Rogue Brewing, Double Chocolate Stout

I'm sad to say that i don't have a whole lot of experience with Rogue Brewing. I finally decided to take the plunge, and picked up their Double Chocolate Stout. I don't want to give too much away in the first few sentences of this review, but let's just say that this beer was a perfect compliment to celebrating an anxiety ridden Denver Broncos win.

This beer pours a dark brown, almost black color and its pretty opaque. About one finger of tan head accompanies the first pour. The head disappears pretty quickly and leaves a whispy tan head on top of the beer throughout the tasting. There is very little lacing on the sides of the glass.

The aroma of this beer is a mix of chocolate and roastiness from the malt. The chocolate aroma of this beer is profiled very nicely. It didn't just smell like chocolate malt, it smelled like actual chocolate and I really liked that about this beer. The roast from the malt balanced with the chocolate really well, which translated into the taste beautifully.

The first taste of this beer gave me a lot of chocolate, followed by some bitterness and roastiness as the taste continued. What really stood out to me about this beer was the chocolate. This beer uses real chocolate and you can definitely taste it. There is a subtle hint of hops about mid way through the tasting and you can also detect subtle hints of malted barley and oats. The flavors really balanced out nicely in this brew, I didn't feel like any of the flavors were overly dominant.

This beer didn't have much carbonation and had a pretty heavy mouth feel, mixed with a little creaminess. The after taste was roasty and malty. There was a little sweetness at the end of the taste but the lingering taste was the roast mentioned before.

Overall I really enjoyed this beer. The chocolate profile really stood out to me and there wasn't an overwhelming amount of roast like I'm use to with stouts. The chocolate added a really nice sweet quality to this brew. I'm pretty disappointed that I haven't gotten into Rogue sooner. I will definitely be trying a lot more beers from Rogue in the new future and hopefully be posting some more raving reviews.

Breckenridge Brewing, Christmas Ale

It's Saturday, so what is more appropriate than drinking and appreciating some solid craft beer? Now that Thanksgiving has passed I can feel fully comfortable buying Christmas beers, which is always exciting. I found a single bottle of Breckenridge Brewing's Christmas Ale for a couple bucks and decided to start off the holiday season with it.

This beer poured a dark amber color with a pretty thin layer of white head on top. The head dissipated pretty quickly, and left a very thin, whispy head on top throughout the tasting. There was a medium amount of lacing on the sides of the glass.

I didn't feel like the aroma of this beer gave off much complexity. I felt like the caramel malt dominate the bouquet of this brew. There was a lot of sweetness from the malt and I got a good amount of earthiness from the hops.

Breckenridge's Christmas Ale tasted the same way it smelled. On my initial taste I got a lot of sweetness from the malt, which was evened out nicely as the tasting proceeded by the earthiness and bite of the hops. The hops added a medium bite near the end of the tasting. The malt definitely dominated the initial tasting of this beer, but I thought it was well balanced as the tasting proceeded.

This beer had a good amount of carbonation that gave it a bubbly mouth feel and a medium body. My issue with this beer was the after taste. I felt like the earthiness of the hops was a little to dominant in the after taste. I found it kind of unpleasant. There was a little bit of sweetness from the malt but it disappeared rather quickly leaving the earthy bitterness on its own.

Overall I didn't really prefer this brew. I was expecting a lot more from the taste since it's labeled as a Christmas beer. It felt more like an amber to me. I didn't really pick up any Christmas spices or other flavors that are characteristic of Christmas beer. Given the other beers I've had from Breckenridge, I was kind of disappointed. That's not to say I wouldn't drink this beer again, because I would. I was more disappointed because this beer doesn't really live up to is label as a Christmas beer in my opinion.

I have some exciting beers on deck this week, as well as a review of the Summit Brewery tour and tasting in order as I'm going up to Minneapolis this weekend for the Broncos/Vikings game. (No I'm not a Tebow fan, I'm an actual Broncos fan.) Cheers!

New Holland Brewing, Farmhouse Hatter (and Thanksgiving dinner!)

I figured it would only be appropriate to make a post on this wonderful day of great food and even better beer. I didn't have the stomach to drink too much today as I went out last night, but I made an exception and grabbed a bottle of Farmhouse Hatter, one of New Holland's four variations of the Mad Hatter IPA. This brew was a steal at 5 bucks for a bomber, so I pretty much had nothing to lose. Unfortunately at the time I hadn't planned on making a post about this beer because I've been feeling especially lazy, but I eventually mustered up enough energy to sit down and churn this post out, so you get a picture of this beer accompanied by the very delicious Thanksgiving day meal my wonderful mother prepared. But enough about the food, lets get to the good stuff.

