Seven years of beer geekery finally pays off!

Seven years ago (or thereabouts), I became enamored with craft beer.  I'd never developed a taste for beer prior to that, largely due to the fact that I grew up in Shamokin, PA, a veritable beer wasteland, where Yuengling Lager and Genesee Cream Ale was the "good stuff."  However, in my late twenties, I decided to try and get into beer, mostly because beer is the only alcoholic drink a musician can get for free while performing at bars and nightclubs.  I started off with Miller Lite and Corona, and quickly moved on to Blue Moon, then Franziskaner.  At one point, I thought Appalachian's Water Gap Wheat was the best thing since sliced bread.  However, one day when I was having lunch at the Center Street Grille in Enola, PA, I came across a yellow tap handle with the name Troegs emblazoned upon it.  Curious, I decided to try the beer, as I heard they were a local brewery from nearby Harrisburg!  It turned out to be Rugged Trail Nut Brown Ale.  It was at this precise moment that I morphed into a beer geek.  Over the course of the next year, Troegs played an important role in educating me about the various beer styles.  The first hoppy beer I ever sampled was Hopback, and the first dark beer I ever loved was Dead Reckoning.  Sunshine Pils turned into my go-to beer of the summer.  As it turned out, the brewery was a short hop, skip and jump away from my office in Camp Hill, so I would frequent the brewery during my lunch breaks and get to know its employees.

Over the course of the next few years, my love for Troegs multiplied.  I attended special releases, firkin events, the awesome 10th anniversary party, even volunteered for the Brewer's Festival.  I had even dreamed of working there someday.

Well, that "someday" has finally arrived.

I am pleased to announce that I am gainfully employed at Troegs Brewing Company as of Tuesday, July 17 (although my first official day of work is August 14).  I am the new Coordinator of Media and Communications, and I couldn't be more thrilled!  While music is my first passion in life, I've often said that craft beer comes in at a close second.  I look forward to a long, fruitful career with Troegs Brewing Company.  Look for me next time you are at the brewery!

Brewery Manager Ed Yashinsky and myself at Troegs on the day I accepted employment!

San Diego 2012 - Part II: Hello OB!

We awoke to a slightly overcast first day in Ocean Beach (hereon out referred to as simply OB), eagerly ready to begin our "beer-cation" in our favorite U.S. city.  But first, breakfast and fitness were on the agenda.  I perused Dano's bathroom library and came across a recent issue of San Diego magazine, which coincidentally enough was a "Best of San Diego" issue and featured plenty of restaurant listings for OB.  We settled on a restaurant with a Mexican and vegetarian flair - Rancho.  We soon found that it was conveniently about a minute away from Dano's.  Upon entering, I'd remembered we'd eaten there once for dinner with Dano on a previous trip to San Diego, and the food was very good.  The menu boasted quite a bit of vegetarian and vegan selections, including vegan carne asada!  They also have a nice looking salad bar with fresh vegetables and dressings.  I opted for a breakfast burrito special, and it was tasty and filling.

Next, it was off to Robb Athletic Field to join the local gym.  Brewslut and I have been working with a personal trainer for about two years, so we felt it necessary to seek out a local gym so we wouldn't come back to PA out of shape.  We decided to join for an entire month since it was only $25 versus $5 per day, as we figured we'd go more than five times.  (We were correct... we went to the gym seven times during our visit.)

Pleeps is happy to be back at Pizza Port OB!

But enough of that.  First on the beer agenda was a visit to Pizza Port OB, the first of ELEVEN visits.  You see, I got it stuck in my stupid noggin that we should go to Pizza Port OB every day of our trip and have at least one beer during each visit.  It sounded like a reasonable goal for the trip, right?  I opted for the Middle Man IPA, while Brewslut chose the A.B.L.E. Stout.  I also got the OB 125th Anniversary Pale Ale, brewed in celebration for, well, OB's 125th Anniversary.  Both were excellent and got the trip started on the right foot.

A plethora of beer at Pizza Port OB!

Brew system at Pizza Port OB... right in front of the bar!

Next, it was over to one of our favorite spots, South Beach Bar & Grille, up on the Newport Ave. strip.  This place has the best fish tacos on the planet!  See below if you don't believe me.  Yes, they taste even better than they look!  They are even better when you add a side of rice and beans and wash it down with a fresh Ballast Point Sculpin IPA!  Plus we hit during Happy Hour, so the Sculpin was only $3.00 and the Wahoo tacos were $2.75 each!

Best. Meal. Ever!

