A Good Drink or Two…
Not an official type of review for these 2 beers, more of a brief note of appreciation for two beers that have seemingly no connection, unless we are to connect them in Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon style… ready, go! Troegs Scratch #32 is a California common style beer. Joel Bennett (Mainsail) lives in California. Joel sent me a package of good beer including Full Sail Brewing Company’s Session Black Lager. Ok, only 3 degrees… not too shabby.
Two drastically different beers with drastically different beer experiences, but both are fantastic. I’ll begin here in Pennsylvania.
As I have done at some point during 4 out of the 6 weeks I have worked in the Harrisburg area, I trekked on Friday to the Tasting Room for a fill of my growler. I tried two beers, as they were the two that I had not yet imbibed. One was their Tasting Room Anniversary Ale (which I may grab a growler of this week) and the other was Scratch #32, codenamed “Keystone Common”. I brought my growler up to the Poconos for the weekend and it barely made it through the first night. I did manage to save one pint-ish for my brother-in-law to try on Saturday, but that was all I could spare. Light, flavorful, with a nice little hop bite, it was a perfect Summer beer… even if it was under 60 degrees while I was drinking it. Would have been even better sitting on the dock on a warmer Summer day.
I came home from the Poconos to my half of a beer trade with the aforementioned indie rocker and surfer. I opened the box and decided that my first endeavor would be Session Black Lager. So, I chilled it while cleaning up the house a bit and playing with my son. After I put him to bed, I poured the Schwarzbier one of my recently acquired Newcastle glasses and enjoyed. On the opposite end of the spectrum from the common by Troegs, Session was malty, rich, and perfectly smooth. A great day to wrap up a weekend.
All in all, two great beers I’d recommend to anyone who likes similar styles. Cheers!
either way, we can drive all night... 