Into the Valley of Lehigh rode the Pour Travelers: Part I

During the bulk of my COVID-19 lockdown, I reconnected with two old friends I hadn't spent much time with for the past decade. It's a peculiar conundrum one experiences as one gets older, whereby the passage of time seems to churn in blocks of 10 years rather than a single year. For the most part, the 2000s have been a complete blur. To me, the years between 1989 and 1999 seem far more elastic than 2000 to the present. Sorry to get all philosophical in the midst of a new beer blog, but I felt I had to bring that up. 

With that said, it had certainly been a while since I spent a considerable chunk of time with two of my oldest friends. Joe, whom I'd known since 9th grade, had been a close friend during high school, college, and that odd early twenties phase where we hang out in his tiny apartment and drank a lot. He also played guitar in my first original band, Blather's Kite (I still love that name), and is currently living in the Lehigh Valley while making a living as a professional musician. 

I met Saj my freshman year of college while attending Penn State Berks Campus. I walked past him in the library when I was wearing a one-of-a-kind handmade Rush T-shirt and the rest is history. The story of our friendship is just one example of many throughout my life that is a direct result of being a Rush fan. Saj has also been getting into craft beer lately, though he's one of those guys that just buys a bunch of crazy shit on Drizly, whereas I prefer visiting breweries. So this may have been his first legitimate "brewery tour" or whatever you care to call it. 

So, how did we reconnect with each other? Back in the early onset of COVID, Joe invited me to participate in a Zoom call with a bunch of old friends and acquaintances from our hometown of Shamokin. Saj (though not from Shamokin) was also on the call, and we enjoyed playing Joe's warped version of Hollywood Squares. Aside from that, we just cracked a few beers and caught up and reminisced about old times. So if there's a silver lining among all of this COVID nonsense, it was re-establishing a friendship with these two moes. Thanks 'Rona... except I'm serious this time. 

Without going into too much detail, I'll just leave it at this: We had all gotten into beer at some point during our lives, and we decided to form a band called Sea Donkey. (The story behind that would require its own lengthy blog post.) Saj thought the name was so funny that he got shirts made for us all to wear with pride. Since we already had merch, we figured the next logical step was to try and write a few songs. Our goal was to put together a set to perform at my annual Ffej of July music and beer backyard extravaganza. So, we felt a weekend hang was in order. Joe and his wife Andria graciously offered to have us spend the long Memorial Day weekend at their lovely 18th Century farmhouse in Lehigh Valley. In the time leading up to our visit, I put together a list of possible breweries to visit and conferred with Joe and Andria on the geography of it all. 

We arrived on Friday and decided that we'd do dinner at the house, then set up and jam, leaving Saturday and Sunday open for brewery hopping and other adventures. (In the essence of time, I'll leave out most of our extracurricular activities, which included visits to antique shops, music stores, a "dirt mall," karaoke, awesome burritos, jam sessions, etc. and just stick to beer.)

First up on Saturday was a stop at McCall Collective. For now, it was the four of us minus Andria, who had to catch up on some work. A fairly small brewery, this place reminded me of a corner deli for some reason. It just had that particular vibe. But instead of hoagies, they have beer. I was excited to see a schwarzbier on tap, so I kicked off the day with LV Gehts. By now I'm sure you know that "schwarzbier" translates to "black lager" in German. A traditional style with notes of chocolate and coffee, it comes across as crisp and clean due to being lagered for over 4 weeks.

I decided a second beer was in order, and something called Bee Kind piqued my curiosity. Brewed to pay homage to "our fuzzy, flying friends," this beer boasts 60 pounds of locally sourced honey as well as honey malt in the grain bill. Belgian farmhouse ale yeast ties in a layer of bubblegum and clove,  while Nelson Sauvin hops add traces of white wine and mango. I rarely pass over a beer featuring Nelson hops, and this one was pretty solid all around. 

