Burnin' for Brew

This past Saturday, two of my music buddies and I headed down to Lancaster to see Blue Oyster Cult at the American Music Theatre. Our trio also attended a Kansas concert in Reading last November (as documented in The Point of Bro Return), so I guess it's becoming "a thing." The night before the show, I performed at Kennett Flash with my Rush tribute band, Solar Federation, and stayed over at a friend's house with a large group of Rush friends after the show. Despite staying up until after 3 a.m., I was able to get my shit together in the morning (thanks to a filling breakfast and three generous pours of some excellent coffee) and be back at home just before 2 p.m. to get a shower and meet up with Darin and Doug in Lebanon at 3 p.m. The plan was to hit a few record stores and breweries before the show, which started at 8 p.m.

The brewery scene has picked up a bit in recent years with the addition of a few satellite taprooms of familiar breweries. After hitting Mr. Suit and Stan's, two record stores, we took a short stroll to
Columbia Kettle Works 2nd Gear. This relatively new taproom is part of a multi-tenant cultural building located in downtown Lancaster on Water Street, and shares its space with Zoetropolis (a cool theater and performance venue) and Cocina Mexicana (a restaurant). During warmer months, patrons can also congregate outside in the courtyard area with beer in hand and enjoy some sunshine.

The original Columbia Kettle Works (situated appropriately in Columbia, PA) opened its doors in 2014 and has been cranking out some impressive beers ever since. Brewslut and I have visited on several occasions, including a few times when Think Tank Musiquarium (one of my musical projects) has performed, and we've routinely been impressed with its beers. In particular, Grinch Feet (a holiday ale brewed with oats, Blackstrap molasses, cherries, vanilla bean, and cinnamon) is a favorite of mine. They just make great beers across the board, in my opinion. They also brew a nice collaboration beer with St. Boniface called Kettleface, a hoppy imperial red ale.

Outside Columbia Kettle Work's 2nd Gear location.

Brewslut and I had just visited a few days earlier before we attended the Iron Maidens (an all-female Iron Maiden tribute band) concert at the Chameleon, and I'd enjoyed two beers: Revisionism Rye IPA and Lumberjack DIPA. I decided to keep things light this time since I was driving, so I opted for
Kulmbacher Export, a German-style Schwarzbier. As a matter of fact, the beer is based on an old recipe for a black lager originally brewed by Rieker Star Brewing in the late 1800's. (Fun fact: the brewery was actually situated in the old Blue Star Hotel building, where my band herbie played on numerous occasions. I also had some of my very first beers there!) Smooth but fairly dry, this dark, roasty beer boasts subtle notes of chocolate and coffee, yet maintains a lager-like crispness.

We decided to hit up Voodoo next, as it was getting close to feeding time. Brewslut and I had been there a few times during recent visits to Lancaster. I've always been a fan of Voodoo ever since I first met original brewer and owner, Mat Allyn, at an event at Zeno's in State College, PA many moons ago. We immediately bonded over our shared love of the band Primus (one of his first beers was even named Wynona's Big Brown Ale... a beer still in Voodoo's portfolio). Plus, his beers were awesome!

These days, Voodoo is an employee-owned company that still holds onto its Meadville, PA, roots. However, the company launched a pub expansion program back in 2018, which allows folks to own and operate their very own Voodoo pub. Currently, there are eight Voodoo locations, many of which are located in Western PA, with one in the works. In addition to the original Meadville location (and of course Lancaster), Brewslut and I have also been to Homestead (in Pittsburgh) and State College.

The Lancaster site shares its space with Cabalar Meat Company, a locally sourced butcher and eatery. Doug mentioned he'd like to have dinner there, and I agreed (even though I wasn't even sure they'd have anything on the menu that I could - or would - eat). Turns out they have a falafel burger on the menu, which I ordered... and it was delicious! Plus I saved another animal.

Inside Voodoo's Lancaster location. [Photo courtesy of USA Restaurants.]

Beer-wise, there was a lot of high gravity stuff on tap during our visit. A quick scan of the menu revealed nothing under 7.5% ABV. I opted for Spruce Tip Ale, and imperial cream ale brewed with oats and Colorado blue and Engelmann spruce tips. Wow! This beer was pretty damn amazing! I love piney IPAs and have had lots of beers brewed with pine or spruce tips in the past with mixed results. The creaminess of the body really softened the abrasive character spruce tips can sometimes exhibit. This allowed the natural flavor of the spruce to really shine through. It really was quite a delicious beer!

Doug wanted to get another beer (and he was picking up the beer tab since I drove), so who was I to argue? Since we were on our way to see Blue Oyster Cult, I thought it only fitting to order a pour of Voodoo's fantastic double chocolate oatmeal imperial milk stout, Cowbell. (Had they still called its imperial pilsner Pilzilla, that would have been an appropriate choice, too; however, they apparently had to change the name to KillaPilz after receiving a cease and desist from the Godzilla franchise.) Dispensed via nitrogen, this beer is a smooth, decadent, chocolately treat. I've had this one a few times in the past and I've always enjoyed it. This time was no different. It made for a great dessert after the slightly spicy and earthy falafel I'd just devoured.

I wasn't sure what was up next, but we had about an hour or so to kill before we had to get to the venue. Unbeknownst to me, Lancaster Brewing has a taproom (called the "Rt. 30 Taproom") in close proximity to the theatre on Lincoln Highway East. It was settled, and we were off to Lancaster Brewing.

A staple of the Central PA craft brewing scene since 1995, Lancaster embraces its geography and Amish heritage, which manifests through its beer label artwork. Think barns, cows, buggies, and the like. They even brew a Shoo Fly Pie Porter, which is actually pretty darn good... at least if you like Shoo Fly Pie. I love molasses, so I certainly dig it. Some of my earliest beers when I was first dipping my toes into the local beer scene were from Lancaster, including Amish 4-Grain Pale Ale, Strawberry Wheat, Hop Hog, and Milk Stout, the latter of which I still enjoy from time to time. I hadn't been to the brewery proper in a number of years, so I was anxious to see what Lancaster had been up to since then.

Lancaster Rt. 30 Taproom. [Photo courtesy of Lancaster Online.]

When we arrived, it was so packed that we had to order our beers and stand at the bar. Fine with me. We'd be sitting for the next two hours. While we were there, I ran into a co-worker, Bob, and friend who comes out to see my various bands, Ron, sitting across the room about to have dinner. Turns out they were also going to the show. We had a quick chat and then I returned to my beer.