Afterwards, we made a quick stop at the Olive Tree Marketplace, where they have quite an extensive beer selection.  I picked up a six pack of Deschutes Inversion IPA to share with Dano, while Brewslut picked up a few bottles of North Coast Old Rasputin.

For dinner, we settled on the OB Noodle House and treated Dano and Mags to dinner and drinks as a thank you for letting us crash for the duration of the trip.  Dano had taken us there on our last trip, and not only was the food bangin', but the beer selection was stellar as well!  I decided to go with the dry chow fun, which was pretty damn amazing, and paired it with Port's 6th Anniversary IPA, which was perhaps the best anniversary beer of theirs I've had thus far.  This year's offering was a citrusy, tropical fruity, juicy, lip-smacking DIPA.  After dinner, we retired to Dano's to chill for a bit, drink some of the aforementioned Deschutes IPA and hit the sack.

 

Stay tuned for Part III... coming soon!

San Diego 2012 - Part I: Pre-gaming in the City of Brotherly Suds

Every summer, it gets more and more difficult to select a vacation destination, because every time we pick somewhere to visit, we always end up weighing it against San Diego.  Unfortunately for the hundreds of other possible destinations, we always tend to go back to Old Faithful.  If you've read my previous blog about San Diego, then I'm sure by now you already know that I consider the great city my personal "Beer Mecca".  It also helps to have a good friend who resides there, one who is always gracious to put us up for a few nights.  In this case, about eleven nights!  Thanks Dano and Mags!  I had read about numerous new breweries and brewpubs opening since our last visit in late June/early July 2011, so Brewslut and I had a pretty hefty schedule by which to abide.

However, I will preface the actual meat of the trip with a quick prelude about making our travel arrangements for this year's San Diego trek.  Last year on our flight to Seattle, Brewslut and I signed up for a US Air Mastercard, whereby we were promised 30,000 bonus miles to be used for a free flight to anywhere in the 48 continental United States.  Well, unfortunately for us, what ensued was about five hours of hellish conversations with various customer service representatives trying desperately to get our flight booked.  On previous trips, we typically fly out of Harrisburg, which is only about thirty minutes from our house, and a friend or family member would drive us to and from the airport as to avoid costly airport parking fees.  But since we were using "free miles," we were at the mercy of the airline.  We had originally planned to fly out to San Diego on Friday, June 15 and return on Sunday, June 24.  But alas, we could not schedule anything on Friday or Thursday, so we had to leave Wednesday evening out of Philadelphia instead of the preferred Harrisburg.  So although we had some extra driving and parking expenses, we were able to pre-game in the City of Brotherly Suds.

We arrived at Casa de Spade on Tuesday evening, June 12, and got caught up in some conversation, so we didn't make it out that night.  But we did crack open two Left Hand beers I'd brought to share with Matt - Fade to Black and Wake Up Dead - as they are his favorite brewery.  It is also noteworthy that both of these beers are named after great songs by Metallica and Megadeth, respectively.

The next morning, we headed down the street a few blocks to one of our favorite breakfast spots in the city, Cafe Lift, for some coffee and morning grub.  Then it was off to Memphis Taproom, where we opened the place (as usual).  I love Memphis Taproom because they open early and the bartenders are always extremely cool and talkative.  While we were there, I enjoyed a Sierra Nevada Harvest Ale and Victory Braumeister Pils.  As I've said before, Fishtown may very well be our favorite section of the city, not only due to its abundance of fine craft beer establishments, but also for the free parking.  After a double header at Memphis Taproom, we checked out arguably my favorite beer bar in Philly - Kraftwork.  This place not only features one of the coolest themes of any area beer bar (think tools and auto gear), but they also have perhaps the most comfortable bar at which I've had the pleasure to sit.  The staff is always super friendly, and the food is fantastic.  This time, we split a Mediterranean platter, complete with veggies, hummus and baba ganoush.  Delicious!

We had time to hit one more spot before we needed to get to the airport, so we decided on Hawthorne's, where I enjoyed Coronado's Blue Bridge Coffee Stout.  We hadn't been there since Philly Beer Week 2011 for the Hill Farmstead event.  If you haven't been there, they boast a large, varied bottle selection that is meticulously arranged for easy perusal.  We also ended up having a nice conversation with one of the young beer managers on duty this particular day.

However, our imbibing for the day had come to an end, as we had to get to the airport for our flight.  All in all, it was a very pleasant flight - it was only about 40% booked, so there was plenty of room to stretch out, and it was a direct flight, which meant no timely layovers in another city.  We landed in San Diego at approximately 11:10pm, picked up our rental car and headed to Dano's new place, which is only half a block from the beach in Ocean Beach.  This would be our home for the next eleven days.

