Allentown BrewWorks

We took a trip out to Allentown BrewWorks in Allentown, PA yesterday. Great Beers and Great Food. Definitely worth the trip!

The brewery building is actually 3 buildings combined. They bought each for $1 and renovated them.

OK, I'll have a sampler. I liked them all. Saison was nice!
They have 3 bars. The main floor bar has an acrylic top with under lighting. Cool.

The food was great. Here are the Bavarian pretzels. Tons of garlic. Yum!

They had a whole bunch of their own taps.

Greg gave me a great tour of their brewery. Nice copper...and great idea to put it right in the front window....

The Labeler...HopSolutely.

It is a small brewery. This is their bottler....wish I had one of those at home...

Fermenters...with a foamy airlock bucket at the bottom...

Kettles from the street...

Definitely will come back to Allentown....

Sam Adams Longshot winners

For those who aren't as beer geeky as me.... Each year Sam Adams has a national competition. They ask homebrewers (and S.A. employees) to send in beers. They judge them and the winners get to brew their beers at Sam Adams and they put them out together in a six pack.... Here are this years Long Shot Winners.... Figured I would try them and see what is up....

The Long shot sixpack

The winners. Two homebrewers and one Sam Adams employee.

The Employee winner was a lavender Honey Ale.

Sue's first comment was..."it smells like shampoo". Not good I guess.

Honey B’s Lavender Ale – Ale brewed with lavender petals with honey added. 5.5%.
slight lavender flavor and aroma. smooth honey flavor. Pale ale. Ok beer.…not distinctive…
Let the beer warm up…more flavor and aroma comes late…

Next...A black IPA

Blackened Hops – Hoppy Black IPA. 7.0%. Good…bitter and roasty taste. Great hops aroma…..nice foamy head with lasting lace…. Nice lace all the way down! (some wheat for sure). Dry…easy to drink more than one…

Lastly....Friar Hop Ale

Friar Hop Ale – Ale brewed with spices. 9.0% Very Saisony. Favorite of the three. Nice, spicy, smooth. Can’t tell it is this high gravity. OK…I would actually drink this one. BUT…first thing I said is….Henepin. So, there you go.

First try of the Barleywine....

I tried my barleywine....it has been in the bottle for about 4 months. It is good, but needs more time... I like it, it is malty and a bit sweet....more time will balance it a bit more....and 11%...

New Pot! Not that kind....come on!

Got a new pot today! Woohooo! It's called a Penrose from Brewhemoth.com 15.5 gallons. Looking forward to brewing my first big batch in it...

New Hops Nursery

I planted 10 new hops plants at the nursery yesterday. 5 different varieties.

Look...one is up already..... Well, I planted it that way.... I now have 26 in total in 3 different locations. Last years transplants look like they are sprouting.... Fresh hops beer this year!!!