers each day of the weekend (including what was my Friday night – Wednesday). Got out of work at 6PM, drove immediately to the Willowood Swim Club for my oldest two daughter’s swim meet and then as that ended at 9PM I found myself in Elizabethtown for a little while with nothing to do.

Moo-Duck closed at 9PM, so that nix-nay’d the idea of trying out their brewery (haven’t been there in quite a few months) and knowing that I was going to be at the Funk Brewery on Friday for the Moo-Funk Homebrew Event, I decided to try out the Black Gryphon.

The Black Gryphon in Elizabethtown during the day.

So at 9PM on Wednesday I got to kick off my weekend of beer events and beer fun and shenanigans in a great way. Stopping in at one of the preeminent craft beer bars in the area will certainly do that.

Upon arriving and walking in I immediately run into a good friend Christopher d’Puia (who happened to be out on a date). After a brief chat where we discussed upcoming beer events (Moo-Funk Homebrew and the Ffej of July) I went and grabbed a seat at the bar and started chatting with Toeny Morgan.

From the article about the Black Gryphon’s reopening from their fire, source: http://lancasteronline.com/

The Black Gryphon has a very impressive tap, can, and bottle list, as well as a few specialties and limited items that pop up from time to time, like the flight (one of two) that I ordered.

Toeny Morgan had recently done a vast trip to the North East (VT, NH, CT, etc, etc, etc) and brought back many gems from the various breweries he hit up there. (Anyone following him on Facebook or Untappd could have seen his travels and the various breweries and craft bottle shops he hit up.)

Deciding to take advantage of that and to get to try some breweries I haven’t been to (and most likely won’t be visiting anytime soon, and also, one of which I frankly never even heard of), I decided to order the flight.

Toeny’s Travels’ Flight. 12$ for five 5oz samplers.

For someone who likes to try out new beers and breweries and doesn’t always have a chance, this was a great opportunity and one I couldn’t pass up. It was five 5oz samplers for 12$ from three different breweries; Brick & Feather Brewery, River Roost Brewery, and Obercreek Brewing Company.

If you are a hoppy IPA fan, then this was a wonderful flight for you. So let’s tackle it and jump right in and enjoy the juice.

No Use For Smugglers by Brick & Feather Brewery

Beer: No Use For Smugglers
Brewery: Brick & Feather Brewery
Style: IPA – Imperial / Double
ABV: 8%
IBU: (blank)
Untappd Write-Up: (blank)

Brick and Feather Brewery is a small, micro brewery, out of Turner Falls Massachusetts. According to Untappd they currently have produced 52 unique beers and have an average overall rating of 4.13.

No Use For Smugglers looks like a juicy, pulpy, hoppy, DIPA, and that is exactly what it is. The appearance of pulpy orange juice is unmistakable and certainly a characteristic of can poured NEIPAs with the floaters and hop bits all circulating and going around. If you love the style or at least enjoy the style, its nothing to be worried about and you’ll find yourself loving and enjoying it. If you are not a fan of the style, usually this won’t be for you then.

The aroma is pure hop, pure dank, pure citrus. You get the upfront hop smell right away with it trailing off into the typical citrus notes of the hop varieties like Citra.

Immediately you get a hop bite and bitterness but this quickly fades into just a pure juicy NE(D)IPA that tastes completely wonderful. Just like many of the juiciest IPAs/DIPAs this gives you a full body, full mouthfeel, fully textualized hop drink with the floaters providing some nice added hop bite throughout. The citrus hop notes are the most prominent feature and you don’t get much bitterness as you drink it through as it faded into the juicyness after the first sip.

My Untappd Rating: ****
Global Untappd Rating: 4.25 (as of 7.18.19)

Strong Suit, a DIPA, from River Roost Brewery.

Beer: Strong Suit
Brewery: River Roost Brewery
Style: IPA – Imperial / Double
ABV: 8.2%
IBU: (blank)
Untappd Write-Up: (blank)

Moving on to the second sampler and the second of three breweries of this flight; River Roost Brewery. River Roost Brewery is another small microbrewery. Located in White River Junction in Vermont. Untappd lists them with 70 unique produced beers and a global average rating of 4.22.