Stay tuned for Part II, coming soon!

Romancing the Beer

How fortunate for Brewslut and I that our wedding anniversary coincides with the start of Philly Beer Week?  To visit the City of Brotherly Love with the one I love to share the drink we BOTH love is, well, fitting to say the least.  Beer can be romantic, right?  Well, I think so!


We met up with innkeepers Matt and Morgan on Friday evening a bit later than anticipated due to heavy rainfall on the PA Turnpike.  It was so bad that we had to admit defeat and pull over at a rest stop for about forty minutes or so.  Good old Starbucks to the rescue!  It took nearly that long just for the coffee to cool down to a reasonable temperature.  At any rate, I feared that we would arrive at Devil's Den too late to ensure getting our pick of the lot.  This would be our fourth year in a row attending the outstanding Bella Vista Bash at the aforementioned Devil's Den, home to one of the city's premier craft beer establishments.  It is a regular stop for us any time we are in Philly, not only for its fantastic and constantly rotating tap line-up, but also for their top-notch food (especially a great Sunday brunch).  It also helps that they open early - 11:30am daily!  I had perused the tap list prior to arriving, and it sounded amazing, as usual.  Unfortunately, several of the beers we really wanted had already kicked - Cigar City Marshall Zhukov's Imperial Stout aged in apple brandy barrels and Funky Buddha Raspberry Berliner Weiss were both high on the list.  Nevertheless, there was still a top-notch selection of beers we'd never sampled.  I began with the sole cask offering - Williamsburg Chaka Latte Coffee Stout.  I had had this beer before once or twice, but never on cask, and it did not disappoint.  Breswslut opted for Exodus, a sour beer from Wisconsin-based Central Waters, which she enjoyed.  We followed up our initial selections with a pair of local brews - 50/50 Brewing Company's B.A.R.T., a blend of their Eclipse Imperial Stout and Conundrum Barleywine, and Round Guys barrel-aged Saison.  We were just ready to call it a night when we bumped into our buddy Craig (aka corby112 on BA), and we decided to stay for one more, which turned into two more - Half Acre's Chocolate Camaro Milk Stout and Ballast Point's excellent Even Keel, a 3.5% ABV hop bomb!   I enjoyed talking beer and old school metal with Craig, who we hadn't seen in quite a while, and it turned out to be a memorable night at Devil's Den. 

We didn't have too much on our plate scheduled for Saturday, but another must-visit bar is Memphis Taproom.  They regularly host a "No Repeat Beer Week" during PBW, and this year was no exception.  We had gotten there at the tail end of a Half Acre tap takeover event, and I was pleased to see Half Acre's incredible Double Daisy Cutter on tap, which I had only had on one other occasion (thanks to Little Wiss, who shared an entire growler at "Imminent Liquidation 2" back in March).  Brewslut chose the Big Hugs Imperial Stout, which was also quite tasty.  Having eaten at Memphis Taproom on numerous prior occasions, we knew their menu was legit, so we decided to split a veggie burger and wash it down with a pour of the Dripping Saison, a wild Brett-infused Farmhouse ale.  While at Memphis Tap Room, we started up a conversation with pleasant guy at the bar who turned out to be Kevin, the owner of 4 Hands Brewing Company based out of St. Louis, MO.  In speaking with him, we learned that he and his cohorts were heading over to Monk's at 4pm for an event that would feature an assortment of 4 Hands' beers.  After hearing Kevin describe some of the beers (a Saison brewed with pear and pepper and a Rye IPA made me perk up!), we decided to head over.  But first, a quick stop at Johnny Brenda's for the "It's a Firkin Riot!" cask beer event, where I was finally able to sample a beer from the fairly new PA-based Free Will Brewing Company.  The Citra Pale Ale was a pleasant, sessionable pale ale with quite a bit of hoppy flavor for a straight-up pale ale.  Brewslut went with DFH's 75-minute IPA, which may well be our favorite of the "insert-minutes-here" line of IPAs it brews.  However, it was a "one and done" visit, as we were heading over to Monk's for the 4 Hands event. 

