Chocolate Milk Time!

Alright people,

Well, I know it's been a long time since my last blog post, but beer is still beer, and I'm here to talk about it, and a few other things.

First, the Reds failed miserably in their postseason game, and I'm finally over it now that they fired Dusty and hired a new manager. The Cardinals lost in the World Series, and subsequently gave me much relief.

Goose Island released their Sisters this past week. There were two new ones, Gillian and Halia, to go along with Lolita and Juliet. If you don't know, Lolita and Juliet are wild ales that are both considered sours. Gillian and Halia are farmhouse ales that are aged in wine barrels with strawberries and peaches respectively. I was able to run down a Juliet and a Halia. I had the opportunity to purchase the other two, but at a fairly high markup, so I skipped.

On to the beer of the night; 4 Hands Chocolate Milk Stout. 4 Hands has become somewhat of a consistent brewery appearing on this blog, and this beer is their seasonal for the fall. It combines two of my favorite styles, milk stouts and chocolate stouts. So let's take a look at this beer a little more closely.

This one starts off looking big and black in the glass with a somewhat sizable head. Lacing on this one is very good. The scent and taste of this one is pure chocolate; semisweet for most of the smell and drink, but still sweet enough to provide a very distinctive flavor. Light in alcohol and fairly high in carbonation, this beer is a little out of norm for me for stouts, as I like imperials, but that makes it very drinkable. Check out my full review here.

Overall, I liked this beer. Chocolate milk in a beer? Yes please. Until next time, cheers!
-Chris

Fruity Beers

Alright people,

In the past couple weeks, I've had a fairly busy life. Between work, going home for a wedding, and going to 2 Reds' baseball games this past week, it's been life in the fast lane for a little while. It's about time I take some time out for beer stuff.

About 2 weeks ago, 4 Hands released a variant of their summer seasonal Prussia Berliner Weiss. For those of you that are beer nerds out there, you know a Berliner is a sour mash beer, which means brewed a little different, that generally has lower alcohol content and a slight tart or sour flavor profile. This style has been a summer favorite in Europe since the time of Napolean, and now Americans are starting to enjoy them more and more.

For this post we're going to be talking about Prussia and its variant, Ruby Red Prussia, which uses ruby red grapefruit juice in its brewing process.

To start, I found the regular Prussia to be a fairly average to slightly above, American version of the Berliner style. More lemony with its tart flavor that others, the sourness wasn't overwhelming, and got balanced out by a very grainy wheat presence in the beer. The wheat flavors all came towards the end of the drink, with the tartness being up front, and really reminded you that, although this is a light, tart style, its roots are in a wheat beer. Check out the full review here.

Next up, Ruby Red Prussia. As you can see in the picture above, the Ruby Red pours a darker, more pink in color on the left side. The difference in the size of head was quite noticeable, but that was due mostly to my own incompetence at pouring. The grapefruit was instantly noticeable in the Ruby Red, providing a somewhat drying, fruity flavor to the base Prussia. I've never really eaten grapefruit plain, but this fruit was a good addition to the Berliner style. I think maybe a blueberry or blackberry done similarly would be even better. I  hope to start seeing a lot more beer ideas like this. Other than the grapefruit flavor, this version was the same as regular Prussia; mildly tart, grainy and wheaty on the end, light and highly carbonated for a quenching drink on a summer day. Check out the full review here.

Since those beers were a couple days old, we're going to try a new interesting take on fruit in beer today in the form of Stone's new collaboration; R&R Coconut IPA. To clarify the story on this one, similar to the Wootstout from a post or two ago, this is a collaboration. R&R stands for Ryan and Robert, the two homebrewers made this recipe originally. In addition, the frounder of Rip Current Brewing helped them to dial this recipe in, and then they took it to Stone for larger scale production and distribution. There's a full story if you search the internet or get a bottle; I'm too lazy to tell it.

First off, this beer is a beautiful pour. It's clear golden in the glass with an average sized head, but tremendous retention and lacing. The scent was intriguing, with the usual floral and tropical IPA scents, but a touch of coconut in the too. The taste was insane. So much hops bitterness right up front mask many nuances in the flavor. Only a small hint of the coconut in the middle to end of the drink. This is one of the most bitter beers I have ever had. Check out the full review here.

So there it is; an assortment of fruity beers, but none are how you would normally think of fruity beers. The grapefruit Berliner opened up some cool ideas for Berliners, but the coconut IPA....it had a good idea, and not great execution. Either way, it's an exciting time to be a beer fan in America.

Also, the Reds beat the Cardinals today. Time to make a push for a Reds October! Until next time, cheers and go Reds!
-Chris

What the hell is a WOOTstout?

Alright people,

Once again, it's been a while since my last post, but I'm over apologizing for it. If you're reading this, then it's obvious that you are loyal enough not to give a damn. Anyway, on to the beer of the night, Stone Brewing's Stone Farking Wheaton WOOTstout.

This beer has bee getting a lot of buzz around the online beer community, I think mainly because it's a stout, it's been barrel aged (partially), and it's made by Stone, meaning it gets shipped everywhere. Like any other Stone beer, I had to read about a half a book on the back of the bottle to find out the story on the beer. Turns out Wil Wheaton is a beer geek, and he just happens to know Greg Koch over at Stone Brewing because of this. In addition, some guy who runs some website called fark.com is a beer geek too. His name is Drew Curtis. Anyway, these guys all got together and made a beer.

