Coffee Porter Bottled

This evening I bottled up the coffee porter. The final gravity was 1.013, and the coffee aroma to this one was fantastic! I got a full two cases out of this batch plus just a bit more. This so far was the best tasting of my homebrews at bottling time, so I hope that translates into the final carbonated product. I can't wait!

Rivertowne Pour House

I stopped by to visit the Rivertowne Pour House in Monroeville yesterday. It's just less than an hour drive from Indiana, and well worth the travel. They just opened last week, so I'm sure that they're running through the normal business opening pangs, but I have to say that the service on a Saturday afternoon during the US Open was tops! Great attention from the staff and they all seemed to know a lot about the beers (or weren't afraid to say they didn't know rather than trying to BS their way through).

Menu looked good, and I tried the Bacon and Cheese Fries. Tasty.

The beers? Well, they have 15 on tap plus one on beer engine. The full list is found on the web and there are samplers available. I tried several (10 to be exact) and was very impressed by the quality and range. Two fruit beers, two Impy stouts (one barrel aged), a pale ale, an IPA, a golden ale, a scottish ale, irish red, amber, ESB ... Wow!

All the ones I had were tasty, but the two imperial stouts (Buffalo Trace Bourbon Barrel Stout and Clavrock Imperial Stout) and the Wylie's IPA were top notch.

Check it out if you're in the area! Two great brewers working together can only be a good thing :)

Penn Microbrewers Fest

On Saturday, June 2, I drove down to the Penn Brewery in Pittsburgh with three friends and attended the Pennsylvania Microbrewers Fest from noon to 3pm. We were very fortunate to have been given some complimentary tickets from one of our local publicans, Tim McQuaide, who owns and runs The Coney. He couldn't make the event, and since he knows what a beer geek I am, he passed them on to me.

We arrived just at noon, so I dropped the guys off and parked down the street. By the time I got up to the gate, the line was finished so no waiting. I'd been to this event in 2002, and this was done a bit better. First, there seemed to be fewer admitted guests, so that cut down a bit on the lines and the heat. Second, they finally had rinse stations set up and since the event was in the parking garage, waste beer/water could be thrown right in the drains. Nice.

It was a pretty darned good showing of Pennsylvania's finest, along with some regional brewers from New York, West Virginia, Ohio, and even a few from Vermont and Colorado. (see the link above for full listing).

Unlike some other festivals I've been to in the past, I didn't try to get a bunch of ratings this time. Since I didn't pay for a ticket, I felt more like wandering around and chatting with brewers and seeing what was going on.

I did try Penn Brewery's Penndemonium, a doppelbock by label but really more of a heller Bock. Two others that I particularly enjoyed were Weyerbacher Muse and Southern Tier's Un*Earthly Double IPA.

I also tried two beers from Union Barrel Works, the Kölsch and the Doppelbock. Pretty good stuff. And finally a West Virginia Brewing Baltic Porter and Yards Saison. I didn't think much of this saison, really.

The neatest beer I tasted was a very raw and young beer from the Bullfrog that will be called "Black and Blue". It's a fruit beer made with blueberries and black raspberries. Just the small taste I had was extraordinary and I hope I can get the finished product when it comes out! Thanks Terry, for a taste (and thanks to Bill and Mark for cluing me in about it!). Everyone keep up the great work.

Coffee Added to the Porter

We are fortunate in Indiana to have our own coffee roaster, TJ Fairchild, who owns and runs the Commonplace Coffeehouse ( or www.ipacoffee.com). The 'ipacoffee' is for Indiana, PA (not India Pale Ale - but it's certainly easy for me to remember!).

Anyway, TJ has been to a couple of beer-related events, including one of our Indiana Beer Club tastings and the Pittsburgh Microbrewers Festival. When I told him I was making a coffee porter for my latest batch, we got to brainstorming as to the best way to add some coffee to secondary. Most recipes that I've seen have you add some strongly brewed coffee to the secondary, rather than boil coffee with the wort. The downside, we both thought, is that a hot-brew method picks up a lot of tannic bitterness along with the good essential oils and might make for a more bitter contribution.

