Search This Blog

Showing posts with label Strangeways. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Strangeways. Show all posts

Saturday, October 27, 2018

"Give me breweries or give me death!" or Richmond, VA: Part I

Let me begin this post with a prologue of sorts...

I was going to name this particular blog entry "Drinkin' in River City." Why, you ask? Well, Richmond, VA, is commonly known as The River City. That has a nicer ring to it that its other nickname, RVA (whatever that means). Then I learned that Patrick Henry gave his famous Revolutionary War-era "Give me liberty or give me death" speech in 1775 at St. John's Church in - where else? - Richmond, VA. Although I'm not 100% sure I'd trade my life for the freedom to drink beer (that'd be a tough call), I thought the title had a nice ring to it. OK, please proceed.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

It's amazing how much you can cram into one 48-hour span of time. We'd been wanting to get down to Richmond for the full brewery experience, but simply hadn't had the right opportunity. We'd passed through a few times (typically on days when most breweries are closed or have less than convenient hours) and only had the opportunity to swing by Strangeways on one particular occasion. With a rare free weekend, we took the opportunity to make it happen.

On Friday afternoon, I had some time to kill while waiting for Brewslut to meet me at a predetermined Park & Ride just off Rt. 15 near Gettysburg. I was on a rare "field trip" for work, which took me to a vendor in New Oxford, PA. So rather than driving back to rendezvous with my traveling companions (don't forget about Pleeps), we saved time by meeting at the Park & Ride. (Editor's note: The Park & Ride was kind of sketchy, by the way. Despite being on the Commuter Services of PA's list of official Park & Ride locations, there was no signage at all; it was basically a big gravel lot next to a church and a fire company. Thankfully, we didn't get towed.)

I decided to use my spare time to check out a relatively new brewery in nearby Hanover called Miscreation. Ten years ago, we'd make it to a new brewery within a few months of its grand opening. Well, it took me almost 4 years to get here. Better late than never, I guess.

Outside Hanover's Miscreation Brewing.

Located at Center Square right smack dab in the heart of the Snack Capital of the World, Miscreation is open seven days a week and offers a variety of house brews, a small pub menu featuring panini sandwiches and such, and live music on the weekend. The space has an interesting multi-level layout with an upstairs loft that overlooks the front of the tasting room. They also have outside seating on the sidewalk.

View from my seat at Miscreation.
I decided to head upstairs (since that's actually where the bar is) and joined a few local muggers at the bar. The people were friendly, and the server seems like she was one of the owners. I mentioned it was my first time here, and they welcomed me with enthusiasm. To avoid drinking on an empty stomach, I decided to have some lunch (a tasty Buffalo chicken panini) with my beer. I started with an 8-ounce pour of a pale ale called Severed. This struck me as a pretty standard, bare-bones American pale ale with a mix of floral and citrus hop notes and just a touch of spicy pine sap in the finish. At 6.6% ABV, it's beginning to approach IPA territory.

Waiting for lunch with Severed.

My second choice was a pumpkin cream ale called Booo!!! This one features a smooth, creamy body similar to a nitro pour with a pumpkin spice flair that's heavier on the cinnamon and lighter on the clove with some nutmeg and allspice thrown into the mix. I like smoother beers like cream ales, porters, or stouts as the base beers for "pumpkin" ales rather than amber or Belgian styles just for the creamy texture those styles possess... at least when they're done right. This one had a rich, smooth mouthfeel and didn't overdo it with the spices.

Booo!!!

Overall, the beers are solid and the prices are reasonable. I was hoping to hit another newer brewery called Something Wicked while I was in town, but unfortunately they didn't open until 4 p.m., so it will have to wait for another day. No worries, as I killed my last thirty minutes at a record store around the corner from Miscreation (although I left empty-handed; a rarity for me after spending any amount of time in a record store). And with that, I made the short drive to the designated Park & Ride just off Rt. 15 in rural Gettysburg to meet Brewslut and Pleeps.

As we were driving to our first brewery (which was supposed to be Hardywood), we passed a sign advertising a brewery called 6 Bears & A Goat. "There's no way we aren't stopping there," I said. I mean, come on... goats! We quickly took the next exit to stop in for a quick beer and take a break from the horrendous Virginia traffic. Seriously, this was like Chicago bad. Enter audible #1... and we hadn't even gotten anywhere yet!

Outside 6 Bears & A Goat Brew House.

As we pulled up to the brewery, cars were parked along the roadside leading up to the entrance of the parking lot. "Looks pretty busy," I said. Inside, the place was brimming with customers enjoying dinner and beers. I was surprised not only by how big the place was but also by the sheer number of people there. The greeter said the wait for dinner was about 45 minutes, but we politely mentioned we just stopped in for a quick beer. There was one lone stool available at the very end of the bar near the serving area, so Brewslut snagged it, and I stood.

With such a curious name for a brewery, we obviously wanted to learn of its origin. The name was inspired by its founders and the mascots of their respective military services. The six "bears" represent 20-year retirees from the U.S. Coast Guard, while the "goat" is a retiree from the U.S. Navy.

After perusing the beer list, I opted for the Pilothouse Pumpkin Porter. A variation of its Pilothouse Porter, this variant features the addition of a variety of pumpkin pie spices amid the beer's canvas of chocolate and coffee flavors. Aroma-wise, it hinted of cinnamon, nutmeg and clove as well as a bit of chocolate, and the mouthfeel was actually pretty spot-on. The initial flavor was also pretty pleasant, but unfortunately there was some kind of metallic off-flavor in the finish that just lingered on my palate. Not sure if it was a flaw or a slight infection from equipment, but for lack of a better term it had a "dirty" finish. Otherwise, it was pretty solid.

Pilothouse Pumpkin Porter at 6 Bears & A Goat.

Meanwhile, Brewslut was working on a pour of Passionfruit Goes Ahhh. I had a few sips and this was a straight-up passionfruit bomb. It had a fruity tartness but lacked the complexity of a well-executed gose. Again, it wasn't bad overall but in the grand scheme of the gose world, let's just say it needs some tweaking.

Despite its middle-of-the-road beers, it was nice to see a small, local brewery booming on a Friday night during dinner hours. At the very least, it was worth a stop just to take a break from the grueling start-and-stop traffic we'd experienced since entering the DC Metro area.

Since traffic put us back about forty minutes, we decided to call audible #2 and rather than head to Hardywood, we stopped at the Fredericksburg location of Strangeways. In retrospect, I'm glad we stopped here because we'd already visited the smaller Richmond site on the way home from our last Drinksgiving trip to Virginia Beach. This was a much larger, open space in full sight of the production facility, complete with a stage for live entertainment and plenty of seating options.

