Iron Hill Maple Shade, NJ

Imagine our excitement: on Monday, July 20, Iron Hill in Maple Shade NJ opened at 5:00 PM to what was probably a crowd of very thirsty folks. Why? Because, unfortunately, this area of South Jersey is a bit dry when it comes to great places to drink great beer.

Sure, we have Casey Hughes and the folks at Flying Fish Brewery in the Cherry Hill area who put out some mighty fine beer. And there’s Riverhorse in Lambertville, always sure to shake things up a bit. But great beer bars?

Before Iron Hill graced us with its presence, the only one I could think of is High Street Grill, which does a fantastic job of pairing excellent food with great craft beer — local brews, as well as some harder to find ones.

The new Iron Hill is, no contest, the nicest one yet.

But now we have Iron Hill, a successful chain — though I hate calling it that; it makes me think of McDonalds — that pairs creative craft brewing with top notch cuisine. Sometime earlier in the year, the food menu was expanded from 2 pages and a list of specials to probably 5-6 pages. The only complaint I’ve heard in regards to that is “There’s so much that looks good! I don’t know what to get!”

Originally we were going to wait until August — after my graduate school loan was finally paid off — to take a trip to Iron Hill, but somehow I managed to strong arm Ray into going this past Wednesday. The place looks fantastic, and though there was going to be a 40-minute wait, we took the time to sign up for the mug club and get our first official 24 oz. of Iron Hill beer. We both had the Black IPA, which uses a very small amount of roasted malts — later on the tour the assistant brewer mentioned it was black patent, though Carafa would have been preferred — to get the lovely dark color and subtle roast. The Black IPA was everything I was looking for: bright, citrusy, piney, and absolutely refreshing.

Some newbies learn about brewing for the first time from Iron Hill Maple Shade's assistant brewer (center).

To kill a little more time, we walked down the hall to the brewery and got invited in with a few other folks for a tour. The assistant brewer gave a great introduction to beer (the other part of the group knew nothing of the process), and we got to munch on some malt and sniff some hops. Unfortunately, our beeper for the table went off before we could really get into checking everything out, but we did catch wind of a possible homebrewer contest.

We were seated in a booth that could probably have seated 8, and our server was quick and friendly. We began our meal with an order of the pomme frites served with caramelized garlic-rosemary mayo. The fries were golden crisp and perfectly salted, and the mayo really rang with rosemary. Ray noticed that sipping the Black IPA after eating some of the fries really accentuated the roasty flavors as they melted through the fat of the frites, adding another level of complexity to the beer.

I could not care less how bad these probably are for me.

For dinner, Ray ordered the fish and chips, while I ordered the portabella mushroom sandwich, which had arugula, roasted red peppers, goat cheese, and the same garlic-rosemary mayo that the frites had. Both of our dishes were excellent — I have to say my portobella sandwich was actually mouthwatering, which is not something people tend to say in regard to a sandwich full of veggies.

A moment ago, they were called frites. Now, they're called chips.

My portobella sandwich.

We finished off the night with the hefeweizen for Ray, and I had a beer they called the Kellerbound Ale, which is an unfiltered version of the Ironbound Ale on nitro. Both, of course, were excellent.

To the Iron Hill folks — thanks for looking across the water to Jersey. We needed you, and you’ve come through for us, once again. Cheers!

Brewpubs, Craft Beer, Restaurants 1 Comment »

Welcome to The Session, a monthly event for beer and brewing bloggers! This is Session #29, for which Beer By BART writers Gail and Steve have chosen the topic, “Will Travel for Beer.”

As if our recent road trip wasn’t enough, we spent a 3-day weekend at the end of June in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware to relax our way up and down the boardwalk and partake liberally in the offerings at Dogfish Head’s brewpub, Dogfish Head Brewings & Eats. Over the course of two delicious meals, we got to try several Dogfish rarities.

I started with a pint of 90 Minute IPA, already one of my favorite Imperial IPAs, piped through Randall the Enamel Animal. After a trip through Randall, a lot of the carbonation is lost due to the turbulence, which allows the malt to shine through a bit more, and the extra helping of whole leaf hops adds a pungent flowery, citrusy aroma and flavor that takes a beer already cranked up to 11 well beyond the next level.

