Mandalorian - The Beer Thrillers https://thebeerthrillers.com Central PA beer enthusiasts and beer bloggers. Homebrewers, brewery workers, and all around beer lovers. Wed, 07 Aug 2024 06:27:20 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.8.2 https://i0.wp.com/thebeerthrillers.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/cropped-The-Beer-Thrillers-December-2022-Logo.jpg?fit=32%2C32&ssl=1 Mandalorian - The Beer Thrillers https://thebeerthrillers.com 32 32 187558884 J. Wakefield Brewing Closing in Wynwood https://thebeerthrillers.com/2024/08/06/j-wakefield-brewing-closing-in-wynwood/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=j-wakefield-brewing-closing-in-wynwood Tue, 06 Aug 2024 22:30:53 +0000 https://thebeerthrillers.com/?p=15382

J Wakefield Brewing Announcing Their Closing

J Wakefield Brewing Announces Bittersweet Closing

As a nerd, a Star Wars fan, and a geek, this brewery closing hurts. J. Wakefield Brewing has become one of the powerhouse breweries along the Eastern Coast, and one of the top and premier breweries of Florida. Known for their fun, quirky, nerdy beer names and can art, and a wonderful looking taproom with great murals all over it. Today, at 5 PM, J. Wakefield Brewing announced via Facebook (and as well as Instagram) that they will be closing their Wynwood location. (Located at 120 NW 24th St, Miami, FL 33127)

All is not lost, as it does look like they are actively trying to find a new location. Hopefully sooner rather than later. No word on where or when this might come to fruition, but we will keep you updated, when we get the information ourselves.

The Announcement

The announcement made on J Wakefield Brewing’s social media

The following is the announcement J. Wakefield Brewing posted to their social media:

BREAKING NEWS
It is with a heavy heart that we share some bittersweet news with all of you. After almost a decade of serving this beloved community of Wynwood, and everyone that traveled from afar to visit our taproom, we will be closing its doors. This decision has not come easily, but the ever-changing landscape of the neighborhood has presented challenges that we can no longer navigate effectively.
We want to extend our deepest gratitude for all your unwavering support and loyalty over the years. Your presence and enthusiasm have been the heartbeat of our taproom and each Wakefest that we’ve hosted. We have cherished every pint, and every story told within these walls. It has been a privilege to be part of such a vibrant community.
While we will be saying goodbye to our current location, we want you to know that our passion for brewing remains as strong as ever. We will continue to craft the same quality beers you have come to love and will stay actively engaged in the community through events, tap takeovers, and collaborations around the city.
To all the current and past employees- Your time and dedication to JWB have been invaluable, and your contributions have played a significant role in shaping our success, creating the vibrant atmosphere that have become the entire vibe of our establishment and brand. Whether you were with JWB for a season or for several years, your presence and hard work have left a lasting impact on our team and the community we’ve built together. THANK YOU for all you’ve ever done for JWB.
We’re excited to share that we are already working on finding a new location what will allow us to serve you even better. We’ll be keeping you updated on our progress and can’t wait to welcome you our new home when the time comes.
Thank you once again for being such a crucial part of our journey. We will miss you dearly, but we look forward to seeing you at our upcoming events, and of course, at our new location in the near future.
Our last weekend open will be October 26-27
Until then, we do have some special events lined up to make our farewell a memorable one. – STAY TUNED

J. Wakefield Brewing

J. Wakefield Brewing, founded by Jonathan Wakefield in 2015, is a renowned craft brewery located in the vibrant Wynwood Arts District of Miami, Florida. This brewery quickly gained a reputation for its innovative and flavorful beers, particularly its sour ales and stouts. Jonathan Wakefield, the founder, transitioned from a career in finance to brewing, driven by his passion for craft beer. His commitment to quality and creativity has made J. Wakefield Brewing a standout in the competitive craft beer scene.

One of the most notable aspects of J. Wakefield Brewing is its focus on creating unique and experimental beers. The brewery is famous for its Berliner Weisse series, which includes a variety of fruit-infused sours that have captivated beer enthusiasts. These sours are often made with exotic fruits like guava, passionfruit, and dragon fruit, reflecting Miami’s tropical climate and diverse cultural influences. This dedication to experimentation has helped J. Wakefield Brewing carve out a niche in the craft beer market.

The brewery’s physical space is a reflection of its artistic and community-oriented spirit. The taproom features vibrant murals and graffiti art, making it a popular destination not just for beer lovers but also for art enthusiasts. The Wynwood location, known for its street art, aligns perfectly with J. Wakefield Brewing’s brand identity. This unique ambiance enhances the overall experience for visitors, making a trip to the brewery an immersive cultural experience.

Collaborations with other breweries and local businesses have also been a key part of J. Wakefield Brewing’s strategy. The brewery frequently partners with other well-known craft breweries to create limited-edition collaboration beers. These partnerships allow J. Wakefield Brewing to reach a broader audience and introduce its beers to new markets. Additionally, the brewery engages with the local community through events, festivals, and charitable initiatives, further solidifying its reputation as a community-focused business.

J. Wakefield Brewing has garnered numerous awards and accolades over the years, cementing its status as a top-tier craft brewery. Its beers have received high ratings from critics and beer enthusiasts alike, and the brewery has been featured in various publications and media outlets. The combination of innovative brewing techniques, a strong community presence, and a commitment to quality has positioned J. Wakefield Brewing as a leader in the craft beer industry. As the brewery continues to grow and evolve, it remains a testament to the dynamic and creative spirit of Miami’s craft beer scene.

Other Articles and More Information on J. Wakefield Brewing

The following comes via Untappd.

J. Wakefield Brewing is a micro brewery from Miami, FL. They have 533 unique beers and over 498,000 ratings with a global average rating of 4.09 (as of 8.6.24). Their Untappd description reads: “Handcrafting our signature Florida Weisses and world class beers in the heart of the Wynwood Arts District-Miami.

You can find them at these social media platforms:

Brewery News

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

Thank You For Reading

If you like this article, please check out our other many articles, including news, beer reviews, travelogues, maps, and much much more. We greatly appreciate everyone visiting the site!

Cheers.