Way too nice out to drink inside

Here's the deal with this beer; it's a stout, made with rye and wheat, with pecans added during brewing, and 25% of it aged is whiskey barrels. Frankly, the partial barrel aging is a trend I like to see, because it cuts down on the severity of the barrel flavors. Back to the beer and its use of interesting grains, this beer definitely displays a unique flavor profile that is unlike almost any other stout. I have a hard time describing it, but I assume that the wheat and rye mixing with super dark malt flavors produces it. The really great part of this beer's flavor is the partial barrel aging like I mentioned earlier. The lingering taste is almost all barrel, but in a balanced, not overpowering way.

All in all, this is a pretty good imperial stout that just also happens to be barrel aged (partially) and sells at a good price. Those facts alone make this a beer that is flying off the shelf. That being said, I've seen plenty of it around, and it is totally worth grabbing a bottle. Check out my full review here.

On a title-related note, I still have no idea what a WOOTstout is. Apparently, Wheaton does something in his life that involves the four letters WOOT. Hell if I know. He's fairly big in the sci-fi world, and that's a side of the internet that I don't enjoy venturing into. Until next time, go Reds! And cheers!
-Chris

A Bit of a Rant

Alright people,

First off, sorry for not getting a post up about St. Louis craft beer week, but I tried to go to one event, got terrible service (aka not served in 30 minutes) and left. The rest of the week I decided to stay home and taste and review new beers I had already purchased.

Anyway, that's it for an apology. Now it's time for a rant. Is it just me or are breweries releasing seasonals earlier and earlier? It's not just me, that was a rhetorical question. It's happening.

Case and point, I bought a sixer of Schlafly Pumpkin Ale today. Don't get me wrong, this is a great beer; probably the best pumpkin beer out there. Hell, it might be the best pumpkin beer ever made....it's that good. Pumpkin pie in a bottle. Where I get frustrated is the fact that it is currently the beginning of August and fall seasonal beers are coming out.

Previously, I thought it was just macro brewers pushing seasonals early, like with Leinenkugel's Summer Shandy coming out in March. Now, Schlafly Pumpkin Ale drives the point home. Everyone is releasing early. I can't blame them; if you have a popular beer and other brewers release theirs, you have to follow suit to keep the revenue up, but it's getting excessive.

Part of my attraction to beer itself is its versatility. There is a beer for every occasion, season, and setting. The season piece is fading fast though. I don't really want to consistently drink imperial stouts in the heat of a midwestern summer. Similarly, I don't want to drink a shandy in the dark, cold of winter. Granted a taste of an out of season beer is good every once in a while, but that's why I keep a cellar of pretty much everything but IPA's. Let people drink seasonally unless they plan otherwise.

Honestly, I really don't know what you 26 readers are supposed to gather from this post, but sometimes a good rant is just needed. I know I haven't given you guys a picture in this post so here ya know.

Really Linus? In August already?

Until next time, drink seasonally, and cheers!
-Chris

Anchor and This Week

Alright people,

Well, it's been a few days since I've written here, I guess the second week of work got to me. Anyway, last weekend I was able to grab a 6-pack of 6 different Anchor beers. I've already had their flagship Steam Beer, so I grabbed 6 others. Today we'll be talking about Liberty Ale, Porter, California Lager, and Brekle's Brown.

Let's start out with the Liberty Ale. First off, this is an IPA, but I grabbed one bottled in February, so it probably wasn't the freshest. For an IPA, or even a pale ale, this was rather light in the hops bitterness category. The body wasn't too bad, high in carbonation, yet lighter across the palate. The pour and scent of this one really outperformed the taste. Not a bad beer persay, probably much better when it is fresh. Check out the full review here.

Next up, Anchor Porter. This one starts off looking great, and interestingly enough, smelling more like a bock or a bark Belgian beer than a porter. Lighter in the roasted malts than most, the scent and the taste have more of a dark fruit flavor going on. For a porter, this is rather light feeling on the tongue. Smooth and easy to drink, this is another solid offering from Anchor. Check out my full review here.

Betting third in the Anchor lineup is their California Lager. This was a rather simplistic beer. To me, this is the craft version of a Budweiser. On the light side of scent and flavor, crisp and clean flavors on the tongue, and a simple, yet refreshing flavor profile. This lager was somewhat grainy in flavor, leaving impressions of corn and grassy flavors. Very easy to drink, and quite smooth, check out the full review here.

Last up for this post, we have Anchor's Brekle's Brown Ale. This beer pays homage to one of the first brewers at Anchor, and is touted as an all malt, single hopped brown ale, with the single hop being the citra hop. Good looking pour in the glass, but the scent and taste of this beer is unique. There are definitely dominant notes of the citra hop bitterness in both the smell and taste. If I had to define this beer, I'd say it's a brown IPA, because it displays roasted malts and hops bitterness. Check out my full review here.

Well, that's that people. This week is St. Louis Craft Beer Week, and I'm going to try to hit up an event or two. Last year, this was a great chance to get some limited and rare beers at local bars, and I'm hoping this year will be the same. I'll be sure to take some good notes on new beers I try and report back to you, my loyal 26 readers. Until next time, cheers!

