ASS KISSER PORTER POUNDER SMOKED PORTER

Beers A-Z

Quite exquisite soft-toned smoked porter retains well-integrated bittersweet lactic mocha theme. Creamy dark chocolate-roasted maple sapping and peat-smoked cocoa malting ride above subtle wood-burnt hop sear to brown-sugared oats backdrop. Sweet vanilla, fudge and burnt toffee counter lightly embittered cocoa nibs/ Bakers chocolate conflux. Espresso coffee niche sidelined by peanut-shelled walnut, hazelnut and macadamia nuttiness as well as slightest tobacco roast. Strangely dirty earthen waft is inconsequential misnomer.

 

ROCK ART VERMONT MAPLE WHEAT ALE

Beers A-Z

Marginalized autumnal seasonal (brewed with maple syrup) needs better maple sapping, richer pastry-like malting and deeper honeyed wheat penetration. Syrupy sugared sinew sweetens bark-dried cedar-aged rum notch that fades way too fast to rancorous raw-honeyed dry hop astringency. Tinny finish disrupts latent chestnut, almond, pecan and toffee illusions. A nebulous disappointment less effective than Rogue’s similarly styled Voodoo Doughnut Bacon Maple Ale.

Rock Art Vermont Maple Wheat Ale - Where to Buy Near Me - BeerMenus

SUSQUEHANNA GOLDENCOLD LAGER

Beers A-Z

On tap at Pocono’s Log Cabin Bar, approachable German-styled session beer brings orange-nipped lemon spritz to grassy Hallertau-hopped bittering. Buttery crystal malt base softly underlines citric crispness. In the bottle, thin pilsner-malted German-styled pale lager lacks pizzazz. Astringent raw-honeyed sinew and phenol hop bittering pick up rancid buttery notion. Slurry citric-quince waver buried beneath unfulfilled flavor profile.

 

SUSQUEHANNA 6TH GENERATION STOCK ALE

Beers A-Z

On tap at Poconos’ Log Cabin Bar, stylistically robust and well balanced pale ale lavishes sharp perfumed hops onto viscous lacquered fruiting. Spicy lemon-peeled orange, peach, grapefruit and quince tones casually decorate doughy biscuit-like backdrop. A fine crossover to stronger IPA styling. Less efficient bottled version brings sheepish crystal-malted red, orange and yellow fruiting to spritzy dry-hopped spicing. Mild metallic astringency raids faded citric-spiced finish.

Image result for susquehanna 6th generation

ERIE DERAILED BLACK CHERRY ALE

Beers A-Z

Engaging ‘cherry-inspired’ cream ale makes for fine fruity malt beverage with its fizzy soda-like pop and sinewy corn syruping. Sweet and sour red cherry ripens fig-spiced apple, cranberry, raspberry, blueberry and strawberry illusions, settling into champagne-like Chambord liqueur slumber. Beneath, crayon-like plasticity seeps into astringent saison yeast profile.

  

EPIC BARLEYWINE

Beers A-Z

Iffy ruddy-browned barleywine stylistically closer to an Imperial IPA with its aggressive hop-oiled fruiting. A delicate sherry insistence coats ripe pineapple, grapefruit, apricot and peach illusions above creamy cocoa-sugared crystal malting. Caramelized vanilla buttering pleats ancillary raisin-breaded niche and dainty floral bouquet.

Barley Wine Ale - American Barleywine - Epic Brewing Company

TURKEY HILL BREWING COMPANY

United States Brewpubs,

Photos of Turkey Hill Brewing Co Pub & Grille, Bloomsburg  Turkey Hill Brewing Company - Google+

BLOOMSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA

In a rustic rural outpost two miles from downtown Bloomsburg (home of Marley’s Brewery & Grille) just off Route 80’s Exit 236 lies TURKEY HILL BREWING COMPANY, a freestanding A-framed watering hole affiliated with The Inn at Turkey Hill and opened for business April 2011. Visited July 2012, this natural weathered wood stable “sitting atop the footprint of an English barn originally erected in 1839” served a diverse range of brews and worthy food items to nearby Bloomsburg University students and a host of local dinnertime businessmen.

Entering through a brown-wooded side door entrance next to a small patio, Turkey Hill’s windowed brew tanks are set up across the hall from a ground level concrete-floored catacomb-like cafe where an acoustic singer entertained patrons seated at the rear bar or several stooled tables.

Upstairs, a small private lounge leads to an ample wood-furnished, tan-walled open space with horseshoe coat hangers and various farmhouse photos. The eight-seated bar is packed for the Fourth Of July as two TV’s show the Yankee game and pre-Olympics fodder. We sit at a nearby table and order food to go alongside brewer Donny Abraczinkas’ stylistically robust fare.

I ate the plentiful Shroomer Angus Burger (featuring mushrooms, roasted garlic, caramelized onions, provolone cheese on a Kaiser roll) while my wife chomped on the busy Mediterranean Pizza (gathering squash, feta cheese and mozzerella atop local grained dough).

Though popular Journeyman IPA was out, each of the six four-ounce samples on the wooden tray and both of the fruity summer seasonals served pint-size more than sufficed.

At the lighter end, tart lemony orange-fronted, dry hop-spiced Barn Dance Blonde and caramel-soured, orange-desiccated, fig-sugared, earthen-backed New Whirrled Vienna Lager retained mild hop bittering.

A brisk IPA-like woody fruited bittering punctuated Revelation Pale Ale, the clear favorite today. Its lacquered apple, grapefruit, pineapple, apricot, mango and kiwi fruiting regaled brusque juniper hop bitterness, maintaining tremendous body and character.

Belgian yeast-candied Oliver’s Twisted Belgian Pale Ale placed peppery dry-hop spicing against sticky anise, sugared fig and raw chocolate while English-styled Samuel Bloom Brown Ale tossed lightly-roasted hops beside walnut-charred bittering.

Dark ale hailers will appreciate Iron Street Porter, a coffee-roasted, chocolate-soured, black tea-deepened bitter with ashen hop char.

For dessert, soapy apricot-lacquered, peach-toned, wheat-crackered Urban Abbey Apricot Wheat took a backseat to easygoing lighter-bodied Raspberry Wheat (with its sweet and sour raspberry rasp climbing above the honeyed wheat spine as well as ancillary red apple, strawberry and cranberry dollops).

Sweet-toothed brethren should enjoy Brennan Porter-Stout Float (made with Brennan’s vanilla bean ice cream and chocolate sauce).

www.turkeyhillbrewing.com