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: North Coast Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout

Serving Type: Bottle

ABV: Nine percent

Appearance: This brew poured a dark black with flashy ruby red as well as brown hues. It also boasted a beighe head with a cake batter-esque texture. The head ended up leaving  a thick coating of lacing appeared to take a second to separate when I tilted and rotated the glass. Thick and sticky looking, overall.

Smell: Layers upon layers. Roasted barley, dark chocolate and robust coffee grounds of both medium and dark variety. Just about everything was in there that you can expect to be in a stout these days.

Taste: The chocolate was the first thing on the flavor bill. I sensed some of the sweet and lighter chocolate notes on the front then the darker tones slightly after that. The coffee and barley then made a sudden taste takeover. That was followed by a bitter and above-average boozy finish. The finishing flavors were strong, but the other layers in this brew really helped to keep those particular things balanced.

Overall Rating: 

One of the better stouts I've ever had. I can't recall many  brews that were that defining with each layer of aroma and taste. I was able to clearly discern this beer's intricacies. Oh, and it really helps that it's named for an important figure in world history. That's helped in attracting me to quite a few brews out there on the market.

Brace Yourselves

After nearly a year and a half of posting about the news of and my own anticipation of North Country Brewing Company, our of Slippery Rock, it finally looks as if the time has come. News has spread on Twitter within the Western Pa. beer community about the cans actually being filled and the actual palettes being trucked around wholesalers via forklifts.

.@ncbrewingco kegs are in the market now. Cans hit the market next week.
— Craft Pittsburgh Mag (@CraftPittsburgh) December 7, 2013

Look what we picked up from @ncbrewingco today! Available now IN CANS from @beersince1933. Be among the 1st! pic.twitter.com/cCodZj5F8B
— Michelle Reid (@Pourthing) December 12, 2013

May the excitement ensue. The Craft Pittsburgh tweet is from five days ago. So, that should mean that North Country cans should be in some distributors by this weekend or early next week at the latest, correct? Only time will tell, but I'm sure that's the likely case. This state seems to be having a craft can explosion of sorts. I've also seen and heard rumors of the Troegs Brewing Company cans hitting markets as well.

Do Yourself a Favor

Throughout all of my craft beer adventures in the Commonwealth two places have stuck out and have proved to make me giddy for each of their respective brews. Oh, and I should mention the food as well! Both of these establishments were fun and interesting to be at. Great atmospheres as well as good beer. Be sure to check them out when you get the chance. Well, there has been some news concerning each in the past week or so.

Roll Out! Roll Out!

The beginnings of my craft beer tastes (or microbrews as we referred to them in my early college years) might have begun to develop after sampling some of the brews offered at North Country Brewing Company in Slippery Rock.

We've known for about a year that the brewery had expanded from just the morgue turned brewpub and into a full-scale brewing facility south of Slippery Rock. It feels as if we've been waiting for kegs and cans of North Country beer to hit the local markets here in Pittsburgh for almost an eternity.

Within the last week kegs of North Country brews have reached many Pittsburgh bars. North Country has been trying to update the locations in which said brews are offered on its Facebook page. The roll out is finally looking to be happening. Still no word on cans being sold in distributors, but I'm sure that's close to happening as well.

I met a friend at OTB Bicycle Cafe on the South Side just over a week ago and he snapped a good photo of a North Country Tap Handle. The beer was in. It just wasn't tapped yet. This was for the new Buck Up Black Pale Ale. I don't remember ever having that while in school. So, it looks like they';re still being creative as possible with their brews.

My buddy, Zack, also spotted more NCB on the North side via his Twitter account.

Needing a Larger Shoe Size

Back in August I visited Gettysburg Battlefield Brew Works after months of anticipation. I was fascinated at the fact of drinking great beer in what was a former Confederate field hospital at the time of the battle in 1863. Things were obviously still getting started when I was there. I've been following the Brew Works on Facebook  (I've also found them on Twitter) and things have seemed to be picking up amazingly. There is now consistent live entertainment as well as some barbecue food offerings from a local Gettysburg eatery.

I've been writing about the place constantly. From when I first heard about the pending liquor license (and the reason I have the odd subhead just above) and when I finally got to visit for the first time on my yearly excursion to Gettysburg.

More importantly, the Brew Works made an appearance on the Discovery Channel's Bar Hunters show. I missed the episode on Sunday and I've never watched the show before. So, I'm not entirely sure if the episode was dedicated in full or it was just a segment. Still, I was able to embed a video I found on the Discovery website.

