Ready to celebrate St. Paddy’s Day 2021? Since… well… we really didn’t get to last year? Suddenly got an extra 1,400$ in your bank account on St. Patrick’s Day morning and not knowing what to do with it? Why not help out those restaurants that have been hurt for this past year!

Its incredibly crazy to see how its been a year since COVID mitigation efforts started, since shut downs were instituted, and we were all locked inside our homes watching Tiger King on Netflix. Looking back at the memories of the blog and my own and seeing just how little we were all prepared for everything happening… how things unfolded, watching event after event get cancelled, shut down or lock down after shut down and lock down, protocols instituted, changes to restaurants, etc…. its so crazy and surreal and unbelievable to look back on. What a time to be alive?!

Reminds me of Frodo and Gandalf discussing “crazy times to be alive in”:

Frodo: I wish it need not have happened in my time.
Gandalf: So do I, and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.

But here we are, a year out from all those shenanigans (ahh, what a great word to use on St. Patrick’s Day), and its time to celebrate. So what do you do? Let’s help out our local craft breweries instead of just jumping into the Guinness and Irish Car Bombs, let’s look at some of the great craft brewery offerings!

Stouts

There is no shortage of amazing stouts in the area; and by area, I am speaking of my area – which is the Central PA area. Think Hershey, Harrisburg, Middletown, Hummelstown, Annville, Palmyra, Mechanicsburg, etc.

There are plenty of great stouts and we can look at some of them right here. Let’s start with my home town of Hummelstown.

Rubber Soul’s 317 Stout
Rubber Soul just released a brand new coffee stout to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, and its named 317 (…if you can figure out why they named it that, please let our intern know, he’s very confused about the name, because the area code is 717).

Click here to read our Beer Review: 317 Stout (Rubber Soul Brewing Company).

It is a lovely, roasty, toasty, coffee stout. Its a Stout – Irish Dry, and its only 4.9%. The Untappd listing for it is:

Beer: 317
Brewery: Rubber Soul Brewing Company
Style: Stout – Irish Dry
ABV: 4.9%
IBU: None
Untapped Description: Roasty and smooth with a cold coffee finish from the Elementary cold brewed coffee.
Global Untappd Rating: 3.81 (as of 3.17.21)

This would make for a lovely chaser to some Jamison Whiskey, or possibly even could be a wonderful substitute for a Guinness in a Irish Car Bomb.

Troegs Independent Craft Brewery
Let’s stroll over to Hershey now and see just how many different offerings Troegs has in the stout division. (Hint – there’s a few).

First up: JavaHead Stout:

Beer: Java Head
Brewery: Troegs Independent Craft Brewery
Style: Stout – Coffee
ABV: 7.5%
IBU: 60
Untappd Description: JavaHead is like a day at Tröegs; it’s hard to tell where the coffee ends and the beer begins. This creamy oatmeal stout is infused with locally roasted, cold steeped coffee through our HopBack vessel, releasing subtle hints of cocoa, roasted nuts and dark mocha.
Untappd Global Average Rating: 3.7 (as of 3.17.21)

They also have two versions of their Chocolate Stout; regular and on Nitro. My preference is the Nitro (but I also tend to prefer Nitro most times in general, so take that for what it is). They are the same beer.

Beer: Chocolate Stout
Brewery: Troegs Independent Craft Brewery
Style: Stout – Milk / Sweet
ABV: 7.1%
IBU: 41
Untappd Description: Our lush and layered Chocolate Stout showcases the best of an anthology of malts and grains: the soft, coffee-like bitterness of roasted barley, the rich caramel notes of Special B, the subtle sweetness of chocolate malt, and the silkiness of oats. Cocoa nibs add the depth of dark chocolate, and a touch of Madagascar vanilla puts a bow on this roasty winter warmer.
Global Untappd Average Rating: 3.79 (as of 3.17.21)

The Nitro version has a different description:
Six different malt varieties, cacao nibs, dark chocolate, lactose, oats, and vanilla combine to produce a decadent Chocolate Stout. Dispensing via nitrogen yields a lush, velvety texture and rich, smooth finish.
It also has a higher global rating – 3.94. (As of 3.17.21)

This is their latest newcomer to their stout market, and it is possibly my favorite. You can see our review of it here: Beer Review: Grand Cacao (Troegs Craft Brewing).