We ordered our beers and settled in at a four-person table somewhere near the middle of the room. The place was sparsely attended, but it looked like some kind of show was going to begin shortly, as there was a sound guy twiddling some knobs at the sound console. Turns out Strangeways was hosting some kind of burlesque show later that evening. I saw a few tattooed ladies (one of them with a freshly shorn noggin) getting all decked out in corsets and other Victorian-esque garb. Sounds like burlesque to me. Absinthe and burlesque sounds like a better combo than beer and burlesque. Either way, we'd be gone by the time the show started.

I kicked off our visit with a juicy pale ale called Everything Changes. Part of its "Directional Pale Ale" series, this is a double dry-hopped pale ale featuring copious amounts of Green Bullet and Pacifica hops to elicit flavors of ripe mango, orange marmalade, and pineapple juice.

Pleeps doesn't react well to change.

Meanwhile, I'd been scoping out some of the sour and tart ales on the beer list, as they were plentiful. I was feeling a Berliner Weisse, and they had two base Berliners (a standard and an imperial version) with a variety of flavored syrups. I eventually decided on Imperial Lucky Charms, which was described as an Imperial Marshmallow Berliner Weisse. Turns out it's basically their Fred Zeppelin Imperial Berliner Weisse with traditional German woodruff syrup. Fine by me, as I love woodruff syrup. This green-tinted syrup imparts a sweet marshmallow counterpart to the beer's inherent tartness. Turns out it was a delicious concoction, and I'm glad I went with the imperial version, which had a thicker body and a bit more tartness (I sampled both base beers prior to ordering).

View from our table at Strangeways.

We decided to share a pour of Apes in the Hammock, a sour ale brewed with a house lactobacillus strain and fresh lemongrass and apricots. Actually, Pleeps pretty much forced us to order this beer because of the name. There were several monkey and ape-themed beers from which to choose, but he liked this one most. It's always good to stay on Pleeps' good side when drinking. He can sometimes go heavy on the imperial stouts, and if he gets agitated - for whatever reason - he might start flinging poop. Generally, he's pretty well-behaved, but it happens to all of us (the going too heavy on beers, not flinging poop; of course, I've been known to crop dust from time to time). But back to the beer. This one's fermented hot with a house Kveik yeast strain (from Scandinavia) for a vinous character, this tasty sour features notes of white grape, apricot, sour candy, and lemon zest. Kveik (pronounced “kwike”) literally translates to “yeast” in a particular Norwegian dialect. We actually started using a few of these Kveik strains at Tröegs for some recent Scratch beers. (You can read more about this fascinating yeast in a recent article from Draft magazine if you care to learn more.)

Pleeps likes Strangeways for obvious reasons.

Once again, we weren't able to connect with the elusive Mike Hiller, one of Strangeways' brewers (he used to own Bavarian Barbarian in Williamsport a decade ago). But we had a good visit and were able to skedaddle in time before the burlesque show started... not that I'm offended or anything. I just prefer to keep nudity and comedy segregated (unless Sarah Silverman or Nikki Glaser want to start a new genre of comedy). While Strangeways seems to get overshadowed by trendier places like The Veil and The Answer, I'd highly recommend including a stop on your itinerary if you ever plan a trip to the Richmond area. Their beers are legit... and, you know, monkeys! 

We still had time to make it to Hardywood before they closed for the evening. We hoped they would have a food truck on-site. Luckily they did, and I was able to get some tasty shrimp tacos just before they closed up shop. I'd enjoyed Hardywood's beers for many years and we'd been to its taproom in Charlottesville during my birthday weekend in March 2017, but this marked our inaugural visit to the production brewery in Richmond.

Hardywood's no-frills tasting room.

Before I dug into the beer, I quickly checked out the bottle selection in the adjacent room. To my surprise, their price points are pretty low! I got a 750mL of the rum barrel-aged pumpkin and a gin-barrel aged peach Tripel for only $12.99 each. Smaller 500mL bottles were only $4.49. Good value for the money, I'd say!

Pleeps posing with my haul from Hardywood.

But back to the task at hand. I knew we only had time for one beer each and maybe a shared third beer, but that was it. I opted for Tropic Like it's Hot, a sour ale brewed in collaboration with Ardent Craft Ales and Center of the Universe Brewing. This one is brewed with passionfruit, pineapple, and butterfly pea flowers. Wait... huh?! I'd never heard of butterfly pea flowers. Turns out the flowers of its vine were thought to have the shape of human female genitalia, hence its Latin name Clitoria ternatea. So this beer was brewed using a flower that looks like a vagina. You learn something new every day. The beer has a lovely magenta hue (courtesy of the vagina flowers) and boasts a fresh, tropical aroma with a slightly tart, dry finish. It even tasted good in a plastic cup.

Brewslut went for the hoppy beer this time with something called But Does it Make Sense? This NE-style Double IPA is hopped with Galaxy and utilizes Mosaic lupulin powder. If you've never heard of lupulin powder before, it's something that's catching on among craft brewers these days. It's kind of like a super-concentrated version of whole-leaf hops containing all the resins and aromatic oils for an added dose of hop power.



For our "shared" beer, we settled on something called Tropication 2.0. Described as "liquid recess," this beer features plenty of Mosaic and Nelson Sauvin hops to impart tropical fruit aromas reminiscent of passionfruit, mango, pineapple, and lime. This one was bright and juicy, and quite enjoyable. Sadly, our time at Hardywood quickly expired as the staff began cleaning up while we finished this tasty beverage. I wish we had a little more time, but at least I've had many Hardywood beers in the past.

Our last stop of the night was one of two reasons I wanted to spend a weekend in Richmond: The Answer (the other being The Veil, but more on that later). When we arrived, we were confused at first because they appeared to be closed. Upon further examination, we soon discovered that entry was in the rear (that's what she said), so we headed out back behind the building to park.

Once we started checking in our beers on Untappd, our Team D(r)INK compadre, Jamberg, caught wind of our shenanigans and, being only a few blocks away at his hotel, decided to surprise us with a visit (even though he had visited for dinner). Turns out he was down in the area with one of his  colleagues, Brandon, for the Phish concert at Hampton Coliseum. (I too had seen Phish there back in November 1998, and the shows were later released as a live album called Hampton Comes Alive.)

Now... onto the beer!

The beer list was pretty ridiculous and encompassed everything from imperial stouts brewed with a laundry list of items found in your grandma's pantry, IPAs, sours, fruit beers, and The Answer's signature "Frozan" concoctions, which are essentially beer slushies dispensed out of a - you guessed it - slushy machine. After a minute or two, I decided to go with a flight of four decadent-sounding dark beers. I really wanted to dig into the beer list, but so many of these just sounded too damn good to ignore. Here's a quick recap:
  • Out on Bail: Bondsman's Breakfast - A variant of Out on Bail porter conditioned on Rostov's hazelnut coffee, cacao nibs, and Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal. 
  • Deanna Breakfast - Imperial Oatmeal Stout with Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee, Dark Vermont maple syrup, and Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal.
  • Swiss Chocolate Macaroon - Imperial Chocolate Stout with Swiss Almond coffee, Swiss White and Dark chocolate, and coconut chips.
  • Papa Bui - Imperial stout based on an Italian "love cake" with decadent notes of chocolate, hazelnut, and coconut. 
Each successive beer was more impressive than the last, and to be honest, Out on Bail set the bar pretty high. Overall, these are some of the best porters and stouts I've enjoyed in our travels. The mouthfeel was right in my wheelhouse and what I'd call perfection: Smooth and luscious with low carbonation but full-bodied and slick. They all drank like 6% beers with virtually no noticeable alcohol heat; however, three of the four beer were in the 8.5% to 11.5% ABV range.  

