An Epic Sesh

On Friday night I headed out to Cricket Hill Brewery with a couple coworkers for their weekly “brewery tour”. Basically, you pay two dollars for four drink tickets which really served no purpose. Then you continually fill up the small cup that comes with your admission and hang out with a bunch of dudes and a couple chicks drinking some dope session beers. Eventually, owner Rick Reed will give an impassioned speech about his beer. The dude really gets into it. He also really digs session beers. Cricket Hill exclusively brews session beers. Session beers, for those not in the know, are craft brewed beers that you can drink all day. Basically, beers that are super tasty, with moderate alcohol content, and nothing too intense. There are really no actual rules to what defines a session beer. I would say that alcohol has to be under 7%. I don't think anything with the label imperial could be considered a session. Probably nothing aged in casks with oak chips. Actually they did have a cask ale on tap. At this point I feel obliged to talk about the beers they were serving:

East Coast Lager: Didn't actually try this one that night, but I've had it in the past. It's a pretty good lager. Not too dark, but certainly not light. I can't really get into specifics because it's been a while.

Porter: This was good. It borders on a stout. Some really nice roasted flavour, but it goes down smooth as shit. Really delicious. Great mouth feel, slightly burnt, but mostly just smooth with a roasted malt up front.

Hopnotic IPA: If it is possible for there to be an East Coast IPA this is it. Don't ask me why. Basically it is an American IPA, only a little lighter in body and hop bitterness, but maybe slightly more hop aroma and/or flavour. Definitely a great session IPA. According to Ratebeer.com it has an ABV of 6%. That is low for an IPA. It's good though. I could seriously drink this all day and not get into a fight or anything.

Colonel Blides Cask Ale: According to this dude I talked too, it is a cask American ale. Kind of a weird concept. A relatively banal style of beer put into a cask and aged. The result was seriously great. The first one I got was the butt of a cask. It lacked almost all carbonation but was chock full of sediment. I thought that was what they were going for. Then I drank like six more off the fresh tap. It was an American ale times a million. Like seriously delicious and almost addictive. I've never tasted so much character in an amber session ale. I highly highly recommend.

I had a great time at the brewery. The beer was right up my ally. I am a strong advocate of session ales. I think specialty beers are delicious and have there place. Believe me, I can definitely get into a Chimay blue cap or a Brooklyn black chocolate stout. But when it comes down to it, I'd much rather grab a pale ale around 5% that I can drink for the next 7 hours straight. That is living.

Rick made me self conscious about what I had in my fridge:

I was talking to Rick about the beers I had coming up. He did not seem very interested in the imperial stout I have bottle conditioning, but more interested in the ESB I have in secondary. The dude loves session ales.

In conclusion, if you want to have a good time with a bunch of dudes, you like session beers, and you can stand cigar smoke, check out the brewery tour at Cricket Hill Brewery. It is every Friday night at 5:30. Enjoy the pics and cheers.

A fermentation tank and some old dude

Rick preaching to the converted

A captivated audience and/or huddled masses

Brew master, some dude, taps on the wall

Chex mix, for some reason this was a legal requirement.

News and notes (something new):

I just ordered a digital camera. I thought that the Iphone would suffice, but it is simply not hacking it.

If your are on the upper west side, check out Pioneer. It's on Columbus around 74th. They have Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale bombers on special (2/$5).

Tis the season: Troegs Nugget Nectar is out there. Go and get it while it lasts. You will not be sorry.

What I'm drinking:
Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale (thanks pioneer) and pale ale.
What I'm Listening to:
88 Fingers Louie (oh yeah)

Let us celebrate

I'd like to spotlight a beer that I just had for the first time: Ayinger Celebrator. Ayinger is a German company and celebrator is a German style doppelbock. For years I've considered picking this beer up but I was scared off by the price tag. It comes in a 4 pack at around $12.00. Now I've spent much more then that on beers before, but mostly on beers that I was pretty sure I would like. I'm down with bocks, but double bocks can be a bit harsh at times. Not so with the Celebrator. This thing is smooth as hell and really tasty. Immediately you are hit with some nice roasted malts and a sweet molasses flavour. This is followed by some darker fruit flavours like raisin and plum. The medium body really compliments the flavour and makes this beer an experience. For me, this is the perfect winter beer: tasty, dark, smooth, and exceptionally well balanced. It helped me through the blizzard we just experienced in the Mid Atlantic. Also it has a really sweet label:

And each bottle comes with a plastic ram thing. I put mine around this wine bottle.

Also I chipped my tooth the other day.

What I'm drinking:
Tazo Organic Darjeeling Black Tea (my jam lately)
What I'm listening to:
Death Cab- all albums on shuffle