2014 Beer Exchange

 2014 Beer Exchange

Philadelphia, PA

Instead of a cookie exchange this holiday season, my friends had a beer exchange.  WHAT A GREAT EVENT!!!!!  We each brought a six pack to exchange and two bottle of beer to taste. There were 12 of us .  Three or four of us were beer kooks and could hardly wait to get started.  We also wanted to talk about the beers in great detail. A few liked beers but didn't have an idea of what kind of beers they liked.  Several people mentioned that they don't like a dark beer but after the evening, a few minds were changed.  Once we tried all the beers, we went around the table and picked beers of our choice.  We all left with a 6 pack variety of new beers.  Most of the beers that I picked, I had never had before so this was great fun for me.

• Old Scratch Amber Lager- People liked the name and the label and the lightness of the taste.
• Leinenkugel Octoberfest- surprisingly, people didn't warm up to this beer.  Some people didn't even try it.
• Flying Fish Red Fish- this was the first beer we tried and people were surprised by its good taste.  Most people thought it had a very hoppy favor to it but I thought it wasn't hoppy enough.
• Harpoon Pumpkin UFO- this beer was well received.  There were a few of us in the crowd who love pumpkin beer so we talked this beer up a little bit more that others.
• Otto's Apricot Wheat- those who preferred the lagers also preferred this beer; it was too fruity for me
• Samuel Smith Winter Welcome Ale- I liked this beer but the others were not too crazy about it. It was too heavy for some
• Highland Gaelic Ale- this beer had a light taste to it and was well received.
• Rolling Rock- most people didn't even try it.
• Descutes Brewery Red Chair NWPA- I don't thing anyone liked this beer; it was sort of tasteless.
• Neshaminy Creek- Neshamenator German Wheat Bok- this is a heavy dark beer and few people liked it.  I did. But I couldn't drink a lot of it.
• Victory Winter Cheers- this was a good winter ale.
• Mad Elf- the high alcohol content scared off some people from trying this beer.  The taste of this beer changes each year, ever so slightly.  It did not taste as fruity as it was last year and I prefer this new taste.
• Hop City- Barking Squirrel- People loved the name and the label so everyone tried this beer and most people liked it. 
• Leffe- Blonde Lager- people found this beer to be very refreshing.
• Southern Tier- 2X Presso- I think I am the only one who went back for seconds on this beer.  I thought it was great.
• Belle's Winter White Ale- we didn't get to taste this beer but I got to take a bottle home so I will follow up with my thoughts on this beer soon.