Thanks again for reading everyone. Take some time to check out the site, we greatly appreciate it. We have affiliates and sponsors with Pretzels.com and Beer Drop.com, which can save you money on their products if you are interested. Check out our articles on them. Make sure to check out our beer reviews, brewery reviews, Amy’s weekly column, book reviews, hike reviews, and so much more.

As always, thank you everyone for reading! Leave your likes, comments, suggestions, questions, etc, in the comments section. Or use the Feedback – Contact Us – page, and we’ll get right back to you! You can also reach out to us at our direct e-mail address: thebeerthrillers@gmail.com

Thank you for visiting our blog. Please make sure to follow, bookmark, subscribe, and make sure to comment and leave feedback and like the blog posts you read. It will help us to better tailor the blog to you, the readers, likes and make this a better blog for everyone.

We are working on a massive project here at The Beer Thrillers. We are creating a map of all of the breweries across the United States. State by state we are adding maps of all of the different states with every brewery in each state. (We will eventually get to the US Territories, as well as the Canadian Provinces, and possibly more countries; as well as doing some fun maps like a map of all the breweries we’ve been to, and other fun maps.) You can find the brewery maps here:

We are also working on a project of creating printable and downloadable PDFs and resources to be able to check and keep track of all of the breweries you’ve been to. So stay tuned for that project once we are finished with the Brewery Maps of the US States.

You can check out our different directories here: Beer ReviewsHike ReviewsBook ReviewsBrewery News, Brewery OpeningsBrewer Interviews, and Travelogues.

Please be sure to follow us on our social media accounts – FacebookFacebook GroupTwitterInstagramYouTube, and Influence. As well as our brand new Tumblr page. 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!

You can now find us on our Discord Server here: The Beer Thrillers (Discord Server). We’ve also joined LinkTree to keep track of all of our social media pages, as well as hot new articles we’ve written.

The Beer Thrillers on LinkTree can be found here: The Beer Thrillers LinkTree.

We have partnered with an affiliateship with Beer Drop.com. You can check out that partnership and receive great discounts, coupons, and more here: Beer Drop. Going here and logging in and ordering will help you receive your discounts and coupons as well as help support our page. Thank you for helping to support The Beer Thrillers and to help us maintain the site and blog and to keep it running.

The Beer Thrillers are a blog that prides itself on writing beer reviews, brewery reviews, travelogues, news (especially local to the Central PA brewery scene), as well as covering other topics of our interests – such as hiking, literature and books, board games, and video games which we sometimes stream with our friends over at Knights of Nostalgia. We are currently listed as #7 on FeedSpot’s “Top 100 Beer Blogs” and #8 on FeedSpot’s “Top 40 Pennsylvania Blogs”. (As of January 2023.) Thank you for reading our site today, please subscribe, follow, and bookmark. Please reach out to us if you are interested in working together. If you would like to donate to the blog you can here: Donate to The Beer Thrillers. Thank you!

You can also check out our partnership and affiliation with Pretzels.com, where ordering pretzels and using our affiliate code – AFFILIATE CODE IS THEBEERTHRILLERS20 – will help you get wonderful pretzels and help us maintain and keep this blog running. Thank you!

If you would like to reach out to us for product reviews, beer reviews, press release writing, and other media – please contact us at thebeerthrillers@gmail.com. Thank you.

(Thank you for reading. The opinions, thoughts, and expressions of each article posted on The Beer Thrillers represents the author of the content and only themselves. It does not express the opinions, beliefs, or ideas held by The Beer Thrillers or any company in which the author themselves work for. Each piece of written content is written by the creator(s) listed in the authorial section on each article unless otherwise noted. Their opinions, comments, and words on screen do not represent any company in which they work for and / or are affiliated with or any non – profits that they contribute to. Thank you.)

 

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Brewery Fire Celebrates Their Fourth Anniversary: The Power of the Fourth https://thebeerthrillers.com/2023/09/19/brewery-fire-celebrates-their-fourth-anniversary-the-power-of-the-fourth/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=brewery-fire-celebrates-their-fourth-anniversary-the-power-of-the-fourth Tue, 19 Sep 2023 15:35:18 +0000 https://thebeerthrillers.com/?p=12465
The Power of the Fourth: Brewery Fire is Celebrating their Fourth Anniversary on Saturday September 23rd from 11 AM to 10 PM

May The Fourth (Anniversary) Be With You

Brewery Fire is celebrating their fourth anniversary on Saturday September 23rd, from 11 AM to 10 PM. “The Power of the Fourth” comes to Taneytown Maryland as this fantastic brewery celebrates another personal trip around (just one) the sun of Earth. (Who knows maybe someday they’ll get to celebrate traveling around the Twin Suns of Tatooine.)

Going with style – they are releasing four Star Wars themed beers for their Fourth Anniversary. They are:

  • Rye Whiskey Barrel Aged Black Kakarye
  • Imperial Mangolorian
  • Bo-katon Red IPA
  • Warrior Wicket’s Brown Ale

We have reviewed a Mangalorian in the past – Beer Review: Mangolorian (Brewery Fire) (which we reviewed on May the Fourth in 2021).

We were lucky enough to receive the four pack ahead of their Anniversary Celebration, courtesy of Brewery Fire themselves. Thank you guys so very much! We will be diving into them this week.

Look for The Beer Thrillers to be having one on air while we do our Ahsoka Review episode tomorrow night with The Knights of Nostalgia. (The YouTube video will probably air in a week.) You can find our collaboration Ahsoka Episode Reviews at The Knights of Nostalgia YouTube Channel here: Knights of Nostalgia on YouTube.

A big thank you to Brewery Fire for the courtesy beers! Be sure to check back here at the blog to see our beer reviews of each of the four beers!

Most likely with the first occurring tomorrow! Possibly connected with my Futurama Episode Reviews – which you can find at our YouTube Channel here: The Beer Thrillers on YouTube.

The Power of the Fourth

Be sure to check out Brewery Fire’s event page on Facebook: 4 Year Anniversary: Power of the Fourth!

From the about page on their events page:

Come celebrate our 4th anniversary with us! We are so appreciative of you all and we have some great beers we are excited to bring out! Besides the beer, we will have food, music, and some new merch!