Beer: Grand Cacao
Brewery: Troegs Independent Craft Brewing
Style: Stout – Milk / Sweet
ABV: 6.5%
IBU: None
Untappd Description: Welcome to Grand Cacao. This deliciously decadent stout is built on a foundation of rich chocolate malt, caramel malt and roasted barley. Cold-steeping on Peruvian cacao nibs and natural vanilla doubles down on the smooth symphony of chocolate, and a splash of milk sugar delivers a velvety sweet and creamy finish.
We taste: milk chocolate, roasty grain, hints of sweet cream.
Global Untappd Average Rating: 3.63 (as of 3.17.21)

Tattered Flag Brewery and Distillery
Lets bounce over to Tattered Flag in Middletown now, who have never had any shortness of wonderful stouts on their menu. Just looking at their Untappd menu they currently have at their brewery in Middletown:

• Leprechaun Wraith
• Peppermint Wraith
• Coconut Stout
• War Bonds Breakfast Stout
• Black is Beautiful

And they have a guest tap of Our Town Brewery’s “Bar Room Hymnal”. Which, I was just at last Friday. You can check out my trip to the Lancaster Breweries in one of my latest travelogues here: “Hiking Turkey Hill Point and Visiting Lancaster’s Newest Breweries – Cartel Brewing, Our Town Brewery, and Big Dog Brewing”.

Let’s look at Leprechaun Wraith:

Beer: Leprechaun Wraith
Brewery: Tattered Flag Brewery and Distillery
Style: Stout – Other
ABV: 12%
IBU: None
Untappd Description: Our Pastry stout base aged in ex Irish whiskey casks for months before conditioning in stainless over marshmallow cream and vanilla. Its like an Irish Car Bomb in a bottle!
Global Average Untappd Rating: 4.01 (as of 3.17.21)

Sounds perfect for tonight’s at-home festivities!

Boneshire Brew Works
Boneshire Brew Works has a wonderful stout of their own that they have for March each year, called Grattan Irish Stout. This is one that is definitely worth a pickup of a 4-pack every year, or at minimum a pint on draft.

Beer: Grattan Irish Stout
Brewery: Boneshire Brew Works
Style: Stout – Irish Dry
ABV: 4.5%
IBU: None
Untappd Description: This stout is traditionally dry and super drinkable. Beware of the Leprechaun while drinking this one.
Global Untappd Average Rating: 3.9 (as of 3.17.21)

Be sure to read our review of it here: Beer Review: Grattan Irish Stout (Boneshire Brew Works).

Rotunda Brewing Company
We would be amiss if we didn’t mention Rotunda Brewing Company’s stout – aptly named: IRISH CAR BOMB. We got to have this before their Kegs and Eggs event last year; right before the shut down (just mere days before the shut down). You can read about the event here: Kegs and Eggs (2020) at the Batdorf – Rotunda Brewing Company.

And you can read our review of the beer here: Beer Review: Irish Car Bomb (Rotunda Brewing Company).

Beer: Irish Car Bomb
Brewery: Rotunda Brewing Company
Style: Stout – Irish Dry
ABV: 5.5%
IBU: None
Untappd Description: On Nitro.
Global Average Untappd Rating: 4.17 (as of 3.17.21)

Rotunda’s Brewery Pub in Hershey also has a few other stouts on hand if you want to give them a try:

• Lady Morrigan Nitro Stout
• Grasshopper Brownie Imperial Stout
• Death by Decadence
• Car Bomb: Imperial Stout (not the same as the one above)

Green Beer

Maybe you don’t want a stout, maybe you don’t like doing Irish Car Bombs and don’t feel like dropping Jamison and Bailey’s into a local craft brewery’s stout. Maybe you just want a good… old fashioned…. green beer?

Well, you are still in luck!

Staying with Rotunda, they released a green beer at their brew pub in Hershey called Green Goodness.

Beer: Green Goodness
Brewery: Rotunda Brewing Company
Style: Sour – Fruited Gose
ABV: 6.9%
IBU: None
Untappd Description: Kettle sour with lactose and conditioned on 7 fruit and vegetable purees.
Untappd Global Average Rating: 4 (as of 3.17.21)

Liquid Noise
Now let’s head across the river to Marysville and see what they have to offer for St. Paddy’s Day. They’ve gotten quite a bit of buzz lately about their recently released green beer in celebration of St. Paddy’s Day. They were even featured on ABC27 News: Liquid Noise on Good Morning ABC27 News.