The back room was quite busy, and we actually got to Monk's right as Kevin was welcoming all the beer geeks and explaining some of the brewery's history and available beers.  We sampled three of its flagship beers: Divided Sky Rye (yes, named after the Phish song), Pyrus and Prunes.  4 Hands is an up-and-coming brewery that has only existed for about six months, and they are already making a dent in the Midwest beer scene, apparently.  Brewslut and I will definitely look for them at Great Taste of the Midwest, when we attend in August.  Afterwards, we were lucky enough to snag two seats at the crowded bar, where we enjoyed a pour of Sierra Nevada's Knock on Wood, which is basically its Hell Raiser aged in Heaven Hill barrels for eighteen months.  Can you say, "Yum?" 

When we informed Matt and Morgan of our itinerary for the weekend, we mentioned an interesting-sounding event at an unfamiliar bar called Woody's.  Woody's was hosting an event called "Once You Go Black..." a cleverly named event featuring a bevy of coffee beers.  The Blaxploitation classic Shaft movies were also to be shown on the bar's various television screens during the event, which appealed to us, as we've seen the original Shaft more than once!  Matt politely pointed out that Woody's was, in fact, a gay bar.  I hadn't thought about it (in all my youthful naivety), but it made perfect sense.  We were going to a GAY BAR, GAY BAR!!!  No matter to me.  We were going where the beers (and "insert any politically incorrect plural noun which happens to rhyme with beers that would be somewhat appropriate in this context") were.  Unfortunately, the tap list really wasn't all that impressive, so we settled for one beer each and called it a night. 

Sunday proved to be a busy day for us and our beer endeavors.  First on the agenda was a visit to Eulogy for its Coffee Beer Brunch, an event that we had attended last year.  We were lucky to obtain two seats at the small bar again this year, and ran into a few more acquaintances (coincidentally, both of whom we saw at last year's event)!  I perused the tap selection and stopped at Ballast Point Victory at Sea, an Imperial Coffee Vanilla Porter, which also happens to be one of my very favorite beers produced in the US.  If I was stranded on a desert island and given the choice of either Victory at Sea or Ballast Point's over-hyped (though rightly so) Sculpin IPA, I think I'd have to choose the former.  Seriously folks, this beer never disappoints!  I love this beer so much that I procured a sixtel for a past Ffej of July (with lots of help from my buddy Dan).  If you've never had this beer, go to your nearest specialty bottle shop and buy it immediately!  Yeah, it's THAT good! 

Across the street from Eulogy is Triumph Brewing Company, a modern brewpub with a varied selection of about eight house-made beers on any given day.  One of my favorite Triumph creations is a rye beer called Jewish Rye, brewed with caraway seeds.  I had even mentioned to Brewslut earlier that I'd hoped they'd have it on tap during our visit.  Well, they didn't have it on tap.  But they had it on CASK!  Schwing!  This beer is like liquid rye bread, and it is definitely one of the most authentic rye beers I've ever tasted.  Unfortunately, we only had time for one beer, even though Triumph boasted three-dollar beers all weekend! 

We decided to head over to the P.O.P.E. (aka the Pub on Passyunk), where it and a few neighboring establishments was hosting various IPA lineups.  However, nothing really struck a chord with us, so I ended up checking out a local record shop on Passyunk, where I picked up two old Yes and Genesis LPs to add to my record collection. 

We knew Monk's Funky Buddha Berliner Weiss event was going to be a madhouse, and our assumptions were indeed accurate. Even as we walked in, a few guys at a nearby table said, "Don't even bother!"  Amateurs!  I had all four Berliners inside half an hour.  We also had the good fortune of running into Al (of the Hampden variety) and his cohorts, who came down in a rented limo bus.  While I stood in line, I was able to sample all four of the Berliners - key lime, raspberry, peach and (easily the cream of the crop) passion fruit.  While all were indeed top-notch takes on the style, Brewslut and I both agreed that the passion fruit was the best of the lot.  We were able to snag a table while Brewslut went to feed the meter, and we all made plans to head up to Woody's (coincidentally where we were parked) to get another hyped Funky Buddha concoction - Maple Bacon Porter.  Now, most people who know us know that neither Brewslut nor I no longer eat red meat or pork products, but we couldn't resist trying this beer!  Unfortunately, there were only two pours left when we arrived, so we shared amongst the group of of about six or seven of us.  Afterwards, our collective pangs of hunger led us to a detour to South Street for pizza at Lorenzo Brothers, easily my favorite pizzeria in the city!  Our final stop this year was at Standard Tap, for the Troegs Scratch Beer Throwdown between two avid beer writers - Lou Bryson and Jack Curtain, both of whom I had met previously, courtesy of my beer compatriot, Deuane.  However, it was a long day, and we didn't even try either of the Scratch beers - Bryson's Zwickle Licker and Curtain's Beer de Grouch.  I did, however, grab the much-anticipated and now year-round Troegs Perpetual IPA, which I must admit was drinking rather amazingly on this particular Sunday evening.  After wielding the Hammer of Doom (or whatever it is called), we bid a fond adieu to the City of Brotherly Love and made our way back to Annville.  Romancing the beer, indeed!