Question: Why is Pleeps so happy? Answer: The Answer.

Since our visit turned into a hang with friends, I neglected to snap a decent number of photos as I typically do when visiting a brewery. Such is life. Sometimes you just have to go with the flow of good company and good conversation. That didn't stop us from enjoying more beers, though.

We decided to dip into some of the fruit beers, which all sounded fantastic on paper. Let's see how they translated to the finished product. First up was Virginia Cobbler: Cherry Peach. The Answer describes this beer as a "Cobbler style Gose," so that already sounds delicious. Cobbler is such an underrated dessert, and it's also fun to say out loud. This sweet-tart beer is brewed with Morello cherries, peaches, and a touch of cinnamon and vanilla.

Back to another stout, this time we ordered a pour of Raspberry Fluffernutter, an Imperial Chocolate stout with Jif peanut butter, fresh raspberries, toasted marshmallow, and a touch of vanilla.

Drive Thru Daiquiri: Hurricane - Part of the "Joose/Sips" series and a collaboration with Parish Brewing out of Louisiana. The impetus of this beer was to replicate the famous Hurricane cocktail. Brewed with passionfruit, blood orange, and rum-soaked Morello cherries, this one definitely straddled the line between beer and cocktail.

We arrived at The Veil about ten or fifteen minutes before they opened for the day, so we chilled in the CRV for a bit. We were able to grab a spot in the parking lot, which shares its space with a beer-garden-of-sorts featuring a covered area with outside seating (likely for overflow). About five minutes until, we got out and there was already a small crowd amassed in the parking lot. Inside, the tasting room area is narrow and rectangular. Within thirty minutes, the place was packed with a mostly Millennial crowd of twenty-somethings and hipsters... LOTS of hipsters. Remember my comments about Dangerous Man? Yeah, like that. Hipsters aside, we were surprised by another visit from Lamberg and Brandon. And later, we ran into some of my Tröegs peeps, who were also headed to the Phish show in Hampton later that evening.

Inside the mothership for hipsters.

I started with Young & Pure, an IPA hopped with Citra, Galaxy, and Simcoe. The Veil is known for its juicy, hazy IPAs with minimal bitterness and malt presence. This is one of them. I don't know. It seems to me it's as if these newer, hip breweries are trying to cater to the haze craze and the fact that young beer drinkers constantly want something different so that they can get another Untappd check-in. While I like using Untappd as much as the next beer geek, it makes me wonder if a brewery like The Veil (and I'm only using it as an example because I happen to be writing about this brewery at this precise moment) brews the same IPA with a different name so people will continually line up for a can release and buy whatever is new at the time. They all look the same and taste pretty much identical. ***cough***Trillium***cough. Some are better than others, but there's not much deviation from the formula, which might be something like this: 1. Does it look like something you'd drink for breakfast? 2. Is it double dry-hopped? 3. Does it smell better than it tastes? 4. Is is juicy or dank, brah? If you answered "yes" to all of these questions, then you have yourself a NE-style IPA. The trend now, it seems to me, is that appearance trumps flavor. And to me, that's absurd. I'm not buying a beer to look at it. I'm buying a beer to drink it. I'm not trying to single out The Veil by any means. I've just reached the point of critical mass with hazy IPAs and decided to write about it. This was a fine beer, but I just feel that hazy IPAs lack the complexity and depth of flavor as, say a West Coast style IPA. There. I said it. Let's move on.

Up next was a beer named Salted Caramel & Oreo Hornswoggler, which I must admit sounded amazing on paper. Described as a chocolate milk stout conditioned on salted caramel and Oreo cookies, it indeed sounded decadent and inviting. Lamberg ordered a pour of this sickeningly sweet, muddy-looking brownish stout to share with the group. It resembled liquid stool that comes out of a baby whose diet consists of nothing but breast milk. I'm talkin' straight from the teet. I mean, I've produced excrement that was prettier than this beer. Everyone HATED it; I thought it was OK, but after about three sips, I'd had enough. So it sat on our table for the duration of our visit... like dookie in the street.

Things picked up with my next beer, Crucial Taunt, The Veil's house Double IPA. It's also named after the band fronted by Wayne's girlfriend Cassandra in the movie Wayne's World. Brewslut got the reference immediately. I did not. I should have, but I didn't. This one was soft and tropical with virtually no bitterness and a big smack of fruit in the aroma; certainly all hallmarks of the NE style.

Since I enjoyed Crucial Taunt, I decided to give another DIPA a spin, so I opted for Nice Nice Relationship Relationship. This double dry-hopped DIPA features a blend of Galaxy, Mosaic, and Ekuanot, and honestly wasn't that much different than Crucial Taunt, at least to my palate. By the way, the name of the beer isn't a typo. It seems all of its "double" or "imperial" beers have similar names that sound like a kid with a stuttering problem (Master Master Shredder Shredder, Never Never Forever Forever, etc.). I guess that's kind of cool; or at least a bit off-kilter.

While I enjoyed the three hoppy beers I tried, I felt they all kind of blurred together. Henceforth, I shall refer to this phenomenon as the "Trillium Effect." By the way, check this shit out...

Taking a break on the set of the upcoming remake of Heathers.

These four stuffy young ladies look like they came straight from the golf course (or perhaps the croquet court). I didn't notice any white wine spritzers on the menu at The Veil, but I could be mistaken. At first, we thought they were wearing Halloween costumes, but then we realized it was a little too early for that nonsense. Rich kids? Maybe. But in all actuality, the quartet was likely a group of pretentious wannabes trying to gain some street cred by hanging at the "hip brewery." The only reason I bring this up is because they were in such stark comparison to the rest of the patrons (especially me, but even the hipsters) that they stood out like a turd in the punchbowl. Perhaps I should offer kudos to The Veil for bringing together a truly eclectic clientele into its circle of fans. Brewslut, on the other hand, wanted to punch each of them in the solar plexus. (I had to laugh at this, because I'm typically the one in "angry old man" mode when we come across people like this.)

So we left the cast of Heathers and continued onward to our next destination.

Right around the corner from The Veil is Väsen, a brewery that's making its mark with forward-thinking sours, fruit beers, and Belgian-inspired ales. Taking its name from the Swedish word “väsen” (which translates to "inner essence" or "way of being"), it pays tribute to the founders' Scandinavian heritage. Gotta love them vikings!


Outside Väsen.