Then there was Mel’s pint of Grau Dunkel, a German style Dunkelweizen brewed with wheat malts smoked over the oak chips that Dogfish uses to age their Brown Honey Rum, giving the beer a complex combination of smokey vanilla, honey, and molasses flavors that could not compliment each other better.

Finally, Pale India Ale was a Belgian style pale ale brewed with Fenugreek, Big Elachi, Green Elachi, Kalonji Onion, Garam Masala, and Tamarind Paste. I don’t know what most of those are, either, but the result is nothing short of fascinating, with sweet, Belgian pale malt flavors and neutral hop bitterness mixing with prominent Indian spices, of which I found the two Elachi spices (cardamom) to be the most pronounced.

Each beer was completely unique, and only available at the brewpub. These were alongside various vintage beer offerings and Dogfish Head’s extensive line of delicious spirits. We picked up a bottle of Squall IPA, Sah’tea, a 2006 bottle of Immort Ale, and a bottle of BE, a distilled honey mead. These exclusive items got Mel and I thinking about the business strategy of building a wide-spanning bottle distribution while also maintaining a pub to call home base.

When it comes to raw numbers, I can’t imagine that Brewings & Eats contributes more than 10% of Dogfish Head’s yearly revenue stream. That may even be a bit high, actually. On paper, the pub appears to be nothing more than a nice little value-add for the books.

But man does it ever please the fanboys. Many, many people enjoy Dogfish Head’s beer; that is a given. Most of them will probably never go to the trouble of trekking through Slower Lower Delaware to get to the pub, but for potential hardcore fans, Brewings & Eats provides a sort of Mecca to which one can make a rewarding pilgrimage, drawn by visions of exclusive beers and unique souvenirs.

After a weekend of feasting on the pub’s excellent food and limited edition brews, weighed down with t-shirts and branded glassware and high on beached relaxation, patrons return home transformed into loyal minions spreading the news of just how very immensely great Dogfish Head is. If each visitor convinces even one acquaintance to take a trip to the pub for themselves, the word-of-mouth will explode into a cascade of consumer awareness.

As far as buzzwords go, you can’t get much more apt than “viral”.

Breweries, Brewpubs, Opinion, Pubs, Restaurants, The Session 3 Comments »

By May 27, Ray had finally finished digesting and recovering from the Rohrbach Plate, so we were off to see my good friends Rach and Dave in the B’flo, or Buffalo to you normal folks.

We arrived just in time for lunch and happily stocked their fridge with homebrews. Then it was off to Flying Bison Brewery, tucked away in the city, but not too hard to find. We were greeted by hop bines growing off the loading dock, which is always a good sign. Rach was a little skeeved out by the location (not the best in town) but we knew what would await us beyond the loading dock.

Once inside, we got right to business, sampling Flying Bison’s selections, which were diverse. We were impressed with the Blackbird Stout and Aviator Red, as well as a number of pilot brews. Even their lager was impressive! It was great to find out that Flying Bison’s brews are in high-demand throughout the region as well.

We got a nice, indepth tour, where our guide explained Flying Bison’s specific process, as opposed to the more high-level “beer is made of four ingredients” talks we usually get on brewery tours. We even got to climb up and look into the mash tun! Rach was an excellent sport, often not understanding  exactly what was being discussed — it was her first tour — but enjoying our reactions to what we were learning.

Flying Bison employs four people — including the owner Tim — which is pretty damn impressive considering everything they have going on. All in all we walked away with a growler of Blackbird stout for Rach’s husband and a mixed six-pack of the Buffalo Lager, Blizzard Bock and The “Herc”, a “C-130 Barleywine ale” (PUN!) that Ray found simply divine.

After our tour we headed back to Rach’s beautiful home where we lazed about and ate chips and Bison-brand French onion dip. It was here that I was reminded of my years in college where Rach and I would debate “pop” vs. “soda” and Helluva Good brand chip dip vs. Buffalo-based Bison brand. For the record, Bison chip dip is excellent, but don’t pronounce it wrong — you say it bi-zon, not bi-son. Though if you’re me, you sound like an ESL student trying to wrap her mouth around the word “specific.” (Watch it in person some time. It’s hilarious.)

