Ymm, Beer!

[devildeac]

Hoppyum-Foothills Brewing

If you like hops, you will love this brew. Loaded with pungent, citrusy hops, mostly with grapefruit and grapefruit zest aromas and tastes from the Simcoe variety. Poured a clean, clear orange-yellow in a pint glass and sipped by itself last PM. Just about perfect blend of slightly sweet caramel malts with an ABV of 6.25% to balance the IBU of 78, the latter of which is a bit high for an IPA. I'll still take a Bell's Two Hearted Ale on draft but if you are in NC, this is an excellent offering.

[devildeac]

Rayon Vert-Green Flash Brewing

Since these brews became available on the east coast a few years ago, I have generally found them to be pleasing to my taste buds. Not so with this one. I bought the 4 pack about a month ago and didn't pay attention to any dating on the bottle or even if it was there so I don't know the age of the brew. Shouldn't matter that much as it is a bottle conditioned ale, meaning there are live yeasties in the bottle so the brew continues to "mature" or condition as it ages. Perhaps I didn't protect it from light and/or heat as well as I coulda/shoulda. I may have even "agitated" it too much before decanting so I could re-distribute the yeast sediment throughout the 12 ounces once it reached my clean, but not-too-cold pint glass. Maybe it was the fact I haven't had a Brettanomyces brewed ale in a couple years and had forgotten about the barnyard funkiness it lends to the brew. I just didn't like this brew that much. Poured a cloudy, over-foamy orange-yellow with earthy and grassy notes and tastes of sourness and wet cardboard. IBU were only 32 so it was not bitter at all and the ABV was 7%, a bit high for the Belgian style pale ale genre. I'd really be curious to read about what fuse thought of this as I think he got one in a recent trading session. I'd also like to give it another sip or two, perhaps finding it on draft somewhere and reviewing it again.

[Lavabe]

Traveling to Pittsburgh this week (college tour for Legacy Lady)... any MUST HAVEs from Pittsburgh?

[devildeac]

Traveling to Pittsburgh this week (college tour for Legacy Lady)... any MUST HAVEs from Pittsburgh?

http://pittsburgh.about.com/library/wee ... 10801e.htm

I'd avoid the Iron City brews .

[devildeac]

Traveling to Pittsburgh this week (college tour for Legacy Lady)... any MUST HAVEs from Pittsburgh?

Here are some others:

Cabbage rolls –(aka Halupki)– Beef, pork, rice, green pepper, wrapped in cabbage and baked with sauerkraut and tomato soup or juice
Chipped Ham – (aka Chipped Chopped Ham) thinly-sliced processed ham, from Isaly's since 1933
City Chicken – cubes of pork and/or veal baked or fried on a wooden skewer
Clark Bar – chocolate candy bar; developed in the city in 1886
Dozen Bake Shop - official cupcakes of the Pittsburgh Penguins, named best Pittsburgh bakery by the New York Post.
Essie's Original Hot Dog shop - an Oakland staple since 1960.
Halušky – noodles with fried cabbage (Polish), or cottage cheese (Slovak).
Iron City Beer – native brew; with a shot of whiskey, a boilermaker; with a shot of Imperial, an imp-n-arn.
Italian sausage – with grilled peppers and onions.
Kielbasa – eastern European sausages.
Klondike bar – an ice cream treat made famous by Isaly's.
Pierogies – Polish dish, pasta dough filled with potato and cheese, onion or sauerkraut.
Primanti Brothers – sandwich with fries and coleslaw in it.
Teutonia Männerchor - Deutschtown (East Allegheny) German food.
Wholey's – Founded in 1912 in Pittsburgh's market square and now located on Penn Ave; Wholey's serves a wide variety of seafood and a famous fish sandwich. The Wholey company has been the anchor and main attraction of the historic "strip District" for over 60 years.

Once again, I'd avoid the Iron City brews.

[Lavabe]

I posted on the BEER thread so that you might come up with a few Pittsburgh brews. Thanks for alerting me about Iron City. Are there any fine breweries of note in Pittsburgh? Any specific brews to watch out for?

[devildeac]

I posted on the BEER thread so that you might come up with a few Pittsburgh brews. Thanks for alerting me about Iron City. Are there any fine breweries of note in Pittsburgh? Any specific brews to watch out for?

The absence of BEER suggestions on the BEER thread inquiring about Pittsburgh BREWS has a couple explanations:

1. Ignorance, or the lack of knowledge of any good Pittsburghian brews.
2. Absence (or non-existence) of any good Pittsburgian brews.

Or, #1 and #2 above may be the same explanation . Therefore, diverting the discussion to foodie/tourist-y things on which to expend your efforts and the warning about IC (Iron City, that is, not inside c*arowhina )

Here's a list though if you're still interested in exploring the subject:

http://pittsburgh.about.com/od/beer/tp/ ... weries.htm

[Lavabe]

I don't know if we'll be able to pass by this place, but it might be a little slice of heaven:
http://www.churchbrew.com/

[devildeac]

I don't know if we'll be able to pass by this place, but it might be a little slice of heaven:
http://www.churchbrew.com/

If the beer-tender was female, would she be the church(brew)lady?

[devildeac]

I don't know if we'll be able to pass by this place, but it might be a little slice of heaven:
http://www.churchbrew.com/

The names of some of their brews sound divine .

[devildeac]

420-Sweetwater Brewing

Settle down, PJ, this is about the extra pale ale. Pretty standard stuff here. Poured a light yellow-orange with a modest head and faint notes of pine/resin and perhaps a hint of cannabis. Light caramel balances the mild bitterness, guessing IBU around 30 and the ABV is 5.4%, again, both pretty typical for the style. This was a leftover in the 'fridge after having some friends visit so I helped myself to this one and the other will go to my son next weekend.