Beer: A Little Extra – Goin’ Green
Brewery: Liquid Noise Brewing Company
Style: Blonde Ale
ABV: 5.5%
IBU: 30
Untappd Description: Light in body, green in appearance. What else Do you expect on St. Pattys Day?
Global Untappd Rating: (No Average formed yet. Not enough check-ins yet.) (3.17.21)

So let’s celebrate St. Patrick’s Day

Ok, now its time to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day! And lets do it safely everyone. Still obey precautions and rules and laws. What is everyone planning on doing today? What are your big plans for the day? I’m thinking low-key for myself, as I have a lot of writing to do, and not sure on what all to do tonight. But I might be persuaded to go out and enjoy myself some St. Paddy’s beer. Where at? Maybe a nice dinner with bangers and mash? Or Shepherd’s Pie? Who knows! I have about 2% Irish in me, but on St. Patrick’s Day we’re all Irish for the day! So let me know in the comments what you are planning to do for celebrating St. Patrick’s Day!

As always, be safe, be careful, and use Uber or Lyft if going out and celebrating too excessively. Be sure to mind the precautions, and rules, we’re almost there. The light is at the end of the tunnel. April 4th we all will be back to a far more normal world (I cannot wait to drink at a bar again!). Until then everyone, cheers and slainte!

Slainte!

-B. Kline

Be sure to keep following the March Madness and our Battle of the Breweries (2021) Brackets. We are down to the remaining 12 breweries, so hop over and vote!

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Its March 14th, Pi Day, and doom and gloom, national hysteria, societal collapse, is all impending and collecting around the fringes of our collective consciousness. The end is nigh. What do you do? …Simple. Irish Car Bombs at 9AM awaiting Kegs and Eggs.

Now, obviously, this is not a “traditional” Irish Car Bomb. BUT…. it is called Irish Car Bomb (Nitro Stout) and it is better than a Guinness at being the same thing. You could easily do the ‘real’ Irish Car Bomb with this beer, and it’d be better than using a Guinness (also a lot more filling, richer, and probably lead to even more car bombs than the traditional Guinness approach).

For those not in the know, an Irish Car Bomb is a drink / shot. You have a full pint (or for some a half-pint) of Guinness. You then drop a shot of either half and half of Bailey’s and Jameson or straight up Jameson into the pint, and chug all (both pint and shot) as one. Its delicious, its tradition, and its pretty much the only way I do shots anymore unless harassed and harangued into doing some by co-workers when out and about at dive bars with them. (See Tuesday night / Wednesday morning for proof of that.)

But, this could easily replace the Guinness in those shots, and would be much better. Its smoother, tastier, creamier, more delicious, all around better than a Guinness while being pretty much the same thing.

Comparison sake:
Guinness Draught:
Style: Stout – Irish Dry
ABV: 4.2%
IBU: 45
Untappd Description:

Swirling clouds tumble as the storm begins to calm. Settle. Breathe in the moment, then break through the smooth, light head to the bittersweet reward.

Unmistakeably GUINNESS, from the first velvet sip to the last, lingering drop. And every deep-dark satisfying mouthful in between.

Pure beauty. Pure GUINNESS.

Guinness Draught is sold in kegs, widget cans, and bottles. The ABV varies from 4.1 to 4.3%. Guinness Extra Cold is the exact same beer only served through a super cooler at 3.5 °C
Global Untappd Rating: 3.79 (as of 3.16.20)

Rotunda Brewing Company’s Irish Car Bomb Nitro Stout:
Style: Stout – Irish Dry
ABV: 5.5%
IBU: No IBU
Untappd Description: (Blank)
Global Untappd Rating: 4.31 (as of 3.16.20)

So stat wise; you go from a 4.2% to a 5.5% ABV. No mention of IBU in the second so can’t really compare. And also no description, so if your looking for information on the beer going in, your getting a blank. But I can tell you… which one is better. So thats just what I’ll do.

So lets run this beer down and drink up for St. Patty’s Day and for The End of Times. So cheers to the end of all things and for the doom of society!

