BEER

[count2infinity]

Heading to Happy Valley Brewery tonight. I see they have a Belgian Dubbel with pumpkin spices on tap. I'll give it a try, but not expecting much.

Beer was actually really good. They had it on nitro (I love beers on nitro) and spices were very mellow. It was a solid dubbel with just a bit of extra spices. If you're in State College stop there. The brewmaster has definitely got his legs under him after a pretty shakey start. The beer was pretty bad when they first opened, but he seems to have gotten used to his equipment and the scale because I haven't had a bad beer there in a long time.

[Jofa Guy]

I had Alpine Beer Co Duet IPA. Wow this is really good, anyone had it before?

[count2infinity]

Yeah, I had a pint of it here. Very good stuff.

[Kraftster]

Thoroughly convinced Draai Laag is world class.

[PFiDC]

Thoroughly convinced Draai Laag is world class.

@the wicked child

[PFiDC]

I am thoroughly underwhelmed by Church Brew Works. The beer isn't bad but it all seems very light, even the darker brews.

[robbiestoupe]

Thoroughly convinced Draai Laag is world class.

Are there any good places to procure said beer other than their own premises? I've had it a couple times, first time at the beer fest.

[MrKennethTKangaroo]

Caliente usually has Drai Laag.

The Independent (aka kraftster's favorite bar name ever) also carries it from time to time.

[Jofa Guy]

Agree about Drai Laag, it's so awesome.

The Duet is exceptional as well, 7% is hidden well

[MR25]

I think I saw Goedenacht at Smokin Joe's last week

[the wicked child]

Thoroughly convinced Draai Laag is world class.

@the wicked child

I concur. I wish all of their beers were more readily available outside their brewery though. I think bottles occasionally show up in various bottle shops, but it's somewhat random. Hal's typically has at least one of their beers on hand though... at least when I've been in there.

I need to get my hands on some Simon Girty... been too damn long.

[the wicked child]

I am thoroughly underwhelmed by Church Brew Works. The beer isn't bad but it all seems very light, even the darker brews.

I concur. It could just be that my tastes have changed, but I feel like their beer was better a few years ago. iirc, their brewer left to start Roundabout though so that might have something to do with it. (on a side note, if you haven't already, try Roundabout... especially if they have Gui on tap... excellent stuff!)

I will occasionally have one of their specialty beers that is good, but their flagship beers all bore me nowadays. I drank the hell out of the Heavenly Hefeweizen a couple years back for instance... and at one time they had a Hoptoberfest that was pretty good.

I frankly go there for the pizza more than anything... that stuff is like crack.

[columbia]

If their beer hasn't improved, then it's fully a tourist trap. I'll give them points for being an early entry into the PGH beer scene.

[Jim]

Church Brew Works has never been good, sorry. They were one of only two games in town (Church and East End) for a long time so they both got way more props than they actually deserved (Church more so). (I left Penn off that list as they distributed) Now that there are a dozen other places around, people are realizing that the pioneers just don't hold up.

[llipgh2]

If their beer hasn't improved, then it's fully a tourist trap. I'll give them points for being an early entry into the PGH beer scene.

The beer is meh, the food is really meh. It lives on because it is a tourist trap.

[robbiestoupe]

So how would people rank the local microbreweries? I can't say I've tried all of them, so here's my shortlist of the ones I've tried:

1 Draai Laag
2 Full Pint
3 Voodoo (debatable as a local brewery)
4 East End
5 Rivertowne
6 Fat Heads
7 Hofbrau (see Voodoo)
8 Church Brew Works

Not making my list only because I haven't tried them, but sure to crack the top 10: All Saints, Roundabout, Arsenal Ciderhouse, Helltown, Hopfarm, Penn Brewery. North Country would rank, but Slippery Rock is a bit out of the Pittsburgh region.

[eddy]

I don't see how full pint is up there at 2, I just went to a tap takeover from them and their IPAs and white lightening was decent, but everything else was terrible.

[count2infinity]

Fat Heads is technically all brewed in Cleveland...

[eddy]

If you can can count Fat Heads being pittsburgh local, I'd say they have to be up at the top.

[MrKennethTKangaroo]

Stringer Bell would describe Full Pint, Rivertowne, North Country, Hofbrau, and Church as 40 degree days.

[robbiestoupe]

I guess I'm partial to Full Pint because I used to live 5 minutes down route 30 from there. White Lightning is always good, as is their Rye Rebellion whenever they brew it. Also can't go wrong with Night of the Living Stout, Tri-PA or the Chinookie. Yeah, some of their beers are terrible, but that right there is a good enough list to get them towards the top of the rankings.

[eddy]

I was excited to try their night of the living stout, it's not good. there is maybe 2 seconds of some taste then it just turns to thin watery drink, can't believe they call it a stout. WL, Chinookie, their cherry gose and Gus are all pretty good. I had the Watermelon Jalapeño Hefe and the generic green pepper taste was so strong that it made it undrinkable. I think I'm probably being a little too hard on them.

[meecrofilm]

So how would people rank the local microbreweries? I can't say I've tried all of them, so here's my shortlist of the ones I've tried:

1 Draai Laag
2 Full Pint
3 Voodoo (debatable as a local brewery)
4 East End
5 Rivertowne
6 Fat Heads
7 Hofbrau (see Voodoo)
8 Church Brew Works

Not making my list only because I haven't tried them, but sure to crack the top 10: All Saints, Roundabout, Arsenal Ciderhouse, Helltown, Hopfarm, Penn Brewery. North Country would rank, but Slippery Rock is a bit out of the Pittsburgh region.

Check out Grist House at some point. They have some good stuff.

Also you need to get on the Helltown train.

[robbiestoupe]

I'm surprised eddy. Their NotLS usually is a very strong, dark beer with much aftertaste. I haven't had this year's brew, so maybe they changed things up a bit.

Noted meecrofilm. I must have had a Helltown once before, but it wasn't something to remember. My eyes will be peeled during the next beer run.

[meecrofilm]

Most of their stuff is usually at least decent, but the Idle Hands Double IPA is great, easily their best IMO.