Top Shelf Thursday: April 2014

We’re in the thick of Pittsburgh Craft Beer Week, riding the amazing wave of barley & hop goodness!  The Voodoo tap takeover on Saturday was a blast (LOVED the 2 Live Grand Cru, Vol. 1); had a great time with Mike Finch in The House sampling some of Finch’s fine wares; & last night was our monthly Top Shelf Thursday tasting.  This month’s line-up featured some theme & variation, with beers before & after barrel-aging, or the same beer aged in different barrels, displaying some of the subtleties between the different vessels.

We started off with a back-to-back tasting of Old Dubh from Harviestoun Brewery in Scotland.  Ola Dubh is their Old Engine Oil, a black Scottish strong ale, amped up to 8% ABV & aged in different vintage barrels from Scotch distillery Highland Park.  The Special Reserve 16, aged in 16-year-old Highland Park barrels, had some smoky notes, chocolate tones, & finished on the dry side with a little char.  The Special Reserve 30, aged in – you guessed it – 30-year-old barrels, was smoother, with a little more potent smoke, wood, chocolate, & coffee character.

What followed was a beer familiar to just about everyone in attendance: Golden Monkey from Victory, a Belgian-style golden ale brewed with coriander, giving a spicy (soapy?) twist to the fruity & herbal notes.  It made for good comparison to White Monkey – Golden Monkey aged in American oak barrels that once harbored white wine.  Many enjoyed the vinous, oaky, even buttery flavors that complemented the base beer so well.

From here on out we were in stout territory, beginning with a triad of Eclipse imperial stouts from California’s FiftyFifty Brewing.  FiftyFifty brews a base imperial stout & ages it in different whiskey barrels, imparting subtly distinct notes to each line.  The Eclipse aged in Mellow Corn Whiskey barrels was baffling to some, who felt it gave the stout a taste like moonshine.  Old Fitzgerald bourbon barrels trod familiar ground, contributing vanilla & caramel flavors & demonstrating why bourbon barrel-aged stouts are a homerun.  The Eclipse in Rittenhouse Rye barrels carried a spicy edginess that was a little rugged but very tasty & interesting.

Rounding off this night of themes & variations was a trio from Hoppin’ Frog, beginning with B.O.R.I.S. the Crusher, an oatmeal Russian imperial stout (the ‘B’ stands for ‘bodacioius’).  Familiar to many, the chocolate, coffee, & booze notes were rounded out by a smooth oatmeal texture.  Take the B.O.R.I.S., age it in whiskey barrels, & you’ve got – ta-da! – Barrel-Aged B.O.R.I.S., a little sweeter with a mellow though very distinct whiskey flavor around the edges.  And crowning the evening was B.O.R.I.S.’s roided-out big brother, D.O.R.I.S. the Destroyer, weighing in at a substantial 10.5% ABV (1.1% higher than the B.O.R.I.S.), with additional kettle hops & dry-hopping, making for a big stout bursting with citrus. 

Another fun evening, exploring the ins & outs of experimentation, embracing the novel while still savoring the familiar, reminding us that beer is a great platform for pushing boundaries.  Hope everyone’s having a great Pittsburgh Craft Beer Week – Top Shelf Thursday will be returning next month, this time with a little encore.

A Rising Tide

Pittsburgh Craft Beer Week starts today, & lovers of good beer in southwestern PA have a lot to be happy about.  Looking over the line-up of events, & the roster of establishments & organizations participating, makes me think about how great it is to be in craft beer these days.  Sure, from a business perspective, good beer is getting more popular, creating more revenue & sustaining more economic growth every year.  And as crazy as it gets sometimes seeing the pool fill up & having to deal with perpetually increasing demand, this is a damn fun business to be in.  More & more people are recognizing this, & starting up breweries, bars, & restaurants.  The House exists, yes, as a business entity to make money, but we’re successful because we love beer.  There’s always the possibility that some newcomers to the game are trying to ride this wave of commerce, but the hopeful side of me thinks that most venture into this business for the same reasons I did: they love beer just as much!