Beer: Irish Car Bomb (Nitro Stout)
Brewery: Rotunda Brewing Company
Style: Stout – Irish Dry
ABV: 5.5%
IBU: None Listed
Untappd Description: (blank)

First off, you can tell this is creamy. Just look at that picture! Nitro is one of the best things that has ever happened to beer, and this proves why. It provides a wonderful robust creamyness to this already good looking beer. It is dark, Razor Ramon hair black, midnight black, your ex’s soul black. It has a super rich, creamy head to it. The whole appearance of this looks frothy, rich, creamy, decadent. (Don’t worry, it lives up to it.)

Aroma is malty, rich, and creamy. You are going to see the word ‘creamy’ a lot in this review. Maybe I should have led off about that getting people to do a drinking game everytime they see the word creamy in the review. An Irish Car Bomb (shot included) everytime they read the word creamy in this review? ….Ah you poor schmucks would be dead by the end of the review then! Anyway, back to the aroma….. this has a deep malt smell, roasted malt, with vanilla, the nitro brings out that and the deep roasted malts and also highlights the caramel malts a bit as well. All around this smells as delicious as it looks… and it certainly does…. look….. creamy.

Creamy. Creamy. Creamy. Creamy. This. Is. Creamy. Oh… did I mention; that its creamy? You guys still alive out there doing the drinking game? Because if so…. its creamy. Despite its 5.5% ABV, this is a strong, dark, deep, rich, full, and filling beer. Its basically brewed on the same premise as a Guinness draught. To be filling, full, and a damn good stout. The ABV doesn’t matter because the beer itself is so full and rich. And with the nitro, it makes it so creamy, and even more rich and full. This is both a beer you could drink TOO many of and also not be able to drink TOO many of. Depending on time of day, mood, food, stomach, etc. You get the dark, roasted malts, the caramel malts, the roast and darkness of this brew really kick into ultra-drive as you drink it down. The richness from the nitro lending a strong sweetness to it is very nice. It does differ from Guinness where there’s not really a lot of bitterness to this. It might be more malty, and it might be more high ABV, (4.2% to 5.5%) but its certainly a lot sweeter. Not in a bad way, but for a traditional Irish Dry Stout some might prefer some level of bitterness to this, where here its pretty more nonexistent. This is a full, and delicious beer, as it warms you get even more essence out of it, and it just broadens and opens up more, offering the fullness of its vast flavors and ingredients. This is a wonderful beer at 9AM to start your day with breakfast, and even better to be the kick-off lead-in beer before doing a Kegs and Eggs mini-brewfest! (It certainly helped stave off the gloom and doom anyway!)

My Untappd Rating: ****.50
Global Untappd Rating: 4.31 (as of 3.16.20)

Like I said, March 14th (Saturday), was the Kegs and Eggs (2020) brewfest and event at The Batdorf and Rotunda Brewing Company in Annville, Pennsylvania. I am working on the write-up of the event as we speak, and it might get posted tomorrow, or Wednesday. Currently, my job is still open (the only Casino in the state to still be open despite the pandemic going on), so I am still working. I don’t know when I’ll be shut down, if I’ll be shut down, or whats going on. There’s a lot of uncertainty at my job right now, especially since we’re the only ones still open. Ohio Casinos are shut down, Maryland casinos are shut down, the other PA casinos have voluntarily closed…. but we are still open. Financially, health, ethically, there is so much uncertainty at our job right now. Getting to work on the blog is providing a nice escape and stress release for me.

So you can look forward to seeing a Kegs and Eggs (2020) event write-up by myself. I hung out with J. Doncevic, D. Scott, and we caroused our way through sampling from a myriad of breweries in a confined space. Also hanging out with guys from Rotunda Brewing like Kevin, Bryan, and hanging out with Bart from Hop Headz and so many more great people.

I have talked to Karl Larson recently, and he has expressed interest in writing for the blog. So he might start writing soon… or he might not. Either way, no pressure on him. He does have a fantastic Wee Heavy for me to try and review for the blog, that he’s won a National Award for, so I can’t wait for that.

I think I will also be trying to wrap-up my Coronavirus / COVID-19 article. And give ways to help out local breweries. As they are going to be hurting the most from all of this. So please, if you are able to support your small time local breweries (like Boneshire Brew Works, Moo-Duck Brewery, Rotunda Brewing Company, ZeroDay Brewing, etc.), please find ways to help them out where you can. We all need to stick together to get through this.

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Thank you for reading, cheers, and Happy Stone Cold Steve Austin Day!

-B. Kline