TJ came up with the Toddy Coffee press - basically a cold coffee extraction method that has you add cold water to ground coffee and sit overnight, then filter. So, this afternoon, I picked up a quart of cold-brewed Sumatran Mandheling coffee from TJ, brought it home, and (after a quick boil and cool) added it to the secondary fermenter.

I'm going to let that sit for 2 weeks and bottle it up. Can't wait to taste this one!

Porter Moved to Secondary

Well, I was a bit late on this, but I don't think it will be a problem. I racked the porter to secondary tonight and the gravity was down to 1.011 ... much lower than the 1.022 that I was expecting, so perhaps I won't have as much body in this one. Regardless, it tasted phenomenal. Just the right amount of bitterness and there was definitely some good notes of chocolate and coffee in there.

This week, I hope to add a quart of cold-brewed coffee in there to give it an extra coffee kick. Meanwhile, the secondary sits happily in the basement, covered in aluminum foil.

All Grain Coffee Porter

After a two-month hiatus in brewing (didn't brew in March, April), I was able to squeeze in a batch of all grain coffee porter yesterday afternoon. It was only my second batch of all grain, so I was still running into unforeseen glitches, but nothing that corrupted the beer - just took up more time than I was hoping for.

Last time, I used a bucket with false bottom for sparging, and I had done the mash in the kettle - applying direct heat for the different temperature rests. Well, this time I decided to try a modified picnic cooler and do a two-step infusion mash; it worked out pretty well! Catches this time included not getting the second infusion temp high enough, so rather than add more water, I scooped out several quarts of thick mash and brought to a boil on the stove. Voila! (I guess that'd be a partial decoction mash??).

Even though I made a dipstick for the keg this time, I still misjudged the evap rate. I had to add in two quarts of filtered water to get the five+ gallons I needed. Other than that, everything seemed to work well. I'm waiting for the bubbling to start.

Hennepin Clone Bottled (Finally!)

So, after two months in secondary, I finally got to bottle the Hennepin clone today. It was certainly clear. Had a final gravity of 1.019 (right on target) and tasted pretty darned good. I got 11 bombers filled and 28 12oz bottles out of the batch. I had two Jolly Pumpkin 750mL bottles that I wanted to fill, but my capper would not fit around the neck. Bummer.

I'm hoping to brew my third batch of the year sometime next week. An all-grain recipe, but I have to decide what style yet.

More of Burlington

Today we decided to get up and get going. We had a lot of little things we wanted to do, including shopping (gifts for family, etc.). After another great breakfast at the B&B, we drove downtown and parked, then hit Church Street. For those who've never been, Church Street in Burlington is a 4-5 block-long pedestrian street in downtown, with all of the major shopping and dining within several blocks of that street. Great place to people watch, especially with all of the eccentric types hanging out in Vermont.

Had lunch at Leunig's Cafe - sort of a french bistro, and enjoyed a duck confit salad along with a pint of Leunig's Ale (which is really just Long Trail Hit the Trail Ale). More shopping after lunch, then we stopped for a quick pint at a local, slightly seedy joint called JP's Pub. We stopped to try the Long Trail Blackberry Wheat on tap, which we'd not seen elsewhere. Back to the car, then up to the B&B.

Dana decided to chill out for a bit, but I was ready for more beer exploration. I drove back downtown and stopped in front of the American Flatbread. I walked in to find no one ... they don't serve any food after 2 and before 5pm. However, the bar was open, so I came in to try the limited beers on tap (by limited, I mean they happened to only have 4 of their Zero Gravity beers, rather than the usual 9-11). There were plenty more taps and bottles to sample if I chose. So, I had samples of Zero Gravity IPA, Fruehfest, D'Kinna Bock, and Old Schtick. All of them were very nice and I would have loved to stick around for the tapping of the schwarzbier and the Friday cask - however, I had one more place I wanted to visit before leaving town...

