It's Christmas for Christ's sake!

Although I don’t normally believe in New Year’s Resolutions, perhaps I should make an exception this year regarding this blog. I’ll consider it. But don’t count on any resolutions from me. That way, if and when I do eventually stop updating, I can’t say I ever made any promises not to do that. Sure, that may make me callow, but I take solace in the fact that no one probably reads this anyway.

And now for something completely different, I’ll actually talk about beer.

Tom got me a growler from Marzoni’s Brick Oven & Brewing Co. in Duncansville, PA. The name of the brew was Mark’s Mash Hopped Pale Ale. I enjoyed this beer but should probably preface this write up explaining why it’ll be a little lacking. I wasn’t aware that Tom was going to call me out to review this until I was on my last glass after drinking this growler slowly all day on Christmas. I was drinking out of a cheap plastic cup (not even a Solo cup), and had drank so slowly that it was a little flat by that glass. If I had thought about it, I would have made some notes on the first pour, but that’s not what I did.

I also got zero pictures. Which is ridiculous considering I was visiting my 14 month old nephew and his brand new 2 week old brother. I don’t think anyone in my family took pictures. That is heresy in this day and age, but I suppose we were all just relaxing. Plus, after people started digging into the cheesecake I baked no one could move.


(that's a growler, boys and girls. A half gallon of yeasty delight)

From my week old memory, and a few handy notes typed up on Google Docs, I enjoyed this beer. When there are empty glasses or bottles it means that I enjoyed it. Mark’s Ale poured a rich gold with hints of red with a nice thick white head. The mouth-feel was good. Not too thin and not thicker than a beer of this style should have been. It had a nice even carbonation that wasn’t overwhelming. I never really thought about that before, but sometimes a beer that is overly carbonated is less enjoyable to me.

I don’t have much on smells. I know I sniffed at the first glass, but several hours later when I was trying to sniff the last for this write up, there was not much left to smell. I don’t think I have a very sensitive nose. Most beers of similar styles smell similar to me. Reviews on Rate Beer did say that it had a nice crisp hoppy smell with citrus tones.

For me, this beer had a nice malty start. It had a nice amount of hops flavor that was more floraly than bitter, which I was definitely digging. A slight bitter finish ended this beer well. Overall, I found this to be a very drinkable brew. I’d love to head back up there to find another brew to try.

I give it 4 out of 5 whatever I end up using as an image for my ratings.