For dinner we headed to Pearl Street Grill & Brewery, where I tried a couple of their fruit brews: the Blue-eyed Blueberry Blonde and the Don Cherry Wheat. Both were smooth, subtle, and refreshing. Definitely an interesting brewpub.

We ended our evening in Buffalo on Rach and Dave’s back porch, pouring selections of the homebrews we brought them and watching a tumultuous thunder storm. They were both impressed with our beers, and we’re hoping the homebrew bug might bite them right in the ass.

For the remainder of our trip we were in southwestern Ohio, celebrating my cousin Kerry’s liberation from the confines of high school and on to higher learning at Kent State. Here Ray got to meet the rest of my family and earned the approval of my 5 uncles — I think the fact that he got their niece into homebrewing might have a lot to do with that. We served a few of our homebrews throughout our stay and were met with astonishment and delight: “You MADE this?!” was the most often heard comment, to which we replied, “Yes. Yes we did.”

Breweries, Brewpubs, Craft Beer, Miscellany, Restaurants 2 Comments »

Mitch Steele, head brewer at Stone Brewing Co., needs a band, because he has the most metal name in brewing. He’s also a pretty smart guy with tons of experience in both macro- and microbrewing, having previously served as a managing brewer at Anheuser-Busch before beginning his now 2.5-year (and growing) tenure at Stone.

On November 4th, Mitch braved the airlines to trek all the way out from San Diego to Philadelphia, where he headed up Tria’s Election Night edition of Fermentation School in a lecture entitled “Get Stoned on Election Day”.

To accompany the lecture, Mitch brought seven of Stone’s best beers: Pale Ale, IPA, Arrogant Bastard, Ruination IPA, 11th Anniversary Ale, 07.07.07 Vertical Epic aged in red wine barrels, and a 2006 vintage of Double Bastard aged in brandy barrels. Tria, for its part, paired all of this with two cheeses (creamy Cherry Grove Toma from Lawrenceville, NJ, and smoky smooth Vella Dry Monterey Jack from Sonoma, CA) along with spiced, toasted almonds, a few slices of prosciutto, and soft Philly pretzels.

While guiding us through the beer list, Mitch fed us piles upon piles of rich, chewy insight into American brewing. Did you know that 19th century brewers actually prided themselves on their use of rice and corn in their beers, even going so far as to make it a selling point? Did you know that today, it’s actually more expensive to cut beer with those grains instead of simply using nothing but malted barley? Or that a lot of double IPAs are fermented with additional sugar in order to get the ABV nice and high without having to use a lot of malt?

My favorite fact was how Stone stumbles upon some of their recipes. The brewery maintains a 20-gallon pilot brewing system that employees are free to putz around with, creating a democratic process that leads Mitch and his brewers to beers that they wouldn’t have otherwise invented. National phenomenon Arrogant Bastard is one direct result of this system (turns out it was all just a big mistake that happened to taste really good), as is Stone’s impossibly delicious 12th Anniversary Bitter Chocolate Oatmeal Stout.

Which brings us to the beers themselves. You’re probably already familiar with the first three beers on the list. Stone’s Pale Ale smells sweet and floral and fills your mouth with just enough hoppy bitterness to make you want to drink way too much of it; the Centennial dry-hopped IPA fills your nose and mouth with earthy, citrusy hop flavors; and legendary Arrogant Bastard was its usual mysterious self, assaulting you with a barrage of malts and hops. Stone is very protective of the recipe for Arrogant Bastard, even going to far as to deny it a classification, and Mitch refused to say a single word about how it is made.

Ruination IPA is Stone’s Double IPA, though double may be the wrong word. A typical American Double IPA is essentially a regular IPA with twice the malt and twice the hops, but Stone is Stone — double won’t cut it. And so, Ruination IPA uses quadruple the hops of Stone’s standard IPA recipe, and it shows. The beer is crisp and refreshing, yet somehow massive, probably owing to the sheer weight of hop oils swirling through the glass. The nose is so hugely sweet and hoppy that I wouldn’t judge anyone for using this beer as an air freshener.

