A New Year, A New Direction

I haven't posted on this blog for over six months now. Its not that I haven't been drinking beer and partaking in craft beer related adventures; it's more that I got bored with just reviewing beers and bars and breweries. I feel like there is so much more to craft beer than just drinking delicious beer and taking brewery tours, and I think I am finally ready to blog about beer in a more nuanced light.

I think what attracts me most to craft beer is the culture surrounding it. The past year has been insane for Chicago and most of the surrounding suburbs. I have gotten to see so many awesome breweries begin to make a name for themselves in the Chicagoland area, and what makes these breweries so awesome are the stories that surround their inspiration/inception. Chicago and the suburbs have such a rich history and I think a lot of the area's brewers have really embraced this fact as they build their brands.

All that being said though, the rest of this post is going to involve a lot of venting and complaining on my part. While I have the fortune of living a short forty minute drive from Chicago, I also have the misfortune of living forty minutes from Chicago and all its craft beer glory. I also happen to live in the South Suburbs, near Joliet, which I'm sure many people know is almost completely devoid of any breweries or brew pubs. I think the closest brew pub to me is probably Flossmoor Station which still takes a good twenty five minutes across I-80. I'm also about a thirty five minute drive from Solemn Oath brewery in Naperville and thirty minutes from Emmett's in Downers Grove. Basically, every good brewery around my house takes about thirty minutes to get to. Now, I'm not saying the drive to these breweries isn't worth it, because it is, but whenever I want a quick growler fill for a party or a football game I actually have to plan a trip out. It's not like running to the store for a six pack. I am a huge fan of the drink local aspect of craft beer. And while I'm all for supporting Illinois craft beer in general, Naperville, Downer's Grove, and Flossmoor don't exactly fit my definition of "local." I can't help but feel left out of the community I have grown so attached to.

What I'm seriously lacking in my life right now is a truly local watering hole. A unique place I can take my out-of-town friends to, and take personal pride in. And I think a local brew pub is the only thing that can fill that void, for me at least. I want a relaxing place where I can go grab a pint close to home after a long day at work, without having to compete with televisions and people watching whatever sporting event is on at the time. The community aspect of craft beer is what has drawn me to it over the past year and a half. People gather socially around local brew pubs in a way that is seriously lacking from our mainstream culture. There is very little room for appreciating the company one keeps in the sports bars that make up a majority of the night life in the area I live in. Everyone is out to get a drunk as possible as loudly as possible with very little regard for what they're drinking and who they're drinking it with. I also live in an area that is ripe with history, a history that many people are unaware of, or are simply forgetting.

So consider this my plea for some aspiring brewer somewhere to open a brewery in the Lockport/Joliet area. Rest assured you'd have at least one loyal fan, so long as the beer is good.


Cheers.

It's Easy To Get Sidetracked In Chicago

I had originally planned to make this post about my trip up to Half Acre Brewing this past Saturday. It was a nice day so I figured I'd hop the Brown Line up to the Irving Park stop and take a stroll. I wanted to grab a bottle of Cypher, Half Acre's Belgian blond, and maybe some brewery swag. The trip to the brewery ended up being pretty good. I bought my Cypher and was also was able to taste a couple of beers. Saturdays and Sundays are the days to go because apparently that's when they have tastings available. I also learned that I am not destined to possess a good tulip because the one I bought from Half Acre, like every other tulip I have owned, shattered. Unfortunately I didn't even get to drink out of my Half Acre tulip. I hope to have a review of Cypher up either tomorrow or Friday. I'm trying this new thing where I don't drink unless I work out, so today didn't permit for a tasting. I am also kind of backlogged in my review materials, having taken a lot of notes on my phone during my hiatus, so I want to get those written soon as well.

But I digress...

My real reason for writing today stems from a spur of the moment side stop I made after leaving Half Acre. My friend and I had seen a place while walking to Half Acre that advertised a German beer hall with a taster special on German and Austrian beers. We decided we might stop by on our way back and kept walking. We decided to check the place out on our way back, and I have to say Glunz Bavarian Haus is probably one of the coolest places I have stumbled upon in a while. What attracted me to it immediately was the traditional German vibe of the building. It looked like a fun place to drink at the very least, so I figured why not stop in. We wandered in at around 1pm, so it was pretty dead. The Blackhawks game was on one TV and the Cubs were on another, so I was immediately drawn in for at least one beer.

Walking into Glunz Bavarian Haus, one is immediately met with a plethora of German and Austrian themed beer steins, beer posters, and every other type of beer memorabilia one can think of. There are also three Oktoberfest style benches at the front of the establishment that were pretty cool, so we grabbed a couple seats and got to looking at the beer menu.