Monday Rant on a Tuesday: One Big Microcosm

Back in college when I attended one of my first journalism courses, we were taught to be as factually accurate as possible. The professor that taught said course had a fact error policy. A fact error, by his definition was anything close to being factually inaccurate in your news lead or article.

To put it plainly, anyone that took this course quickly became familiar with what a fact error was. That was because if you made one, you got an automatic 60 percent on that assignment. This could include a misspelling of a person's name, mixed digit in an address number, or a wrong time. Almost anything fell into that category.

Bryan from This is Why I'm Drunk had a remarkable post late last week that was well-researched and described some of our beer searching habits over the last few years. I felt moved enough to post a comment, something I really should get to doing more often on sites I enjoy reading. I didn't think that what I said would spark much response, yet would contribute to an entire blog post which is linked in the embedded tweet below.

Whoops. I guess a comment of mine inspired another well-researched post by @BryanDRoth http://t.co/By4SHPmFua #craftbeer #microbrew
— Bill K. (@BurghBeerSnob) August 27, 2013

That is honestly the first time I've hashtagged the term "microbrew" in my entire history of talking beer on Twitter. Bryan admits in the second post that it's pretty much speculation, but that we probably used the term "microbrew" to refer to individual beers and "craft beer" to refer to the actual movement.

It was around the time I took the course that we used "microbrew" to describe different beer made in brewpubs here in Pennsylvania. We did it at Slippery Rock all of the time with North Country brewing Company right on Main Street in town.

Now, here's where my fact error story comes into play. Does it matter what word we choose to describe it anymore? I've actually never given it much thought. Are there brewers that care which term we use? Are there fellow beer geeks that would take it personal if we used one or the other? I'm not entirely sure.

What I'm positively sure about is the lessening of "microbrew" and increasing usage of "craft beer" at the very least can be looked at as a microcosm of what happened when good beer actually went big about a decade ago. That can always be looked at as a good thing.

Not Quiet on the Northern Front

I've tried my best to be up-to-date on the local breweries finally getting some beer on the market in cans. The best part about the breweries that have started to do it in this area were ones that mostly only had draft selections. Rivertowne did have a small bottling operation going at one point, but for whatever reason there was just only three beer selections available at distributors in bottles. At least that's all I noticed over time.

According to Craft Pittsburgh, one of the breweries that gave me one of my first craft beer experiences (North Country Brewing Company in Slippery Rock, Pa.) is nearing the completion of its canning project. It's looking as if things are ready to roll.

Look for @ncbrewingco beer out in the market in a few weeks from @beersince1933.
— Craft Pittsburgh Mag (@CraftPittsburgh) June 25, 2013

From my own recollection, North Country should be putting out three of it's original beer lineup. This should include station 33 Firehouse Red, Buck Snort Stout and Paleo IPA. Also, there should be cans of Slimey Pebble Pils, which I've never come across during my trips to Slippery Rock.

I dream of one day coming across some cans of the famous fruit beer rotation North Country always does (otherwise known as "The Fruit Bowl"). Some Blue Bear-E, Cherry Garcia and Strawberry Fields Forever would hit the spot.

My Old Pennsyltucky Home

If you were able to try the three collaboration brews during last year's Pittsburgh Craft Beer Week, there's no doubt that you're looking forward to the ones that are being anticipated for this year's celebration. Craft Pittsburgh Magazine's Twitter account tweeted a photograph of the tap handles for this year's brews.

Tap markers for this year's #PCBW collaboration brews: twitter.com/CraftPittsburg…
— Craft Pittsburgh Mag (@CraftPittsburgh) April 10, 2013

I honestly didn't even remember that some local breweries and home brewers would once again be working together to produce another set of beers. The tweet reminded my of this facet of Pittsburgh Craft Beer Week and prompted me to actually head to the event website to read as much as I can about the beers.

Two of these brews caught my eye and sparked a little interest. First was Fear of a Black Walnut which has a few brewers working on it from North Country Brewing in Slippery Rock. This brew is going to be a smoked walnut oatmeal stout. I always have to take an interest with anything North Country does. After all, I did go to school there. The second was Pennsyl-tucky Uncommon which is labeled as a PA Swankey/Kentucky Common on the event website. Scott Smith of East End Brewing is apparently playing a big role in that project. I am on a roll with drinking some of East End's stuff lately. So, I'll definitely be trying to get some of this very uncommon brew.

What the Hell is Kentucky Common?

Reading the beer styles on the photograph in the original tweet caused me to immediately start looking as to what Kentucky Uncommon actually is/was. Honestly, the best thing I found was the Wikipedia entry. The only thing it really says is that it was traditionally a dark beer.

