On tap at 381 Main, likable Galaxy-hopped medium body comes across like an English-styled IPA as dewy peat soiling and leafy earthiness override spicy navel orange tartness. Light passionfruit, kiwi and papaya undertones via Galaxy hopping.
All posts by John Fortunato
ALEMENTARY SKETCHBOOK: HOPS & DREAMS
On tap at 381 Main, dry Imperial IPA provides peachy tangerine tang with juniper-licked herbal licks, resinous pine oiling and murky vegetal whims.
FIRESTONE LEO V. URSUS FORTEM IMPERIAL IPA
On tap at 381 Main, bold 20th Anniversary Imperial IPA plies zesty lemony orange-tangerine tang to pine-needled hop bittering, dark-roasted wheat malts and mildly creamed sugar spicing. Ancillary grapefruit, mango and peach illusions add fruitful depth.
HILL FARMSTEAD DHARMA BUM
On tap at Burger Loft, dominant Simcoe-hopped bittering brings wood-dried citric fruiting to the fore. Steadfast grapefruit and orange rind bittering soaks into fresh-cut grassiness as moderate oaked pine parch settles below.
SMUTTYNOSE EAST COAST COMMON LAGER
Sturdy 2017 dry-hopped spring seasonal utilizes highly carbolic lager yeast to re-create San Francisco-styled steam beer. Mildly bitter citric spritz seeps into delicately pungent resinous hop astringency. Lemony grapefruit spurt and teasing fig-date conflux linger lightly above grainy earthen malts.
DENNY’S BEER BARREL PUB
CLEARFIELD, PENNSYLVANIA
Just off Route 80 in Central Pennsylvania, DENNY’S BEER BARREL PUB will please any burger-lovin’ beer pounder. Founded by owner Denny Liegey in 1977, this barnstable-like Clearfield landmark was gutted and re-done during January 2016.
Always known as a terrific burger joint (with a TV-enhanced sportsbar atmosphere), its current brick-walled oak bar setup includes 40 taps loaded with hard-to-find local stuff, nationally recognized craft brews and eight well-known macros.
My wife and I head to the 20-seat bar for some late-night brews, June ’17. A separate left side dining area suits families. The BBQ-sauced Paterno Burger, dedicated to the legendary Penn State football coach, leads a fine menu including steaks, pub sandwiches, seafood and salads. I ate the juicy Kaiser-rolled PA Wilds Elk Burger while my wife enjoyed the batter-dipped Mac And Cheese Wedges.
Tonight’s draught selections included five previously untried beers (reviewed in Beer Index) from the Keystone State plus one Oregon-based bourbon-aged beauty. I thoroughly enjoyed beechwood-smoked, cherry-soured Bullfrog Smoked Cherry Farmhouse Wheat, ‘rowdy’ fruitful pale ale, Yards Sons Of Ben Belgian Pale Ale, lemon-soured, banana-cloved Robin Hood Bierfass Hefeweizen, easygoing citric-spiced Rusty Rail Train Wreck Imperial Pale Ale and coconut-toasted mocha confection Spring House Skull #1 Coffee Coconut Porter.
Wonderful West Coast dessert treat, Deschutes Black Butte XXXVIII Bourbon Aged Porter, coalesced bourbon vanilla serenity with sweet orange peel and peat-smoked malts.
A definite destination stop for any Route 80 bound denizen, Denny’s world famous burgers and revolving draughts can’t be denied.
dennysbeerbarrelpub.com/
SPRING HOUSE SKULL #1 COFFEE COCONUT PORTER
On tap at Denny’s Beer Barrel, fulsome dessert treat tastes like a Mounds Bar with its toasted coconut upheaval, dark chocolate sugaring and nutty coffee retreat. Beneath the mocha-coconut assemblage lies mild cocoa nibs, marshmallow and salted peanut illusions. Decadent.
DESCHUTES BLACK BUTTE XXXVIII BOURBON AGED PORTER
On tap at Denny’s Beer Barrel, decadent 28th Anniversary Imperial Porter tweaks molasses-sapped bourbon vanilla with milk chocolate-y cocoa nibs and peat-smoked wheat malts. Sweet orange peel adjunct seeps below the mix. Subsidiary toasted coconut, roasted tobacco, pureed raspberry, blueberry and port illusions add resilience to boozy (11.5% ABV) to oak-barreled dessert.
BULLFROG SMOKED CHERRY FARMHOUSE WHEAT
On tap at Denny’s Beer Barrel, quirky amber-reddish saison appeases smoked beechwood aspect with sour cherry tartness and sourdough wheat base. Lemony strawberry-cranberry bittering and vinous white grape subtlety settle softly behind cherry rhubarb pie continuance.
RUSTY RAIL TRAIN WRECK IMPERIAL PALE ALE
On tap at Denny’s Beer Barrel, easygoing Citra-Cascade-hopped pale ale brings spicy grapefruit, pineapple and orange tang to delicate carapils malting, leaving light phenol tones at the finish.
YARDS SONS OF BEN BELGIAN PALE ALE
On tap at Benny’s Beer Barrel, ‘rowdy’ pale ale lets subtle candi-sugared Belgian yeast further sweeten tropical mango-peach-pineapple punch above lacquered pine hop oiling, sedate floral notions and pale rye wheat malts. In the backend, phenol lemon-peeled herbage merges with mildly oxidized astringency. Not as untamed as advertised, but enjoyably fruit-juiced.
OMMEGANG ABBEY ALE DUBBEL
“Burgundian” dubbel contrasts laidback candi-sugared dried fruiting and sweet orange peel subtlety with sharp peppery hop bittering and wispy tobacco roast. Stylishly embedded prune, raisin and plum tones gain mild honey-spiced chocolate malting as distant licorice-rooted anise star adjunct gains tingly coriander and cumin accents.