I was immediately drawn to the Smoked Blood Peach Sour. Although they had me at "smoked," I must admit that "peach" sealed the deal. I'd never heard of blood peaches before (blood oranges, yes) so I was intrigued. I won't bore you with the history of this fruit, but here's a link to some more information in the event you are curious. Obviously, a lot can go wrong with a beer like this. Smoked malt. Fruit. Sour fermentation. This beer, however, was a home run! The smokiness was minimal but apparent up front, eliciting a hint of beechwood. The flavor followed through with tart peach gummy candy and a nice bit of pucker in the finish. Overall, a well-executed beer that could have easily gone wrong. Nicely done, Väsen!

View from our bar stools at Väsen.  

Brewslut opted for Everything Floats on Passionfruit, a double-dry-hopped sour conditioned on (according to Väsen) "nearly half a ton" of passionfruit and generous additions of Vic Secret, Mandarina Bavaria, and Citra hops. Passionfruit dominates the flavor (obviously), but there's also hints of grapefruit, pineapple, and tangerine present.

Pleeps + passionfruit = a winning combo!

We definitely got reeled in by our first choices. My Smoked Blood Peach Sour was one of the highlights of the weekend, so we felt obliged to stick around for a second round. I decided to switch gears and go with The Wired Walrus, a stout cold-steeped with Blanchard's coffee beans from Ethiopia and Guatemala. Actually, it should come as no surprise that I ordered a coffee beer. This lighter bodied stout features hints of mocha and strawberry with a hint of chocolate.

Surprisingly, Brewslut went with a pour of Barrel Aged Grapefruit Tripel, an Abbey-style ale aged for 4 months in Chardonnay barrels with grapefruit to impart intense flavors of citrus zest, oak, and vanilla. Nelson Sauvin hops provide subtle fruitiness and enhances the white wine character with notes of white grape. Belgian yeast provides additional nuances of spice akin to clove and black pepper as well as dark fruit. This one had a lot going on, and I enjoyed the peppery grapefruit rind flavor that came through in the finish.

Pretty sweet large mural painting at Väsen.

Looking back, this place really stood out from the pack. It was one of the most memorable visits of the trip, and it's a place I will definitely visit again next time we're galavanting around Richmond.

When we arrived at Ardent, the Tasting Room and adjacent beer garden area (despite being rather windy and chilly outside) were both pretty full. The beer menu looked varied and inspired with a few IPAs, saisons and pilsners. However, we were smack dab in the middle of our day and starting to get a bit fatigued, so we opted for a one-and-done visit. After getting our beers and searching for somewhere to sit, we gave up and went around back where we set up shop on a cement walkway near the food truck.

Beer board at Ardent.

I decided to throw caution to the wind with my one-and-done beer here: Sweet Potato & Sage Saison, a dry, farmhouse-style saison. This one was quite earthy with an herbal bite. It was also quite fragrant thanks to the addition of fresh, local sage. But it sounded interesting, so I ordered it. It was... ok. I mean, it had a lot going on: prickly carbonation; an earthy (almost starchy) character courtesy of the sweet potatoes; a sharp herbal bite; and a lingering dry, spicy finish. I don't know what I was hoping for, but I just don't think I was in the mood for this beer at this precise moment. Perhaps it was a well-executed beer; it just didn't sit well with me for the duration of the imbibement (is that a word)?

Sweet potato & sage saison.

Brewslut went with the Pineapple & Passionfruit American Sour Ale. I guess beer names are really hard to come up with these days. Anyway, this beer is a blend of sour blonde and sour wheat ales aged in oak barrels with pineapple and passionfruit. Needless to say, there's a heavy-handed tropical fruit presence (especially passionfruit) in both aroma and flavor, but it finishes on the sweet-tart side of the spectrum.

We tried to get comfy here but it just didn't pan out. The place was packed (inside and out), and it was too windy and cold to really camp out on a concrete sidewalk for more than the duration of a single beer. Plus, the beer didn't inspire us to stay for seconds. So, onward and upward.

For some reason, Three Notch'd wasn't even on our initial itinerary. However, once we arrived and I realized it too was situated in Richmond, we squeezed it in. I'd had one of its beers not too long ago at the Mellow Mushroom when we last drove through the area, but that was my only other encounter with the brewery until now.


Since we hadn't planned to visit, we opted for another one-and-done stop. I was ready for a West Coast IPA, so I was drawn to 40 Mile. Brewed with an abundance of American hop varieties for a tropical and citrus-forward hop experience, this beer is heavy on grapefruit and tangerine with hints of peach and pineapple. This beer's name refers to the number of miles Jack Jouett raced to warn Thomas Jefferson that General Cornwallis had ordered their capture. Jack Jouett’s ride is legendary in Virginia and put Three Notch’d Road on the map as a central story in the fight for our country's independence. And there's some more colonial-era trivia for you.

Brewslut went with As You Are, a pineapple mango gose. I've been getting kind of gose'd out lately. Every once in awhile, I like to throw one in to clear off the old palate, but honestly all of the various fruited versions just mask the flavor of the base beer, which to me is quite simple and refreshing. Some of the fruited versions are subtle, but so many turn out to be fruit bombs. Just an observation.

I didn't really feel much of a connection with this place unfortunately, so we split after one drink.

Never fear! There's still more to come as we explore River City. Stay tuned for the conclusion of our romp through Richmond, coming soon to your friendly neighborhood Pour Travelers blog soon. Until next time...



Friday, January 19, 2018

Top 10 New Breweries Visited in 2017

Each year, we visit a lot of breweries. So, we thought it would be a good idea to provide a year-end review of some of our favorites. Here’s a list of our Top 10 “new-to-us” breweries we had the pleasure of visiting in 2017. How did we come to the final list? While we’ve utilized no specific equation in determining the final Top 10 list, we did take the following into consideration: beer quality, atmosphere, service, gut instinct, and general awesomeness. With that said, we present to you the Pour Travelers’ Top 10 New Breweries Visited in 2017 (in alphabetical order):

1. Bar Hygge/Brewery Techné – Philadelphia, PA – First visited February 2017

Philly has been known more amongst beer geeks for its never-ending list of world class beer bars. However, only in recent years has the City of Brotherly Suds started to throw down the gauntlet and really enter the ring of craft breweries. Sure, the old guard is still hanging in there, cranking out quality stuff. However, Bar Hygge/Brewery Techne is perhaps the first brewery in Philly I’ve been seriously excited about. Everything about this place is picture perfect to me. The beer is spectacular, the food is bangin’, the atmosphere is top-notch, the service was stellar. Even the coffee was excellent! Through four perfectly executed beers (an imperial coffee stout, IPA, blood orange saison, and Baltic porter), we were bowled over each time. I mean, when Brewslut deems a beer “the shit,” I know they’ve got something special. I have absolutely no gripes with this place at all (other than it’s 90 miles away from me). Favorite Beer: Low Hanging Fruit