I got in the car and drove to South Burlington (close to Shelbourne) and took the 4pm tour of the Magic Hat Brewery. There was only me and two other people on the tour at 4pm, and it didn't take very long - though I got some interesting history and some pictures. Afterwards, I retired to the tasting room and sampled several beers on tap that, unfortunately, aren't available in bottles here in western PA. Several good ones I got to sample included the Braggot made with honey and chamomille, the Single Chair Ale, and the Roxy Rolles. I picked up a hat, too.

Had there been time, I wanted to stop by Switchback Brewing and check out their operation. But alas, it was 5pm and time to head back to meet my wife and make dinner plans. We decided on a neat Indian place up by the University (UVM) and I got some really spicy chicken tikka masala.

Tomorrow - it's time to go home, but I'll be leaving with a few extra pounds of weight brought on by great beer and food from Vermont, many memories, and a cooler filled with bottles that I bought at stores during our trip!

Alchemist

Today was a bit more relaxed. Took a long walk along the causeway north of Burlington - the old rail bed that stretches out into Lake Champlain. Very nice morning stroll. For lunch, we were going to hit the American Flatbread Company, but it was closed (Fri-Sun only for lunch). Ate next door at the Pacific Rim Asian Cafe - fair, but nothing special. While there, had a Rock Art Whitetail Ale and a Trout River Rainbow Red.

Bummed around most of the day, including a nice siesta in the afternoon heat. I got most of the way through Harris' "Hannibal Rising" before we decided to get cleaned up and try American Flatbread for dinner. We parked a block away and walked down, only to find that there was an hour long wait to eat. Screw that - no pizza is that good.

We decided to hop in the car and make the 25 minute drive down the interstate south to Waterbury, where we found immediate seating at the Alchemist Pub and Brewery. My, oh my. First, the owner/brewer is from Pittsburgh and there was a Steelers pennant above the bar. Brownie points right there. There were seven beers on tap, and you can get 3oz samplers for $1 a piece. All of them were delicious and made very well - not a loser in the bunch. My wife particularly enjoyed the Tweiss (sort of a weizen-bock), and while I tried all of them, I had a full pint of Pappy's Porter with dinner. The food is wonderful, and we really enjoyed the fries - coated in a spicy dry rub and served with garlic mayo and homemade spicy ketchup. The reuben panini was great and Dana's margherita pizza was top notch. The only thing I didn't care for was the dim lighting - I like ambiance as much as anyone, but when you have a hard time reading the menu ... that's a bit too dark. Makes it hard to see the beer you're drinking, too.

In all, however, I highly recommend the Alchemist. Great beer and great food!

A Trip up through the Center of Vermont

This morning we checked out a few places in Brattleboro, including a nice bakery and a used bookstore. The we hit the Brattleboro Co-Op for a few local bottles of beer for the road and grabbed a sandwich at Breuggers. From Brattleboro, we took route 30 north, up the river until we hit route 100.

We stopped to eat our sandwiches at Lowell Lake near Magic Mountain ski area. Very nice, though a bit buggy at this time of year. Also, the abandoned summer camp on the edge of the lake was a bit too Friday the 13th.

After that, we checked out the Vermont Country Store and then wound our way over to Rutland to catch Route 7. From there, we headed north until we made it to Middlebury. Here, we took a slight break and visited the Otter Creek brewery. We didn't make the right time for the tour, which wasn't a problem, but we were able to sample several beers on tap, including Wolaver's Witbier and the Oatmeal Stout, and Otter Creek 15th Anniversary IPA, ESB, and others. I took a few bottles for the road and we took off.

After checking out the town for a few minutes, we got back onto the road and headed up to Burlington, which was our final destination for the trip. Checked into the Willard Street Inn and chilled out for a while.

For dinner, we walked down to Church Street and ate at Smokejacks. While there, I had a Smuttynose IPA and a Orlio Organic IPA by Magic Hat. Finished up with a nice Armagnac.

All in all, not a bad day.

Brattleboro, VT

So, for the first time in a while, my wife and I were able to get a few days off at the same time and during decent weather! We decided to head up to New England for a few days, and the timing couldn't have been better.