The Farmhouse Hatter is labeled as a farmhouse style IPA (aka a Belgian IPA). This beer poured a cloudy orange color with over two fingers of thick white head. The head stayed for a long time but eventually fell back into the beer and left a thin white layer on top of the beer. There was a lot of lacing on the side of the glass.

This beer had a very nice aroma to it. There were a lot of fruity esters from the Belgian yeast as well as some flowery and earthy hop scents. I thought the hops and esters combined very nicely to give this beer a pleasant scent.

On my first sip of the Farmhouse Hatter I got a lot of hoppiness. The flowery scent translated into the taste nicely, but I felt like the earthiness from the hops and the fruitiness of the beer from the Belgian yeast mixed in kind of an odd way. It definitely took some getting used to. There were also some hints of citrus as I continued to taste, which added to this beer's nice clean finish.

There was a lot of carbonation in this beer which contributed to its lighter mouth feel. I felt like it finished pretty crisply after each sip. The aftertaste was a combination of citrus and hoppiness, with a majority of the hoppy after taste having some earth like qualities. It wasn't an unpleasant earthiness, but I felt like it made for a strange combination with the fruitiness and citrus.

Overall I thought this beer was okay. As I have mentioned previously, I didn't like the earthy hop bitterness in this beer. I thought it was a strange combination with the rest of the the flavors. I definitely want to try some of the other Mad Hatter off shoots though. I thought this beer was interesting enough, it just wasn't my favorite.

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving full of family, fun, food, and great craft beer. CHEERS!

Bells Brewing, Java Stout

It's a chilly Friday night, I have work tomorrow morning, so what is better than cracking open some delicious craft beer and relaxing. I felt like something dark and flavorful so I picked up a bottle of Java Stout from Bell's Brewing. I have been waiting for this beer to come back since last year when I missed its season by weeks. Bells has a handful of beers that it releases around this time that are released in extremely small batches and are supposed to be delicious. I was lucky because I found this bottle for sale as a single. A six pack of Java Stout will run you about 16 bucks, before tax. If you can, try to find a single bottle before you commit to a six pack. I feel like most people will either love or hate this beer, I doubt there is much middle ground.

Java stout pours an opaque brown, almost black, color. When I hold the glass up to the light I get almost nothing coming through. This beer is dark. It pours with a thin tan/brown head that dissipates almost immediately. There is a good amount of lacing on the glass throughout the tasting.

The first smell that hits your nostrils when you sniff this beer is coffee. They call this beer Java Stout for a reason. The aroma of this brew is roasted coffee beans mixed with the roastiness of the black malt. I got little to no hoppy aroma.

As far as taste is concerned, this beer was intense. On the first sip I got a little bit of sweetness followed by an intense coffee flavor followed by some bitterness from the roast of the black malt. Most of the bite that I got was from the roastiness of the malt and the bitterness from the coffee beans. The coffee flavor in this brew was really strong. It had one of the most prominent coffee flavors of any of the stouts brewed with coffee that I have had. I really enjoyed the roasted bean flavor.

This beer had a certain chewiness to it. There wasn't a whole lot of carbonation, which gave this brew a pretty heavy mouth feel and really enhanced the flavors. The after taste of this brew was dominated by the coffee in my opinion with a hint of roasted malt.

Overall I enjoyed this beer. I like the infusion of coffee beans with stouts, and I feel like Bells did a really good job with this one. I liked how the coffee took center stage with this brew. The combination of the roasted coffee beans and roasted malts made for a very interesting combination of flavors that assaulted my palette in a good way. If you like coffee and dark beer, then I would definitely try to find this beer. Maybe split a sixer with a friend to cheapen the cost. The only downside to this beer I could find was the price of a six pack. It may be worth it though simply because this beer is available for a limited time and is a really good drink.

Hopefully tomorrow I will have another review ready for you all. My Irish Red home brew is finally done so I hope to share my thoughts on that either tomorrow or Sunday. I also plan on brewing Sunday so I may do a recap of that also.

CHEERS!!!

