Stout Season - The Beer Thrillers

Fall Beers

AmyMWolfe — Fri, 22 Nov 2024 13:35:31 +0000

Javahead Stout by Troegs Independent Brewing on Halloween night

All the flavors of fall – Let’s do this!

Those cold nights and warm days are here. Leaves are changing colors, and I couldn’t be happier. It’s time to dig into the flavors of the fall and taste all the deliciousness. I love making big pots of stews in the fall. A fan favorite is Chili! You normally can find some chili cook off events. Here is the beer that would pair well the best. And we are first going to talk about some spicy chili. The kind that burns a bit. It is going to pair well with stouts, porters, and amber ales. It’s the perfect time of year for this.

Its Stout Season Now

I’m a sucker for an amber ale but I just had the most amazing stout. There have been 2 times recently we have gotten to taste the Mari by Ever Grain Brewing Company. It comes in at a whopping 14.6% ABV according to Untapped. It has a 4.26 overall rating and it is described as “a rich and decadent stout aged in a variety of bourbon barrels for over 16 months. We then conditioned it with behemoth amounts of coconut, cocoa nibs, vanilla and for a little added joy, toasted almonds.” The balance of flavors would be crazy but they would complement each other beautifully.

(Check out Amy’s article about Winter Beers.)

Our flight of beers at Bald Birds Brewing

Pulled Pork and Beer at Bald Birds Brewing

Then if you prefer your chili on the milder side, you want to go with a more mild beer; something like a cream ale, amber lager, or honey beer. We most recently had the “Kenya Dig it” from Bald Birds Brewing. (Kenya Dig it was a coffee cream ale we got a full pint of, along with Ben’s flight. On Ben’s flight we had two delicious stouts – Birds Reserve and Grand Bald Eagle.) It paired so nicely with the delicious pulled pork over fries when we visited last month.

But this will similarly go with another meaty dish. If the focus is on the beef instead of the spice this will be a dream combo! Kenya Dig It is a coffee cream ale, always an interesting combination. The Untappd description for it is: “Our second collaboration with Valerio Coffee Roasters, we chose a smooth, refreshing Cream Ale as a launchpad for their light-roast Kenya AA coffee. Expect the familiar crushable Cream Ale crispness, with a mellow aroma and extra kick from the coffee.” The coffee cream ale has a 3.78 Untappd rating and is 5% ABV.

There is also the Dig It cream ale by Bald Birds Brewing as well.

Dig it is described as Light, mellow, and smooth, our cream ale is superbly refreshing. Brewed with American 2 row Barley, American ale yeast, and hops from the Pacific Northwest, Dig it! Is the perfect anytime beverage. According to Untapped it is a 4.5% ABV and has a low overall rating of 3.13.

These fall days remind me of my grandma’s homemade chicken corn soup. I mean the kind with the homemade rivals. I’ve tried to duplicate it, she did it perfectly. Also, lots of places, especially churches, have the good homemade chicken corn soup. Make sure to take some home to pair it with an Amber ale or an IPA.

So like I said, I am a sucker for an amber ale. I can’t resist the 409 by Moo Duck Brewery. This brew is a nice smooth amber that compliments the flavors of a chicken corn soup perfectly. It might feel a bit heavy if you are enjoying a chicken corn soup with those homemade rivals. It’s the homemade rivals I can’t duplicate from my grandma’s recipe. The 409 is described on Untapped as “A tribute to the famous PSU football coach and his 409 victories. Featuring victory malt, the bready malt character is blended nicely with just the right amount of hops.” 409 is at a manageable 5.5% ABV.

Now onto my favorite; pumpkin roll. I’ve loved pumpkin roll since a friend’s mom used to bake pumpkin logs every Thanksgiving and Christmas. I really miss those pumpkin rolls. I missed them so much I found an older woman to bakes them out of her home. She also wins me over with chocolate PB rolls, red velvet rolls and fruited ones too. But I love sticking to a classic pumpkin roll. We picked up a Fiddlehead Imperial IPA when we were traveling through Ithaca NY at a gas station. This reminded us of the tall boys we see back home from Troegs and Voodoo Ranger.

The sweetness of the pumpkin roll will balance well with the hoppiness of the Fiddlehead. It is a sneaky 9% ABV but wonderful to relax with any sweet desert at the end of your day.

There are so many more fall flavors to talk about, but I’ll end here, what are you favorites?