I have to admit that when I first walked in, I was expecting the generic German beers that every place has on tap. Let me just say that the tap list here is nothing short of impressive. Be forewarned though, all the beers on tap are German and Austrian imports. Note: If that's an issue, you're crazy. I started safe and went with the Franziskaner Dunkel Weisse, a beer I have enjoyed on numerous occasions. All the beers here are served in their respective brewery's glassware which is a cool touch. The array of glassware behind the bar was awesome. I think one of the coolest aspects of beer is the glassware and this brew hall gives the drinker a wide array. (I refuse to refer to Glunz Bavarian Haus as a bar because I feel it sullies the atmosphere.)

After our first beer, we started talking to the man who was working the bar (we later found out he was the owner.) I think what really stuck with me about this place was the owner. Unfortunately, I didn't catch his name, but he proved to be as knowledgeable and passionate about beer as me and my friend were. We got to chatting about the various brewing traditions throughout Germany and Austria, and what made each style unique to its respective region...
Four beers later, and it was already 3:30pm!

Aside from the atmosphere and personable owner, what really stuck out to me was the freshness of the beer. The owner made it clear that his number one goal was to serve freshly imported German and Austrian beer to his patrons. And I must say he lives up to this goal 100%. I really found myself reveling in types of beer I hadn't sat down and appreciated in a long time. With all the great American craft beer that's out there, it's really easy to forget the classic styles perfected by the Germans. My first exposure to beer other than American light lager was on the first vacation I took to Germany when I was 16. The beer on that trip will stay with me for the rest of my life , and I really felt like I re-found a little part of that while drinking, chatting, and watching the Blackhawks win and the Cubs lose (shocking I know) at Glunz Bavarian Haus. I will definitely make it a point to trek up there whenever I'm in the city from now on, or at least whenever I head over to Half Acre for more of their delicious beer... but more on that another day.



For anyone who's curious, here's the address:
4128 N. Lincoln Ave
Chicago, IL.

It's Been A Very Long 40 Days, But I'm Back Into The Swing of Things Now

LENT IS OVER! I have a lot to write about, so I don't really know where to begin. I'm going to save my post on my recent beer related adventure for tomorrow. Today I just wanted to hit on a few things that I'm excited about regarding beer.

First off on my list is last night's announcement VIA Twitter regarding Lagunitas' plans to open a brewery in Chicago. The formal article from the Chicago Tribune can be found here. I was very very excited last night when I read this, not only because I love Lagunitas beer, but because I think this will do big things for a city that already has a booming and thriving craft beer scene. Even though I'm new to the whole beer blogging thing, I've been enjoying craft beer for a long time and I think this will have nothing but a positive effect on the city as a whole. Chicago receives enough attention from the craft beer scene as is, but I think this will make our great city stick out even more. I can't wait to follow this story as it develops more throughout the next year and a half. I'm also very excited about the thought of insanely fresh Lagunitas beer just a stones throw away from my house. This can't happen fast enough in my eyes.


Anybody that follows my twitter probably already knows that I will be attending my first Dark Lord Day this year. I got the tickets in the mail today, and that got me even more excited for this event. I will obviously have a full post devoted to this epic event after April 28, but I figured it would be nice to share with anyone who didn't know that I got tickets and can't wait to go.


Last but not least, I did remain productive during my fast from beer. I took the money that I would've spent drinking and put it into upgrading my home brew system. I made a new all grain mash tun that I should be putting to use Saturday. I'm thinking of brewing a six gallon batch of brown ale. I also want to start experimenting with sour beers, so I hope to take a gallon of the brown ale and play around with that. I also would like to start doing more posts related to home brewing. I'm no expert by any means, but I think it would be fun to share some of my successes and failures and I experience them. I hope to have a very productive summer in regards to honing my brewing technique. I'm excited to say the least.

I know this was a pretty boring post, but I had a lot I wanted to hit on before I got back into the swing of things with beer reviews, brewery adventures, and home brewing mishaps. I look forward to keeping up with the blog from here on out and I hope my posts from here on out prove to be at the very least a little entertaining.

Limestone Brewing Company

It saddens me to be writing that Limestone Brewing Co left Plainfield, Illinois for Aurora. I read about it here. It sounds like there were a lot of factors that contributed to the move. mainly the fact that they were forced out of their current location. While this news upsets me, I can't exactly blame the owners. I will continue to visit the brewery, it will just be a much longer ride. The beer is worth it though.

The reason I've decided to write on this story though is because the area I live in in Illinois is now without a solid local craft brewery. I think one of the great things about craft beer culture is taking pride in your local brewery and repping local beers. I have to say that Limestone moving to Aurora has kind of left a hole in my heart because now when I want to go get a quick growler fill I won't know what to do. I'll feel like a little kid separated from his parents in the supermarket, lost and alone.

That being said I wish Limestone all the best at their new location. The area they're moving to is a very busy locale, so I'm sure it'll be a great move for both business and getting the Limestone name out there. From the tone of the article above, it sounds like the new establishment is going to be a very nice place to visit this summer. I just hope someone in the Joliet area gets the ball rolling on opening something local that I can frequent on dry nights.