Needless to say, Stone is famous for their liberal use of hops, but the last three beers show that they have more than a few other tricks up their sleeves.

The 11th Anniversary Ale is an innovative Black IPA, which combines a big IPA — bittered with Chinook and dry-hopped with Simcoe and Amarillo — with a German dark lager. Thanks to a generous helping of German Carafa malts (dark, dehusked malts that provide all of the flavors of roasted malt without the gritty bitterness), the beer boasts a complex balance, beginning with huge hop flavors and aromas and leaving in its wake lots of roasty malt. Everyone in the room agreed that this was a spectacular beer, so we were all pleased to hear that Stone is currently working on making this a year-round offering. All they need, Mitch told us, is a name.

The 07.07.07 Vertical Epic is a 10% ABV Belgian-style strong ale, spiced with grapefruit peel, lemon peel, cardamom, and ginger, and aged in red wine barrels. The nose pops with lots of spice, oak, and dry red wine aromas, making your tongue tingle in anticipation… That might have been a little too colorful. Ah well, it stays. It was delicious, okay?

The brandy-aged Double Bastard is a work of unrelenting madness. I theorize that Mitch peeled back the veils of perception and gazed into the maw of blistered, horrifying reality to bind himself to this mania. Already sinister by way of a doubled Arrogant Bastard recipe, this particular vintage of Double Bastard did hard time in a disused brandy barrel, emerging changed, mutated into a display of smooth oak, spicy brandy, and, you know, a shit ton of malts and hops. Stone claims that this beer is only 10% ABV — I think they lie. I can still feel it more than a week later.

After the lecture, I managed to grab Mitch’s attention for a few minutes to talk about his time with Anheuser-Busch. He explained that, as a managing brewer, he had quite a bit more freedom of creativity than the other brewers in the company had. He even listed several recent Michelob brews that can be credited to him. That said, he was emphatic to point out that he was a big exception: Most macrobrewers are trapped by their company’s recipes, and even Mitch didn’t have carte blanche in his work. It was easy to see that he was leagues happier working for Stone.

We extended a verbal wedding invitation to Mitch before making our way back down to street level, buzzy and full, but satisfied by our generous look into the commercial craft beer world.

Breweries, Craft Beer, Restaurants, Tasting 1 Comment »

A few Sundays ago, Ray and I headed into Philly to go to Tria’s “Sunday School”, a wonderful promo that the restaurant runs every Sunday. The premise is simple: A wine, a beer and a cheese are showcased and priced at least 50 percent off. There is also a substantial write-up for each Sunday School item, drawing people in that might otherwise not have made the trip. Such smart marketers.

We were enticed by the innovative offering of Cape Ann Fisherman’s Pumpkin Stout. Cape Ann is located in Glouchester, MA, and its pumpkin stout weighs in at 6.75 ABV. The cherry on top was the appearance of Cape Ann’s brewmaster, Jeremy, making the rounds at the tables and talking to anyone interested about Cape Ann and their funky little beer. Score!

The stout was an opaque dark brown with a thin head and Tria’s bartenders served it at the appropriate temperature. As we sipped, we noted that the beer went through a number of flavor stages, beginning with a stout start, then pumpkin coming out a little later. Pumpkin was prevalent in the nose, and the beer overall was very balanced, with just enough bitterness.

Mid-way through our tasting, brewmaster Jeremy stopped by our table to talk about the brewery, their flagship beers, and the stout. He was friendly and very knowledgeable, chuckling when Ray asked how much pumpkin should be used in the mash on a homebrew level. “You’re going to make me pare down to a homebrew recipe?” he asked with a grin. He wasn’t about to do the math, but he did share with us that Cape Ann uses 50 pounds of pumpkin to produce a 20 barrel batch of Pumpkin Stout. Fair enough. Jeremy also reminded us that “a little goes a long way” when it comes to spices, something that every homebrewer should remember.

