New Brews

PrimeTime, The Minx and I went to the new Stephen Starr English Pub "The Dandelion" the other day. It has only been open since New Years Eve but it seems like it has been their so much longer. The food was good, the atmosphere great (check out the dog bar upstairs), and the beer selection much better than average.

I add a Yards Brawler but it was poured in the English style from a cask and served at just below room temperature. The beer was great, and the room temperature wasn't bad at all. Keep in mind it wasn't warm. The beer is described as an "English Session Ale" and at only 4.2% APV pretty easy to drink. This malt-forward, ruby colored ale is great for when you want to go a few rounds. Yards Brawler. PrimeTime and The Minx both has the Yards IPA which I wrote about previously. I have to say the Yards beers are very impressive.


The other one I tried at Dandelion was the Chester County Bitter from Sly Fox. From their website it is described as "A cask only beer brewed to be poured exclusively from firkins, either via gravity from the bar top or through a beer engine. This traditional British ale is authentic cask conditioned beer with a smooth malt profile balanced by a subtle hop presence. Dry -hopping in the cask produces an enticing hop aroma in this quaffable session ale." Chester County Bitter. The APV is 4.5%, so again not too heavy. Unfortunately, I wasn't as impressed with this beer. I love the Sly Fox Pikeland Pils and was hoping for more, but it just wasn't to my taste.


I finally got to the Hop Devil from the Christmas Beer Exchange the other week. I had saved it as I was sure that I wouldn't enjoy it, but I was really surprised. It is a great beer from Victory Brewing. It is described as "Menacingly delicious, with the powerful, aromatic punch of whole flower American hops backed up by rich, German malts. HopDevil Ale offers a roller coaster ride of flavor, coasting to a smooth finish that satisfies fully." Hopdevil. Good choice PrimeTime.


The last new beer I tried was the Summit Maibock from St Paul Minnesota. "This is a malty pale beer using Czech Saaz Hops, specialty malts and German yeast." The APV is above average at 6.5%. It was okay, but bad but nothing special either. Summit Brewing