Tasting Notes: Lancaster Kolsch

Brewery: Lancaster Brewing Company
Style: Kolsch
ABV: 4.8%
Date Poured: August 2010 


Tasting notes from the growler of kolsch I picked up fresh from the Lancaster Brewing Company brewpub/restaurant in Harrisburg, PA.

Pours a lustrous golden yellow with a generous frothy snowy white head. Smells strongly of noble hops, grassy and herbal. Some sweet pale malt present as well.

Crisp and light. The grassy hops take over quickly and add to the wonderful crispness and lightness of this beer. Just a hint of biscuity malt and lemony citrus. It's a refreshing ale and perfect for a hot summer day. According to the brewery's website, it's available in cans too, a point in its favor.

Great little summer beer, even better fresh from the brewery (I'd imagine...).


Lancaster Brewing Company

Beer Travel: GrowlerQuest 2010! (Part 2)

On our way back through Harrisburg, heading west, I navigated a tangle of junctions for Interstates 83, 283 and state road 322 to reach the Lancaster Brewing Company, a restaurant bar that serves all the offerings from this brewery. I am a big fan of their Milk Stout but has not had a chance to try any of their other offerings. I went in, was directed back to the bar area and promptly was given a few samples.

Now, this was early July when the entire US east coast was sweltering through a heat wave. And coming in out of that 100+ degree heat, the Milk Stout, IPA and even the Hefeweizen all paled in comparison to the Lancaster Kolsch. It was crisp and lightly sweet with a wonderful flowery hop aroma. It was just what the doctor ordered. I ordered up a screw top growler full, paid the barkeep and moved on.

LBC of Harrisburg was a homey little restaurant and bar whose menu tries to skew to the upscale side of the normal pub fare. I'll have to get back here for a fuller experience.

As always, tasting notes to follow...

Dead Reckoning Porter

Brewer: Troegs Brewing Company
ABV: 5.4%
Poured: September 2007

Filled my Troegs growler while passing through Harrisburg, PA on Labor Day weekend.

Pours a nearly opaque dark brown with mahogany highlights. Smells of roasty and sweet malt but clearly a lot of spicy hops aromas as well.

The hops bite right up front. Certainly the hoppiest regular porter I've ever tasted. The only other porter that would rival its hop profile would be Flying Dog's Imperial Porter and that's saying something. Anyway, after the hops it's creamy smooth and some sweeter flavors shine through. The finish glows with hops and the hops linger long after the beer has entered the gullet. There's an odd yeasty profile too, somewhat English in character but I can't really put my finger on it.

Definitely a unique porter but plenty tasty. I had no trouble finishing off the growler!