Our next stop took us to Nazareth, home of Martin Guitars, for a stop at Birthright. Opened in March 2018 at the old Nazareth Run Inn building, Birthright offers a constantly rotating tap list of fresh beer with a complementary menu featuring wood-fired pizzas and more in a space that is equal parts rustic and industrial. Decorated with lots of natural wood, concrete floors, metal accents - including mammoth saw blades sourced from a Kutztown mill used as communal tabletops - this place felt like a pizza parlor with a brewery. Pizza and beer... two of my favorite things! 

If I had to pick a favorite brewery from this weekend, I'd most likely put this place at the top of the list. Joe and Saj had a quick one before heading down the street to a guitar shop to ogle over some vintage axes, while Brewslut and I stuck around to dig into Birthright's tap selection.

I kicked off our session with Natural Mystic, a New England IPA. I couldn't really find any specific details on this beer, but I do know it was named after a Bob Marley song. I remember this one being quite good, so given the Bob Marley reference I'm sure this one was rife with plenty of dank cannabis and tropical notes with a hint of island reggae. Jammin'! 

Although I don't eat pork anymore, my one caveat is that when I see a beer brewed with bacon, I allow myself to partake in the festivities. Birthright has one such beer, and it's called The Aftermath . Dubbed a "Bacon Breakfast Stout," this smoky, malty, coffee-forward treat is aged in Social Still bourbon barrels. According to Birthright's Instagram channel, they actually used pork belly rather than bacon. The beer itself is smoky, meaty and chewy, but not as think as you'd imaging. Clocking in at under 7% ABV, it's not your typical viscous imperial stout. It's smooth like a traditional oatmeal stout with hints of caramel, coffee, chocolate and smoked meat. 

I finished up with a pour of Multiple Personalities, a double dry-hopped DIPA with Mosaic, Citra and El Dorado. Aptly named given its versatile hop combo, this beer was heavy on tropical notes but soft and pillowy, and certainly easy to drink. 

While I didn't have this beer until later, Brewslut was raving about Da Bomb Pop, a Berliner Weisse brewed with cherry, lemon and blue raspberries. If Kool-Aid was beer, this would probably be it (although I prefer Hi-C). Oh yeah?! Oh yeah! This was definitely her favorite beer of the trip, and she bought a crowler of this to enjoy at home, which is how I had it. I agree... it was, indeed, da bomb!

Lost Tavern is another place we enjoyed very much and had ample time to dig into its beers and enjoy the atmosphere. A local musician was playing a variety of popular songs on solo acoustic guitar, which provided an enjoyable setting and background ambiance. While the brewery's vibe is rustic and steeped in tradition, the beers are fresh and forward-thinking. 

The brewery's motto is: "Honor the Past. Craft the Future." Its story begins in Hellertown, PA, when in the 1740s Dutch settlers arrived and established a small community, with one of its first buildings being a tavern. It was common for colonists to brew beer, and taverns were generally at the epicenter of these small colonies. Over the course of time, the exact location of Hellertown's tavern had been forgotten and its details of its whereabouts is somewhat ambiguous; hence the name of this small, colonial-inspired brewery. Gone is the original tavern but not the importance of sharing a beer with a fellow neighbor. That's where this brewery fits into Hellertown's story. 

The beer list offered quite a variety of styles and flavors, so we opted for several half pours. First up was 6:10 AMber, a coffee-infused amber ale brewed with locally sourced coffee. The rich coffee notes complement the toasty malt flavors and subtle fruitiness, akin to a cup of morning coffee with some toast and jam on the side. 

Brewslut decided on Adult Coloring Can, a big-bodied sour ale meant to mimic a dessert cobbler. Brewed with milk sugar and conditioned on blueberry, blackberry and a touch of lemon, this flavorful and nuanced ale also includes cinnamon, vanilla and brown sugar to sweeten the pot. 

Of course, I had to try one of its IPAs, so in comes Not a Game, New England-style Triple IPA dry hopped with Galaxy, Sultana, and Citra for intense notes of candied peach rings and tropical fruit cocktail.