-Chris

Some Local Beers

Alright people,

So, if you have read the blog for a while, you'll know that my New Year's beer resolution was to drink more local beers. At school, I was able to accomplish this with help from my friends at Lafayette Brewing Company. Now, I'm moved to St. Louis. A little while ago I told you about my trip to 4 Hands, now I'm going to talk about Urban Chestnut.

Urban Chestnut is a newer brewery in St. Louis, and they specialize in traditional German beers, but they also try to put some American twists on these beers. I've had their 2 flagship beers, Winged Nut and Zwickel before in Indiana, but tonight, we're going to talk about two of their new beers; STLIPA and Schnickelfritz.

First off, we have a traditional hefeweizen, Schnickelfritz. This is part of their Reverence Series, in which they make traditional styles and pay homage to brewers of the past. This is does just that with the classic spices and light wheat flavor of a hefe. What's different about this beer, in my opinion, is the balance between wheat and spices. Most hefes' spices are aggressive and overpower the wheat to a certain extent, but the spices here are mellowed and balance very well with the wheat. An incredibly light beer in body, this is very drinkable, but the carbonation is way up there. Check out my full review here.

Next, the Urban Chestnut STLIPA is a part of their Revolution Series. This series of beers allows some creativity on the part of the brewers in order to bring a modern American twist to their lineup of mostly German style beers. As the name would suggest, this is an IPA, a double as a matter of fact, that is named for the brewery's hometown. Huge hops start this beer out in both smell and taste. I was reminded quite a bit of Resin by Sixpoint while drinking this beer, simply because the hops were so aggressively resinous. Instead of floral or pine-like hops, these were just very aggressively sticky and bitter. This was a true hop-head's dream in a glass. Check of my full review here.

All in all, I like Urban Chestnut's beers. I want to get into some more traditional German style lagers. I forgot how smooth they can be! I aim to make a visit to UCBC's biergarten in the coming weeks, and hopefully I'll get around to writing about it. Until next time, cheers!
-Chris

4 Hands

Alright people,

So last week the lady friend and I took a little trip into the downtown area to check out 4 Hands Brewing Company. 4 Hands is a young brewery, being only 1.5 years old, but I think they are making a name for themselves. If you've heard of these guys before, my guess is that you've heard of one of their saisons; Pyrus and Prunus. While at the small tasting room/pub/brewery, I had a pint of the Pyrus Saison. This saison is supposed to have flavors of pear, white peppercorn, and orange zest that were added while brewing. Frankly, I get a small amount of spiciness, and almost no fruit.  That being said, this is a very approachable, very good saison. I would recommend anyone looking to try the style to try this beer.

Courtesy of 4 Hands Brewing Co.

Anyway, we took the tour they offer (Saturdays at noon and four), and it was fairly interesting. All of their operations are in one room of the older, industrial building they inhabit. I believe their brewing setup is a 15 BBL system, all grain. Very small bottling line right in the middle of the room. They fill 6 bottles at a time then hand package into cases, which we were told they have to hand glue shut. The most interesting part of the tour is the barrel-aging area in the back corner. Not a big operation, but they probably have 25 barrels, mostly wine barrels, aging mainly stouts and wilds. They mentioned one of their BA beers, Cuvee Ange, which is a wild, aged in red wine barrels with raspberries and blackberries. I personally can't wait to try to get my hands on this stuff.

Back to the tasting room/pub, I really enjoyed the decor. A chalkboard on the wall describes their commitment to sustainability, which includes recycling brewing products, but more importantly, where all of the interior materials came from. The bar top, tables, chairs, bar foot rest, and outside tables are all made of materials they took out of their current building when they moved in. Really a cool part of this brewery.

Since I'm talking about 4 Hands, I figure I'll include a review of one of their core beers; Reprise Centennial Red. The beer's label touts that the beer is made using only one hop; the Centennial hop. It's an interesting take on an everyday beer style. Pours and smells basically like any other red ale you've had, but the use of one hop makes this one a little different. Instead of being malty and then hoppy like most reds, this one is balanced with malts in the beginning, but the hops are less bitter than most on the back end. The hops provide a somewhat muted, and maybe even musty, mild bitterness. Anyway, this is a solid, somewhat unique everyday beer or 4 Hands. I can see this beer having a loyal following for regulars.

Well, there she is....two posts in two days. Enjoy it while it lasts people! Until next time, cheers!
-Chris

Some Hoosier Beers

Alright people,

It's Friday, and if you're like me, that means it's beer thirty. I'm going to have a beer then go golfing. But first, you all get to read about that beer.

We'll start with a new take on a beer that has a rich history in Indiana. Upland recently released Champagne Velvet; a pre-prohibition style pilsner that can draw it's origin story back to the Terre Haute Brewing Company. Apparently, this was a huge beer locally in Terre Haute, and Indiana, in the past, and Upland paid tribute to that on their 15th anniversary.

First off, yes, I know I don't have proper beer glassware, but that happens when you don't bring glasses to your girlfriend's place. All in all, this beer was pretty much what I expected it to be. In short, it is a light beer that almost has a malt liquor taste to it. The beer has a dull bitterness in the beginning, but moves toward more of a lightly sweet, grainy flavor. Basically, this is a craft brewery take on an easy drinking, light beer. Check out my full review here.