The first Mad Elf of the season with Grandma SueAnn

Drink More Beer
- Amy

Amy’s Column Series

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MAPS OF BREWERIES

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Embracing the Dark Side: A Guide to Stout Season

B. Kline — Tue, 30 Jan 2024 11:22:51 +0000

Irish Car Bomb Stout on Nitro by Rotunda Brewing

Embracing the Dark Side: A Guide to Stout Season

As the leaves turn and the air chills, beer enthusiasts know it’s time to embrace the darker, richer, and more complex flavors of stout season. This beloved time of year is when breweries release their most anticipated stouts, ranging from the robust and creamy to the bold and barrel-aged. In this guide, we’ll explore the allure of stout season, highlight key styles to seek out, and share tips on how to get the most out of these darker brews. Whether you’re a stout aficionado or a curious newcomer, prepare to be enveloped by the warm embrace of stout season.

The Allure of Stout Season:

Treats of Strength by Icarus Brewing

Stout season unofficially begins in late fall and stretches through the winter months, offering a comforting counterpoint to the colder weather. This is when the depth and complexity of stouts truly shine, providing a sensory experience that is both warming and satisfying. Breweries often use this time to showcase their creativity, experimenting with aging processes, ingredients, and blending techniques to produce flavors that range from sweet and velvety to smoky and bitter.

Key Stout Styles to Explore:

Imperial Stout: Known for its high ABV and intense flavors, the imperial stout is a staple of stout season. Look for variants aged in bourbon, rum, or whiskey barrels for added complexity.
Oatmeal Stout: Creamier and smoother than other stouts, oatmeal stouts offer a gentle sweetness and a silky mouthfeel, making them incredibly approachable.
Milk Stout: Also known as sweet stouts, milk stouts are brewed with lactose sugar, which yeast cannot ferment, resulting in a sweeter, fuller-bodied beer.
Coffee Stout: Perfect for coffee lovers, these stouts incorporate coffee beans at various stages of the brewing process, offering a delightful marriage of coffee and malt flavors.
Pastry Stout: A newer trend, pastry stouts are inspired by desserts and often feature chocolate, vanilla, cinnamon, and other confectionery flavors.

Tips for Enjoying Stout Season:

Pair Wisely: Stouts pair excellently with rich foods and desserts. Try them with chocolate cake, aged cheeses, or hearty stews to enhance the flavors.
Serve at the Right Temperature: Unlike lighter beers, stouts should be served at a slightly warmer temperature (around 50-55°F) to fully appreciate their depth and complexity.
Explore Local Breweries: Many craft breweries release limited-edition stouts during stout season. Visiting local breweries can provide a unique opportunity to sample exclusive offerings.
Host a Tasting Event: Gather friends and host a stout tasting event. It’s a fun way to explore different styles and share the experience with others.

Conclusion:

Santa’s Bake by YAH Brew

Stout season is a time to explore the rich and diverse world of dark beers, offering an opportunity to savor flavors that are as complex as they are comforting. By seeking out different styles, pairing them thoughtfully with food, and sharing the experience with friends, you can fully embrace the dark side of beer. So, as the nights grow longer and the temperatures drop, remember that it’s not just the cold that’s setting in—it’s stout season, and it’s time to celebrate the depth, warmth, and richness it brings to the craft beer community.

German Chocolate Cake by Wicked Weed Brewing

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MAPS OF BREWERIES

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

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!

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Beer Review: Treats of Strength (Icarus Brewing)

B. Kline — Sat, 23 Dec 2023 18:00:00 +0000

Happy Festivus

Its a Festivus for the Rest of Us! Happy Festivus everyone! How are you celebrating this tremendous holiday? Hopefully with some wonderful craft beer!

Today I’m taking a look at Treats of Strength by Icarus Brewing. As you can see in the background is the LEGO Seinfeld set.

Got this for the first time two years ago, and have been getting it each year since for Festivus. At the first time we had to do some finagling with Icarus Brewing’s in person shipping, and then had to get them from friends of friends.

For more Festivus beer fun – check out our Airing of Grievances review here: (Beer Review: Airing of Grievances (Black Flag Brewing Co.))

And now as Festivus rolls on, we come to the feats of strength.

And now, as Festivus rolls on, we come to the beer review.