2. Bitter Brothers – San Diego, CA – First visited June 2017

I had a chance meeting with a sales rep for Bitter Brothers at Modern Times. We had a nice chat and he gave me his business card, telling me it was good for a complimentary sampler flight. After swinging by only to find out they were closed, I was still determined to get there. In retrospect, I'm really glad we made it in for a visit, because the beers are stellar. White Peach Family Tart, a peach Berliner Weisse, was freaking amazing and without a doubt one of our favorite beers – not just sours - of the trip. All of the other beers - everything from a dry-hopped sour to juicy IPAs to a coffee porter – were enjoyable and well above average. Favorite Beer: White Peach Family Tart

3. Commonwealth – Virginia Beach, VA – First visited November 2017

Commonwealth turned out to be another one of those places where I wanted to try EVERYTHING! But even with a DD and an experienced liver, there were simply too many beers (around 20) on tap to try them all. So, we chose wisely. Standouts included Halcyon, a blond sour ale with passionfruit and apricots; Big Papi, a super juicy DIPA, and Marvoloso - bourbon barrel-aged Imperial Stout on nitro. They even had a wheat IPA brewed with wildflower honey and a boatload of marshmallows. What does one name such a beer? Marshmallow Eyes, of course! Big Papi was so enjoyable that I had to take home some cans for future use. I liked this place so much, I bought a shirt, which is something I reserve for only the cream of the crop breweries (one shirt purchase per trip). I have A LOT of T-shirts! Favorite Beer: Big Papi

4. Diamondback – Baltimore, MD – First visited August 2017

I'm not sure what it was, but I felt an immediate connection to this place and knew I was going to love it. My instincts were right. I had to try everything. And we did… seriously. Lucky for us, there were only 5 beers available. Going light to heavy, one by one I was blown away with the depth of character of these beers – everything from the hop profile to the mouthfeel to the aroma was on-point. I was giddy, I admit it. While all of the beers were memorable, it was Green Machine that wowed me the most. Diamondback's take on a NE-style IPA is dry-hopped with Citra and Ella for a juicy, citrus-forward flavor with a hint of ripe mango. Now what's not to love about that? Favorite Beer: Green Machine

5. Draai Laag – Pittsburgh, PA – First visited April 2017

Pittsburgh is another city that has really brought out its A-game as of late. During a trip over Easter weekend, we visited close to a dozen new-to-us breweries. The cream of the crop? Draii Laag. Ironically, the types of beer you will never see on tap at Draii Laag are typically the kinds of beers I seek out. With that said, I was mesmerized by this place. Everything about Draii Laag was exquisite. Visiting their tasting room is definitely an elevated beer experience. Stand-out beers included Atomic Pomme, a bourbon barrel-aged American sour ale brewed with apples, and Öl (pronounced Oil), a strong ale aged in Laphroaig Scotch casks, bourbon casks, and 27-year-old rum casks. All of Draai Laag’s beers are unique and against the grain. They've really carved out a niche for themselves in this hop-dominated market. I doubt you'll ever see an IPA or run-of-the-mill styles like brown, red, or amber ales. Overall, we were both really impressed with the complexity, inventiveness, and presentation of the beers, the service, and the space itself. Favorite Beer: Öl

6. Ocelot – Dulles, VA – First visited March 2017

Dulles, VA's Ocelot makes the cut, not only for its amazing beer but also for its music theme. A colorful, psychedelic mural depicting band logos and mascots adorns the walls of the tasting room. Beers are named after song lyrics. Even the back wall housing its barrels has been dubbed "The Barrel Wall" in a sweet Pink Floyd The Wall font. The beers were off the hook and included several well-executed IPAs, an amazing coffee stout, an equally impressive maple stout, and much more. Nocturnal, a coffee stout aged on vanilla and cacao was easily one of the highlights of this particular trip. Brewslut was equally bowled over with the Megaton Maple, a maple stout. Three IPAs – Waterfalls, Juvenile Success and Jacks N Jokers also didn’t disappoint. From the vibe to the people to the beer itself, Ocelot seems to have everything dialed in. We got to visit again in June while pre-gaming for an Iron Maiden concert. I was excited to try a beer called Grunge Legdrop, a dry-hopped Simcoe IPA brewed in collaboration with our buddy Cy from Amplified Ale Works in San Diego. More tasty IPAs ensued, including Tongue Tied and Loaded Questions. Ocelot is doing some of the tastiest IPAs I've had on the East Coast. Favorite Beer: Nocturnal

7. Pro Re Nata – Crozet, VA – First visited March 2017

The next brewery made the list based on the strength of just two beers (as well as its sweet outside seating area): Crozet, Virginia’s Pro Re Nata Farm Brewery. I thought this was a peculiar name for a brewery, mostly because I had no idea what it meant. Luckily, there was a doctor and a pharm tech in our group who filled me in. Although the literal translation is "for the affair born," Pro re nata is a Latin phrase meaning "under present circumstances" or “as needed” and is commonly used in medicine or medical prescriptions. The two beers we had here were phenomenal. Cherry Coal Train – a barrel-aged cherry porter – was my highlight of the day. Aged in Cabernet Sauvignon wine barrels, this supple porter featured Michigan-grown Montmorency tart cherries. The balance of this beer was amazing, with intense notes of Belgian chocolate and tart cherry followed by rich vanilla and a tinge of oak. Brewslut was equally impressed with her Beans Deep Coffee Stout. Favorite Beer: Cherry Coal Train

8. Strangeways – Richmond, VA – First visited November 2017

We’d wanted to get to Strangeways for the past few years, but somehow never managed to fit it into our travel schedule when we were nearby. They were either closed or we had time constraints. So needless to say, I was enthused that we were finally able to work a visit into our itinerary at the tail end of our Drinksgiving trip. A sampler flight featuring eleven beers and not a bad one in the lot. That says something. Beer after beer, we were impressed with the quality and flavors of each. And there were 30 different beers on tap! Everything from low ABV wheat sour ales to IPAs to a variety of barrel-aged treats were well-executed and enjoyable. Palooza – a NE-style IPA - was a standout, as were the various stouts, especially Reindeer Fuel and Virginia Peanut Butter Cup. The tart beers were also really well-done. To be honest, this place exceeded my expectations and we walked away being super impressed with Strangeways. I even bought a pink T-shirt (ok, it’s technically “raspberry”) so that should say a lot! Favorite Beer: Reindeer Fuel

9. Toolbox – Vista, CA – First visited June 2017

Every time we visit San Diego, there are a dozen or more breweries that have opened in our absence. As Pour Travelers, it is our civic duty to visit these during our West Coast excursions. I must admit I wasn't sure what to expect with a name like Toolbox. I always think of "toolbox," "toolbag," etc. as derogatory terms. Turns out this place is producing some incredibly complex sour and barrel-aged beers in the same vein as Lost Abbey, and its tap list was dominated by these types of beers. From Berliner Weisse to barrel-aged blended saisons to wild ales, Toolbox has definitely carved out a niche for themselves in the largely IPA-saturated San Diego beer scene. Its Eau d' Vine Rouge, a barrel-aged American wild ale with Cabernet Franc and Merlot grapes was a highlight of the trip. Aged for up to 18 months in French oak barrels with a mixture of wild yeast strains and bacteria, this incredibly vinous beer boasted lots of ripe grape flavor and fairly sharp acidity. Favorite Beer: Eau d’ Vine Rouge