And  today we have a beer that I randomly stumbled upon, but has been on my watch list for a little while; Three Floyds Apocalypse Cow. This is an imperial IPA brewed with lactose milk sugar. This bee is a pretty complex IPA, starting fairly bitter and then moving into a sweeter, maltier brew. The lactose sugar really comes through at the end of the drink, leaving a sweet flavor on your lips. Being a Three Floyds beer, everyone knows this will be over-hopped, and this one doesn't disappoint. The beginning of this beer is as bitter as you would expect, but the move to sweetness towards the end makes this beer really complex and unique. Full review here. And last but not least, this beer has a really cool label. Also, you can buy an even better poster of this label...see below.

Well, for me, it's off to the golf course to work on my game. I'm hoping to get another post up this weekend, mainly about fruit beers. We have blackberry, blueberry, and a cucumber beer, and maybe even a La Folie on tap. Until next time, cheers!
-Chris

Updates...and Great Lakes Brewing

Alright people,

If you've visited the blog before, you'll notice a few changes. First off, a complete redesign on the blog is taking place. The lady friend and I are going to give the blog a new look, using her camera and design experience (which is way more than mine....which is none). In addition, I'm giving the blog its own social media outlets. Check us out on Facebook here, and Twitter here (@BeerChronicler). In the future there ay or may not be an Instagram account too, just check back here for news on that. Hopefully in the future, all of these changes will make for a better reading and viewing experience for all of you guys and grow the audience some too.

For tonight, we'll be taking a look at my first experience with a fairly good sized regional brewery that I have been ignoring for a while; Great Lakes Brewing Company. Being out of Cleveland, it's always just been a short 20 minute drive to the Ohio state line to get into their distribution range, but I've never made it a point to grab any GLBC brews. Then, the a few weeks ago, I grabbed their sampler pack (I believe called a Taster's Pack), as well as a single of their imperial IPA, Lake Erie Monster. The beers in the Taster Pack were: Burning River Pale Ale, Dortmunder Gold (export lager), Eliot Ness (amber/Vienna lager), and Edmund Fitzgerald (porter).

Great Lakes Brewing Eliot Ness

Ranking these 5, according to the BA out of 5 scale, it goes Burning River (4.54), Edmund Fitzgerald (4.51), Dortmunder Gold (4.46), Lake Erie Monster (4.18), and Eliot Ness (4.05). All of these beers were at least good, in the case of the Monster and Eliot Ness, to pretty awesomein the case of the other three. I had heard great things about Edmund Fitzgerald, and it was good, just not quite as good as it was hyped up to be. And with the girlfriend's camera I tried to get a little creative.

Great Lakes Brewing Edmund Fitzgerald

On the other hand, Dortmunder Gold and Burning River really almost blew me away. The Burning River (which plays on my favorite Cleveland story of embarrassment) was only about 5 days inside it's "Best By" date, but the hops were very solid still. In the case of the Dortmunder, it is just a really good, easy drinking, everyday beer. It's got a classic light feel in a somewhat heavier tasting German lager. I could actually picture myself drinking this all day long in a German biergarten.

I guess what I'm saying about GLBC is that I should really stop ignoring this brewery. Dortmunder Gold and Burning River could be staples in my beer diet in a heartbeat. It's kind  of depressing that I didn't discover these beers sooner. Oh well, live and learn.

Alright, that's that. Coming up I'm hoping to get some more work done on the blog. I have no idea what the next post will be about, but I'll be sure to update you guys. Until next time, follow the blog's Twitter, like it on Facebook, and tell everyone you know to do the same. Cheers!
-Chris

Vacation Catch Up

Alright people,

Wow....I suck at blogging regularly, right? Yep. I do. Oh well, worse things have happened in the world.

First off, happy Memorial Day. But more importantly,  thank you to the members of the armed services and those who serve our country. Never take those who serve our country for granted. Today is not Veterans Day though, and I think we all need to remember to thank the families of fallen soldiers. Thousands of men and women have given everything to protect our nation, and today is their day to be remembered and memorialized.

Now, on to the less important part of this blog, beer....and a catch up on my weekend. As many of you know, I graduated college a couple of weeks ago, and for graduation, my girlfriend decided to plan a weekend mini-vacation to Louisville, Kentucky.

Now, if you want a quick but complete overview of the whole trip, check our my girlfriend's blog here (complete with way better pictures). I'll stick to beer and bourbon on this one.

First off, Friday night we wandered down to Fourth Street, which turns out to be the night life area for Louisville, and found a little place called Maker's Mark Bourbon House and Lounge. Great bourbon, good specials for happy hour, and a whiskey drink that the lady likes; win, win, win. Later that night, we had a pretty awesome dinner in a revolving restaurant downtown....pretty swanky and lots of great views.

Saturday we headed for a walk downtown after breakfast at the hotel, and went to a little place called Gordon Biersch for lunch. This place is a brewpub, albeit one that is mass-produced (turns out they just merged with Rock Bottom), that specializes in carrying traditional German styles. I had the Marzen, which was solid, and the lady had the Hefe, which was good, but too spiced for me. She liked it. After lunch, we took a little trip down the road to Churchill Downs to see some horse racing. They were running races, and Race 10 was a $100,000 purse. We watched probably 5 races, and it was pretty fun. I hadn't been to horse races in years, and Mindy really liked watching them run. We even found her a great Derby hat in the gift shop, too bad it was $65.