We hit the road about 9am on Tuesday morning, and made our way to I-80 at Clearfield. From there, we traversed the state until the merge with I-81, then up to I-84. We took I-84 over to the Taconic State Parkway, then north on that until Rt 23. That took us through the Berkshires in western Massachusetts until the meet up with the Mass Pike. After one exit, we were on I-91 north until Brattleboro.

We stayed the night at the historic Latchis Hotel, an interesting if not slightly worn out joint right in downtown. Our dinner was some light fare at the Flat Street Brewpub, which really isn't a brewpub, per se, but rather a purchase point for most of Berkshire Brewing Company's draft options. The menu is limited and not that impressive. Right before we got our food, my wife noticed a mouse scurrying across the floor. Good times. I grabbed a sampler tray of five Berkshire Brewing beers, including the Pale Ale, River Ale, IPA, Draymans Porter, and a milk stout. Dana had a Ommegang Rare Vos on tap.

In all, the place wasn't that impressive, though we were happy just to get some beers in us after spending almost 10 hours in a two-door Honda!

After dinner, we walked up the hill and around the block until we happened upon McNeill's Brewpub on Elliot Street. Very low key, but there were about 10-12 beers on tap, including 2 on hand pump. I opted for the Alle Tage Altbier and the Imperial Stout, while Dana had the Ruby Ale and the Slop Bucket Brown.

We had a very nice discussion with a gent named Bill, who's a nurse? at the local hospital. If you go, try the chips and salsa - very good. Also, you can get most of the McNeill's line in bottles to go - but at no discount over local food co-ops. They're also available at a few local food co-ops, such as the ones in Brattleboro and in Burlington. I brought home several other McNeill's to try in the coming weeks.

Until tomorrow,
Cheers!

I've Just About Given Up on Ironwood

So my wife and I wanted to go grab a pint tonight and she suggested going to the outdoor porch/bar of the Ironwood Grill. We arrived at 6:30 or so and asked to be seated outside. Well, as we were escorted to the outdoor bar/seating area, we were met by two unsavory elements: (1) a ton of cigarette smoke wafting out from the second floor bar area (newly renovated and now joined to the outside by an open bar area); and (2) music so loud that we would have to almost shout at each other over drinks. This is outside, mind you.

I have to say, this is not our speed. The indoor dining area seems to be fine - nonsmoking, relatively quiet. But if you just want to go sit outside or enjoy a beer at the bar - be prepared to get smoked out and blasted by music.

We left without even sitting down. After a side trip to Lowe's, we ended up back at the Coney for a nice meal and good draughts. Sorry Ironwood, I'll keep checking you out for the occasional sixer and bomber of Old Guardian, but you can count me out for a pint at the bar or overpriced dinners. I want to taste and enjoy a good beer, not snort a shit load of second hand smoke.

Spring Is Here!

What a beautiful weekend this was! Sunny, warm weather - perfect for grilling and smoking (salmon, that is), yard work, and good beer.

Last Tuesday, the core of the Indiana Beer Club met here for a small tasting. We did a few wheat beers (Bells Oberon, Troegs Dream Weaver), Bear Republic Racer 5 IPA, and a great vertical of Stone Old Guardian from 2005-07.

Friday night, my wife and I met some of her classmates at Amici's Restaurant and Pizza in Ebensburg. I was floored that they had 14 taps, and even more so to find 2 beers that I'd not yet had. That's saying something for Ebensburg! The Brooklyn Antwerpen Ale was a decent lighter Belgian ale, but not on par with traditional fare from the land. Amici's is worth a visit for a good meal - entrees range from 12-27.

A Personal Milestone

Wow, it's been a busy few weeks! Work is bogging me down in the last month of the spring semester. Haven't had the time or resources to brew lately, and the last batch is still aging in secondary. Couple more weeks before bottling the Hennepin clone. Meanwhile, I've been enjoying some stuff I've had cellared for a while and a few new acquisitions, like a case of Dream Weaver Wheat.

On a geeky note - today is my 5th anniversary as a member of RateBeer.com, and by sheer coincidence I enjoyed my 1700th beer this evening - an Uerige Doppel Sticke Altbier. Picked it up over New Years down at State Line Liquor in Elkton, MD. It was a nice quaff for a Tuesday evening, I must say.