Hammer of the Ffej!

Jordan? DiMaggio? Elway? My favorite athlete revealed!

Forget football, baseball or basketball (the only three REAL sports, according to George Carlin).  That's right.  America's favorite pastime (at least for me) is Goat Racing.  I'd like to extend a belated congratulations to Peggy, the three-legged wonder and two-time, back-to-back winner of the Sly Fox Goat Races!

Since I wrote a detailed account of last year's Goat Races, I will keep this blog limited to a pictorial review.  Enjoy the goats!

A room full of Richard Craniums

This past Saturday night, my long-time band herbie had the pleasure of performing at the familiar O'Reilly's Tap Room at the Best Western Premier for the launch party of the new Millbock Brewing Company out of Dauphin County.  Just to give a brief bit of history, O'Reilly's has since become my Thursday night home away from home for the past two years, as I perform there every week with The Think Tank.  Lucky for me, they also have a fantastic beer selection!  So I was equally thrilled to be playing a herbie show at a familiar place with lots of good beer.  For the past two years, we'd limited our gig roster to just a single gig, a holiday show held at Appalachian Brewing Co. in Harrisburg dubbed "A Very Herbie Xmas."  So we doubled our schedule for 2012! 

It proved to be a very long day for me, as I had already performed at the Mt. Hope Beer Fest at the Renaissance Faire grounds with one of my other bands, Mark DeRose and the Way Home, earlier that day.  Honestly, it felt more like I had attended the festival as an avid beer drinker and coincidentally also played a bit, as I was only contracted to play two one-hour sets of music with a four-and-a-half layover between sets.  Hence the mass quantities of beer samples.  OK, that sounds like an oxymoron.  Perhaps I will throw up a separate blog about this event. 

Unfortunately, I was too drained to really partake in any of the Millbock action, as I'd already been drinking at the festival all day.  I did want to try the brand new Citra dry hopped Blue Bell pale ale that they put in a firkin for the event, but by the time I'd made the commitment to drink it, it had already kicked.  Fortunately, my good friend Dan had about half a glass left, and was kind enough to share some with me.  It was pretty damn tasty!  Thanks again, buddy!  While it wasn't a true tap takeover event (Millbock represented about five of the available twenty-four taps at O'Reilly's), it was clear that folks were out to sample their beers.  While the firkin was an obvious hit amongst those in attendance, I understand there was plenty of Golden Toos and Richard Cranium flowing, as well as Millbock White and Black to round out the selection.  It looks like they are beginning to take off locally.  Be sure to check out local beer establishments such as Al's of Hampden and of course O'Reilly's for some of Millbock's beers.  There is even a rumor that they are working on a house beer for O'Reilly's, so stay tuned as more details develop.

All in all, it was a great night for me, with friends from both of my worlds of music and beer colliding to celebrate for the same cause.  I think all parties were pleased with the turnout, and we played a pretty damn smokin' set for only having two short rehearsals prior to the gig.  Thanks again to Chris at O'Reilly's and the Millbock crew for making us feel at home and making the event a success.  Cheers!

Pleepleus!

If you read just about any of the blogs posted here at The Pour Travelers, then you probably have noticed that Brewslut and I typically travel with a drinking companion, a little monkey named Pleepleus.  He loves traveling with us to beer destinations, and he is definitely not camera-shy (like Brewslut).   Fans of TV personality and professional drinker Zane Lamprey will recognize Pleepleus as his traveling mascot on shows such as Drinking Made Easy and Three Sheets.  Brewslut and I are huge fans of both shows, and a while back (well before Zane started selling them on his web site), I decided to scour the internet to find our very own Pleepleus.  He is actually a Ty Beanie Baby named Swinger, and I was able to procure one rather easily on ebay.  Pleepleus (or Pleeps, as we usually call him), joins us on our beer trips and likes sitting on the bar sharing our beer.  Like Brewslut, he is a huge fan of Berliner Weisse.  So next time you find us out and about, you will probably see Pleeps enjoying some craft beer with us.  Come up and say "hi".  He loves the attention!

Swillin' at Pizza Port Ocean Beach!