Troeg's, Harrisburg Brewers Fest, and homebrew update

Last weekend was my long-awaited trip to Troeg's Brewery and the Harrisburg Brewers Fest. I went with 7 other people, a couple of whom had already been to Troeg's. It's quite a small brewery, as it pretty much only ships beer to the states surrounding Pennsylvania. There's a small bar area when you walk in that has all their year-round beers on tap, including a seasonal (Sunshine Pils) and maybe a specialty (Flying Mouflan FTW). I got a sampler tray, which consists of 3 oz samplers of all 7 beers on tap for $7. And yes, I finished all of them myself before my tour (but it wasn't easy).

The cool thing about the brewery tour is that one of the two Troeg's brothers gives the tour. We got John, who is more into the brewing side of things. It was interesting to hear the story of how the brewery was started. In a nutshell, the brothers were both working jobs they couldn't stand and decided to start a brewpub, but neither of them knew how to brew or how to cook. After some bouncing around in the industry, they decided a brewery was more their style. They started the brewery in 1997 and have been steadily expanding for the last 14 years, although they're still a small business, employing just 49 people in the brewery. They are moving to a brand new brewery in Hershey, PA later this year and selling the current one to a local brewery. It was interesting to hear John speak about Troeg's business, which is basically just, "brew what we like". They have strong ties to the local community and other local breweries in Pennsylvania (they sponsored the Harrisburg Brewers Fest) and the surrounding areas. If you see any of their beer in your local store, pick some up. The Flying Mouflan is fantastic, but my favorite non-seasonal flavor of theirs is their Hopback (but if you ever see Nugget Nectar, GET SOME).

Then it was time for the Brewers Fest. I meant to take some pictures, but after a few beers I didn't even think of it. It wasn't a large event, not nearly as large as SAVOR or the Great American Beer Fest, but there were still about 40 breweries there, including some big names like Dogfish, Stone, and Ommegang. Unfortunately, the selection of beers from the big names left much to be desired. Instead, I found myself trying a lot of the local brewers' offerings. Among the local PA breweries, I tried beers from Yards (Philly), Weyerbacher (Easton), Sly Fox (Collegeville), Victory (Downingtown), Swashbuckler (Manheim), Marzoni (Duncansville), Otto's (State College), Allentown (Allentown, duh), and Iron Hill (various). I can't say I had a bad beer among the lot, but a couple of my favorites were the Hopsolutely IPA from Allentown, the Yakima Glory from Victory (one of my favorite PA breweries), and the 113 IPA from Sly Fox.

As for the out-of-town breweries, I sampled varieties from Fatheads (Ohio), Thirsty Dog (Ohio), Union (California), Oskar Blues (Colorado), Boulder (Colorado), Stone (California), and Ommegang (New York). Some of my favorites here were the Headhunter from Fatheads, the Mojo IPA from Boulder, the Smoked Porter from Stone, and the BPA from Ommegang. Overall, I sampled about 16 or so different beers before we ran out of time. It was a great time and I would definitely do it again, but next year, I want to make sure I hit a bigger event like SAVOR in addition to this one.

As for homebrew news, I finally got to try my Nugget Nectar clone. My wife came up with the name for it, Hoppelganger IPA (trademark pending). The aroma is quite hoppy, but the taste is surprisingly smooth. There is a subtle hop character, but the Nugget hops don't bite the way Nugget Nectar does. There are couple possible reasons for this. First, I think I just need to add more hops in the finishing phase, or even possibly in the flavoring phase. The other thing that I didn't do (because I didn't have the facility to do it) is a hop back. I've read this is possible by using a french press and making what basically amounts to a "hop tea", but I didn't have the equipment for this, so I bypassed it. I think adding this could really bring out that extra hop burst present in Nugget Nectar. Overall, it's a good IPA, but not quite a clone.

I also cracked a bottle of my English Honey Brown Ale last night (name pending) and I think it's really good. There isn't much of a honey taste left, but it's just sweet enough to be enjoyable. It's light, crisp, and dry, and it turned out surprisingly clear for an extract brew. The original and final gravities of this homebrew came out almost exactly to my estimates and this is by far the most perfect beer I've brewed to date. This one is a keeper. I also got to try a couple of homebrews from my friends this weekend. My friend Alex brewed up a hoppy amber IPA called Surly Furious and man was it good. It has an outstanding hop aroma that arrests your nose and just the right amount of hop bite. My friend Steve, in honor of the final Harry Potter movie set for release in a month, brewed one called Harry Porter (and the Wizarding School of Hopwarts), a strong, bitter porter that is just fantastic. My wife said it definitely has a "Dogfish taste" to is, which is pretty much the best complement you can give a homebrewer. My next project is going to be a little more advanced, as I'm going to try my hand at a saison, the perfect late summer beer. I'll update the blog with my brewing experience. Later!