My offering of an afternoon of pumpkin beer was met with a quick yes when I texted Grandma SueAnn last night.  I mean, we knew I wasn’t twisting her arm. 

(We had a busy morning – went to Bill’s for breakfast, then we ran out to Memorial Lake and Levitz Park to look around, and found ourselves stopping at Bradford Village Beer and Soda – originally looking for Ever Grain Brewing Company’s Sorbetto #66, but not finding it – Ben made this mix – a – six of pumpkin beers for Amy and SueAnn.)

Sunny Side Up Double Coffee Pumpkin by Pizza Boy

After going on a beer run we started the afternoon off with Pizza Boy’s Sunny Side UP Pumpkin double coffee stout.  The Pumpkin SSU comes in at 11.9% ABV and it is described on Untapped as an Imperial double stout.  It has an overall untapped rating of 3.97.  Ah Yes, the double coffee stout we know and love.  The coffee might be overpowering the pumpkin.  Even rocking at a 11.9 this stout didn’t taste boozy.  It kept us warm on a chilly and windy Sunday in October.  This one didn’t take long for Grandma SueAnn and I to share out of the vintage smurf glass.  This also reminds me, we need another pizza boy trip. 

I had to run out for a quick errand.  Grandma SueAnn couldn’t wait and was already knuckle deep in the Giant Pumpkin from Greater Good. She finally got her granddaughter to take a nap and was celebrating apparently.  This would explain the not quite full beer pic.

Giant Pumpkin by Greater Good Brewing

The Giant Pumpkin is described as a pumpkin/yam beer and comes in at a 8% ABV.  It is described on Untapped as “Sweet notes of creamy pumpkin pie, supplemented by hints of sugar and spice, across a clean and crisp 8% ale.’  The hints of sugar and spice definitely contained some cinnamon, that was the leading flavor we both had.   It has an overall Untapped rating of 3.84.

Forbidden Pumpkin by Abomination Brewing

Forbidden Pumpkin by Abomination Brewing Company

The third beer for the afternoon was the Forbidden pumpkin by Abomination Brewing Company, an imperial Milkshake style india pale ale.  This Imperial comes in with a 9.3% ABV and has an overall 4.06 rating on Untapped.  “Forbidden pumpkins is an Imperial Pumpkin milkshake IPA that clocks in at 9.3% brewed with malted oats and flaked wheat, double dry hopped with Citra and Mosaic then fermented atop a monstrous amount of pumpkins, vanilla beans, pumpkin spice and milk sugar.  This hazy IPA pairs perfectly with hoodies, fall hikes and nights out by the fire pit with friends!” 

This was the Grandma SueAnn Favorite of the day.  We both agreed this brew was light and creamy.  The fall flavors were not overpowering and this was sweet but just enough to entice you for another sip. 

And That Was the Day

Splitting 3 beers and the afternoon was gone.  Grandma SueAnn reminded me since we split them, it’s only 1.5 and that isn’t much.  Although I couldn’t get Grandma SueAnn to promise if she’d wait to crack open the last 3 when I was back.  I gave it a couple minutes thought contemplating if the beers were safe in her fridge.  I figure we have about a 50/50 shot.

This was a wonderful fall afternoon spent drinking beers with my mom, while Scarlet terrorized her living room and we watched some football!

• Drink More Beer!
• Amy

SueAnn Beer Reviews

• A Beer Review by Grandma SueAnn (Beer Review: Braaaiins! by Spring House Brewing Company)  
• Grandma SueAnn and More Beer: Beer Reviews of: Zaktoberfest (KCBC – Kings County Brewers Collective) and Devious Imperial Pumpkin (Fegley Brew Works)
• Pumpkin Beer Review with Grandma SueAnn – Abomination Brewing: Forbidden Pumpkin, Greater Good Brewing: Giant Pumpkin, and Pizza Boy Brewing: Sunny Side Up Double Coffee Pumpkin

Pumpkin Beer Reviews

• Two Beer Reviews: Hazy Burd (Ship Faced Brewing) and Pin-Up Girl Basic Witch (Janky Brew Co) at Maxie’s Brewhouse after hiking Sunset Rocks
• Grandma SueAnn and More Beer: Beer Reviews of: Zaktoberfest (KCBC – Kings County Brewers Collective) and Devious Imperial Pumpkin (Fegley Brew Works)
• Master of Pumpkins, Cupcakes, Cookies, and Bacon Cheeseburgers
• Beer Review: How Now Brown Cow (With Pumpkin Spice) (Aslin Beer Co)
• Beer Review: Pumpkin Stout (Newfangled Brew Works)
• A Beer Review by Grandma SueAnn (Beer Review: Braaaiins! by Spring House Brewing Company)
• Pumpkin Beer Review with Grandma SueAnn – Abomination Brewing: Forbidden Pumpkin, Greater Good Brewing: Giant Pumpkin, and Pizza Boy Brewing: Sunny Side Up Double Coffee Pumpkin