Strong Suit is another strong, powerful, NE(D)IPA that is full of flavor, full of juice, and full of hop. This one is a bit lighter in color in comparison to Brick and Feather’s No Use For Smugglers. There’s also not quite as much in the way of floaters and pulpyness but its still hazy.

Again the aroma is spot on super hoppy and smells like the backend of the brewery, which I still believe is one of the three best smells in the world.

The flavor profile is very similar to that of the previous, but it is a bit sweeter. There is not quite as much of the hop bite to it, but more of a floral and sweeter hop characteristic that makes it have a smoother and more sweet taste as you sip her down.

My Untappd Rating: ****.25
Global Untappd Rating: 4.32 (as of 7.18.19)

Glimpse, another DIPA from River Roost Brewery

Beer: Glimpse
Brewery: River Roost Brewery
Style: IPA – Imperial / Double
ABV: 7.8%
IBU: (blank)
Untappd Write-Up: (blank)

Another DIPA from River Roost Brewery, their second of the five in this flight. This one fits the bill pretty similarly to the previous one from them, and like the one prior to that from Brick and Feather.

Coloring looks more similar to No Use For Smugglers, a darker, normal DIPA coloring, than Strong Suit’s lighter more OJ styling. But the taste is very similar to all three, but more on the hoppy bitter side of No Use For Smuggling rather than the more sweeter side of Strong Suit’s. The aroma is super hoppy perfection for all three so far.

My Untappd Rating: ****.25
Global Untappd Rating: 4.31 (as of 7.18.19)

Realism, a Blonde Ale from Obercreek Brewing Company

Beer: Realism
Brewery: Obercreek Brewing Company
Style: Blonde Ale
ABV: 5.2%
IBU: No IBU
Untappd Write-Up: (blank)

Obercreek Brewing Company is a Nanobrewery from Wappingers Falls New York. Untappd lists 68 produced (unique) beers, and a global average rating of 4.3.

Our first, (and only) non-IPA beer on this flight. Still a light hued, pretty, golden/blonde straw colored beer that is crisp, fresh, and refreshing. So far, four for four on excellent patio sippers during a hot muggy summer day watching a storm blow through.

The aroma is a bit more wheat-ish than the hoppy previous beers, and it has a good grain smell to it. Not quite like a full baked loaf of bread, but just a dough smell with some hop notes and some various lighter smells. This is a nice change in pace to the prior three.

The color is like light straw, bright, but noticeably different from the IPAs prior in this flight (and the one after this). Similar but still a stark contrast to the others in the flight.

Taste is clean, crisp, refreshing, a smooth non-IPA to clean the palate a bit. There is a creamy smoothness to it, that makes me wonder if there is some lactose involved, possibly to help the coloration and to give it some of that hazyness as well as make it a smooth creamy blonde ale.

My Untappd Rating: ****
Global Untappd Rating: 4.13 (as of 7.18.19)

Double Obsession a DIPA from Obercreek Brewing Company

Beer: Double Obsession
Brewery: Obercreek Brewing Company
Style: IPA – Imperial / Double
ABV: 8.6%
IBU: (blank)
Untappd Write-Up: (blank)

Back to the DIPAs and back to the hops. This hazy, cloudy, NE(D)IPA appearance, but with a mixture of a West Coast and an East Coast IPA taste. It has the juicy and hop bite at the same time, both refreshing and crisp, and bitter and hoppy and a punch in the mouth with hop flavor.

This was my favorite of the five, with probably the best mouthfeel, best flavor, and the best hop combination of the flight.

The look is hazy and cloudy but not as light colored as some NEIPAs and NE(D)IPAs. Not a true OJ juicy look to it, but there is some haze here, and some hop floaters and particles. Neither truly opaque nor translucent.