Food Trucks: It’s All Good, Collision Course, and The Queens Bakery!
Music: Three Sheets and The Wind and The Brian Banks Band

We will also have 4 Anniversary beer releases!
– Limited mixed 12oz four packs including:
Rye Whiskey Barrel Aged Black Kakarye
Imperial Mangolorian
Bo-katon Red IPA
Warrior Wicket’s Brown Ale

We will also be release an amazing 4th Anniversary T-shirt!

We will post pictures as we brew the beers so you can see the progress!

4 Year Anniversary: Power of the Fourth! (Facebook Event Page)
The Power of the Fourth – Brewery Fire’s Fourth Anniversary Celebration Beers

The Discussion Tab on the events page has some wonderful pics of the beers being transferred to the brite tank, as well as post – packaging. This is really shaping up to be a fantastic event with some amazingly good beers! (I know I can’t wait to dive into mine.)

Brewery Fire is located at 4337 Old Taneytown Road STE B, Taneytown, MD, United States, Maryland.

Our Other Brewery Fire Articles

  • Beer Review: Mangalorian (Brewery Fire)
  • Hiking at Cunningham Falls State Park and Visiting Flood Zone Marketplace and Brewery and Brewery Fire (with Ming)
  • Stopping at Fourscore Beer Co. and Visiting Brewery Fire (with Amy)

For More Information on Brewery Fire

The following comes from Untappd. Brewery Fire is a nano brewery from Taneytown, Maryland. They have 289 unique beers with over 14,000 ratings and a global average rating of 3.87 (as of 9.19.23). Their Untappd description reads: “Small batch craft brewery and tasting room.”

You can follow them at the following social media pages:

Brewery News

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

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:

Zelda:

Rick and Morty:

Space Balls:

Game of Thrones:

The Simpsons:

Back to the Future:

Scrooged:

Groundhog Day:

A Christmas Story:

The Peanuts:

Pro Wrestling:

Soccer:

World Cup:

Phillies:

Matrix:

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles:

HP Lovecraft / Cthulhu:

Seinfeld:

The Muppets:

Other:

Thank You For Reading

If you like this article, please check out our other many articles, including news, beer reviews, travelogues, maps, and much much more. We greatly appreciate everyone visiting the site!

Cheers.

Thanks again for reading everyone. Take some time to check out the site, we greatly appreciate it. We have affiliates and sponsors with Pretzels.com and Beer Drop.com, which can save you money on their products if you are interested. Check out our articles on them. Make sure to check out our beer reviews, brewery reviews, Amy’s weekly column, book reviews, hike reviews, and so much more.

As always, thank you everyone for reading! Leave your likes, comments, suggestions, questions, etc, in the comments section. Or use the Feedback – Contact Us – page, and we’ll get right back to you! You can also reach out to us at our direct e-mail address: thebeerthrillers@gmail.com

Thank you for visiting our blog. Please make sure to follow, bookmark, subscribe, and make sure to comment and leave feedback and like the blog posts you read. It will help us to better tailor the blog to you, the readers, likes and make this a better blog for everyone.

We are working on a massive project here at The Beer Thrillers. We are creating a map of all of the breweries across the United States. State by state we are adding maps of all of the different states with every brewery in each state. (We will eventually get to the US Territories, as well as the Canadian Provinces, and possibly more countries; as well as doing some fun maps like a map of all the breweries we’ve been to, and other fun maps.) You can find the brewery maps here:

We are also working on a project of creating printable and downloadable PDFs and resources to be able to check and keep track of all of the breweries you’ve been to. So stay tuned for that project once we are finished with the Brewery Maps of the US States.

You can check out our different directories here: Beer ReviewsHike ReviewsBook ReviewsBrewery News, Brewery OpeningsBrewer Interviews, and Travelogues.

Please be sure to follow us on our social media accounts – FacebookFacebook GroupTwitterInstagramYouTube, and Influence. As well as our brand new Tumblr page. 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!

You can now find us on our Discord Server here: The Beer Thrillers (Discord Server). We’ve also joined LinkTree to keep track of all of our social media pages, as well as hot new articles we’ve written.

The Beer Thrillers on LinkTree can be found here: The Beer Thrillers LinkTree.

We have partnered with an affiliateship with Beer Drop.com. You can check out that partnership and receive great discounts, coupons, and more here: Beer Drop. Going here and logging in and ordering will help you receive your discounts and coupons as well as help support our page. Thank you for helping to support The Beer Thrillers and to help us maintain the site and blog and to keep it running.

The Beer Thrillers are a blog that prides itself on writing beer reviews, brewery reviews, travelogues, news (especially local to the Central PA brewery scene), as well as covering other topics of our interests – such as hiking, literature and books, board games, and video games which we sometimes stream with our friends over at Knights of Nostalgia. We are currently listed as #7 on FeedSpot’s “Top 100 Beer Blogs” and #8 on FeedSpot’s “Top 40 Pennsylvania Blogs”. (As of January 2023.) Thank you for reading our site today, please subscribe, follow, and bookmark. Please reach out to us if you are interested in working together. If you would like to donate to the blog you can here: Donate to The Beer Thrillers. Thank you!

You can also check out our partnership and affiliation with Pretzels.com, where ordering pretzels and using our affiliate code – AFFILIATE CODE IS THEBEERTHRILLERS20 – will help you get wonderful pretzels and help us maintain and keep this blog running. Thank you!

If you would like to reach out to us for product reviews, beer reviews, press release writing, and other media – please contact us at thebeerthrillers@gmail.com. Thank you.

If you would like to help keep the blog running soundly and smoothly, you may donate to us to help us keep the costs of the blog to a minimum. We greatly appreciate it. Thank you. (Clicking this link will take you to the page to make a donation. Thank you very much for helping us stay afloat!)

(Thank you for reading. The opinions, thoughts, and expressions of each article posted on The Beer Thrillers represents the author of the content and only themselves. It does not express the opinions, beliefs, or ideas held by The Beer Thrillers or any company in which the author themselves work for. Each piece of written content is written by the creator(s) listed in the authorial section on each article unless otherwise noted. Their opinions, comments, and words on screen do not represent any company in which they work for and / or are affiliated with or any non – profits that they contribute to. Thank you.)