We also ordered the Sunday School cheese, a Weinkase Lagrein from Alto Adige, Italy. The rind of the cheese was deep purple due to a 4-day garlic and pepper bath in Lagrein wine. I overheard one of the hostesses comparing it to Havarti. We both enjoyed the cheese, which was coupled with crisp bread slices and dried cherries that were soaked in Allagash beer to refresh them.

But that’s just the beginning of our little gastro journey…stay tuned for Tria’s Sunday School Part II.

Craft Beer, Restaurants 2 Comments »

Two Fridays ago, Mel and I took a trip out to Mount Holly, NJ, to have dinner at High Street Grill, located at number 64 on High Street. The surrounding area was your traditional suburban downtown, with narrow streets crisscrossing between shoulder-to-shoulder local shops and restaurants. Jersey gets kind of a bad rap from the rest of the country, owing to smog holes like Newark, Trenton, and the Turnpike, but I daresay anyone’s opinion of the state would be affected positively by a short walk up and down Mount Holly’s main drag. If anything, the signature hills of my home state will give your heart a nice workout.

Like most of the storefronts on High Street, if you didn’t know the Grill was there, you’d miss it mid-blink. Its stark outer facade, however, belies a cozy, bustling downstairs tavern, with brick walls, live music, multiple beer taps, and, at the back, a stairway leading up to the dining room.

The two floors have different menus. For our first trip, we chose to eat in the upstairs dining room. As Nancy, one of the grill’s owners, led us to our table, we passed the kitchen, which lies off of a landing halfway up the stairs and from which all manner of tasty smells wafted. At the top of the stairs, we were greeted by a grand piano, and a fireplace upon which an unused but ornate guestbook and a copy of Ron Paul’s The Revolution sat. Our table was in the farthest corner, in a small alcove that was just big enough for two people to eat comfortably.

The most important thing to do when you arrive at a new restaurant is to ask for the beer list. In lieu of a list, though, High Street Grill has its wait staff recite the list from memory, which I figure gives them the freedom to change the list frequently without having to print new sheets. Nice idea. Not ideal in practice. Our waiter (who appeared to be having a rough night and so I point this out in a forgiving spirit as he was otherwise very good) had some difficulty with the list, and we had trouble retaining enough of it ourselves to make a decision. After a few runs through the lineup, though, we managed to settle on a River Horse Octoberfest for myself and a Stoudt’s Fat Dog for Mel.

We’d both had Fat Dog a few times before, but this was our first taste of River Horse’s idea of an Octoberfest, which turned out to be a winner. Typical of the American version of the style, it was reddish-brown, malty, and medium-bodied, but also featured pronounced fruity esters and lots of roasty, nutty flavors. Fat Dog, of course, was its usual rich and roasty self.

We started our meal with Beer Battered Artichoke Hearts, fried nuggets of artichoke stuffed with crab and spiced cream cheese. We weren’t exactly wowed, but they were delicious. I imagine a non-fried version would have been a step up. All-in-all, not outstanding, but very good. I mean, hey, we really like artichokes.

The main course, however, blew us away.

Mel chose the Grilled Pork Tenderloin, which was served with mashed sweet potatoes, roasted cauliflower, fennel, and a sun dried cherry demi glaze. The tender and juicy pork was carefully seasoned and spiced with pie spices, and, when combined with the potato, cauliflower, fennel, and cherries, treated the mouth to an explosion of sweet and savory flavors.

For my main course, I picked the Stout Braised Beef Brisket (the waiter told us the stout was Fat Dog), served with herb mashed potatoes, sauteed spinach, and caramelized onion demi glaze. The thin strips of brisket melted in my mouth, and the pairing of bitter spinach with the starchy potatoes and sweet onions helped to bring out the flavor of the stout. I can’t imagine how this dish could possibly be improved. Maybe if it came with fifty dollars. Maybe.

Halfway through the main course, we ordered a second round of drinks. Mel went the stout route again, this time picking Sly Fox’s O’Reilly’s Stout, a dry stout with lots of roasty coffee and chocolate flavors and a big, creamy nitro head. I had Brasserie d’Achouffe’s Mc Chouffe, a unfiltered Belgian Scotch Ale that turned out to be an interesting (and tasty) mix of tangy Belgian alcohol and sweet, nutty chocolate. Definitely a brewery we’ll have to explore more of.