Sunday was the day I got to plan, and of course I made it baseball and beer related. We started with church, but then walked to the Louisville Slugger Factory and Museum. I had been there before, but it's always fun to go back, and I got another mini-bat. On the walk there, we noticed that the streets of Louisville had home plates and bats in honor of some of the great baseball players of all time, and of course I had to stop and take a picture of the Hit King's.

The plan for the rest of the day was to get dinner at Against the Grain Brewery and Smokehouse before catching a Louisville Bat's game, and conveniently, the brewery was inside the stadium. Got to try a full flight of their 6 beers on tap and their 4 house-made barbecue sauces. The lighter beers, a German pils, a gose, and a double wheat IPA were pretty good. The darker beers weren't that great, just average, with a brown ale and an oatmeal stout. The barbecue sauces ranged from weird to pretty good, with my favorites being the sweet honey barbecue and "The Thunda Package" hot barbecue, although I think they oversold the level of heat. After the brewery and dinner, we got into the stadium. I love Minor League games because of how affordable they are. Two seats in the first row on the right field line were under $25 total, and in the end, led to me not catching a foul ball and Mindy getting hit by it. Good job me.

All in all, it was a pretty awesome weekend. Lots of good beer, including some that I didn't mention here, a foul ball, good food, and some horse racing. Now it's back to my lull between school and work, which means lots of golf and umpiring.

As for the next blog post, I'm trying to get one written in the near future about some Great Lakes Brewing Company beers that I picked up across the border in Ohio a couple weeks ago. Hopefully I'll get that done this week. Until next time, cheers!
-Chris

Changing of the Season

Alright people,

As many of you may have noticed, it's finally starting to warm up and turn into spring, at least here in Indiana. For me, this means time to switch up my beer selection. Through the winter, I crave big, dark, roasty beers like porters, stouts, and barleywines, but now, it's time for some easy drinking warm weather beers. In homage (I know, big word for this blog) to the arriving spring, I'm changing my beer styles tonight. We're going to take a look at 2 more homebrews from Jason & Co. First, we'll start with the last dark beer of the season, a vanilla porter, then move right along to a honey wheat beer. Let's do this.

First off, here's another awesome pour from my homebrewing friends. Good, deep brown color with some red tinges on the edge. Pretty dense, tan head forms and retains fairly well, trailing down to a covering on the top of the beer. Lacing is just ok, but that's probably more of my dirty glass than anything. Great scent of dark, roasted malts and just a hint of vanilla.

Taste is terrific. This is a great semisweet porter. Moderately strong dark malts greet your tongue with solid burnt flavors. These persist throughout the beer, with a slight hint of vanilla sweetness right in the middle before ending with a bite form the malts. Ending bite has a little bit of a coffee-like bitterness that ends it well. Vanilla is faint, but you can tell there is a slightly sweetness in there.

Overall, this is a great everyday drinker for the colder months, or whenever a dark beer is needed. This really reminds me of a porter I had recently in Arizona (This one.), except I think I like this one more because of the body. Once again, you guys got the body right with the right weight and a solid head that retains and laces. This one really goes down smooth.

On to the honey wheat now. This one pours pretty much amber with a small, good-looking head. Nice, cloudy wheat body. Only a little bit of retention and lacing. The scent of this one is a little faint, with some sweetness present from the honey and some underlying spiciness. The taste of this one follows the same pattern as the scent. Starts off light and grainy with a smooth transition to some spiciness in the middle. I think I detect a little bit of coriander in there before moving into the honey right at the end. Honey flavor is a little sweet and a slight bit spicy, carrying over from the coriander flavor.

Overall, this honey wheat beer is a great spring or summer beer. Simple, but solid, flavors, a light weight, and interesting honey and spice note. This one doesn't have quite the head, retention, or lacing of the porter or coffee stout, but that is harder to get in lighter beers in my opinion. Great job on these two beers guys.

As I write currently, I'm still enjoying the honey wheat and watching the Reds. Mat Latos is looking pretty good, and hopefully the Reds with get their first win of the season. Until next time, go Reds!
-Chris

Home Brew Time Again

Alright people,

I know, I know. It's been quite a while since I've given you all a post, and I have a good excuse....ok, not really. I'm lazy. Spring break was one reason for the extended break, but it was really mainly my own laziness.

Anyway, Jason and Craig have bestowed 4 more of their home brewed beers on me in exchange for all of my empties. The four bottles I got are a honey wheat, a hoppy wheat, a vanilla porter, and a java stout. Tonight I'll be taking a look at the java stout, mainly because at the rate the Reds are taking on Opening Day, I'll need coffee to finish watching this game.

First off, this is a beautiful pour. A little lighter in color than most stouts, not quite black with some light coming through the edges. Most of the body is pretty pitch black. Second thing you notice about this beer it the thick, creamy head. Retention is great, and the head is dense and very creamy. Probably the best head I've had on a beer that hasn't been nitro poured. Real nice job on the presentation guys.

