not my blog

So I fired the liquor store I used to frequent this week. I’ve been a customer of theirs for years, mostly cause the people are nice and the convenience factor is unmatched (it’s literally right up the street). But after years of asking them to increase the selection of their high-end micro brews I finally gave up after visiting a rival store before a holiday party last weekend. After asking for several specific brews in just the past couple months alone and being told that they would never be able to get them (due to some sort of distributing issue), I was really beginning to tire of the same old selection that never changed. So after visiting a much larger store, with a much much larger selection of high-end micro brews, I unfortunately had to say goodbye to my friends at Friendship Liquors. When I can’t even get Dogfish 90min IPA, because your rep doesn’t even know what it is, you know there is an issue. So at this time I’ll enjoy the Ruination I picked up yesterday and call it a night.

Trying a new beer is always and adventure. Sometimes the adventure truly inspires and excites, and sometimes it leaves you with that empty feeling inside. My latest trial from Great Divide Brewing Co. falls in the let down category. The Denver Pale Ale looks and tastes like it should be a beer of solid quality, that is until you sip it. The first few sips were smooth and mellow, but don’t give much hint to the beer in terms of overall body and flavor. So you drink some more, still no solid indication as to the quality of this brew. Five glasses later, and I still can’t really put any words of note together to describe this particular brew. It might be a well developed ploy, just to get me to buy another six pack of the brew so I can figure it out. But then, it is decided not worth the $7.99 I paid for it either. So in the end, no more Denver Pale Ale, and Great Divide Brewing is going to have to make up for it big time on their next chance to get a more frequent spot in my beer rotation.

The brew of the evening comes to us today from Victory Brewing just a scant 45 minutes from here in Downingtown PA. Their HopDevil Ale is the particular variety tonight, and is quite a respectable beer. I had my first sample as the nightly special at Frisco Burrito last Wednesday and was duly impressed, so when I saw it this evening I had to pick up a pack. The beer is pretty soft on the taste buds. There seems to be a hint of caramel or something of that ilk when you down it at first, but it tends to fade after beer number two. The flavors seem to hit harder in the back of your mouth than if you let it sit on your tongue, which seems a bit odd for an ale. Not quite as good as the last sample I tried from Yard’s, especially the price to flavor ratio. Cost me $7.50 for the six pack, and not really sure it the cost was worth the price when compared to some of my other options there. Still it’s a good beer and if you ever find it on sale, or the beer of the night special, give it a shot… I doubt it will disappoint.

Picked up my second sample of Philadelphia’s Yards Brewing Company last night. This time I went with their IPA, and was happily surprised at the low price tag of $6.99 and looked quite forward to a nice evening with a couple of beers and a few hours of Good Eats. Again, Yards has presented us with a high Alcohol brew at 8%. This IPA is quite smooth and carry’s with it a lot of flavor that keeps you wanting to drink more (which with a beer with this ABV it can be a bad thing). I’ve been enjoying the three glasses I’ve had so far in my shiny new Weyerbacher beer glass that I got on Wednesday. In short, it’s an excellent beer and anyone that is a fan of a good flavorful Ale or IPA should definately pick this bad boy up and give it a try.

Got another new beer today. Sampling another brew from Stoudt’s in PA. Was somewhat surprised at the cost with it being $10 for a six pack. Doesn’t say on the packaging or bottles but the Belgian Abbey-Style Ale tastes very much like a generic German Wheat Bear. From reading the description on their website, it would most likely stem from the fact that it is unfiltered. It’s also quite strong at 9% alcohol! Wow, I think that’s a new record for me in terms of strength. I don’t know if it’s worth the $10, but it is pretty decent. It does probably help that two bottles a night will work well for me, so it will last me longer than most six packs. If I had to say off the top of my head after the first bottle, probably won’t buy again. Value != price. In the end, Stoudt makes another decent beer, but not quite up to the quality if the first one I sampled.