I took a chance and decided to try my luck with a Chili Smoked Baltic Porter. This beer represents Track #19 in its "Jam Series," which I assume is a limited, small-batch series similar to the Scratch Series. Brewed with a hefty amount of Bamberg Smoked malt, this beer also features 100 lbs of guajillo and 40 lbs of meco chipotle peppers to deliver a rich, malty backbone with plenty of smoky character and a hint of warm spice, courtesy of the peppers. The flavor is balanced by touch of brown sugar to add a pinch of sweetness. I was actually pretty impressed with this beer. It was well-balanced and the pepper character never overpowered the malt.

As for the concert, it was enjoyable. I don't know B.O.C.'s catalog as well as, say, Rush, Iron Maiden, or even Kansas, but they played a wide variety of album tracks as well as their three big hits - "(Don't Fear) the Reaper", "Godzilla", and "Burnin' for You". I was hoping for "Veteran of the Psychic Wars" (my favorite B.O.C. song), but it hadn't been in their set for over 10 years. I was also surprised they didn't play "Cities on Flame with Rock and Roll," a song with which they typically close out the night. Oh well. Eric Bloom and Buck Dharma, the two sole original members, looked and sounded great for guys in their seventies (Bloom is 75 and Buck, 72), and the band was incredibly tight.

B.O.C. was NOT wearing gold-plated diapers.

After the show, we swung by Mad Chef on the way home for a nightcap and more goofy, prog rock-inspired shenanigans. I've been to Mad Chef plenty of times in the past, whether it's for a quick beer after the Keystone Record Collectors Expo or if we're just passing through Lancaster. Mad Chef combines its flair for creative food and craft beer in one setting. The food is as important as the beer here, and we've had some delicious dishes including the signature chicken and waffles, which is very different than the chicken and waffles I grew up with in Shamokin... but equally as delicious! This time, we were simply stopping in for one final beer and to exchange notes about the show.

I kept things light and opted for K3Y L1M4 PIE, a kettle sour brewed with graham crackers, lactose, cinnamon, vanilla, and key lime fruit juice. The beer was available on draft as well as nitro, so after some deliberation, I decided to try the nitro version. Smooth and slightly sour with a dominant lime and vanilla flavor, this was quite tasty. I could have had another one, but it had already been a long day, so it was time to resume my driving duties and point the ship homeward bound.

Key Lime Pie sour at Mad Chef.

In closing, I'd like to offer an appropriate little ditty to take us out:

Burn out the day

Burn out the night

I can't see no reason to put up a fight

I'm living for giving my gullet some booze

And I'm burning, I'm burning, I'm burning for brew

Thanks for reading. Be sure to tune in next time for more Pour Travelin'. Cheers!

Son of Campground Brewdown

After my cousin sold the chalet, I felt a void in my life. Not only am I a sucker for nostalgia (my family purchased that land back when I was about 3 years old), but over the years Brewslut and I have grown to love the Penn's Creek region. A huge part of its endearing quality is the proximity of a few of our favorite breweries in the region, the most obvious being Selin's Grove. Thankfully, my good beer buddy Kramer owns Penn's Creek Campground just a few miles down the road from the chalet. He's been kind enough to offer accommodations to us on a few occasions, so it would appear that we'll be able to continue visiting the area we enjoy so much! 

Entrance to Penn's Creek Campground.

As with any weekend retreat to this area, we always begin on Friday evening with a (usually lengthy) stop at Selin's Grove for dinner and drinks. In addition to the Kriek - which was still hanging in there - I was elated to find the 2017 vintage of bourbon barrel-aged St. Fillan's Wee Heavy (aka barleywine) on the beer engine. We were about to set up shop at the bar when Brewslut noticed two of our good friends - Uncle Rick and Aunt Carol - occupying the corner table in the main dining room area. They were with two friends - Jeff and Beth - visiting from Charlotte, NC. They asked us to join them, and of course we obliged. They'd just finished dinner, but it's our MO to eat at the pub on Friday, so we ordered our food and drinks. The corn chowder was sold out, so I opted for a chicken chipotle wap with a side of po-sal... one of my go-to menu items. I started off with a Kriek because I knew it would be disappearing soon, and followed it up with two BBA Wee Heavy pours, because... well, why not? We had a great time getting to know our friends-of-friends, and we talked about everything - yes, even Rush! - but mostly the conversation included tales of beer, bourbon, and traveling. To our surprise, Jeff and Beth stealthily picked up the tab when none of us were looking, and we didn't even know it until an hour later when we were ready to settle up. What a nice surprise! With that, we finished up our drinks and headed to the campground. 

When we arrived about forty minutes later, the key to the house wasn't where it was supposed to be. After a brief panic and a stroke of luck, we actually stumbled upon the guy with the key at his campsite. Turns out the water main was struck by lightning in a bad storm and one of the regular campground residents had the key to try and get everything fixed up. With key in hand, we turned in for the evening.

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Since I didn't prepare an itinerary in advance, we ended up switching gears and re-routing our trek. I'd originally planned to start the day at Shy Bear and work our way up to State College, then finish up back at camp. Turns out Short Bus (one of the other new places we planned to hit) didn't open until 3 p.m. so we decided to "Tarantino" our route and go in reverse. But first, breakfast! We decided to hit up the nearby (and recently re-opened) Boomerangs, a bar and grill located outside of Millmont not too far from the campground. The place had burned down a while ago, and they rebuilt and remodeled it. The cheese omelet, home fries and toast provided a nice layer of starch and protein in our bellies upon which we would be laying plenty of beer. 

The slight change of plans was fine by me, because it meant we could swing by Inglebean for a quick iced coffee before grabbing a beer at one of my favorites in the region: Elk Creek Cafe & Aleworks. We actually arrived about twenty minutes before Elk Creek opened for the day, so we decided to use our time wisely and get some coffee before our visit. Typically, we like to swing by Inglebean after a beer or two and get it to go, since State College is another half hour or so from Millheim. We grabbed a pair of iced coffees and decided to sit out on the back patio with the resident dog, Eddie Murphy (yup, that's his name). Sadly, he was pretty drained from a week of running and playing back home, and was happy to lie lethargically during our entire twenty-minute visit. 

Pleeps with my pour of Elton's ESB...

We easily procured two seats in our usual spot at the bar (right under the "food specials" chalkboard) and I immediately noticed that they had four seasonals and no Winkleblink, their lightest offering. Usually, they only have two or - at most - three seasonals. I was torn between two of my favorites: Elton's ESB, which was on cask, and Yarrington's Best Bitter. I ultimately decided to go with Elton's ESB since it was on the engine. Tim (Yarrington, head brewer) is one of the best traditional English style brewers in the area, and these two beers are stellar takes on these classic English ales. Brewslut opted for the Summer Session Ale, a light, crisp thirst-quencher that doesn't skimp on flavor. 

