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...

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!