Website dark for vacation

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Howdy, folks.

I'm still getting back into the swing of regular writing, obviously, and I still have plenty to say about an amazing trip to Asheville. But now, it's time for the big vacation with the family to the Jersey Shore. I'm fairly certain there will be a brewery hopping day somewhere in there, visiting some old faves (Cape May!), some new faves (7 Mile!) and some newcomers (Mudhen!).

As usual, Twitter will be the best way to keep up with whatever's going on, with Instagram being a reliable back-up, so long as Wi-Fi proves reliable.

See you all back here on Labor Day weekend!

Beers in Review: Clearing the Slate (plus Programming Notes)

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I'm clearing out the Notes app of all of my beers to be reviewed, so let's get to it!

Leading off is Unknown Brewing Company's latest in their traditional not-quite-anniversary releases, 3.5ish, celebrating 3 1/2 years of beer-making by Unknown. This time around, the Charlotte-based brewers made what is called a "gueze-inspired lambic". This beer comes in at 6.1% ABV, and pours a slightly hazy golden color. While the flavor profile is generally mild in potency, it leads with considerable pungent notes, including a whole lot of funk and perhaps some leather and even a bit of B.O. (yes...THAT B.O.). Other notes include a little bit of salt (expected for the style) and a moderate lemony sweetness that sits towards the back of the drinking experience. These Unknown "anniversary" beers are always a little bit out there, and this one is no different.

Immediately after the 3.5ish, I had 'Round the Riverbend from The Hourglass Brewery in Longwood, Florida. Riverbend was what was referred to as a "mixed-fermentation rye saison", and had enough similarities to the 3.5ish that I feel that something resembling palate fatigue may have affected my overall interpretation of this beer. This beer pours a crystal-clear straw gold, and like the 3.5ish is quite funky and pungent, also bringing tobacco and a musty note to the beer. Some hints of pepper and fruit (cherry or sour cherry?) are also present. I found this beer to be a bit overwhelming, but I am completely willing to chalk it up to the back-to-back drinking experiences.

For something completely different, we turn to Asheville's Highland Brewing Company and their limited release Hawaiian Lounge Juice Extra IPA. Highland was aiming for an IPA that was "deceptively drinkable" despite being 8% ABV. They did this by overloading it with tropical qualities, even to the point that I was picking up citrus rind and fruit leaves or greens in the aroma. These all carried through into the flavor profile and combined with the tropical hops to generate a moderate bite. The flavor profile also features plenty of fruits, including pineapple, mango, passion fruit, and even some sweet or candied orange. The tropicality extends into a juicy mouthfeel, as well.

Closing out this edition of BiR are two Hefeweizens.

Lonerider Brewery in Raleigh, NC seems to come and go from the Columbia, SC market, but I always find them to be a solid contribution when they're here. Their award-winning Shotgun Betty does an excellent of nailing the textbook modern Hefeweizen style. It brings a bit of banana, plenty of clove (along with lighter amounts of other spices like All Spice), and plenty of grain with a fairly light body. The bubblegum sweetness is also very much present but not overpowering with this beer. The review shows it: there's not a lot of flourish to Shotgun Betty, frankly, but there are few American offerings that better exemplify the style.

Finally, we turn to Charlotte's Olde Mecklenburg Brewery and their Hornet's Nest Hefeweizen. As expected, Hornet's Nest pours a completely cloudy straw color. The flavor profile leads with bubble gum and clove which are supported by banana, black pepper, and a few other spices. Just like Betty above, OMB nails the standard Hefe flavor notes, though I felt like I also detected a small amount of malty sweetness in their offering. Hornet's Nest also tends to be a bit more powerful, with bolder flavors (especially for the style) and a fairly heavy body. Still a really good Hefeweizen, though.

