BeerAppreciation

Beer Appreciator Guest Reviews & Comments

Local Beer Appreciators Share Their Beer Lore and Reviews:

(Send your reviews of beer bars, breweries, beers to peter@beerappreciation.com and if they are a fit with our content and spirit, they will be published here!)

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Boxcar Brewing – West Chester, Pa – Brendan Hickey – February 2011

Ok, first the disclaimer about my bias here. I sometimes volunteer at Boxcar Brewing in West Chester, helping with the process of bottling and boxing. It’s a good deal for me, as I get to spend a day in a brewery and come home with beer.

Boxcar brews two beers at the moment – “Brown Ale” and “Original Ale.” Both are deceptively complex.

Original is golden and light and it looks like a conventional lager, but with the cloudiness that you might see in a hefeweizen because Boxcar bottle-conditions its beer. Original will surprise you with notes of clove and citrus, though. It’s great with Chinese food or anything with delicate flavors.

Brown Ale, which comes in the bottle with the red label, presents with notes of coffee and bittersweet chocolate and caramel. The flavor is stronger than the Original and Brown is good with red meat

Boxcar’s beers are session beers at 5% ABV, nicely balanced – neither especially malty nor hoppy.
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Otter Creek Imperial Stout at Uno's

Christmas time at Pizzeria Uno – Brian Jones December 2010

While my lovely and I were out shopping for the holidays I became suddenly parched. Not wanting to be trampled by the crowds we eased ourselves away from the mall to find a place to get a bite to eat. As we headed toward home we approached a Pizzeria Uno on our right. As my memory served me these folks have some pretty respectable beers in their selection, so we stopped in. My wife ordered a thin crust vegetable pie and I opted for the deep dish labeled “the works.” While a Magic Hat # 9 was more than sufficient to enjoy with a vegetable pie I needed something a little more substantial to accompany “the works.”

While I gazed over a nice beer menu I keep getting drawn back toward my old friend Otter Creek and my pleasant memories of Vermont. I went for broke and ordered an Otter Creek Russian Imperial Stout knowing full well it boosted a 10.60 ABV. What I did not pay close attention to was that this formidable stout was being delivered in a 750 ML bottle….oh boy.

The brew was dispatched to our table and I couldn’t wait to sip this baby. As I poured this beer I noticed a thickness that was almost oil like with a light caramel colored head that quickly dissipated. You could catch the aroma almost immediately which had distinctive notes of malt and hops, coffee and a strong hint of chocolate.

The first couple of tastes revealed some thick molasses sweetness followed by a coffee chocolate mixture. Some hops peaked through with some mild bitter flavor, finishing with a soft tobacco smokiness on the palate. The carbonation was subtle but seemed to be just right with this full bodied brew. I did notice that several times during my enjoyable consumption of this beer-food that some alcohol flavor spiked through.

I found this Stout to be a nice accompaniment to my pizza and I had enjoyed another sampling from Otter Creek. Next time though I think I will share this head splitter with my wife….…especially if it is lunch time. Till next time….

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