Episode 14 – The Lost Abbey – Agave Maria

Episode 14 of Drew’s Brews Reviews is here! The beer review show you never knew you wanted and no one needs. Tequila…my boozy nemesis. Oh how I thought we’d never meet again after that time at the beach post high school. Maybe it was you, maybe it was the liquid lemon concentrate we used for tequila shots when we couldn’t find a lemon that lead to painting a campground bathroom with a day’s food bounty… Regardless, I’m drinking Lost Abbey’s Agave Maria, a tequila barrel-aged American Strong Ale that is becoming an annual release for the brewer. This beer isn’t for the lite beer crowd, weighing in at hefty 13.5% with the price tag to go along with it.

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Anderson Valley – Pinchy Jeek Barl Review

Pinchy JeekAll You Need to Know

Brewery: Anderson Valley Brewing
Style: Pumpkin Ale
ABV: 8.5%
Cost: $13 (24oz)
Glassware: Pint, Snifter
Temp: 45°F
Availability: ????
Purchased@: Hunger-N-Thirst

Quick Take: At 8.5%, barrel beer chasers that aren’t big on boozy beer taste and favor drinkability over drunkability may find something (anything!) to like here. If you are expecting a rich, full flavored, spiced pumpkin beer, you should keep on looking. If you want a beer that is so lightly flavored it is damn near ghostly, you’ve found your fall drinker.

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Westbrook Brewing – One Claw Review

Westbrook One ClawAll You Need to Know

Brewery: Westbrook Brewing
Style: Pale Ale
ABV: 5.5%
Cost: $2.50 (12oz)
Glassware: Becker (Pint)
Temp: 45°F
Availability: Year-Round
Purchased@: ???? (Gifted)

Quick Take: The drinkability of One Claw is strong, making for a great session beer that is full of flavor and rides the line between overindulgence and a watery bore. This beer is a success because of the toasty rye and biscuity finish that makes you want to go back for more, but an appreciation of mild dank is a must. This may not be bold enough for some, but an easy recommendation for me as a go-to session beer.

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Tired Hands – Brewery Visit and Beer Review

Preamble

Tired Hands - 4My trip to one of the rising stars in the craft beer world, Tired Hands, actually begins at a small Greek restaurant and bottle shop on the outskirts of Lancaster. I have an hour to kill, tumbler of Dirt Wolf in hand, shifting between the humming malt liquor coolers and the shelves of craft beer I’ve picked through ten times over. I wait with the other beer geeks and hipsters to score one of 24 available bottles of Goose Island Bourbon County Coffee Stout, wondering when the beer is going to be distributed as the chaotic blob of beer-ites grows bigger.

This is like every other big beer release I go to, full of beer nerds like myself that talk about how the exclusivity and hype surrounding beer releases is bullshit while actively participating in them. The irony is not lost on me, but I tell myself I’m above it because I’ll jump through whatever hoops and pay for the privilege once. Yeah…

While milling about, getting a gauge of what beer styles people are into and who can outdo each other for ultimate beer cred, I think someone claiming to have a Samichlaus from the early 90’s may take the cake, I end up talking to a young twenty something and a grizzled beer veteran. Both separately mention that the best brewery in the area, nay in all of PA and possibly beyond, is Tired Hands.

I heard of it, knew it was about an hour away from me, but never considered making the trip. I have a nice conversation about the brewery for the next hour, staying far past the buying time. I left there with a bottle of BCB Coffee Stout and a burning determination to drink the crap out of some Tired Hands. Less than a month later, I choose to skip one of my favorite annual food and beer expos (next year PA Flavor, next year) for a trip to the Tired Hands pub in Ardmore, Philadelphia.

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Shipyard – XXXX IPA (Bourbon Barrel-Aged) Review

Shipyward XXXX IPAAll You Need to Know

Brewery: Shipyard Brewing
Style: Imperial IPA
ABV: 10.4%
Cost: $12.99 (24oz)
Glassware: Tulip
Temp: 55°F (or current temp in hell)
Availability: Limited
Purchased@: Some where in Maine, possibly purchased from the Devil
Barrel-Aged: 100 days

Quick Take: Clearly, some people must like this or it never would have been released and good for them, but this bruiser of a beer demonstrates why most IPAs shouldn’t be bourbon barrel-aged. If you want to try a successfully bourbon aged IPA, Founder’s Doom is pretty damn good and worth seeking out.

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