Brewery Visit
Yards Brewery, Philadelphia, Pa
On Saturday May 3 I finally made it down to Yards Brewery on the docks of the Delaware River in Philadelphia. I have been enjoying Yards Brawler for a while and was excited to see where it was made and taste some brews right off the tap. It is located in an old furniture warehouse that later became an underground skate park, so the actual building was pretty cool itself.
The Walt Whitman Bridge from NJ to PA
Me outside after we finally parked
pictures of all the decor in the tasting room
Samples of ESP and our tour tokens
We entered through the tasting room with a Korean food cart right outside. As we entered we were given a tasting of the ESP , extra special ale brew. They describe it as their first brew, ESA helped establish a following for cask ale in the 90s. East Kent Goldings gives this English style ale a subtle spiciness, complimenting the strong malt backbone. Deep chestnut colored, hints of chocolate and caramel. 6.0% ABV. This ale was good and light. I did pick up on any of the chocolate of caramel flavors but I did taste the hops and an acidic cut. This beer was simple and interesting. Not my favorite tasting of the day.
A tasting of the grand Cru on tap
The next beer I tasted was the Grand Cru from the bar. The bar and tasting room were pretty busy but we only had to wait 15 minutes for a tour on a Saturday afternoon. At the bar we could ask for free samples of any of the beers on tap. The first one we chose was the Grand Cru Belgian Style Ale. Yards describes it as "We craft our Grand Cru with pilsner malt imported from Belgium and use a classic yeast from the same iconic brewing nation. A subtle malt profile compliments the fruity esters produced by this distinctive yeast. A blend of noble hops adds just a touch of aroma, nicely rounding out this deep golden, slightly tart, effervescent delight.
STYLE Belgian Strong Ale ABV 9.9% SIGNIFICANT INGREDIENTS Belgian pilsner malts and a classic Belgian yeast"
I really enjoyed this beer. It reminded me of some of the hefeweizen I had in Germany. I subtle floral and fruity mid palette with a tart or acidic finish. I barely detected heat from alcohol even though it has a high amount. I would definately buy this if I found it in the store or go back just to get in on tap.
Chocolate Love Stout
The next beer I tried is the one I ordered (in plastic so I could sip it on tour) is the Chocolate Love Stout. I really enjoy Brooklyn's Chocolate Coffee stout so I wanted to compare the two. All drafts are only 5 dollars, which is a great deal for any city and they are all on tap! The first thing I noticed about this stout is how thick it is. Much thicker in consistency to the brooklyn stout. This beer was filling, so unfortunately I will have to save the food cart visit for next time. It had big chocolate, caramel, and vanilla flavors. I wished I ordered it later because it is so bold and full bodied it was hard to taste beers after it. Yards Brewery describes it as "Passionately brewed with over 200 pounds of pure, 100% cacao Belgian dark chocolate, this irresistibly smooth stout explodes with the taste and aroma of rich, dark chocolate goodness. This deep black beauty will seduce you with her roasty maltiness and hints of vanilla and caramel.
STYLE Stout
ABV 6.9% "
My Boyfriend got the Thomas Jefferson's Tavern Ale
I obviously had to try his draft as well. Compared to my thick stout this ale was light and refreshing. I tasted notes of a wheat beer. It was simple but great for afternoon drinking. Yards describes it as "This powerful and complex golden ale pays homage to Founding Father and fellow brewer, Thomas Jefferson. Yards Brewmaster, Tom Kehoe, worked closely with Philadelphia’s historic City Tavern to recreate this recipe, employing honey, rye, and wheat, just like the beer Jefferson made at Monticello.
STYLE Strong Golden Ale
ABV 8.0%" Again I did not taste this with food because I was full of beer.
We finally began the tour, with more samples of beer at the start. I tried the Yards IPA. It was hard to pick up on all the notes after drinking the love stout but as with most IPA's i picked up on the hops , fruit, and acidic notes. It was not overwhelmingly hopped up which I really enjoyed. Yard's describes it as "Standing firmly on the east coast end of American IPAs, our India Pale Ale emphasizes balance. An insistent malt character from traditional floor-malted English barley harmonizes with a generous amount of Chinook and Amarillo hops. Fruity and aromatic, our IPA is perfectly balanced. STYLE India Pale AleABV 7.0% /"
Free samples at beginning of tour
The Masher
Old bourbon barrels to age the barley wine ale
fermentors
kegs!
how the beer is kegged and bottled
The tour guide was very entertaining. If you ever go try to get a tour from Mike, he was informative and very funny. I really enjoyed how he described boiling the starch. He compared it to caramelizing onions, instead of cooking them on a high heat. Caramelizing on a lower heat lets out more sugars, the more sugars the yeast can eat the higher the alcohol content. Just like caramelized onions are sweeter than just sauteed. He also talked about how some of the Yard's recipes are from the founding fathers original recipes. Lastly Mike described to us how they recycle the starches (barely, rye, wheat) to a bakery and to a farm. They use bread from the bakery that uses their recycled grain for bread on the sandwiches they serve in the tasting room. They also use bison from the farm they give grain to as a dish in the tasting room. I thought that was an interesting concept similar to terroir, or the grain.
Chocolate Stout and Thomas Jefferson's tavern Ale
Me in front of the Brewery
I really enjoyed the bar and decor
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