...and with the wife's Summer Session Ale.

After a pleasant commute to State College, we arrived at Happy Valley, which has always been a reliable stop on the itinerary. I don't really recall having a "bad" beer there. As a matter of fact, I enjoyed a Triple IPA called Grand Wazoo (bonus points for the Zappa reference) last March that turned out to be one of my favorite PA beers of 2018.

Happy Valley has had pretty much the same flagship line-up of four beers since opening in 2013, but they always have one or two seasonals that we hadn't had before. I'd likely hang out here quite a bit if we lived in the area, as they host live music several nights each week as well as a Vinyl Night on Tuesdays. My kind of place, indeed! 

Monkeying about the tap handles at Happy Valley.

Beer-wise, I decided to go with something new, while Brewslut chose something more familiar. The new beer in question was Haymow Mango, a DIPA hopped with Amarillo, Bitter Gold and Ekuanot boasting tropical notes of papaya as well as ripe melon and a hint of lime. Of course, this one was also finished with juicy mango. However, the mango didn't dominate the flavor or add too much sweetness. It was a nice little dollop of mango. This one drank more like a West Coast style with a little hoppy grit and bite to it. Nicely done! 

Brewslut revisited ZZrbert, a beer we'd first tried back in 2015. Brewed with a raspberry, blackberry, Tahitian vanilla and lactose, this refreshing, slightly tart beer is heavy on fruit and finishes smooth with a creamy mouthfeel. It comes off as liquid gelato or raspberry sherbet. Tasty, indeed, but I was in the mood for hops, so I was pleased with my decision. 

We'd recently checked out the new Voodoo tap room in Lancaster, which is situated in a local butchery. Upon checking out its web site for details, I also learned that Voodoo had a location in State College. Wha-wha-whaaaaat?! 'Tis true! So we made it a point to swing in for a beer. Turns out Voodoo State College is two doors down from Happy Valley.

Our view from the bar at Voodoo State College.

The tap room is situated on the lower level of the Barn at Lemont, a small plaza on the same side of the street as Happy Valley (only a house divides them). I'm sure that particular resident is thrilled that he or she is sandwiched betwixt two breweries in a college town. I personally think it would be awesome, especially since I love these two breweries. I could do without the 22-year-olds, though. At any rate, the Barn at Lemont is home to a collective of local businesses focused on sustainable, healthy living. For example, there was a seafood vendor on-site slinging salmon burgers, lobster rolls and the like, and I quickly regretted filling up for breakfast at Boomerangs. Upstairs in the courtyard, there appeared to be a mini farmer's market taking place.

But back to Voodoo. The tasting room is situated along Slab Cabin Run, a tributary of Spring Creek, and it boasts a patio as well as seating along the water for added ambiance. The outside area was pretty packed, so we decided to set up shop at the small inside bar. In addition to the usual six or so year-round offerings, there were a variety of other seasonal and one-off options. I settled on Unrefined, a hazy IPA hopped with Azacca (one of my favorites) and Cashmere (one you don't see all too often). This one had a tropical fruit flare similar to other IPAs in the same genre. While it hit the spot, I will give the nod to Happy Valley's Haymow Mango as far as being more in line with my particular IPA palate.

Pleeps with a plastic cup of Unrefined.

Overall, this is a great addition to the growing craft beer scene in State College, and it's good to have another reliable option when we roll into town. Before we left, Brewslut picked up a 4-pack of Hazy Vibes to enjoy at the pool and at home. And with that, it was time to move on and check out a pair of new-to-us breweries. We set the GPS for Lewistown, PA, and hit the rocky road.

I hadn't really been in or around Lewistown since my days of driving between Shamokin and State College during my later college years. We'd been meaning to visit Shy Bear for about a year (more on Shy Bear shortly), but when we caught wind of another brewery less than two miles away, we felt it was time to bite the bullet and cross two more breweries off our ever-expanding list.

Gettin' ready to ride the short bus!

Short Bus Brew House, situated in Lewistown's neighbor, Burnham, recently hoved onto our radar when Deuane gave us a can of its Bus Stopper DIPA back in April. It was pretty solid, so I could sense some promise with this new kid on the block. Other than this singular experience, we'd never had any Short Bus beers. When we arrived, we were surprised to find the place was pretty large. Brewslut mentioned on the way in that the building looked like an old car dealership.

Since we'd only had that one beer from Short Bus, we decided to dip our toes into their beer and share a sampler flight. If they were up to snuff, we'd get an additional full pour to share. Here's the skinny on the sampler flight:

• Field Trip Peachy Day - light blonde ale brewed with peach puree.
• Straight A'zzzzz - Single hopped New England style IPA brewed exclusively with Azacca.
• Hot for Teacher - Belgian style Tripel with hints of coriander, clove and pepper. Finishes pretty dry with a hint of sweetness and touch of hop bitterness.
• Black Goat - NE-style black IPA with plenty of roasted malt character and an earthy hop presence with a touch of citrus.

Pleeps proudly ridin' the Short Bus!

All in all, everything was solid across the board, although Brewslut didn't care for the Black Goat. This didn't surprise me, as she's not a fan of black IPAs. My favorite was the Field Trip Peachy Day. I just can't seem to get enough of them peaches! Since we were adequately impressed, we decided to share a pour of Hazy Dazy, a triple dry-hopped NEIPA with Citra, Mosaic and Vic Secret. This one was pretty tasty and had a fruit-forward aroma and flavor with a sticky hop finish.

It's just a Hazy Dazy for this little monkey.

Great conversation with older local guy, met the owner, suggested some cool school-inspired beer names. Place bigger than I thought it would be.

From Short Bus, it was a quick five minute drive down the road to Lewistown and our next destination, Shy Bear. We first sampled their beer at the Selinsgrove Hops, Vines & Wines festival last year and were pretty impressed. We'd heard from a few friends that the food was excellent, so it has been on our list for a while. I knew we'd get there sooner or later, and now was the time to check out Shy Bear. 

Inside Shy Bear's tasting room and restaurant.

In retrospect, I'm glad it worked out so we could visit around dinner time, because the food WAS spectacular! The menu is pretty upscale and forward-thinking with a variety of non-traditional dishes using fresh, seasonal ingredients. After some deliberation, we each ordered an Aloah Tower featuring ponzu vinaigrette marinated sushi-grade tuna marinated in a ponzu vinaigrette with seaweed salad, Hawaiian salsa, tobiko (aka flying fish roe), fried wonton strips, and a citrus hoisin glaze. We also shared the Nacho Stack as an appetizer. Check out the laundry list of ingredients in this puppy: house-made corn tortilla chips with pico de gallo, firehouse-style grilled and chopped chicken, green onion, smoked beer cheese fondue, pickled jalapeno, sour cream, and cilantro. As predicted, the food here was outstanding!

