This Is What I Drink : 45

Local Faves

Stoudt's American Pale Ale

First up is the offering from Stoudt's inappropriately served in a Belgian beer company's glass. The restaurant (and the wiener of a waiter) where this beer was served was very into telling us how local all of their food ingredients were, so we were glad to see that this extended to both the beer and wine lists as well. The American Pale Ale seemed like a good choice for the meal. I'm never quite sure how much drinking out of those fancy glasses helps the taste, but I've been told many times that it does. I suppose I just don't have the patience/money to buy nice glassware for beer yet. Anyway, the beer was pretty nice. It was pretty much what I expect from an APA; very drinkable with a good hit of hops. Really nothing spectacular, but good enough to drink a few over a nice dinner.

Evolution Lucky 7 Porter

I had been hearing about this other mysterious beer from Delaware (there are others besides Dogfish Head??) for a little while and as soon as my local store started carrying a few varieties I jumped at the chance to get some. I decided to go for their porter first, mainly because I hadn't bought any porter in a long time. A typical porter is just slightly lighter than a stout but has many of the same qualities as its darker stout brother. I thought this was pretty nice actually. Some very good coffee/chocolaty notes along with a bit of hops. The quality of this beer will definitely lead me to try their other styles one of these days.

Victory HopDevil

Last but not least is Victory's HopDevil. This is another of my favorite IPAs (along with Dogfish 60 Minute) that is readily available and that I'll pretty much drink without hesitation. You'll also find it on draft more often than a lot of microbrews around here, so it's usually a pretty great option to go with. It certainly lives up it's name with heavy hop flavor. It was probably one of the first IPAs that I ever tried, so I think I compared many to this beer in my beer drinking youth. It still stands as one of my favorites and the brewpub isn't too far up the way in Downingtown, PA.