All posts by John Fortunato

(TROIS DAMES) GRANDE DAME OUD BRUIN

Beers A-Z
Dramatic Flanders Sour Brown contrasts ruddish ruby red hue against lighter vinous white wining for lactic brettanomyces-soured hybrid. Smoothly ultra-dry balsamic vinegaring picks up tannic green grape pungency, peppery raspberry vinaigrette rasp, strawberry-seeded cranberry pucker, lemon-peeled lime juicing and green apple wisp. Tart cherry rhubuarb saucing wavers. Musty oaken barnyard leathering and earthen bark-dried respite reinforce sour ale tendencies.  

IRISH PUB – CENTER CITY

BEER PUB
 
 
PHILADELPHIA, PA.
 
Being a few minutes early for Sunday’s brunch at Farmer’s Market two doors down, my wife and I settled into IRISH PUB this cold and blustery December ’12 morning. With locations in Atlantic City and down the road a half-mile at Rittenhouse Square (Walnut and 20th), this generic-named prohibition-styled Center City saloon opened December ’80 across from the historic Forrest Theatre. Offering ‘Irish soul and American attitude,’ the charmingly rustic watering hole brings affordable drink specials and good pub fare to urban hipsters, local denizens and thirsty out-of-towners.
 
Gorgeous walnut furnishings provide interior comfort and the forest green ceiling (with exposed ducts) features stenciled emblems in the front barroom and embossed copper tin tiles in the Wain’s-coated walnut dining section directly behind. A large wood mural with mirrored midsection, three tap fountains (with 18 total taps) and a lively assortment of booze center the left bar. Multiple TV’s and old posters line the walls as Thin Lizzy’s classic rocker “The Boys Are Back In Town” blasts from the speakers.  
 
I settle into the tapped version of lemon-soured, peach-molded, orange-bruised, Belgian candi-sugared Flying Fish Winter Cru Grand Cru just as Edgar Winter’s emphatic “Free Ride” begins playing. My wife grabs a coffee and starts chatting with a world traveling Philly native while bartender Isaac Rose reminisces about favorite libations.
 
Though we didn’t get to sample the food, Rose recommended the nachos, burgers and buffalo wings. Buried right in the heart of downtown Philly, Irish Pub makes for a fine sportsbar or casual dining experience.
 

TIRED HANDS BREWING COMPANY

United States Brewpubs,
   Tired Hands Brewing Company - Absolute Beer
ARDMORE, PENNSYLVANIA
After taking a three-hour break following Farmer’s Cabinet perusal, we head out on a chilly winter’s eve, December ’12, to the sleepy village of Ardmore (ten minutes west of Philly) to initially visit well regarded TIRED HANDS BREWING COMPANY. Open for business in June, this cozy two-story red-bricked pub is located just a few steps from the rustic downtown area.
An impressive array of mostly dry-hopped saisons, lagers and pale ales with boundless complexities are available, yet only two remain staples thus far. The remainder are high quality one-off limited edition elixirs experienced brewer Jean Broillet (originally from West Chester’s Iron Hill and Weyerbacher) concocted for the short term but hopefully will revisit in the future.
Packed to the hilt on this Sunday evening, we grab a few seats next to the eight tap-handled fountain at the right side elongated bar. Across the 15-stooled bar are four left side tables along the green window-shuttered maroon wall. A small Sunfire heater cooks up a limited food menu featuring fresh breads, homemade dill pickles, cured meats and cheeses from local farmsteads. Bronze fermentation tanks located at the rear serve Broillet’s imaginative creations.
A crowded second floor with 12 dining tables, V-shaped bar and stairwell-sided food menu perfectly suits the young families, partygoers and businessmen that gather here during the weekdays. Tonight, many preppy post-collegiates and local denizens of every stripe stop by for dinner or to fill up growlers on the go.
Both Tired Hands staples prove to be fruitful successes and were poured by enlightened assistant brewer, Colin “Magick Man” Mc Fadden, a self-proclaimed Renaissance man with steep beer knowledge.
Elegant Hop Hands Pale Ale brings zesty citric-spiced crystal malting to the fore, as grassy-hopped lemon meringue, yellow grapefruit, kiwi, pineapple and marmalade illusions get backed firmly by peated minerality. Not far removed from New York’s Empire Cream Ale, its delightful soft-bodied warmth and creamy eggshell head will please light thirsts as well as heartier palates.
Dried-fruited Farm Hands Four Grain Saison regaled brisk orange rind bittering and bruised lemon-rotted sourness with barnyard-like earthen graining.
The Clash’s fiery “Spanish Bombs” plays loudly in the background as three more rounded saisons pique my interest. Motueta -Single Hop Saison kept its dry-hopped herbaceous florality, lemon-puckered grapefruit souring and earthen white peppering above wood-parched hop bitterness. Mocha-bound Yes Yes Yes Killing The Ego Dark Saison seared beechwood-smoked habanero peppering into maple syrupy Ecuadorian cocoa nibs, dark chocolate and powdered cocoa notes.
Better still, sour brettanomyces-funked Domo Black Rye Saison plastered puckered lemon seed tartness onto vinous white grape tannins as well as stove-burnt coffee and peanut-shelled walnut above molasses rye breading.
Two stylishly differentiated lagers stood out as well. Light-bodied yellow-paled California Uber Helles Hoppy Lager seeped tangy lemon, grapefruit, orange, apricot and kumquat fruiting into juniper hop bitterness.
On the dark side, Deep Sleep Black Winter Lager placed wood-charred dark-roasted graining and pine-needled bittering atop nutty dark chocolate-y cocoa nibs.
Another worthy offering, Falco’s Mirrored Flight IPA contrasted floral grapefruit-peeled orange rind, lemon zest, peach and pineapple tropicalia and mild bark-dried hops against creamy crystal malts.
Hooked on making well-ranged small batch beers for an increasingly mesmerized audience, Tired Hands truly is an outstanding cafe-styled pub in the laid-back suburbs of west Philly.

