Tree House Julius Review

So I finally got my hands on pretty much the hottest IPA out there. I turned a crowler of the BBA Sunny Side Up into some Tree House beers. I've been patiently waiting for the weekend to crack this baby open.

I've heard great things about this beer, almost too great... I'm really hoping it will live up to the hype.

I'm pouring this 16 oz can with no canning date into my glass and I'm amazed by the color of this beer. Its a deep orange color. I would definitely go as far as saying this is the best looking IPA I've ever seen.







Julius also smells very citrusy. The can states Julius is a beer filled with flavors and aromas of peach, mango, passionfruit, and a melange of citrus. I won't lie and say I can pick out each of those, but this beer still smells great.


After taking my first sip, I'm relieved that the taste follows through and hits you right up front with citrus as well, followed by some really nice floral hop flavors.

As I'm about halfway through my glass and the beer has warmed up a little all of the flavors seem to have amplified, along with the bitterness from the hops.

This beer is very drinkable! I could easily go through a few of these, if only I had more.

Now while this certainly was the most enjoyable IPA I've had recently, I can't say it's life changing. It looks beautiful in a glass, but it did fall short of expectations in the taste department. It's a great beer but I think I was over anticipating it. In the end beer is beer and there aren't too many, if any that are truly life changing. I'm ecstatic I had the change to try this one, but there are certainly other IPA's out there that can hold their weight to Julius, and I can't wait to try them.

www.treehousebrew.com 

Selin's Grove Saison de Peche Review

This is the third fruit beer I've had from Selin's Grove Brewing Co. So far, all of them have been excellent. I have a hunch this one will be too.

This beer is NOT a saison. The name translates to season of peach. Pouring this into a tulip from a 32oz growler, I can tell I'm in for a treat.


The beer is a beautiful hazy orange color.



This beer smells like straight up peach jam, and not much else. With the color and the smell, I can tell I'm in for a real peachy beer.

Taking the first sip, I'm greeted by tons of peach flavor. This is definitely a sweet beer. Drinking this beer is literally like drinking a liquid peach. After swallowing, I get a nice tart peach aftertaste that lingers for a while. This is a great beer for the summer. I can't say I could drink a ton of this, but finishing the 32 oz growler will be an easy task.

This is a pretty damn refreshing beer, and by now its pretty obvious Selin's Grove knows what they are doing with their fruit beers. This, their framboise, and kriek are all excellent and worth the trip.

Pizza Boy - Bourbon Barrel Sunny Side Up Review

So I finally had a chance to crack open my crowler of Bourbon Barrel Sunny Side Up, from Pizza Boy/Al's of Hampden. I managed to pick up a few of these crowlers. My brother and I raced up there after work and managed to get there right before they ran out of crowlers for the second day in a row.

I love Sunny Side Up so I have very high expectations for this as well.

Pouring the beer from the 32 oz crowler, it is a very dark black. The beer has a minimal head from being in the crowler for a little over a week, but it still is not too light on the carbonation.








BBA Sunnyside up greets your nose with a heavy wave of malt, coffee, and a light bourbon note. I do enjoy bourbon barrel aged beers, but I won't lie and say I would ever just drink bourbon straight for enjoyment, so I'm a little pleased the bourbon appears like it won't be overbearing.

Taking the first sip I'm greeted by tons of sweet maltiness, followed by the Little Amps Coffee, then followed by a nice pleasant bourbon flavor. I really dig the amount of bourbon in this beer. Its not overwhelming and instead of taking center stage, it really compliments the beer.The bourbon does start to show itself a little more as the beer warms.  Ovearall this is one of my favorite BBA stouts I've tried. I'd prefer it over KBS. I still haven't tried BCBCS, so I can't compare it to that.

The only thing that may improve this beer would be more coffee flavor. Regular Sunny Side Up is loaded with great coffee flavor. I understand a lot of the coffee probably faded away in the aging process though.

Overall this may be my favorite Pizza Boy offering, and was a pleasant surprise at $15 for a crowler. I imagine they will be making this again in the future, judging by the positive responses it has gotten.

www.alsofhampden.com

Pizza Boy - Funky Applesauce Review

I'm trying my first of two Pizza Boy Sours that I picked up earlier this week. I figured I would try the funky applesauce first, mainly just because I like the name. This is the first bottled sour from Pizza Boy I have had the chance to try, so I'm very excited to give them a shot.