Me posing with a not-so-shy bear.

Pleeps ain't afraid of nuthin'!

Beer-wise, the board looked rather enticing, I must say. We felt another shared sampler flight was in order, so we decided on an a la carte sampling of several beers. Here's the lowdown:

• Osoveza Especial - Mexican style lager brewed with flaked corn and pilsner malt and featuring a classic German hop profile. Crisp, clean and flavorful! 
• Seabreezy - Inspired by the classic beach cocktail, the Seabreeze, this Berliner Weisse features cranberries and fresh pink grapefruit for a tart, citrusy finish.
• Blue Hen Crush - Session IPA showcasing El Dorado and Simcoe hops.
• Shifty Please - Key Lime Pie Sour IPA. Dee-freaking-licious!!! 
• No Ducks Given - Pina Colada DIPA. This one was a very close second to the Shifty Please, but gets the award for favorite beer name! 
• Alpine Swift - Pale Ale hopped with Ekuanot, Summit, Citra and Cascade featuring flaked rye and Ekuanot dry hops. This one is fermented with Norwegian Kviek yeast, a traditional non-phenolic farmhouse yeast passed down through the generations.
• Chief Logan - Citra dry-hopped Pilsner.

Pleeps is ready to dig in to this lot!

I really liked the presentation of the sampler flight board. Each beer was accompanied by a card indicating the name of the beer, and the cardholders stuck to the board magnetically. Each sample featured a generous 6-ounce pour of beer, which is 1-2 ounces more than typical sample size glasses.

Alternate angle of Pleeps with the flight.

 

Overall, the beers here were above average, with our favorites being Shifty Please (especially Brewslut) and No Ducks Given (mostly me). The Blue Hen Crush was perhaps a bit lacking in flavor, but otherwise a stellar line-up from Shy Bear. Factor in the food and this place is a goldmine. Looks like we'll be back in Lewistown sooner than later!

Pleeps gives at least a few ducks.

We still felt like we had one more stop in us before heading back to the campground. We hadn't been to Rusty Rail in a while, so we decided to swing by for a late night one-and-done. They were in the process of closing up the main floor, but the second floor bar and game room was still open until midnight. We decided to head upstairs (even though I deplore all of the taxidermied animals occupying the walls) for a beer. The free classic video game sit-down consoles kind of cancel out the taxidermy, so I just suck it up and focus on the beer and video games. We both opted for the same beer this time, a tart peach and passionfruit ale called Tasting Colors. This is a great beer with a great name; one of the best I've had at Rusty Rail to date. I'm glad to see Rusty Rail is finally coming around and churning out some great beers. They have always been hit and miss with us, but recently I've been routinely pleased with everything I've had from them. And the place really is a gem of a brewpub. 

Back at the campground, we had our own little "Campground Brewdown" with a circle of Shamokinites around the campfire. Chu, one of my friends from high school who is now the Schuylkill County rep for Durdach Distributors, was spending the weekend at his little cabin and introduced a bunch of people to us. Some actually lived mere blocks away from my mom's house (where I grew up) and another guy, Russ, is the sales manager at Durdach and has been slinging Tröegs since the very early days. He regaled me with tales of - among many others - driving around Northumberland and Schuylkill Counties with Chris Trogner trying find ANYONE who would take a chance and buy Tröegs to put on tap. We shared a few beers around the fire, ate cheese, potato cakes and soupie, tried some freaking amazing homemade limonchello and root beer liquor, and got pretty drunk. Luckily, we had a short walk back to the house (thanks again, Kramer)! 

On Sunday, it was once again a Selin's Grove sandwich within a sandwich. Wait... huh? The Selin's Grove sandwich is a term I coined to describe visiting the pub on a Friday night and again on Sunday before we headed home. Well, this time we visited the pub for lunch, then joined Uncle Rick, Aunt Carol and company for some pool time and MinkiBall (patent pending), then headed back to the pub for dinner and a few more beers. The Kriek had finally kicked, so I settled for a Shade Mountain Oatmeal Stout, which I hadn't had in a while. I really wanted another pour of the St. Fillan's but knew I had to drive over an hour to get home. See? I can be responsible every now and then. 

Well folks, that's a wrap on another enjoyable weekend of brewery hopping! Until next time...

Swillin' in Steel City

This past weekend found me venturing westward to Steel City for a gig with Solar Federation, my Rush tribute band. After a bit of discussion, we decided to make a weekend out of it. I mean, why not? It's about a 4-hour drive from Central PA and Pittsburgh definitely has no shortage of good breweries, so we could certainly keep busy during the down time. It was on. Sadly, our photogenic drinking partner Pleepleus didn't join us for this particular outing, as he is currently resting his little monkey liver for our summer beer-cation to Minneapolis, MN, and Madison, WI, for the annual Great Taste of the Midwest beer festival.

We made arrangements with my long-time friend and band-mate from herbie, Jay, to stay at his house in Cranberry Township on Friday night, which is situated about half an hour north of Pittsburgh proper. (Longtime followers of the Pour Travelers may remember one of my very first blogs about a Taste of PA beer sampling I conducted for Jay and then-fiancée Nicole's "Jack & Jill" party in lieu of a bridal shower.) Entering our destination into my new buddy BreweryMap.com, I was pleasantly surprised to find that our route would pass near a brewery that has eluded us despite numerous trips to (and around) Pittsburgh over the years.

The devil's been busy...

We'd been wanting to visit Helltown for a few years after first having their beer at Al's of Hampden quite some time ago. However, their hours have always been prohibitive (i.e. open 3 to 7 p.m. on Friday), and we'd always find ourselves driving through too early or too late to pop in for a visit. They've since expanded their hours slightly, but the are still only open 3 days a week. When we arrived, they appeared to have a healthy "happy hour" crowd congregating after work to unwind and prepare for the weekend. That's kind of why we were there, too. Nothing makes me thirstier than driving for three hours. When we're on a trip, my thirst for beer is directly proportional to the distance we must drive to arrive at said beer. I'm sure this could be quantified through some kind mathematical formula, but alas, I'm no mathematician. I mean, I count with my fingers. Thankfully, I like words, otherwise this blog would be littered with lots of statistics and scary numbers. No thanks.

Overall, Helltown isn't much to look at. It's basically a cluttered production brewery with a few lopsided picnic tables outside and a tiny gift shop with a restroom. But they are churning out some tasty beers. I also love the name of the brewery (obviously), which is most likely derived from 15666, the zip code of Mt. Pleasant. And again, my buddy Lord Lucifer makes an appearance in my favorite frosted, frothy beverage. All hail!