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Mead Review: The Meadalorian (Space Time Mead and Cider Works) https://thebeerthrillers.com/2022/01/12/mead-review-the-meadalorian-space-time-mead-and-cider-works/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=mead-review-the-meadalorian-space-time-mead-and-cider-works Wed, 12 Jan 2022 13:12:23 +0000 https://thebeerthrillers.com/?p=8546
The Meadalorian by Space Time Mead and Cider Works

Mead

Hang in there with me on this one, for this is my first mead review here on the blog. I was originally just gonna keep it the same “Beer Review: The Meadalorian” but thought about it some, and decided with it being mead, that it needed its own category and section, so thus – Mead Review rather than Beer Review for the title of the article. So this is my first mead review here on the blog (as a direct full review).

I picked up the mead when we visited Scranton and stopped at the meadery completely by happenstance. You can read about our trip to Scranton. “Travelogue: Scrambling around Scranton.” The Space Time meadery was a cool little hang out, we tasted and sampled several of the meads, and the store inside was decked out very cool (especially if your a space nerd). Fully recommend stopping in if you are in the Scranton area.

As I’ve said, this is my first time reviewing mead fully on here, I will do it similar to that of beer reviews, but just let it be forewarned that while I enjoy mead, I am not nearly as much of a connoisseur of mead or as knowledgeable about mead as I am about beer. (If I can really be said to be knowledgeable about beer either.) So just take this for what it is then.

Star Wars

This is week three of my doing Star Wars themed beer reviews (every Wednesday until the completion of ‘The Book of Boba Fett’ I will be doing a Star Wars themed beer – or in this case mead – review). Previously I’ve covered:

I have done plenty of other Star Wars themed beers as well, and they’ll be linked at the end of this article.

Just like last week, you can join in on the discussion forums about The Book of Boba Fett, by going to these forums:

Despite what the timer says on my stove in the beer picture (…yes…. I haven’t set the timer on it yet…. my microwave hasn’t been set either, that just blinks 00:00 at me; the stove is just completely way off), I uncorked this mead at 9PM and started drinking it then. I had gotten off work at 6PM, had dinner with my parents, and came home to have this so I could write up the review and be all ready to go with it before having to go to work on Wednesday – the next day.

Firstly, let me say I don’t have a wine pen or wine opener, or de-corker, or whatever fancy term they use. I am about as far from a wine enthusiast or expert as they come. So I used a screwdriver, and in the process, ended up making a mess of wood, and dropping the cork down in. ….as Vonnegut would say – So It Goes.

While enjoying my adult beverage, my friend over at The Knights of NostalgiaDrew – streamed the second part of his Majora’s Mask randomizer, and I watched / listened as I played a game of SW:CCG on GEMP.

I’ve recently gotten back into SW:CCG and started looking up the cards on GEMP and playing games on there (three games so far, 1-2 so far). GEMP is an online format to play the old SW:CCG game (Star Wars Customizable Card Game). You can find the site and program here: GEMP-SWCCG. The PC (Players Committee) oversees it, and runs the program and website, and also offers several tournaments through it (especially now with COVID-19 and the pandemic, which has caused a lot less gaming in person, and has driven many more players to the online tournaments). I built an AOBS deck for DS (Agents of the Black Sun) and a Communing deck based around Qui-Gon for LS.

So I got a game in last night while sipping this delicious mead (I lost, by 15 Force Differential. I played against a Shadow Collective deck, which was based primarily on the Crimson Dawn from the Solo movie). I haven’t played the game in roughly 7 – to – 8 years, so there was a lot of reading cards in this game, and despite not knowing what 98% of them did, I think I somewhat held my own.

But enough about my blabbering about nerd crap, let’s get to the review.

Mead Review

Mead: The Meadalorian
Brewery: Space Time Mead and Cider Works
Style: Mead – Traditional
ABV: 12.1%
IBU: None
Untappd Description: This is the way! A medium dry/semi sweet traditional mead using Locust blossom honey. A nice replacement for a semi dry white grape wine!

Space Time Mead and Cider Works is located in Dunmore; basically the suburbs of Scranton. They have 62 unique beers (or meads) and have a total of 707 ratings. They are considered a Meadery. They have a global average rating of 3.93 as of 1.11.22. Their Untappd description reads: “Space Time Mead & Cider Works’ mission is to produce the highest quality and innovative craft mead (honey wine), cider, and wine in a manner that respects the past and works for a better future, while living in the present.”

Aroma for this is a wonderful grape like, dry wine smell. Its got a dry wine smell that really hits, but at closer whiff, it gives off a lovely sweet smelling of honey. I picture it like a good Thanksgiving wine, one that is dueling with its dryness and sweetness at the same time.

Appearance is crystal clear with a light off clear / yellow hue to it. Like a dry grape wine coloring. Or similar to champagne. Which it also has some of the sparkling and bubbles of champagne, especially after pouring or moving the glass around. It looks honeyed. Its clear and translucent (with the hue that it has), a slight haze cloudiness to it (almost oil like way of looking through it like clear dry wine has when looking through glasses of white wine). It swishes around in the glass nicely.

Oooooh boy, for someone who isn’t a traditional mead drinker, or wine drinker, this has got some kick to it. I mean, I enjoy a high ABV beer (in fact, I actually LOVE the higher ABV beers, particularly stouts), but this kicks and hits in a different way. Not bad! Just not the way this ol’ country bumpkin beer drinker is used to (thats all)! I am totally digging it though (like a Tusken Raider prisoner digging for some black fruits for their milk in a hot Tatooine desert). This is dry…. dry like…. Tatooine? (Oh… what a theme I’m building here! I’m a regular Billy Shakespeare.) It has a white grape, dry, wine line taste, but mixed with a honeyed sweetness. Like the two are married together… stuck in a perpetual orbit…. like two Twin Suns over a hot planet….. BOOOM! NAILED IT AGAIN! (Am I killing it with these analogies or what?!). This is certainly refreshing to my palate of beers, and I am really enjoying it. It does certainly taste boozy (and it should at 12.1%) but I also feel like most / if not all meads typically taste boozy (even the lower ABV ones). This is a warming drink, as in it just makes you warm up drinking it, and flushes them cheeks right up. And as the mead itself warms up and settles in the glass, I think it tastes even better. There is a slight crispness to it, but the sweetness really overrides the dryness and crispness and finishes it out. There’s no bad aftertaste, and no cotton mouth like I’ve had with some dry wines in the past. The mouth feel felt just right, nothing cloying, nothing too heavy or watery. Everything about this was just good, from the first sip to the last and just felt good. Was a wonderful drink from the top of the glass to the bottom and I certainly enjoyed every single second of it (even while losing my game, and listening to Drew getting stuck and frustrated on his Majora’s Mask randomizer). This was great. If you have the chance are in the Scranton / Dunmore area, make sure you stop in at Space Time Mead and Cider works. The owner is a wonderful dude and knows his stuff, and is a huge space nerd (so right there is a win in my books). I have a Futurama mead from them yet to review as well, which I will probably be doing in the days to come.