Beer Review: Treats of Strength (Icarus Brewing)

Feats of Strength by Icarus Brewing (photo taken last year on a snow shovel day)

Beer: Treats of Strength
Brewery: Icarus Brewing
Style: Stout – Imperial / Double Pastry
ABV: 12.4%
IBU: N / A
Untappd Description: Traditional Chocolate Nutella Babka inspired Pastry stout brewed with Two Row Barley, Pale Chocolate Malt, Oated and Wheated. Conditioned on Organic Cacao Nibs and Hazelnut Flour for an extended period.

Let’s Rumble!

Lets deep dive into this delicious beer. First up is always appearance, and this beer is certainly a beauty. No grievances here yet. This is jet black – black like Razor Ramon’s hair, black as in black hole black. The head is a nice light brown, pillowy, foamy head with varied bubble sizes. Head retention is on point, and it leaves wonderful lacing on the glass as I sipped.

Aroma is a wonderful chocolate, like we’re just inhaling a dessert. All the rich, warm, decadent dessert notes you would expert from a pastry stout shine through – chocolate, cocoa nibs, vanilla, hazelnut, nutella; it all kind of makes a medley of a wonderful aroma for your nose when you sniff into the glass.

This is a very rich, decadent and delicious beer. Its also as Josh would say “A big damn beer” clocking in at 12.4% ABV, and ready to give you the liquid courage you need to best your old man at Feats of Strength. There’s no tinsel to this beer to distract you – its just pure dessert in a glass, you can tell its a pastry stout through and through. So gather around the Festivus pole and lets enjoy this sipper of a beer. This is full body, with a good heavy mouthfeel, a bit thick, slightly syrupy but not cloying and very minimal on the aspect of syrup. The chocolate / cocoa nibs shine through the best. The hazelnut is there like a hidden surprise peeking out as you sit back, relax after telling everyone all of your grievances, and enjoy yourself a big beer. This is a great Festivus – December 23rd – or winter beer, maybe even a Christmas beer if your into that kind of thing. Start a yule log or a fire going, put your feet up, and slowly sip this one long into the night. Its even perfect after a long shift at work where you only get home at nearly 11 PM at night after dealing with lots of humans all day (not that I would know or anything). If you love big stouts (12.4% ABV after all) that are heavy hitters, with not a ton of booze flavor, but a lot of real beer flavor – than get to Icarus Brewing and pick up some Treats of Strength to give you the strength and courage you need to defeat your dad in the Feats of Strength!

My Untappd Rating: ****.25
Global Untappd Rating: 4.05 (as of 12.23.23)

Treats of Strength – Festivus 2023

Airing of Grievances, Feats of Strength, and a Festivus Miracle

This was supposed to be a beer review I was gonna do two years ago in 2021. For whatever reason, I didn’t get around to it in 2021, and was too busy with Scarlet just having been born, and everything else in 2022. So here it is in 2023. (Check out – Airing of Grievances by Black Flag Brewing.)

So thats the Festivus Miracle – I finally wrote the review. On our Facebook page – we currently have a thread about craft beer ‘airing of grievances’ so you can check that out and add your grievance(s) to our growing list.

This is an article from Mental Floss about 9 things you didn’t know about Festivus:

9 Grievance Worthy Facts about Festivus You Might Not Know About (Mental Floss)

For feats of strength – moving lots of kegs and pallets and pallets of beer today equals my feats of strength, so I’m enjoying relaxing and having a nice beer.

Cheers All and Thanks for Reading!

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

Good News Everyone, Futurama is Back: Exploring Futurama – Inspired Craft Beers
Book Review: Futurama and Philosophy (edited by Courtland Lewis)
Futurama Episode Review – The Impossible Stream and Mead Review: Omicron Persei 8 (SpaceTime Meadery)
Mead Review: Omicron Persei 8 (Space Time Mead and Cider Works)
Futurama Episode Review – Children of a Lesser Bog and Beer Review: Stay on Target (Allusion Brewing Company)
Beer Review: I Apologize For Nothing (Fourscore Beer Co.)
Beer Review: Fing-Longer (Turning Point Beer)
Futurama Episode Review – How the West was 1010001 (and Beer Review: The Shining by Foam Brewers)
Futurama Episode Review – Parasites Regained and Beer Review: Mow and Flow (Eleventh Hour Brewing)
Beer Review: Leela Wake Up (Launch Pad Brewery)
Beer Review: Hop Bender (Local Craft Beer)
Futurama Episode Review – I Know What You Did Next XMas and Beer Review: Bo Katan Red IPA (Brewery Fire)

Lord of the Rings:

Magic the Gathering:

