A Surprise!

A couple of weeks (maybe months?) ago, my neighbor was having a Christmas party at his house.  He placed an order for a keg of Troegs Mad Elf (he loves it) to put in his home tap system (a great bar I should add).  He was told that is probably would not come in on time, so the day of the party, he grabbed a keg of Yuengling Lager.

After tapping it for two days, he gets the call that his keg of Mad Elf showed up.  Surprised and unknowing how the lager would last after being on and off gas, he comes knocking on my door.  We grab my growlers and go up to fill up to limit the beer loss- if it would go bad.

Fast-forward to two nights ago.  It was time for me to keg my Amarillo Armadillo (single-hop amarillo IPA).  I go and grab a growler of the Yuengling that I have been meaning to get to.  Pour a pint, notice a low head, but think this would be normal for Yuengling... until I bring it near my mouth/nose.  BOOM!!! Honey and Cherries.  I forgot that he gave me one of his old (2009) Mad Elf growlers that he never got to- he works up the street from Troegs and fills up regularly- now with his home tap, he doesn't drink them often enough.  It was a pleasent surprise to have a growler of Mad Elf in February.  Delicious brew.  Alcohol very present, cherries more in the nose than mouth, and the carbonation holding on.  Good stuff.

Now to only keep sitting on my hands until this IPA fully conditions.