The second question you're probably asking is about the PA Swankey style that was noted on the tap handle and the event website. What I do know is that North Country brewed something called Keystone Swankey and it was a California Common (i.e. steam beer). In essence, I'm not really sure what this beer is supposed to be. Still, I'm interested in finally finding out and trying it for myself.

A Good Place to Hang During PCBW

I did the same last year and I'll do the same this time around. I always try to give a shout out to my favorite craft pub, Blue Dust near the Waterfront shopping complex. Stop in on April 25 for a double-dosage of craft tasting. Bell's and Troegs will be there. Some awesome flights will be available. On April 27, Founders Brewing will be there for a tasting and some sort of brunch event. I'm told that All Day IPA will be featured. I'm not sure when the Founders brunch starts, but the Troegs/Bells one starts at 7 p.m.

Monday Rant: Beer Metallica

There was a good piece in Craft Pittsburgh Magazine in its latest issue about how having to expand into canning, bottling and new buildings are all great problems to have for a few local breweries. Two of the brewing companies mentioned in this feature were North Country Brewing in Slippery Rock (which provided me with my very first taste of microbrews while in college) and Rivertowne in Export. Both places are in the beginnings of starting to can some of their beer.

In my mind, the fact remains that this is a great thing for these companies on our local scene. There's more beer to be purchased out on the market and we now can enjoy some of these brews in the comfort of our own homes instead of physically going to the pubs of these companies like we had to previously.

I have a grandmother that can't get over how picky I am sometimes at the dinner table. We're a Slovak family and that shows in our holiday gatherings as the meals are very ethnic. Let's just say I only eat half of what's actually served for dinner on Christmas Eve.

The same can be said for other aspects of my life. When it comes to beer I'm picky about how it's served. I don't really prefer beer from a can as I can easily distinguish some type of metallic taste that seems to settle in the beer.

Some craft breweries are going to can their beer whether I like it or not. So, this is just going to be something I have to get over. Still, I'm excited to have a chance to purchase some beer that I couldn't do previously.

Beer Review: North Country Squirrel's Nut Brown.

Serving Type: Cask

ABV: Five percent

Appearance: Squirrel's Nut Brown is one of the darker brown ales I've come across. It looks very thick and opaque. Since this beer was on the cask system that took me three years to notice the head was lively and beautiful. Very white and puffy. It lingered around for a good while and added a slight creaminess to the the rest of the beer.

Smell: I got plenty of dark malts from this beer. Behind that was a scent of both caramel and nuts.The head was so lively that I had to be weary of not getting my nose caught in it.

Taste: The dark malts and the caramel are dominant on the tongue. The nuts come in on the finish. I've also had this beer on regular draft. I must admit that the taste seems a lot stronger and darker when it's served on cask.

Overall Rating:   

I've been able to enjoy this beer both on tap and cask. I like it much more on cask. The beer seems more lively and flavorful that way. North Country Brewing is a bit forgotten due to it's location on Main Street in Slippery Rock, but its been known to put out some decent brews.

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Apparently North Country Brewing Has Beer on Cask

I've made it known that Blue Dust in Homestead is my favorite brew pub to frequent due to its 26 beers on-tap, but before I had Blue Dust I had North Country Brewing Company in Slippery Rock.

North Country was the first time I had craft beer when I turned legal age and it opened up an entirely different world for me. It's also the primary source for my love affair with fruit beer. Last week I stopped in once again with a friend and noticed something that I hadn't before, even though it's most likely been there the entire time.

Apparently North Country has a cask system. Now, let's not get too far ahead of ourselves here. It's just a single cask, but at least it's there. I'm a newbie when it comes to cask beer, but I know enough about it being live beer at it's best to realize it's worth a drink whenever you get a chance to snag a glass.

This isn't my first rodeo when it comes to cask beer. Just check out one of the most-read posts in the young history of this blog, it's just my second.

I really didn't have a single idea of what cask beer was before I tried it a month back. To make a long story short, I loved it.

Case-in-point, the actual news here is that North Country Brewing does have a cask system. I wouldn't have even noticed it except for the fact that I was on the bar stool directly in front of it. It almost looks as if it's out of use. There wasn't even anything on the tap list that said anything was on it (FYI Squirrel Nut Brown was the beer on cask). If I was North Country I'd be promoting the hell out of it up there.

I know that North Country has that smaller bar upstairs and the split-open kegs in the bathroom that are urinals that everyone loves, but this cask system is one of the lesser-known gems in this place.

According to Pittsburgh's favorite craft beer writer at Craft Pittsburgh, North Country isn't the only place to sample their brand of beer beer on cask.

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