Beer of the Week

The beer: Frivolous Freeloader

The brewery: Rough Edges Brewing, Waynesboro, Pennsylvania

Description (from Untappd): "Smooth and creamy brown ale with tasty, toasty hazelnut notes."

Would I buy it again? This is the last beer from my recent live session at Rough Edges, and remarkably, despite a doppelbock being thrown into the mix, I think this one was my favorite of the three beers I had. It's very hazelnut-y and very smooth, and you can definitely get hints of toastiness and brown sugar as well. This is another beer I would definitely buy again.

Beer of the Week

The beer: Doppelganging

The brewery: Rough Edges Brewing, Waynesboro, Pennsylvania

Description (from Untappd): "German style strong lager originally brewed by monks to get them through a lengthy fast. Known as liquid bread."

Would I buy it again? This really is the dream. The local brewery, just a 10-minute walk away, making my favorite style of beer. It sounds like a recipe for success, but have they managed to stick the landing?

I'm happy to report that, yes, they did. This beer is clean, tasty, and malty, exactly like a doppelbock should be. I might have preferred it to be a little denser with a touch more flavor, but that's nitpicking. No, it's not quite as good as a Troegenator, but 90% as good is still very, very tasty. I really hope this one sticks around for a while, because I'm definitely planning on buying some more of these.

Beer of the Week

The beer: Boo-Gee

The brewery: Rough Edges Brewing, Waynesboro, Pennsylvania

Description (from Untappd): "Indulge in the delicious flavors of fall with our Pumpkin Pie Brown Ale, a beer infused with the warm spices of pumpkin pie and sweet brown sugar."

Would I buy it again? Pumpkin beers are usually pretty good, but I've had mixed success with beers explicitly flavored after pumpkin pie. This, however, was quite good; funny enough, I enjoyed it because the taste of pumpkin was downplayed in favor of brown sugar, which was a nice change of pace. There's no shortage of sweet beers out there, but brown sugar specifically isn't a flavor that's usually pursued. Uniqueness is important, but execution is just as vital, and this beer ties together the brown sugar flavor with that of the pumpkin undertones quite well. I'd happily buy this beer again.

Beer of the Week

The beer: Paw Paw's Pils

Brewed by: Rough Edges Brewing, Waynesboro, Pennsylvania

Description (from Untappd): "Indulge in the refreshing and exotic taste of locally grown Paw Paws that we infused into our crispy Pilsner. As tropical as they are rare, these fruits ripen quickly and have the tropical flavors of banana and mango."

Would I buy it again? Fun fact, there's a very real possibility that I was the first non–Rough Edges employee to taste this beer. They released it on October 30, the first day they were open that week, and when I showed up a few minutes after they opened, there were no customers yet inside. 

So, why the hurry to drink a pilsner? Well, for the paw paws, of course. Explaining the big deal about this particular fruit would take a while, so here's a nice rundown of the paw paw and why it's such an infamous delicacy in the eastern US. Basically, it's a very tasty fruit that belongs to a tropical fruit family but grows in temperate climates, and once picked, it has a shelf life of about 10 minutes. You have to be quick with paw paws, which is why they're not commercially viable.

Anyway, the beer: It was very good. Sweet and also tart, tasty but also very easy to drink. Perfect for a unnaturally warm fall afternoon. I think making this a pilsner was an interesting choice, as when I think beer styles that go well with fruit, that isn't the first one that comes to mind. Personally, I would have gone with a wheat beer. But that's not what they did, and it's not like there's anything wrong with it. Hopefully the beer will last longer than the fruit and you can get one for yourself, should you be in the Waynesboro metropolitan region in the next week or two.

Beer of the Week

The beer: Wamcat Light

Brewed by: Rough Edges Brewing, Waynesboro, Pennsylvania

Description (from Untappd): "Named for our friends from the Tomstown and Quincy areas, this light lager was brewed with pilsner malt and flaked corn for a light color and dry finish with little bitterness."

Would I buy it again? Pretty much any beer is great when you get it for half price (I got this during a kick the keg special). But yes, this is a solid beer. Obviously it isn't anything fancy, but for a light lager it had a surprisingly deep maltiness to it. Nothing extraordinary, but this was clearly not watered-down swill for the masses. If they bring it back, I'd definitely get it again.

Beer of the Week

The beer: Some 'Mores

The brewery: Rough Edges Brewing, Waynesboro, Pennsylvania

Description (from Untappd): "There is nothing better than sitting around the campfire making S'Mores ... except maybe drinking them. We conditioned our cream ale on chocolate, graham crackers and marshmallows."

Would I buy it again? This is a perfect beer for early fall. It's light, which makes it great for those warm evenings, but it's got plenty of s'mores flavor to it, a distinct reminder of the fall chill to come. If I had to criticize, I think there's a little too much marshmallow and not quite enough chocolate, but that's a minor nitpick toward what is otherwise a quality beer. I hope it sticks around a while, because I'd definitely buy it again.

Beer of the Week

The beer: Provocative Photography

The brewery: Rough Edges Brewing, Waynesboro, Pennsylvania

Description (from Untappd): "A full-bodied [wheat beer, with] banana, clove, and a hint of vanilla."

Would I buy it again? Another week, another hefeweizen. Oops. I prefer this one to last week's simply because this one doesn't taste like raspberries. It doesn't do anything spectacular, it just sort of tastes like a wheat beer should. And that's enough for me, especially on those hot summer days.

Beer of the Week

The beer: Hypocritical Brown Ale

The brewery: Rough Edges Brewing, Waynesboro, Pennsylvania

Description (from Untappd): "Dark ale with notes of caramel, chocolate, coffee, and toffee."

Would I buy it again? While this beer definitely did have all the notes and flavors it said it would have, it also was more distinctly bitter and hoppy than I would have preferred. Not enough to ruin it, but definitely noticeable. This is a solid beer to drink if you've already had one or two and are looking for something mostly inoffensive. But if you're like me on this particular day and just running in for one quick beer, I'd get something else.

Beer of the Week

The beer: Goldtooth Belgian Blonde

Brewed by: Rough Edges Brewing, Waynesboro, Pennsylvania

Description (from the website): "Easy-drinking delicious seven percenter."

Would I buy it again?: Well, well, well, we have quite an occasion here. Not for the beer, which is as interesting as its brief description implies. Not a bad thing, but I've had other beers like it. No, this is noteworthy because Waynesboro is my home town, and its first brewery opened there earlier this year. I've had a couple beers from there before this one, but this is the first I've reviewed. Like I said, it's okay but nothing special. I would recommend getting their "Monks and Trap" Belgian Dubbel though, that beer was extremely good. I'd definitely get that one again.