Brewery Stop in the Burgh

While in Pittsburgh my fiancee, Kelleigh, and I made sure to stop by the East End Brewing Co. The brewery is located in an old warehouse building on a small back street in the Homewood area of Pittsburgh. If you don't have GPS definitely jump on Google Maps to get detailed direction. Once there don't bother looking for any flashy signs or the brewery's name up in lights you won't find any. This place doesn't even have windows. Just look for the grey door marked with a small open sign. The brewery is open during growler hours for free tastings. Once inside it's a quick walk down a dimly lit hall to the tasting room/ brewing floor. Scott Smith, the owner, wasn't on hand the day we were there, but he had two assistants manning the taps. Eight people were there already with pints in hand tasting and chatting. The atmosphere was very casual friendly and we were immediately greeted and asked what we would enjoy. I started with their Winter Warmer- Snow Melt Winter Ale, described as, "A rich malty, ruby-red, lightly spiced winter ale...". It poured murky reddish brown with a thin head. The taste was of coffee and chocolate and finished slightly sweet and toasty. Kelleigh had a Fat Gary Nut Brown Ale and we actually had a chance to meet Fat Gary. I followed my Snow Melt with a Black Strap Stout, Fat Gary, Big Hop IPA and an East End Witte. Yes I drank dark and toasty first and went to light and slightly sweet. Oops my bad. All the beers were very good. We stayed for an hour or so tasting and talking and left with a growler of the Snow Melt and a bottle of Smokestack Porter. If you want something more than beer to remember your journey they offer hats, t-shirts and of course pint glasses. I highly recommend stopping by this little brewery if you ever make it out to the Burgh. Check out the link to find out more details on Scott and his Brewery. http://www.eastendbrewing.com/

Sour Holiday

Thanksgiving is a time for family, friends, overeating and good drink. For all of this I ventured westward to Pittsburgh to celebrate the holiday. My Turkey Day was fairly routine, in attendance were my parents, sister, grandmother, uncle and fiancee. The food consisted of the grand bird, stuffing, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, collard greens, cranberry sauce, corn pudding, rolls, green beans, apple pie and sweet potato pie. For this grand meal I brought a bottle of Rodenbach Grand Cru from my beer fridge. The sour ale complimented the meal and created an interesting if not perfect pairing with both slices of pie. I ended up being the only one to partake in the big bottle. Everyone else found the Flemish Red Ale far too sour and my uncle commented the aroma from the glass was, "very odd". That just meant the entire bottle was all for me. Not a problem =).

If you are not familiar with Flemish Red Ales they are aged in large oak vats that are home to wild yeast and bacteria. With aging the beer takes on and acidic, vanilla, oakiness on the palate. Older and younger beers are blended, Rodenbach Flemish Ale, creating a light, tart, fruity taste. The Rodenbach Grand Cru is not blended and is aged for 2 years giving it an acidic tongue prick with flavors of oak and passion fruit. Both beers can be an acquired taste. I suggest if you're going to try them search for the smaller bottles if you don't have someone to share them with.

Don't Fear the Dark Side

With the cooler weather this past weekend I thought it was the perfect time to journey out and taste a few beers on the roasty, toasty dark side. The late fall and winter months always bring out great winter warmers, porters and imperial stouts and after drinking IPAs and DIPAs all summer my taste buds were ready for a switch. Below is a quick recap of my journey.

Friday 16, 07
1st stop
General Lafayette Inn and Brewery
Chocolate Thunder Porter (Mocha colored head, roasty, bittersweet chocolate with hints of coffee and a dry finish).

Dinner with my Fiance
Twenty Manning
Surprise find!!!
Sprague Farm and Brew Works, Hellbender Robust Porter (Murky deep deep brown color, roasted malt aroma, medium mouth feel and light chocolate sweetness)

After Dinner
Tria Cafe
Weyerbacher, Insanity (Thin head, dark amber pour, vanilla, caramel, hops and bourbon taste. Strong alcohol presence).
Bell's, Expedition (Pours black with aroma of dark fruit, chocolate and espresso. Thick mouth feel and alcohol warming effect.) My favorite of the night

Journey's End
Home in front of the fire
Brooklyn Brewing, Black Chocolate Stout (Pitch black pour with a medium tan head. Aromas of roasted malt, dark chocolate and fruit. Warm mouth feel.). Second favorite.

A beautiful end to a wonderful trip.

What Should I Cover?

Since I am a one man operation I need to be realistic about what I can cover in the beer world. I would love to tell you that I'm going to fly around the country and visit great breweries and festivals and drink beer with the locals and report back on them, but that's not going to happen. There are people out there that make a living doing that (yes I'm jealous). I'm going to scale it back a bit and keep it fairly local. Since my home base is here in Philly, eastern PA, NJ and DE will be my main concentration. However, I grew up in Pittsburgh and try to get out there when I can so you will get info from the left side of the state as well. My adventurous side often has me jumping into the car with my fiance and heading to some little beer place in the middle of nowhere. So really I could be anywhere. I may even toss in some beer news from across the country from time to time. So much for scaling it back. Hey, this blog thing is still new to me so I will have to see how it goes.................check back for updates

Another Beer Blog

Yes, it's another beer blog but just like a great beer bar or brewpub you can never have too many. My focus is on craft beer. Sorry for those of you who might of stumbled on here looking for info on those macros (Bud, Miller/Coors...etc). They have their place its just not in my fridge or on this spot. I feel that people should be smart about what they drink and if I can lead anyone away from the world of thin, bland, tasteless, beer all the better. This is the best time ever to be a beer drinker so why waste it tipping back a beer that is just another mass produced bottle of fizzy yellow water. With so many options anyone would be hard pressed to not find a beer that satisfies their tastes. This blog is for the beer adventurer in all of us. As I hit new beer spots and taste all the wonderful offerings I look to learn and also provide helpful info on beer styles, bars, festivals, books, breweries, brewpubs and anything that is craft beer related. Here's to drinking smart.