This morning I took a journey out of my comfort zone with the girls. We went on a driving adventure which ended just as if I found the end of a rainbow. I had to stop at Midwest Brewing Supplies … ok, no, I didn’t have to stop there, but we were visiting my wife at work and she’s just a few exits away from Midwest, anyway, I heard about a new beer store that opened a while ago and planned this excursion.

I Googled the way between Midwest and The Four Firkins and saw that it was a couple left turns and maybe three miles apart. Aw man. If I timed it right I could get my Fleet Farm stop in, see my wife, hit Midwest and then find The Four Firkins just as they open at noon. The idea was to get back home before the kids melted down because of the late lunch.

On to the store. I found it without a problem. It is situated in between a couple other nondescript shops. Frankly I didn’t even notice what was on either side as I was walking up to it, holding two little hands and trying to take in all the beer displays in the window.
Read the rest of this entry »

I had a couple different beers yesterday. I finally put the bottle of Dogfish Head Palo Santo Marron in the fridge the other day and got brave enough to open it while cooking dinner last night. It poured out super dark brown, not Guinness dark, but close. Not opaque, but crystal dark brown clear, if that makes sense.

It was really smooth, good flavor with a lovely afterglow in the mouth. At 12%ABV its no wonder it glows. Both my wife and I were very impressed at its balance though. Quite yummy, and a great beer for for sitting in the air conditioned kitchen after an afternoon at the beach.

My wife came home with a very pleasant surprise, a four pack of Surly CynicAle. Talk about a crazy brew! When I was drinking it, all I could think of was “Belgian Pale Ale? Hopped-up Saison? …” And on and on…

Into the glass it pours light and clear. It sure tastes unique, with a lot of hop presence, but not enough to mask the definately Belgian tones. I am absolutely stoked to see a brewery close to me putting out awesome, crazy beers like this! I’ve raved about Furious before, and this one goes right up with it!

It almost soothes the ache knowing that Dogfish Head isn’t distributed in Minnesota.

Cheers!
Tony

Don’t forget to comment at the roll call, I’m a curious guy!!

Though I have sworn off doing reviews of beer since there are so many other bloggers out there with much more experience disecting flavors, I am going to write about this one. I have been itching to get my paws on a Dogfish Head 120 minute IPA for a long time. Many folks have said its just not as good as the 60 and 90, too strong and syrupy, not well balanced. Essentially a Monster Beer to be taken as such.

Thanks to my beer loving brothers, I was able to put a bottle in my fridge. It was with some trepidation that I opened it this afternoon. I poured it out into my Hobgoblin glass, and I must be rusty because a bit of the yeast cake at the bottom slipped out. It looks a nice amber, cloudy from my bad pour and has an almost lemony scent.

The first sip was one of those explosion of flavors. I was expecting something super bitter, strong and sweet. What I got was lots of citrus, some cloying sweetness and a whallup of bitter hiding behind. After the swallow there is a nice glow in my mouth from the ABV.

I’ve been sipping on this twelve ounces now for almost an hour. Its little over half gone and believe it or not I have a bit of that “two beer buzz”. My wife tried a sip or two as well and thought it wasn’t bad, but agrees that it tastes strong.

Overall, I have to say I like it. It isn’t what I was expecting, at all, but it is a pleasant sipper.

Thanks for the bottle, Scott!

Cheers,
Tony

Yup, Schlitz.

I couldn’t resist picking up the six pack for $5.99 at our local liquor store. I’ve heard a lot of jokes about Schlitz beer, but since they came out with their 60’s formulation, I figured “why not.”

Now, I only tried one beer last night. (and I might have had another with lunch, but that is part of the job description.) There was no way I was drinking more than one in a sitting, even though the publicity assures us it is different. My puppy is just getting over a bout of the schlitz, I’m done changing diapers full of schlitz, and I didn’t want to be knocked down for a day cursing the schlitz from the Schlitz.

Here’s the big surprise though. It was good. It had some nice hop presence, fair mouthfeel and a crisp slightly sweet finish. Thats why I was able to put a couple more in the fridge. I’m still not willing to test the beer in a session, but one at lunch or after dinner doesn’t seem that bad!

