King of the Case: Troegs Brewing Company

Wherein I will buy a variety case and decide what the best beer in it is.

HopBack Amber Ale
When it comes to beer, I am a hops man first. Often times, when beers put a major stress on malt, they risk losing me. But this seemed to me to be a pretty ideal balance of the two ingredients.

DreamWeaver Wheat
This was really great! The banana taste jumped out. Big-time lemony punch. So crisp and easy-drinking, yet oddly flavorful and complex. A truly superior beer.

Pale Ale
I definitely enjoyed drinking this, but I remember thinking that there wasn't a terrific complementary aspect to bolster the hops.

Sunshine Pils
This is pretty good. A very nice beer to drink six of on a hot summer day. However, if it is beer adventurousness you seek, it would probably be best to look to a different choice.

The Labels
Will be honest: Have never really liked Troegs labels. They seem very old-fashioned to me. So let's start with the clear loser: the Pale Ale does not grab the eye at all. Just a reddish "Pale Ale" stamp on a green label. Not good. HopBack Amber doesn't grab me visually either. That leaves Sunshine Pils' smiling sun character against the magical tree image of DreamWeaver Wheat. I'm going with DreamWeaver because it took a long time for me to realize that the branches were spelling out "Troegs." Pretty clever.

The Winner
First of all, I apologize for this edition of King of the Case. I drank this case nearly a month ago and took absolutely ZERO notes. You see, I thought about giving it up after I lost to Lew Bryson in the Beer Scene writer competition. Suddenly I was drinking the case not to review it but simply to drown my sorrows. At that point, it seemed a little odd to take notes on stuff like "mouthfeel" and "texture." This being said, we like the good people at Troegs and we don't think it is right for them to lose their case review simply because the readers of Beer Scene made an incredibly horrible decision, like so many myopic boxing judges! Luckily for us, it doesn't take notes to tell you that there is a clear winner in this case: DreamWeaver Wheat. This is a classic of the hefeweizen genre. If you see it at your local bar - especially on tap - make sure to purchase it. It should also be said that this was the Beer Scene selection for the area's best wheat beer. Damn them. Sometimes, they really do get it right!
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The Pizza Project
Just a nibble: http://twitter.com/ThePizzaProject
Single slice: http://www.facebook.com/ThePizzaProject
The full pie: http://thepizzaproject.blogspot.com/

Great Beer, Good Food, the Occasional Nude Woman Make Varga Bar a Spot Worth Visiting

When the wife and I decided to go to Center City's Varga Bar this weekend when we were in town to go to The Nutcracker, I got very excited. This is because I had heard that the establishment's walls were decked with posters and photographs of nude women. However, in retrospect, I am thinking that I should have been more jacked up for the place's classy, carefully selected beer list and better-than-expected food options.

Being that our visit took place on New Year's Eve afternoon, there were not a ton of customers crowding the bar. This allowed us to get two seats at the counter, which was great because our bartender - we did not get his name, but he was a stocky fellow with shaved head and healthy beard - was a joy to deal with. He was friendly, attentive, and full of suggestions, if asked. The first drink I had was called Beast of Burden. It was a beer cocktail consisting of Voodoo Pilzilla, vodka, ginger beer, and lime juice. It was tremendously enjoyable with the ingredients mixing almost flawlessly. The ginger beer was probably the dominant element and the vodka was not incredibly noticeable until the final swill. This is a good thing for me as I am not a major fan of hard liquor. Extra points go out to the idea of serving the libation in a mason jar. There was something extremely manly about drinking a beer out of a container that might usually be used to hold strawberry preserves or something. The wife went with a beer that I was quite excited to see on the menu: Stone 11.11.11 Vertical Epic Ale. However, I must report that she was not a major fan and when I partook in a sip, I could see why. It was advertised as a Belgian Strong Ale, and yet it was quite light on heft. No way would I have thought Stone would strike out on this beer, but it simply was not up to their usual standards.