Boulevard Brewing, Tank 7 Farmhouse Ale

Well I'm back again and this time, I bring to you a review of a style I am absolutely in love with. Some of the first non-mass produced American beer that I had was Belgian, and this beer was a wonderful American version of a classic Belgian style. I was especially lucky because I found a single bottle of this one. It's a part of Boulevard's Smokestack Series, so it's a smaller batch and the 4 pack can be a little pricey at 12 bucks. But then again can one really put cost first when searching for top quality brews?

I really enjoyed Boulevards take on this classic style. This brew poured a nice, cloudy gold, with over 2 fingers of nice white head after the initial pour. A good amount of head remained throughout the tasting, and there was a huge amount of lacing all over the glass as I drank. I didn't have to swirl this beer at all to revive the head the whole time I was drinking it. The head retention on this beer was nuts.

The most enjoyable part about drinking Belgian beer, in my opinion, is the aroma. This beer had an incredibly enticing aroma. It started out with the typical fruity esters given off by the Belgian yeast. The aroma of this beer was a nice light and tropical fruity scent. I could also sense some bready malts underneath the fruit. This beer had a very pleasant aroma in general and I really could have sat there and just smelled it for quite a while longer, but who wants to do that when there is still tasting to do.


This brew had a fantastic taste that complimented the aroma perfectly. On my first taste I got fruit, predominantly banana. There was also a taste of sugary alcohol that was mellowed out nicely by the breadiness of the malt. (You'll have to excuse my English. These beer tastings have me reinventing the language in order to convey what I'm tasting to you, the wonderful reader.) There was also a nice subtle bite about halfway through the sip from the hops, but the esters and fruitiness from the Belgian yeast, along with the sugary alcohol taste dominated this beer. I thought that the balance between the intense fruity flavors and the malt was almost perfect. The beginning of each sip was intense but mellowed out really nicely as it approached the back of my tongue.

As I said before, this beer had an insane amount of carbonation throughout the tasting. Once it was in your mouth it took on a pretty light body. There was a lot of carbonation at the beginning of each sip but as it neared the end of my tongue, it mellowed out a little bit.

The after taste of this bear was really good. It was sweet and consisted of the fruitiness from the beginning of the sip and from the aroma.

Overall I really enjoyed this beer. I really thought the aroma of this beer was fantastic and it really set up the excellent taste as well. I enjoyed the banana in the taste, and thought that the malts really balanced out well with the rest of the flavors to make for a very pleasant and mild end to what starts out as a very flavorful sip. If you like Belgian beer then I would definitely give this one a whirl.

Samuel Adams, The Vixen

I was wandering around one of the local beer shops I frequent the other day when I came across this new line of small batch beers from Samuel Adams. There were five in total (I hope to get to them all eventually). I decided to go a little wild with my first review of this series. The Vixen immediately caught my attention because of the label. It was very detailed and after reading the detailed description of this beer on the label, my taste buds were far too intrigued for me to pass this one up.

The label of this beer brags of a medley of flavors including "chilis from Mexico, cocoa nibs from Equador, and cinnamon from Southeast Asia" as well as "hallertau, mittelfrueh, and noble hops", and a variety of malts.

Safe to say I was pretty excited when I picked this bottle up. I was especially excited because this was to be my first chili beer. Chili beer seems to be exploding right now as a style, so I was ready to see what all the hype was about. This beer was so interesting that I needed another set of taste buds to help me figure it out, so I called a good drinking buddy over and we dove head first into The Vixen.

This beer pours an extremely opaque brown color with a hint of amber when you hold it to the light. There is about two fingers of tan/brown head after the initial pour. This brew held about half a finger of head throughout the entire tasting and it left a lot of lacing around the tulip I was drinking from.

The aroma of this beer was really interesting. On the first whiff all the ingredients I had read about on the label of this bottle were very subtle. I definitely got the chili scent right away, along with some cocoa, and caramel from the malts. As I continued to smell the bouquet of this brew I got more and more of the chili and cocoa on top of the malts. The ingredients balanced out really nicely in the scent of this beer. The only thing I was disappointed about was the lack of cinnamon in the bouquet. My friend and I really had to strain to smell the cinnamon. Once we caught it we were able to keep track of it but it took a couple sips and continuous smelling to get a hold of the cinnamon. It's safe to say this beer was a really interesting bouquet. It's definitely one of those beers that you continuously smell as you drink because new flavors and smells always seem to be arising.