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

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:

Stephen King:

Beer Review: The Shining (Foam Brewers)

World Cup:

Phillies:

Drunk Phils Fans and Rotunda Brewing Company Collaborate Together on Jam the Batter sWheat Tart

Philadelphia Eagles:

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

Matrix:

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles:

Beer Review: Terpenes in Time (BAREBottle Brewing Co)

HP Lovecraft / Cthulhu:

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

The Shining:

Beer Review: The Shining (Foam Brewers)

A Nightmare on Elm Street

Grandma SueAnn Helps Review More Pumpkin Beers: A Nightmare on East Elm Street (Conshohocken Brewing Company)

Seinfeld:

Beer Review: Jon Voight’s Car (RAR Brewing)
Beer Review: Airing of Grievances (Black Flag Brewing Company)
Beer Review: Treats of Strength (Icarus Brewing)

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.

MAPS OF BREWERIES

You can check out our different directories here: Beer Reviews, Hike Reviews, Book Reviews, Brewery News, Brewery Openings, Brewer Interviews, and Travelogues.

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

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!

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.

Black Friday Releases and Events Across Pennsylvania (2023)

B. Kline — Sun, 05 Nov 2023 12:34:17 +0000

Black Friday

We’re soon coming up on Black Friday – November 24th 2023 – and in the craft beer world that means the release of stouts. Big, dark, heavy, glorious stouts. Its “finally” Stout Season!

This is also the big Goose Island Bourbon County release each year, and to counter that – many smaller breweries across the country, and in Pennsylvania in particular, do big stout releases of their own, or events celebrating the stouts they have. (See Amy’s review of Bourbon County – 2019 Vintage.)

We will do our best to keep this post updated til the big day in a few weeks. So keep coming back to it and checking it out to see if there’s any changes.

Breweries / Events and Releases / Locations:

Brewery	Beer Release Or Event Name	City or Location
Allegheny City Brewing	First Street imperial Stout Release	Pittsburgh
Allusion Brewing Company	Three Beer Releases	Vandergrift
Broken Goblet Brewing Company	Fritz’s Stickybun Stout Release	Bensalem
Brothers Kershner Brewing	Pugsly Porter series release	Skippack
Chatty Monks Brewing	Depth Release	Reading
Collusion Tap Works	Betrayal Release Day	York
Eleventh Hour Brewing	BYS Release	Pittsburgh
Fegley’s Brew Works	Rude Elf and Imperial Coffee Stout Release	Allentown / Bethlehem
Forest and Main Brewing	Reflections of Reality and Double Barrel Gmork Release	Ambler
Free Will Brewing	Ralphius Release	Perkasie
Genova’s Italian Restaurant and Brewery	Market St Lager Release & Giveaway	West York
Imprint Beer Co.	Seven Deadly Sins Release	Hatfield
Moo-Duck Brewery	Skeksis Release	Elizabethtown
New Trail Brewing Company	Cookie Day Release	Williamsport
Neshannock Creek Brewing Company	Door Busters – Imperial Oatmeal Stout – Release	New Castle
Neshaminy Creek Brewing	Damn Ye – Dark IPA Release	Croydon
Pour Mans Brewing Company	Black Friday Case Special	Ephrata
Recon Brewing	Fixed the Newel Post Release	Butler
Something Wicked Brewing	Black Friday Release – Return of the Darkside	Hanover
Spring House Brewing	Tasty Little Devil Release	Lancaster
Stable 12 Brewing Company	Trojan Horse Series Release	Phoenixville
Troegs Independent Brewing	Bourbon Barrel Aged Mad Elf Release	Hershey
Voodoo Brewing – North Shore	Big Black Voodoo Daddy Tap Takeover	Pittsburgh (North Shore)
Warwick Farm Brewing	Port Barrel Series	Jamison
YAH Brew	Event Details	Hershey

(Last updated 11:54 PM 11.11.23)
(Last updated 8:15 AM 11.17.23)
(Last updated: 7:56 AM 11.19.23)
(Last updated: 7:16 PM 11.22.23)
(Last updated: 8:01 PM 11.22.23)

Black Friday 2023

So this Black Friday, instead of running around chasing the newest Bourbon County Releases and buying up all that AB InBev, why not hit up some of your local craft breweries doing big releases or beer events for Black Friday. Theres so many good stouts (and porters, and schwarzbiers, and other dark beers) to be had just in your own backyard in Pennsylvania. Here alone by us in Central PA we have a lot of great choices for dark beers – from YAH Brew, Moo – Duck Brewery, Troegs Independent Brewing, Boneshire Brew Works, etc, etc, etc, etc.