Yes, part of running a business in a free market is competition.  But I think what makes this business so great, & what spawned a concept like PCBW, is the “rising tide” principle: the spotlight is on the craft itself, & so many businesses get to share in that spotlight at once.  More people learn about quality beer & seek it out.  Good word about one beer bar makes you want to try others in the area, & many are buoyed at once.  It’s a win-win!  We embrace competition, but part of what makes this business so much fun is the friendliness & camaraderie that goes along with it.  Employees at The House patronize other establishments – I remember my eyes opening to Belgian beer at the Sharp Edge, & poring over the Beer Cave shelves at D’s, & loving the great combo of beer & tapas at Headkeeper.  We love having folks from Sidelines, BeerHive, Sharp Edge, & Penn sidle at our bar & scope out our selection.  Yes, we’re competitors, but the people the staff other good beer bars are not faceless – we know each other by name & when we talk, it’s all about what’s in the glass. 

The House strives to provide something unique to our guests: great beer & a lot of it, good prices, often those hard-to-find gems, in an environment that redefines “relaxed & casual”.  Every establishment brings their own strengths to the table, with the commonality of a passion for great beer.  Each one makes a concerted effort to celebrate quality beer, the “social lubricator”, across a region.  To me, that’s at the heart of Pittsburgh Craft Beer Week.

Pittsburgh Craft Beer Week 2013

Pittsburgh Craft Beer Week is just one week away!  Now in its second year, this region-wide collection of events is a celebration of the world’s greatest beverage, with tastings, dinners, tap takeovers, & other cool happenings spread all over southwestern PA.  The House is proud to be a sponsor of this year’s PCBW, & just as proud to showcase some fun events of our own, all centered around the beauty, excitement, & diversity of craft beer.

On Saturday, April 20^th, if you’re hitting the Release the Firkins Real Ale Fest (or not), first stop by The House at 1:00 for our Voodoo Tap Takeover.  We’re joining with our good neighbors up north to tap 6 of their delicious brews, including Wynona’s Big Brown Ale, Pilzilla, Breakfast of Champions, Cowbell Imperial Milk Stout, Redneck Riviera Red, AND the piece de resistance of the takeover: 2 Live Grand Cru, Vol. 1, a blend of their Big Black Voodoo Daddy & Black Magick imperial stouts, aged for 16 months in Pappy Van Winkle bourbon barrels!  YES!!!  Order this exquisite draft & get a Voodoo Barrel Room glass to take home (while supplies last).

On Wednesday, April 24^th, hit the Founder’s Brunch at Piper’s Pub in the morning, then swing by from 6:00 to 8:00 for our sampling with Finch’s Beer Co.  A relative newcomer to the Pittsburgh scene, Finch’s is doing some great things out of Chicago (in tallboy cans, no less!).  We’re thrilled to be hosting this sampling & glass giveaway with Mike Finch himself, there to meet & greet fans of this great new brewery.

On Thursday, April 25^th, check out the T-shirt Art Show at Commonwealth Press in the afternoon, before spending an evening sampling beers at our monthly Top Shelf Thursday tasting at 7:00.  This monthly flight of rare & limited beers has become a hot ticket at The House, & for PCBW we’ll be sampling different barrel-aged beers – those before & after barrel-aging, or side-by-side tastes of the same beer in different barrels, for instance.  This month’s tasting is already sold out, so if you didn’t grab a spot, stay tuned for the May edition.

On Saturday, April 27^th, wrap up a great Pittsburgh Craft Beer Week with The Sour & the Funky, southwestern PA’s first & only festival of sour & wild beers, featuring a wide variety of lambics, Flemish sours, Berliner weissen, & other wild & bretted beers.  This is our 2^nd year putting on this really fun event, which can safely be called one of the “beer-geekiest” happenings during PCBW.  Due to the crush we got last year, we’ve expanded this year’s event to 2 sessions & have already sold out of the second – the first, from 1:00 to 4:00, still has spots available.  So don’t forget to reserve your space, & don’t forget the Tums!

Once again this year, areas brewers from 17 different brewing bodies will be teaming up on 5 collaboration beers.  Stay tuned to see which of these will available at The House, & check out the pittsburghcraftbeerweek.com for more details on what’s going on around town.  An awesome week dedicated to an awesome beverage – craft beer!