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!