Bob's BeerStuff
Specialty Beer for the Beer-Curious Wino

Beer Boy and I are now trading bottles to see what each other thinks about the different ones we have tried.  I gave Beer Boy some of the Clipper City to get his opinion and he gave me a few of his favorites.  The other night I sat in front of the tube and sampled several of the Beer Boy favorites.  In Pennsylvania, Beer Boy is like Norm of Cheers when he enters the Brewery of Troegs, a local favorite of his from Harrisburg Pa.  He gave me two from them, a Nut Brown Ale and a Pale Ale.  I tried the nut brown first and found it a bit thin and watery for the boldness of this style.  I have had the Samuel Smith’s nut brown and found myself gasping for air as the weight and flavor flooded my mouth.  Troegs makes a much lighter nut brown, which was not what I would have expected.  However, the Pale Ale was top shelf in my limited opinion of a floral flavored offering.  Big up front bold hoppiness hit and stayed throughout this bottle.  Therefore, to the Troeg brothers, I say to you, great job on the Pale Ale, and tell Beer Boy to get out of your brewery and get back on the road selling as he is supposed to be doing.  

I rounded the evening off with the Mad River Brewing Co.’s SteelHead Extra Pale Ale.  Coming off the heels of the Troegs, I found this one shy and unwilling to step out.  Carrying the "extra" on the label had me thinking if Pale Ale is hoppy, then extra Pale Ale would be extra hoppy.  Maybe my expectations were too high for this one, but they should have emboldened the "Pale" and not the "Extra" on the label.

WinoBob