Update

I've been doing a terrible job of keeping up with this blog during my hiatus from drinking beer. A few updates include me getting a couple tickets to Dark Lord Day 2012. I can't wait for that, its probably the biggest thing on my plate right now. I'm also planning a bit of an impromptu brew day tomorrow. Ill be brewing 6 gallons of brown ale, a gallon of which I hope to sour with peaches. Im pretty excited to try my first sour beer. I went with a gallon because I really want to get a feel for the fruit, oak, and Brett before I try a full batch. I hope to blog about that a lot. Ill also be making a post about tomorrow's brew day with the new set up that I've built. I can't wait to start blogging regularly again. I have a lot of tastings and brewery tours I want to get on top of once Easter comes around. I have some big things planned for this Spring/Summer. I definitely feel out of touch with the world of craft beer and can't wait to get back into it full time. Cheers!

Dark Lord Day 2012

I'm sure by now anyone who knows even a little bit about the craft beer world has heard the most recent Dark Lord Day news. Tickets go on sale March 17. They're 15 bucks and the limit is two per person. The link is here. I know I'll be furiously re-clicking refresh that afternoon hoping and praying for tickets to an event I still haven't been lucky enough to attend.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with Dark Lord Day, it is an event held once a year at the Three Floyds Brewery in Munster, Indiana. The event is held as a sort of release party for Three Floyd's Dark Lord Imperial Stout. I have yet to attend this event or try this beer, so I can't tell you a whole lot about it from a first hand perspective. All I can say is that the event is supposed to be a blast and the beer is supposed to be amazing (Google it). They also release some special versions like a barrel aged variety among others. I think it will be interesting to see what this year's even brings. Every year for the past 3 years I have tried and failed to either get tickets to the event or procure a bottle for tasting. This year I will prevail!

I wish everyone best of luck in getting tickets and their bottles of Dark Lord this year. This will definitely make or break my St. Patrick's day (at least until I drown myself in Michael Collins and Boulevard Irish Ale.) Cheers!

Beer Geekiness Taken To The Next Level

Since I traveled to Belgium in '09 I have taken to keeping pretty detailed notes about the beers I drink, and the establishments I drink said beers in. I've used small notebooks, random sheets of paper, and most recently I've taken to just using the notepad app on my iPhone.

A friend of mine posted this to my Facebook wall the other day. Moleskine has done it again. I haven't been a big user of their notebooks, mainly because of the price, but the idea of a journal made specifically for tasting notes, homebrew recipes, etc. was really appealing to me. Anyone that has seen my current homebrew recipe book would tell you this product was made just for me. I'm sure a lot of people will say "why don't you just use a regular notebook blah blah blah" but the fact of the matter is I'm a very disorganized person. When I come to write my tasting reviews I have to spend an extra 10 minutes just deciphering whatever I wrote while I was tasting. I went ahead and ordered one of these notebooks just to give the format a go around. Who knows? Maybe I'll end up hating it and go back to my discombobulated ways but I figured I'd give it a try.

Even if you yourself haven't entered the realm of beer geekdom where you take tasting notes in public, at home, or where ever else you drink, this notebook could make a thoughtful gift for the beer nerd(s) in your life.

My Plan Over the Next Month

I'm sad to say that I won't be posting any new beer reviews over the next month because I have decided to give up beer for the greater part of 30 days. I'm viewing it as sort of a personal challenge as well as a way of getting myself into a healthier state. I think it will be interesting to see what kind of changes my body will go through on this 30 day fast. I can always use to shed a few unwanted pounds. I've heard of quite a few people taking on challenges like this and finding a whole new appreciation for beer once they started drinking it again. I think I've put my palate through hell over the past few months, so I think a break will be kind of nice.

I also want to use this as an opportunity to move beyond just writing reviews of beer. I'd like to move this blog in the direction of being a source of more than just my opinions on how beers taste. I hope to delve into writing a little more about my home brewing experiences, as well as giving my amateur commentary on developments in the world of craft beer. 2012 is shaping up to be the biggest year yet for craft beer and I hope to turn this blog into a source of craft beer news for my friends and anyone else who enjoys reading what I'm doing here.

All that being said, I think that broadening my horizons will be good for my blog and give me a lot more to write on, which will in turn let me post more frequently. I hope to be at a post or two per day by the time I start writing beer reviews again as well. And for anyone who's curious, yes I know what my first beer will be when I come back. I've got a bottle of Sierra Nevada Ovila Dubbel sitting around as a prize for all my hard work over the next few weeks. Cheers!