We ended with one of our favorite styles, a Mexican Stout called Fiesta Mole. Touted as an Imperial Mexican Hot Chocolate-inspired Dessert Stout, this rich, frothy treat was brewed with a grain bill of midnight wheat, caramel malt and flaked oats. Cold-conditioned on chocolate, vanilla, cinnamon and ancho chili peppers, this intense beer offers sweet notes of hot cocoa, cinnamon spice and mild chili heat, finishing with a cool wash of smooth vanilla. All in all, no complaints here. I enjoyed our visit here very much.

Our next stop, Bonn Place, is one of Joe and Andria's local favorites. After visiting, I definitely concur. Every town needs a place like this. Inside, it was bustling with happy patrons throwing down a few pints. The vibe was part roadhouse, part saloon and part arts-and-crafts workshop (you can't help but notice the large chalkboard mural that adorns a large chunk of one of the walls). The time of our visit coincided with the highpoint of the day for me, meaning I was in a perfect frame of mind and my liver was adequately lubricated. The ambiance at Bonn Place is conducive to kicking back with a few beers and enjoying some great conversation with friends. In terms of the latter, you never know what you're gonna get when you put Saj, Joe and I in a room together. I'll just leave it to the imagination. Case in point... Sea Donkey.

First up at Bonn Place was a pale lager with a twist. A Helles Mosaic features two-row pale malt and Mosaic hops exclusively. Think of it as a SMASH lager. I love me a good Helles, and this one straddles the line between crisp lager and hoppy ale. Overall, this beer provided a solid first impression. Sign me up for a second beer! 

Joe and Andria said that I couldn't leave without trying Mooey, a light, easy-drinking pub ale that is Bonn's flagship of sorts. The beer promises notes of biscuit, toffee, and sexual desires. Now that's a winning combination! This was kind of like a craft version of Boddington's with a slightly elevated flavor profile and the same smooth nitro finish... you know how we do!

We ended our Saturday brewery hop with a stop at Hop Hill, a small brewery that's been around since 2017. There was a pretty awesome musical duo performing on this particular night, and a quick scan of Hop Hill's Facebook page confirmed that it was Skylar Love, a female acoustic guitarist/vocalist accompanied by a dude playing electronic drums. While the beer here was solid (from what I can remember), I think I was more into the music. By this time of day (night), I was feeling good vibes and was drawn more to the tunes than the beer. 

But beer is why were here, and I opted for a pour of a fruited ale called Beach Bum. Featuring the winning combination of pineapple and coconut, this beer was enjoyable and transported me to a small tropical island somewhere in the Pacific. 

I followed this up with the awesomely named Skadoosh, a West Coast hazy IPA hopped with Galaxy, Mosaic, and Azacca. Wait, what?! West Coast and hazy don't belong in the same sentence, unless you're saying something to the effect of, "West Coast IPAs are far superior to hazy IPAs." Then it's OK. Seriously, by now it was a good time to head back to the homestead for more shenanigans, as Brewslut and I particularly were well lubricated and feeling no pain. 

But wait! There's more to come. Join us next time for the conclusion of our jaunt to Lehigh Valley. Until next time...

Cape May - Part II: Last of the Summer Barleywine

I knew it was going to be a long day on Saturday. However, the clock had a different story to tell. Turns out, both Doug and I were out of commission by 9 p.m. I've said it before and I'll say it again: having a DD is a double-edged sword. On one hand, you don't have to drive, so you can drink as much as you want. On the other hand, you can drink as much as you want. Actually, you can drink more than that. As a matter of mathematical fact, the amount you drink when a DD is in tow is directly proportional to the amount of beer it takes for one to be crowned "Drunkie McGee" at my annual Ffej of July festival. I'm sure the equation would look way more complicated than the Quadratic Formula, but you get the gist. I think the appropriate measurement is a metric shit-ton. Scratch that. I ain't moving no decimal points. It was an English shit-ton plus a hefty amount of pood (or even more so, funt) if we're talking antiquated units of weight measurement. I don't even want to get into how many slugs that would be, so we'll just stick to the good ol', tried-and-true shit-ton. 