The smell of this one is all coffee. Reminds me a lot of Ballast Point's Victory at Sea. Quality smelling coffee that displays a mostly strong, bitter flavor.Taste follows the scent, with coffee being prominent. Good mix of coffee with the other burnt malt flavors. Slight metallic flavor toward the end, but this is probably more noticeable because most coffee stouts I have are big imperial guys. Overall weight of this one is light; about the feel of a Guinness. Not too thick, not too thin, but very drinkable over a long period of time. Body is enough to support the heavy flavor profile, and the thick, creamy head makes this one feel very smooth.

In the end, Jason and Craig did a hell of a job with this beer. Their first oatmeal stout was good, but this beer stepped it up as far as their stouts go for me. Maybe not a thick and heavy as I like, but the coffee is right on point. I like the coffee in this beer because it is strong, but not overpowering. So many times coffee just takes over a beer. The best part of this beer though is the body. Great, thick head with awesome lacing. That's a sign that you have quality ingredients and a clean brewing process. You guys nailed that this time around as compared to your red ale.

As I write, the Reds are in the middle of the 13th inning, going on 4.5 hours of game time. Hope they can wrap up Opening Day soon. Until next time, go Reds!
-Chris

Week-End Round Up

Alright people,

Well, I'm back from a week in Arizona, I'll give a quick round up and then move on to beer. Sedona is cool. The Reds always lose when I go to games; even in Spring Training. Arizona is hot, even in March. I got to meet George Foster. And red eye flights suck.

Sadly, no picture of or with George, but I did get to shake his hand. 1977 NL MVP!!!

Another good part about the trip was that Arizona is in the distribution footprint of Deschutes. I was able to enjoy a 6-pack of Mirror Pond Pale Ale at the hotel over a few nights.

On to the beer. Today I cracked open a random find I had from a couple of weeks ago, New Belgium Tart Lychee. This is a golden sour beer, part aged in oak, and part brewed with lychee fruit and cinnamon. It poured a very  hazy golden color with a medium sized head. The scent was reminiscent of a weaker sour beer.

The taste was interesting. Fruity sour flavors up front with grain flavors moving in later. The dull grain flavors are not traditional in a sour, and kind of detract from the beer. The end of the drink brought back a little bit of the original sour flavors, but in a more subdued way. Overall, it's an interesting beer. The spices promised on the label are only slightly present, and the grain-like flavor doesn't help it, but it's not a bad beer at all, just out of my style. Here's the whole review.

You may have noticed the severe improvement in the quality of my pictures lately. Big thanks to my girlfriend and her new photography hobby. She bought a new camera and anytime I have a beer with her, she takes the pictures. That being said, in the future, I'm hoping to let the pictures tell a little more of the story when she is able to take them. You guys should also check out her blog, and maybe be on the look out for some of her  design skills to make an appearance here.

In the end, it was a successful trip. I'll miss the warm to hot weather, but with any luck it will be here in God's country any day now. Opening Day is fast approaching and the Reds will be in fine form for the season. Life is good, beer is good, and tomorrow is my favorite holiday of the year. Not St. Patrick's Day; it's Selection Sunday! Get the brackets ready people. Until next time, it's March Madness baby, and cheers!
-Chris

Local Beer Scene: Part 2

Alright people,

First off, let's start with some administration. Spring break has started for me; my last one before the real world smacks me right across my face. Because of this, there will most likely be a dry spell as far as new posts go for about the next week. I'm headed to see the Reds in spring training in Arizona with the family, so hopefully maybe a post about baseball and some west coast beer in the near future.

On another note, also be on the lookout for more homebrew posts in the next few weeks. Jason and Craig have been hard at work with a new batch every week. I'm currently in a trading empty bottles for homebrew samples situation, which is a great deal!

On to the local beer scene; People's Brewing Company in Lafayette, Indiana. People's was started just a few years ago (I can't remember the year, and am too lazy to track it down on the internet) by Chris Johnson. I met with Chris for basically the same interview I had with Greg at LBC.

To start, Chris has an interesting history. He was at Purdue when he got his first beer job, actually at LBC. He told me he washed kegs starting out, and basically just worked his way up the ladder at LBC until he was the brewmaster. In the end, he wanted to do his own thing, and today we have People's Brewing Company.

The biggest difference in LBC and People's is the overall business type. Whereas LBC is a brewpub, People's is a small brewery. All of their product goes out the door to retail businesses, except for the beer poured in the tasting room. In light of this fact, my interview focused on the operations and distribution side of the beer industry. The biggest thing I learned here is how they plan on growing in the future. Currently, People's distributes their beer by themselves in the local 3 counties, with the rest of the state distributed through Indianapolis. When I asked Chris about future distribution, he had some interesting information.

He said they'd like to cover a fair area without stretching production too thin. As of now, he thinks that some Illinois distribution is in their future. The biggest issue is being able to supply the local market with the beer it wants while moving into new markets. In addition, any of you in the Lafayette area may be seeing People's brews in Kroger/Payless stores soon. Chris mentioned that they are working with the supermarket chain to get their beers on the shelf.

People's beer focus is on the product, not the intended style. Chris told me that they don't care if they hit traditional styles, as long as the end product tastes good. Still, with that being said, they try to keep some of the traditional and German style lagers on tap. My favorite of their's is either the 9Irish Red, brewed exclusively for 9 Irish Brothers Resaurant, or Mr. Brown on nitro. Both pretty solid beers.

