Wednesday, July 15, 2015

Beer Wars: Gretz Beer Company vs. Stockertown Beverage


Tonight, I visited UNO's in Warrington, Pennsylvania, because there was a beer war between two beer distributors. The one was Gretz Beer Company located in Hatfield, PA. The other was Stockertown Beverage located in Stockertown, PA. Notable breweries that are sold by Gretz are as followed: Kona Brewing, Ithaca Brewing, Rogue Brewing, Redhook Brewing, Lancaster Brewing, and Troegs Brewing. Notable breweries that are sold by Stockertown are as followed: Founders Brewing, Breckenridge Brewing, Riverhorse Brewing, Cricket Hill Brewing, and Summit Brewing Company. Each company brought beers with them and competed against each other in four categories. 


Sheet to pick the Winners


There was four categories and a beer for each flight of beer. First category was India Pale Ales or IPA's. Second category was Wheat beers. Third was Summer Ales and last was Fruit beers. When doing flights like this you want to make sure you leave the India Pale Ales for last. That is because of the bitterness and what that does to your taste palate. I started at the bottom with the fruit beers and worked my way up towards the IPA's. Whenever you do beer flights and have an IPA in them make sure you save the IPA for last. 


Stockertown Beverage Four Beers

For IPA, Stockertown chose Free Will Kragle IPA. This has an alcohol by volume of 6.6% and an IBU of 90.  Wheat Ales were next and for this they chose Breckenridge Agave Wheat. Agave Wheat has an alcohol by volume of 4.2% and IBU of 19. Third came down to Summer Ales and for this category they chose Summit Brewing Company Summer Ale. This beer had an alcohol by volume of 4.4% and IBU of 37. Last for Stockertown Beverage was Lovitz Watermelon Lager. Watermelon Lager had an alcohol by volume of 3.7%. All very interesting and unique beers that I have never tried before. 


Kragle IPA at the Top and Watermelon Lager at the Bottom


Next up was Gretz. For India Pale Ale or IPA Ithaca Flower Power was picked. Flower Power has an alcohol by volume of 7.5% and an IBU of 75. Next up was Kronenburg Blanc for Wheat Ales. Blanc has an alcohol by volume of 5.0% and an IBU of 15. For Summer Ales they picked Long Trail Summer Ale.  Summer Ale has an alcohol by volume of 4.3% and an IBU of 32. In the last category, Lancaster Brewing Strawberry Wheat for the Fruit beer category. Strawberry Wheat has an alcohol by volume of 4.7% and IBU of 25.


Gretz Four Beers for the Flight's 


Ithaca Flower Power at the Top and Lancaster Strawberry at the bottom. 


I sampled all eight of these beers and I though all eight beers was very interesting. They all brought their own taste and profile to showcase from the beers. I think that for IPA's Kragle from Free Will Brewing was the winner, it was smooth and I actually was surprised by how much I liked it. In terms of Wheat beers, I would say Kronenburg Blanc won this particular style. Agave Wheat was good and I think would be very good for a summer beer to enjoy just like Blanc. Third pairing was the Summer Ale's and I think the beer that won this pairing was Summit Summer Ale. Summit Summer Ale was smoother and more towards my style of Summer Ales. Last and deciding group was the Fruit beers. This was a toss up because I enjoyed both just like the Wheat Ales. I think the one if I had to pick an winner would be Lancaster Strawberry Wheat. It gives you the wheat profile and gives just the right amount of strawberry flavor to enjoy the taste.

If you were keeping track, my card was a tie. I think both companies did a great job in picking their four beers.  

If you have any comments or different opinions on who should have won compared to my card, make sure you leave a comment. 

If you want to check out these two companies their websites are listed right below:










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