Abomination Brewing, Pizza Boy Brewing, and Greater Good Brewing Articles

• Brews and Bands for Bart
• Beer Review: Abbra Collabra 6 Way Banana Split Milkshake IPA (Tattered Flag)
• Brewers and the Industry Look Into 2023
• Beer Review: F*CK 2020 (Abomination Brewing Company)
• Beer Review: Social Distancing (Tattered Flag, Abomination Brewing, and Pilger Ruh Brewing)
• Beer Review: Ice Dreamz: Cranberry, Cherries, and Tangerines (Pizza Boy Brewing Co.)
• Beer Review: St. Thomas (Pizza Boy Brewing Co.)
• Beer Review: Sunny Side Up – Bacon (Pizza Boy Brewing Co.)
• Pumpkin Beer Review with Grandma SueAnn – Abomination Brewing: Forbidden Pumpkin, Greater Good Brewing: Giant Pumpkin, and Pizza Boy Brewing: Sunny Side Up Double Coffee Pumpkin

Amy’s Column Series

Since getting back to writing for the blog after a short hiatus, Amy has started up a weekly column style writing for the blog. You can find these articles here:

• Brewfests with Anxiety (Amy’s original weekly column start)
• I’ve Missed Drinking (A Look at Non Alcoholic Beers)
• Beer and Pretzel Review: Legends and Lore (St. Boniface Brewing Company) and Garlic Parm Pretzels (Pretzels.com)
• Peanut Butter Eggs, Easter, Beer, and YAH Brew’s Shimmy Shake (Beer Review)
• Cox Brewing Company: Back to Their Roots
• Amy’s Day Off
• It Was All A Dream (A Visit to YAH Brewing)
• Just Another Weekend (A Hike at Saint Pete’s Trail and Hares Hill Brewing)
• I’m Pretty Darn Lucky (Happy Mother’s Day)
• Ready to Kick of the Summer
• Beer Review: Beer Devil IPA (Niagara Brewing Company)
• World MS Day
• Have you ever picked a beer based on the can art?
• Happy Father’s Day
• What is Your Summer Time Go To Beer?
• Holiday Weekend and Bomber Bottles
• Baby’s First Ffej
• We Can’t Always Be a Glutton Right? – Perfect Portions and Allusion Brewing Company
• Beer Review: Pocono Punch (Barley Creek Brewing Company)
• Getting Sworn In: A Sneak Preview of Sworn Brewing
• Beer Review: Tropical Stout (Troegs Independent Brewing and Windy Bridges Brewing LLC)
• RAR Brewing Brings the Nostalgia with Muppets Out of Order Series
• Happy Birthday to Ben
• Brewery Review: Cold Spring Inn and Brewery
• Hummelstown Doesn’t Deserve Maritza
• Enchilada Stuffed Peppers and Sunshine Pilsner
• Master of Pumpkins, Cupcakes, Cookies, and Bacon Cheeseburgers
• A Beer Review by Grandma SueAnn (Beer Review: Braaaiins! by Spring House Brewing Company)
• Grandma SueAnn and More Beer: Beer Reviews of: Zoktoberfest (KCBC – Kings County Brewers Collective) and Devious Imperial Pumpkin (Fegley Brew Works)
• Oh Ever Grain: 7 Years, 7 Beers
• Pumpkin Beer Review with Grandma SueAnn – Abomination Brewing: Forbidden Pumpkin, Greater Good Brewing: Giant Pumpkin, and Pizza Boy Brewing: Sunny Side Up Double Coffee Pumpkin
• You can find all of Amy’s articles here: Amy’s Archive of Articles.

(And please take a moment to fill out Amy’s survey on her ‘Holiday Weekend and Bomber Bottles‘ column.)

Thank You For Reading

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• MAPS OF BREWERIES

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Sunny Side Up

Sunny Side Up has been a staple of Pizza Boy since…. well, since as long as I can remember; and therefore a staple of the Central PA (Harrisburg – Hershey) beer scene. It is a fantastic stout and showcases how Pizza Boy could always make a really good (albeit rarely made) stout.

Sunny Side Up is a regular / semi – regular beer from Pizza Boy that they make, and is often one of the ‘come home to get’ beers for many who moved away (similar to how Nugget Nectar, Mad Elf, and Nimble Giant from Troegs is).

I’ll post the Untappd description here, since the version I’m reviewing here (Sunny Side Up – Bacon) doesn’t have a description.

Sunny Side Up:

Sunny Side Up – Little Amps! Double Coffee Stout is our rich, smooth oatmeal imperial stout brimming with locally sourced coffee from Little Amps coffee roasters in Harrisburg, PA

Untappd: Sunny Side Up

As you can see from the link, as of 11.15.21, regular Sunny Side Up has a global average rating of 4.16.