10. Vanish – Leesburg, VA – First visited June 2017

While we were driving through Leesburg, VA up to Frederick, MD, we drove right past Vanish Farmwoods Brewery. We decided to turn around and stop in for a beer. It was one of the best quick beer decisions I've ever made in my life, right up there with attending the soft opening of Lagunita's beer garden on our 10th anniversary trip eight years prior. Upon immediately setting foot inside the open tasting room area, I knew we were in for a treat. The vibe of this place was beyond cool, the beers all sounded amazing on paper, and the outdoor space was scenic and vast. What was only supposed to be a stop for a "quick one,” we liked it so much we stayed a while. In retrospect, we could have stayed all day. We sampled everything from an imperial IPA to a kettle-soured tangerine witbier to wine barrel-aged treats (icluding an unusual break of character for me – a beer called The White Wine Project, a tart, fruity ale aged in Fabbioli Pear Port barrels. But in this particular instance, they had me at "port." After we'd visited all of the breweries at the end of the weekend, we both agreed that this was our "find" of the trip. Favorite Beer: The White Wine Project

Honorable Mentions (if this was our “Top 20” list):

Attaboy – Frederick, MD – first visited June 2017

This place serves up some tasty beers amid a cool, modern tasting room with an industrial vibe. All of the beers we tried (mostly hoppy ales) well-done and enjoyable, and Attaboy was our favorite of three new breweries we visited in Frederick. 

Benchtop – Norfolk, VA – first visited November 2017

This place was soooo close to getting on the Top 10, but I had to give the slight edge to Commonwealth. With that said, Benchtop was easily in my Top 3 breweries of our entire Drinksgiving trip. Oaxaca Milk Stout, a low ABV Mexican mole stout, was a standout. Also, the cans of Lazy Floculation – a Mosaic and Galaxy DIPA – I bought were fantastic!

Collusion – York, PA – first visited January 2017

Variety and quality abound at York’s most impressive brewery. There is something for everyone here. Even if you don't like beer (which I’m sure you do… otherwise you wouldn’t be reading this blog), they had mead and cider available. Favorite Beer: What Gose Around

Cushwa – Williamsport, MD – first visited June 2017

Situated in a business park with dozens of identical suites, Cushwa caters to its locals (you can design your own crowler label on a huge chalkboard in the Tasting Room). Deuane recommended this place to us, so we changed our itinerary for the Maiden concert weekend in June and checked them out. All-around enjoyable beers and great people! Favorite Beer: Jell-o

The North – Endicott, NY – first visited May 2017

After perusing its tap list on-line, I knew I’d sniffed out a good one. We’d been in this area before, so I’m not sure how this place had eluded us for so long. Small, off-the-radar, and no-frills, this is the kind of brewery every town needs. I loved the vibe, the people, and - most importantly - the beers. Favorite beer: Black Donald

Pure Project – Miramar, CA – first visited June 2017

Pure Project boasts a clean, bright tasting room and delicate, flavorful beers with locally-sourced ingredients. What can you expect? Beers brewed with organic fruits and spices, local honey, hibiscus, and other non-traditional ingredients. We need to spend a bit more time here during our next visit.

Race Street – Clearfield, PA – first visited April 2017

Race Street’s sheer eclecticism evokes a vibe that is artistic and elegant… and at the same time scatterbrained and jumbled. But this juxtaposition is truly at the heart of this gem of a brewery situated in no-man’s land. If you find yourself in Happy Valley, make the extra 30-minute drive to Clearfield and visit Race Street. You won’t be disappointed! Favorite Beer: 10 Pound Torpedo

Resident – San Diego, CA – first visited June 2017

Resident featured all the tell-tale warning signs of a place I wasn’t going to enjoy: the patrons were noisy, TVs blared with sporting events, and they had a lot of guest taps. However, since it was our last brewery of the trip, I didn’t let it get me down. The beers I had here were some of the most memorable of the trip, including Vacation Coconut IPA and, my favorite, Walk of Shame, a blonde ale with coffee and cacao nibs. Morale of this story? Don’t judge a book by its cover.
Favorite Beer: Walk of Shame
                                                                                                                     
Tonewood – Oaklyn, NJ – first visited February 2017

Another one so close to making the Top 10, Tonewood is definitely on the rise. This place was packed with locals when we visited, and for good reason! They’re cranking out some seriously tasty beers. Chief, a soft, hazy-colored pale ale is worth seeking out. The Revolution coffee porter is also bangin’! Favorite Beer: Chief

Yorkholo – Mansfield, PA – first visited February 2017

Yorkholo has been around for about six years, yet we still weren’t able to visit until 2017. Better late than never, because we both loved this place. In typical fashion, I wanted to try everything so we opted for a full flight of all ten beers (5 hoppy and 5 dark). There were several stand-outs, including a great Scottish Wee Heavy called The Yanochik, and Rez-Head, a DIPA with citrus and peach notes. But the winner for me was Alpenglow, a dark Belgian-style ale brewed with ginger and aged on tart and sweet black cherries.


Friday, January 5, 2018

Drinksgiving 10 - Days 4 & 5: That's a wrap!

We had a few random places left to hit on Sunday, which was our last full day in VA. On Monday, we'd be traveling back to good ol' PA. But for today, we were off to the town of Chesapeake, about 25 miles SW of VA Beach proper, to visit yet another brewery. Since he lived in Chesapeake, Kelly's friend Dave would be meeting us (if you've been keeping score, you may remember him from the other night as they guy who bought us a round at the piano bar). The brewery in question, Big Ugly, definitely gets an "A" for atmosphere. This place was colorful and fun, with friendly staff and a variety of interesting seating options. I mean, where else can you actually sit inside a full-size vintage VW Bus and enjoy a beer? Lookie here...

If you take that bus, you get there.

Sadly, the bus was occupied by three children doing whatever kids do these days (i.e. faces buried in their iPhones, oblivious to the outside world while mommy and daddy get drunk). And I would have sat in there if it wasn't for those meddling kids! Yes indeed, folks... once again, kids ruin everything. Man, it seems as though this blog deals as much with my disdain for children as much as it deals with beer. Hey, I'm middle-aged now, so it's only natural to be cranky about shit like this, right?