[devildeac]

Sneaky Pete-Laughing Dog Brewing

Sneaky is a pretty good moniker for this brew as it is deceptively strong at 10% ABV which balances well with the very high IBU of 89, both fairly typical for the imperial IPA style. Five hop varieties are used with about 30% of the Simcoe type which explains the grapefruit nose and tastes. Three grains are part of the brewing with the somewhat surprising addition of a rye malt but with no musty tastes or aromas. It is finished with wild clover honey which also lends to the sweetness of the grain load and high ABV. Poured a yellow-orange with a small head. I have enjoyed most, if not all of the brews I've sampled from this Idaho brewery, including Dogfather and the bourbon barrel Dogfather.

[devildeac]

Bronze-Celt Experience Brewery

This is a certified organic bronze colored (d'oh) bitter ale from Wales. It also became part of my collection (temporarily, of course) after fuse and I traded a few weeks ago. Packaged as a 500 ml bottle, the nose is comprised of earthy and toasted bready scents and the tastes are pretty typically ESB-like with some toffee and nutty flavors, too. Head was slightly off-white and mildly foamy. I'd guess IBU about 30-40 and the ABV was 4.5% so the bottle was easily consumed over an hour or so at a single sitting. Would make a nice pairing with grilled fare, whether it be ribs, burgers or fowl. So, a hearty thanks to fuse for sharing/trading/cleaning our his 'fridge/cellar.

[Lavabe]

Sweetwater Lowryeder IPA: Fruity aroma, gentle American IPA. Could barely get the rye in it. Paired well with PigN Chick Barbecue (formerly Dusty's, by Emory) in a hot carolina sauce.

[devildeac]

Sweetwater Lowryeder IPA: Fruity aroma, gentle American IPA. Could barely get the rye in it. Paired well with PigN Chick Barbecue (formerly Dusty's, by Emory) in a hot carolina sauce.

Wait, I thought you were in Pittsburgh...

[Lavabe]

Sweetwater Lowryeder IPA: Fruity aroma, gentle American IPA. Could barely get the rye in it. Paired well with PigN Chick Barbecue (formerly Dusty's, by Emory) in a hot carolina sauce.

Wait, I thought you were in Pittsburgh...

Last week, we visited Ann Arbor and Pittsburgh. I then had to go to a function in the ATL.
Tomorrow, we are off to Chi-town.

[devildeac]

Sweetwater Lowryeder IPA: Fruity aroma, gentle American IPA. Could barely get the rye in it. Paired well with PigN Chick Barbecue (formerly Dusty's, by Emory) in a hot carolina sauce.

Wait, I thought you were in Pittsburgh...

Last week, we visited Ann Arbor and Pittsburgh. I then had to go to a function in the ATL.
Tomorrow, we are off to Chi-town.

Goose me!

;)

[Lavabe]

Metropolitan Brewery's Krankschaft: Kolsch... Very light gold color, small head, almost sweet, low hop score, but a wonderful palate cleanser. Very refreshing. A fantastic crisp brew. I had mine with a spicy grilled chicken ciabatta sandwich. Definitely a spring brew.

[Turk]

Lavabe - Sorry was not paying attention and missed an opportunity to help out, as we go back to the "auld sod" of the Turk roost every month or two. Could have given you some intel on Pittsburgh microbrews. Church Brew Works would definitely have been on the list, as well as East End Brewing plus a couple others. Hope the Googler and DDeac steered you well.

And lastly, let me defend Iron City, which was like mother's milk in my juvenile deliquent years. It unfairly earned a reputation during an era when Americans liked their beer thin and watery. (Coors Light, anyone?) Now that our palates have gotten more sophisticated, Iron ("Arn" as the natives would say) is not the turpentine it is often portrayed to be, and is safely within the realm of any standard American pilsner.

However, Pittsburgh Brewing had a rocky financial road over the decades, which contributed to its reputation and occasionally uneven quality. A few years ago, the last ownership group made all sorts of promises about keeping the brewery in town, stiffed the city on several million dollars of unpaid utility bills, left the union to pay their own pensions, declared bankruptcy, and moved operations to Latrobe in the abandoned Rolling Rock brewery. Iron City is dead to me now.

[devildeac]

Lavabe - Sorry was not paying attention and missed an opportunity to help out, as we go back to the "auld sod" of the Turk roost every month or two. Could have given you some intel on Pittsburgh microbrews. Church Brew Works would definitely have been on the list, as well as East End Brewing plus a couple others. Hope the Googler and DDeac steered you well.

And lastly, let me defend Iron City, which was like mother's milk in my juvenile deliquent years. It unfairly earned a reputation during an era when Americans liked their beer thin and watery. (Coors Light, anyone?) Now that our palates have gotten more sophisticated, Iron ("Arn" as the natives would say) is not the turpentine it is often portrayed to be, and is safely within the realm of any standard American pilsner.

However, Pittsburgh Brewing had a rocky financial road over the decades, which contributed to its reputation and occasionally uneven quality. A few years ago, the last ownership group made all sorts of promises about keeping the brewery in town, stiffed the city on several million dollars of unpaid utility bills, left the union to pay their own pensions, declared bankruptcy, and moved operations to Latrobe in the abandoned Rolling Rock brewery. Iron City is dead to me now.

Interesting story from a "local." No offense intended. Thanks for sharing.