The Courier Post wrote a great piece about southern New Jersey’s growing craft beer culture.  I’m really impressed with how much the beer scene has grown in my home state and I’m proud to be a part of it.  Check it out, it’s a good read.

Cheers,

Chris

I’m probably the least sports savvy male I know. In fact I know less about sports than most women I know. But I value every time I got to meet Andy. I knew him as a beer lover, not really as a sports announcer. Andy was an investor and a semi regular customer at Dock Street when I was bartending there and scrubbing floors in the brewery. Occasionally my tip would include his giveaway seats for a game.
Andy was always friendly when he came in, and always had time to chat. It was a hobby of his to visit breweries whenever he travelled, and on our first conversation he had visited well over 100. He was excited about the new one that had just opened up in New England that he planned to visit that weekend.
I enjoyed talking to Andy not because of his celebrity or professional sports status, but in spite of it. Dock St was next door to the Four Seasons hotel and as a result we had more than our share of actors, athletes and other celebrities grace our bar. Many made you feel like they were doing you a favor by answering your questions, even if the questions were akin to “how’s your beer?” Some of them were nice, but you still knew that their pleasantries were little more than public relations. There were of course exceptions, some of them (Gary Maddox for one) were genuinely friendly people.
Andy was more genuine than most. His fame to ego ratio was way out of calibration. He was not just polite, but interested. He seemed genuinely happy for me when I mentioned I was about to start working more in the brewery.
Any time I ran into Andy outside of Dock St, I’d go say “hi” and reintroduce myself. I knew he didn’t know my name, but when I’d say “I’m Chris from Dock St” he’d always respond by saying “of course, how are you?” shaking my hand and looking me straight in the eye with a big smile. He always had a short minute to chat after that and never gave me the impression that he was on the clock.
I haven’t seen Andy in years, the last time was probably at an Anchor promotion or beer festival somewhere. But I can honestly say I’m going to miss him. I’ll miss running into him here and there, and I’ll miss having him as a representative of our city in a world where celebrities are often in the news for their crimes and misbehavior.
So long Andy, Philadelphia just got a little less classy.

Chris

Barrels!  Bourbon and Bugs Lineup

The Bourbons

Bourbon Bock Traditional full-bodied, dark German lager with distinct malty and bready characteristics in aroma and flavor.  Aged in a used Bourbon barrel for 5 months.  6.5% abv

Bourbon Porter Our award-winning Pig Iron Porter aged in bourbon barrels with whole vanilla beans.  Roasty malt and pronounced Bourbon flavors with a nice vanilla aroma. Served on nitrogen.  5.3% abv

Bourbon Aged Reily’s Chocolate Ale Brewed with chocolatier Mike Collins of Reily’s Candy in Medford, NJ.  A rich, malty brown ale brewed with generous amounts of dark chocolate and roasted cocoa nibs to give it a distinct chocolatey character.  Aged in a used Bourbon barrel for 3 months. 7.0% abv

Bourbon Cherry Iron Fish Brewed in collaboration with Casey Hughes of Flying Fish Brewery.  An Imperial Black Belgian IPA.  Loads of American hop bitterness, aroma and flavor mingling with fruity and spicy characters from Fish’s house Belgian yeast and all balanced by a touch of roast.  Aged in a used bourbon barrel on 40 pounds of sour cherries for four months. 9.5% abv musspellng

Bourbon Quadfather Big, rich, complex and chewy Belgian Strong Ale aged in used Bourbon barrels.  We’ve made you a beer you can’t refuse. 10.3%

The Bugs

F.red Flemish Red Ale Malty reddish-brown ale fermented in stainless with the Roselare blend then aged in used Pinot Noir barrels for 9 months.  Malt sweetness and toastiness followed by an assertive but pleasant sourness. 5.3%

Heywood Strong Belgian Golden Ale fermented in oak with 100% Brett L. Tart, dry, phenolic and funky. 7.5%

Wine Barrel Wee Heavy Strong Scotch Ale fermented in stainless then aged in a freshly emptied Pinot Noir barrel and spiked with Brett L.  Malt complexity mingles with a touch of spiciness and pie cherry aroma from the Brett and a warming alcohol character.  11.0%

Saizanne Wood A classic Belgian-style farmhouse ale, unfiltered, bright and light-bodied.  Fermented with the earthy, fruity and spicy DuPont strain, spiced with pink and green peppercorns, then spiked with Brett B and finished in oak.  7.3%

Drie Caprice Strong Belgian Golden Ale hopped with American Cascade and Amarillo hops, fermented in oak with 100% Brett B.  Bright, tart and spicy.  6.8%

Thought we’d see in the new year with a little old cheer.  At 11 pm on December 31st we’ll be tapping a one-year-0ld keg of Russian Imperial Stout so you can great 2011 with something a bit classier than champagne.  We’re also launching this year’s Russian Imperial Stout when we open the restaurant.  And for those of you that insist on champagne on New Year’s, but still love the Russian, we’ll be pouring Imperial Black Velvets all day and night.  That’s half nitrogenated Russian Imperial Stout and half champagne.  I have to say, I really do like the Russian on nitro (without the champagne that is).  Whatever you drink please have a very safe and happy new year.  It’s been a great year for me here at the ‘Hill and I couldn’t have done it without you! Lappy New Beer.

