What are you drinking?

By all news reports, the New Jersey area will become quite interesting within the next few hours. Regardless of what will or will not happen, this is always an excuse to drink beer. Some love drinking voldka, or whiskey, where others like me love drinking brewskis. Often, we focus too heavily on milk, cheese, and bread but honestly we should think about beer. Or maybe water.


I've been getting supplies the past few days. I'm not sure what to believe on how bad the storm will be. It seems unreal when your seeing events unfold on television.

I picked up a case of miller light, and 12 pack sample fall from magic hat at the wilco. I then went to the Iron Hill Maple Shade to get a growler of Rising Sun. I knew before they were holding a special event teamed up with Flying Fish to serve Iron Fish and Flying Fish #13(don't know if I got the numbers right). I was told this was the ONLY keg available in the world!. Crazy, but no, I didn't drink this beer. I ran into the brewer of Iron Hill, Chris, whom was talking to me about the event and even let me try a taste of Iron Fish, which looked like a black IPA with a nice taste. I should have gotten a growler of that, but the Rising Sun is one of my favorites beer.

Watching the news, make sure you stay safe and drink good beer.

Iron Hill Stepping It's Brewing Up

It's been a few days since my last blog. This past week most of my time has been spent working on the house, and I just haven't had the chance to do much writing. I did manage to drink some refreshing/cold/tasty/fill in the blank beers Friday night at Iron Hill. Now that I live across the street, I'm thinking I will go there to drink when I need a beer (assuming I have extra money). If you haven't gotten the chance, get over to the brewery soon as they have an extensive seasonal list of beers on tap. I was actually surprised by the amount of seasonal on the draft list that I asked the server if the brew master was doing this because of Philly Beer Week. She said they were aware of PBW, but that wasn't the reason for the extensive selection. Apparently the brew master has been doing a great job, and had a lot of kegs that needed drinking so he put them on tap. Thankfully for him, I came to drink.

Glancing over the list I saw my favorite Iron Hill beer: Rising Sun; If it was up to me this beer would become a staple at the Iron Hill. This IPA is brewed with Japanese Hops that has such a smooth taste. I ended up drinking three beers as it was a Friday night. Being that I am now a Maple Shade resident there was a beer called the #100 which was brewed specifically for this location. The description stated it was brewed 100 lbs of sugar, malts, corn, etc. I had a sample of this beer, but since this was Friday I don't remember taste. I do remember thinking I wouldn't order a draft of this. The other beer on their seasonal list that I would have tried (assuming Rising Sun wasn't on draft) is the Apricot Wheat. For some reason I have been craving the Aprihop By Dogfish Head.

Getting off subject, not sure if any of you read the blog ZoowithRoy.com. aka I want to go to the zoo with Roy Halladay. Iron Hill has teamed up with this blog and if brewing a beer after this blog. I'm hoping to get to try a sample of this beer as I find the concept great. Maybe Iron Hill can make a beer after H Loves Beer... maybe?

A Cold Night in South Philadelphia

Last night was cold. Actually, it was freezing. I can honestly say I now know what Jack felt in Titanic as Rose was floating on the wood while they waited to be rescued in the middle of the ocean. I cut out of work at 6 and my drive down to the stadium took a little over a hour. Despite the traffic to the stadium my drive was relaxing and I rode with the windows down believing it not to be that cold. By the time I got to the stadium and parked the game was about 10 minutes in, and being stupid I didn't grab my jacket. Heck, I thought I could easily put a beer coat on.

It wasn't until I got inside the stadium that I realized how cold it was. I immediately knew I should have grabbed my jacket, and had to resort to the giveaway t shirt and my long sleeve phils shirt to keep warm. I needed a beer, so me and Rich ended at the first hometown brewery we saw to order a beer. Although there were 4 micro brew choices, I had to go with one of my favorites: Flying Fish Summer Ale. Unfortunately the beer didn't make me believe I was in the summer months. I think a better choice would have been Sam Adam's Winter Ale.

I got to my seats, and didn't worry about my beer becoming warm and unenjoyable. In fact, I thought the complete opposite and figured my beer would freeze. It was so cold that I didn't want to drink, and I couldn't even move. A few times I found myself going to the bathroom not because I had to use it, but because I thought I could get warm.

As cold as it was, and because of the poor performance the Phillies put on I only drank my one beer, and left by the 6th inning. The one benefit of that was I hit no traffic leaving. It was still early in the night, and because I had to drive Rich to Media we stopped at the Iron Hill Brewery in Media Square. Again, I feel like I should be a spokesperson for this place, but I love this brewery and they are everywhere. If anyone that works at Iron Hill reads this please consider me for a position that allows me to drink your beer and write for you guys.

I ended up drinking a Rising Sun, but noticed a beer on their list called Hopalicious. I can only assume this was a hoppy beer. I should have ordered this beer, but as I blogged previously I have a love affair with the Rising Sun.

There's two things I want to mention about Iron Hill: the Iron Hill in Maple Shade is holding a fundraiser this Friday to raise money for the people of Japan. For those that are going to this location, please order a draft (or two) of the rising sun as 100% of the proceeds are going to help the people of Japan. I do plan to work late that night, but I might have to stop by to support the cause. The second thing I want to mention is that the Iron Hill in Media is doing their annual brewfest on May 14. I went last year and drank beers from over over 25 breweries. Not to mention they serve food, and have live music. The weather was perfect last year, and it was a great time. I'm still undecided if I'm attending this year, but this is one event that's completely worth the money.

As for the Phillies, I determined today that any tickets (other than opening day) I have during the month of April I will end up selling.

A Saturday Afternoon at the Brewery

I had every intention to blog yesterday, but after drinking a little too much I didn't get a chance too. My apologizes for that. Yesterday was an early day, after waking up at 7:30AM to run errands. By the time I got home it was around 1:30, so I headed to the Iron Hill brewery for some beer and grub. I mentioned the other day about my excitement that their seasonal beer Rising Sun was back on draft. Not wasting anytime I ended up ordering that for my first beer, and when that was finished I ordered another draft. The Rising Sun is my favorite beer, and was as good as I remembered.

Since I started this blog I've been trying to branch out with my drinking. When I go to a bar or restaurant I find myself ordering something I'm comfortable with. To counter this, I ordered a beer flight of their current seasonal samples. The 4 ounce samples included:

India Black Ale - Similar to their porter but hopped up. I enjoyed this, and would order again

Orange Trufle - Tasted like a chocolate covered orange. It was good, but not something I would order.

American Brown Ale - Reminded me of Newcastle Brown Ale, but was better. Perhaps it might have been better since it was brewed in the same building and was fresh.

Abbey Dubbel - I'm really trying to enjoy Belgian beers, but I'm having a hard time. Although light in color, I just can't seem to enjoy these types. I did manage to drink the full sample for the sake of this blog, but just find these beers aren't for me.

American Tripel (Their seasonal Belgian) - Same as above

Rising Sun - My favorite beer they brew. I can never have too much of this kind.

By the time I left the Iron Hill I was feeling the effects of the beer, and had to pass the car keys to the GF. I'm not sure if it's because the beer I've tried has higher alcohol content but I often leave this place happy.

Thank you Iron Hill Brewery

I got some EXCITING news from the Iron Hill Brewery! The beer, Rising Sun will be back on tap at the Maple Shade location, and I'll definately need to get my butt in there to enjoy several drafts. They did mention that for Valentines Day they will be releasing the Cherry Vanilla Porter which sounds interesting, but with only one keg I doubt I will get there to try it before it's kicked.