As a programming note, I leave for vacation on Friday, so posting will be minimal/sporadic. I'm heading to the Jersey shore again, and there are a couple of new breweries to check out. So, I'll have plenty of content for when I return Labor Day Weekend, and if WiFi allows, I might try to livestream something from a brewery or two. No promises on that last part, though. The best way to keep up with what's going on will be through the PRB Twitter and PRB Instagram accounts.

Thanks, everyone, and see you next week!

Details of PRB Coverage of River Rat Brewery's 3rd Birthday

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As previously mentioned, Columbia's River Rat Brewery will be celebrating their 3rd birthday tomorrow. I will be covering the festivities for PRB, as well as checking out several of the notable beers River Rat will have on tap for the celebration. Here's how you can find out all about it:

-I will be livetweeting the event on the PRB Twitter feed.

-I will be posting the beers I try live on the Untappd app, also available via PC.

-Either Sunday's or Tuesday's video will be dedicated to coverage of the event.

-Beers from the event will be included in Beers in Review posts over the next couple of weeks.

-Videos from the event will be posted, available for Patrons via Patreon.

I hope to see some of you at River Rat tomorrow! Cheers!

Video Review: Catching Up With Everyone Else

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In today's video review, I check out the much-reviewed Sierra Nevada Brewing Company Tropical Torpedo. It seems like every BeerTuber on the planet checked this beer out during my personal Booze-Free February, so I finally get caught up with everyone else. Check out my thoughts on the beer, as well as notes on upcoming goings-on here at PRB.

Patreon Bonus Commentary

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Hello, everyone. I am here to announce that I have written the first bonus content for PRB Patrons through Patreon. It is a bonus commentary piece featuring my thoughts on the latest entrant in the hard beverage craze. You can find it at the link highlighted above, but it will only be available to those that are kind enough to pledge $5 a month to PRB. Patreon donations go to help fund website operations, buy beers to review, help me grow in my personal craft beer journey, and more! You can find out more about patronage here.

Thank you, and we now return you to your regular programming.

...and for your consideration (Patreon request)

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If you have enjoyed PRB, and would consider wanting to support what it is that I do, check out this video:

 

Please note that any content from Patreon will only be ADDITIONAL to the content here on the PRB main site--I instead to maintain the same amount of content regardless of patronage.

Patronage is absolutely not required, but absolutely appreciated.

Thanks.

-Justin

Video Review: Westbrook 6th Anniversary (plus a programming note)

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I'm bringing the weekend video review early-I find it tends to be on Sundays. We'll get to the "why" on that in a moment.

First, check out the excellent anniversary offering from Westbrook Brewing Company:

In terms of tomorrow, 1/8/17, I will be doing a livestream to do some audio and video testing of my long-ignored HD camera and my new microphone that I've been using for about a week now. To keep everyone involved, I plan on reviewing Stone Brewing's Xocoveza Stout, discussing some of my lackluster video reviews from earlier in the week, and what will be coming up on the overall review front here at PRB. That will all be tomorrow night, around 8pm Eastern. Maybe a tad later. Check out Twitter and/or Facebook for up-to-date information on this livestream. Hope to see you then!

One Year of PRB!

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Hello, friends. In case you missed yesterday's video (or didn't watch the whole thing), TODAY is the first birthday of Pourly Reviewed Beer!

To be honest, a year ago, I wasn't quite sure how far this would go.

The initial blogging concept started early in 2015 (as Inside the Keg), and Pourly Reviewed Beer started in what I'm calling the "Beta phase" in September of 2015. But that attempt resulted in just a handful of beer-related posts in a six-week period. Now, a catastrophic flood did play a bit of a role in that inconsistency, but mostly it was on me, and at the end of October I finally hunkered down and started writing pretty regularly.

After a regular posting schedule, I decided to add video to the site, grabbed a YouTube channel, and began weekly video reviews in February. That spring, the Six-Pack of News debuted, creating a dedicated semi-regular/as-needed news platform that had been attempted and abandoned a few times previously. Those first half of 2016 also brought the first theme weeks (Columbia Craft Beer Week in January and St. Patrick's week in March), the first event report (the Columbia Brew Bus in April), and the first in-depth location/travel posts (Posts from Asheville in May and June). The end result was an ever-increasing posting frequency, from about 10 posts/month at the beginning of 2016, to around 15/month in May and June, to what will likely be at least 20 posts in October.