The aroma is a massive kick of hops right up your nostrils and into your brain stem. Like standing under a hop arbor with a rain and letting the water run through the hops and right on you….. (what, none of you have ever done this before? Oh man…. you guys need to live a little!). This probably has the best aromatics of the five tasters and much more upfront hop aroma than the others (which isn’t saying they don’t have it, just saying this is x2 their level).

From first sip there is much more hop to this than the prior ones too. Would be interested to see the hop combinations used and what the level of IBUs on this, especially in comparison to the prior ones of the flight. There is some citrus here but its more earthy hop, good hop pine flavors as well as the smoothness and some juiceness that one would attribute to being a NE(D)IPA.

This is certainly one to seek out. I mean, granted, all five were excellent beers, and I would gladly drink all of them again, but definitely this fifth one (Double Obsession).

My Untappd Rating: ****.5
Global Untappd Rating: 4.31 (as of 7.18.19)

Following this wonderful flight, I stuck around for some more time chatting with Chris and then Toeny, and getting to enjoy a totally different style and bent, a Roggenbier from Oxbow Brewing. I have already done the review for that and posted it, which can be found here: https://thebeerthrillers.home.blog/2019/07/11/beer-review-old-51-oxbow-brewing-company/ . So please be sure to check that out as well.

I would like to thank Toeny Morgan for the wonderful hospitality. Black Gryphon is a must-stop if you are in the Elizabethtown area. I would also like to thank Christopher d’Puia for buying a round. Good luck on your endeavors after Warwick. I’m sure we’ll run into each other at many future beer related events.

Look for upcoming articles about some of the recent events I got to try out:
* Moo-Funk Homebrew
* Ffej of July: 17

As well as for several upcoming beer reviews, including a side-by-side comparison beer review of the Tattered Flag pink starburst beer and the Rotunda Brewing pink starburst sWheat Tart.

-B. Kline

Beer Reviews: Saison and Hurry Up And Wait (Newfangled Brew Works)

BKline — Wed, 17 Jul 2019 01:45:00 +0000

NewFangled Brew Works

So an impromptu night out with a friend for a few drinks means…. an impromptu chance to do a beer review (or two). And as you can tell, being an impromptu review session, the pics aren’t quite up to snuff (being out with friends will make it a bit harder to get the best quality pictures, especially because I do more yapping as I drink and forget to grab that nice beautiful shot as soon as I get my beer). But I’ve been wanting to get back to Newfangled Brew Works (was there for their opening and one other time), so I’ve been wanting to show them some love here on the blog and do a review or two of their beers, and the Hurry Up and Wait was a big huge ‘deal’ so that deserves a review.

This is a two-part beer review, so not a full “multiple beer reviews” style post, but two separate beers that I got a chance to have on draft while out with friends and throwing up a review. The Hurry Up and Wait probably deserves its own post, primarily due to the massiveness behind the making of it. But, since that was done by PA Breweries and they have their own blog and Facebook group and page, its probably best that they’ve already done it anyway (and the beer has been out for quite some time now, so a rudimentary posting by me on it should suffice I believe). Just know, if you want a much more in-depth review on the creation of that beer (which was a ridiculous 20+ brewery collaboration with proceeds going to Veterans, which is a fantastic idea) you can track down the creation story and reviews on it by going to the PA Breweries Facebook page or group.

Likewise this won’t be an actual brewery review either, as it was my third (or fourth?) visit to Newfangled and I really didn’t think this was the time to do a write-up for that. But I will throw up some pictures of the place and talk about it a bit.

NewFangled Brew Works logo.

NewFangled Brew Works has been open for a bit now and been pumping out a good selection of clean, crisp, clear beers. They’ve actually been busy enough that they aren’t even getting a chance to touch their pilot small batch system that they’ve gotten and it sits collecting dust, as they try to keep up and meet demands on their regular production beers.

