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.
Nectar Ales, the once owned brewery by Firestone Walker, makes an appearance on the show this week with Black Xantus. This massive 11% ABV Imperial Stout is barrel aged and infused with local organic/fair-trade coffee from Jobella Coffee Roasters.
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.
One of Allagash’s annual releases, Interlude, combines a crisp Saison with red wine barrels. To top it all off, brettanomyces (brett) is added into the barrel too, giving the beer a tangy, funky edge. We have the quite young 2012 vintage but if Allagash’s reputation means anything, this beer should certainly be a treat.
