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Happy birthday to Zoe Dylon Elston!

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Snow, rain and warmer temperatures expected into the midweek

<p>Last weekend Mrs. Meister and I went shopping and had to swing into Wegmans to grab some vegetables. You see, our son Greg has not one, but two Bearded Dragons that eat leafy greens like collard, mustard kale and dandelion greens. Smoug and Zilla are big fans of the leafy greens as well as power worms and crickets. Zilla takes no prisoners when downing her 25 to 30 crickets. Smoug on the other hand is a little more reserved and does not like people to watch him eat.</p><p>As we entered Wegmans, I heard a voice on my right: &#8220;Do you want to try some beer&#8221;? At first I thought the angels were calling me, but as I snapped back into reality, I realized it was two representatives giving samples of organic beer. Organic beer? Can these words be uttered in the same sentence? I immediately responded &#8220;sure&#8221; and headed over to the kiosk to give this organic beer a try.</p><p>In front of the kiosk, I saw bottles nestled in a very colorful six pack container with a picture of a blue salmon diving into the water. I was immediately intrigued because the picture of the salmon hearkened me back to my days fishing in the Salmon River in upstate New York. I once caught a 42-inch Coho on a fly rod with 20 pound test line. It was a battle for the ages. I wanted to play the fish out until I could gill it up out of the water. I fought this monster for at least 45 minutes in the swift river current. At the end, totally exhausted, the mighty fish succumbed to my talented angling skills and was scooped up by the gills out of the river. Victory was mine.</p><p><strong>Sight:</strong> I had two choices of beer to try, the first was Organic India Pale Ale and the other was Fish Tale Organic Amber Ale. I liked the name Fish Tale so I chose that one. As the kiosk people poured my beer I could see a nice dark amber to light brown color with an off white head of about 1 to 1 &#189; fingers high. The head quickly dissipated to a slight ring where the beer met the glass.</p><p><strong>Aroma:</strong> As I lifted the glass I could smell the aroma of caramelized malts along with floral hints and citrus peaks. The aromas became more pronounced as my beer started to warm up. At one point I thought I smelled a slight hint of cashews.</p><p><strong>Taste:</strong> As I took my first sip I could taste the dominant caramelized malts up front followed by an earthen bready flavor. These flavors were quickly followed by herbal back notes of orange, cinnamon and nutmeg. The flavors blended together well to make a crisp earthy beer. Wow, this was really good for an organic beer.</p><p>I thought Fish Tale Organic Ale was a pretty good beer. When I first heard &#8220;organic&#8221; my mind swam with thoughts of tofu and alfalfa sprouts. If you are into eating and drinking organic products, this beer is for you. If you are a horrible eater like me, you will still like Fish Tale.</p><p>Fish Brewing Company delivers a good taste by blending 100 percent organic barley with the finest hops they can find. They brew an IPA a Salmon Pale Ale, Winterfish Seasonal Ale and a Blonde Seasonal Ale. If you are near Wegmans in Wilkes-Barre swing by its beer department and pick up a six pack. You won&#8217;t be disappointed.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Jim McCabe The Beer Meister </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/web1_james-1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Jim McCabe The Beer Meister </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/web1_organic_amber_ale.jpg">
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<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>Jim McCabe</p><p>The Beer Meister</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta><p>The Beer Meister is a new column that will appear twice a month in the Times Leader</p></factboxMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p style="text-align: left;">Jim McCabe is an avid beer enthusiast and the circulation manager for the Times Leader.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

The Beer Meister: Washington’s Fish Brewing Co. brings organic beer to a Wegmans near you