Everything in its place... right?

This isn't a place to bring the kids, although there were a few rugrats present when we arrived. Thankfully the weather was cooperating quite nicely for late July, and it was cool and breezy outside. Since there's no real bar, we ordered our beer from a tattooed guy wearing a Helltown shirt who liked he should be there. Since it was slim pickings with the tap list (about 5 beers) we both settled on The Rapture, Helltown's signature IPA. I ended up spilling some on my sneaker, and the server made a joke that he's notorious for squeezing 17 ounces of beer into a 16-ounce pint glass. He was telling the truth. Both glasses were filled to the brim with beer and nary a bit of froth was to be found anywhere. The Rapture is a pretty straight-up West Coast style IPA with lots of pine resin, some citrus, and plenty of balanced bitterness. It's a solid drinker any way you slice it. We both enjoyed it quite a bit and were surprised that neither of us had never checked it in on Untappd. So chalk up a new beer to boot!

Up next was Idle Hands, a DIPA in the same vein as The Rapture. Weighing in at 8% (vs. Rapture's 7%), this one boasted a more oily texture and alcohol presence amid sticky resinous hop goodness. Brewed with Citra, Summit, and Amarillo hops, I could definitely pick out Amarillo in the line-up with its pungent signature blend of citrus and cat box. While we liked this one as well, we both agreed that The Rapture was superior. 

Strolling the grounds at Helltown.

It was great to finally get to Helltown after multiple failed attempts. Deuane had told us about a recent Kriek they had released, but unfortunately they were sold out. Maybe next time. I'd love to try one of their barrel-aged beers in the future. Hopefully it won't be our first and last visit to the devil's neck of the woods.

Afterward, we grabbed some tasty turkey subs at DiBella's Subs and turned in for the night at Jay and Nicole's, which went something like this: Dos Equis > Cab Sauv > Cab Sauv > Cab Sauv > cheese balls > bourbon > bourbon > bed.

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Outside Hitchhiker's Mt. Lebanon tap room.

After breakfast and some more catching up with Jay, it was time to shove off for a quick stop at Hitchhiker. Given its close proximity to the venue at which I would be performing later that evening, it was a decidedly convenient place to grab a pre-show beer or two. We'd first visited Hitch Hiker the previous Easter during a long weekend brewery jaunt to Pittsburgh (refer to Jammin' in the 'Burgh: Part 1 and Part 2), but it was a quick, down-and-dirty visit with just enough time for one beer each and a bowl of roasted nuts.

What's pouring at Hitchhiker?

For this visit, we were joined by fellow Troegs compadre (and Schmoopie) Dalton, who happened to be in the area visiting some friends from college. They also joined us, so it turned out to be a nice group. Dalton is a big Seinfeld fan, so we enjoyed making references to the show and tossing one-liners back and forth. It was another lovely day to be outside, and luckily for us, Hitchhiker boasts a cozy little deck out behind its main tasting room with plenty of shade and a pleasant view. See? 

View from our table out on the deck at Hitchhiker.

And now, the beer. Brewslut immediately was drawn to a lactose IPA with tangerine called Whole Punch, while I was eyeing up a new release called Triple Shakes, an Imperial version of its standard The Shakes coffee porter. Weighing in at 11.5% ABV, it seems like the right beer to kick off my day. This big, burly fellow was conditioned on Ethopian Yirgacheffe and honey-processed Honduran Finca Californeo from 19 Coffee. Though it went down pretty easy, I did my best to take some time with it and sip rather than slosh. Whole Punch, on the other hand, was insanely chuggable. The tangerine character of this beer was insane, and the lactose sweetened the pot and provided a smooth mouthfeel. Overall, this NE-style IPA produced a strong citrusy punch with some residual sugary sweetness. Nicely done!

Triple Shakes vs. Whole Punch.

For round two, Brewslut settled on Agrio, a raspberry margarita gose brewed with wheat, coriander, sea salt, agave, and lime zest, then conditioned on raspberries. I opted for an IPA called A Place in Time. Brewed with oats and hopped with Mosaic and Simcoe lupulin powder, this beer offered a complex wash of citrus, mango, pine, and a hint of earthy blueberry.

After a relaxing ninety minutes or so at Hitchhiker, it was off to the office to earn my keep. The show was fun albeit lightly attended. Still, it was awesome to see many familiar faces, some of whom drove 4+ hours to see us perform. That always makes me feel swell. The venue (Crafthouse Stage and Grill) also had a pretty solid tap selection featuring 50 beers. By the time we finished playing, I was craving a Fathead's Headhunter, but alas it had kicked. So I settled for a Hop Nosh Tangerine from Uinta. And with that, it was time to head back to the Holiday Inn Express for some much-needed rest.

After a sweet free hot breakfast at Holiday Inn (not just muffins and shit; I'm talkin' mini omelettes, turkey sausage patties, bagels, cereal, juice, etc.) we decided to kill some time seeking out local coffee. Turns out Steel City Roasters is situated just one block away from our first stop of the day. Our server was super nice, and we enjoyed our nitro cold brews, while we waited for Voodoo to open at noon. 

We'd been fans of Voodoo since our first encounter with original owner and brewer Matt Allyn at Philly Beer Week shortly after he started Voodoo. We bonded over the band Primus (one of his beers, Wynona's Big Brown Ale, is a reference to one of the band's most endearing songs). Since then, we've become fans of the brewery and visited the main brewery in Meadville on our Drinksgiving 2013 as well as this particular site last year over Easter weekend. 

This time, we opened the place. To quote Clark W. Griswold, "First ones here... first ones here." Checking out the chalkboard, there appeared to be several interesting sounding beers in the "Seasonal Brews" column. I'll admit I'm a sucker for seasonals over year-rounds because there is typically more diversity in styles and flavors (although I must say I was tempted by Hoodoo IPA, which is fantastic). So, we settled on the Galaxy Pale Ale and Shatter Machine, the latter a lactose IPA brewed with mango and in collaboration with Magnanimous Brewing based out of Tampa, FL.

In chatting with the bartender about music (specifically our shared enthusiasm for Tenacious D), I learned that his girlfriend works at Crafthouse Stage and Grill, where Solar Federation performed the night before. As a matter of fact, she was smitten with my Star Wars/Rush mash-up T-shirt and asked me multiple times to sell it to her. Small world. 

We debated getting some food and, although the pierogies and sushi tacos sounded amazing, we were both still full from breakfast. We had plenty of room for beer, though! Up next was Tropical, a Berliner Weisse with passionfruit, pineapple and mango. This sounded so good that we each decided to order our own pour. The fruit wasn't overdone, which may or may not be a good thing depending on your view of the style. We both dug it, though obviously Brewslut was into it more than me. After all, it's her favorite beer style.

