seals of approval

Paul summed up Mad Fox Brewing Company nicely, but I'll sum it up further: AWESOME. If you're in the area, it's worth a visit. Beer: awesome. French fries: awesome (especially the curry sauce they serve with them!). Also awesome, and to clarify one point of Paul's: yes, they make everything except the mayo and ice cream, but the ice cream is made from their beer. Our server brought us a sample of ice cream made with their porter. Oh my goodness amazing.

Right, on to the part where I tell you how I felt about the beers in more words than "awesome":

Oatmeal Stout: Probably my favorite brew of the evening. It was served on cask, which I don't think I've experienced before, but basically means smoother and less carbonated (which to me is a stellar thing). This was already a very smooth beer, not super overwhelming but definitely anything but wimpy. I approve.

Porter: This was good as a beer and also as an ice cream (I've mentioned before in this blog the merits of a beer float-- Mad Fox totally killed two birds with one stone for me here). A little sweeter but a similar weight and feel to the stout. Awesome.

Punkinator: This is the pumpkin beer I have been waiting for. It was smooth and had all of the spices I loved without being stupidly sweet. There was that nice vegetable flavor without being overwhelmed by that pie flavor that should really only be found in pies. Awesome.

Saison: While not as mind-bogglingly incredible as the Saison du BUFF I recently tried, this was still a very crisp, clean beer, lightweight and a little lemony. I enjoyed it quite a bit, though it seemed slightly out of season (in that those flavors align better with summer than autumn, the beer tasted plenty fresh).

Wee Heavy: While initially super impressed with how not see-through it was, I was a little disappointed with how sweet it was. It wasn't bad, just wasn't my favorite beer ever. Paul's right, this one is for dessert.

Alt beer: You know, this one was a little disappointing. I had forgotten I tried it until Paul mentioned that we each tried six-- Taylor actually ordered this one but wasn't crazy about it either, so we shared it (thus surpassing the 4 oz requirement). It was just... boring. Forgettable. Not bad, I guess, just not awesome.


I was actually in Virginia for a wedding this past weekend, but as per usual, ventured out and visited as many people in the area as I could pack into one short weekend. I was going to do a separate post to review the rest of the new brews I tried, but then I realized there were only three, so I'll just tack 'em on here:

Bell's Best Brown Ale: This was quite good. Very smooth and a great example of what a malty beer should taste like. Enjoyed on a friend's back porch area on a cool fall day-- excellent.

Natty Bo: I tried this because a friend had bought a twelve pack and Taylor asked if I'd had it before, to which I had to answer... no. We all know I'm not crazy about light beers, but I can tolerate some (see here or here). However, this was dreadful. Ugh. Sorry Luke, thank you for the beer, but more for you, man.

Founders Canadian Breakfast Stout: Whoa. Whoa. Well done, Founders. This was incredible. I think this puts a three way tie for first place for stouts in my life, alongside Dogfish Head's Bitches Brew and World Wide Stout. This beer was really, really, really strong, super dark, incredible. I could taste a hint of maple, not in a sweet offensive way, but nicely balanced with some other strong stouty flavors (chocolate and coffee). I had first learned of this beer in an article that the now infamous Taylor had sent to me, and then he found a bar in D.C. that served it. I approve (of both the beer and the boy who brought me to it).


Other seals of approval given: to Mad Fox, of Taylor by Paul, and of Paul's intention to finally regain the lead-- come on, I have a thesis to finish.

Colleen: 328
Paul: 306

Wait, PS: Upon returning to New Jersey on Monday, I did meet the usual suspects for a short while, where I ended up having New Jersey Brewing Co's Hudson Pale Ale because I love and had just returned to NJ. Gurzo really liked it, but I found it to be extremely mediocre. It was clean tasting and fine, but not super memorable. We have discussed lately though that sometimes that's ok. So I'm actually at 329.

six great new beers that won't make the list

I had a really wonderful Friday night with some really wonderful friends. While I have six new beers to report as a result, none of them count toward my list as they were all part of an awesome sampler at Long Valley Brew Pub-- two ounces each. We finally have our list of rules on the blog, which Paul had referenced recently but we hadn't thought to post yet. However, Long Valley Brew Pub was so awesome that I have no qualms sacrificing those six points. So worth it, forget my score in this "contest"!

When I visited my friends Cheryl, Gurzo and Cristina last week, it came up that all would like to do a bit of hiking, so I invited them to visit me this week, adding the idea of visiting of the nearby brew pubs. Long Valley got our vote for having a well rounded menu that included veggie options for myself, Cristina and Cheryl. My friend Noah, a fellow nature and beer enthusiast who will also be under contract beginning this coming Friday, joined us for the evening.

Here's the thing about Long Valley Brew Pub: it's amazing. Just entering the place gave a great impression. It's in a beautifully restored 200 year old stone barn, in a lovely historic town, at the top of a windy road that goes up a pretty mountain that we got to watch the sun set behind as we anxiously awaited our awesome samplers of their brews.

Click on people's faces in the photo to tag them.

This is actually a photo from the drive to the brewery, but you get the idea-- such an incredible part of the state!

Hookerman's Light: While I don't generally pursue light beers, this was really excellent. Smooth and to the point, extremely drinkable. We were all really impressed with how not lame it was for being a light beer.

American Pale Ale: This was slightly hoppy, and yet I loved it. It's beers like this that will get me to like stronger hops flavors someday. It was very crisp and refreshing with just a hint of really tasty hops. One of my uncles once told me that a good pale ale is totally worth the trouble of looking for. This brew absolutely made me agree with that statement.

German Valley Amber: This was also slighty hoppy but very smooth and tasty, somewhat akin to some sort of nice Irish Red but not quite. I don't think I described that very well, but whatever-- this is also a great beer.

Lazy Jake Porter: SO GOOD. I love my dark beers, and this was really great. When I go through samplers, I tend to take a sip of each and then finish them in the order from least favorite to most favorite. This was the one I saved for last. Definitely a strong coffee flavor but such a smooth, tasty beer. Oh man.

Dusseldorf Altbier: This one I was less crazy about, it being kind of heavy on the malts for being so light in feeling. That's a combination I tend not to totally embrace, such as in the case of bocks. That being said, this was still a solid beer and it wasn't so strong or sweet that I didn't enjoy it.

English Pale Ale: This one didn't have too much exciting about it, but was their current feature beer-- "great beer for no particular reason" it says on the menu. I definitely preferred the American Pale Ale, but this was pretty straightforward and not offensive in any way. I imagine most people would like it.

In addition to great beers, the service was good and we all really enjoyed our meals. The five of us split two orders of some really excellent nachos (the chips themselves were great, with a good mix of fresh veggies and a really good salsa). I had a homemade vegetable burger with fries, phenomenal. This place was awesome and I'd totally recommend it to anyone, the only drawback being it's not particularly close to anything or on the way to anywhere. Well worth the visit if you ever find yourself even remotely in the neighborhood!