They like to keep their beer names low-key and simple (IPA, Saison, Double IPA, Brut IPA, Stout, (Nitro) Stout, Wheat Ale #1, Red Ale, etc.) so it should never be too hard to remember for those walking over from the development its built in, or those ordering over to the restaurant Koda. So far (according to Untappd) they’ve produced 15 different named beers, which I’ve had the pleasure of having had 9 of them so far. (Two of which were last night). So let’s get into the first one.

NewFangled Brew Works’ Saison

Beer: Saison
Brewery: NewFangled Brew Works
Style: Farmhouse Ale – Saison
ABV: 6.8%
IBU: 25
Untappd Write-Up: Just in time for summer we have a very effervescent saison using Spalter Select and Strisselspalt hops. It pairs well with sunshine on the patio.

Well, we didn’t get a chance to pair this with sunshine due to a massive storm just having rolled through the mid-state (got to drive through a lovely blast of downpour along I-81 to get from the Casino to the brewery), but it did pair nicely with friendship, chatting, and hanging out. Which is the primary purpose of any beer.

I got to meet a friend from/through work Rich Bowra and his son and daughter in law and grandson for a drink (well, two drinks) after work. Luckily for him, looking out the back window of the brewery you can see his house, so he’s in fine walking (or stumbling) distance to get home.

The saison is a nice easy sipping drink. There isn’t really a ton to go on with it though. You get the juniper and it has a nice floral sipping flavor, but there isn’t a ton of flavor.

The clarity is there and its a crystal clear light watery yellow look to it. The aroma is a light airy floral with hint of juniper. There is no head (as there’s not supposed to be one) and it does have the right carbonation to it.

The biggest knock against it is that its possibly too light. There’s not a whole lot of body and there’s not a whole lot of substance and action going on for it. There is a nice underlying dryness to it similar to champagne in a way that brings out the juniper nicely and makes it crisp and a good sipping drink for companionship and chatter.

Overall it is a perfectly serviceable beer that won’t blow anybody’s hair back but will be just enough to sit and sip and chat with.

My Untappd Rating: ***.75
Global Untappd Rating: 3.6 (as of 7.16.19)

Hurry Up and Wait, the massive brewery collaboration IPA made at NewFangled Brew Works

Been wanting to get a chance to review this or at least make a mention of it or two, just due to the sheer amount of breweries involved. This was a gigantic, massive endeavor started by the PA Brewery Facebook group/page and done with 20 some breweries all for Veterans. The proceeds of which went to Veterans and this was created here at NewFangled.

Many of the brewers from the various breweries involved in the project (you can see the guys from Tattered Flag to the right, along with Collusion, NewFangled, and many others).

The Beer Busters Podcast has an article on it here that summarizes some of the content nicely: https://beerbusterspodcast.com/breweries-in-pa-announce-details-of-hurry-up-and-wait-state-wide-collab-brew-to-support-veterans/ . So definitely give that a check-out if you want some more background information on the beer, as well as look up the PA Breweries Facebook page and group for more information.

So here’s a list of all the breweries involved in the project:
Production Brewery: NewFangled Brew Works
Breweries involved: Stony Run Brew House, Burgh’ers Brewing, Tattered Flag Brewery, Cox Brewing Company (CBC), Black Forest Brewery, 2nd Story Brewing, Aston Abbey Brewing Company, Blueprint Brewing Co, Couch Brewery, Collusion Tap Works, GearHouse Brewing Company, Hop Hill Brewing Company, Imprint Beer Co, McAllister Brewing Company, Root Down Brewing Company, Shubrew, Stone Bridge Brewing Company, Ten7 Brewing Company, Weyerbacher Brewing Company, Whitehorse Brewing LLC, Seven Sirens Brewing Co.

So as you can see…. just a few breweries were involved in the creation of this. A very diverse and large assortment of breweries from all over the state, all with Veteran workers. Some of the local to Central PA breweries on that list are: NewFangled Brew Works, Tattered Flag Brewery, Cox Brewing Company, and Collusion Tap Works. Also some big names on that list that many will recognize such as Weyerbacher Brewing and Imprint Beer Co.