We rounded out our visit with a shared pour of IPL (that's India Pale Lager for those keeping score at home) hopped with Mandarina Bavaria, Huell Melon, and Hallertau Blanc. This combination lent a crisp melon character with tangerine and a hint of white grape. I thought this combo worked well on the blank slate of a lager as these all display subtle hop complexities and therefore don't get in the way of the lager yeast character. This was quite enjoyable!

And with that, it was time to bid farewell to Voodoo and ship off to our next destination. We exchanged some stickers with our bartender and moved on.

Brew Gentlemen is pretty classy for Braddock, PA. I mean, if you look up the word "blight" in the dictionary, a photo of downtown Braddock would accompany its entry. Last time, I referred to this ghost town as "the saddest, most depressed town I've ever visited." This time, however, there was a glimmer of hope of gentrification. Some people frown on this phenomenon, saying it ruins a town's character. In this case, Braddock is in dire need of some kind of facelift. It was nice to see rows of brand new townhouses being constructed just across the street from Brew Gentlemen when we arrived. This is certainly a step in the right direction for this dying town.

But back to beer. We were surprised to find that the tap list had doubled since our last visit, even though it was very heavy on IPAs and Pale Ales. For obvious reasons, a DIPA named Atomic Goat jumped out at me. There was no way I wasn't getting that! I opted for the small 6-ounce pour size since this was an 8+% ABV beer. Like the majority of its hoppy offerings, this was hazy, soft and delicate with a bright aroma and plenty of citrus fruit with minimal bitterness.

Last time, we were wowed by the burritos we got from the food truck, so I had hoped there would be something equally as impressive during this visit. This time, we were greeted by Pittsburgh Tortas. I'd never heard of a "torta" before, but it sounded Mexican. Turns out a torta is a sandwich made with a crusty bread roll. It's almost like a taco but on a roll instead of a traditional corn or flour tortilla. We both decided on the Verde Chicken torta with tomatillo sauce, smashed black beans, melted chihuahua cheese, lime cilantro slaw, pickled onions, and poblano crema with a side of homemade tortilla chips. Yum-tastic!

For my next selection, I went with another 6-ounce pour of a DIPA called Golden Panda. Coincidentally, this one tasted a bit more exotic than Atomic Goat. While goats are clearly the superior animals, Pandas are easily more exotic. I mean, they're from Asia, right? I picked up on some lemony, herbal notes (lemongrass, perhaps) and a hint of sweet Vidalia onion (but not in a bad way, because I loathe onions... at least raw onions). Round it out with a hint of catbox and you get some idea of its complex flavor profile. Since brewing and ingredient specs are tough to find on BG's beers, I would venture to guess that they used Sorachi Ace hops in this beer. Maybe not exclusively, but it would make a loose connection with part of the beer's name (i.e. panda). OK, that's stretching it a bit, because Sorachi Ace hops originated in Japan and panda bears are indigenous to south-central China. Both could be described as Asian, though. Sorry... that's just how my brain works. Long story short, I preferred Atomic Goat a bit more for its simplicity. And the name, of course.

BG is known for its soft, hazy, minimally bitter IPAs, so I wanted to try something that wasn't a hoppy ale. It was basically a toss-up between a Porter and something called Saison du Mon. I went with the latter. Grainy and grassy with hints of lemon and flowering herbs, this clean, bright farmhouse-style ale was slightly dry and refreshing.

Meanwhile, our beer cohorts Deuane and Tristan were on their way back to Central PA from a Reds game in Cincinnati and wanted to meet up for a beer. They couldn't get to Brew Gentlemen in time, so Deuane suggested a new place in nearby Irwin, PA, called Quinn. I'd never heard of this particular brewery before, but we're always game to give a new place a shot.

We pulled into the parking lot about 10 minutes before Deuane and Tristan, so we secured a few seats at the small bar. This didn't pose too much of a problem, as there were only about three patrons when we arrived. Like so many West Coast breweries we've encountered in our travels, Quinn is situated in an industrial park amid a myriad of other disparate businesses. When we arrived and entered the building, the lay of the land reminded me of Race Street Brewery in Clearfield, PA (minus all of the eclectic decor). I was surprised by the roominess of the tasting room, with its decent-sized stage for live entertainment, assortment of seating options (long tables, high tops, bar), and big screen TV.

On to the beer. we scoped out the chalkboard, and nothing really jumped out at me. There was a Pale, DIPA, Black IPA, Red Ale, Brown Ale, Oatmeal Stout, etc. All pretty pedestrian styles. When in doubt, I'll always go with a pale ale, as they're not hard to screw up. Enter DesDemona Pale Ale. It was a fine pale ale; not flawed but not really memorable either. It kind of straddled the line between American and English styles, as it wasn't overly hoppy. This one features tried-and-true Cascade hops as well as the rarely seen Apollo variety, so there was plenty of citrus character, especially grapefruit. Apollo hops tend to be pretty "crunchy" with a hint of cannabis, but this beer didn't have that ganga-like dankness. Still, it was pretty easy drinking and proved to be a safe way to make first contact with this new brewery.

Quinn is tapping up some suds for the folks of Irwin, PA.

Brewslut got the Horsi Stout, which was an intensely roasty version of the style. It was quite dry, and I was surprised it was an oatmeal stout and not an Irish or export stout. I took a sip or two and that was enough for me. To finish up, we decided to share a pour of a DIPA called Lindencross. I wanted the black IPA, but Brewslut vetoed my suggestion. This turned out to be a pretty malty English-style DIPA with a bit of diacytl, unfortunately. She didn't mind it, but I was slow with my sips. Besides, I had to drive three hours home following our visit.

Although we enjoyed plenty of great beer and company over the course of the weekend, this had to be the highlight of the trip for me. Until next time...

Jammin' in the 'Burgh: Part 1

It was time for a return trip to Pittsburgh. We hadn't dropped by the 'Burgh since our Drinksgiving Trip back in November 2013. A lot had changed since our last visit, and we planned to add another nine or ten new breweries to our ever-expanding list.

After an almost four-hour trek, my brain was begging for beer. Travelling a long distance always makes me thirsty, which perhaps is why we love travelling for our beer rather than cracking open a few bottles at home. The first stop of our long day took place at Fat Head's on Carson Street, Pittsburgh's equivalent of Philly's South Street. Upon entering, we noticed that they were going through a construction phase. I also asked about bottle shop situated upstairs in the loft area, as it looked like it no longer existed. Indeed, it was gone. We found our way to the bar just inside the main entrance.

