Yards Brewing Co.: Brawler

And exactly one week behind schedule, here is your fifth beer from a new brewery.

Yards is about as local as I can get. They are the first brewery I've reviewed that are actually located within the city limits of Philadelphia. As such, their brews are easy to find locally, but I'm not sure that they have much of a reputation outside the region.

I grabbed their Brawler, a "pugilist style ale" purely out of curiosity. As the label reveals, the name and invented genre of this beer signify that you can "go a few rounds" with it--i.e., it has a low-ish ABV (4.2%). But as anyone with a little international drinking experience knows, beers under 5% are not all that uncommon outside the United States.

In fact, Brawler is very closely akin to a true English bitter. It's very dry and mild. The malts and the hops are very well balanced. The principal difference from a true bitter is that it is more carbonated than anything you'd find on the other side of the pond. However, the increased carbonation appears to work well. While this brew isn't particularly exciting or unique, it is very well put together and enjoyable to drink. And that's what counts for high marks, in my book at least.