This Thursday, I hope to try the selection at the re-opening Coventry Inn here in Indiana. I don't think the tap/bottle selection will be all that great, but the atmosphere looks inviting (an English-style pub). I'll try to report back for any of those interested.

A Trip to the 'Burgh

Weatherwise, last Saturday was pretty dreary, even for Western PA. It was quite reminiscent of the weather in Northeast France & Belgium, actually - dark, gray, and rainy. Not cold, but not exactly picnic weather, either. I ran a few errands that morning, including a trip to Agway to buy some grass seed, fertilizer, and lime ... the back yard needs some work.

Dana was slated for a day of studying, as is normal right now for her. But the thought of sitting in our living room all day was not that appealing, and we were both in the mood for a change of scenery. She suggested that we drive to Pittsburgh for the day; she'd study in the car on the way down, and then we'd hit a few beer places. She'd study, I'd read, and we'd both drink some good beer. I love my wife.

So, at 12:30 we got in the old Honda and headed off to the Strip District. First stop was a late lunch at the original Primanti Brothers on 18th Street. Now, for the uninitiated, this place looks a little seedy. Outside, the streets are pretty dirty and worn, and the smells coming from all the produce and fish warehouses don't exactly fill one with wide-eyed wonder. Regardless, perhaps you've seen Primanti's featured on one of the Food Network shows - it's a Pittsburgh institution.

A Primanti Bros. sandwich is everything slammed between two thick pieces of Italian white bread. You order based on the meat selection (or cheese if you're a vegetarian). I normally get bacon, egg, and cheese. This is grilled by a grumpy old lady with tons of other orders being screamed at her by various employees - all rather terse (but not outwardly rude). The meat & cheese is put on a piece of bread, on top of which is slapped a handful of hot, fresh-cut french fries, then some sweet & sour cole slaw, and a slice of tomato. Last piece of bread, cut in half - Voila! It's even better when sprinkled liberally with some Louisiana hot sauce.

If you get a chance to go, try to get a seat at the counter in front of the grill - dinner and entertainment all in one.

After lunch, we hit a few stores to stock up on some hard-to-find items (well, hard to find in Indiana). Penzeys Spices is there now - grabbed some cooking supplies and some whole coriander seed for homebrewing. After that, the PA Macaroni Co. for some good olive medleys and some European cheeses. Picked up some Appenzeller, Comte, and a sharp Dutch cheese that's a little better (for its age) than Gouda. Stopped off for a quick coffee around the corner.

Now it was time for some beer. We headed up to East End Brewing, where I returned my empty Ugly American bottle. I tasted the Fat Gary Nut Brown Ale and the new session beer, American Wheat". The Nut Brown I'd had before but wanted a reminder. The American Wheat was good, and very hoppy for the style. But, after a taste, I decided to get a growler of the newly formulated East End Witte. It's a lot more orangy and spicy that previous batches, and it quite refreshing.

From East End, we drove over to the Sharp Edge Beer Emporium and grabbed a table. While there, Dana had a draught Hennepin, which was good; I prefer it from the bottle so you get the dregs! I tried both the Pink Clouds Porter, an East End Brewing interpretation of Kevin Kost's winning homebrew recipe, and an Atwater Vanilla Java Porter, which I have to say didn't impress me.

After an hour, we decided to head down the road to Robinson. First stop was the Bocktown Beer & Grille, a new pub near the Target store. They have a really nice beer selection, both on tap, and for bottles (for drinking or takeout). My only criticism is that the bottle prices are a bit on the pricey side, even for Pittsburgh. The food smelled and looked great, but we were just there for a drink.

Sitting at some high tables in the bar area, Dana ordered a limited release Penn Weizenbock on draught. Very yummy, and I suggest you try to get your hands on some before it disappears. I settled on a draught Great Divide Hercules Double IPA. Very good stuff, that.

