It's still summer to me.

I've been hearing a lot of whining lately about the end of summer and frankly, I think it's pretty lame. It's still hot out. I'm still sweating far more than is comfortable. And despite the appearance of Oktoberfest beers, I'm still drinking summer beers like hefeweizens and pilsners.

You're welcome to give up on summer and start hibernating, but not me. There's still plenty of time until the leaves fall and snow flies. Here's the warm-weather beers I've been loving lately.


Hopfenweizen
Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant
American Pale Wheat Ale

B+ / 4
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | drink: 4

On-tap at the Newark brewpub. Served in a pint glass, the beer was a clear amber with a short white head. The flavor kicked off with typical Bavarian wheat beer spices: clove and banana. And after the initial wheat malt and yeast character, the American hops jumped in with bitter grapefruit and pine flavors. Very tasty and a great blending of IPA and hefe styles. If you've tried and enjoyed the Brooklyner-Schneider Hopfen-Weisse, this is like a lighter-alcohol version. A great beer for anyone that loves wheat beers and hops.


Voodoo Love Child
Voodoo Brewing Company
Tripel

Brewer's Notes: This is our Belgian Style Tippel aged on intimate fruits of Passion Fruit, Raspberry and Cherry. Lightly spiced with corriander and curqua orange peel and other spices of passion. Light Reddish hue and with a alcohol strength of 10.5% and nicely carbonated in the bottle.

B+ / 4
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | drink: 4

Split a bomber at The Farmhouse for $13. This beer is worth checking out for the bizarre label alone. Wow. The beer appears a hazy light amber with a short white head. The aroma and flavor are big on fresh berry fruit and seeds. I'm reminded of the sensation of biting into a raspberry and chewing on the seeds. In the aroma, however, this smell comes off eerily similar to roasted turkey. Go figure. The label says it has cherries, passion fruit, and raspberries, and the former two play a big part of the taste, while the actual tripel malt just provides a pleasant backbone. Check this beer out. Definitely interesting and tasty.


La Trappe Isid'or
Bierbrouwerij De Koningshoeven B.V.
Belgian Pale Ale | 7.50% ABV

A- / 4.2
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | drink: 4

Ordered a bottle at Tap and Table in Emmaus, PA for $7. Served in a chalice it appears light amber with a slight haze. Man, this is a delicious beer. The flavor is a subtle mix of lemon peel, vanilla, white pepper, sweet candy bread, and white grape. The spices are very mellow, but the flavors are deep. The body is very drinkable and if it weren't a little expensive I'd order another.

Riding like a Belgian

I took a vacation day recently to spend 8 hours on my bike, or at least near it and enjoying a beer.



I went out with local mechanic extraordinaire, Taylor, and stopped for lunch at the Phoenixville Iron Hill Brewery. Before my Belgian meatballs came out, we had an order of frites with spicy mayo and a round of the house witbier. Later on, I enjoyed an even tastier tripel.

Witbier
Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant
Witbier

B+ / 3.85
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | drink: 4

I biked into town on a hot day and ordered the wit first thing. Came out in a tall pilsner sort of glass with an orange slice which I quickly removed. While the beer was very drinkable, like a good wit, the flavor felt a little fuller and lacked the small subtle spice flavors of a great wit. Instead it was a simpler sweet vanilla wheat with pepper and orange spice. Certainly not bad, but not my favorite wit.

Belgian Tripel
Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant
Tripel
A- / 4.1
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | drink: 4.5

I ordered a goblet with my meal of Belgian meatballs and though the meatballs were lackluster, this beer kicked ass. It appeared a clear gold with a short head. I suppose I really liked it because it so closely mimicked Maredsous 10 (a fav of mine). It's not the driest tripel, but there's a delicious orange and spice yeast profile with hint of pepper, vanilla, and apricot. Very tasty. Try this beer.

BJCP Has Come and Gone

Last Tuesday I finally say down for the three hours of mad scribbling and drinking known as the Beer Judge Certification Program Exam. It was about as hard as expected with questions like "Describe and explain the role of diastatic and proteolytic enzymes in the brewing process and how they affect the characteristics of the finished beer."

Short Answer: They break down proteins and convert starch to sugar while grains are mixed with hot water.

Fun stuff, naturally. A true test of beer geekery. The only questions I stumbled on were describing the substyle Classic American Pilsner and giving a commercial example of a straight, unblended lambic (there really aren't any).

After the three hours, Jason, the course instructor was generous enough to buy everyone a round at the bar, as we were back at the North Wales Iron Hill brewpub. I got a pint of the Bourbon Porter on nitro. Here's how it went:

3.75/5
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | drink: 4.5


Pours a dark, dark brown with a tan head. Tiny bubbles here, and drinks incredibly smooth. The aroma is of smooth bourbon and mellow chocolate grains. The flavor is a balance of the vanilla bourbon, oak, and the dark, cocoa and toffee flavors. While it's very easy to drink, I found the flavor a little too mild for this to be a great beer. The balance of bourbon and malt was there, but there wasn't enough of either flavor. That said, I'd still recommend this tasty treat.

I also had the pleasure of finding Green Flash West Coast IPA last night for a Friday evening of beer, pizza, and wings at Liberty St. Tavern. If you're ever in Allentown, aside from the smoking, it's got the best cheap pizza and beer selection in Eastern PA.

4.2/5
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | drink: 4.5


On-tap at Liberty St. Tavern.

Bottom line: big hops yet drinkable. This toes the line of being too hoppy, but doesn't cross. Maybe my pour was just had the CO2 turned down, but there was zero head and lacing on this pint. The aroma was of big juicy, reisinous grapefuit with floral notes. The flavor expands with more citrus rind that is a nice mix of rough and smooth hops. I can't say enough about the balance here. Not of the mix of hops and malt, but enough hops and too much. Reminds me of Masala Mama of Town Hall in Minneapolis.

BJCP + Beer Review: Iron Hill ESB

In order to both gain more street/beer cred and ramp up my beer knowledge, I'm taking a course with the Beer Judge Certification Program. Why would I want to take any sort of class after I graduated from college just last Spring? Well every week we just sit around an Iron Hill brewpub drinking beer and talking about its finer points. Yeah, it's real tough, and if things go according to plan I'll be an official beer judge by March. Talk about a resume builder.

I don't usually drink much as it's an hour's drive from home and my attention span decreases exponentially with increased alcohol consumption, but this week I had a particularly good brew worth mentioning.

ESB
Extra Special Bitter
Iron Hill Brewery (North Wales location)

A- / 4.25 [on a 1-5 scales]
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | drink: 4.5

On-tap at the brewpub.

Man, it's hard to find an ESB this good. There's a subtle grassy hop note in the background of the aroma along with a hints of chocolate and big, creamy Ringwood character. That carries into the flavor with roasted caramel to make for a near perfect balance of the malt, hops, and yeast. Very drinkable and very tasty. I hope this is still on tap next time I'm in North Wales. Go drink this.