Super Bowl Tasting Extravaganza

I based my mood tonight on how my latest batch of home brew turned out. Since you're reading this right now, it's safe to say it turned out pretty well and I felt motivated enough to blog on my beer exploits from the past weekend. I actually had a pretty low key weekend. I tried to make some brownies using Breckenridge Brewing's Vanilla Porter. Lets just say I'm better at drinking Vanilla Porter than I am at cooking with it. The brownies turned out very try and fudge-like and I ended up getting rid of them to my dismay. (Note: this picture is from a previous tasting, I didn't have a picture of the more recent one.)

Super Bowl Sunday turned out to be much more successful though. My friend and I have taken it upon ourselves to host some amateur beer tastings. Nothing fancy, just a little thing where everyone brings a couple bottles of whatever sounds good and we sit around and drink it and talk about the good and the bad of each brew. We hosted our first tasting on New Years Eve and it actually ended up being pretty successful, do we decided Super Bowl Sunday would be another great opportunity to try some good beer.

This tasting ended up being rather extensive and lasted through the end of Madonna's half-time show. The tasting list went as follows (arranged from lightest to darkest):

• Wernesgruner Pils
• Crispin Honey Crisp
• Ommegang Witte
• Boulevard Tank 7 Farmhouse Ale
• Goose Island Fleur
• My own still very ripe dunkelweizen home brew
• New Belgium Dig
• Finch's Cutthroat Pale Ale
• Bell's Hopslam
• Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA
• Sierra Nevada Ruthless Rye IPA
• Two Brothers Reprieve
• Flossmoor Station Pullman Brown Ale
• Firestone Walker's Reserve Porter

I think it's easy to see why this tasting took so long, especially because of distraction provided by game. Unfortunately I had had most of the beers coming into the tasting, but it's still always exciting to how one's own tastes compare others. The IPA portion was the least popular among all of the tasters, which is understandable in my opinion because I think IPAs take a very experience palate to appreciate. My personal favorites were the Pullman Brown, Fleur, Cutthroat, Hopslam, and Tank 7.

The Fleur really stood out to me. I wanted to go grab a bottle almost immediately after we finished. I'm sure I'd had this beer at some point, but if I had it must have been a long time ago because I could remember what I should have been expecting upon tasting it. I really enjoyed the sweetness followed by the tart finish. It was a really refreshing tasting. I also enjoyed the rosy color. It was definitely the stand out beer of this tasting for me because it was new to my palate and very different from a lot of the other brews we tried.

Reprieve, the Schwarzbier offering from Two Brother, was also new to me. Unfortunately I tasted it at the end of the tasting so by then I was too preoccupied to take any serious notes on my phone. I'm afraid I won't be too much help at this point in telling anyone about this beer. I remember enjoying it while a lot of others didn't, but I can't remember why I enjoyed it. On a positive note though, I did buy another bottle so I'll be coming back with a review tomorrow night.

I have really been enjoying this new tasting thing my friend and I have begun. It's really fun to share my beer knowledge with others as well as getting other people's opinions on a variety of beers and beer styles. It's also interesting to dissect specific beers with a group of people, because no two palates are alike. It's amazing how talking about a beer can really enhance the drinking experience. I would encourage more beer enthusiasts to get together with their friends and host amateur tastings. It's a great way to further appreciate the wonderful world of beer.

All that being said, I should be coming back with the Reprieve review tomorrow evening. Cheers!!

Limestone Brewing Co.

Well this post is coming a bit later than I had planned, but it's getting written none-the-less which seems to be an accomplishment in itself given my motivation these last couple of weeks. Today's post is on a place I've been wanting to try for a while. I stumbled across Limestone Brewing Co. on my way to Fox Valley Mall. I happened to glance over while traveling down Route 59 and the words Brewing Co. caught my eye. When I got home and did a little research on Limestone I got very excited to try it...

Fast forward 4 months to January 21... my first trip to Limestone...

I went to Limestone on a pretty chilly day so I was definitely ready to get into some big beers. This brewery/restaurant is in the far corner of a big strip mall so at first it is kind of hard to find. The sign above the building is pretty big and if you're looking for it, it's pretty easy to see.

Location aside, Limestone has a nice feel to it. It's very spacious inside. Even on a busy weekend I imagine there being plenty of room. There is a central bar area with some high tables and as you get away from the bar you get more traditional tables and booths. The bar is very big and would allow one to comfortably enjoy both food and drink. There is also a giant colorful chalkboard on the back wall that lists all the beers on tap and the food specials of the day. It's very well put together and catches the eye instantly. I started looking at the beer list on the chalkboard before I realized I had a list right in front of me on the drink menu.

Per usual at a new brewery, I ordered a tasting flight. (It's the flight used as the picture for this post.)The taster came with a total of six beers and as the picture above shows they were very generous servings. I generally try not to judge a beer off of a traditional sample, but this flight gave me a pretty decent idea about what some of Limestone's flagship brews have to offer. There were a total of six beers, four of which are available year round and two which were seasonal. The six beers I tasted were Electric Park Gold, Old Chicago Amber, Donndubham English Dark Mild (one of the seasonals), Pilcher Pale Ale, Frostbite (another seasonal), and Dolomite Oatmeal Stout. Overall I was really impressed with the offerings in this flight. I have a whole bunch of notes I took on my phone, but for the sake of time and length I'll just point out some highlights. If I tell you everything I wrote down about every beer I think that takes the fun out of trying them yourself.