Now, on to the beer. The people here were friendly and talkative. I perused the chalkboard and opted for an IPA with an intriguing name - Leaf Peepers. Say it out loud, kids. LEAF PEEPERS. It's fun to say, isn't it? I thought so. This was yet another hazy, dry-hopped NE-style IPA with plenty of dry-citrus aroma. It was enjoyable but not mind-blowing, which seems to be the norm with the haze craze: a few winners, a few losers, and lots of "C" students in the middle. (That's my clever way of calling it "average.")

Inside Big Ugly Brewing Co.

I was really excited about my second choice, Goat Hanger. Anyone who knows me or follows me on Facebook is fully aware of my infatuation with goats. This imperial breakfast stout is a blend of Goat Locker by Young Veterans Brewing and Big Ugly's own Ape Hanger. To be honest, I never got the story straight about this beer. Is it a collaboration between the two breweries, or an actual blend of two finished beers? Either way, it was tasty but nothing special (save for the name, that is). Any beer with the word "goat" in it automatically gets bonus points. However, just like Whose Line is it Anyway?, points don't matter.

Pleeps hiding behind the haze.

While I wasn't really wowed by either of my selections, both were enjoyable and served their purpose. Dave's a friendly, talkative guy, and we enjoyed chatting with him about beer, Virginia, music, and what not. We sent him off with a few choice Tröegs offerings for he and his family to enjoy.

After an hour or so at Big Ugly, we headed to stop number two: Reaver Beach. Inside, I immediately detected a pirate theme. Its logo is a skull and crossbones with mash paddles as bones and an inverted hop as part of the skull's head. Beers with names such as Jolly Roger and Fire at Sea occupied the beer menu. I also was intrigued by the name of the brewery. Perhaps "Reaver Beach" was a nickname for Virginia Beach. After checking out the brewery's web site, I learned that a "reaver" is a plungering forager and one who takes by force (i.e. a pillager or plunderer). So that definitely fits with the pirate theme. With plenty of interesting selections on the board, we decided on a sampler flight of eight different, quite disparate beers. See?

Tower of Bones - DIPA with all Mosaic hops. Tropical and citrus notes.
Hoptopus - DIPA with 8 hop additions and tons of dry-hops.
Jolly Roger Pumpkin Porter - robust porter brewed with roasted sugar pumpkins, cinnamon sticks, whole nutmeg, and clove.
Fire at Sea - smoked coffee porter. 'Nuff said!
Navalis - Gose brewed with pink sea salt and lime zest.
Under the Black - brownie stout brewed with lactose, vanilla bean, and cocoa nibs.
Reaver En Noir - sour ale aged in oak barrels with Pinot Noir grapes.
On the Account - oak-fermented sour red ale aged in Madeira barrels for 16 months.


Of course Pleeps is honing in on the dark beers.
The sours seemed to stand out here again, with the two barrel-aged beers and gose at the forefront. The smoked coffee porter was also nicely done. With that said, it's probably one of those breweries that I'll forget about in a year or so. That's not a bad thing; it's just reality, especially when you visit as many breweries as we do. But the place was cool and the presentation was thoughtful, so it was definitely worth a stop. But, off to the next brewery.

Next on the agenda was Young Veterans. As you might be inclined to guess, this place had an obvious military vibe, from the names of its beers down to the beer label artwork, decor, and web site design. As someone who works in marketing at a brewery, I always appreciate when a brewery ties everything together. Young Veterans seemed to "get it." (Although, what happens when the guys get a little older; do they change the name to Middle Aged Veterans?) All kidding aside, it was time to belly up to the bar and order some beer.

Enter another (shared) sampler flight, consisting of the following six beers:

Semper Fi.PA - single hop Citra IPA.
Jet Noise DIPA - brewed with lots of hops, apparently (couldn't find any additional details).
Private Plum - sour ale brewed with plums and hibiscus. Part of its new Pucker Factory series.
Tower Buzz - another Pucker Factory release; this one's a passionfruit sour ale.
MOPP4 - more Pucker Factory business... a sour IPA brewed with Falconer's Flight and El Dorado.
The Objector - yet even more Pucker Factory in the form of a sour IPA brewed with hibiscus.

Pleeps has taken flight!

It seems as though this brewery has found its niche brewing sours. I didn't really get to talk to anyone about their process, but I'll be the majority of these (if not all) were kettle soured. I didn't really have issue with any of the sours here. They were well-done and pretty tasty for the most part. I also dig the name of the sour series: Pucker Factory. Kudos on these beers. I'd like to see them begin a barrel-aging program if they haven't already.

The IPAs, however, were another story. Brewing sour ales on the same brewing system as other beers requires Anal Retentive Chef-like cleanliness and sanitation efforts, and I felt these two hoppy beers suffered from some kind of airborne bacteria or other souring agents. Semper Fi.PA and Jet Noise were not intended to be sour, but they definitely displayed characteristics of sour beers. With that said, based on the quality of the sour beers we sampled, I'd wager that these two IPAs would have tasted fine had they not been compromised by bacteria.

Inside Young Veterans' tasting room.

Brewslut and I are no strangers to Green Flash, our final stop of the day. I figure we'd end on a high note, given the reputation of this brewery and numerous past visits to both its San Diego facility as well as the experimental Cellar 3, just outside San Diego. I'd forgotten that Green Flash opened this East Coast brewing facility to accommodate growth in the Mid-Atlantic region. This seems to be a big trend lately with bigger West Coast breweries such as Sierra Nevada, Oskar Blues, Stone, etc. all of which now have East Coast facilities. Hey, if it means fresher beer for us folks on this side of the mighty Mississippi, then I'm all for it!

Green Flash... buildin' a wall!

But back to Green Flash. Outside, the courtyard was brimming with visitors drinking beer and eating grub from the food truck we were also about to hit up. It was another unseasonably warm day for November, and although it was just a tad chilly, the nearby fire pits helped take the edge off. We sat outside for a bit after getting our first round, then headed inside after we'd eaten. I forget what we got, but it was good. That I remember!

Inside, the tasting room and merch shop echoed those of the Green Flash brewery HQ in San Diego. The board was rife with Green Flash classics, selections from its sister brewery, Alpine, and a few choice nuggets from both the Cellar 3 and Genius Lab small-batch series. After immensely enjoying Cellar 3 on our last two trips to San Diego, I was glad to see a few of these limited elixirs made their way to the east coast. We dipped our toes into the selection in typical fashion - with hops. Brewslut liked the Spanish Trampoline, an IPA brewed for National IPA day (Aug. 3). This one boasted a tropical flair with notes of passionfruit and mango in the nose. I dug into a pour of Hard Count IPA, a collaboration with Nick Hardwick. Do you know who that is? Me either. It was OK, but not what I'd call a resume builder.

Inside Green Flash's right coast digs.

