Pottsville/Pottstown - 56 miles Apart

I'm sure if you're coming back the reason is to say "Hey, this doofus doesn't know the difference between Pottstown, Pa. and Pottsville, Pa.!" Other than that, I must thank a reader for actually pointing out the fact that in today's original post I had John R.Brooke being from the same town where Yuengling Brewery is. When in fact the two are about an hour apart.

@burghbeersnob @yuengling_beer Dude, Yuengling is from PottsVILLE.
— Nate Stimmel (@OneDropSoup) March 5, 2013

@burghbeersnob It's ok. Both cities are in eastern PA, so you were close (ish).
— Yuengling Brewery(@Yuengling_Beer) March 5, 2013

I guess it's easy to screw the two up? Kudos to the commonwealth for having two eerily similar town names. Maybe I was caught up in the excitement that I almost had a big historical connection. Hey, Wikipedia is editable.

It's either that or this incident stems from the time last September when my girlfriend and I were on our way  to someones wedding in the eastern side of the commonwealth. I was deathly sick with some form of strep throat. Almost to the point where I had to give up driving for the day. During my sickly delusions I remember going under a highway exit sign for either Pottsville or Pottstown. As of right now, I can honestly say I have no idea which. I was very ill.

I do remember my first inclination was that I was close to the brewery or at least I was in delusional sick land. Hilariously, I still don't know which town I was closest to. Irony is a beautiful part of life. A good thing is that I don't have to feel bad about missing out on visiting Yuengling because there's a 50 percent chance I was nowhere near it.

I'm still not devoid of ideas! John F. Reynolds was from Lancaster. Lancaster Brewing Company should have first priority on that, but Yuengling could get away with that as well. Last I checked, Lancaster doesn't have a brew in its lineup named for Reynolds. There's only one Lancaster in Pennsylvania! Geez I need a Black and Tan.

Beer Review: Lancaster Winter Warmer Ale

Serving Type: Bottle

ABV: 8.9 percent

Appearance: Lancaster's Winter Warmer pours a dark color, but not as dark as you'd expect it to be. If you look close, it's almost a really deep shade of purple.I never thought I'd actually write purple as a beer's color on this blog. I finally have. If your parents ever gave you Dimetapp medicine as a kid you know the same color I'm talking about. It had a beige and off-white head that doesn't leave much lacing. The carbonation appeared differently than in most brews. There were mini streams of bubbles that trickled upwards in lines.

Smell: The aroma of this beer was pretty complex. There was some sweet caramel ahead of some dark fruits I picked up. I couldn't really classify them until I tasted it. Given the higher ABV I assumed the booziness of this would translate heavily into the smell. Luckily it was masked. I didn't pick up any of it.

Taste: Once again, the first thing I noticed was the sweet caramel. This time I was able to decipher the dark fruits as being raisins and figs. This hit the back of the tongue. A touch of alcohol mixed with the dark fruits on the finish for a nice warming sensation. The alcohol presence wasn't overbearing at all. This is how it should be.

Overall Rating: 

This was a really above-average winter beer. I believe this is classified as an Old Ale due to the presence of darker fruits and lack of your expected spice content. The only qualm on my part was the odd color. This is most likely because of the few times I've had an Old Ale. I still would very much like to have another bottle of this beer.

Beer Review: Lancaster Strawberry Wheat

Serving Type: Draft

ABV: 4.90 percent

Appearance: Lancaster Strawberry Wheat pours adarkly-shaded gold with a slight haziness throughout the body. It's tough to see through.The head is thick and frothy, with above-average lacing. A very appetizing beer to look at.

Smell: The wheat character of this beer is very strong in the aroma. As for the strawberry, which you'd expect in a beer named as such, there isn't much present in the smell. There's a sugary sweetness to be found, but not much strawberry in my nostrils.

Taste: There's plenty of wheat and sweet malt on the tongue along with some creaminess thrown in there from this brew's head, but once again the strawberry is fairly weak in flavor. It's barely there and almost gives off a bitter sensation.

Overall Rating: 

This is my second go-around with this beer. I had it out of a bottle the first time and almost struggled through it. I gave it a second chance and still wasn't thrilled. The strawberry in both the flavor and aroma aren't too prevalent and when it is, it's weakened and/or bitter.