So, where do we go from here?

Well, more of the same, and more frequently, is a start. I'm personally committing to having at least 5 posts per week, in an attempt to make this a site that MUST BE visited daily. This will include my recent commitment of YouTube videos each Tuesday/Thursday/one weekend day. After just doing a couple of events this year, I feel like that will be a big area of potential growth. Columbia has so many excellent beer events year-round now, and they should be shared with the world.

I also need to utilize social media better. Right now, the Twitter page gets some love thanks to some of my fellow beer bloggers and vloggers, but the Facebook page is little more than notices about new blog articles. Both platforms can be better utilized. I started this by linking my Untappd account to the PRB Twitter handle (add me on Untapped, username: PourlyReviewedBeer), but I just need to add my own thoughts and opinions to these platforms as they strike me.

Long form news and opinion pieces could also be a next step, but I will need to see how that fits into my current blogging set-up. Still, it's something worth looking into for the next year.

Now, to the many people I have to thank.

I must start with my incredibly supportive family, who are wonderful in so many ways.

To all the readers and viewers, thanks for stopping by, and stopping by often. Special thanks to those commenters, especially on YouTube. It's made for some great conversation, debate, and networking!

Specifically, to the members of the Columbia beer scene that have stopped by my little corner of the internet, thanks so much, and if there's anything at all I can do to help you out, let me know. I would love to do some collaboration.

 

Thanks so much, everyone, for all of your support. Here's to Year 2! Cheers!

Programming Note

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Hello, everyone.

Just to keep you all in the loop, I will be doing a good amount of travelling over the next few weeks, both business and pleasure. As a result, site posts will be erratic through the first week of August. I plan on taking maximum advantage of the times that I can post, and that will likely include a Beers in Review post from tonight's night out. Keep up to date on postings at either https://www.twitter.com/pourlyreviewed or https://www.facebook.com/PourlyReviewedBeer/

 

See you guys soon!

Beers in Review: Plus a programming note for next week

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Three very different beers to discuss today. Let's get to it.

Vienna Lagers are not necessarily the most diverse of beer styles, but Devils Backbone Brewing Company is delivering on the style in a big way, having won multiple awards over the last several years. Their Vienna Lager pours a deep gold, and doesn't have a whole lot of body. Mild grain notes are accompanied by a great malt sweetness and some toasted notes. As expected, it is also very crisp on the palate and in the finish.

Next up, we try the Medusa Stout from Columbia's own Conquest Brewing Company. Pouring pitch black and having a good amount of body, you find many of the typical stout notes present: mild amounts of chocolate, some roasted coffee, some dark maltiness. There was also some bitterness present, but that tended to dissipate as it warmed. It had a pretty clean finish, but a bit of a smoky aftertaste or breathiness after drinking.

Finally, Terrapin Beer Company's session IPA, RecreationAle (not a typo). It's a pale gold color, has a moderate amount of body, and I find the flavors to be largely pretty mild. Citrus hops and a good amount of hop bitterness lead the way in sipping this beer. There is a bit of a fruity bite later on, along with something grainy as well. As a Session IPA, it's a relatively low ABV beer that would be best enjoyed quite cold on a summer day.

So, St. Patrick's Day is a big deal here in Columbia, South Carolina. We have a festival that draws 40,000 or more downtown to enjoy a big street fair, including 4 big stages of music, a parade, kids' carnival, and more. In the spirit of St. Pat's, check out 4 different Irish beer reviews next week, from Monday the 13th through St. Patrick's Day on Thursday. At least one of these will be a video review. That will all start Monday!

Beers in Review: PRB FINALLY Sells Out A Bit!