My Untappd Rating: ****.25
Global Average Untappd Rating: 4.23 (as of 1.12.22)

Some YouTube Videos

Looking for some background info on The Book of Boba Fett, or just more fun YouTube videos? Check these out:

How Are the Hutts so Powerful despite being huge fat space slugs
Who is Black Krrsantan and Why He is Important to The Book of Boba Fett

Star Wars and Legos

As you may have noticed, I am getting more and more into Star Wars Legos and using them more and more in the pictures for these Star Wars beers. Legos are the newer, more hipster, more fun version of the old school models our dads built and made. Or their better puzzles. Or… their just plain freaking cool and fun. Take your pick. But needless to say, I am addicted to buying more and more Lego sets and building more and more of them. To see some of the sets, and to see some of my Star Wars pics, and just our travels and beer pics in general, make sure to follow us on Instagram:

The Book of Boba Fett

I am going to refrain from discussing this week’s episode too much here. But I will say, there is a few interesting things, and I won’t really spoil them. Overall, I wasn’t a huge fan of this week’s episode. But I do like that they progressed the present timeline storyline much more than they have in the past. Some interesting cameos and surprise actors, some homages, and the typical Star Wars cliches abound. Let me know what your thoughts are in the comments. Will be interested in what you all think of this week’s episode.

Wanna check out more nerdy beers we’ve reviewed?

If you are interested in our other nerdy, pop culture, and branded beer reviews, you can check out the following:

Star Wars:

Rick and Morty:

Space Balls:

Game of Thrones:

The Simpsons:

Back to the Future:

Scrooged:

A Christmas Story:

Pro Wrestling:

Matrix:

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles:

Seinfeld:

Other:

Thanks for Reading

As always, thank you everyone for reading! Leave your likes, comments, suggestions, questions, etc, in the comments section. Or use the Feedback – Contact Us – page, and we’ll get right back to you!

If you like Star Wars and like our Star Wars themed beers, be sure to check out every Wednesday while The Book of Boba Fett is airing, as I will do a new Star Wars themed beer each week!

Thanks for reading, and cheers everyone!

-B. Kline

Thank you for visiting our blog. Please make sure to follow, bookmark, subscribe, and make sure to comment and leave feedback and like the blog posts you read. It will help us to better tailor the blog to you, the readers, likes and make this a better blog for everyone.

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Beer Review: Mangolorian (Brewery Fire) https://thebeerthrillers.com/2021/05/04/beer-review-mangolorian-brewery-fire/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=beer-review-mangolorian-brewery-fire Tue, 04 May 2021 13:24:05 +0000 https://thebeerthrillers.com/?p=7638
The Mangolorian by Brewery Fire

May the Fourth Be With You! Been waiting to post this beer review up here on the blog. Been keeping it on the backburner just for this day. (This review has been written and revised and edited and updated time over time, and I’ve just been waiting for the perfect time to upload it – and what more perfect time than May the Fourth?)

As anyone familiar with this blog will know, I am a huge Star Wars nerd and if there’s a Star Wars themed beer, then its gonna get reviewed as soon as I’m able to try it and review it.

Back in early January me and my friend Ming hiked in Maryland and visited Flood Zone Brewery and Brewery Fire (January 2nd). Turned out Brewery Fire is known for their pop culture beers (they had Simpsons referenced ones, like Eat My Shorts Dude, and Star Wars themed ones, etc.). I had grabbed this as a four pack and took it with me to go.

January 2nd, 2021

Going back to when we visited the brewery and everything, lets start with the day. You can read more about it here: “Catoctin Mountain Hike, Flood Zone Brewery and Marketplace, and Brewery Fire”. This was a day hike me and Ming did in Maryland on the Catoctin Mountain, which then led to us stopping at the Flood Zone Marketplace and Brewery for food and drinks, and then at Brewery Fire on the way home.

The hike was pretty and nice, but muddy (had rained two days prior). Flood Zone Brewery was very nice, and even had live music, which is always nice, especially back in January, where in Pennsylvania you wouldn’t have been even able to go into a brewery to sit and drink or eat (due to the second shut down of COVID-19), so that was a nice added treat. We then stopped at Brewery Fire on the way back home to Mount Joy – to drop Ming off before I headed home.

Brewery Fire Mural

We drank (well, I drank) outside, since Ming didn’t really feel like going inside and be around people more than he had to (can’t say I blame him on this really, COVID or no COVID). The coolest feature about the Brewery Fire venue was the large pop culture mural on their wall. Which you can see in this group of pictures I took here:

How many pop culture references do you get? How many characters do you recognize? Hopefully it’s a lot. And its a pretty interesting and diverse grouping too, and I like the interchange of most of them. The artwork is also well done.

Sad to say, Ming only got a few of the references. Do you think you can do better than him? Hopefully, if not, I doubt you’d be reading this blog anyway with the sheer pop culture references and nerd-isms that I throw on here.

Brewery Fire

As I’ve done with past recent beer reviews, I’m devoting a section of each review to the brewery itself behind the creation. Brewery Fire is a pretty small venue and brewery located on the backend of a bowling alley. Me and Ming had to do a drive through the parking lot to find it, even with the sign at the road, the actual location and entrance is a bit tricky and hard to find.

According to Untappd, Brewery Fire is a nano brewery with 126 unique beers, and 6,480 ratings (as of 5.4.21). It has a global average rating of 3.89. The Untappd description reads: “Small batch craft brewery and tasting room.” They are located in Taneytown, Maryland. You can check out their Untappd page here: Brewery Fire (on Untappd).