The Frostbite really stood out to me because it was one of the least overwhelming spiced beers I've had this holiday season. The cinnamon, orange peel, allspice, and nutmeg all worked really well together. My palette wasn't overwhelmed at any point during the tasting. I felt like this beer was really straight forward. It didn't try to get to fancy with the spices, and made for a nice drink on a cold day. I generally try to avoid spiced beers but this is one I would absolutely come back to. I also really enjoyed the Pilcher Pale Ale. I'm partial to the more citrusy hop varieties, so this pale ale sat really nicely with me. I can't wait to come back for a growler on a hot Midwestern summer day. The Old Chicago Amber was the last brew that I found myself wanting another taste off. I just thought the balance between the caramel malt and hops was spot on. And it wasn't really heavy like some Ambers I've had. It made for another very enjoyable drink. I found myself rationing it as I went about my tasting.

After the flight, we decided to delve into some of the food menu. Eventually we decided on the spinach artichoke dip and quesadillas. Both were really good, but the spinach dip really stood out to me. I loved it and usually I shy away from that dish. I also took it upon myself to try some of Limestone's more unique beer offerings. I don't know the availability of this beer right now, but at the time they had a beer on tap called Ukrainium Krusher, which is an oak aged Russian Imperial Stout. The server informed us that this was a very special beer, brewed in very limited quantities. At that point I had accepted that I would not be leaving without trying this beer.

The Ukrainium Krusher was served in a tulip and had a dark brown, almost black color. Accompanying the opaque color was a whispy tan head that left minimal lacing. The bouquet had hints of bourbon, mostly vanilla, oak, chocolate malt, and caramel malt. The barrels had definitely left their mark on this brew. On first sip, I found this beer to be rather complex. I had a hard time at first placing the variety of tastes. Eventually I narrowed it down to coffee, oak, and chocolate with a little bit of roast rounding out each sip. It was surprisingly smooth given the alcohol content. I thought the chocolate and coffee really balanced each other out well and the oak added to the robust flavor. The aftertaste was mostly roasted coffee with a slight hint of hoppy bitterness. This beer had a very heavy body and minimal carbonation. Overall I thought it was a really solid beer. I really enjoyed the coffee flavors it had to offer, as well as its overall smoothness and I'm actually hoping to go back Saturday to see if they have any left.

The last beer I tried was one called Brew Monkey and it was Limestone's take on the Belgian Trippel style. As many of my friends know, I'm very partial to Belgian styles and I really enjoy trying the different American takes on them. What better beer to end the night on than a trippel? This beer came served in a snifter glass. It poured a clear, dark golden color and had whispy white head that left no lacing on the glass. It had a fruity bouquet, which was to be expected given the Belgian yeast characteristics. I got a nice malty sweetness at the beginning of the taste which was followed by a tart fruitiness and hints of bananas and clove. The aftertaste was mildly fruity, but dissipated to nothing pretty quickly. I don't know if by this time my palette was feeling the abuse from the Krusher but I felt like I wasn't tasting this beer like it was meant to be tasted. It had a medium body and very little carbonation. Overall it wasn't the best beer I had the whole night, but it was an enjoyable brew regardless.

I really enjoyed my trip to Limestone Brewing Co. The food I had was great, and I was really impressed with the variety of beers they had to offer. It's also one of the closer breweries to my house so I feel like I will be getting very acquainted with their beers as the year progresses. Next time I go I hope to try some of their dinner menu. It all sounded fantastic. I also can't wait to dive into some new brews and pick up a growler!

Cheers!

Flossmoor Station Brewery

So far I'm doing a terrible job of keeping up with this blog in the new year. I'm just finding myself so busy with work, home brewing, and all sorts of other things that I've been slacking with beer reviews. As promised, I'm trying to do more reviews of actual breweries and brew pubs, and not just beer. Today's post took me to the south suburbs of Chicago to Flossmoor Station Brewery. This brewery is unique in that its a part of a real train station. I'm not 100% sure which line runs to this station, but I believe its the electric line.

This is a brew pub that I've been to quite a few times. It's not really central to where I live but it's close enough that I can justify making it out there every now and then, especially since it usually involves trying some new beers. My first time here I ordered their taster flight and was able to figure out which of their brews really stood out to me. My personal favorite is the Pullman Brown Ale. I guess you could consider it a flagship beer as it's one of three beers (the other two being an IPA and golden ale) available in bombers at most liquor stores in the Chicagoland area. Pullman is a great full bodied brown ale. The caramel and chocolate malt really stand out in this beer, along with a little bit of oak. It's on the heavier side so a bomber will usually do you for an evening. It's a great beer for just sitting back and relaxing with.