As far as taste was concerned, this beer did just as much for my palette as it did for my nostrils, although I must say that the flavors weren't as intense as I was expecting. On my first taste I definitely tasted the cocoa and chilis on top of the various German malts that made up this bock. This beer started with the cocoa, about mid way through you got a little bit of bite from the hops, and it finished with a nice amount of heat from the chilis. It wasn't an uncomfortable heat, it was just enough to warm you a little bit after you finished the sip. There was also a little bit of a bite from the hops on top of the heat from the chilis. Again, the only thing I was left wanting was a little hint of cinnamon. I had to really search for it and only found it towards the end of the beer. It could just be my palette, but my friend seemed to have a little trouble finding the cinnamon as well. Overall though, I felt like this beer balanced the variety of ingredients in this beer really well. This beer went down really smooth and I really like the subtle heat from the chilis near the end of each sip.

The Vixeb had a pretty heavy body. I didn't get much carbonation tickling my taste buds while I was drinking it. I really enjoyed this beers after taste. The heat from the chilis and the bite from the hops gave this beer a really interesting finish.

Overall I'd say I enjoyed this beer. The subtlety of all the ingredients kind of disappointed me but there were so many dimensions to this beer I can see why the subtlety was necessary. All of the flavors balanced each other out really well and made for a nice relaxing drink. I can see this beer being fantastic as we get farther and farther into the winter season, especially out here in the ice plains of south Chicagoland. This beer definitely makes me want to try some more chili beers. I was kind of worried about what kind of flavor the chili would add, but I really ended up enjoying the little bit of heat they added to this beer at least. I would definitely suggest picking this up just because of the really interesting flavors and ingredients. It's definitely the only chili bock I've seen. Most of the other chili beers I have heard of have been stouts.

I don't have too much more planned for this week aside from some random tastings. I've got a beer from Boulevard and one from Breckenridge on deck, so hopefully I'll get around to that within the next few days...

Shoreline Brewing Company, Or How I learned To Stop Worrying and Love Indiana Solely For The Great Breweries That Exist There

It's funny to think that since starting this blog, I'm already writing a second review of an Indiana brewery. I went to some shopping outlets in Michigan City, Indiana on Thursday. My mom's friend had told her that there was a great brewery and restaurant down the street from the outlets and that if we had time when we finished shopping, we should check it out. I'm always game for trying new beer so I agreed. We finished shopping and then made the 5 minute drive down the street to Shoreline Restaurant and Brewery.

This brewery creeps up on you out of no where. It is situated in an old looking building, and there really aren't any markings that suggest it's a brewery until you are right up on it. We parked and walked inside and the first thing that hit me was the smell. The restaurant area smelled delicious. No, it didn't smell like food. It smelled like boiling wort. They were clearly brewing the day we were there, and it smelled great. Safe to say, I was excited to try there beer.

We seated ourself. The restaurant was actually really big. There was a good sized bare to the right when we walked in and then a very open area with a variety of tables to the right. Upon further inspection, I noticed that the brewhouse itself was right behind the bar. You could see the mashtun, boil kettle, and fermenters through the glass behind the bar, which explained the smell when we walked in.

Right above our table was a giant sign that listed all the beers that were currently on tap. I cant list them all but I'm pretty sure there were over ten. My mom settled for the English Pale Ale, and I went with Samuel Jackson's Black IPA. The Black IPA was really good. When the waitress brought the beer to me it had lost a lot of its head, but it still kept a good amount on it throughout the time I was drinking. There was a light brown lacing on the glass the whole time I was drinking. The chocolate malt dominates the bouquet in this beer. I caught some hoppiness but again the chocolate dominated the scent of this beer. It poured an opaque brown color. On the first sip of this beer, again, I predominantly tasted the chocolate malt. There was a little bite from the hops near the end of the sip, but I was mostly tasting chocolate malt. I was a little surprised at the mild hop character of this beer, but it was pleasant all the same. There was a good amount of carbonation to this beer, but it teetered off as I neared the end of each sip. The after taste was predominantly the chocolate malt with a hint of hoppiness at the end. Over all I liked this beer. It really showcased the chocolate malt, but I would have liked a little more hop character to it.

After I finished the Samuel Jackson Black IPA it was time to order lunch. My moms friend had suggested the crab cake sandwich so that is what I went with. And let me tell you. I was not disappointed. This sandwich was phenomenal. It came on a pretzel bun with some sort of mayo and a side of macaroni salad. To compliment this meal, I ordered the Sum Nug India Pale Ale. I was feeling the hoppiness Thursday, and the Black IPA left me wanting for a stronger hoppy bite.

