Holy Thursday: Homage

In preparations for yet another edition of my sarcastic Catholic ways, I noticed something on the calendar of one of my favorite craft beer pubs. A quick look at the Blue Dust event calendar will not only show you the upcoming Craft Beer Week events the bar has on the books for the Pittsburgh celebration, but something that's worth noting. An anniversary.

I would have told you that you were crazy if you would have told me that Blue Dust (or as us regulars call it "The Blue Dust" exactly like those idiots on Monday Night Football that hail from Ohio State or Miami) has been that cozy little craft pub in Homestead for five years on the 20th. I couldn't believe it, but that can also be because I haven't been of legal age to drink for as long as the place has existed.

Still, I always try to fit Blue Dust in whenever I can to pay some for of homage. After all, it was that bar that I've always credited with plunging me into this exploratory world of what is great beer. North Country Brewing Company in Slippery Rock was only a taste of what it could be. Discovering and frequenting Blue Dust helped this obsession to bloom. My visits to Blue Dust early on are probably the biggest reason of which led me to start recording my thoughts on this blog. Here I am two and a half years later.

I've always been able to try what ever I wanted when I've been there. They've usually shared my posts on this blog through their website and social media feeds. I'm eternally grateful for that place being my gateway to such an intricate and interesting world. Members of my own family would hate it, but I've probably spent more time trying new beers and interacting with other regulars than actually going to mass. Surprise, right? Still, Blue Dust is indeed holy ground.

Also, next Thursday is the actual Holy Thursday. So, I might have to cook up something extra sarcastic.

A beer flight at Blue Dust from way back.

Beer Review: Rivertowne RT Lager

Serving Type: Bottle

ABV: 5.4 percent

Appearance: This came off as a golden-brown lager with some additional honey-colored hues. There was also what looked to be an orange glow in the deep core of the body. The head was an appetizing shade of cream white. It had a slight layer of thickness, but then faded back into the beer slowly to leave just a thin layer of white and fizzy carbonation. Unfortunately not much lacing was to be noticed.

Smell: This gave off an interesting roasty and peppery profile. The roast aromas were uncharacteristically darker than your typical lager, but in an a positive way. Pair all of that with a mild and floral hop nose.

Taste: I noticed a decent of helping of sweetness on the front of my tongue back towards the mid portions. It was then that the sweetness subsided and gave way to a crackery and bread-like profile. The hop bite was a bit above mild compared to what I noticed in the aroma, but it complimented the dark cracker flavors quite well. Here it seemed like a very classic lager profile.

Overall Rating: 

I was a little worried  once the aroma went down a different road than I expected, but everything went just fine. This brew reminded me somewhat of Yuengling Traditional Lager, but this had a few more layers of flavor. Sweet, a little dark and roasty while still having a nice bite towards the finish. A little more carbonation and texture from it can vault this beer to the top.

Finding Said Adventure

Since about two people on planet Earth care about the meaningless things I do in life, I guess I should pick up where I left off yesterday with my "What to Do" post. I'm off for the New Years holidays and decided to treat myself to a beer and food-related venture.

Most of you know by now that I write a high percentage of these posts the day prior to when they actually post. So, with that said do I have your permission to switch to the present tense? After all I won't physically be where I'm currently at by the time all of you read this. That's what I thought.

I settled on, well I wouldn't actually call it settling, Piper's Pub on Carson Street. The pub that features numerous delicacies from across the pond, an awesome tap list (even an entire section dedicated to Pennsylvania breweries) as well as one of the best cask systems in the Pittsburgh area That and there's always something fun that's on said hand pump.

Ah, beauty. I mean the beer not me!

One of my favorite posts I've written on this blog included Piper's on my first ever visit. That night I was with the infamous Beer Snob Sr. This place has quickly become one of my favorite places to frequent in all of Pittsburgh.

I've engaged myself in many discussions on the Boak and Bailey blog on  differences between USA and UK beer/pubs. I'm alright with the fact that some British folk might consider Piper's to be a watered-down version depending on where they live, but I absolutely love being here. I might not ever get to England to experience the pub life as Beer Snob Sr. was during his education years, but I'm fine with the experiences, beer and pub food I've had at Piper's. Right now I have some fish n' chips. Three thick pieces of fish with an even thicker batter. So tasty. I've also frequently got the Chorizo Mac n' Cheese off of the seasonal menu as well as Bangers and Mash.

Regardless, it's close enough for me as to what being in the UK is like. I'm a huge history buff. So, one of my favorite books is Cornelius Ryan's The Longest Day. It was also a movie that came out in 1962. If I could just here some of the bagpipe tunes that were played during the British advance on Sword Beach in Normandy I'd be an even happier camper.

Aloha Pittsburgh

Since the early days of starting my writing on this blog, I've taken a fascination with beers from breweries based in Hawaii. If I remember correctly, it was around the time in which I started this blog that Kona Brewing Company started shipping some brew into the States. I came across two beers from the Aloha State in Maui Brewing's Bikini Blonde Lager and Coconut Porter and completely fell in love.

Seemed like it was totally on a whim, but last night it appeared as if a former Pittsburgh resident took to Twitter to reach out to those of us in the online beer community here in Western, Pa.

@BurghBeerSnob Check out this upcoming brewery in Hawaii... founded by Pittsburghers! http://t.co/nIpiySXO3L
— Darren Garvey (@darrengarvey) August 7, 2013

It looks like there's potential for Pittsburgh to have a stake in the Hawaiian beer landscape. The proposed brewery (currently a Kickstarter project) would be called Stewbum & Stonewall. The name comes from nicknames of the fathers of the two proposed owners of this brewery and of course I go geeky over a Civil War reference.

One unique thing about this idea for a brewery is that (I found this within the Kickstarter page) the brewery plans to feature other local Hawaiian beers alongside its own in the taproom. That's something very unusual and unique. Best of luck to them. I figured that passing this along might help get an extra backer or two for this brewery.

Vive le Pittsburgh.