I was greeted by a loud POP when I finally managed to get the cork off. Shortly after that I was greeted by an eruption of foam coming out the top all over my kitchen table. This lasted about 3 minutes...


After the bottle stopped erupting, I was able to pour  a cloudy light yellow beer from the 750ml bottle into my glass. The beer had a light head that settled fairly quickly.





This beer smells very sour and yeasty. Is that a valid adjective? Apple does come through in the scent as well. This sourness of this beer clears your nose as you smell it. I'm a little concerned by the smell that this is going to taste more like a hard cider than a beer, but we will see.

After taking the first sip I'm greeted by a decent amount of sourness. This beer has a moderately sour feel to it. It's certainly not puckering. The apple stands out well, but is subtle enough to allow you to enjoy the other aspects of this beer.

While this beer certainly does share some characteristics with a cider, it certainly has some qualities that makes it more complex. One major difference is the yeast and pale malt you can taste in the backbone of this beer. They compliment the sour funkiness nicely. As this beer warms up the woodiness starts to take center stage. The barrel adds a nice oaky flavor that is very welcome in this beer.


Overall, I'm impressed with this beer. It definitely leaves me excited to try Mango Sourer and any other future sours from Pizza Boy. I'm also glad Al seemed to listen to his consumer base and lower the price back to $25, even though he pretty much told his customers they were wrong, but that's another story.


www.alsofhampden.com

Tired Hands - Fripp Review

I took an adventure up to Pizza Boy/Al's of Hampden in Enola, PA on Monday for the sour bottle release. Al's is by far my favorite place to go for beer in PA. They have 100 taps and about 20 are their own. Another great reason to stop by is that they recently started carrying Tired Hands Beers.

I haven't had a chance to make it out to Tired Hands yet, which is really a shame, but I have had the opportunity to try a few of their beers at Al's. This time I picked up a growler of their English Bitter, Fripp.

Fripp poured a cloudy amber color from my 32 oz growler.





 One thing I've noticed about every Tired Hands beer I've tried is that they have a great hoppy aroma. Fripp smells very hoppy and sweet.

The first sip leaves me with a sweat malty taste, with the hops trying to break through. The aftertaste has a lingering bitterness that stays around for quite a while. The beer is not as hoppy as you would guess by the smells, but the hops are present enough to make it past the strong malt presence. I enjoy this beer but the bitterness in the aftertaste is not as pleasant. The floral hoppy taste doesn't stick around as long as the bitterness and you're left with the taste a little longer than I can enjoy.

Overall this is a good english bitter. I really like the hoppy nose of this beer but the lingering bitterness in the aftertaste doesn't leave me reaching for another sip right away. Can't wait to try more beers from Tired Hands.

www.tiredhands.com
www.alsofhampden.com

Old Forge - Hopsmith Pale Lager Review

This is another review of a beer from a tiny brewery in PA. Old Forge is located in Danville, PA. Unlike Selin's Grove, which is only about 20 minutes down the road, Old Forge does distribute. Nothing makes it out of PA but their pounder cans are pretty iconic around here. I've never tried the hopsmith pale lager, so I picked it up in a mix a six at the grocery store.

The beer pours out a nice golden color with lots of bubbles again.




The beer does offer a nice hoppy smell. I don't get the chance to try too many different IPL's, so I'm looking forward to this. This beer is sweet and hoppy, but mostly sweet. It feels a little thick on the top but has a very nice floral aftertaste.

 My overall impression of Old Forge remains the same, a good but not great local brewery, that's worth checking out if you're in the area.

www.oldforgebrewingcompany.com

Free Will - Mango Wheat Beer Review

It's another hot day in Central PA, so I searched my fridge for something that sounded refreshing. Dug past a lot of stouts that are making me anticipate the cooler fall weather. In the back I found this Free Will Mango Wheat. Sounds pretty refreshing to me.

I poured it out of a 12oz undated bottle to reveal a clear light yellow beer with a light head and lots of bubbles.





The beer does give off a nice natural mango smell. The first sip greets me with a lot of bubbles  and a nice mango flavor. Not too much else going on in this beer besides the mango. They did about as good of a job as any on this fruited wheat beer. The style typically seems to be middle of the road for me regardless of the fruit added.

 I can't say this isn't refreshing though. It's light enough at 4.8% ABV that it goes down smooth and tastes mostly of mango

This would be a great beer to introduce your non craft drinking friends to, and is a great beer for anyone to enjoy on a hot day.


Free Will Brewing Company is located in Perkasie, PA.