Troegs Brewing Co. Anthology Mix 12 Pack

 This is the mix pack of the company I have been meaning to try and looking all over to find their beer, Troegs from PA, USA. This mix pack has 3 bottles of each 4 styles. I find these styles to be a great mix for summer time beer drinking!

The Sunshine Pils-  is a pilsner that packs a punch.Pale yellow in color, pours a small head that dissipates quickly. Some nice noble hop notes here, lemon zest, earthy spice, grassy, grainy. This pilsner has a lot more flavor than your typical pilsner, but it is still very drinkable and great for summer. 3.5/5

Hopback Amber - A nice twist on a classic amber. Here we taste a lot more hops than usual for an Amber ale. Caramel and bready malts compliment the strong hop flavor here. I really like the bitterness in this amber ale. It has a nice smoothness to balance off the punch of hops very well. 4/5 great beer!

Pale Ale- Typical pale ale here with a nice hop flavor. It is crisp and refreshing. Some citrus and grassy hop flavor. This beer is a lot better than most pale ales you get in a sampler pack. It is the perfect summer beer for someone who likes hops 3.5/5.

Dreamweaver wheat-  A german style hefeweizen with a nice strong wheat flavor. Orange peel, nice spice of cloves, nicely balanced and easy to drink. 3/5

  There isn't a bad beer in the bunch. Troegs Anthology mix pack has a nice blend of classic styles great for summer. But Troegs doesn't come with the bare minumum here. These are some well crafted beers with lots of flavor. I am very impressed with Troegs, this mix pack, and I am glad I finally got to try Troegs!

Victory Brewing Co. - Helios

Helios Farmhouse/saison - Victory Brewing Co. PA,USA

   I love saisons. This particular saison is a new favorite, I absolutely love it. 7.5% ABV  . Got this in a 22 oz bomber. Pours a really nice head and a hazy light orange color. This beer is excellent and loaded with flavor. Very very tart, I love the tartness. Flavors of lemon and orange zest, fresh grapefruit, honey, nice sourness, yeasty, a nice slight hop note, crisp high carbonation. I am blown away by this beer, it is very delicious. I would definitely have this again, as it is one of the best American saisons I have had in a long time. If you are a fan of Saisons, I highly recommend this beer! 4.5/5

Hershey's Milk Shakes

A radio DJ for a local rock station has been raving about and promoting these Hershey's Milk Shakes. Yes, I don't just love beer, I love a lot of beverages, including milk shakes. After hearing about these milk shakes on the radio a lot , I decided I should give them a try. They come in Chocolate, strawberry and cookies and cream. Let me tell you, they are so damn good. So far I have tried the cookies and cream and the chocolate. The cookies and cream tastes like a liquid cookies and cream candy bar. It was nice and cold, thick, rich, and creamy. The chocolate puts chocolate milk to shame. It is very rich and chocolatey, and both flavors taste just like a milk shake. I am glad I finally tried them. They stay true to the hype, I say try them for yourself, you are in for a real treat!

Big Breakfast , homemade!

   I love going out for breakfast. Whenever I go out for breakfast, I look for a big breakfast plate. A plate that has a little bit of everything. I have been babbling about making breakfast for a few weeks now and finally got the chance.


   I started with some homefries. Diced up onions and potatoes. I seasoned the homefries with salt, pepper, and paprika. I started cooking the onion first. Once the onion was softened, added the potatoes. I cooked the potatoes up until they were golden-brown and tender. Meanwhile I've got bacon cooking in the oven. I also have scrambled eggs in a different pan. While the bacon, homefries, and eggs are finishing, I've got the toast going. A great cook is a great multitasker. And you have to be a great multitasker to pull off a breakfast like this nice and quick. Well Seasoned golden-brown homefries, fluffy-buttery scrambled eggs, toast and crispy smokey bacon! The breakfast was great! Everything came out as planned so whats next? Pancakes? Biscuits n gravy? French toast? we will see!

Paper City Brewing Co. - Triple XXX Lager

Paper City Brewing Co. -Holyoke, MA

Tried this beer out of a 22 oz bomber purchased at table & vine. This is a stronger lager at 6.5% ABV. This beer is very different tasting for a lager. It pours a nice head with a yellow-orange color. Nice carbonation here. The taste is quite hoppy for a lager. Some tartness, bitterness, grassy, musty yeast, sweet bready grainy malt. I like how strong this lager is, yet it is very drinkable. I had this lager on a hot day, and it was quite refreshing while having a nice flavor. I felt the flavors were very different for a lager, but it was well balanced, and they just worked. A slightly above average lager at 3.5/5

Ultimate Burgers!! Bacon, Mushrooms, Onions, cheese and kitchen sink sauce.

   It all started when I was hungry, really hungry. I had a 4 day weekend and wanted something good. For some reason I have this relentless urge to eat bacon. Bacon, bacon, bacon. I can't get enough lately for some reason! This calls for some ultimate burgers!


    I started with sauteing some onions and mushrooms and cooking up the bacon. Getting all my main ingredients together.

 
  I knew to make the ultimate burgers I needed an ultimate sauce. A kitchen sink sauce. Why would I call this a kitchen sink sauce? Because of course it has everything but the kitchen sink. Here are some of the things in the sauce: mayo, french dressing, ranch, mustard, bbq sauce, creamy garlic dressing, ketchup, worcestershire sauce. Yes I know that sounds ridiculous but I was trying to finish up condiments and it ended up working out to be a very tasty sauce believe it or not!

  Ok so time to grill the burgers. I like to grill them medium to medium well. When making ultimate burgers you need a strategy for how you're going to put it all together. One main problem with mushroom burgers is simply the mushrooms go everywhere when you eat them. To solve this problem, I simply took the cheese and melted the mushrooms on top of the burgers.

   Time to put the melted mushrooms and cheeseburgers on top of the lower bun. Now, ready to build the rest of the burger, yes it's kind of like building a house. We have the foundation of the burger, lower bun and melted cheese and mushrooms. Ready to go now with the bacon and large onion slices to hold on the bacon. To finish this project, I now spoon on the sauce. I enjoy this ridiculous burgers with some sweet potato fries which are also really good with the kitch sink sauce by the way. The best thing about a great burger is the customization. I was very satisfied with all my favorite classic toppings and a new sauce to make it indeed, an ultimate burger!

The Search Continues...

  
    I got in touch with the marketing person from Ithaca Brewing Co. She was very helpful and very personable in the email. She said she would forward my email to the distribution people to find out where I can get the delicious Flower power IPA. I still have yet to get any email from any beer distribution, so the search continues. However, I did get a prompt, helpful email from marketing with a lot of great information about the brewery, maybe I will just have to go visit soon!