Wednesday, January 25, 2006

Iron Hill Brewers' Reserve

I am a little late in posting this, but Jackie (my wife), myself, and a few friends, went to the Iron Hill Brewers Reserve in Media, PA (Sat Jan. 21st). It was my first trip to any of the other Iron Hill locations. As Brian has mentioned in his last post, I really like Iron Hill. Its a great bar, with good beer, good food, good service, and a nice atmosphere. I was not let down by this location either... except maybe that they only have one big bar instead of two medium sized ones like in West Chester.

Anyway, on to the details of the night... They were featuring their Strong Ales from each of the Iron Hill locations. 6 Beers in total. Here is the rundown of what was on tap and their descriptions: On tap from Media: 2004 GABF bronze medal winner Bourbon Russian Stout -- Russian Imperial Stout, aged in bourbon barrels with whole vanilla beans (ABV 8.6%); and Barleywine -- aged for three years, with an intense, complex malt sweetness and a sherry-like quality (ABV 9.6%). On tap from Wilmington: -- A huge Belgian dark abbey ale Oak Aged Quad, aged in oak wine barrels (ABV 12.5!!!%); and Sasquatch -- a hopped-up American Barleywine (ABV 9.6%). On tap from West Chester: -- The ubiquitous Winter Warmer, sweet and warming, with toasted oats and winter spices (ABV 8.0%). On tap from North Wales: -- The traditional German strong lager Doppelbock, with a full-bodied and distinctly malty flavor and aroma (ABV 9.0%).

What I had: I had 3 22 oz. mugs (mug club owner's only).... one of the Media Barleywine, one of Wilmington's SasQuatch Barleywine, and then finished the night with my hometown's (West Chester) Winter Warmer. Each of the beers were excellently balanced and flavorful... and best of all... lots of alcohol! The Winter Warmer is my favorite due to its unique spicy, cinnamon and sugar flavor. It remind me of a cookie, but isn't too sweet.

To soak up all the alcohol, we had dinner too. We got a huge plate of their nachos and some buffalo wings for appetizers (Jackie's favorite). I had a crab and shrimp cake sandwich... which was pretty good... but I probably could have chosen something better... but I was trying to go lighter/cheaper since we were ordering appetizers. Since we were celebrating my friend Brian's Bday, Gabe passing his CCNA, and me completing my Masters Certification... we decided to do a shot of Soco and lime (Jackie's choice). Anyway, all in all, it was a great time! The food, beer and service were great. I highly recommend checking out any of the Iron Hill's if you get a chance.

4 comments:

Bryan Kolesar said...

Yeow! 22oz. of barleywine :-0 Sounds like a great time. Very envious that I wasn't able to attend also. (Sounded like an F'n event, too, with the others that you mentioned ;-)

Adam said...

Hey there! I think we you could be our Iron Hill correspondent ;-)

Adam said...

Uh...did you ever hear about that recipe? Didn't the head brewer say he would check with the oatmeal cookie beer guy?

Jeremy said...

Yea, I never heard back from him about it. I guess I could email him back. Maybe the cookie guy said no :-/