If you get a chance to stop in to North Wales soon, we have ONE keg of Bourbon Ironbound on tap now!!!  I’ve never done Bourbon Ironbound before, so i’m really excited to see what you guys think.  Here is another reminder that August 6th we are having Cask Challenge #2.  Something Hoppy Vs. Coffee Imperial Porter.  Hope to see you here.

Hey everybody, I haven’t checked in since the Lancaster Cask Challenge.  Needless to say, the championship title resides in Lancaster.   I have to give it to Paul the head brewer in Lancaster though, his Kryptonite was very tasty.  We have already scheduled our re-match which will be held in North Wales, August 6th at 5:00 p.m.  This is my call for all hop lovers, the beers for the cask challenge will be; Somethin Hoppy, a double I.P.A. from North Wales and Coffee Porter from Lancaster.  Let’s all welcome Paul here with a crushing defeat and feel free to verbally abuse him when he loses. 

Congratulations are in order for our recently promoted Head Chef, David Foster.  I shook his hand and immediately sat down with him to work on a beer dinner.  We are thinking late August, with the exact date t.b.d.  As soon as I have a firm date, I will post it on the blog. 

Other than that, I was lucky enough to have Tim and Steph Weber come in and brew Baltic Porter with me.  They are avid homebrewers and hope to open their own brewpub in the near future.  I wanted to give them some love for coming in to help with the brew, even when we had some MAJOR boiler issues.  Check out Steph’s blog for her account of the brew and other reviews that she writes.  That’s all i have for now, feel free to email me with any questions.  check out these mugshots.

This is just a reminder that if you find yourself in the Lancaster area tonight, I will be at our Iron Hill Lancaster with a cask of Honey Do Wit.  Lancasters head brewer Paul and I will be hanging out, talking all things beer related and might even have a pint or two.  We’ve been known to do that.  So if you are around, feel free to stop by and chat.  As for our upcoming beers, here is what is on the horizon;  Honey Do Wit, Oatmeal Stout, Bourbon APA and a Rye Saison.  Stay tuned for more updates and have a great weekend! ~V

I have a really cool event to tell you about.  Randy Mosher, renowned author on all things beer, accomplished graphic illustrator, and avid brewer will be stopping by to do an in-depth tasting at Iron Hill. Randy says “It’s purpose is to give people an introduction to the flavors, aromas and textures of beer, a kind of an introduction in how to be a serious taster, to get the most out of every beer.” 

Our friends up at Keystone Homebrew are this selling tickets at this link.  http://www.keystonehomebrew.com/Zilron/catalog104_0.html.  Tickets are $10 a piece and include a pint of one of our house beers, light snacks and a tutored tasting led by Randy.  The tutored tasting will include, Vienna Lager, Russian Imperial Stout, Hefeweizen, and last but not least Barrel aged Quadfather.  Randy will also be doing a book signing at the Keystone Homebrew shop right up the street from us at 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.  I hope you can make it in and do this with me, let me know if you have any other questions.~V

Good day to all.  I just wanted to give everybody a little update as to what is happening the brewery lately.  Tonight we are tapping one keg of “Cannibale du baril”, which is our Cannibal aged in a pinot barrel.  This is the only keg that i have to put on tap, so come and get it!  Yesterday Kyle and I brewed Oatmeal Stout.  I’ve always wanted to brew it and finally had an open fermenter.  I can’t wait to see how it turns out.  If you’re at Iron Hill, feel free to stop by the brewery and i’ll get you a taster out of the fermenter.  Honey Do Wit is on it’s way into a fermenter and be on the lookout for Ironbound Ale that was aged in a bourbon barrel.  Other than that, BE SAFE and have a great weekend!

~V

I know how many hop-heads we have in this area and it was definetly time to brew a big hoppy beer but Kyle and i wanted to try something a little different.  So for Rye.P.A. we decided to add rye to the mash tun.  Rye adds a great spicy character that is very distinct.  We also have added 41 pounds of american hops already and plan on adding more.  We will see how heavy my hand feels the next time i add hops, which will be right after i filter the beer.  I could see another 13 pounds of hops finding their way into the serving tank.  So to recap, this is a double I.P.A. with four american hop varieties that we made with rye in the mash tun.  We plan on releasing this beer on Thursday, May 20th @5 p.m.  We will also do another food pairing that night, a sweet and spicy and fruity fritter.   I’ll be here handing out samples of the beer, paired with the free fritters.  I hope you can make it!

This friday the 7th @ 5 p.m. I will be tapping this years batch of Dunkelweizen.  This batch has a great balance between banana, clove and chocolate and we all know that there is nothing like a wheat beer on a hot summer’s day.  We are also going to do a food and beer pairing with the Dunkelweizen.  Our chef Dave is going to put out a Caramel-Pecan Candy with white chocolate and banana.  I’m going to hand those out (eat a few), and talk about the pairing.  Feel free to stop by and get down on some of these goodies!~V

Mark, Charlie, and Bob. BOB!-BOB!-BOB!

I have finally recovered enough from Chicago to be able to type.  I’m proud to say that on the backs of Bob Barrar and Justin Sproul, we won Large Brewpub of the Year.  Here is a link to the official press release from the World Beer Cup. http://worldbeercup.org/press_release.html .

Bob won two Gold medals and a Bronze.  He also won a medal for “Best Legs”. That of course is a joke, but if they have a category for it i’m sure Bob would find a way to win.  He always does.

Newark wins!

Justin from our Newark location won Silver and Bronze medals.  It should be noted however that later in the evening his assistant “Rut” who was the Champ and the odds on favorite, lost a  dance-off to Chris LaPierre from Maple Shade.  The newly crowned champ used a “bear attack” style to quickly unnerve Rut.  I’m not sure the visual will ever leave me, nor do i want it to.

Winner, Winner. Chicken Dinner.

With all joking aside, it is a pleasure to brew with, to drink with, and to call all the brewers in this company my friends.  Cheers. ~V

The Philly boys!

THE PHILLY BOYS!