Stoudt's Oktoberfest

Stoudt's Brewing Co. is based in Adamstown, PA, and I've sampled a number of their different creations. I've always been very impressed with their beers, but the Oktoberfest I tried today is not up to their usual standards. I'm going to give them the benefit of the doubt, because I know they make excellent beer. Something must have happened to this bottle during its lifetime. It smelled and tasted a bit metallic and skunky. Maybe it sat on the store shelf too long before I bought it. Whatever the reason, I know it's not exemplary of Stoudt's usual high quality.

Ol' Red Cease & Desist Wee Heavy

Tonight I tried a beer from a brewer that's new to me - Erie Brewing Co. in Erie, PA. It's their Ol' Red Cease & Desist Wee Heavy. A Wee Heavy is a higher horsepower version of a Scottish Ale - more malt, more alcohol, more everything. Ol' Red has an abv of 10.1%, so it fits into the Wee Heavy category in that way. It poured a deep amber color with a smallish off-white head. Carbonation is somewhat low, and it has a medium to medium-heavy body. There's lots of malt and toffee flavor, with some dark fruits and an alcohol finish. Hop presence is pretty low. I'm very impressed with my first beer from Erie Brewing. I definitely need to try some of their other offerings.

Wyerbacher Hops Infusion India Pale Ale

I've heard good things about Weyerbacher Brewing Co. in Easton, PA, so when I saw this beer at Total Wines in Orlando, I immmediately added it to my mixed six-pack. According to their web-site, Hops Infusion is brewed with 7 different varieties of hops to give it complexity that's missing from other IPA's. I'm gonna blame it on my taste buds, because the only hop note that I pick up is pine. I was expecting some grapefruit flavor, but I didn't find it. Regardless, it's a good IPA. There's enough malt to back up the hops, and it had a nice piney bitter finish. It poured a medium amber with a pencil-thin white head. At 6.2 %, the alcohol level was right where I expected for an IPA. I'll be looking for some other Weyerbacher varieties the next time I find myself in the market for beer. Right now my fridge is full to overflowing, with beer waiting to be chilled. Don'tcha just hate it when that happens?!

Dinner at Macaroni Grill

Tonight, my wife and I had to deliver some necessities to our son in college, and we decided to take him out to dinner while we were there. Macaroni Grill is one of our favorite eateries and there is one near the college, so it was an obvious choice. I inquired about their draft beer options, and there were only 2 non-Anheuser Busch offerings - Coors Light and Yuengling Traditional Lager. What is it with chain restaurants having crappy beer menus? I know that they would sell more beer if they had a little variety. It's a pretty sad situation when Yuengling is their most adventurous beer. The problem is that Macaroni Grill isn't alone - Red Lobster, Long Horn, Chili's, and all the other ones are just as pathetic. The only chain that had a semi-decent selection of beers was Bennigan's, which is mostly shut down. Oh well, enough of my complaining.

I ordered the Yuengling, because it was the only choice I had. I also ordered the Penne Rustica, which is a smoky spicy pasta dish with a creamy sauce, shrimp, chicken and prosciutto - all topped with parmesan cheese and baked in their wood-fired oven. This is a wonderful dish, and about a million calories! Needless to say, after a couple of bites of Penne, the Yuengling tasted less and less like beer, and more like water. The beer actually tasted pretty good at first, a bit maltier than most lagers. It also had a fresh taste since it was draft. Unfortunately, it never stood a chance against the Penne Rustica. A nice hoppy Sam Adams would have been better, or an IPA. Actually, the best beer for this meal would have been a nice smoky Robust Porter. THAT would have still tasted like a beer, even at the end of the meal. I still have half of my dinner left, so tomorrow I'll be giving that combination a try.

Iron City Lager

I saw this beer in the liquor store and recognized it as another beer mentioned by Stephen king in one of his books - this time it's in Christine, which I happen to be reading right now. Iron City is brewed in Pittsburgh, in case you hadn't guessed. It looked like a typical golden lager, and tasted like a typical golden lager. Like the Naragansett, this is old school beer. It was refreshing, and enjoyable, just not very interesting. Went fine with my fish tacos.

Yuengling Original Black & Tan

From "America's Oldest Brewery" comes the "Original" Black & Tan. A Black & Tan is a combination of a dark beer and a light beer in a single glass. The most traditional one is a Bass Ale and Guinness Stout combination. When ordered in a pub, a good black and tan will show up at the table in two layers - dark on the top and light on the bottom. That's pretty difficult to do in a bottle. Yuengling's black and tan is a combo of their Porter and their traditional lager. It's roasty like a Porter, but has a mellower flavor from the light lager. This went nice with my beef stew, but I prefer a real Porter or stout; or a real Black & Tan for that matter. I really like Yuengling's Porter, but it seems impossible to find here in Florida - which is odd since they have a brewery in Tampa.

"You've Been Warned"

Today's beer review is from the Pennsylvania Brewing Co. It's their "Penndemonium", which I purchased in a 22 oz bottle. This beer is in the style of a Heller Bock, a light colored version of a bock beer. It is surprisingly strong at 8%, hence the reason for the warning on the bottle. It is also much more malty than I would have expected from a beer of this color. I like this beer! It has a mild hop character, just enough to balance the malt. My only complaint is the 22 oz bottle, because I feel like I can only drink it on Saturdays. I'll be watching for other offerings from Pennsylvania Brewing. I'm impressed with this one. I hope their other brews are as good.