An Acquired Taste
As with many flavors in this world, beer as a whole is an acquired taste - diving deeper, as those more experienced with a brewski beyond Coor's and Miller Lite would know, there are many styles within the world of beer. Sours, IPAs, lagers, stouts, imperials, porters, etc. are a mere handful as many of these have their own subcategories as well with variants based on additives and the craftsmanship of the brewery itself.
In the past week I've tried some truly interesting flavors - all logged in my handy dandy Untappd app account**. There are a plethora of craft brews which have cropped up around the country in the past several years, many of which are just in my backyard waiting to be explored and conquered. There are two local breweries in particular to which I'm partial: Boneshire Brewery in Harrisburg and Tattered Flag Brewery in Middletown. Both feature a vast array of interesting flavors.
Boneshire is a BYOF, or Bring Your Own Food, and features an ever-changing listing of house beersas well as a list of guest brews. Not all places feature the flight option but having the option of a flight available at this venue is greatly appreciated as you don't have to take the plunge on a full pint glass. Boneshire is currently featuring mostly IPAs, or India Pale Ale. These hoppy beers are not for the faint of heart; while not as full-bodied as a stout, they do pack a strong flavor.
The AuZealand is an American-style IPA; smooth and not overly hoppy. The Armory had a big of a grainier taste, but good nonetheless. The Green Machine was probably my favorite of the three IPAs tasted; it went down quite nicely and paired with mini glass #4 quite well, the Witbier, Tried and True.
If you're looking for a beer to befuddle your pallet, I have two seemingly oddball treats. One of is from the aforementioned Tattered Flag Brewery, which is a relatively new brewery to the area. The smaller glass in front contains a sampling of the Fatum Series: All Day Breakfast, a blend of maple and kumquat. It sounds like a mouthful and a mouthful of sour funk, but as someone likely told you when you tried your very first beer, "don't knock it 'til you try it." I do love my sour beers and while this one probably took the cake for strangest combination I've tried, it was worth trying. The kumquat paired well as an additive so it did not have such a strong maple flavoring, but rather blended out with the sweetness.
If you're looking for something totally out of the comfort zone and into the land of weird sours, look for Cucumber Crush by 10 Barrel Brewing Co. If you consider yourself even the slightest of sour aficionado, you'll want to mind-boggle your tongue with this one. Coming from a girl who absolutely detests cucumber (and pickles are even worse), I found this sour to be rather delightful.
Tartness ✔ interesting taste ✔ does not taste like cucumber ✔
It tasted similarly to a liquefied green SourPatch kid - aka delicious if you're into that sort of thing.
As with anything, being open to trying new things can be oddly satisfying and lead one to new experiences which turned out pretty great, case in point: two new tasty beers. While I am partial to what I like (we're all creatures of habit after all) and my IPAs and sours, I'm open to trying anything that comes my way - including the purple glitter beer which will be featured at an upcoming event.
As always with beer, please remember to drink responsibly. Until next pint...
**Hey, let's be Untappd buddies! This can be found in the Apple Store or Google Play, pending on your phone preference. My handle is Passportandpints
In the past week I've tried some truly interesting flavors - all logged in my handy dandy Untappd app account**. There are a plethora of craft brews which have cropped up around the country in the past several years, many of which are just in my backyard waiting to be explored and conquered. There are two local breweries in particular to which I'm partial: Boneshire Brewery in Harrisburg and Tattered Flag Brewery in Middletown. Both feature a vast array of interesting flavors.
Boneshire is a BYOF, or Bring Your Own Food, and features an ever-changing listing of house beersas well as a list of guest brews. Not all places feature the flight option but having the option of a flight available at this venue is greatly appreciated as you don't have to take the plunge on a full pint glass. Boneshire is currently featuring mostly IPAs, or India Pale Ale. These hoppy beers are not for the faint of heart; while not as full-bodied as a stout, they do pack a strong flavor.
The AuZealand is an American-style IPA; smooth and not overly hoppy. The Armory had a big of a grainier taste, but good nonetheless. The Green Machine was probably my favorite of the three IPAs tasted; it went down quite nicely and paired with mini glass #4 quite well, the Witbier, Tried and True.
If you're looking for a beer to befuddle your pallet, I have two seemingly oddball treats. One of is from the aforementioned Tattered Flag Brewery, which is a relatively new brewery to the area. The smaller glass in front contains a sampling of the Fatum Series: All Day Breakfast, a blend of maple and kumquat. It sounds like a mouthful and a mouthful of sour funk, but as someone likely told you when you tried your very first beer, "don't knock it 'til you try it." I do love my sour beers and while this one probably took the cake for strangest combination I've tried, it was worth trying. The kumquat paired well as an additive so it did not have such a strong maple flavoring, but rather blended out with the sweetness.
If you're looking for something totally out of the comfort zone and into the land of weird sours, look for Cucumber Crush by 10 Barrel Brewing Co. If you consider yourself even the slightest of sour aficionado, you'll want to mind-boggle your tongue with this one. Coming from a girl who absolutely detests cucumber (and pickles are even worse), I found this sour to be rather delightful.
Tartness ✔ interesting taste ✔ does not taste like cucumber ✔
It tasted similarly to a liquefied green SourPatch kid - aka delicious if you're into that sort of thing.
As with anything, being open to trying new things can be oddly satisfying and lead one to new experiences which turned out pretty great, case in point: two new tasty beers. While I am partial to what I like (we're all creatures of habit after all) and my IPAs and sours, I'm open to trying anything that comes my way - including the purple glitter beer which will be featured at an upcoming event.
As always with beer, please remember to drink responsibly. Until next pint...
"Beer, it's the best damn drink in the world." -Jack Nicholson
**Hey, let's be Untappd buddies! This can be found in the Apple Store or Google Play, pending on your phone preference. My handle is Passportandpints
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