On the Thursday of my first week out in America, we drove (I say we, my girlfriend was the one doing the driving) up to Erie in Northern Pennsylvania. Whilst there, we paid a visit to the Erie Brewing Company.
When we arrived we walked into the shop area to find no one around. We went back out and pushed the bell outside the door and were greeted by Mark, who proceeded to be one of the nicest, and fun, guides I've ever had the privilege to meet.
I told Mark that I was there to try the beers, and I was told to buy a tasting glass for $5. Mark then proceeded to work through the beers that they sold.
The first was Presque Pilsner, which seemed much more like a Pilsner than the My Antonia that I had drunk the evening before. It seemed smooth and light, and just right for the hot humid weather there was those few days.
We followed this with Misery Bay IPA, which following a failed attempt at ordering an IPA in another bar, was actually my first American IPA of the holiday. There didn't seem to be much aroma, but it was wonderfully bitter, and exceedingly tasty.
The third beer I tried was Derailed, a 5% Black Cherry Ale. The beer had a feint cherry aroma, and a strong cherry taste, followed by a slight biscuity aftertaste. Essentially, it was a good dessert beer.
Railbender is a 6.8% Scottish style beer, which "exists to enjoy, but doesn't provoke words". This was followed by Oak Aged Fallenbock, which had been aged using oak spirals. I found it to be rather good for a bock beer.
After exhausting the taps they had, we moved on to some bottles. Mad Anthony's APA (which had run out on tap) wasn't the best in the range, but was still entirely drinkable and enjoyable. The real fun came with the Ol' Red.
Ol' Red Cease and Desist is a 10.1% Wee Heavy Ale. We first opened a bottle from the latest batch, which we were told was made with odd yeast, and so didn't taste how it should. Saying this though, it was still a very nice, rich and flavoursome beer. Halfway through drinking this version, Mike went out and came back with a two year old bottle, made with yeast that hadn't gone wrong. This version prompted the words "wonderful, wonderful beer". It was.
We finished off with a blend. taking two parts Misery IPA and one part Ol' Red, to create a mix that Mike called Old Misery. It didn't seem to be greater than the sum of it's parts, but it's good to see people experimenting with mixing beer.
I didn't take any notes walking around the brewery. They were bottling at the time, so it was rather loud. The one thing I do remember though, is Mike telling us that Fuggles is one of his favourite hops. With all the criticism it seems to get from some circles, I was initially quite surprised. Thinking about it though, it's probably more a case of saturation.
Mike's clear enthusiasm for the beer and the brewery helped us to enjoy the experience and the beer. He also helped us with where to go after we left, suggesting several venues in the area with large selections of beer on tap. We chose Jekyll and Hydes, which served good burgers, and a nice selection of beer.
Contrast the enthusiasm of Mike to the more rigid scripted tour style that we experienced at Great Lakes in Cleveland the following day, and it's clear what leaves more of an impression.
One more America post to come from this trip, in which I'll be covering the beers I haven't done in the first two posts, and anything else that may come to mind...
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