Beer of the Week

The beer: Chocolate Orange Porter

Brewed by: Allagash Brewing Company, Portland, Maine

Description (from the website): "Inspired by the tempting combination of chocolate and orange, we created this smooth porter. Cocoa nibs deliver notes of dark chocolate and roast coffee, while a combination of sweet orange peel and orange zest draw out a hint of citrus in the beer’s finish."

Would I buy it again? If you go into this beer expecting orange or citrus flavor, you're going to be disappointed. However, that doesn't mean the orange isn't doing anything here; what the citrus does is lighten what would otherwise be a very heavy, dense porter. It's still pretty thick, but it's much easier to drink than you'd expect. It wasn't what I thought it would be, but it is still very good, and I probably would buy this again.

Beer of the Week

The beer: Dunkel Bock

The brewery: Wissahickon Brewing Company, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Description (from Untappd): "Dark German Lager brewed with a blend of light and dark Munich Malts, and mashed with 40# of Philly Soft Pretzels. Hopped with Columbus, Chinook, and Simcoe. Naturally carbonated and lagered for 5 weeks in the horizontal tank."

Would I buy it again? This is the first beer of what will likely be many from Wissahickon Brewing Company, as their East Falls location is a mere 20-minute walk from my new apartment. And while convenient location can paper over many faults, I really wanted this beer to be good. And happily, I thought it was great. There's a real deep flavor to this; while it doesn't taste exactly like soft pretzels (at least, not like that Aldus Pretzel Wheat), they do help make this beer especially bready and malty, and I really enjoyed drinking it. I'd definitely buy this again.