Cheers,

Chris

I always get excited when we open a new location.  I also love watching the whole thing unfold from four walls and a roof to a full-fledged restaurant.  Well it’s been a few weeks since I helped get the tanks off the truck and set the brewhouse.  Just a week ago Paul sent me a picture of his fancy new hop back.  He was brewing our Chestnut Hill location’s very first IPA, Kamikazee (a clear rip-off of Rising Sun).  I’ve gotten word that its now all hands on deck with getting the kitchen up and running.  The unofficial official opening date is January 4th. But keep checking for the official official date.  I promise to keep you updated. If you click on the picture up top, you’ll get a very exciting video of the fermenter delivery.  (exciting if you’re a boom lift buff, or uber beer geek that is)  Hopefully I’ll see you there sometime early next year.

Cheers,  

Chris

Here’s a nice piece Jeff Linkous of Beer Stained Letter did on the Iron Brewer Aztec Porter and the Iron Brewer competition in general.  As always Jeff really capured the spirit of the whole project.  Enjoy it.

Cheers,

Chris

This may be old news by now, but I’m getting sent to Belgium!  It turns out that the Philly Beer Week event I mentioned a couple weeks ago turned out very favorably for me and for one of our regular customers / mug club members.  The event was a raffle in which one lucky beer drinker would win a trip to Belgium with the Philadelphia brewer of their choice.  Vince was that beer drinker and fortunately for me, I was the brewer listed on the winning ticket.  The Barley Legal Homebrewers and a bunch of our mug club members were out in force that night.  And while I’m sure a lot of them spread their love around a little bit by voting for several Philly brewers, I’m know their presence is what helped me win.  Thanks for supporting me everyone!

There’s more to the story too.  Not only are Vince and I getting flown to Belgium courtesy of Vanberg and DeWulf  (arguably the folks who started America’s love affair with Belgian Beer), but we’re going to go to the DuPont Brewery to help brew this year’s Philly Beer Week collaboration beer.  I’m a huge fan of DuPont.  In fact I modeled my gold medal winning Saison after their saison.  I’m really excited to see what I can learn from them.  

That’s all for now, but I’m sure I’ll be doing some “on the road” blog posts and lots and lots of posts on Twitter during the trip.  Hopefully you’ll be joining me from your computer screens!  The brew will take place somewhere around February 22nd.  I’ll be out there for at least a week surrounding that date.

Thanks again to everyone who came out and listed me as their brewer!

Cheers,

Chris

I’ve been holding out on you, but it was for your own good.  I thought it would be a shame to have no pumpkin beers to ring in Thanksgiving with, so I saved a little of each style for Thanksgiving Eve.  At 4 pm tomorrow afternoon we’ll be tapping one keg each of Pumpkin Ale, Imperial Pumpkin Ale, and Bourbon Imperial Pumpkin Ale.  I’ve also hoarded three cases of the Great Imperial Pumpkin Ale Bottles for tomorrow.  (That’s only 36 bottles mind you).  Because of the limited quantities of all of the above, we need to limit the quanitity of to-go beer to ensure as many people as possible get to enjoy them.   Each guest will only be allowed to buy one growler of each style and one bottle of the Great Imperial Pumpkin Ale.  Please don’t expect these beers to be on tap all night.  In fact they could be gone shortly after they’re tapped!  And the kicker is, I won’t even be around to enjoy any.  Please have one for me. 

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Chris

It’s time again for the organizers of Philly Beer Week to send one lucky beer drinker and one Philadelphia-area brewer to Belgium to brew the Beer Week collaboration beer.  This year the brewery is DuPont (as in Saison DuPont) and the brewer representing Iron Hill is….. Me!  Tickets are only $5 and the winner wins a trip to Belgium where they will, among other things, get to brew at a world-famous brewery, see their beer on tap all over Philly aaaaannd get to hang out with me the whole time!  (OK, don’t let that discourage you, its still a free trip to Belgium!)  The raffle takes place at the City Tap House in Philly on Wednesday November 30th.  Come by, even if you don’t win the raffle you’ll still get to enjoy some great beers and chat with a bunch of the people who make the beer your drink all week.  See you there!

Cheers,

Chris

My inability to keep up = your ability to drink reserve beers on a random Tuesday.  This time of year always kills me.  Brewing four batches of Oktoberfest really ties my tanks up.  (Lagers require at least 3o days in the tank).  So once they kick, they tend to leave a big gap in seasonals in their wake.  I’m down to four seasonals on tap right now and I don’t like doing that.  So I’m digging into my reserve cellar.  I’ve got a couple of beers I was was saving for a beer dinner or special occasion.  Instead they’re going on …. NOW.  Both are Russian Imperial Stouts from this past March.  One is a Cherry Vanilla Russian Stout, aged on whole Mexican vanilla beans and finished with sour Michigan cherry juice.  They go on tap tonight at 5 pm.  Enjoy!