Not to make this post entirely about People's and their future plans, I highly recommend their tasting room. People's tasting room is sort of different from most brewery tasting rooms. They only have beer on tap, no food, other than some pretzels on the table for patrons. Good news is that I have heard they don't care if you bring in food to eat from elsewhere. Pretty much everything they are currently brewing is on tap, including 2 nitro taps. The thing I like the most though is that they are very reasonable with their prices. Beers are always $3.50, except on Thursdays, when they're $2.50. In addition, you can buy pretty much any bar accessory their, also for a reasonable price.

I forgot to mention this last time with LBC, but below you can find the link to People's website (and LBC's too).

People's Website
LBC Website

Well, as of now, I'm officially off of blogging duty and on spring break. If I do get some good west coast beer out in Arizona, it'll probably hit my Twitter feed sometime this week. Until next time, cheers!
-Chris

Local Beer Scene: Part 1

Alright people,

If you recall, one of my new year's resolutions for drinking, and pretty much the only one, was to get more in touch with my local beer scene, wherever that may be. Well, being here at Purdue, that means I have 2 main local options. Tonight, we will take a look at Lafayette Brewing Company.

I'm in COM325, which is an interviewing class, meaning that I need to perform 90 minutes of interviews for a semester project. GIven that the topic can be whatever we wanted it to be, I, naturally, chose beer. I eventually want to at least own my own bar someday, maybe even make it a brewpub or small brewery, so that best place to start in Lafayette is the place where modern day Lafayette brewing started; LBC.

I had been to LBC a few times before, with my family for a meal, as well as for a casual pint or two. I love their atmosphere and food, and their beer is pretty darn good as well. I scheduled a meeting with founder/owner/operator Greg Emig, and so last Wednesday I made the short drive over the bridge to talk with him.

Now, I could bore you with the details I asked about for my project, including advice on starting a business, how the brewery runs, and things like that, or I could just tell you my overall impression. I'll take the latter. Greg is a great guy. I barely had to start him on topics, and he would take off and answer just about everything related I was going to ask. I think the best part though was learning how much of a Mom and Pop operation LBC is, quite literally.

Greg and his wife started LBC back in 1993, hailing the triumphant return of brewing to the city of Lafayette.  Since then, I'd say they've done pretty well for themselves. They've been in their original building downtown for all 20 years of existence, and have no plans of moving anytime soon. A really cool thing about LBC, is that some of their original beers are still around. Their East Side Bitter (ESB) was one of Greg's original beers if I remember correctly, while others were introduced very quickly after pinning down a beer that the people of the town liked.

After the interview, I of course sat down for a couple of pints. I had their Pajama Boy black, rye IPA, which was fairly good. The second beer I had caught my eye as soon as I walked in the door; Vanilla Bean Black Angus Oatmeal Stout. Greg had mentioned that one of his guiding principles was to do everything top notch, with great ingredients; so for this beer, he got some Madagascar vanilla beans. As I got my hands on it, the first thing you notice is a huge, sweet blast of vanilla aroma. In the taste of the beer, this is a little more subdued, working with the base oatmeal stout, but man was it good. It's a beer like that, standard house beer with some creativity thrown in, that keeps me coming back for more in a brewpub. Previously, I had tasted the Chocolate Cake BOAS and the Java BOAS, but I think the vanilla was my favorite, although I wouldn't mind if they made the chocolate cake again.

Overall, I cannot express how much I would encourage you to try LBC if you get the chance. Good people, great beer, great food, great atmosphere. That's what a bar is all about. Next time, I'll be taking a look at People's Brewing Company, and talking about my interview with founder Chris Johnson. Until next time, cheers!
-Chris

New Glarus Serendipity

Alright people,

As my loyal 26 reader following knows, I was able to get a friend to bring me back a selection of New Glarus beers over the holidays. Well, of the 4 different beers she got for me, we've made it halfway through with Apple Ale and Raspberry Tart. This past weekend I cracked open the third NG beer; Serendipity.

Anyone living in the Midwest can tell you, this past summer was terribly hot. Because of that, much of the cherry crop failed, rendering the making of New Glarus' staple Belgian Red beer impossible. According to the label on Serendipity, a good apple and cranberry crop was able to alleviate their problem and allow them to make this new beer.

At first glance at the pour, no one would guess that this is a fruit beer, but the scent gives it away. Huge sweet and semi-tart apple mixed with cranberry dominate the nose. Apple is the prominent flavor in the smell, but some cranberry juice tartness is also detectable. It tastes pretty much the same as its scent, but better. Apple starts strong and morphs into cranberry tartness. Slight hints of what cherries are in the beer make an appearance with their usual sour bite. On the whole though, the taste of this one is very balanced, more sweet up front with some more sour notes on the back end. This is truly a fruity, champagne of a beer. Light and fruity, fizzy and sweet; it's delicious in every sense of the word. This truly is fruit beer perfection.

(Full review here.)

75% of the way through the different NG  beers I have and I have determined one thing; I will need to make a Wisconsin road trip for more Serendipity. Don't get me wrong, Apple Ale and Raspberry Tart were good, but neither matches the blend and complexity of Serendipity. That being said, I hope that the Belgian Red I have also lives up to its reputation. I would love to be able to make a trip up to Wisco to grab a case (or 3) of some great NG beers.