The specific trip I'm going to be writing about was on January 19, 2012. I know its been a couple weeks but I've stepped up my beer geek game to the point where I've started taking tasting notes on my phone's notepad app. I think it'll make writing these blogs a lot easier and more thorough.

One reason I love Flossmoor Station is because of its classic feel. I like the fact that it's right off the train tracks and is an actual train station. Call me cheesy or old fashioned but I think that adds to the charm of the place. One thing I'll say off-the-bat is that you have to try the beer cheese soup. Flossmoor one of my favorite places to get this dish, and I don't think I'm being hyperbolic when I say its some of the best I've personally had. It's always a great way to start an evening at this spot. I was excited to learn that the special of the night was the Belgian Abbey Ale, which the waitress informed us was Flossmoor's take on a classic dubbel style. I was excited for this beer since I'm a big fan of dubbels, and at 3 bucks a pint there wasn't much more to do than order a round.

The Belgian Abbey Ale surprised me in a few ways. When the beers were brought to the table I was surprised because they weren't as dark as I'm used to with dubbels. This beer poured a warm auburn color with a thin white head that left a little lacing on the side of the glass. I got a mixture of fruitiness and malty sweetness in the bouquet, along with a hint of cinnamon. The first taste provided a lot of fruitiness and malty sweetness on the tip of my tongue which was quickly followed by a spicy bitterness which evened the beer out nicely. This brew finished with some cinnamon and orange peel in the aftertaste. All this was accompanied by a medium body with a good amount of carbonation present throughout the tasting. While I did enjoy this beer, it wasn't quite what I expected since it's plugged as a dubbel. It did compliment my meal very well though. I ordered the Brew Pub Club and it was fantastic. The ingredients were incredibly fresh. Simply writing about it makes me want to go back right now. The french fries here are especially good and I thought they really brought out the spiciness in the Belgian Abbey Ale. I don't know how the fries are made, but I would eat a fry and then take a sip of beer and I felt like the flavors were instantly magnified. I'm not a food connoisseur or a beer/food pairing pro, so for all I know pairing a dubbel with french fries may be incredibly faux pas but frankly I don't care. It tasted good and I guess that's what matters.

After two Belgian Abbey Ales, beer cheese soup, and a club sandwich with fries it's safe to say I was pretty full. I had to make room for two more things. One item was desert. I haven't had any pie from Flossmoor before, but I love key lime pie and they happened to have it on the menu while I was there so I ordered it and it was easily some of the best key lime pie I've ever had. Apparently the chef makes all the pies and let me just say the guy is doing something right. I couldn't get enough of it and wished I had eaten it a little slower once the piece was gone.

More importantly though, I decided to finish my night with one last beer, and I opted for the Bourbon Barrel Aged Pullman Brown Ale. I've been on a bourbon barrel aged beer bender (excuse the alliteration) these last few months so I figured why not extend my streak. Note: This beer won a gold medal at the Festival of Barrel Aged Beer in the Classic Porter/Stout category, so props to the guys in the brew house that make this magic happen. I had no idea about this until I did a little research online, but it's not surprising in the least bit.

The Bourbon Barrel Aged Pullman poured an opaque, dark brown color with a whispy off-white head and slight lacing. The bouquet was dominated by vanilla, oak, and chocolate malt. The bourbon characteristics were heavily present. The first sip of this beer was very sweet with the caramel and chocolate malt shining through. This was followed by a warm oak/vanilla bite in the middle of the sip which led into a finish of bourbon and vanilla with an aftertaste dominated by roast and bourbon. This beer really took on the characteristics of the bourbon barrels nicely. I also felt like the original Pullman Brown Ale was able to retain its own distinct characteristics on top of the kick provided by the bourbon barrels. The bourbon definitely dominated this beer, but I don't have any issue with that. I've mentioned my affinity for bourbon in past posts. This beer had a very heavy mouth feel with very little carbonation present. Overall I really enjoyed this offering from Flossmoor Station. I thought it was another fine example of bourbon barrel aged craft beer. I will definitely be fighting hard to get a ticket to the 2012 Festival of Barrel Aged Beer. I've been really impressed with variety of characteristics that this technique can lend to various beer styles.

I think by now it's easy to tell that I'm pretty partial to Flossmoor Station. I always have a great meal and several great beers each time I come here. This place is consistently putting out solid brews and I'm really excited for whatever it is that they've got in store for 2012. I hope to have many more posts about their beer over the next year.

Tomorrow, I'll be posting on my trip to Limstone Brewing Company so be looking for that sometime in the evening. Until then, Cheers!

