Beer Review: Battlefield Brew Works Hop Artillery Amber

Serving Type: Draft

ABV: 6.8 percent

Appearance: Hop Artillery Amber poured a glowing ruby red with a few brown and amber highlights glistening elsewhere throughout the body. The brew was crowned with a slightly off-white head that was about a finger's width and had some very decent staying power. The head remained approximately a quarter inch thick most of the way down and left ample lacing inside the glass. The lacing wasn't thick and foamy, but thin. Still, this was very attractive to see.

Smell: This had a few strong hints of citrus from the dry hopping that took place. According to the Brew Works' website, this beer is dry hopped with both Amaris and Citra hops. The hoppiness of this was somewhat pungent, but in no way got in the way of the roasty and caramel undertones of the malt.

Taste: The tip of my tongue caught some sweet caramel and sweet, yet roasted malt notes. The hops acted in an interesting way in the brew. They provided a nice citrus flavor as well as some nice bite on the finish. The noticeable citrus made this one of those beers that makes me a bigger fan of dry-hopped brews. The head of the beer that remained provided a creamy kiss as the beer went down. I didn't notice much carbonation present, but the smoothness of the head made up for that in the texture department.

Overall Rating: 

I really enjoyed having this beer. If I could change anything, it would be more balance in flavor. The hops and citrus notes from said hops are a little more present than the other typical characteristics of an Amber Ale. I do prefer a little more maltiness in these, but since the entire purpose of this beer is to up the hop content a tad, I can't knock it too much. Still, the zing in this brew was quite appetizing.

A Meeting Months in the Making

Thus it began. Well-crafted beer pouring from taps in a barn formerly used as a Civil War hospital. I've been harping about it for months and this past weekend I was finally united with Gettysburg Battlefield Brew Works currently in the barn of the historic Monfort Farm just off of Gettysburg's York Road. I was so excited that I chose the night of my 25th birthday to visit the joint.

Now, I've been to the Monfort barn prior to this. Years ago I went with my father to have dinner when it was called Gettysbrew. There are still a few remnants of the former brewpub that everyone hated. There's still a Gettysbrew stained glass window above the entrance and the kitchen downstairs isn't operable as of yet. According to owner and head brewer Dan Kulick, the kitchen was simply vacated and left in disrepair and the beer tanks were left with beer in them. There it sat for seven years before Kulick bought the place and performed the type of miracle only found in scripture.

The bar is made from trees on the Monfort Farm.

As for the kitchen, Kulick is looking for a chef to eventually join the team to help expand the menu, an investor to help infuse the kitchen or someone that can help with both. For right now, the kitchen resides in the bar area and the menu consists of some gourmet sausages as well as soft pretzels. I had the elk sausage with jalapeno and cheddar inside it. Each meal is served with a side of potato chips. It was apparent to me that despite the disadvantages in the kitchen/bar area the food still comes out looking appetizing and tastes great.

The beer is the crown jewel of Battlefield Brew Works. Aside from the Monfort barn itself, the beer should be in relation to the food. Kulick has two IPA's on cask which are both IPA's. I set my eyes on a few of the regular draft offerings as I'm not the world's biggest hop fan. I began with the Hop Artillery Amber which has all the usual characteristics of an amber ale, but has a little more hop bite as usual. I also was able to have a pint glass of the Red Circle American Red Ale which helps to benefit members of our armed forces. It was sweet and malty, but also had an interesting zip to it on the finish.

I will try to review the two I just mentioned, but won't be able to do one for the Pennsylvania Dutch Style Smoked Porter which I only tasted. I was worried that the smokiness would scare me away, but I must admit that it was nice and mild. It was almost creamy. Kulick just began production on a new pumpkin beer as well.

I think the atmosphere for the place speaks for itself. The building itself is a great piece of history. If that doesn't get your senses tingling I don't know what will. The beer tanks peak just through the floor on on the bar end of the barn which reminded me of the altar at Church Brew Works, but in its own historic sort of way. There's still work to be done. My opinion on that is that it's not perfect, but the advantage of where this place is means that it doesn't have to be. That's what is so unique about the location and that barn.

I really enjoyed this place and truly hope it has the opportunity to grown before my next visit to Gettysburg. Battlefield Brew Works has a Facebook profile/page that has updates and I hope to see it appear in the Twitter world at some point! I hope to have my next two beer reviews as the two I mentioned drinking glasses of in this post.