Until next time, cheers!
-Chris

Random New Beer

Alright people,

Well, I don't have much to do tonight, so why not taste and review a beer? I grabbed the Ballast Point Victory at Sea out of the fridge and away we go.

I've been looking forward to this beer for about a year, when I learned of its existence. An imperial coffee vanilla porter sounded right up my alley. I like coffee, I love sweet vanilla, and I love dark beers. Right off the bat, you knew this was huge on the coffee. It smelled like a strong cup of black coffee, except cold. It even looked like coffee in the glass...

Then, I tasted it. If you love coffee, get this beer. Huge, bitter coffee flavors flood the palate and attempt to demolish it. Slight hints of sweet vanilla are simply overpowered by the coffee and its strong, bitter flavor. The coffee is so strong, it almost becomes 1-dimensional. The beer ends with the same bitter bang that lingers on the tongue. This is for sure a sipper, with strong bitter flavor and 10% alcohol. Here's my whole review.

In other news, I learned a new skill over the weekend; sabering. Some of you may know that this is an especially exciting way to open a bottle of champagne, but did you know that you can also open a beer like this? I know...awesome. Below you will find a link to the video. I posted it on my Twitter feed, and I apologize for the quality of the shoot.

Sabering a Beer.

Until next time, cheers!

-Chris

Drinking some History

Alright people,

Recently, I caught wind of some brewing history I was unaware of. Now, instead of boring you with the story in my words, watch this...

Now that you know the story, on to the beer. Starting out, this just looks like a standard, run of the mill beer. Gold and clear, this one pours with a small head that falls into a thin film, but let's just move right on to taste. This is pretty much your standard pale ale, if Sierra Nevada Pale Ale wasn't around. The hop profile isn't as prominent, but it is present and solid. Low bitterness, easy drinking, and smooth going down, this epitomizes the standard beginner beer. Nothing flashy, just a good solid beer, check out the full review here.

That's it for tonight people. Got another busy week coming up, but I'll try to get another post up here. Until next time, cheers!

-Chris

Cool Table

Alright people,

If none of you have noticed, I'm a little bit of a nerd. I like charts.....and graphs.....and spreadsheets. So when I saw a table on beer, it felt like my birthday. Check it out. It's a little big.

Until next time, cheers!
-Chris

2012: A Year in Beer

Alright people,

It occurred to me while reading random 2012 year in review that maybe I should write a beer year in review. 2012 was my first full year of beer, and it was a pretty good one. Being a ticker, I got around to tasting 142 new beers (+/- 1 because I'm too lazy to count). Let's take a look back at some of the more memorable beer moments...

Highest Rated Beer: Cantillon Iris (2010), Founders Kentucky Breakfast Stout (2012), Pliny the Elder - All three of these beer world heavyweights got perfect 5's from me in BA ratings. Now, I know that should be rare, but my tastes are subjective, and these beers were great. The Iris was among my first ventures into sour beers and simply terrific. Being on tap was just a bonus. KBS was the first big barrel-aged stout I had, and launched me into the world of barrel aging. Being a bourbon fan, I owe a debt of gratitude to this beer. Last, PtE is simply the best IPA/DIPA I've had.

"Best" Beer: Bourbon County Brand Stout (2012) - This was a beer that I had no chance of finding...until this year. Thanks to increased production, I can still go out and find plenty of this one. Simply put, this beer is thick, liquid bliss. Overall, I gave it a 4.98/5, but the only deduction was for appearance and some lacking lacing.

Lowest Rated Beer: King Cobra Malt Liquor - Alright, I know, it's a malt liquor, but for as much as I didn't mind the Natty Daddy, I hated this beer. It got a 1.58/5 from me, and it barely deserved that. Only drink King Cobra if you are trying to get plastered quick....or playing Edward 40 Hands.

Most Disappointing Beer: Raison D'Extra (2007) - The beer from Dogfish Head had tones of hype for me. It seemed like everyone in the forums loved this beer, and then.....cue giant fart noise. I opened the D'Extra and was greeted with the pungent stench of nail polish remover, and then I tasted the exact same thing. It was terrible, and with 18% ABV, it burned. I ended up pouring the last 3 or 4 ounces down the drain.

Overachiever Beer of the Year: Bell's This One Goes to 11 Ale - I know, I know. A special release beer from Bell's? How can this one overachieve? Well, I'm not sure, but it was so good. I've always been a fan of amber ales, but this imperial just hit the spot. I wish I would have bought a case, or at least a six pack instead of a single. If anyone out there can still buy this...email me.

That's it. Those are the most memorable beers of my 2012. There were others, but these guys either did it right, or very, very wrong. I was able to hunt down some great beers, and a lot of them will be making 2013 appearances. Among some of those guys are Firestone Walker Parabola and Sucaba, Drie Fonteinen Golden Blend and Schaerbeekse Kriek, and Westvleteren 12. 2013 is going to be another great year for beer (and has been since I'm late in writing this).

Last, in 2013, I'm making a resolution to enjoy my location beer scene more. I've been spending lots of time and energy trying to hunt down whales, and it's time I start frequenting local breweries. There are more breweries in the US now than at any point post-prohibition, and they are all producing great beer. Go out and sample your local options, and until next time, cheers!

-Chris