Thanks 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.

MAPS OF BREWERIES

You can check out our different directories here: Beer Reviews, Hike Reviews, Book Reviews, Brewery News, Brewery Openings, Brewer Interviews, and Travelogues.

Please be sure to follow us on our social media accounts – Facebook, Facebook Group, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, 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!

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

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!

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.

Beer Review: Wookies and Cream (Tall Tales Brewing Company)

BKline — Thu, 03 Feb 2022 13:00:00 +0000

Wookies and Cream by Tall Tales Brewing Company

Double Whammy

You guys are getting a double whammy today, starting off the day with the beer review of Prognosticator Pils by Logyard Brewing since its Groundhog Day (2.2.22) and now you are (finally) getting your Star Wars Wednesday beer review: Wookies and Cream by Tall Tale Brewing Company. Thank you for your patience waiting for this one. Ended up becoming a busy day. I was busy from 1-4PM, and then had a little time to start this up, and then had Boneshire Brew Works Trivia to attend – (went with my sister, my brother in law, and my dad) and now wrapping this up, working late into the evening. (By the way – the barleywine that Boneshire Brew Works just put out is absolutely phenomenal and you have to go and check it out.)

We were team named Swillburg (my sister’s go to team name for trivias, because she lived in the borough of Swillburg in Rochester when she went to RIT – Rochester Institute of Technology), and surprisingly we didn’t come in last place. (I have a track record for such things.) We didn’t do amazing, but for a while we were holding our own, tied for 2nd after the first round, and then in 3rd place after the second round…. to slip to somewhere in the 4th-6th positions at the end. (31.5 out of a possible 40 [41 if you count the bonus point] points).

Star Wars

So since this is Star Wars Wednesday, and since its the end of Wednesday (til this goes up live, it’ll probably be at least 11PM even though I started it around 5PM for about half an hour, and worked on it from 945 til its done), we can discuss ‘The Book of Boba Fett’ some. (Nice thing about posting the review late in the day, get to discuss the show a bit.)

Not going to go too deep here into it, since spoilers are still a thing, and some might not have seen it, and I fully intend to do a bigger, more encapsulating piece on it after the finale airs next week, but I will touch on a few non-spoiler things here.

Firstly, this was a good, fun episode, albeit complete fanservice. There is absolutely a lot here for people to love, and to make the fanboy in me squeal with happiness. I do think though, at this point naming conventions for the shows are out the window. Call them anthology shows or just call it “Star Wars” and let the episodes rip, some might be Mando, some might be Fett, some might be Ashoka, some might be Grogu, etc. I’ll leave it at that, because if I go a bit more into it I’m gonna hit spoiler territory and I don’t want to do that.

To see all of the Star Wars Wednesday Beer Reviews to coincide with The Book of Boba Fett episodes, you can see them here:

Tall Tales Brewing Company

Actually first had this beer when out on our recent Maryland trip. Starting off going down Delaware on our way to Burley Oak and from there to get near Cushwa for the brewfest we stopped at the Tall Tales Brewery. Had a taster of this and loved it. I was actually going to do this beer for last week’s Star Wars Wednesday or even double down on it and do two last week, but decided instead to save it for here. If you want to read more about our trips, you can catch the recaps from that trip here (the full articles are on their way):

Coincidentally, soon after coming back from our trip (just a few days ago), Breski’s Beverage and Ted’s Bar and Grill both got cans of Wookies and Cream to have on hand at the distributor (Breski) and restaurant (Ted’s), so if you want to try this, you can get to both locations here in the Central PA area and try it. (Definitely recommend that you do so.)

Beer Review

Wookies and Cream by Tall Tales Brewing Company

Tall Tales Brewing Company is a micro brewery from Parsonsburg, Maryland. It has 110 unique beers and just over 70 thousand ratings. It has a global average rating of exactly 3.5 as of 2.2.22. (All according to Untappd.) It has no description listed on Untappd. When we were there, it was a somewhat busy restaurant, with a nice layout and good looking food menu and a wonderful brick oven pizza menu.