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When I founded this blog, the idea was to give my amateur thoughts on all the craft beers I could get my hands on. I assumed at some point something mainstream would end up here on PRB (and, really, some craft beer snobs would argue I've already reviewed mainstream beers, given Goose Island is now Budweiser's little brother), but I honestly figured it would take more than 3 months. That being said...

As a former Pennsylvanian, Yuengling Lager has a special place in my heart. Even all the way back in college, my fraternity brothers could attest that when I wasn't downing apple cider and Seagram's 7 (what the hell was I thinking?), I still felt too good to regularly down PBR, Keystone, and the other cheapest swill available. In lieu of the 40oz bottles of said products, I'd grab the liters of Yuengling instead. Even in college, before the craft beer boom, I tried to be a little bit of a beer snob.

So...Yuengling Lager. Like most macros, the profile for this beer is very much straight forward. Pouring a gold-orange color, and having a medium body, it's basic but pretty tasty for a lager. Plenty of grain flavors and aromas, and maybe a little bit of accompanying sweetness. Something biscuity or bready in there, as well. Personally, I always find Yuengling to fall in an ideal point on the flavor vs. price spectrum. Some crafts have gone down in price to be very affordable, but you'll never find them for $16/case. Basically, I'll always have a soft spot for "Lager".

As I mentioned in one of the Beer Festival blog entries, I had just discovered Catawba Brewing Company. Just prior to the festival, I had their Farmer Ted's Cream Ale. Listed as a cream ale, this seems to be their basic or gateway beer for the pale lager drinkers of the world. Nothing at all wrong with that. It pours a pale, straw-like yellow, and has a light, bready flavor. I also found it to have a mildly sweet aftertaste. Frankly, I felt that it was maybe a little too carbonated--I would think it was intended to be a little smoother--but that may have been the fault of the draft system of my local watering hole. A solid basic beer.

This is already getting a little longer than I'd like, so let's close with a live review. I have in front of me New Holland Brewing Company's Cabin Fever Brown Ale. It pours a nice moderately dark brown color, of course, and has a medium-heavy body. A Winter seasonal, Cabin Fever has nice cocoa notes, and probably plays a little rougher than most--the ABV is 6.5%, but feels like it would be a little higher than that, maybe in the low-mid 7s. Malty and strong, it might not be the usual winter beer, but it is hearty enough to hold up.

 

 

Site News: So, coming mid-February, I plan on taking my face-made-for-radio to the visual medium, and starting Pourly Reviewed Beer video reviews. Reviews will typically be one beer at a time, and plan on having the beer in front of me to deliver live impressions. Videos will be posted both here and on YouTube. Look for these starting with a special side-by-side tasting the week of February 15th (if all goes well).

Coming Wednesday: a Left Hand's highly-regarded Milk Stout, a true surprise from Sierra Nevada, and something from OMB.  Cheers!

I promise I'm not dead.

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Fret not, loyal readers, if there are any!

Greetings from Pennsylvania. Another wonderful Christmastime has passed with my wonderful family (at this point, I am legally obligated to say "Hi, Mom!").

Expect many write-ups about York County and Pennsylvania beers in the coming week, starting either tomorrow or Monday.

To hold you over, I jumped on Facebook yesterday and gave a brief little snippet about AB-InBev's newest member in their "High End", which is a name that feels kind of insulting to me.

See you soon!

-J

Christmas/New Year's Programming Notes

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So, what will the next week look like, blog-wise? Excellent question, you few readers!!!!

Expect an entry on Monday or Tuesday with a couple more beers from this week.  I'll be travelling to Pennsylvania in the back half of this week to spend the holiday with the family (hi, guys!). After Monday/Tuesday, I'd say the next blog entry will be next Sunday or Monday. I hope to have a lot of Pennsylvania breweries and beers to write about next week. The New Year's holiday should have a minimal impact on blogging, as I'll return to South Carolina before the New Year's holiday.

 

Also, look for Pourly Reviewed Beer video reviews starting in January 2016! Thanks, everyone!