While I was there, I had a flight of their beers, and grabbed the Mangolorian as a four pack to take with me. My flight consisted of: Black Ka’kaRYE, The Chrystal Calls, The Hero of Canton Drinks the Best Rum in the House!, and Eat My Shorts, Dude. My ratings for them: Black Ka’karye – 3.75, The Chrystal Calls – 4, The Hero of Canton – 3.75, and Eat My Shorts – 4.

Beer Review

As you can see this was a beer I got in January, but drank that night, as well as several other nights. The review portion of this post was written in March after the latest time I had the beer. (Don’t worry, the IPA held up, plus, I had the notes from the first times I had drank it, in case it didn’t.)

(This portion of the blog post has not been touched since it was written, the above sections were, and then the ending of the post was, but the actual review is as it was since March, with only the average rating changed to reflect the date and updated for any change in the overall score.)

Interesting note here – the beer on Untappd was originally The Mangolorian, as well as it saying so on the can, but if you look up the beer now, it is only just “Mangolorian” on Untappd. Not sure why the name change, but this is just an interesting fact that I’ve noticed from when I first drank it – January 2nd, til now – March 16th. So sometime in this period there was a name change at least insofar as Untappd goes.

Beer: Mangolorian
Brewery: Brewery Fire
Style: IPA – American
ABV: 6%
IBU: 40
Untappd Description: This beer is dry hopped with Vic Secret hops which is perfectly accented by a copious amount of Mango. This is the way.

Obviously, this better be Mango flavored and scented, otherwise… well… that would just be a fail right? And that is most certainly NOT THE WAY. Thankfully, this is very mango forward, so problem solved, and it fits all criteria, and thus, adheres to the way.

So lets start off with the appearance. It looks clean and crisp, it has a lighter color west coast IPA look to it, a bit bubbly and almost a champagne look to it with its effervescence. It is clear and see through with a nice amber hue. It has a decent small foamy head to it that retains for a fair bit of time, and it leaves some lacing on the glass.

Moving on to aroma, you certainly get its namesake – it smells just like a Mandalorian would…. I mean… it smells very heavy mango. Not very heavy Mandalorian. Which is probably a good thing, because I can only imagine what a warrior trapped in Mandalorian armor would smell like after an intense day of bounty hunting…. *shudders*…. poor Baby Yoda (Gogru!). If you are a mango fan, then this is a treat, if not, you probably should just pass on this beer altogether. It has a very strong and upfront nose of mango, that then gets a bit hoppy, but the mango still is the strongest nose to this bad boy.

I would best describe this as a ‘dry IPA’. Its the “old school” (god, do I feel old having to describe ‘regular’ IPAs as “old school”) West Coast style IPA. The mango is interesting in the flavor for this, compared to the nose of it. On the nose, I thought the mango was very strong and powerful, but in the flavor its a bit of a different story. And its almost a ‘by the can’ type thing. The one can I had, the mango flavor was pretty strong, but the other three, it was much more subtle and in the background. A friend who had visited the brewery before (unbeknownst to me, he had it at a different time, and I had never even heard of this brewery or knew he went there until we discussed it), he had it on draft and had two pints of it, he said it was subtle to slightly more upfront in draft. The first pint he said it was very much in the background instead of the forefront, and in the second it was a bit more forefront, but this could also be because it was his second draft of the same beer. It is a pretty light and crushable IPA, and not a hazard to drink the whole four pack yourself in one sitting. It only clocks in at 6% so it’s not too strong, and at 40 IBU’s, its not a palate wrecker. I wouldn’t label it a “Session IPA” but its certainly on the lighter side of things (for example – Troegs’ flagship IPA – Perpetual IPA – is a 7.5% and 85 IBU). This is sort of a dry IPA but still flavorful with a nice hoppy flavor and mango taste (be it forward or background). The Vic Secret hops are a nice combination with the dryness and the mango flavor. It has some champagne characteristics (possibly champagne yeast?) that ties in with the dryness. Nothing is off flavored, and nothing is too strong or overpowering or cancels out anything else, there’s no cloying, or poor taste, and the mouthfeel feels right on, not too heavy, not too slick or light. No bad aftertaste and nothing off putting.

My Untappd Rating: ****
Global Average Untappd Rating: 3.94 (as of 5.4.21) (Originally: 3.96 as of 3.17.21).

Star Wars

How is everyone else planning on spending May the Fourth? Last year I posted an article (a listicle) of some of our various Star Wars themed beers and activities – which you can see here: “May the Fourth Be With You (2020)“.

Since then I’ve done quite a few more Star Wars themed beer reviews, and to see them, you can look at this list here:

I’m sure there will be plenty more in the future. If you know of any Star Wars themed beers that should be on my horizon and on my wish list, please make sure to leave me a comment, and if you can help me track them down, all the better! I guarantee I’ll review them here on the blog.

So how is everyone spending their Star Wars day? I’m currently working my way through Alexander Freed’s book 1 of the Alphabet Squadron trilogy “Alphabet Squadron” (aptly named huh?). I’ve been slow reading it, but it’s been pretty good.

Also today – Bad Batch airs on Disney+, so I’ll be checking that out after work, as well as hopefully posting up a Star Wars themed book review. So be on the lookout for that this evening. (Fingers crossed.)

To see the Bad Batch trailer, check that out here: Bad Batch Official Disney+ YouTube Trailer.

Hope everyone has a tremendous Star Wars day! May the Fourth Be With You! And cheers everyone, there is light at the end of this tunnel of COVID, and its looking like we’re getting through it. People are getting vaccinated, places are opening up, the dawn is breaking. Like Star Wars always espousing about hope, so we are hopeful here too at The Beer Thrillers. Enjoy a delicious Star Wars beer today, speak like Yoda all day, and Be Kind to everyone and have a great day!

Cheers!

-B. Kline

Thanks for reading everyone!

Thank you for visiting our blog. Please make sure to follow, bookmark, subscribe, and make sure to comment and leave feedback and like the blog posts you read. It will help us to better tailor the blog to you, the readers, likes and make this a better blog for everyone.