Finch's Brewing Co., Dirtier Bird Barrel Aged Doppelbock

I've been hoping to come at you with this review for a while now. Today's beer is a special treat for me, as its one I've been looking forward to ever since I heard it was going to be bottled. Today's review is of Finch's Dirtier Bird Barrel Aged Doppelbock. This beer was unveiled at the Festival of Barrel Aged Beer in late 2011, and won second place in one of the categories if I remember correctly. I wasn't able to make it to the festival, so I had to wait for this brew to be released to the general masses. I've been digging Finch's Pale Ale and Golden Wing for a while now, but I've been want for something new from them since I haven't been able to find their IPA in the suburbs anywhere, (although I think I've tracked down a bar that has it, more on that another day). It's safe to say I was ecstatic when I saw this brew in my local Binny's. Id been trying to find it since I heard it was released and had almost given up until I stumbled across it by accident.

This beer pours a nice warm amber/light brown color, with a good inch and a half of tan head on top. The head disappeared rather quickly, but left about half a fingers worth on top throughout the tasting. There was a lot of lacing on the side of my tasting glass. This was a very good looking beer and I couldn't wait to taste it.

My first scent of this brew was all malt and bourbon. The bourbon scent wasn't as strong as some other bourbon aged beers I've had, so the sweetness from the malts was able to shine through which complimented the style nicely in my opinion. After searching through the malt and bourbon, I got some sweetness. The sweetness kind of reminded me of vanilla.

I was surprised to find that my first sip of this beer didn't contain an overwhelming amount of bourbon. My initial sip was all malt, and I was really able to appreciate this beer as a doppelbock first and foremost. As the tasting progressed the bourbon became more prominent and my palette was met by the vanilla sweetness I had smelled in the bouquet. The malt continued to play a significant role throughout the tasting though, which surprised me because I'm so used to being overwhelmed with bourbon whenever I try bourbon barrel aged beer. I think the highlight of this beer's taste is the fact that its able to keep its doppelbock character while also taking in what the bourbon barrel had to offer. I can't stress enough how well balanced this beer was with each taste. One thing I'd note though is that as the beer warmed, the bourbon became a little more prominent which added a nice contrast to tasting it when it was chilled.

This beer had a medium body, there was a lot of carbonation present throughout the tasting, which I think helped make the flavors less intense and more enjoyable. The aftertaste was mostly bourbon, with a slight hint of vanilla and malt. The aftertaste lingered for a pleasant amount of time. I found myself tasting it quite a while after finishing the bottle. Another pleasant aspect of this beer is that there wasn't a whole lot of heat left behind from bourbon. I attribute this to the moderate 6.5% ABV, but it was still nice to have a variety of tastes left on my palette after finishing each sip that weren't overpowered by alcohol.

Overall, I thought this beer was fantastic. I really enjoyed the subtlety of it. I didn't feel overwhelmed by any individual flavor. I felt like the malt and bourbon worked very harmoniously together. The sweetness of the malt was complimented by the subtle flavors of the bourbon and made for a very pleasant drink on a cold January night in the Chicago suburbs. I will definitely be going back tomorrow and grabbing a bottle for the beer cellar. I think it'd be interesting to see what this beer would be like with some more time spent sitting around.

Note: I did a little internet research before buying this beer, and found a lot of reviews that rated this beer very poorly. I don't know if there was a problem with some bottles off the line or what, but I had no issues with lack of carbonation or off flavors. I know that all beer drinkers have varying palettes, but a lot of the issues I read about on beeradvocate.com and ratebeer.com were not present in my bottle. If you're a serious beer drinker my advice is to go find a bottle of this brew and make the judgment for yourself.

Revolution Brewing Co.

Well I promised myself this year I'd visit more Midwestern breweries and I was able to make good on that promise this weekend. Since I had today off from work, I decided to head up to Revolution Brewing Co. in the Logan Square neighborhood of Chicago. It wasn't too far of a drive, and I've had some of Revolution's brews at other bars around the area so I'd been meaning to make the trip for a while.

The brewery itself is a brew pub/brewery. The restaurant is in the front, the brew house is in the back. our table was near the back and they have big window that looks out over the fermenters and kettles. We went there in the evening so there's wasn't any action in the brew house.

I started off with the Iron Fist Pale Ale, and my girlfriend ordered the cheddar ale soup. I always like to try cheddar ale soup at different places because I've found it tastes different every where. The pale ale was a dark copper color, and was brought to the table with a light white film over the top. The scent had floral and earthy tones. I was a bit worried at first because floral/earthy hops usually don't sit well with my palette. To my pleasant surprise, this brew had a very pleasant mild taste. It wasn't as citrusy as a lot of pale ales that I've had in the past. I thought that the floral/earthiness of the hops was actually quite pleasant. The earthiness wasn't really dominant. The malt actually shined through in this pale ale, which again surprised me. The hops came through in the middle of the taste and hung around briefly during the finish. Overall, I really enjoyed this beer and it was a great beer to start off my meal with. i also thought it complimented the beer cheese soup well. The beer cheese soup was very thick, but I thought the beer flavor came out really well and since the pale ale wasn't super hoppy these two went well together.