As for dessert, though I know it was delicious, I can’t remember it as clearly as Mel does — her being a baker and all.

We shared a molten chocolate cake that was very rich and dense without entering the land of cavity-inducing sweetness. The cake was plated with raspberry puree and cream, with a fancy-sliced strawberry as a garnish. The perfect dish to share to end the night.

While the lack of a printed beer menu made for an early speedbump, and though we weren’t super impressed with our appetizer, High Street Grill ended up treating us to an excellent meal that we’d be only too glad to experience again.

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Last Tuesday (Oct. 14) was the final night I was in Vegas for the biggest conference of the year (for my day job), and my boss suggested we should have our group dinner at Gordon Biersch. Apparently she had noticed one of the prior nights when I almost climbed out of the cab window as we passed the brewery and restaurant — hey, I thought I was going to be lost for 5 days amid Miller Lite and rum and Coke.

Once we were seated, only 4 of the 9 of us ordered a beer, which is fine by me because I wasn’t out on a beer crusade for anyone but myself. My boss even ordered a hefeweizen, though she had admitted to me that she’s not crazy about beer; I was thrilled that she was just willing to give it a try. Well, make that a 22 oz try. I had suggested the tasty hefe, but forgot to mention the size it would arrive as. I assured her that it was lower in alcohol than what she had assumed, and that we would not be wheeling her out the front door. Luck be a lady, she enjoyed it a lot, and now I need to make her a list of different hefeweizens she will need to try.

I’m not sure what my other 2 co-workers ordered, but I started my evening with Gordon Biersch’s seasonal, which was a festbier. This style is not normally my thing, but this brew was nice and malty, as well as crisp. I ordered the goat cheese ravioli in brown butter sauce with spinach, mushrooms and pine nuts, and the festbier was a nice complement.

My second beer for the evening was Gordon Biersch’s Schwarzbier, which I had tried before at the location in D.C., following Savor. Though I tend to prefer stouts, this was a pleasantly smooth dark beer to end my night with, and made a nice coda for the crazy days I had spent in Vegas, doing things that were not your typical Vegas-crazyness. Phew, it’s good to be home.

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On Wednesday, August 6, I decided to join the ladies of IPA (In Pursuit of Ale) for their somewhat bimonthly gatherings. I met the group’s presiding drinker (it actually says that on her business card — how awesome?!) Suzanne Woods at the Royal Stumble, and after hearing what IPA was all about, I knew I needed to check it out.

She planned a five course pairing menu at The Latest Dish, which is a neat pseudo-hole in the wall on 4th Street between South and Bainbridge. Eight of us attended, and it just so happens that one girl, Amy, was originally from Newark, NY and knew my roommate from my sophomore year at Brockport. Bizarrely small world, right?

I started the night out with Samuel Smith’s oatmeal stout, after trying to order Rogue’s Mocha Porter (out) and Brooklyn Brewery’s Black Chocolate Stout (also out). Their taps were not working that night, so we worked with their bottle list, which was fairly extensive AND organized by region, which was nice.

I really enjoyed the Tempura Avocado with soy syrup and chile oil that was paired with Steelhead’s extra pale ale. The avocado had a great texture of crunch from the tempura mixed with the creamy softness that avocado’s are known for. This dish surprised me, because I’m a little back and forth on avocados. Suz let us know that Steelhead had a female brewer for 17 years, up until 2007 when she headed out on a cross country brewing trip.

The main course, however, really knocked my socks off. Executive chef Scott Schroeder — who took time out at the end of the evening to stop by our table — crafted a divine pork mignon with peaches and Gorgonzola, which was paired with a Corsendonk Abbey pale ale. The pork was amazingly tender, and the Gorgonzola offered so much flavor to this dish, without being overbearing.

If you’d like to know more about IPA’s night out, head over to Suz’s blog. Her post about the evening goes over all five pairings AND has pictures!

I definitely had a great time and will need to see when I will be able to join the ladies again in pursuit of some great ale.

