I made a field trip.

I have the good fortune to have swell in-laws. My wife hails from the town of Meadville PA, a short drive from Venango, PA the home of Sprague Farm & Brew Works.When visiting said in-laws last week, they took me on a field trip to one of my favorite breweries. This was my second trip to Sprague Farms, the first a year ago. The neat thing about Sprague Farms is the setting. The brewery is in a converted dairy barn. Last year we got the grand tour from the owner and brewmaster Brian Sprague.





The mash tuns and fermenters are in the main floor of the barn, the kegs are kept cool in the basement, in the old dairy. After my first visit I became a fan of the brewery on Facebook. I have been getting regular updates on the expansion of the brewery, and updates on the creation of 'Brewhalla' - the tap room that they built in part of the converted barn (and the best name ever for a beer hall).





And the beer? Did I mention the beer? It is top notch stuff. I had three pints while there. Notice the glass shaped like a pint of milk. Nice touch for a brewery in a converted dairy barn. This was the pale ale and it was pretty good. Better yet was the Scotchtoberfest beer. A nice malty and nicely balanced scotch ale (think Belhaven not McEwans). Best of all was the Effin' Beer - a Heffe Dunkel Weizen. I have enjoyed two growlers of the Effin' in the last two weeks, and I tell you it was excellent stuff. I got a Effin' Beer tshirt for my birthday from my aforementioned swell in-laws. A nice end cap to my Sprague Farm & Brew Works experience.

And at last there is Whisky

Finally. A post about Whiskey. Or rather Whisky. I love both. According to our good friends at Wikipedia:

Whisky or whiskey refers to a broad category of alcoholic beverages that are distilled from fermented grain mash and aged in wooden casks (generally oak). Different grains are used for different varieties, including barley, malted barley, rye, malted rye, wheat, and maize (corn).

With few exceptions, the spelling is always Scotch and Canadian whisky (plural: whiskies), and Irish and American whiskey (whiskeys).^[1]

For Christmas I got a really nice bottle of Scotch, The Macallan Cask Strength Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky - thanks Chris! I had a quick taste of it when I got it, but never really delved too deeply into the bottle.


So when my lovely and charming wife went out dinner with some of her running friends, I took the opportunity to spend some time with a nice bottle of scotch. My good friend Bessom generously donated his time and efforts to help me explore the bottle. We. poured some into my brandy snifters, another recent Christmas gift - the perfect shape to drink fine liquors out of.

So how is it? In short - delicious. This is a cask strength (116.8 proof) whisky that has been aged in a sherry oak cask. The color is reddish gold and the initial smell is very alcohol-y and strong with a floral scent. The first sip is very strong due to the high proof and surprisingly fruity.

We quickly added a little water to the glass, and it became even more enjoyable. The whisky really opened up and without all of the alcohol taste we could pick out more individual flavors of flowers and especially honey. It was quite excellent. It's heady stuff and not something that I will drink every day. I plan to take a sip from time to time and savor it.