For my meal I ordered the pulled pork sandwich with french fries. It was really really good. It was a traditional pulled pork sandwich on a roll. What really set it apart for me was the spicy cole slaw on top on the sandwich. It gave the sandwich a really nice amount of heat that paired well with the barbeque sauce. I'm not food expert, but I thought it was a simple, yet delicious, dish. I think it would have gone really well with the IPA they had but I was feeling a bit full so I saved my last beer for after the main course.

I finished off my trip to Revolution with the Eugene porter. It poured an opaque dark brown color, with a small amount of tan head on top. It had a sweet/roasty scent too it, which I'd attribute to the chocolate and roasted malts. I thought this beer tasted great. It had a good amount of sweetness too it that was evened out by some hoppy spiciness and roastiness from the chocolate malt. This brew finished with roastiness from the malt that lingered rather pleasantly. It was a great beer to finish my meal with. And as a porter it was a great substitute for dessert.

Overall I really enjoyed Revolution Brewing Co. The food was great, the beer was even better. I'd definitely head back to this place for a few brews next time I'm in the neighborhood. It seems like they rotate their brews pretty regularly, and they had a quad on tap that seemed pretty tasty. I'd also love to go back for that pulled pork sandwich paired with their IPA. I think that'd be a great combo. If you're ever on the northwest side of chicago, I would definitely check this place out. Their beers are becoming pretty prominent around Chicago, but its always fun to check out where it all begins. Cheers!

Shmaltz Brewing Co, He'brew Jewbilation 15

I've had to make a New Year resolution to do a better job of keeping up with this blog. Among the other things I'm trying to do this year, I'm going to try to write 4-5 reviews a week and hopefully do a lot more writing on Midwestern breweries, as well as hit the major brew festivals in the area this Spring and Summer. I'm feeling pretty motivated, so I hope that carries on.

I think I've picked a pretty good beer to start 2012 off with. Today's review is of Jewbilation 15 from Shmaltz Brewing Co. Prior to picking this beer up I hadn't tried anything from Shmaltz. I've seen their beers around but just haven't gotten around to trying any, and I think I've definitely started out on the right foot.

This beer pours an incredibly dark brown color. It was very opaque. When I tilted the glass, there was a bit of maroon color in the light. There was about a half inch of light brown head after the initial pour and it dissipated pretty quickly, little to no film on top of the beer and no lacing on the sides of the tasting glass.

Jewbelation 15 had a very malty scent to it, with a little bit of sweetness and alcohol mixed in. The sweetness has a hint of molasses and raisins to it. This brew weighs in at a whopping 15% ABV so the alcohol scent wasn't all that surprising. It was similar to the scent one would get from bourbon aged beers. Overall though the malt was the forward smell in this beer.

The malt was the dominant character of the taste of this beer, as it was in the bouquet. The label touts 15 malts and 15 hops. I was drinking this beer at room temperature, so the first tastes that jumped out to me were chocolate malt and raisins. This beer was very sweet, as one would expect from a beer that depended so heavily on malts. After digging through the chocolate and raisin profile, I got some molasses and bourbon with a tiny bit of hoppiness breaking through halfway through the sip. A hot alcohol taste accompanied the bourbon profile, but it was not unpleasant by any means. (I enjoy bourbon though so I may have a slight bias).

Surprisingly, this body had a medium mouth feel. I was expecting it to be dense and syrupy like a barley wine, but it actually had a surprising amount of carbonation. The aftertaste was a mix of raisins, alcohol, and sweetness from the malt. Despite the claim of 15 hops on the label, I got little to no hoppiness during and after each taste. The lack of hop profile was by no means an issue though. I'm sure the hops served more of a balancing purpose than a flavoring purpose. I really enjoyed the after taste of this brew. It was a pleasant sweetness mixed with a slight hint of coffee and bourbon. The heat from the alcohol died away pretty quickly.

Overall I thought this beer was great. And a little fact I forgot to mention at the beginning of this post is that it only costs 6 bucks (in Illinois at least). If you handed me a sample of this beer without telling me what it was, I'd think it was a 15 dollar+ barley wine. I definitely plan on picking up another couple bottles of this and aging them. I will also be trying some other beers from Shmaltz. I've heard mixed reviews but this beer has left a great first impression on me. I would definitely suggest this beer to friends. I really cant stress the quality for the price enough either.

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I should have another post by the end of the weekend. I have a bottle of Sarachi Ace from Brooklyn Brewery sitting in the chiller at the moment that is tempting my taste buds, and I don't know how long I can hold off. I suppose the result of the Broncos game tomorrow will determine my mood and therefore how well I'm willing to drink. Until then, Cheers!