When a friend offered me a six-pack of beer from his hometown in exchange for a disused computer part, I immediately took him up on the offer. Into my possession came a mixed six-pack from Rivertowne Brewing, a new brewery just outside of Pittsburgh, PA. I sampled a few of the offerings that night, but saved a few others for later reviews.
While zooming around the Finger Lakes region of New York with my family a few weeks ago on a wine tour, we stumbled upon the best of both worlds – a winery with a brewery attached. The winery was Wagner Vineyards and the brewery is Wagner Valley Brewing. Splitting from the main group with a few others I sampled all the beers that Wagner Valley had to offer that day. One of those was the Sugar House Maple Porter, which I slipped a bottle of it into a mixed six pack planning to review.
Shane was nice enough to share a few bottles from his case of the limited White Monkey from Victory Brewing Co. in Downingtown, PA. White Monkey starts with the base beer, Golden Monkey, and then ages it in oak chardonnay barrels for a few months. Hopefully the result is something as good, or better, than the original.
Ahh yes, the Dunkelweizen, an often overlooked style of beer that offers the spices and fruits of a Hefeweizen but with a malty backbone. For this reason Dunkelweizens are one of my favorite German styles of beer. The Black Walnut Dunkel from Perennial Brewing out of Missouri should hit the classic notes of the style, but with the added bonus of black walnuts to the tune of 250 pounds.
IPAs run the gambit from weak to over the top 25% ABV hop bombs with enough IBUs to take the rust off an old bike chain. Every now and then you want an easier drinking, flavorful IPA that will allow you to still drive home safely after consuming. Not a full session beer, but something a bit slower speed. Hoping to answer this need is the All Occasions IPA from Evil Twin Brewing out of Denmark, a 8% ABV IPA billed as a “no BS” beer.