Ceiling at Avalon Brew Pub

First up on our agenda was a stop at Avalon Brew Pub. This place had lots of beach charm and looked inviting, but it also reeked (or perhaps I just caught a slight waft) of tourist trap. Well, maybe not a "trap" per se, but it definitely had that "chain brewpub" feel based on the names and styles of its available beers. The brewpub offers a slightly more upscale menu compared to most similar breweries and produces five different house beers and one rotating release. I decided a flight was in order so as to test the waters. Here's the scoop: 

• Chill Pils - Brewed in the tradition of a classic Bohemian style pale lager.
• Belgian Beach Bum - wheat beer with hints of bubblegum, clove and banana.
• Cooler by a Mile - Session IPA with a hint of citrus.
• We Don't Play - "true" West Coast style IPA with a very deep malt base and notes of citrus.

Pleeps and a paddle.

As anticipated, nothing here really struck me as anything but average, so I felt a second round wasn't in order. Some of the others in the group liked the West Coast IPA, but I wasn't having it. Brewslut was in the same boat if I remember correctly. Still, it was a nice, clean place with good service and a suitable first stop of the day. 

Up next was a brewery I'd wanted to visit for the last 5+ years. Cape May Brewing had somehow eluded us for many years. I remember the days of visiting a brewery within the first month of its grand opening; sometimes even within days. Well, it took us a decade to finally get to Cape May, as it opened its doors back in 2011. Better late than never, right? Plus we'd heard good things from many friends who had visited Cape May, so I had high hopes for a fine experience. 

Inside Cape May Brewing Company

I kicked off our session with a half pour of a beer called Cococabana. Brewed with Sultana and Cashmere hops and weighing in at 5.8% ABV, this pale ale boasts house-toasted coconut for a gentle and silky-smooth mouthfeel, with an enticing aroma showcasing the tropical notes of the hops. This beer was absolutely delicious and I wish I'd ordered a full pour. 

Up next was Summa Down Unda, a "crusher" of a pale ale brewed with wheat and copious amounts of Citra and Motueka (the latter a new-ish variety from New Zealand). They finish this one off with a hint of Kiwi juice (a good choice of fruit if you know anyone from New Zealand). This one was pretty light and refreshing but in retrospect, I probably should have drank this one first because it paled in comparison to Cococabana. Not that it was a lesser beer; it just wasn't as flavorful. Ok, I guess it was the lesser beer.  

Sing it, Pleeps! "...at the Coco, Cococabana!"

Time for another half pour, so in comes Sea Chest, a NEIPA brewed with a hefty malt bill of Golden Promise, honey malt, flaked rye, flaked oats, and flaked wheat to give this beer its haze for daze! This one is dry-hopped with Cashmere, Motueka, and Sultana to churn out notes of pineapple, lime, coconut, and orange sherbet. This one was enjoyable as well but still fell short of Cococabana, in my humble opinion. That beer set a pretty high bar for Cape May, unfortunately. 

Lastly, Brewslut and I shared a pour of Chocolate-covered Strawberry Milkshake IPA. This decadent IPA attempts to mimic chocolate-covered strawberries to create a sweet, luxurious flavor profile. Brewed with a generous helping of sweet milk sugar, this IPA is then conditioned on strawberry juice and Madagascar vanilla beans to sweeten the pot even more. Another enjoyable beer from Cape May, bringing the total to four. All in all, it was a great first visit. Pleeps concurs. 

How about Pleeps' new blue mask for the beach?

Over to Cold Spring next, which - according to its website - is New Jersey's first non-profit microbrewery. All profits from beer sales at the brewery support the Historic Cold Spring Village Foundation, a non-profit living history museum. While it was one of the coolest places of the day as far as ambiance - as well as one of the most packed places we visited - I'd heard the beers were less than stellar. Still, I really enjoyed the colonial vibe of this place, and it's great to see a small brewery giving back to the community. Inside, the tasting room is situated in a rustic barn with high beamed ceilings and plenty of wood. Outside, the beer garden was bustling with people; good for me, because it wasn't shady and I opted to sit inside, where there was a nice breeze blowing through the open barn doors. 