ROUND GUY BREWING COMPANY

United States Brewpubs,

LANSDALE, PENNSYLVANIA

On a dangerously snowy Saturday at noon, December ’12, my wife and I leave Jersey and venture South towards Philly. Before landing there, we stop by Lansdale, a quaint industrial town 25 miles northwest of Philadelphia that houses ROUND GUY BREWING COMPANY. Owned and operated by a Penn State and Notre Dame grad, the tap room opened for business in June.

Located at a diminutive art space just off Main Street behind a pretzel place, the pale blue-walled boutique pub (with dramatic ebony ceiling) keeps it simple with a light food menu, sofa lounge, popcorn machine, TouchTone jukebox, electric dartboard, small TV and easygoing sessionable ales.

Sitting at the bar directly in front of the tap handles, we order the bratwurst (cooked with Doppelbock), Grilled Ham & Cheese with hot-peppered provolone and The Bird (turkey, cheddar, bacon and Ranch dressing on sourdough bread). These menu items go fine with the lighter selections on the beer menu above the wood bar.

“We had been corporate and were both tired of our jobs,” PSU grad Rich Diliberto explains as my samples get poured. “We wanted to try something different. I called Scott (Rudich) one night and said we should start a bar or a band. Since we didn’t play any instruments, we decided to open a brewery. A few weeks later we got a home brew kit. Our second batch won first prize for an Octoberfest. Our stout even won a local contest.”

Getting the ball rolling by 2011,  Diliberto and Rudich waited for permit approval while perfecting their craft further, leading to a host of stylistically diverse libations.

“I’m a big fan of German lagers,” Diliberto says before proving his case with Round Guy Doppelbock. Its peated dewy earthiness and plum-sugared toffee malting allow wintry nutmeg-cinnamon-coriander spicing to emerge alongside whiskey-dabbed black cherry, raisin and date illusions (as well as chestnut, pine nut and praline).

At this point, Buffalo native Rudich chimes in as I down the beige-hazed, lemon-puckered, limestone-salted, white wine-soured Berliner Weisster (a lactic brettanomyces-affected light body with dry barnyard funk that really shines when raspberry or woodruff syrup gets added).

The Golden Domer recalls, “My dad drank Old Milwaukee and Piels. We lived a few minutes from Canada and drank lots of Molson and Labatts, the better Canadian versions with a more challenging flavor. The first legitimate 6-pack I bought was Pete’s Wicked Ale. Though the beer of choice at college was Miller Red Dog.”

Getting into Belgians and Guinness, the first beer that really ‘wowed’ Rudich was Theakston Old Peciulier, followed quickly by Morland Old Speckled Hen. Currently, he’s trying to keep up with the demand for his own Pennsylvania suds.

Three soft-toned Belgian stylings capture my attention at this point. First, there was Buh Nanan Hammack Saison, with its saltine-crackered banana-clove entry, white-peppered lemon pucker and light alcohol burn.

Next, candi-sugared Chubby Bob Dubbel brought subtle plum-dried banana sweetness to its honeyed wheat base. 

Moisson Saison, a mellow cask ale, offered Citra-hopped orange souring to tart lemon-limed Granny Smith apple, cherry and mango illusions (as fusel alcohol notes embitter the backend).

Though the cocoa-powdered cherry-tart Chocolate Pooch just kicked, bittersweet Fuzzy Muttness Stout filled the gap for dark ale lovers with its black chocolate-sweetened dark toffee entry, oats-charred coffee roast and dry rye malting as well as tertiary bourbon, molasses, vanilla and licorice dabs.

Dry India Pale Ale fruiting, resinous hop-charred grains and chocolate malts enveloped Alpha Black Back, a Black IPA deepened by Blackstrap molasses, licorice and currant undertones.

Finally, as the food finished and the snow continued to fall, I got around to possibly the most approachable ale on tap. Soft-toned Mini-Bob Belgian Pale retained a black-peppered earthen dewiness and rye-spiced dried fruiting.

A milk stout and new porter are being brewed for January as well as an apple brandy barrel-aged saison and rum-barreled IPA.

Tired Hands, another fascinating 2012 find located 25 miles South, may craft richer elixirs, in general, but those looking for milder moderations may lean towards Round Guys.

ww.roundguysbrewery.com

JANDRAIN-JANDRENOUILLE IV SAISON

Beers A-Z
Easygoing Belgian farmhouse ale scatters honeyed lemondrop souring across bubbly champagne grape prickle, musty white-peppered herbal fungi and molasses-draped black rye malts. Juicy pineapple, peach, banana, tangerine, nectarine and melon fruiting fortifies resinous lemongrass, chamomile, rosemary, thyme and sage undertones. Biscuit-y baked-breaded sourdough bottom stays firm.
 

LOST ABBEY WITCHES WIT

Beers A-Z
Soft-toned lemon-limed honey spicing pleats mild yellow grapefruit bittering and prickly white-peppered floral hop perfuming to wheat-buttered sourdough base of yellow-clouded moderation. Gose-like salty coriander respite recalls soothing sour ale. Ancillary orange blossom, curacao orange, white peach, lemon curd, lemongrass, lemon verbena and marmalade illusions fill out backend nicely.