For the road (well, not literally), I grabbed a 75cL Sly Fox Saison Vos, a Thirsty Dog Siberian Night Impy Stout, and a Lagunitas Hairy Eyeball.

After a quick trip to Target, we hit our final destination for the evening: Mad Mex. We were both craving Tex-Mex for dinner, and this place is great. Their beer selection is usually pretty fine, too, and I always find something new. Tonight was no exception, and I enjoyed a draught Green Flash Barley Wine. That stuff was hot, and I should buy a bottle and let it sit for a while.

Grabbed a post-dinner coffee and hit the road home. All in all, not a bad way to spend a Saturday with my wife.

Beer Hearing in Harrisburg

From WGAL.com - "The prospect of selling beer in grocery stores and convenience stores was the subject of a legislative hearing in Harrisburg today."

Full article

Comments at the end are interesting, too. Apparently, PA is the 4th worst state for alcohol related deaths. Maybe if people didn't have to buy beer a case at a time? Or if everyone wasn't so hung up on alcohol like it was evil, rather than something to be enjoyed in moderation, responsibly?

Road Trip!

Wednesday, March 14 was a darned good day. The weather, albeit rainy, was unseasonably warm. I had a day off. Car? Check. Plan? Check. Empty growlers and some coolers? Check.

Jon, Lacey, and I left Indiana at 8:30am for one heck of a beer-related road trip. After a brief detour to St. Francis in Loretto (long story), we arrived in Duncansville to Marzoni's Brick Oven & Brewery at 9:45. I had made arrangements to meet up with Bill Kroft, brewmaster, and get a look behind the scenes of a brewpub that I've been going to for the last several years.

Our thanks to Bill for taking time to meet with us. He was in the middle of cleaning out his lauter tun and boiling a batch of the Amber Lager. For a more in depth talk with Bill, you can check out this article. We got a sneak preview of the Weizenbock, which should be ready to go in about two weeks, once the Doppelbock kicks. A new yeast strain this time around, and it was really good. Bill also said that he'll be getting busier soon, as the new Alison Park Marzoni's is going to be opening sometime around May. That'll be double the brewing for him, but good news for the folks over on Route 8, north of Pittsburgh.

After leaving Marzoni's, we headed up 'the back way' to State College (Rt. 45 up through Spruce Creek). We arrived at Otto's Pub & Brewery just in time for lunch. This was Jon & Lacey's first time to Otto's. For me, it was visiting an old haunt from my five years in State College. I got to try two new beers this time: 1) Wee Heavy Scottish Ale (cask conditioned, hand pumped) and 2) Rauchbier. Both went well with a Brau Burger! We also met up with two fellow RateBeerians, Mike and his wife Annie. Great to meet both of them, considering all of the posts I've read from Mike ;)

Well, we lingered a bit long at Otto's and found ourselves ready to hit the road to Williamsport at 1:30 or so. In an hour or so, we found ourselves pulling into Duboistown, a little village across the Susquehanna River from Williamsport. Luckily, it's a small town, so we didn't need to ride around too long before finding our next destination: Abbey Wright Brewing Co. situated in the Valley Inn. From the outside, this place looks a little sketchy. Throw up a neon light or two and you could call it the 'Double Deuce'. Anyway, never judge a book by its cover. We walked into a nice surprise!

Bart Rieppel, a former construction worker and long time homebrewer, is the brewmaster here. He was brought on by the Inn's owners a while back to completely set up the old 8 barrel system bought from Red Bell. Bart did all the plumbing and cleaning (he said there was still old beer inside from three years prior!) and troubleshooting before starting the brews. Bart is concerned only with one thing: quality. Several of his beers are now in their third or fourth generation. He admits having some real dogs at the start, but from what we tasted on Wednesday, those dogs learned to hunt! The Flower Power Pale Ale and Alpha Deuce IPA were wonderful - just the perfect balance of sweetness and that grapefruity aromatic hops that sends me into an altered state. He says his secret is not to add bittering hops early in the boil. I'm gonna have to try that next time I brew an IPA. All the other offerings were spot on as well: Mosquito Wheat, Irish Red Ale (excellent!), Patience Pilsner, Frosty Pumpkin Ale, and Vanilla Cream Stout. I took home a growler of the Pale Ale, and I'm sipping it now as I type up this travel report.