In typical Pour Travelers fashion, I opted for a 9.4% Imperial IPA as my inaugural beer of the trip. Brewed with Citra, CTZ, Simcoe and Warrior hops, Bonehead Red blended biscuity malty notes with piney and resinous hops. Think sticky and slightly burnt malt and sugars. While not my favorite flavor profile for a DIPA (I was pining for some Hop Juju, but the well was dry), this was still enjoyable and easy to drink for such a hefty brew. Brewslut went with You Dropped the Hops on Me, Baby! This was a peculiar choice for her, as she's typically not a fan of Belgian IPAs, which is exactly what this beer is. Plus it includes Amarillo hops, so that's a double whammy. Still, she enjoyed it, as did I (although it was a tad too sweet for my palate overall). But the beer itself was inspired by the brewery's collective love for 70's funk music (named after the Gap Band's hit, "You Dropped a Bomb on Me").

Taps at Fat Head's from my vantage point.

There were a few others I wanted to try, but Fat Head's doesn't do half pours or single samplers, so we opted for a flight of five offerings, three of which were Fat Head's house beers. The other two were guest taps. Here's the run-down:

• Jack Straw Pilsner - very good interpretation of a classic Czech pils!
• Trail Head Pale Ale - brewed with whole flower Simcoe and Citra hops.
• Black Knight Schwarzbier - excellent take on a classic German dark lager with notes of chocolate and coffee.
• Windows Up - an IPA hopped with Citra and Mosaic from Alpine Brewing. This was a far cry from the old days of Nelson and Duet, unfortunately.
• Goedenacht - a strong ale from Draai Laag brewed with apples, orange blossom honey, coriander and Brett. This tasty beer was a sign of good things to come! 

It's no Creepy Baby Head, but still...

Fat Head's does a good job across the board. While it's my opinion that they make some of the best hoppy beers on the East Coast, each of the three beers in our sampler flight was a spot-on representation of its respective style. Food-wise, we both enjoyed a tasty chicken chipotle cheese steak sub with house-made chips for lunch. Fat Head's always features plenty of tasty pub grub and comfort food on the menu, and we've never been disappointed. Although once again I was denied of Hop Juju, there was still plenty of great beer to be had during our visit to Fat Head's.

Since it was Easter weekend, I figured we'd better get to church. Our kind of church, anyway. Not much had changed since our last visit to Church Brew Works, the next stop on our agenda. I've often cited this brewpub as one of the coolest places I'd ever enjoyed a beer. Despite not having set foot inside a church since high school (with the exception of weddings and funerals), I find the architecture of churches quite breathtaking. I've always been a fan of stained glass windows and all of the ornate decor that adorns the house that Jesus built (after all, he was a carpenter). I'm just not generally a fan of what transpires inside. Except, of course, when it means drinking beer. Church and beer... it's a match made in heaven (pun intended)! I always thought the blood of Christ wasn't quite so carbonated. I guess not.

Jokes and blasphemy aside, we entered the building and were greeted with awe-inspiring views of the brewhouse (typically where the minister performs his sermon). Soaking it in, we b-lined to the jagged, winding bar (not that they were busy at this time of day; we just prefer bar seating) and took our seats. I feel they need to add some pews and perhaps make the beer menu mimic the Bible. Hey, why now go the whole nine yards, right? After ordering our first beers, I decided to take a quick stroll and snap some pictures of the surroundings.

The window above the pipe organ inspired Church's logo.

I started with a pint of ThunderCloud, dubbed as a "hazy IPA" brewed with Citra, Mosaic and Nugget hops. I had already had the Thunderhop, their flagship IPA, a few times in the past, and it was enjoyable. While this beer wasn't hazy in the least (see below for a shot with Pleeps), it was pretty damn tasty. It was light and went down easy... almost too easy! The hop combo provided a sweet, fruity base with some tropical notes around the edges.

Pleeps meets ThunderCloud

Brewslut opted for something called Almond Joy, which turned out to be a bourbon barrel-aged stout with a big coconut character and hints of chocolate, bourbon and vanilla. At 8.5% ABV, it was pretty light-bodied, although quite smooth and oily. The coconut character struck me as quite authentic. I've had some coconut beers in the past that have displayed a "fake" or chemical-like flavor, but not this one.

Interior of Church Brew Works. Love the stained glass!

For some reason, I always forget about the beer engine. Many places have them, but oftentimes you have to ask if anything is available. The beer menu indicated to "ask your server," so I asked. On this particular occasion, The Church was offering up its Ambrosia, a wheat ale brewed with herbs instead of hops. This cask-conditioned offering also benefited from the addition of apples. I've rarely (perhaps never) encountered a wheat beer on cask at a brewery, so I was game. We opted for a full imperial pint to share. The apple didn't really shine through like I'd expected, but it was a light, refreshing beer nonetheless.

Cherubs rockin' out at Church!

Prior to our trip, Deuane mentioned that Voodoo had opened a brand new taproom in the Homestead area. Needless to say, we had to go. We'd been fans of Voodoo since our first encounter with original owner/brewer Matt Allyn at Philly Beer Week shortly after he started Voodoo. We bonded over the band Primus (one of his beers, Wynona's Big Brown Ale, is a reference to one of the band's songs). So we worked it into the itinerary. Reminiscent of the original taproom in Meadville, this location mirrored the vibe and garage-like atmosphere of its predecessor. I noticed some familiar-sounding beers on the list, including Killapilz (formerly Pilzilla) and Big Black Voodoo Daddy. I knew Brewslut was going to get a pour of the latter. I was right. She did. I went for a limited brewery-only release, a DIPA called I'm a Loner Dottie, a Rebel. This 8.9% ABV bomb was brewed with Citra, Columbus, Simcoe and new 7 C's hops. The latter hop is actually a blend of seven varieties all starting with the letter "C" to produce a distinct tropical fruit character: Cascade, Centennial, Chinook, Citra, Cluster, Columbus and Crystal. As for the peculiar name of the beer, I was proud of myself for instantly knowing the movie to which this moniker made reference.

Go ahead, think about it for a few seconds. It'll come to you.

If not, I'll give you another hint. I mentioned to the bartender that "Large Marge sent me" when I ordered the beer. (If you still don't know, I'm not gonna tell you. Google it!)

Inside Voodooo's new Homestead taproom.

By this time, I was getting pretty hungry. I noticed something on the small but interesting food menu: salmon cakes. I was hooked. While they came out a bit mushy, they still tasted great and hit the spot. Plus they were served with a side of bowtie pasta salad. This served as a good mid-day snack while we continued to imbibe on the beer trail. 