A lot of hard work and a lot of planning went into the making of this beer and its great to see how it benefits the community and the Veterans.

Hurry Up and Wait at NewFangled Brew Works

Beer: Hurry Up and Wait
Brewery: NewFangled Brew Works
In Collaboration with Stony Run Brew House, Burgh’ers Brewing, Tattered Flag Brewery, Cox Brewing Company (CBC), Black Forest Brewery, 2nd Story Brewing, Aston Abbey Brewing Company, Blueprint Brewing Co, Couch Brewery, Collusion Tap Works, GearHouse Brewing Company, Hop Hill Brewing Company, Imprint Beer Co, McAllister Brewing Company, Root Down Brewing Company, Shubrew, Stone Bridge Brewing Company, Ten7 Brewing Company, Weyerbacher Brewing Company, Whitehorse Brewing LLC, Seven Sirens Brewing Co., Newfangled Brew Works
Style: IPA – Imperial / Double
ABV: 8%
IBU: 45
Untappd Write-Up: Made with Deer Creek malt and Yakima Veterans Blend hops. Proceeds from pint sales will be donated to PA Veterans Foundation.

This is a great traditional West Coast bitter IPA. It looks, smells, and tastes like the old school IPAs I grew up on before the haze craze took hold. And this stacks up against those and will stack up to any of the IPAs you grew up on as well.

The beer is a beautiful straw colored darker IPA. Has a wonderful foamy head that hangs for a bit as you drink and the golden straw hue is just dark enough to not let you fully completely see through it.

The aroma is exactly what you are wanting from an IPA. A great hoppy nose filling your nostrils with that wonderful hop smell like you’re in the backend of a brewery. (Which is honestly one of the Top 3 smells of the world.)

The drink is smooth and crisp and bitter like a good IPA should be. Has the hoppy bite and a wonderful flavor. A good dry bitter IPA with a good aftertaste that makes you wanting a second, third, and fourth, is a hallmark of a good beer done well and made well. These are the beers made for summer and made for a good long day of day-drinking and chatting and having a good time.

My Untappd Rating: ****.25
Global Untappd Rating: 3.97 (as of 7.16.19)

The Big Boy at NewFangled Brew Works

Now a few words on the NewFangled Brew Works brewery and location.

Its built into a dual building just inside of Union Station development off of Union Deposit road (off of Nye’s Road). It shares its space with a fancy dining restaurant named Koda. As I said for Rich and many of the other brewery regulars, its walking distance to their houses here in the development community (which is perfect, no driving). The restaurant attached (Koda) is fine dining and a bit pricey, but from everything I’ve been told incredible food (I’ve yet to eat there).

The brewery setup at NewFangled

They got off to a bit of a rocky start when they first opened due to some of the issues of the government shutdown at the time, and getting their own beers setup (they opened with many taps flowing, but all from local breweries like Ever Grain, St. Bonifice, Tattered Flag, and Boneshire; rather than their own). But they have since conquered that and are now actually having trouble keeping up with the demands of the regulars.

The bar area when they opened.

They are growing quickly and producing a good number of stable beers. Nothing has been too out there and crazy or ‘hair blown’ but they are producing legitimate, well done, well styled beers, and that is a good consistent presence.

The bar during the installation of tanks.

The bar is long and spacious and with plenty of seats. There is also numerous tables along the windows leading up to the small band stage. They host regular (small, local) bands, as well as do regular trivia nights and many more. They also have two ping pong tables setup, cornhole, and a few other brewery games (like giant Jenga and small games for children).

In the backend corner by the back entrance there is a “taco truck” (though its built into the wall) that has the brewery food. Obviously this is mostly taco and related foods.

All in all, if you find yourself out along Nye’s Road or Union Deposit Road or wanting to check out a new brewery, definitely give NewFangled Brew Works a check. If nothing worse you’ll get some decent food, and a nice atmosphere. The beers are nice, flowing, and everyone is very easy going. You won’t be disappointed.

-B. Kline