After catching up with some good friends, we ate some lunch on the deck. Then it was time to hop on the triple for a quick ride to the top. Then a walk staight down The Face trail, under the lift was a great way to cap off the afternoon.

It was a nice, crisp, cool night and the next day dawned bright and clear. The view off the deck of the Bearpen Mountain ridgeline:

My 8 year old summed up the day and weekend by saying that “It felt so good to be back at our 2nd home, Plattekill!!”

Autumn, cool weather and snow are just around the corner.

Dogfish Head From Milton, DE is one of the darlings of the craft brew industry., although given their growth and now ease of availability, they are about as mainstream as that term can apply to the craft brew world. Inspired by the Grateful Dead, brewed with Granola, it becomes an Imperial Pale Ale with 9.0% abv. It poured a nice copper color with a medium thick head and a malty somewhat floral nose. The taste was malt forward with some hoppy undertones. A bit too malty for my taste, but this is a well balanced beer that is quite smooth despite its’ relatively high alcohol content. It does have a nice, fun label.

Founders Brewing Company, Grand Rapids, MI., Centennial IPA. 7.2% abv.  From 12 oz. bottles, it pours a rich, medium amber with a straw colored head and some light lacing on the glass.  Hops predominate on the tongue and the finish is very well balanced with some malty undertones. The Centennial hops offer a tasty pine and citruss flavor and make this is a very fine, quality IPA.

Troegs Brewing Co., out of Hershey, PA., brew many fine beers and has built a quality reputation in the Craft Brew industry. I sampled a six pack of the Perpetual IPA. In 12 oz bottles that comes in at 7.5% abv. Troegs calls this an “Imperial Pale Ale.” Personally, I’m not quite sure what the difference is between this and most IPAs which usually stands for an India Pale Ale. Usually, the India Pale Ales tend to be hoppier since back in the day the sailors used hops as a preservative to keep their ale fresh for the long voyage to India. Anyway, back to the Perpetual IPA (however it might be denominated). It pours a light gold in color with a whiteish head that leaves light but impressive lacing on the glass. The light color belies the full bodied flavor of this beer, which is very enjoyable and look forward to having it again….as well as sampling more of Troegs delicious, well made beers.

Stone Brewing Co. Out of Escondido, San Diego, CA. is the number 1 brewery in what is arguably the epicenter of the craft brew movement. I sampled their Ruin Ten from 22oz bottles. It pours cloudy amber with a strong hop and slight alcohol in bouquet. Big, pronounced hop and big al the tongue with a big hoppy finish. This was a good, DIPA but I have enjoyed some other Stone varieties more. It had a bit too much alcohol flavor. It is a big 10% DIPA, but their “Enjoy By” series is also high in alcohol but IMHO, is much smoother and it has that strong, sweet hop flavor. Look for more on the “Enjoy By” series another post.

We took our annual, end of summer beach vacation down on the Delaware shore this year. Before I left, I was told to keep an eye out for Evolution beers. Evolution Craft Brewing Co., out of Salisbury, MD was offered in tap and in bottles in restaurants in the area and the local beer store had a number of selections from them to choose.  The Lot No.6 is a Double IPA and comes in at 8.5% abv. Out of 12 oz bottles, it poured a cloudy amber with a medium to thick, almost creamy head. Strong, predominately citrus hops on the nose.  Sweet, citrussy and piney hop flavors predominate and it has a nice, smooth malty finish was surprisingly smooth for a big 8.5% double. I really enjoyed this beer and found it to be a very good DIPA.

While down on the Delmarva, I also sampled Evolution’s Lot No. 3, which is their single IPA. It too, was a very good beer. I believe it has a 6.8% abv and was smooth and hoppy. I didn’t bring any of them home so I don’t have a true review).  But, I did enjoy the Lot No. 6 more than the Lot No. 3.  But, I tend to enjoy prefer DIPAs.

Horace ‘Hop’ Wallop headed West a broken man.  For in the City of Blues a Miss LuLu Belle Lager had left him thirsting for more.  Drawn by wild tales of riches to be had in the gold mines, Hop pressed on westward.  His last nickle spent on a prospecting pan, Hop’s hunger got the best of him.  Two fistfuls of barley and three of some wild and wayward hops tossed in a pan with some clear water was to be his meal.  But sleep overcame him and he later awoke to a bubbling, cacaphonous concoction.  Overjoyed with the beautiful ale that he had made, Hop realized the secret of the green gold he had discovered in those fresh hops.  Celebrated far and wide, Hop Wallop lives on in this vivid ale with his words, “hoppiness is happiness.”  Enjoy!  (Story from the bottle label).