After dabbling in hops for our first beers, we did a complete 180 and dove headfirst into the Cellar 3 tanks. Brewslut enjoyed her Ideal Sauvage, a Belgian-style dark ale aged in red wine barrels with Brettanomyces. Pretty tasty, I thought. However, once I put my glass of Sepia Frumento to my lips, I knew I'd made a sound decision. This cask-conditioned bourbon barrel-aged barleywine brewed with orange zest and cherry was everything I anticipated... and more! I feel sorry for beer lovers who simply can't get into the nuanced layers of a nicely executed barleywine. Sure, they're challenging to manage when planning an all-day drinking excursion. But... DD, baby! Kelly to the rescue. Not only was I able to savor this liquid gold, but I also decided it was in my best interest to order a pour of something I'd overlooked on the board the first two times around. This would be Cosmic Ristretto, a Baltic porter with espresso from the Genius Lab series. While not as mind-blowing as my previous beer, this was well worth the addition of a mere 8.2% ABV thrown on top of the 13.5% of the barleywine. Not gonna lie to you, but I was feeling pretty mellow after that one-two punch. While all of the beers were enjoyable, I could have bathed in the Sepia Frumento. Seems like barleywines won big time on this trip (thinking back to Gorgon, the amazing barleywine from Coelacanth as a top-tier beer as well). And with that, folks, we ended our trip on a high note.

However, there's always a fun postscript to the majority of our trips, which often comes with the car ride back to PA. I'd been wanting to visit Strangeways Brewing in Richmond for the last several years, which honed into my radar range back when Mike Hiller (proprietor and brewer of the now-defunct Bavarian Barbarian in Williamsport, PA) started brewing there. I was glad to see Mike continue on with brewing. To be honest, I never quite understood why BB never got much love. I know Bullfrog was right down the street and already had a decade under its belt, but this was several years before the recent craft boom where towns even smaller than Billtown can accommodate multiple breweries. I always thought that BB's marketing was amazing (for example, its labels resembled Soviet propaganda posters, while its tap handles were forearms gripping huge battle axes). I know, right? Awesome! Sadly, Mike closed the brewery's doors back in 2012 or thereabouts, and Bullfrog has since occupied the brewing space in an effort to expand its sour beer program.

But more on Strangeways in a bit. First, a slight detour.

When we were heading home on Monday through Richmond, I managed to guilt Brewslut into a quick visit to a local record store. When we parked the car, we noticed a Mellow Mushroom across the street. We'd been to a few locations before (it's a well-established chain largely found in VA and neighboring states to the south), and we knew they always featured a nice, well-curated craft beer selection with a focus on local breweries. So, we made an executive decision to stop in for lunch and a beer.

Musical montage at Mellow Mushroom (nice alliteration, eh?)

After reviewing the vast beer selection, I opted for a flight (a rarity for me at such an establishment). But with a great selection of local beers, my curiosity to try a few beers from unknown breweries prevailed. Here's the low-down on my flight:
  • Zombie Killin' from Three Notch'd Brewing Company - supposed to be an imperial black IPA, but I got some sour ale instead. They had two Three Notch'd beers on tap, and I'm pretty sure the bartender poured me the wrong beer. The one I received wasn't very enjoyable. 
  • Red Army from Trapezium Brewing Company - a red IPA
  • Rum Pumpkin from Hardywood Park Craft Brewery - imperial pumpkin ale matured Caribbean dark rum barrels. This sucker was so God damned boozy!
  • Mochaccino Shake from Kindred Spirit Brewing - golden ale brewed with lactose sugar, coffee and vanilla beans, and cacao nibs.
Unfortunately, nothing really jumped out at me in this flight. The most enjoyable one of the bunch was the Mochaccino Shake. The Red Army was non-descript, the Rum Pumpkin was way too hot, and the [INSERT BEER HERE] from Three Notch'd simply wasn't good. I should have just had a Victory and have been done with it. But I like trying new local breweries when we're traveling, so no harm, no foul. Food for thought: Our salads for lunch were killer, though. Anywho, onward and upward.

Finally got to Strangeways!
Since Strangeways was our only brewery visit of the day (well, there would be one other quick stop), we decided to split a huge sampler flight. There were close to 30 beers available on tap, and after all, it did take us a few years to get here. Who knew when we'd be back? So we decided to go big, then go home. Check out this flight of epic proportions:
  • Palooza - NE IPA brewed with a pilsner/wheat malt base, loads of oats, Azacca, Cascade and Pacifica hops for notes of mango, passionfruit and pear
  • It Gose... - notes of lemon, dewy grass, hay and coriander. 
  • Wake Me Up Before You Gose - Gose with lacto, Brett, fleur de sel (French sea salt), coriander, and ginger 
  • Überlin - tart Berliner Weisse featuring a dry, fruity funkiness thanks to wild Brett claussenii yeast fermentation
  • Red Sangria - sour Berliner Weisse brewed to mimic sangria wine
  • Turning Torso - farmhouse ale fermented with a variety of yeast and brett. Galaxy and Huell Melon hops lend a fruity, floral nose with a funky finish.
  • Virginia Peanut Butter Cup - chocolate peanut butter stout
  • Reindeer Fuel - coffee & vanilla imperial stout conditioned it on 10 pounds of Counter Culture coffee and rich bourbon-soaked Madagascar vanilla beans 
  • Ape Armageddon  - Brandy barrel-aged imperial stout
  • Thistle Killya Scotch Quad - Scotch Ale/Belgian Quad hybrid aged for a year in Macallan Scotch barrels
  • Hop Howler - flagship IPA brewed with Citra, El Dorado, Jarrylo and Pacific Gem hops. I decided to add this after the fact because I really wanted to buy a shirt with this label. I tried it. I liked it. I made the purchase. 
All the dark beers are front and center... where they should be.
OK, that was a lot. And you know what? Not a bad beer in the lot! The Palooza was quite enjoyable, as were the various stouts, especially Reindeer Fuel and Virginia Peanut Butter Cup. The tart beers were also really well-done. To be honest, this place exceeded my expectations. Mike has definitely honed his skills over the years, and overall I was super impressed with Strangeways. 

Self portrait of me tasting beers at Strangeways.
The staff were extremely friendly and talkative, which we always appreciate. Mike was also kind enough to leave us a few bottles, one of which was unlabeled and the other was an imperial-something-or-other. I can't wait to dig into these with some friends. We, of course, reciprocated with a selection of Tröegs, which we always have in tow. Pleeps was obviously a big fan of this place, what with the monkey mascot and all. They became fast friends, and Pleeps is already asking if we can go back. We just might be back later in January... you never know!

Pleeps LOVES this place!

It's customary for us to end a trip at Pizza Boy when we travel homeward via I-81 N. This time was no different. I got to try a new version of Hazelton Native, a dank, hazy - dare I say NE-style - IPA, which was tasty. I also had to get a pour of the newest batch of Magic... Under Where?, originally brewed for my annual Ffej of July extravaganza. You can never go wrong with that beer. I mean, after all... it's a solid beer with a dumb name.

There you have it, folks. Another Drinksgiving in the bag. We've got lots of beer traveling to do in 2018, so stay tuned to your friendly neighborhood Pour Travelers blog to see where we're headed next. Until then...

When's the next trip?!