Tommyknocker Triple Shot

Brewery: Tommyknocker Brewery
Location: Idaho Springs, Colorado

Name: Alpine Glacier Lager

Alcohol by Volume: 4.5%

Name: Butt Head Dopplebock

Alcohol by Volume: 8.2%

Name: Pick Axe Pale Ale

Alcohol by Volume: 6.2%

I happened to be in New Jersey the other day dropping off something at a lab for work , when I drove by a Canal's Liquor Store. I decided there would be no harm in stopping in on the way home to see what they had in terms of domestic six-packs. To my surprise, I found a gem: a six pack sampler from the Tommyknocker brewery. I was ecstatic. I had, up to this point only seen 12 pack samplers and case samplers. I jumped on the opportunity and brought the sampler home.

I started with the Alpine Gold Lager. Each of the beers has a description of what the mining dwarves did in the 1800's, and how that inspired the name of the drink, so each beer comes with an amusing story. I decided to drink these beers from a glass rather than the bottle, so I poured the lager into a pint glass. For someone who has had a lot of lager to drink in his life, I'm always surprised to see a lager with a goldish color, rather than the darker brown of the Yuengling Lager. Unfortunately, this lager wasn't anything too special than the other gold lagers I've had to drink. Don't get me wrong, I'd drink this again, but if you're looking for something special or a little pizzazz with your beer, take a pass on the Alpine Glacier Lager.

Next I decided to have the Pick Axe Pale Ale. In retrospect, I should have started with the Pale Ale. Most beer companies have a pale ale, whether it be an India Pale Ale, English Pale Ale or American Pale Ale, so it's a decent measurement of how seriously the brewer takes his craft (I think). THIS IS NOT ALWAYS THE CASE. Certain brewers have a signature beer, like Yuengling, Sam Adams, Anheuser-Busch, or Miller, which is not a Pale Ale, or they may not even make a pale ale to compare. As with the Alpine Glacier Lager, I poured it into a pint glass, and it had the typical Pale Ale amber color. The Pick Axe Pale Ale is not as hoppy as I would have expected from a microbrew, which is nice. However, there isn't too much to write home about with this beer either. I would drink it again, but not over trying another beer.

Last night I decided to have the Butt Head Dopplebock with my dinner. An excellent choice on my part. The wife and I had fajitas, and this dopplebock had just enough sweetness in it to counteract the spiciness of my food. The alcohol content is a little high to have these one after another after another, but the flavor and heaviness of it make me want to try it again, without the food interaction.

Yuengling Traditional Lager

Brewery: D. G. Yuengling & Son

Location: Pottsville, Pennsylvania
Beer Name: Yuengling Traditional Lager
Alcohol by Volume: 4.4%



I figured that by now it's time to talk about my favorite beer. It's a weird feeling when something you have enjoyed for so long becomes so popular. For instance, I'm a fan of Punk Rock, where the bands enjoy playing the music, and when they become hugely popular, have to make a decision to sign to a large label and hit the mainstream or stay on top in the underground. When bands decide to become mainstream, the fans call them sell-outs or whatever. My feeling on some of this that when something becomes part of the mainstream I just want to say that I've been a fan the whole time, I'm not a bandwagoner.

This is the way that I felt about two years ago. It's not as if Yuengling Lager wasn't popular before that. Hell, if you go into most bars in Philly or any surrounding suburb and order a 'Lager,' you're getting a Yuengling Lager. It's always been a popular beer. In this area of the country. Not too long ago, I heard that Yuengling opened a brewery in North Carolina somewhere and you could get it down south at that point. About six months ago, I was playing an online trivia game and the question was to name the top 20 most popular beers sold in the U.S. for 2009. Yuengling Lager was on the list, and fairly high, I might add. That's when it hit me. Lager is not just a local beer anymore.

So here I am at a crossroads. How can I have a blog essentially praising craft beers and (surely in a future post) write about how I'll never drink popular swill like Bud Light when a beer I thought was a gem in my slice of the world is now a favorite the whole country over?

In the end, the point is to enjoy beer. As long as the product that is put out after it hits the big time is that same quality as the product was before it hit the big time, then there's no shame in enjoying it. I love to drink Yuengling Lager. It's inexpensive, it tastes great, and I can drink a lot of it and not feel terrible the next day. If you were to look in my refrigerator right now, you'd find a case of Lager, as you would any other day of any other year. Before I started my crusade, the only beer I would drink when I went out was Lager. When I was barbacking and finished my shift, the great John Doyle at McGillin's would have a Lager waiting for me.

I feel like Yuengling Lager is one of the greatest beers I've ever had. I'll stand by that statement until the day I die.

Dark Horse Crooked Tree IPA

Brewery: Dark Horse Brewing Company
Location: Marshall, Michigan
Beer Name: Crooked Tree IPA
Alcohol by Volume: 6.0%


Over the weekend, I was invited to go to an annual birthday party my wife's cousin throws. In the past he would have it at a bar a friend of his worked at on South Street. This year, his friend does not work at that bar anymore, so he shopped around and found a place in Old City called the Irish Pol. I was excited to go there, as it was one of the stops on my Bachelor Party back in August. I knew that the Irish Pol had a wide variety of beers on tap, and I could wait to try some of them.

