Mid Winter Beer Run

 
Our original plans for are beer tasting tour through the Harrisburg area was negated by some snow so we rescheduled for this weekend.  Well, the weather cooperated and we took to the road! 

First stop, Troeg's in Hershey.  Yes, right by the park in case you can't stand the crowds or just need a big persons break!  Linda, Luther, Sue and I all arrived from different directions at the same time.  Shortly later the High Priestess arrived with her guardian, the gregarious Viking Chris.

Bedazzled and bling laden, the High Priestess proceeded to shower us mere mortals with delightful shiny trinkets in honor of Mardis Gras.  These personal tasting cups would have come in handy had any of the stops on our tour been out of glassware.  Sadly, all bars and brewpubs were adequately stocked with appropriate vessels.

On to the tour:  A self guided tour at Troeg's followed by a sample of Trailblazer Brown Ale, Troegenator, and the Scratch Series Chocolate Weizenbock.

As much as we would have liked to have remained at Troeg's to help them deplete some of their inventory, we had to get on down the road to Appalachian Brewing in Harrisburg to try their wares and get some solid nutrition.  A sample of 8 different brews from this brewer, some good grub and a tour of their upstairs bar/banquet room was just what the Dr. ordered.  Stews, muffaletta, buffalo blue cheese balls and paninis later we were refueled and ready for more adventure.



 Moving on from Appalachian, we headed to Anthony's Micropub in Harrisburg.  The prospect of 72 beers on tap was too much to resist.  A rather colorful blend of staff and patrons, Anthony's proved to be worth the drive.  Sadly, no PBR on tap.  Maybe next time.  But, we did get Dogfish Palo Santo Marron, Lindeman's Framboise and Copper Creek Porter.  I have had the Dogfish before in the bottle, but the draft was exquisite.

By this time we thought we should go check into our hotel, and head on over the Cafe Bruges in Carlisle.  This proved to be an excellent decision.  Who says you can't make good choices when drinking?  We hit a home run!  Cafe Bruges doesn't take reservations, so with six of us poised to invade we were told to arrive early so as to get a good table.  5 pm proved to be early enough.   We nearly lost a member to an irate moped rider.  Luther was told to stand in an empty parking spot until we could turn the car around.  Well, this twerpy punk on his moped wanted the spot--hey, all you motorcycle riders, don't take car sized parking spots lest ye get yer butt kicked!!!!   To make matters worse, we parked about a hundred feet away in a lot that allowed easy exit.  Poor Luther, nearly got into fisticuffs for nothing!  Ok, so maybe drinking does impair decisions, maybe not.

Excellent food and beer and service at Cafe Bruges.  We sat for over two hours before relinquishing our table, much to the relief of our server!  I will have to post later the beers we had when  I retrieve my beer list.  Great mussels, pomme frites, steak, warm potato bacon and green bean salad, chocolate mousse and Belgian waffle.  The only down side was the heat.  Must have been 90 in there.  But,  a small price to pay for such great food and beer.

Market Cross, here we come!  This brew pub and restaurant has a four page beer menu!  As one can imagine, after over six hours of beer we were a bit tuned up.  Nothing too radical, but the laughs were hearty a plenty.  We even managed to get some glares from a table of 20-30 somethings next to us!  Children shouldn't play where adults play! 


Cheers!  A fun filled trip, and hopefully the first of many!

Wegman's

So, this past Tuesday the Alers met at the Williamsport Wegman's for liquid and solid nourishment.  I haven't been there in well over a year, so the array of brews was impressive.  For most of the table it seemed like hearty dark beers were the norm, probably due to it being mid winter.  I thought it was good because I was able to try two that distributors have been trying to get me to buy, one by Boaks and one by Tommyknocker.  The Boaks Russian Imperial Stout was really good, not as good as the Stone Russian, but pretty good.  Lots of dark flavors--coffee, toffee, raisins and dates with a moderate amount of hop.  The Tommyknocker Hopstrike Black IPA was even better.  Not as thick as the Russian by Boaks, but many of the same flavors in a lighter bodied, hoppier brew.  Some of the others we had were the Southern Tier 2X Milk Stout and the Flying Dog Raging Bitch Belgian IPA.  Two more that were really good!

Tuesday Night at Joe's

A chatty, fun filled evening at Joe's Pizza with the Alers this past Tuesday.  That Stromboli was great and so big it made two more meals!  I had been wanting to try the Victory Dark Intrigue and wouldn't ya know, Kimball's had it, so even though we were having pizza and stuff and it was such a big beer, why not?  Well, it was great.  I am not a bourbon drinker, but the bourbon barrel aging of this beer was right on.  Not too much, not too little.  The alcohol was prominent, which might be a bad thing for  some, but I thought it went perfectly with the bourbon tones and the fact that it was chilly that night and the alcohol warmed us up a bit.  I really like the Storm King and this variation is fantastic.  Big, 750ml, bottle so it is surely a sharing beer.

I think they must think we are a bunch of booze hounds.  I looked down the table and there must have been 20 or so bottles, a lot of big ones, and most of them empty.  Good night all around!

Thanksgiving Turkey and Allagash Victor

Sue made her traditional turkey with the compound herbed butter under the skin, very yummy, with the wild mushroom and bacon stuffing, home made cranberry sauce and all the rest of the goodies one would expect for such a feast!  We opened a bottle of Allagash Victor to have with it and were very pleased with the way the it worked with dinner.  The grape and spices were perfect with the turkey and sour cranberry sauce.  A bit cloudy and orange color with a nice, clean finish.  We picked this bottle up from the brewery this past August and have been saving it for a special occasion and it fit perfectly.

Welcome!

The Hearty Alers is a group of friends who like to eat and drink and talk about what they eat and drink--but especially what they drink!  Having taken the Lagers and Ales class at Penn College in Williamsport, PA a few of the members would do their "homework" at Kimball's Tin Cup after class.  Three years later, our group has grown and we are still getting together most Tuesday nights for some liquid fellowship.  We will post some of our thoughts about the beer and food we encounter and hope you enjoy our posts as much as we have enjoyed gathering the info for them!  Cheers!