The Sum Nug IPA came to me with only a little bit of head. It poured a clear copper color with white head. There was good lacing on the glass. I wasn't able to get much scent from this beer. And considering this was an IPA, I was surprised when my senses weren't assaulted with that lovely hoppy aroma. The description of this brew said it was hopped 16 times throughout the boil so I was expecting a pretty potent scent. I could definitely smell citrus but it was faint. The taste of this beer made up for the bouquet. On the first sip you get a mouthful of citrusy hoppy goodness. This IPA had a nice bite to it that complimented the malt really nicely. This beer had a lot of carbonation in it, but that faltered near the end of the sip. The aftertaste was dominated by the citrus flavor from the hops, which left a bitterness on your palette after the sip was finished. Overall I really like this beer. It was nice to get some hoppiness in the character of this beer after having the chocolate malt dominate the Black IPA.

Those were the only two bars I had at the brewery, but I liked the beer enough that I decided to buy a growler. The growler full was 15 bucks (including the price of the growler itself), so I feel like I got a great deal. I ended up having the growler filled with a beer called 6th Anniversary Ale. What attracted me to this beer immediately was the fact that it was "wet hopped", a technique that has the hops added to the beer when they are freshly picked, instead of the standard addition of dried hops. I had just heard of this type of beer, and after having a tasting of it I decided to go with it.

The 6th Anniversary Ale had poured a nice, clear, golden color with a little bit of head to it that died off pretty quickly. This beer did leave a good amount of lacing on the glass though. The aroma from this beer was very interesting. You could definitely taste the fresh hops, but they weren't as strong as I expected. The aroma was very smooth and flowery. I think you could definitely smell the freshness of the hops. My first sip of this beer was equally interesting. Again, I got a very interesting taste from the hops in this beer. There was a certain freshness to the hoppiness of this brew. It didn't have that dry bite that normal hopping gives off. The hops in this beer were prominent but they didn't mask the maltiness of this beer. This beer didn't have a whole lot of carbonation to it, and had sort of a creamy mouth feel. The after taste was dominated by the flower/citrus from the wet hops. It left a refreshing, almost plant-esque taste in your mouth. Overall I enjoyed the first tasting I had of this beer but as I drank it more I got kind of sick of it. The ripeness of the hops overpowered my palette after a while. I think one pint of this is more than enough. I would definitely like to try some more "wet hopped" beers though. It's definitely and interesting style.

Overall I really enjoyed the Shoreline Brewery. I will definitely be returning because they had a lot of great sounding beers that I really want to try.

I don't have any beer adventures planned in the next few days. The next review I will be looking to do is for The Vixen from Samuel Adams. Until then, CHEERS!!

Avery Brewing Co, The Kaiser

Before I begin the review. I drank this beer on Sunday while I was writing my review for the Three Floyds brewery. Instead of making two different posts Sunday, I figured I'd wait a couple days before writing this post. If this post seems to lack the detail of my other two posts it's because this beer wasn't fresh in my mouth. However, it was memorable enough that I was able to write what is, in my opinion, a decent review even though it has been 3 days since I actually drank the beer. So please take that into account before you read.


I know we are a week into November so it may be a bit strange for me to be reviewing an Oktoberfest beer but I really couldn't pass this one up. What attracted me to this beer initially was simply the packaging/label. I thought the idea of a Dictator Series of beers was pretty cool and when I read this beer was an imperial Oktoberfest I was sold. I drank my fair share of Oktoberfest brews over the past couple of months, and while all of them contributed something different to my palette, I must say I didn't have anything quite like this beer.

This beer hits you with a variety of scents from the first whiff. There is definitely a hint of alcohol in the bouquet, but there is also some sweetness, caramel, Noble hops, and German malt in there as well.

This beer pours a nice clear orange/copper color, with an off white head on top. The head is pretty prominent at first but it waivers as the beer sits and remains pretty thin throughout the tasting.. This beer leaves a good amount of lacing on the glass as you drink.

What really impressed about this beer was the taste. Here it really separated itself from the other Oktoberfest beers I drank this season. On the first sip, my taste buds were overwhelmed with the sweetness from the malts, and the sweet alcohol taste from candied sugar. There wasn't a whole lot of bitterness in this beer, but the scent of the hops translates into the taste of the beer nicely. This beer has a pretty high alcohol content (10%ABV) but I felt like the sweetness from the malt masked this pretty well. You could definitely tell that the alcohol content was higher than a normal Oktoberfest beer but it wasn't unpleasant at all. It gave me a nice warming feeling as I continued to drink.