Pizza Boy has released a ton of different variants over the year, from hazelnut, to chocolate, to one off firkins, to pumpkin, to all different kinds, and this is no different. Though the ABV for this bacon variant is a bit higher than most of them, and certainly higher than the original (original is a 9.6%; the Bacon wash variant is 11.9%).

Beer Review

Beer: Sunny Side Up – Bacon
Brewery: Pizza Boy Brewing Co.
Style: Stout – Coffee
ABV: 11.9%
IBU: None
Untappd Description: (Blank)

Pizza Boy, also known as Al’s of Hampden, has been one of the staples and giants of the greater Harrisburg area brewery / beer scene. Along with Troegs Brewing and Appalachian Brewing Company, they were the ‘originals’ or ‘OGs’ (as the hip cool young kids say nowadays) of the Harrisburg beer scene. Their Untappd description is low-key and simple:

“A brewery inside a pizza shop. Pizza. Beer. Happy.”

They have (according to Untappd) 295 unique beers (I wanna say its far more than that in their history, but we’ll go with the stats given), with (as of time of writing this – on 11.15.21) 644,984 ratings, 99,695 of which are unique; for a global average rating of 3.88.

I personally would say they are primarily known for IPAs (typically hazy), sours (think Permasmile, etc.), and stouts like Sunny Side Up and all of its variants.

This was a variant that I was very eagerly looking forward to getting to try and so glad I did. So let’s break it down and discuss this. (As always, I break it down going by paragraphs as such – aroma, visual, taste.)

Cracked open the can, poured it out, and you get a wonderful aroma of roasty notes from the coffee, dark heavy stout smells, and a bit of a greasy bacon hint. The bacon and the cooking pan smell is definitely the most subtle to this, as the coffee aroma certainly overpowers it, along with your typical malt and stout and roast notes from a good dark heavy stout.

Visually there’s not a whole lot to say other than what you can see from the picture. It looks as if it could be coffee other than the beautiful head it has to it; which is a nice small ring, maybe a quarter of an inch, with varied bubbles, and left nice lacing. The head was an off white, slightly tannish hue, and lasted til first sip. The stout itself is a deep, dark ocher, or as I often say on the blog “as black as Razor Ramon’s hair” or “black like the abyss we all stare into”. Take your pick.

Taste I think is where your mileage may vary on this one. There’s certainly nothing wrong with this beer and it is one hundred percent a good beer. There’s zero off flavors, there’s zero wrong with it. Why I say the mileage may vary, is on the bacon flavor. I’ve talked to a few good friends who had it, and the person who I drank this with, and we all had different opinions and thoughts on how much the bacon flavor came through. To be honest, when I hear ‘bacon flavored’ in beer, I’m a bit skeptical right out of the gate, wondering how its going to translate and how they are going to make it work. I’m of the opinion that it doesn’t come through too strong. You get the coffee, you get the malt, you get the stout, you get some booziness, (especially with its 11.9%), but I don’t get a ton or even a lot of bacon flavor. More like a whiff of it, like its there, barely hanging on the fringes. I think the bacon comes through a bit on the back – end and the aftertaste. (I burped after drinking it, and I could taste a bit of bacon on the burp, so I suppose it has to be in there somewhere, unless I was over thinking my burp, which is always a very good possibility.) There is a sweetness to this that I don’t recall from the original Sunny Side Up (which I always thought tasted more bitter – though it has been several months since I’ve had the original). This could be from the greasy ‘wash out’ of the bacon in the beer, I don’t know, but it has a nice taste. I enjoy the flavor of this very much, I think like I said above, that the bacon flavor mileage will vary for many, though it seems overall people are saying its subliminal or subtle or minimal rather than being stronger or too strong. If you want to enjoy a good, strong, high ABV stout, this is still certainly a fantastic choice and you can’t go wrong with that.

My Untappd Rating: ****
Global Untappd Rating: 4.07 (as of 11.15.21)

Other Pizza Boy Reviews

Here’s a few other Pizza Boy beer reviews we’ve done:

• Beer Review: St. Thomas (Pizza Boy Brewing Co.)
• Beer Review: Ice Dreamz: Cranberry, Cherries, and Tangerines (Pizza Boy Brewing Co.)

Thanks for Reading

As always everyone, thanks for reading. This was a great stout to finish my day on, after a 10 hour day working the craps table, followed by errands to Home Depot and Target, and then having to run an errand and go to the bank for my ex-wife, this was a nice relaxing end of my day (while re-watching the Curb Your Enthusiasm episode from Sunday) and finding out my one fantasy football team barely edged out the win by .84!

Thursday and Friday is going to be a big trip for us. We’re running down through Maryland, over into Delaware, and up into New Jersey and then through Philly before heading home. So be on the lookout for big stuff coming out of this trip. And make sure to be checking back in daily here at the blog. News on the street is, our new writer may have her first post up tomorrow, so be sure to check that out!

Cheers!

-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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