I did go to Pittsburgh last December, a hellride of a 24-hour roundtrip that I will write more about, and soon, because I finally got to Point Brugge (and it was nice), and I stopped at Church, and I finally got to witness the tapping of the St. Nikolaus Bock at Penn Brewery (which may or may not have been the last time it happens; latest rumors/news prove things are still up in the air there, and I guess I'm just gonna have to go out and get the straight shit), and I kinda had a drunken walkabout with Vecenie rep Tony Knipling (thanks for getting me back to my hotel safely, Tony)...But I also stopped at East End Brewing, and had a very nice visit with Scott (got to taste Snow Melt, which was delish, and most of the Session series he had available, also nice), and he gave me a bottle of The Ugly American. I cracked it open as a pre-Easter dinner libation - a liter's worth of pre-libation - and I can finally agree with Uncle Jack (it's there, about 2/3 down the page, and aren't you glad Jack started blogging?) that this is "one heck of a job" of brewing, a tripel with a huge addition of hops. It's likely not as sweet as it was, being bottle-conditioned and all, but it's still big and spicy, then crushingly bitter in the finish. Nice.
Wonder what excuse Scott will use to brew it now?
9 comments:
Oh man you should have visited me at the duquesne brewery on the south side or at least had a couple of cold irons at that plant over in lawrencville. Also the mission street bar and grill is always a good choice dont know what they had in december but they are currently pouring stegmaier porter.
Duke Ale? The self-proclaimed "Prince of Pilsners?" Wow. I used to drink you back in the day.
Didja see how I said I did the trip in 24 hours? Including the drive out and back? I thought I was doing pretty well hitting three breweries (and two bars) as it was!
Next time stay longer, Lew, and I'll get ol' smoothie and we'll go out for a couple at Gene's in Oakland. I'll buy the silver tops.
come on lew, we know philly holds the title of beer city USA but show your Western Pa some love we rate more than 24hours, don't we? Come on, you can relive your graduate school days @ good ol' Carnegie Tech. Bring the wife and the corgis do a weekend piece on Western Pa.
Hey um Lew,
One of us is losing it, and it might just be me. I don't remember meeting up with you at the brewery. But maybe we did and I blacked out the whole thing???
Gotta go - there's a white truck pulling up outside and some guys with a net that want to talk to me.
Cheers,
Scott
Yeah, I was definitely there, and I've got the bottle of Gratitude to prove it. Better yet, I'll put a picture up. This was back in the first week of December, mind you!
Well there it is then... glad I took those guys up on their offer of a ride. (Mmmmm, nice cushy walls.)
Amazing what a month or three of time can erase!
Yeah, the beer in western Pa can do that to ya, Scott, and Lew, I agree with my vaunted colleagues of old...stay a little longer next time.
This ain't New York, and hotel rooms are cheaper than Philly for cryin' out loud! You know you're gonna do it as soon as you get around to visiting the Hofbrauhaus, and we're looking forward to having you around. (Ask Joe Grkman about me when you're there.)
Might even have to take you to Schmidt's Tavern in Coraopolis.
P.S. Me and the Old Smoothy agree: the old days sure were grand! Plus, you can still order an Iron and a Stoney's, and maybe even a Latrobe-brewed Rolling Rock sometime soon!
Hey, you old, dead boogers, I shouldn't even have been there at all! When I come out for Hofbräuhaus, I'll stay longer, believe me.
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