Beer: Wookies and Cream
Brewery: Tall Tales Brewing Company
Style: Stout – Oatmeal
ABV: 6.11%
IBU: 38
Untappd Description: I did it all for the Wookie…Come on The Wookie…Come on…So you can take that cookie. And…Well you are gonna wanna drink it. Using the Force, we traveled through the Galaxy, combining one of your favorite desserts into a stout. Laugh it up Fuzzball.

Well this certainly has all the smells and aromas of cookies and cream (not Wookies and cream) as soon as you sniff the taster or crack open a can. (And thank god for that, could you imagine a Wookie smelling beer?) This has all the smell of cookies, cream, with a roasted stout background with a soft subtle background of light malt.

Appearance is just what you are and wanting – a Darth Vader cape and helmet black. A dark impenetrable darkness black. Like the soul of a man who tells you his favorite Star Wars character is Jar Jar Binks. There is a great head to this, nice and off cream, slightly tan to brown head with varied bubbles, and it left wonderful lacing on the glass.

This is an incredibly tasty stout, more pastry stout in taste than oatmeal stout, its so rich and creamy. From first sip you get hit with a Bowcaster Bolt force of chocolate oreo and cream. You get cookies, cream, oreo, chocolate, all right up front. Then you get that nice smoothness of a stout, the rich dark cascading flavors of malt. This is a fun beer to drink, because all the flavors mash and mesh so well together it gives you such a strong complex beer. There is so much to enjoy with this beer. It is pretty rich and creamy, not sure you could fully down a four pack in one sitting, but at least its not a sugar flavored sour bomb like some four packs I’ve recently picked up. The creaminess and richness of this just act as flavors, rather than fully encompassing the beer like those do. I like the way the beer works together, the textures and the tastes, all working together into one nice lovely beer. This was a great swirling of stout and pastry flavors that just work very well together. There’s no off flavors, there’s no aftertaste, nothing cloying, nothing acidic, everything is sweet but grounded, with a wonderful full and heavy mouthfeel that doesn’t come across as watery or thin. Full and complex, this is just simply a very enjoyable beer that might persuade you to join the Dark Side.

My Untappd Rating: ****.25
Global Average Untappd rating: 3.79 (as of 2.2.22)

The Book of Boba Fett …. or Star Wars Cinematic Universe

So…. now that I’m doing this so late in the day, I can go into a bit of the details on this episode I think. I’m really not going to go too spoiler heavy, but just in case, be forewarned right here – if you have not seen the episode, you might want to skip over this bit of the article.

[SPOILERS AHEAD]

Ok, good, you left, watched the show, and came back? We can proceed now? Ok, lets do it.

But, in the second back to back episode of The Book of Boba Fett, we are treated to nearly an entire diversion from the main show. This week did have some pertinent stuff happening to the greater overall storyline, but there was a lot more happening off planet and about periphery characters than to Boba Fett himself. Which, speaking of him – he is in this episode at least (an improvement over the previous week), but it amounts to about thirty seconds of screen time, and with no speaking lines… …so there is that.

Interestingly, I did enjoy the episode as an episode of STAR WARS…. but not so much when you think about it in the scope of the show ‘The Book of Boba Fett’. (At least the majority of this episode anyway, and the entirety of the previous week’s episode.) I think tonally the show is a bit of a mess and confusing, and I think they took the idea of the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe) and its interconnectedness and ramped it up to 1000%.

The Book of Boba Fett takes the idea of making a SWCU (Star Wars Cinematic Universe) which has always been pretty much in place; this idea of a large collectively canon that keeps everything in line, and a cohesive and coherent chronology; but here it starts interconnecting and interweaving portions of other stories and plots directly into this one. Where with the MCU (Marvel movies) you get characters popping up, and you get after credit / post credit scenes, but nothing so much as a full 50 minutes intercut into the story of another character.

I’ve heard the analogies of “some books give a chapter or two of different perspectives to random characters” and they say that doesn’t detract from the main character of the book. But I don’t feel like thats a true good comparison here. Firstly, if thats the case, its not in a seven chapter book, and its not going to be two chapters back to back right nearing the climax of the novel. And thats why I find the tonal structure of this show so weird. First few episodes leaned so heavily on post-Sarlacc pre-present day Boba Fett activities, and then switched to just having a full on interlude by other characters.