While here, I got in touch with my buddy Mark (whose culinary skills were praised here). Shortly thereafter, he and a colleague (Richard) came to meet us at Abbey Wright for a couple of pints. We all enjoyed the offerings on a lazy Wednesday March afternoon.

Ah.. tempting to hang too long. We were on a mission! Time to head across the river and meet up with Mark and Richard at the Bullfrog Brewery. This place has been around for a while, and you can read the site for more information. I had never been here, but had enjoyed several of their offerings at festivals and from growlers supplied by my father-in-law, who travels this area once a week or so. This is a nice brewpub atmosphere, with upscale decor and quite a good menu selection. I didn't eat here, though everyone else did - it looked really good. I focused more on the beer offerings, and was not disappointed. I have to say, though, after Abbey Wright, these beers didn't "WOW" me as much as previous samplings - but they were solid. Among the samples: Billtown Blonde, Holy Helles, Inspiration Red, Wolfsblood Scotch Ale (cask conditioned, hand pump), Phat Frog, Friar Frog Dubbel, and Tripel Trubbel.

Ooof. How did the day go so fast?! It was now shortly after 6pm and we still had one more place to hit before heading back west - Selin's Grove Brewing Co., about 45-50 minutes south of Williamsport on the Susquehanna. We arrived shortly after 7pm and made our way down the stairs to the cellar of an old Victorian style house. A perfect place for a pub! Cozy, crowded, and warm. Fireplace and wooden tables, intimate lighting and a raucous but friendly feel. We had to wait for 10 minutes before a table opened up. Both the food and the beer were tops, and I took away a growler of the Tripel with me. Bummer that this place is three hours from Indiana!!

Again, never been here, but I had tried a few of their beers at festivals - most notably the Phoenix Kriek. Tonight's offerings were: Cream Ale, Dunkelweizen, Goldings Special Bitter, Crystal IPA, Stealth Tripel, White Horse Porter, and Snake Drive Irish Stout. These were used to chase down a turkey wrap that was delicious! Very simple foods here, but quality and a lot of it's vegetarian and/or organic.

By this time, we were all sated and slaked. The trunk was full of growlers (only two of them mine!) and some souvenier glasses. We left Selinsgrove at roughly 9:15pm and got back to Indiana at about 12:30 am. All of us were spent, I dare say, but quite pleased with the effort and the good times at each and every place. I know that I'm looking forward to the next time I can get out on the road for a day and hit up some great new places (or old favorites) and try some world class beers right here in our back yard.

Thanks to all of our companions of the day: Bill Kroft, Mike & Annie, Mark, Richard, Bart Rieppel, our very pregnant bartender at Abbey Wright, and our servers at Otto's, Bullfrog, and Selin's Grove. It made for a great day off!

Hennepin Clone Racked to Secondary

Well, I let it sit for longer than I hoped (two weeks tonight), but I didn't notice any ill effects on aroma or taste. The gravity was at 1.020 (target is 1.015-1.018) so lookin' good.

It's going to take a nice long rest in the glass for six weeks before bottling.

Tomorrow - a beer trip! Since we're on Spring Break, I'm taking a (if I do say so myself) well-deserved day off. Jon, Lacey, and I are leaving town at 8:30 for an excursion to the Northeast. Details soon.

Into the Sanctum Sanctorum of Beer

This week's RateBeer.com article was penned by Joris Pattyn, a noted Belgian beer author, traveler, and web contributor to many beer-related sites (particularly RateBeer).

He was fortunate enough to be allowed a tour of the Westvleteren abbey brewery and talk with Brother Joris about the process and the difficulties of small production of the "world's best beer".

You can find this article here.

Sheetz Selling Beer Again

Well, the court reversed its decision and so now you CAN buy beer at the one Altoona Sheetz (until more lawyers get involved and we see if it gets stopped again).

Meanwhile, enjoy the novelty of buying beer at Sheetz!