Pleeps is down with the Voodoo.

We kind of went out of our way a bit to get to Voodoo, so in the words of James Brown, we "hit it and quit it." Up next on the agenda was Roundabout. The last time we visited, they'd just opened their doors for business a few months prior. The tasting room looked pretty similar, although they built on to it in order to facilitate more seating. But the bar area remained the same. Brewslut recognized the server as well (we believed her to be the wife of the owner/brewer). With only a handful of beers available, I opted for the Cadwallader IPA, which might have been my favorite IPA of the day. Brewed with Nelson Sauvin (already sold when I read this), Galaxy, Mosaic, and Cascade hops, this beauty of an IPA boasted hints of ripe melon and bright citrus fruit, especially pineapple. It was bangin', and I should have gotten a growler of it to take home. Fail!

Cadwallader IPA... you had me at Nelson Sauvin!

While Brewslut visited the restroom, I took a chance and ordered her a pour of the "And Now Pitching" Gose. Turns out I know her pretty well (I should after 27 years), because this was the beer she wanted. She was equally impressed with this offering. I'm glad to see Roundabout still operating and churning out some tasty beers. These two beers are definitely a step or two up from what we had when we originally visited, so kudos to them!

Up next was Grist House, and what a shit show! Remember the old days when Tröegs first opened in Hershey and it was a chaotic as all hell? Well, add the amount of customers we now have on any given Saturday and factor into the equation side street parking, and you can get somewhat of a snapshot of this place on the day we visited. But hey, good for them! These guys seem to be cranking out beer that people want to drink. Can't complain about a place for being popular, right? Plus it was a dog-friendly brewery, which I always enjoy visiting.

Outside at Grist House

Honestly, it only took us about five or ten minutes to get a beer at the bar despite the ordering process being a free-for-all. Grist House seems known for its take on the super-trendy hazy, turbid Northeast IPAs introduced first by breweries such as The Alchemist and later "perfected" (for lack of a better term) by places like Tree House and Trillium. The beer I settled on - Hazedelic Juice Grenade - was one of these types of beers. Great name! Brewslut went with the equally awesome-named Member Berries (fans of South Park will get that reference), a tart ale brewed with blackberries. While it wasn't overly sour or tart, it was enjoyable and the blackberry character was pretty pronounced. I enjoyed my "juice grenade" quite a bit, although Brewslut claimed it "tasted like a Trillium beer," so she wasn't too jazzed about it. She claims many of these types of beers have hop profiles that display notes of onion and cat piss. (For more on this phenomenon, you can go waaaay back into the annals of Pour Travelers history and read more about Brewslut's olfactory anecdotes.) I wanted to stay and try another beer, but it was so crowded and there was no place for me to rest my weary buttocks, so we decided it was time to move on.

After having a taste of Draai Laag (pronounced "dry log") at Fat Head's earlier in the day, we were excited to get to the tasting room. When we arrived, we felt right at home in the relaxed, charming atmosphere of the small space. Sitting down at the small bar, I thought, "This place is right up my alley!"

The Dutch term "Draai Laag" loosely translates to "turncoat."

With eight house brews on tap, the selection was quiet eclectic, offering up a variety of sours, farmhouse ales, and barrel-aged treats. I was more inquisitive than usual, and we were lucky to have a super-friendly and knowledgeable server who answered my questions about "lees" and "wild angels" (their signature yeast strain cultivated through open fermentation during their first year in business) as well as the origins of the name "Draai Laag." I was also surprised to learn that Draai Laag in fact had its own Koelschip (aka "Coolship"). We'd only ever come across one in our travels when we visited Allagash, and it was pretty cool (OK, that one wasn't intentional).

Tap list at Draai Laag.

We would have enjoyed sampling all eight selections, but we made a pretty good dent (considering we had one of these at Fat Head's earlier too). Here's what we tried:

• Wild Hazy Dry Hopped Prototype #6W - a tart, lemony dry-hopped saison
• Atomic Pomme - a bourbon barrel-aged American sour ale brewed with apples
• Öl (pronounced Oil) - strong ale brewed for Draai Laag's 5th anniversary
• Red Briar - an American wild ale brewed with raspberries

Taps at Draai Laag.

All of these beers were unique and against the grain. They've really carved out a niche for themselves in this market. I doubt you'll ever see an IPA on run of the mill styles like brown, red, or amber ales. The Atomic Pomme was especially memorable, offering an almost apple brandy character. Red Briar featured an authentic tart raspberry flair with a pleasant wild yeast backbone. We were also both pretty smitten with Öl as well. This 11.3% ABV strong ale was aged in Laphroaig Scotch casks, bourbon casks, and 27-year-old rum casks. I believe it was also conditioned on local maple syrup. The result was a viscous concoction of rum candy, dark fruit, molasses and Belgian chocolate. It was very Imperial Stout-ish, but with a Belgian yeast character that played nicely with the dark fruit and barrel wood. Before we left, we also had a thimble of a beer that had replaced the Prototype #6W, which was brewed with mustard seed. I'd never seen that as an ingredient in a beer before, so I was curious. It worked. It had more of a sweet, citrusy character, which was pleasant. I love when breweries experiment with non-traditional ingredients!

Peek-a-boo!

Overall, we were both really impressed with the complexity, inventiveness, and presentation of the beers, the service, and the space itself. A brewery like this could easily come across as pretentious; however our experience proved otherwise. While it was definitely an elevated beer experience, it felt casual and not forced in any way. In a nutshell, Draai Laag has their shit together. I will be seeking out more of their beers in the future for sure!

"Do we have to leave?"

We were happy to find that there was a food truck at our next stop, Dancing Gnome. We quickly perused the menu before heading into the taproom, which boasted a variety of wood-fired oven goodness. We settled on a calizone and headed in, but not before one of the pizza guys suggested we try the Jam. Sounded good to me, as I'm always up for a sweet jam session.

Following his advice, I ordered a Jam. This was a soft, hazy NE-inspired IPA brewed with rye and Australian Vic Secret hops. This newer hop variety is similar to the more popular Galaxy, also with origins in the land down under, offering notes of tropical fruit (especially pineapple) and pine. We also opted for a pour of Spy Dolphin, a DIPA with Citra, El Dorado and Idaho 7 hops. There was another DIPA on tap during our visit, but the Pour Travelers were becoming weary and fatigued. It had been a long, productive day, but alas we were tired... too tired to continue to our final destination of the evening, Hop Farm. We decided that we'd open Hop Farm the next day and adjust accordingly. For now, it was time to head to our hotel.

Stay tuned for Part 2 of our Pittsburgh jaunt, coming soon. Meanwhile, Pleeps will strike a pose. Until then...