But… it was still a really good episode. And thus kinda my conflict on the episode. I did enjoy it, though I did think it was nearly 100 percent fanservice, I did enjoy it…. but, it just shows how tonally off this season is. And also shows how uninteresting of a character Boba Fett is. The best episodes of the season and they didn’t even include Fett in them (or just had him standing there). Fennec Shand does most of the talking and heavy lifting in the present day segments of the show, and Fett regularly comes off as incompetent, ignorant, or just not smart. So it really makes you wonder why they went this route with a seemingly autobiographical show of a character. But hey… at least next week we’ll most likely get to see Boba Fett riding a Rancor…. so there is that….

Pop Culture Themed Beers

As always with these articles, I like to link to all the various pop culture and nerd culture beer reviews we’ve done, and you can find them here below:

Star Wars:

Rick and Morty:

Beer Review: Peace Among Worlds (Cushwa Brewing Company)

Space Balls:

Beer Review: Moon of Vega (Equilibrium Brewery)

Game of Thrones:

Beer Review: Game of Thrones: My Watch Has Ended (Omnegang Brewery)

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:

Beer Review: Prognosticator Pils (Logyard Brewing Company)

A Christmas Story:

Pro Wrestling:

Matrix:

Matrix Monday

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles:

Beer Review: Terpenes in Time (BAREBottle Brewing Co)

Seinfeld:

Other:

Thanks For Reading

Well this was a busy day, doing two reviews in one, and hitting Boneshire Brew Works for trivia. Hope everyone had a good and fun Groundhog Day.

Cheers all!

-B. Kline

Please be sure to follow us on our social media accounts – Facebook, Facebook Group, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and Influence. Please be sure to also follow, like, subscribe to the blog here itself to keep updated. We love to hear from you guys, so be sure to leave a comment and let us know what you think!

Beer Review: Wookie Monster (Fourscore Beer Co)

BKline — Thu, 05 Nov 2020 23:03:49 +0000

Wookie Monster by Fourscore Beer Co.

Had to go back and revisit this beauty last night with this being ‘stout season’ and what all… despite how nice and warm its been. But anyway, this has been one I’ve been meaning to review for a while, since I finally got my hands on a four pack of it back around August I believe. I’ve left one in the fridge for a nice night to drink and do up a review, and that is exactly what I got for you here.

This is one of many (many) nerdy or pop culture beers I’ve done. Yesterday I listed some in my review for Super Villain. So we can add this to that growing list of beers.

As I said yesterday: “Nerd culture definitely speaks to me. Look at my numerous beer reviews on here that are Star Wars themed, or video game themed, or some TV show themed. Jon Voight’s Car, Out of Order – Blue Milk, Moon of Vega, This is the Way, This is Nut The Fluff You’re Looking For, etc. You can see Josh also is very fond of nerd culture / pop culture and beers clashing with his latest review – Terpenes in Time.”

So instead of lamenting, and worrying about the election results and letting anxiety run amok, and with The Mandalorian episode two (of season two) coming out tomorrow, and since today is International Stout Day, why not do a fun, Star Wars themed stout for today’s blog and beer review.

After taking my dog (Leela) for a walk, which I did as a way of pausing my work on this review – because I’m the ultimate procrastinator, it was such a beautiful day that I had to sit out and do some day drinking.

Day drinking and reading

So I ended up having a fantastic IPA from Stickman Brews – The Growfather (gotta love a Godfather beer / hop pun) (don’t worry, this will be a review soon), and then I took down the hops finally. Then I decided to finish the last of my Wookie Monster stouts.

So what should have been done around 12 – noon – is now only getting finished up at 5PM, and before I head over to Drew’s to do tonight’s stream.

Which I also picked out the stouts for tonight’s stream, since it’s International Stout Day, I decided we’d have nothing but stouts for the stream.

Stouts picked out for tonight’s video stream

Well, minus the Wookie Monster…. since I drank that now. Which, speaking of that, lets get to this review and finish up today’s post!

Wookie Monster by Fourscore Beer Co

Beer: Wookie Monster
Brewery: Fourscore Beer Co
Style: Stout – Imperial / Double
ABV: 9%
IBU: None
Untappd Description: Brewed with malted oats, chit malt, flaked oats and Maris otter base with a variety of specialty malts. Conditioned on over 100 lbs of Oreo cookies, along with organic cacao nibs and Madagascar Bourbon vanilla beans along with milk sugar. Medium bodied to restrain the sweetness, but still full enough to satisfy. Liquid Oreo cookies in a glass with a “managable” abv!