The beer had a medium body. There wasn't a whole lot of carbonation, and as I approached the end of the sip the carbonation wasn't very prominent. It had sort of a creamy texture to it.

This beer leaves a sweet after taste in your mouth. It was a little bit dry, but pleasant all the same. The sweetness from the German malts really stood out in this beer, and the after taste continues to showcase them.

I really enjoyed this beer because it was a different take on a pretty traditional style of beer. Before this beer I had never had an imperial Oktoberfest before. I will definitely be on the look out for more next season. I don't know if you will be able to find this beer around much as we get farther and farther from October, but I would definitely put this on your watch list for next year.




Tomorrow I head to the Shoreline Restaurant and Brewery in Michigan City, Indiana. Kind of a last minute trip. Hopefully I have some solid beers and food to report on. Until then, CHEERS!

Three Floyds Brewery Tour, and Tap Room Extravaganza

This past weekend was a beer filled weekend for me indeed. Not only did I bottle my Irish red home brew this morning, but I had the pleasure of going to the Three Floyds Brewery yesterday. Not only did I get to drink a variety of incredibly delicious beers, but I also went on the brewery tour and it was one of the better tours I've been on simply because of how thorough it was.

THE TOUR

Now, let me preface this post by pointing out a few things. On this tour you don't get any free samples. I know that's a make or break for some people. In the tap room, however, there is a sampler with Three Floyds' four flagship beers (Alpha King, Robert the Bruce, Pride and Joy, and Gumballhead) available for like six bucks so if you're new to their beer I'd suggest getting that once you finish the tour. Some other advice; talk to the door man before you start your tour so you can get on the wait list. The brew pub is VERY SMALL, and there is usually a wait of at least 2o minutes so save yourself some time and get on the list ASAP. Also don't bring any liquid or food with you on the tour. It's a working brewery so they wont let you take anything inside.

The tour starts outside the brew pub, by one of the bay doors. This brewery is very very small which is funny because it seems to be immensely popular, and it's popularity seems to increase every year. We were lucky because while we were doing our tour, there was actual brewing going on so we got to see some live action, as well as all the various components that are required to brew beer. Our tour guides name was Phil and he was one of the better brewery tour guides I have had. He seemed super passionate about Three Floyds, brewing, and beer in general. He started the tour at the front of the brewery by talking about what one needs to make beer, and then he took use through each of the steps of the brewing process in relation to where they took place in the Three Floyds brewery. I was pretty surprised by how small this brewery was. Their brewing system is only a thirty barrel system, which means at any one time when brewing is going on about 30 kegs worth of beer is being produced.

Even though the system itself is pretty small, their seems to be no shortage of beer in the brewery. I didn't count them all, but there were A LOT of fermenters in the brewery. I was shocked at how many fermenters they had. I have never seen so many, especially packed into such a small space. We also got to see where the barrel aged beer is kept. There were only 3 barrels while we were there but it was still cool to see where some of magic happened.

I think the coolest part about this tour was just hearing Phil our tour guide talk about the Three Floyd's brewing philosophy, and where they get the inspiration for their beers. There seemed to be a lot of emphasis on experimentation. I have to say that Three Floyds definitely produces some of the most unique brews that I have tasted. Part of that unique flavor, according to our tour guide, is attributed to the fact that Three Floyds propagates their own strain of ale yeast. They have their own lab on site. We didn't see it, but I thought that was pretty cool, and again surprising, because of the small size of this brewery.

The tour ended up lasting about 30-45 minutes. I didn't note the exact time. There was definitely a lot of listening involved, so if you have trouble paying attention to someone else talk this probably isn't the tour for you. There also isn't much moving around so if standing in one place for long periods of time isn't you're cup of tea you might want to avoid this tour. BUT, if you are genuinely interested in learning about the brewing process and Three Floyds beer then I would really suggest you sign up for this tour. I felt I came out of this tour with a lot of really good information about beer and I felt like hearing about Three Floyds really helped me appreciate their beer even more.

THE BEER

There is a very small brew pub situated in front of the Three Floyds brewery, and in this brew pub you will be able to taste some of the best beer you have ever had and eat some of the best pub fare you will ever eat. This time around we didn't indulge in the food, but I have been here multiple times before and every dish I got was very good.

