August Results

Boulevard Unfiltered Wheat won, Schlafly Summmer Lager got second and Kona Big Wave Golden Ale got the bronze.  The Big Wave was the hoppiest of the the bunch but still wasn't very hoppy.  Not many hop heads in the club, I guess.

4th of July Weekend Breweries Visit

Went to four breweries over the weekend; Starr Hill, Blue Mountain, Champion, and Three Notch’d.  We stopped by Starr Hill's tasting room Friday and I had an IPA, I think it was King of Hop.  It was probably the best thing I’d had from Starr Hill.  We went to Blue Mountain for dinner and I had a Baltic Porter.  It’s pretty solid.  Chocolaty.  Most had Hopwork Orange.  It was good, too.  The next day we went to Champion and Three Notch’d in Charlottesville.  At Champion, I had a Kolsch.  It was fine.  Champion really likes IPAs.  Of the 6 taps they had at the tasting room, 5 were IPAs.  Others got IPAs and they were all good.  Not a loser in the bunch but nothing fantastic either.  At Three Notch’d we all got flights of tasters.  They had ~9 taps and we each chose 6 beers.  All the beers were good and the 40 Mile IPA was probably the best, possibly the best of the weekend.  I also had a Bourbon Barrel Stout from Bluegrass Brewing.  It was good.

Honest Abe - a DrS Beer Club Mentor...

Nice quote attributed to Abraham Lincoln: “I am a firm believer in the people. If given the truth, they can be depended upon to meet any national crisis. The great point is to bring them the real facts, and beer.”

Who knew UNO (2/2)...

And for only $5, who can stop at only 1 flight... Left to right (with a bit more beer induced detail) Port Wipe Out (IPA): malty, smooth, a session if you can consider a 7 percent IPA (3) Maine Zoe Ale (Red Ale): nice strong red, little bitter, easy to drink (4) 7.2 ABV Founders Dirty Bastard (scotch ale, wee heavy): smooooooth, nice head, good mouthfeel, you'd mistake it for a nitro (never go wrong with a Founders) (2) 8.5 ABV Lagunitas Sucks: as good as it gets; smooth, smooth mouth feel, not bitter but you know your drinking an IPA (1) 7.85 ABV

Who knew UNO (1/2)...

UNO's, yes UNO's pizzeria, is where I found an awesome beer menu with flights of 4/4-ounce pours for only $5. The only thing that got me to this Deptford, NJ location was a site visit at Philadelphia airport and the fact it was next to my hotel. Left to right, parenthetical numbers mark my rating: Wyerbacher big Erns IPA: smooth, slight malty sweetness; smooth hop overtone (3) Wyerbacher Double Simcoe: smooth, easy drinking, limited hop aroma (4). (Wyerbachers were almost the same beer) Great Lakes Chill Wave: slight grapefruit aroma, smooth grapefruit flavor, not bitter (1) DuClaw Serum: smooth, no bitter aftertaste, slight Malty sweetness (2)

May Meeting Results

Jorge picked up this months beers.  The theme was wheat.  The winner was Widmer Bros Hefe.  Bells Oberon came and 2nd and Hoegaarden 3rd.  The Hoegaarden was described as too clovey though cloves are not noted on the bottle.  Some thought the Hoegaarden would be better on a colder day.

2014 DrS Kickoff

March came in like a lion and so did the inaugural 2014 DrS Beer Club. Though attendance was down, spirits were high as we tasted 4 Belgian style beers: Ommegang Abbey Al (Winner), New Belgium brewery’s Trippel, Westmalle Trappist Tripel, and Devil’s Backbone’s Azrael Belgian style. These robust ales provided a fitting tie-in to what we hope was the last snow of the spring of 2014. Ommegang was the runaway winner with a true dark abbey ale color (deep brown), taste (yeasty), and finish (slight hop overtones), with New Belgium’s Trippel coming in a close second. Prost.