Eep! The IPA is almost gone! Quick! Take some notes!
Appearance: Bright, golden, crystal clear amber. Lots of fluffy, white head. Sustained, rapid effervescence.
Nose: Grapefruit, orange, tart citrus in general. Slightly dry.
Taste: Very citrusy, mostly grapefruit. Earthy and piney. Fairly bitter, buffered by a hint of caramel sweetness. Finishes bitter, in that way that begs another sip.
Mouthfeel: Light-to-medium. Crisp and dry. Barest hint of tongue-coating. A lot of CO2 bite. Foamy, foamy, and foamy.
Overall: We almost ran out of our IPA before realizing we needed to do a tasting writeup. It’s a bit addicting, see, even though a good two-thirds of our bottles turned out to be foamy gushers.
We aren’t entirely sure what happened with the carbonation, but our brother-in-law thinks some kind of bacterial contamination could be to blame. There’s supposed to be a strain that doesn’t change the flavor but does excrete a lot of CO2. That’s as good an explanation as any.
Once the assault of carbonation settles down, this is one of the best IPAs we’ve ever tasted. We love the way the subtle sweetness plays against the citrus to give an almost lemony tart sensation… which, I’m just now realizing, might actually be the result of infection. In any case, we think we succeeded in showcasing the Simcoe hop, so that’s a win.
On Saturday, Ray and I and our two lovely friends LeeAnne and Ryan battled the bone-numbing cold to partake in High Street Grill’s Second Annual Winterfest. Drawn by promises of 40 different beers from 20 breweries, we were ready to sample til our hearts’ content — well, sample for 1 3/4 hours at least.
High Street offered 2 sessions – one at 1 PM and the other at 3 PM — located in the enclosed and heated tent behind the restaurant in the municipal parking lot. And while there are MAJOR bonus points for keeping the tent nice and toasty, there were definitely two problems:
The 1 PM session, which we attended, was severely overcrowded. And unfortunately, overcrowded with a fair amount of people in their twenties who acted like loud, beer-swilling buffoons. The latter was not High Street’s problem (no fest organizer interviews ticket buyers to see if they are of the right “caliber”), however, getting a larger tent (and more room) would have made this an excellent fest, rather than simply good.
1 3/4 hours for 40 samples just isn’t enough time. Factor in a supremely crowded space, and it’s damn near impossible to hit all the tables, chat with the brewers/brewery representatives and take thorough tasting notes. Sorry, we weren’t there to guzzle beer sample after beer sample; we were there to find new beers, chat with the breweries, and introduce our soon-to-be-homebrewing friend Ryan to a beer festival. If High Street could have swung two sessions that were at 12 PM and 3 PM, that might have worked out to everyone’s benefit.
But enough about the crowd. Let’s talk about the beers!
It was nice to see the Philly Metro area’s usual suspects: Victory, Sly Fox, Troeg’s and Yards. But what was even better? Drinking a sample of Oskar Blues’ Gordon, sipping some of Founder’s Imperial Stout, and snagging a pour of Left Hand’s Fade to Black seasonal. Notice something? These breweries are from Colorado, Michigan and Colorado, respectively. San Diego metro-based Stone Brewing was pouring some crowd favorites, Oaked Arrogant Bastard and the Pale Ale, while Fort Bragg Calif.’s North Coast Brewing Co. had samples of Red Seal and the wickedly delicious Old No. 38 on tap.
But back on our side of the Mississippi, it was great to see Jersey’s Riverhorse pouring the Oatmeal Milk Stout (one of our all-time favorites), as well as the Belgian Freeze, which was perfect for the weather. Our buddies from Stoudt’s were across the tent, pouring generous glasses of Old Fat Dog imperial oatmeal stout (nothing beats the Dog, nothing!) and the Winter Ale, which is a hoppy red for this season (we have a partially-decimated sixer chilling in our fridge currently). I got to chat with amicable Mike of Stoudts, where we had a Twitter connection — he had noticed me tweeting about the fest and how Ray and I recently got married at their brewery, so upon meeting there was an “Oh it’s you!” moment. Very cool. Great guy, phenomenal beers.
Major props have to go to the fellas manning Flying Dog’s table: up for grabs were the Gonzo imperial porter (soooo rich and chocolatey) and Raging Bitch, a Belgian-style IPA for their 20th anniversary that was so many kinds of right. Now, when going for my first Doggie sample, I snagged the porter, which I had yet to taste. The guys were telling me about the Bitch, and I said I would come back. Well, by the time I had the chance, the breweries were signaling the end of the session. Now, I’m not one to usually pull the girl card, but I wrestled through the crowd to get back to FD’s table. I met the guys with a small smile and signaled “just a little” towards my glass. They smiled and kindly gave me a half-pour so I could finally see what all the rage was about – and let me tell you, it was good. Despite the wild name, the beer is balanced with its sweetness and hoppiness. A really nice end to the day.
However, I think the highlight of the entire fest had to be Boaks Beer, which we had never heard of — and they’re even from NJ! Boaks had 3 taps to offer: Monster Mash, a Russian imperial stout; 2 Blind Monks, a Belgian dubbel; and Abbey Brown, a Belgian brown ale. Ray, Ryan and I made quick work of this, each getting a different sample. I found Monster Mash to be a little odd — something about the nose. 2 Blind Monks was nice, but I think my sample of Abbey Brown stole the show, with a funky nose and little sourness in the mouth.
Following the fest, we wandered up and down High Street, where the annual Fire & Ice fest was taking place. It was fascinating to see the various ice sculptures, but I think this one takes the cake.
LeeAnne rocks the plunger
I bet that's cold on the butt
After this photo, we all had AMAZING cake and coffee at Robin’s Nest. `Cuz that’s what you do after festing on the coldest day in January.
Eep! The IPA is almost gone! Quick! Take some notes!