Craft Beer, Pairings, Restaurants, Tasting 1 Comment »

Several weekends ago, Ray and I decided to treat ourselves to a Sunday night out. After driving many times around many blocks (most of them being cobblestone and very jarring in the car), Ray spied a $5 parking lot a couple blocks away from Triumph Brewing Company, which has one of their locations conveniently in Philly (the other two are in Princeton, NJ and New Hope, PA).

We were early for our reservation, but were seated promptly at a hightop-styled table near the bar (perfect for checking out the beer-pouring action). Our dreadlocked server was slightly soft-spoken and knowledgeable. We started off with a sampler, which included brews such as their Honey Wheat — light and refreshing…you could totally taste the honey in a non-syrupy way — Maibock, Hefeweizen, Irish Dry Stout, Bengal Gold IPA and La Folle Nuit, which I think was some sort of barleywine (There were at least 3-4 other beers, but unfortunately my memory fails me).

I think there was also an underwhelming pale ale… and something else that didn’t impress us very much. Probably why neither of us remembers!

We started with the grilled goat cheese with oven-dried tomatoes and basil with thin, crusty bread slices. The cheese had just the right amount of pungency and kick, and when paired with a piece of tomato, a basil leaf, and bread, your mouth did a little dance. The appetizer’s size was just right…enough to get your taste buds active, but nowhere near the copious amounts of food that many “standard” American-fare restaurants will put before you.

Though we tend to be more interested in trying innovative dishes, we could not pass up Triumph’s burger selection. And hey, why not? If a place can’t make a burger properly, there’s a good chance they’re going to screw up a higher-end entree. We decided to each order a different burger, and when they arrived, we split them down the middle and swapped halves. We selected the bleu cheese burger with tomato marmalade and the cheddar bacon burger with Amish cheddar onion ale fondue and tomato. Both burgers were ordered medium-rare, and came with just the right amount of nicely-seasoned fries, roughly a large handful.

Now, let’s talk about taste explosions! These burgers were DIVINE, and there was NO need to go within 2 feet of either of them with a ketchup bottle — even Ray, a great lover of the red, sugary stuff was able to forgo it. Ray ordered an Irish Dry Stout, while I went with the Bengal Gold IPA. We agreed that both beers went well with the cheddar bacon burger, whereas the Irish Dry Stout was having a tough time standing up to the robust flavor of the bleu cheese burger.

We saved just enough room to share dessert, which was a brownie with vanilla gellato, paired the strong La Folle Nuit with it, and were quite happy with the pairing. We paid the quite affordable bill, and as we walked out, I made the suggestion of going to Nodding Head (warning: link resizes your window), another one of our favorite Philly brewpubs.

Roughly 13 blocks later, we found ourselves upstairs, snagging a table by the wall, and had 2 rounds for the evening. I had one of my favorites, Ich Bin Ein Berliner Weisse, served with just a splash of woodruff syrup. It’s one of my all-time favorites simply because of the great tart flavor. It also has a low ABV at 3.5% and a light body. Typically I prefer the heavy hitters of the beer world, but the tartness of this beer just seals the deal for me. Ray started with Monkey Knife Fight (Nodding Head likes to keep its names offbeat, which is another great thing), an Asian-influenced blonde lager infused with ginger and lemongrass. You could definitely taste the lemongrass, which I can honestly say I’m not a huge fan of, but I think it’s innovative, so thumbs up.

The next round consisted of The Phunk for me and the Boho Pils for Ray. Once again, I tend to like funky beers, and especially sour ones. The Phunk lives up to its name, and is fermented using multiple yeast strains, lactobacillus and several types of brettanomyces, served unfiltered at 5.5% ABV. This is now one of my new favorites. The Boho is a Czech-Style pilsner, pale gold in color, medium-light body, and aggressively hopped. I do believe Ray enjoyed this greatly.

Most definitely. The weather was getting warm, so I needed refreshment. Boho delivered that nicely… while still providing some good hop complexity!

The night ended with yet another 13-block trek across the city and remorse that it was Sunday night, with a full work-week fast approaching. Nevertheless, the man couldn’t get us down because we had bellies full of great beer and good food.

Breweries, Brewpubs, Restaurants 2 Comments »