Victory, out of Downingtown, PA, labels this a “very hoppy ale”.  I enjoyed them out of 12 oz bottles which I poured into pint glasses and revealed a beer cloudy gold in color with a thinnish white head.  It had a strong malty nose with hints of hops and alcohol.  It is, after all, a big 8.5% abv. ale.  It has a slightly bitter, hoppy finish and overall is very enjoyable.  Not quite as much of a pronounced citrussy or piney hoppy flavor as I tend to enjoy best, but this is nonetheless, a very good beer and is quite tasty.

]]> http://skibikeandbeer.com/?feed=rss2&p=321 0 http://skibikeandbeer.com/?p=268 http://skibikeandbeer.com/?p=268#comments Tue, 06 Aug 2013 04:21:22 +0000 skibikeandbeer http://skibikeandbeer.com/?p=268 Continue reading →]]>

Oskar Blues Brewery, Lyons CO. and Brevard, NC, Deviant Dale’s. IPA (16 oz. tallboy can).  This is one of my favorite IPAs.  It is my current stand-by, as I almost always have a four-pack (It’s sold in 4-packs of 16 oz cans) or parts thereof in the fridge.  It pours a nice, deep amber in color with a light off-white/beige head which leaves nice lacing on the glass.  Strong grapefruit and citrus on the nose with an almost sweet, hoppy, mild malty finish that is just outstanding. Very drinkable at 8.0% abv.  This is basically the equivalent of a Double IPA. But, Oskar Blues calls it an IPA, because their Dale’s Pale Ale, is such a hoppy Pale Ale, it is really an IPA itself.

The lyrics from Widespread Panic’s song Tallboy, “Let’s sling a little mud, girl. Sippin’ on a tallboy” circle the top of the can.

Keepin’ it real, fun and lighthearted for the girls.

Jiminy Peak, despite being in the Berkshire Mountains, consistently offers a very long ski season, comparable to most of the large resorts in southern Vermont.  They blow a great deal of snow and maintain a consistent snow product across the hill.  For this reason, I tend to keep my eyes out for their “E-Coupon” deals that they run every so often throughout the season.  For us, Jiminy’s snow making prowess allows to get a day out skiing early in the season before Plattekill opens.  So, December 2, 2012 was just one of those E-Coupon Sundays.  If I recall correctly, just $25 for a lift ticket.

This was the first day out for the season for my girls and I have found over the past 7 years since my oldest first started skiing, that the most important thing is to keep it fun and light for them.  2013-2014 will be my youngest daughter’s fourth full ski season and my oldest’s seventh.  They have definitely inherited my ski gene and are, no doubt, already hooked.  (For life, I hope!).

The mountain was offering about 10-15 “trails” for skiing, (unfortunately, I did not note the exact trails that were open) which provided about 4 distinct ways down the 1100′ vertical.  The high speed six-pack provides the heft of the uphill capacity and does a good job alleviating lift lines on most days other than holiday and mid-season big weekend days.

 Although Jiminy’s snow quality is usually very good, even through early and late season, in my opinion, the terrain is a bit boring.  The mountain offers a nice, fairly steep pitch, especially for southern New England, but they groom almost the entire mountain every night.  Sometimes, a single run (or at most 2) will be left to bump up, but they are relatively short and unimpressive.  My biggest gripe is that just about every trail is cut pretty much directly down the fall-line of the mountain.  There are few, if any trails that follow the contours of the mountain, which, I feel, provides a more enjoyable and varied ski experience.

Even early season, as can be seen above, the trails are generally covered edge to edge with a nice, skiable surface, at least in the mornings.  Of course, being early season, the Jiminy regulars and pass holders were out to get their share and with only about a dozen trails open, some undoubtedly got scraped down by the afternoon.  Despite the sun never making an appearance, the weather was o.k., as it wasn’t overly cold and all four of us had a nice, enjoyable first day of lift-serviced skiing for the 2012-2013 season.

]]> http://skibikeandbeer.com/?feed=rss2&p=254 0