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

The various pop culture / nerd culture beer reviews we’ve done here on The Beer Thrillers:

Star Wars:

Space Balls:

Game of Thrones:

The Simpsons:

Back to the Future:

Scrooged:

A Christmas Story:

Pro Wrestling:

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles:

Other:

More Info:

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7638
Beer Review: This is The Whey (Bolero Snort Brewery) https://thebeerthrillers.com/2020/12/18/beer-review-this-is-the-whey-bolero-snort-brewery/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=beer-review-this-is-the-whey-bolero-snort-brewery Fri, 18 Dec 2020 15:48:40 +0000 https://thebeerthrillers.com/?p=6521 So Tuesday night, while snorting around at Breski’s Beverage, filling out two mix-a-six packs, trying to get a good healthy sampling of beers to survive the Snowmageddon 2020 or “2020: The Season Finale”, I found this on the walk in cooler freeze shelf with some of the other Bolero Snort beers. Always been a huge fan of Bolero Snort. They are always one of the must stop at tents at the Atlantic City Music and Beerfest that me and my buddies go to every year…. ….except 2020….. *insert sad face and low whistle sound*…. Anyhoo…. they are always fun beers, good beers, and have some great names. I usually pick up one beer from them whenever doing a mix a six there; usually for the purposes of this blog, and because I love their beers. (I have several beers of theres with half-written reviews that I need to finish out, like the Hoofa beer – like Jimmy HOFFA but instead its HOOFA…. and Mue? instead of CLUE its MUE…. get it?). Anyway… you will most likely be seeing a few reviews of Bolero Snort in the near future, so if you enjoy their beers, or enjoy me making cow and bull related puns…. hold onto your antlers you are in for a treat! (Oh… no…. its already started.)

But enough of that. This isn’t about cow related punnery, this is about STAR WARS…. don’t you like STAR WARS? (Try to do that in your best RLM / Red Letter Media impersonation… if you know who they are; which you might, based on the Mr. Plinkett reviews of Episodes One, Two, and Three, you’ll understand what I meant there.)

The season finale of The Mandolin…. I mean…. The Mandalorian Season 2, just came out today, and just ended, and wrapped up the season. Have no fear, this review is spoiler free. As much as I really want to dive into it, and discuss the show and all the spoilers, I’m not going to, so have no fear… I won’t talk about how Darth Vader rises up from the dead and joins Darth Bane and Freedon Nodd to take over the galaxy, but luckily the Mandalorian with Jango Fett (who is also resurrected, though headless), get off two lucky shots killing them all in a fiery explosion aboard the Death Star III and saves the galaxy at the last second….. oh…. no…… I spoiled it all. I ruined everything!

This is the Way

So as we all know, Season 2 of the Mandalorian establishes that the big baddie is Moff Gideon, that he’s done evil things, he’s a Moff, he’s Giancarlo Esposito, ie. Gustavo Fring, ie. a suave dude you don’t want to **** with. This season, we’ve gotten to see a lot of cool things, and here I will drop a few spoilers for past episodes, so if you don’t want to read about things that aired several weeks ago then don’t read the next few sentences of my blog, and just skip down past the next .gif where you will be safe and spoiler free again. So…. here comes the spoilers, so tune out here. In Season 2, we’ve gotten to see that The Child or “Baby Yoda” now has a name – Gogru, we’ve gotten Ashoka coming back (as Rosario Dawson), we’ve gotten Thrawn’s name thrown out there, Boba Fett coming back with his ship Slave One, as well as seeing the Mandalorians like Bo-Katan and several others (one of whom is played by Mercedes Vernado aka Sasha Banks from WWE – who is also related to Snoop Dogg by the way), and overall lots of cool things have happened in this season. The finale is set to look like its going to be Mando, Gina Carrano’s character, Fett, and the Mandalorians taking on Moff Gideon to rescue Baby Yoda… err… Gogru. Ok… so, now heading back to non-spoiler territory now.

Awww…. look how cute Baby Yoda is…..

Ok, and we’re back into non-spoiler territory. Hopefully you are still reading this. As everyone knows who has done any reading on this blog, I am a huge Star Wars fan. (My youngest daughter is named Mara – named after Mara Jade; who ended up being Luke’s wife in the old Star Wars EU [Expanded Universe] before Disney “deleted it” to make their new Expanded Universe with the Sequel Trilogy and other movies, books, comics, and shows.) I have covered several Star Wars themed beers on the blog before, which you can see here (most are Mandalorian themed):

Actually, in fact, I’ve done a lot of pop culture related beer reviews, and Josh has done a few as well. I’ll link them all at the very bottom of this beer review, in case you want to see what all pop culture and nerd culture beers we’ve covered (everything from Space Balls, to Back to the Future, to Seinfeld, to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles).

And there’s nothing really wrong with doing pop culture beer reviews right? I enjoy doing them, because then it gives me something to talk about on here, more than just saying, “Ok, this is a nice color…. this smells nice… I like how the hops work together….”

Don’t You Agree?

Craft beers and pop culture go hand in hand too. Due to naming, and trying to find market shares, a lot of breweries do themed names and borderline IP (intellectual property) theft to sell their beers. Which is actually a big debate and something I might cover at some point here on the blog. How much do craft breweries owe to these properties they steal from? Is using something like the Mandalorian and calling your beer “This is the Way” by Broken Goblet a bad thing? Is it IP theft? Are they indebted to Star Wars, Lucasfilm, etc? Honestly, I don’t know, and its a big debate and controversial topic to talk about. Theres a lot of factors on both sides. I enjoy doing pop culture and nerd culture beers and covering them, so in a way, I kind of feed off on this, so I guess I am a bit guilty of it all too. Like I said, who knows, maybe I’ll cover this in a big opinion piece sometime in the near future here on the blog. If I do, be sure to check it out please. (Shameless shill there.)

But, I think we’ve discussed enough about everything else other than the beer, and this is a beer review afterall, so lets get to the beer itself!

This is the Whey by Bolero Snort Brewery

Beer: This is the Whey
Brewery: Bolero Snort Brewery
Style: IPA – Imperial / Double
ABV: 8.4%
IBU: None
Untappd Description: The force is strong with this one. The next entry in our Steer Wars Saga, This is the Whey is our tribute to the gunslinger from Moondalore. Make no Fetts about it, this big Corellian vessel comes in at 8% packed with Galaxy, Bru-1, and Cryo Idaho-7, and is sure to make you feel like you’re covered in some Besko Armor drinking some intergalactic tropical juice!