The colonial-inspired Cold Spring Brewery

Upon perusing the beer list, I noticed a beer called Beer That Built the House, a robust porter brewed with local fudge in collaboration with a laundry list of Cape May County breweries (apparently all of 'em). The chocolately richness of the fudge really came through in this beer, and it was easily the best beer sampled by our group. Even cooler was the fact that sales of this beer supported Cape May County's Habitat for Humanity. Giddyup!

The Beer That Pleeps Drank

This next place on our agenda, Gusto, gets a gold star. Touted as "NJ's Southernmost Brewery & Taproom," this brewery was one of the more memorable stops of the day. When we arrived, the inside was pretty packed so we set up shop on the wrap-around patio next to a few loud-ass people (in Jersey? No waaaaay)! I suppose it's fitting to sit outside once in a while whilst visiting the beach. 

The beer I ordered, named Amigos in High Places, proved to be quite memorable and a favorite of the day. A soft yet substantially textured Imperial Stout, the backbone of this beer boasts green coffee from Puerto Rico’s Hacienda Tres Ángeles. Featuring Maris Otter malt from the UK as well as lots of specialty malts, the folks at Gusto teamed up with their friends at the local Out There Coffee to source some freshly-landed beans processed to medium-roasted perfection. This enjoyable stout is reminiscent of milk chocolate, caramel, and - of course - coffee. Good stuff all around! 

Pleeps has lots of Amigos in High Places!

By now, I was experiencing a pretty heady mid-afternoon haze after visiting four breweries. Of course, you know how we roll. This marked the halfway point of the day, so there was plenty more drinking to be had... especially for Doug and I. Enter 7 Mile. If memory serves me, this was one of the places Brewslut enjoyed during her inaugural "girls' weekend" at the beach house. A relatively newcomer on the NJ scene, 7 Mile has been around for five years and fits in well with the beach vibe of the area. 

I sampled two beers here, which makes me think that Brewslut and I shared full pours. The first one, New White Bronco, is an American style Hazy IPA brewed with wheat and loaded with fruity and candy-like hops. This was a pleasant beer with the softness of a NEIPA but a decent hop punch. I'm not sure what hop varieties are used in this beer, but it came across as citrusy with a hint of tropical fruit and floral perfume. 

Pleeps is goin' all OJ on this one!

The other beer, 7MIPA, is known as the little brother of one of 7 Mile's standard offerings called 7 Suns. This session strength version displays a balance of fruity, citrusy, and resinous hop flavors with a light mouthfeel and touch of bitterness. 

Up next was Coho Brewing. Situated in Cape May Court House (yes, that's what the town is called), the name COHO is derived not only from its location (COurt HOuse) but also as a homage to the judicial theme of the brewery itself. Even the beer names feature some clever and amusing legal jargon. 

In keeping with the theme, may I present Exhibit A: Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity, a ginger ale brewed with Jamaican allspice and aged on rum-soaked staves. This sounded like a fun diversion from all of the IPAs and fruit beers most of the other breweries were offering. This one wasn't as woody as I was expecting, but the booziness of the rum was pretty heavy-handed. Same with the spices, which really pushed their way to the forefront once the boozy heat subsided a bit. 

Our next witness was Chalk Outline, a dry, slightly funky Farmhouse Ale aged on juniper berries. I've been digging gin barrel-aged beers for a while, and will typically order one when I come across one in our travels. While this wasn't barrel-aged, I thought the juniper berries might give it a gin-like character. If I recall, I believe I preferred this one over my previous selection. Regardless, it was cool to visit a place doing something a little different than most of the other places we visited. It's always nice to come across a brewery that digs experimentation. 

Pleeps is never guilty of being lame.