When we arrived, we found out the party was being held on the second floor (which I wasn't aware existed). In addition to the regular beers (Miller Lite, Coors Light, Miller High Life and Rolling Rock), the bar offered to put a keg on tap for my cousin-in-law. He asked for any IPA, as IPAs are a common beer for people to drink. I disagree, but that's a discussion for another blog. He was given the Dark Horse Crooked Tree IPA, or what I have to assume is the Crooked Tree. I was just told it was the Dark Horse IPA and after looking it up, I only found the Crooked Tree IPA.

When I drink IPAs (India Pale Ales for those of you who don't know), I'm never really sure what to expect. IPAs really bridge the span from too hoppy to not hoppy enough, depending on the brewer. The Crooked Tree IPA leaned a little closer to the 'too hoppy' side for me, but the overall taste of the beer was good enough to balance it out. I would have gladly drank this beer all night over the other choices I was given, but some friends of mine showed up and wanted to go elsewhere and drink ponies for a buck at a different bar.

In the end, I rate this beer as one that I wouldn't bend over backwards trying to find it again, but if it were on tap at the place i'm drinking, I'll have a pint.

Breckenridge Christmas Ale

Brewery: Breckenridge Brewery

Location: Denver, Colorado

Beer Name: Christmas Ale

Alcohol by Volume (ABV): 7.4%

I was lucky enough to come across this beer while walking through a distributer in New Jersey. I picked up a six pack, not knowing exactly what a 'Christmas' beer would taste like. The thoughts I had ranged from "Will it be like a Starbucks Christmas drink where it will have a distinct taste of peppermint or gingerbread?" to "I wonder if it's just a regular beer with a 'Christmas Ale' label glued to the front."

After letting it chill, I finally popped one open and poured it into a pint glass, as I usually do. I was pleasantly surprised. While there were no minty tastes as Christmas foods usually have, this ale definitely belongs with the holidays.

The 7.4% ABV may seem a little on the higher side, but this beer isn't one for a marathon night. This is a beer to be enjoyed while sitting around with some friends enjoying the snowy weather and companionship during the cheery season.

And for the beer review purists out there, the beer pours a deep brown, slight reddish color. Don't expect this tidbit to be with every review. I tend to find it a little weird and I may not actually be saying the right thing.

Introduction to Philly Beer Drinker

Welcome!

Over the past few years, I have decided to undertake a massive project involving one my all time favorite hobbies - drinking beer. I know what you're saying to yourself right now: "Big deal. I drink beer too. I'm not going to tell the world about it." Three months ago, I would have said the same thing. Allow me to tell a short story.

While I was in college, I worked at a local Philadelphia Bar called McGillin's Ale House. Every year we would have an 'Extreme Beer Month' or some such thing where the owner would get in a wide variety of rare, high alcohol content beers. Two years after I left McGillin's, they had yet another 'Extreme Beer Month' and the owner either was given or bought a set of books, which were essentially encyclopedias of all domestic bottled beers. After beer month was over, the owner of McGillin's was giving these books away. My best friend Mike, who still works there, got his hands on one and passed it on to me. Originally, I just thought it was a nice keepsake or talking piece for my home bar (when I build it). My then-fiance said to me "I guess you have to drink all of the beers in there, right?" And right she was. from that moment, I have decided to try and drink as many of the beers that are currently in this "Beer Book" as possible.*

The task has already started. Obviously as a 26 year old male, I've had my fair share of beers. I even went for a nice variety before I had the book. I started crossing off (with a highlighter) the types of beer I had already drank up to that point. I have quite a ways to go yet, so there are plenty of beers still to drink.

About the blog - I have never been one to be a big fan of weblogs, facebook, myspace, etc. However, I have come to a point where I have had so many beers that 1.) It's getting hard to distinguish the beers in my memories and 2.) I want to remember the ones I do enjoy so that I can look for them, or get them again in the future. What I'll be doing here is keeping track of all of the beers that I drink and the ones that I have had in the past that I can write a decent enough review of from my memory.

If anyone happens to stumble aross this blog and feels compelled to join in, please do. If you've had a draft or bottle that I have had, please feel free to share your feelings on it. If you think that I will enjoy a beer that you like, let me know. I'll keep an eye out for it. I am not discriminatory against foreign beers. I will, on occassion have German brew or Irish Ale, or whatever and I will comment on it as well. It's just that those foreign beers won't help to complete my goal of drinking all of the beers in my Beer Book.

Here's what I ask. If you are going to comment on a beer, please don't just say something like "That beer sucks" or "That beer's good". Give us your reasons for feeling this way.

I'll be posting again maybe tonight with how I will rate beers and what will go into the descriptions of the beers I drink.

Happy Drinking,

Jon