Gotta love all those puns in that Untappd description! (Though…. I do want to point out – its BESKAR armor, nor BESKO armor…. but anyway….)

Appearance for this is similar to a New England IPA, more than just a regular IPA. Actually, I would say its more of an ‘in between the two’ type. Its golden to honeyed color, its darker, and a bit richer looking than a New England IPA, and its not as unfiltered or hazy, but it is darker, not opaque, but also not see through. It has a nice white foamy head, and great carbonation out of the can.

Aroma is very hop heavy, and an interesting combination of hops too, with Galaxy, Bru-1, and the new Cryo style of hop with Idaho-7. Cryo hops are newer, and are more concentrated hops basically. They are a way to get extreme, concentrated bittering oils out of hops, and are very high alpha acid. This is very strong hop nose because of this, a very heavy hop pine, tropical fruit, citrus, and smells very good. Borderline pungent, but in the right way. Super strong, but good.

Taste is certainly interesting on this bad boy, and I love it. I think the cryo hop use of Idaho-7 and Galaxy is really good. Galaxy is a fun hop and I love the profile on it. Its very citrus, between the Galaxy and the Idaho-7 hops (which are in concentrated form too), you get a very strong, hop presence, mostly citrus, a lot of pine, some peach, passion fruit, earthy notes. I also get a bit of pineapple, some stone fruit like apricot, which all might be from the Bru-1 hops, not 100% sure on that, I’m not too familiar with Bru-1 hops. There is a bit of a kick to this beer in the hop department, its not full juicy and dank like a New England IPA would be, but its not a full bitter West Coast style IPA either. I think its a nice middle ground between the two, and would probably appeal to fans of both styles. It is a bit strong at 8.4%, but you don’t outright taste it, but you can feel it creep up pretty quickly. This is still a smooth drink, and has a nice mouthfeel too, its not too heavy, its not thin or slick or watery, it tastes right, there’s no off flavors, nothing acidic, nothing cloying, nothing too bitter, nothing out of place with the flavors or the malts or hops, no bad aftertaste, you won’t be burping this up hours later, its a very well done, well crafted beer. The beer looks nice in a glass, it has good carbonation out of the can, it leaves nice lacing on the glass, it has an amazing aroma, especially if your a hophead, and it tastes like a fine IPA. A middle of the way IPA between New England IPA and West Coast IPA. Its strong at 8.4% so you can’t really full kill a 4 pack of this by yourself (well… I mean… I guess you could, if you want to… but I hope you’re safely tucked in at home watching The Mandalorian on TV in your pajamas and have already called it a night anyway), but its also not so strong as to fully knock you on your butt right out of the gate on one of these. This was a great pickup at Breski’s Beverage for me, I think it was the last one on their mix a six shelf too when I was there, and at 5.99$ for the can, it was definitely well priced. I fully, highly recommend everyone grabbing one of these if you see it out on shelves, either in four packs or in singles, not sure if its on draft, but if it is, I still recommend it that way too. The can art is also stellar, and I always love the Mandalorian themed can arts (like Tattered Flag’s The Pandalorian), and this fits that bill.

My Untappd Rating: ****
Global Untappd Rating: 3.96 (as of 12.18.20)

This is The Whey by Bolero Snort

See, just look at that can art, isn’t it beautiful? Its a Baby Yoda as a Baby Bull, and the Mandalorian is a Bull / Cow Mandalorian. Its great. There’s even little Millennium Falcons on it, and sound effect words on it too. Great beer, great can art. I do love Bolero Snort too, from the brewery and the workers to their presence at the AC Beerfest, to their pun beers, great stuff from them, make sure to check them out if you haven’t before.

Hopefully you all have gotten to watch The Mandalorian Season 2 finale now. I will be interested in hearing your comments and thoughts on it, be sure to leave them in the comment section here. Love hearing from you guys either way, especially about The Mandalorian and Star Wars and craft beer. Check out the reviews below of other Star Wars beers or other pop culture / nerd culture beers too. Thanks for reading everyone, stay safe and healthy during this pandemic, make sure to wash your hands, stay distant, mask up, etc., we’re getting near the end of it. I’m off to Tattered Flag in about an hour to do a canning day, so be sure to read about that in the near future too. I always enjoy my canning days there. (Nothing like getting to crack open beers and drink early in the day while “doing work”.) I was at Boneshire Brew Works yesterday, sitting out in the cold drinking with Drew, and we went back and watched Santa’s Slay, Silent Night Deadly Night (we watch this every year), and Silent Night Deadly Night II, and drank quite a few Other Half beers (so you can expect some beer reviews of those), and somehow I was still able to wake up at 7:30AM, despite only leaving his house at 2:40AM and getting gas. Tonight is also a Christmas type party with Ming and Don at their place, and I’m supposed to get up bright and early tomorrow, we’ll see how that goes. But, you will be getting lots of beer reviews in the near future, especially since I’m still furloughed until (at least) January 4th. We’re also 5 days away from Festivus everyone, so Happy Holidays is an expression we can now start using. Alright, see you guys hopefully at a brewery in the near future, and hopefully you’ll be back to read future articles here on The Beer Thrillers. Cheers!

-B. Kline

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

The various pop culture / nerd culture beer reviews we’ve done here on The Beer Thrillers:

Star Wars:

Space Balls:

Game of Thrones:

The Simpsons:

Back to the Future:

Scrooged:

Pro Wrestling:

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles:

Other:

Search for ‘Star Wars’ on The Beer Thrillers

Yoda dad joke.
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Beer Review: Scratch 400 Pre-Prohibition Lager (Troegs Independent Brewing) https://thebeerthrillers.com/2020/02/02/beer-review-scratch-400-pre-prohibition-lager-troegs-independent-brewing/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=beer-review-scratch-400-pre-prohibition-lager-troegs-independent-brewing Sun, 02 Feb 2020 14:53:43 +0000 https://thebeerthrillers.com/?p=2079
Troegs Independent Brewing’s 400th scratch beer. Released on January 16th, Prohibition Day.

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!

Scratch 400 by Troegs. Mara approved! (And no, she didn’t drink any. She does approve of the fries though, and the water.)

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).

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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.

Scratch 399 (left) and Scratch 400 (right) at Troegs Brewery

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

Scratch Number 400
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