August 23, 2014 Show

This week we not only enjoy great beer, but great cheese as well as we discuss cheese and beer pairings with author Janet Fletcher whose book Cheese & Beer covers the topic in great depth.  We are also joined in studio by our wonderful repeat guest Ed and of course the wonderful Billy from Backyard Ale House

This week's beer lineup with cheese looked and tasted great, here is a teaser picture!

Beer Lineup:

Oskar Blues- Dale's Pale Ale:  A perfect example of the easy drinking pale ale style, we were able to enjoy this one out of a tall boy as well which added to this beers wonderful allure.  It is a must try for Pale Ale fans and we paired this with some delicious New York cheddar.

Jolly Pumpkin- Bam Noire:  Jolly Pumpkin is a world class brewery and what makes them even better is that they produce amazing flavored filled beers such as Bam Noire and also manage to get the ABV at 4.3%.  This dark farmhouse ale has subtle notes of raisins and cocoa balanced with hints of tartness and funk making for a very enjoyable experience.  It was paired with a wonderfully creamy Triple Cream Brie cheese.

Victory Brewing Company- Wild Devil:  A unique take on Victory's already well established Hop Devil.  This beer takes the aforementioned beer and spikes it with Brettanomyces giving it s subtle sour characteristic and added an extra layer of complexity, a fantastic beer that would be an interesting beer to age to see what the Brett does over time, this beer was paired with a studio favorite Humboldt Fog from Cypress Grove Chevre a cheese that is also a must try for those who are unfamiliar with it!

Allagash Brewing Company- Four:  This Belgian Quad boasts an impressive 10% ABV, but does not give any hints to it from the taste.  It is smooth and easy drinking and has all the lovely dark fruit characteristics we love in darker Belgian beers, find this and try it now!  We paired this beer with an aged Gruyère cheese.

Great Divide- Oatmeal Yeti Stout:  Another well established beer from a well established brewery.  The Yeti imperial stout series has a cult like following and it is easy to see why, strong notes of coffee and cocoa play off of one another while the addition of the oatmeal create an even creamier version of this amazing stout.  This beer needed to be paired with something strong enough to hold up to this beer and we chose Maytag Blue Cheese, an excellent pairing!


After chatting with Janet about her book we gave away a copy as well, it is a highly recommended book and features a layout that is perfect for the subject matter.  A must read if you are interested in beer and food pairings!  Click on the cover below to pick up a copy for yourself!

August 16, 2014 Show

This week we drank and discussed all things Brooklyn Brewery with the one and only Garrett Oliver!  The man is a wealth of beer knowledge and always great to talk to and we of course enjoyed just a small sample of the amazing beers from Brooklyn Brewery.  However, we did have one small change to the lineup right before airtime we swapped Pennant Ale for Post Road Pumpkin Ale, it's getting to be that time of year!

The Beer Lineup:

Post Road Pumpkin Ale:  This is an extremely sessionable pumpkin ale and comes in at 5% ABV but still has that wonderful pumpkin aroma and taste that we love in the fall season.  It is brewed more to be a traditional pumpkin ale than the newcomers that can become over the top spice bombs.

Brooklyn Blast- At 8.4% ABV this DIPA is surprisingly sessionable and easy drinking.  Brewed more towards the East coast style of IPA's and not intended to be a hop bomb, but still delivers the goods that hop heads enjoy.

Sorachi Ace- The first repeat beer on our show and it is making it's second appearance for good reason, it's a fantastic beer!  This Saison is brewed with a wonderful dosing of Sorachi Ace hops that impart a delicious bouquet of lemons, words cannot fully describe how great this beer truly is, so try it for yourself!

Local 1- Brooklyn Belgian Pale Ale again is surprisingly sessionable despite it's 9% ABV.  In fact Garrett informed us that a sign needed to be hung in the brewery to warn drinkers of the higher ABV, delicious Belgian aromas and flavors abound!

Local 2- WOW! What a great beer, again at 9% with no alcohol heat, this Belgian Dark Strong Ale is also imparted with honey and sweet orange peel.  The dark rich characteristics of this beer must be experienced first hand.


