Downtown Bar & Grill
We were thinking of just passing by, but then I saw this guy waving us in and, what can I do. Temptation is not something I pass by.
C'mon In Boys
Imagine our surprise when we found out it was just a plywood figure and not a real person. Bruce said now he knows how ducks must feel when they fall for that old decoys in a pond trick. I said the similarity was more than he knew, because much like the ducks, we too were going to get blasted.
My buddy Matt was all to ready oblige by pouring us one of his special beers.
Matt Pouring A Blast
We started out with a Samuel Adams Imperial Pilsner 2005 Harvest. This was brewed only once but Matt does cellar beers so this was a nice treat.
Samuel Adams Imperial Pilsner 2005 Harvest
It is quite hoppy, and that is a bit of an understatement. It has so much first harvest noble hops, Hallertau Mittelfrueh from Germany, that the beer is actually a bit murky from hop particles in suspension. It is a nice 8.8% alcohol but there is so much flavor you don't really notice it at first. You smell the spiciness of the hops, and that is the predominant flavor. There is also a nice malt back though. The hazy orange color with a nice white head made for a pretty drink as well.
After polishing off the bottle we switched to something just because we liked the name.
Great Divide Yeti Stout
This one kicked up the alcohol factor a bit, coming in at a hefty 9.5% and tasting it too. It has a lot of chew to it and you get plenty of flavor, chocolate, coffee, toffee and caramel in layers. All that and hoppy as well, particulary at the end. There is a reason this beer has won all sorts of awards over the years.
As you can see, both Bruce and I enjoyed it.
All good things must come to an end though, sort of. Obviously we were having too good a time. Now I usually don't carry my cell-phone and didn't have one with me on this trip. Nonetheless, the Mysterious Chinese Woman and her sidekick Donna (Bruce's wife) managed to track us down and I don't think they were too happy to see how much fun we were having.
Deputy Donna
Mysterious Chinese Woman, The Scout
Even though we got hauled off home we still had our purchase from American Beer. We decided to open just one small bottle and, choosing carefully, we selected -
Three Philosophers
Three Philosophers is brewed by Ommegang, a brewery that specializes in Belgian stlye ales. Nothing unusual about that, except it is located in Cooperstown, New York. Be that as it may, they turn out an incredible line, nary a clinker in the bunch.
Three Philosophers is a Belgian stlye Quadrupel ale and is blended with a small amount of Kriek from Belgium. Kriek is a spontaneously fermented cherry beer. It does give Three Philosophers a bit of a ripe cherry flavor which nicely complements the chocolate taste. Nice for sipping after dinner or, quaffing like we did.
Bruce and Bar Man About To Quaff
This beer was the strongest of the lot so far today, a heady 9.8%. Again, with all the flavor you didn't really taste the alcohol, but you definitely knew it was in there. This beer could easily replace a port after dinner and, in my opinion, would go with a cheese plate even better than a port. If you can get your hands on it, by all means try it.
Oh yes, the educational part of the blog. Three Philosophers name comes from a 1784 satire written by British poet William Blake. The satire was titled An Island In The Moon and had three philosophers as the main characters. I can only guess that whoever named this was an English major who could only get a job in a brewery (not unlikely) and sampled a lot of the brew before coming up with the name. That is my story and I am sticking to it.
The Mysterious Chinese Woman told me the next day that Bruce and I did, indeed, eat a lot of cheese while we were drinking the beer. But I don't remember.
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