brew dog blog

Feeling good about our heavy family hang time, my wife and I decided to blow through Philadelphia “on the way” back from Maryland, meaning that it added a few hours on to the trip, but man was it worth it. We went to Philly to hit the Foodery, which I knew was stashing plenty of brews that we can’t get in NYC. They really do have it all (check their web site for the list) and it definitely comes at a price. I laid down some cash for some future Brew Dogs tastings of a bunch of these “forbidden fruits” — representative selections from Bell’s from Michigan, Hoppin’ Frog from Ohio, Port Brewing and Lost Abbey from California, and a few Belgians for good measure. The selection at The Foodery is great but it’s annoying that nothing is marked price wise and you need to look everything up in a binder. I figured I knew what most things cost, but in general, it’s poor customer service. That aside, the people there were very nice, and the dude even checked downstairs to see if they had any Port brews lurking (they had none of the IPAs I was looking for). I ended up with some great beer that I’m super psyched to drink, and it’s not that far away.

After all the annoying driving I decided I need to crack one open, and the Bell’s Cherry Stout was a perfect temperature for drinking. It poured a thick and dark black with a little bit of red. The head was super attractive and also reddish, and it smelled great as soon as it poured. I don’t really know why I chose one of their fruit beers, and Stinky will probably give me shit for it, but I don’t care. Here’s why: Michigan is where sour cherries are from, Sour Cherries are one of my favorite fruits, I love a good stout , and Bell’s stouts are amongst their most well regarded beers. This 12oz bottle did not disappoint. A big stout with the traditional roasted flavors, big amounts of coffee and chocolate, balanced and countered with the sourness from the cherries. Not too much sweetness, and seriously, it smells just great. Not a beer I would drink several of in a row, but it definitely lives up to its reputation and I can’t wait to get into more of the Bell’s, which I will definitely be writing up here. Both the Foodery and the brew were worth the trip.