Back to the Brew-ture

It has been quite some time since my last blog post. If you already knew that without me telling you, then I owe you an apology. I just finished what was undoubtedly the hardest semester of my post-graduate coursework, and this Saturday, I will be walking across the stage to receive a Master of Business Administration degree. It was a rather enjoyable ride, and at the same time, I'm glad it's done. Time to get back to living life again. Also, time for some brew-reviewing!

As I alluded to in my last post, even though I haven't blogged in a while, I haven't stopped sampling the brewski. Today's sampling comes from our recent trip to Victor's Italian Restaurant in York, PA[1]. First on tap today, we have my first Sun King beer, Ring of Dingle, which is a 4.7% ABV dry Irish stout. Coming to us from Indianapolis, this stout was very smooth to drink, as a stout should be. Regarding the flavor: what can I say but wow! This amuse bouche was a delight, even with the bit of a bite in aftertaste. I'd drink it again. Surprisingly, there are no ratings on BeerAdvocate or RateBeer at this time.

For being a "Sun" King, this beer sure is dark!

Next up, I tried Roy Pitz Brewing's Lay Down Stay Down. Ah. May. Zing. Seriously. This local brew (Chambersburg, PA!) was extremely smooth, yet bright. Weighing in at 9.0% ABV, this Belgian strong ale was an instant favorite of mine. I loved the deep, dark flavor profile that jumped from the glass. It was very much like a brown ale (think Newcastle), but it was "bubbly" like the Belgian it is. I was super-impressed with this one. While BeerAdvocate doesn't have a rating for this yet, I was surprised that RateBeer gave "Lay Down" the smack down at a low 58 points (and only 30 points for style!). Regardless, Mr. Pitz, I'll be back.

One of these will bring you out of the Pitz, regardless of its moniker.
(Three or four is a different story.)

That concludes this post. I look forward to bringing you some more brew reviews in the not-nearly-as-distant future, relatively speaking. I've missed this! Hope you enjoyed the post. If you've got any comments on this post or have any ideas that you'd like to see me write about for future posts, leave me a comment below. And as always, you can get me on my Twitter handle: @BrewReviewMann. Prost!

[1] If you live in the area, you should make it a point to stop by Victor's. We loved the food and ambiance! The restaurant is in an old church, so there's definitely a lot of character. They have live music all the time. And they have a better-than-decent selection of beer...but you don't have to take my word for it!