We also had a fantastic prize pack to give away this week, a signed copy of Garrett Oliver's AMAZING book The Brewmaster's Table.  If you do not own a copy of this book already, click on the cover below and get a copy now!

August 9, 2014 Show

This week we drink and discuss aged beer with a great selection of styles to showcase aged beer and also learn how to properly age beer in your beer cellar with author of Vintage Beer Patrick Dawson.  We were also joined in studio by our wonderful guest Billy from Backyard Ale House.  It was a great show with a lot of great information and of course GREAT beer!

Beer Lineup:


Allagash Brewing Company- Golden Brett:  This world class sour beer kicked things off with a great sour tart character that seemed to sooth the palate while at the same time deliver that puckering quality we love in sour beers.  A rare one from May 2013, but definitely holding up well and is a true showcase for the wonders of Brett!

North Coast Brewing Company- Old Stock Ale Cellar Reserve (2011)- Words simply can not do enough justice for this beer. It is truly on a level of its own.  Strong aroma of cherries, chocolate, vanilla, pretty much everything delicious and sweet that you can imagine is in this beer.  The complexities run deep and it also tips the scales at 15.2% ABV, so this is certainly a sipping beer, an absolute MUST TRY!!

Avery Brewing Company- Hog Heaven: A 2013 bottle of this dry hopped barley wine.  It carries itself like a super beefed up DIPA but with great balance and high drinkability, another big one at 10% ABV, another sipper, but very enjoyable and fans of barley wines will want to hunt this one down!

Brew Dog- Rip Tide (2009)- This 5 year old bottle of imperial stout still holds up pretty strong and imparts a wide array of flavors from coffee to chocolate to hints of red fruits.  At 8% ABV it is surprising how well this beer held up over time, if you can find this one around don't be afraid of the date, crack it open and give it a try!

Thirsty Dog- Wulver (2012)- This Scottish Wee Heavy was aged in bourbon barrels for an extra kick and the flavor profile on this beer reaches far beyond typical Wee Heavy beers.  The bourbon barrel impart strong notes and flavors of coconut and vanilla, but flavors of chocolate and hints of coffee also come through, another sipping beer, but a great one!


After talking with Patrick Dawson we also gave away a FANTASTIC copy of his book Vintage Beer, the aging beer topic is covered in much more depth in this book and is highly recommended reading, check it out by clicking the cover below!

August 2, 2014 Show

In honor of Mead Day we are drinking and discussing some great commercially available versions of the style as well as some homebrewed versions brought in by our special guests this week.  The discussion ranges from history to style guidelines to variations within the style and we even go into some unexpected and hilarious areas, it is a GREAT show packed with A LOT of great information!


Mead Lineup:

Chaucer's Mead-  The most widely available mead in the United States currently, it has a very clean profile with a smooth body and a sweet honey aroma and finish, great introductory mead for the style.

B. Nektar- Kill All the Golfers: B. Nektar Meadery is an upcoming meadery from MI that is not afraid to experiment with the style.  This statement is proven with their wonderful take on the mead style with this wonderful example, the honey notes take a back seat to iced tea and lemon flavors and all blend wonderfully to create a wonderful Arnold Palmer-like taste (but MUCH better of course!) a must try for those who say "I have had meads and I don't like them."  Also the 6% ABV is great and makes this a pretty sessionable mead!

Moon Light Meadery- Desire: Moonlight Meadery is certainly leading the charge of quality meads and this is their flagship mead and it is easy to see why this meadery is winning over fans everywhere they go.  Strong notes of blueberries, black cherries and blackcurrants meld with honey for an incredibly smooth mead and the 16.7% ABV is completely hidden!

We also partook in some homebrewed meads brought in by our lovely guests from the Scranton Brewers Guild and we of course had another great giveaway this week featuring a book helping to introduce meadmaking at home!

Making Wild Wines and Meads gives some introductory lessons and great started recipes for those looking to make meads and other types of wine at home!  Click on the cover below to check the book out for yourself!