I’ll lean on an old favorite saying for the appearance – its black; as black as Razor Ramon’s hair. (Not Scott Hall’s hair; Razor Ramon’s.) This is the epitome of black, like those materials that block all light and absorb it, like black holes, its a silk, smooth looking black, with a very thin head to it, the head was off white cream to slight brown. Small head but with dispersed bubbles.

Nose to this is extreme Oreo chocolate / fudge chocolate smell. The cacao nibs really makes the Oreo cookie smell pop. There is some sweetness to this, like the white cream filling, you get vanilla from the beans, Oreo cream, and the milk sugar. It ends with a hint of the bourbon but so faint, like its drifting on the wind. The chocolate is the most overwhelming aroma to this.

Then we get to taste….. and ohmergerrrrdddd this is amazing. “Amazeballs” as the cool hip kids that I hang out with say…. But in all serious, this is one hundred and thirty eight percent delicious. If you like chocolate and you like dark heavy stouts, then this is everything you could ask for. Immediately on the first sip you get blasted with the heavy chocolate coming from the cocoa nibs and Oreo cookies. Heavy. Strong. Blam. Right out the gate, no waiting for it. Then as you sip you get in that smoothness, that silkiness, that gentle relaxing creaminess that comes from the vanilla cream part of the Oreos, from the Madagascar vanilla beans, and from the milk sugar. But, right at the end, it has a little bit of a kick of bourbon, enough to make this feel boozier, to taste boozier, to lend this like a very rich dark backbone to an already amazing brew. This feels heavier and denser and richer and boozier than its 9% belies, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but I really think the 9% “manageable ABV” is tucked away and hidden because the beer feels more like a 11-12%. Its definitely not one to pound or chugg or shotgun or crush a four pack of. But that takes nothing away from how amazing this beer is. The flavors all work together so perfectly well, and its so rich and creamy that it goes down very smooth, its just so dense and heavy that you’ll fill full from drinking one. The chocolate and the vanilla combine perfectly in this, just like they do in real Oreos, that its so fantastically done. Hopefully this will be brewed again because this is downright phenomenal.

My Untappd Rating: ****.50
Global Untappd Rating: 4.15 (as of 11.5.20)

Now remember everyone, Chewbacca is a Wookie, and he is 8 feet tall, but he does *NOT* live on Endor with 3 foot tall Ewoks. Wookies are from Kashyyyk and live there, (or out in the galaxy) not on Endor with the Ewoks.

Wookiepedia: “Wookiees were a species of tall, hairy humanoids that were native to the planet Kashyyyk. The most notable member of this species was the warrior Chewbacca, Han Solo‘s best friend and co-pilot, who played a vital role in the Clone Wars during the defense of Kashyyyk, the Galactic Civil War by aiding the Rebel Alliance in their fight against the Galactic Empire, and the war against the First Order. They were quite strong, and were known to rip people’s arms out of their sockets when provoked. Though being from a temperate planet better known for its swamps and forests, they were able to be comfortable on icy worlds such as Ilum and Hoth without any protective clothing, including gloves and boots.” (Source: Wookies article on Wookiepedia.)

Also, Happy Guy Fawkes Day.

“Remember, remember the Fifth of November,
The Gunpowder Treason and Plot,
I know of no reason
Why the Gunpowder Treason
Should ever be forgot.
Guy Fawkes, Guy Fawkes, t’was his intent
To blow up the King and Parli’ment.
Three-score barrels of powder below,
Poor old England to overthrow;
By God’s providence he was catch’d (or by God’s mercy*)
With a dark lantern and burning match.
Holla boys, Holla boys, let the bells ring.
Holloa boys, holloa boys, God save the King!
And what should we do with him? Burn him!”
(Wikipedia – Gunpowder Plot.)

Also, of course, Happy International Stout Day. Hopefully everyone has some good stouts lined up to drink today / tonight. (And well, every day and night, because lets be honest, its always Stout Season and Stout Day.)

Make sure to check us – myself, Rory, and Drew – on the Knights of Nostalgia page as we play The Last of Us tonight and drink some very excellent stouts. One of which is the Peanut Butter Udder One, that I have done a review of before.

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

You can check out the tabs at the top of each page to visit our BEER REVIEWS, BEER EDUCATION, TRAVELOGUES, etc. Be sure to check out all the latest beer reviews, as we’re pumping a lot out in recent time.

Please be sure to follow us on our social media accounts – Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and Influence. We just hit 900+ followers on Facebook, so that’s super exciting, and hopefully that will continue to grow! 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!

Cheers!

-B. Kline