You'd think that we'd slow down by the time we got to our second-to-last brewery of the day, Slack Tide. Nope. Upon perusing the beer board, I noticed a barleywine; a style for which both Doug and I share an affinity. I can sometimes be a bad influence on friends, especially when it comes to beer. This was one of those times. "Look," I said to Doug. "They have a barrel-aged barleywine on tap!" His wife, Lynn, gently urged him not to partake. "I don't think you should order that, Doug." But there I was, the proverbial devil on his shoulder opposite Lynn's more reasonable angel. Of course, the devil will always bitchslap the angel and send him or her packing. So it was because of this scene that this portion of the blog was named "Last of the Summer Barleywine." I need to give credit where credit is due, though. It was, in fact, Darin who coined that phrase, which seemed to sum up this beer-soaked day perfectly and might I add quite poignantly. Well done, my hetero life-mate. 

And here comes the barleywine... and another rummy beer to add to our laundry list. Doug and I ordered pours of Rum Barrel Aged Brew of '62, a traditional barleywine aged in Jamaican rum barrels. The aging process coaxed flavors of tangy rum, vanilla and light spice, giving the beer a smooth sweetness despite its high ABV of 13%. Yup, there's no turning back now. We'd officially now gone off the deep end. 

Taps at Slack Tide.

I opted for another farmhouse ale with Shore Break. This one is brewed with sweet orange peel and a Belgian yeast strain - then dry-hopped - to elicit a crisp, sweet and citrusy flavor. But that's not all! The beer is then aged and re-fermented in Chardonnay barrels with Brettanomyces for more than a year to bring out even more complex notes of fruit and funk. 

A third beer? Um, sure why not! Here comes Jacob Jones. Originally called Tackle Box #4, this DIPA utilized Kveik yeast, which ferments at very high temperatures. Additionally, this type of yeast strain also helps to accentuate the tropical flavors of the hops used in this particular beer. The beer gets its name after a WWII destroyer dubbed "Jacob Jones," which was torpedoed by a German U-boat off the coast of Cape May in 1942. Given that little fun fact, I suppose it's only fitting that this beer was the one to sink my figurative battleship.

Surprisingly, I actually can remember bits and pieces of our final stop of the day, Ludlam Island. Maybe not. The last three brewery visits all kind of blend together. Some highlights include: Jenny being licked by a dog; me almost losing Pleeps (apparently he fell from the hood of Brewslut's hoodie, where I placed him in a drunken stupor, after which some little girl found him); talking to random people about a number of topics; and, most memorably, Doug yelling "MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE" to a female driver who was either confused or oblivious and blocking part of the parking lot. This has since been entered into our lexicon of inside jokes. 

I do, surprisingly, remember my final beer, which was Harry's Coffee Pale Ale, a rye pale ale featuring coffee from neighbors Harry and Beans in the form of fresh, single-origin organic Honduran coffee beans straight form the roaster. Spicy rye notes mingled with roasty black coffee notes and floral and citrusy hops, which made for an enjoyable combo. 

Before I knew it, I was lying on the couch back at the house and it wasn't even 9 p.m. What did I tell you about DD's, kids? The beer had gotten the best of me, and I was kind of embarrassed to go to bed at 9 p.m. But I was dozing off already, not to mention Doug wasn't faring much better over at the kitchen table. He had the "sitting up with head in hands" pose going on for about half an hour or so. 

Postscript: Unfortunately, we didn't really do much on Sunday. We took a slight detour and checked out a brand new brewery in Atlantic City called The Seed: A Living Beer Project. Turns out they'd only been open for a few weeks. The people were friendly and willing to chat, the place was chill and the beers were fantastic! As a matter of fact, I recently read that The Seed had been voted "Best New Brewery in America" by readers of USA Today. Right around the corner is a cool little craft distillery called Little Water, where we samples some fine spirits and cocktails. We also took home a bottle of its pre-made Chocolate Martini, which was delicious. Afterwards, we stopped at a record store in a nearby Jersey mall and later had pizza at UNO down off the PA Turnpike. I'm definitely looking forward to getting back to the Seed, although I'm not a huge fan of AC. However, this place is enough to entice us back for sure. Until next time...