This time around we were able to sit at the bar, which I haven't had the opportunity to do before. It was cool to see the brew pub from a different view. A lot of reviews of the Three Floyds brew pub complain about the wait staff and door men. I haven't had any trouble with either. The wait staff has always been nice and knowledgeable and this trip the bar tenders were really cool and gave great service.

I started off this session with one of Three Floyds' flagship brews, Alpha King. It came in a 20 oz. imperial pint for five bucks, which is a pretty good deal in my opinion. It's a really solid pale ale. This brew pours with a solid amber color and full, foamy head. The head stays pretty prominent throughout the tasting, and there is a generous amount of lacing on the sides of the pint glass. This brew has a prominent citrus scent, and on the first sip this smell translates into the taste of the beer. The citrus hops are pretty dominant in this beer and give it a nice bitter quality. You also get a hint of sweetness from the caramel malt. Alpha King has a medium body, with a good amount of carbonation present and finished with a nice hoppy citrus note. This is one of my favorite pale ales, and there's nothing better than enjoying it at the very brewery where it was conceived.

The second beer I went for was one called Hessian Smog. It was an interesting brew that still has me perplexed a day later. The menu describes this beer as a Hessian ESB (extra special bitter). I'm not exactly sure what a Hessian bitter is to begin with so when I ordered this beer I had no idea what I was getting into. It came in a 20 oz. imperial pint for 6 bucks. The bar tender couldn't really tell me much about this beer because it was fairly new, and I got the impression it was a smaller batch. The Hessian Smog pours a cloudy orange color and has a good head of foam on top after the initial pour. Eventually the head went down and bit, but there was a good amount of lacing on the sides of the glass throughout the tasting. This beer had a really interesting aroma. There was deifnitely citrus present, but there was also something I couldn't exactly place in the bouquet as well. I think it was an earthy scent from the hops. When I took the first sip of this beer I got a nice balance of the malt, citrus, and earthiness. There was also a lot of carbonation that tickled the back of my tongue with each sip. I enjoyed the taste of this beer, but it left an interesting after taste that was dominated by the earthy hops. I have to say that I haven't had any beers that I love that use earthy hops and this beer wasn't any different. I definitely enjoyed the unique taste and thought the citrus and earthy hop combination was interesting, but personally I found the taste and after taste to be a little odd. It was still an interesting and unique beer to try.

After the Hessian Smog, I decided to err on the side of caution and went with another of my favorites, Robert the Bruce. This is a really good Scottish style ale. It pours a nice dark amber color and has a very malty aroma. The caramel malt is really prominent in this beer, and there is also a hint of chocolate and toasted malt. This beer pours with a really fluffy head that disappears after a couple minutes, but leaves a prevalent lacing on the glass. The first taste of this brew is very malty. The caramel malt is dominant but the chocolate malt lends a roasty flavor to the sweetness of the caramel. This brew has a medium body and mouth feel, with a decent amount of carbonation that falls off as the taste reaches the back of your tongue. The hops are super prevalent in this beer, there is just a slight bite about halfway through the taste that just breaks through the sweetness of the malt. Overall, this beer is really good. It's not a super hoppy beer which can be kind of nice. It's another one of my favorite Three Floyds' beers and seems to be the only one you can ever find in the store so check it.

I ended the night with one of Three Floyds' epic India Pale Ales (IPA). Three Floyds makes two IPAs, Dreadnaught, and Arctic Panzer Wolf. I have had both, but this time around I went with the Arctic Panzer Wolf. This beer is intense. It pours a crisp, clear, golden color with a thin foamy head that leaves a lot of lacing on the glass. The first smell of this beer can be described as pure hops. The hops give this beer a nice flowery aroma, which translates into the first taste nicely. The flavor of this beer is completely dominated by the hops. There are both citrus and flowery notes in the first taste. This beer has strong carbonation which, which gives it a light mouth feel, and the after taste is full of the hoppy flavor from the first taste. I really enjoy this beer because of the way the various hop flavors work together. Overall its a really good IPA that goes along with the other top quality beers produced by the brewers at Three Floyds.


I know this post was pretty long but there was a lot to cover. I think you can tell from this post that I really enjoyed Three Floyds; both the tour and the beer. One nice thing about going to the brewery is that you're able to try a lot of beers that are brewed in such small batches that they aren't sold outside the brewery. The brewers at Three Floyds seem to do a lot of experimentation and every time I go there a new beers on the menu that weren't there before. Going to the brewery is also exciting because you can get some great good pairing to go along with your beers. This brewery is definitely something anyone who enjoys Three Floyds beer should experience. It really adds a whole other layer to enjoying their beer.

I have a couple other beers sitting in my fridge currently, so I'll be making a few new posts this week. Cheers!

Firestone Walker's Reserve Porter

Well it's officially November. Pumpkin beer season has come and gone, and for me, personally, it is high time to seriously get into the heavy stuff. I went to peruse the selection of beer at one of the grocery stores near my house called Berkott's Super Foods. They have a pretty solid selection of craft beer, so I knew I'd find something to tickle my fancy.

The selection ended up being as good as I had hoped. I had a hard time deciding on one thing, but I eventually went for a 22 oz. bottle of Firestone Walker's Reserve Porter for 7 bucks after tax. I am definitely more partial to porters over stouts, so I figured what better way to start of my own personal dark beer season than with this. This brew had a pretty high rating on beeradvocate.com and the cap boasts of multiple awards at the Great American Beer Festival. I try to avoid basing my decisions on other peoples ratings because no two people have the same tastes, but I was really having some trouble deciding on a beer so don't be too judgmental this go around...

Enough with this introduction business though, it's time to get into the good stuff. As I go about reviewing the various beers in this blog, I will talk about the aroma, color, mouthfeel, after taste, and my overall opinion of each beer. That's the standard format for reviewing beers, so I figured I'd stick with it since it works for everyone else. "Don't fix it if it ain't broke" as the old cliche goes:


This beer has a strong chocolatey and malty bouquet. The smell is actually really pleasant and sweet, and definitely translates into the first taste of this beer.

This beer pours a really nice, dark brown color and has a thick, tan colored head. The head itself disappeared fairly quickly, but there was a lot of lacing on the sides of the glass and a little head remained on the top of the beer throughout the tasting.

The first thing I tasted on my first sip of this beer was the chocolate malt. The roast of the chocolate malt was really well balanced with the caramel malt. It wasn't an overpowering roasted taste, but it didn't leave me wanting either. As I mentioned before, the aroma of the chocolate malt translated perfectly into the taste of this beer. You taste what you smell, and that's definitely not a bad thing. As per the nature of the style, this beer has only a mild hint of hops. I couldn't really place the exact hope flavors, and I attribute this to chocolate malt. There was a nice bitterness about halfway through each taste that combined well with the other flavors.

The beer had a relatively medium body. The carbonation was present and noticeable, but not overwhelming and it dissipated rather quickly after I let the beer sit in my mouth for a couple seconds. The aftertaste was really pleasant. Again, the chocolate malt is really prominent and it lingers long after you finish a sip.

Overall, I really enjoyed this beer. The prominence of the chocolate malt was really great, and there was also a good amount of sweetness from the caramel malt that helped balance out the roastiness from the chocolate malt. I really enjoyed this porter, and would definitely suggest picking up a bottle if you can find it, especially for the price.....



And there we have it folks! My first beer review is done! I'm heading to the Three Floyds brewery this Saturday to do a tour. I've been to the brew pub before, and I've drank loads of their beer so it's not really going to be a new experience but I will definitely be writing a post about my experiences there. Until then,

Cheers!

Finally, Something Worth Talking About.

After a previous failed attempt at blogging, I've decided to give it another whirl. My past issue with blogging was that I never really had something consistent to write about. I'd write a rant about politics here, another rant about the Chicago Cubs there, and then I'd call it a week. But in the past couple of years I've come upon a new obsession, and that is the diverse and ever intriguing world of American craft beer.

I don't plan on saying a whole lot about myself in this first post. I hope that anyone that actually takes the time to read this blog will get to know me through my beer reviews, and stories involving beer. Anyone that already knows me knows how much I love trying new beers, and talking about beer. I love the adventures that pursuing new beers can take you on, and I hope that as I share my tasting notes and stories people will come away with a fraction of the enthusiasm for beer that I have. I also hope to do some posts on the recent home brewing hobby I've picked up. My third batch is about ready for bottling, so I'm sure I'll write on that as the process goes on.

My first tasting review should be up tomorrow. I didn't get around to starting this up before 9pm, and since its a Tuesday night that means I have work at an ungodly hour tomorrow morning so I had to put the tasting I had planned on hold until tomorrow evening.