I’m not sure if I enjoyed it because I was expecting so much worse (Blatz) or not, but either way I am not disappointed in my purchase. I might even do it again… maybe.

Cheers!
Tony

*I borrowed the image from Google Image search, since I couldn’t link directly to the Pabst site

Since I’m a glutton for punishment and so very much didn’t like the last beer I tried, I thought I’d go for another. I don’t know why I keep picking fruity beers to review, they are vastly disappointing. Yet here I go, trying another one.

This one is Sand Creek Cranberry Special Ale out of Black River Falls, Wisconsin. This is the brewery that also brews the magnificent Oscars Chocolate Oatmeal Stout, which judging by the last brew fest I was at has a cult following that borders on fanatical. I’m surprised I haven’t reviewed Oscars yet, maybe every bottle I have come across in recent history gets drank before I think to review it? Its a good beer though, I highly recommend it.

On to the Cranberry. Long ago, when I first started blogging I posted about my Cranberry Wheat and how many non-beer drinkers actually liked it and were asking for it. It had a distinctly tart cranberry presence in the slightly sweet wheat base, all in all one of the recipes I’m more proud of.

Sand Creek’s version comes across with more emphasis on the beer and less on the fruit. There is a faint hint of cranberry after the swallow and a slight sweetness hiding underneath. This one is worth the effort to open and pour. Unlike that last one I reviewed…

Over all I’d give this one a hearty frosty mug up, definitely not my first pick but certainly one of the best “fruit beers” that I’ve tried in a long while.

Cheers!

Oy, usually I give a play by play breakdown of the beer that I am reviewing. Going back and looking through the “Reviewing Beer” section shows that I do put some thought into the beers I review, even if it is from a blunt standpoint.

I don’t really pull my punches, right? Well, in fairness to this one, I’m going to just say…  Don’t.

I’m hoping next year they will try again with a little less spice and sweet, and a little more beer.  This is one I would actually refuse.

Lakefront Brewery, please reexamine your recipe for Holiday Spice. I am sincerely grateful that the grocery store by mom lets my buy a mixer six pack so I didn’t have six of these to pawn off on unwanted guests.

Cheers.

Last night I was walking through the local beer store looking for something to review and found a cool looking beer hidden over by the cheap cases. I should have probably figured on what I was getting into, but went ahead and got it.

Now, here’s a dirty little secret that only my wife knows. If I get more than one bottle of a beer to review I drink one first off to see what I think and decide if its worth it to write up. Usually that turns out to be a fun adventure and then I can think about what to write and colorful discriptors, thus keeping myself entertained at least.

So, there I was drinking this beer and thinking “wow, this is pretty good. Nice firm yeast cake on the bottom” and I continue to drink the bottle. Oooh, I should have known, should have been aware of the danger lurking in the bottom of the bottle.

I’m not going to divulge the name of the beer because I may (perhaps) come back to the bottle in the fridge and review it at a later date and I don’t want anyone to think its the beer’s fault.

I was impressed enough with the beer, and realizing that there were enough left to review another day I opened another one with dinner.

Two or three hours later though I was thoroughly regretting drinking from the bottle.

Rather than go into descriptors of the result, I will simply relay this tidbit of information that usually rules my beer policy and yesterday was just simply … overlooked.

Always pour off beer that is on a yeast cake in the bottle. NEVER DRINK BEER DIRECTLY FROM THE BOTTLE IF THERE IS A YEAST CAKE.

Save yourself the discomfort. Find a nice tall pint glass, pour the bottle out and stop before it get cloudy and disrupts the yeast cake. Yes you’ll leave somewhere between a half inch and an inch of beer in the bottom, but its WORTH IT.

Believe me.

Cheers!

I found a bottle in the back of my fridge… from the six pack I bought Friday. It is out of Denver, Colorado from Breckenridge Brewery. Oatmeal Stout seamed like a great nap time beer today and here we go!

It pours very dark with a chocolaty head that disappears quickly. It is very dark black with little to no light coming through. The first sip has an assertive roasted malt flavor. There is less mouthfeel than I was expecting, and a pleasant hop finish with that same coffee flavor that I would expect from a stout. I really like what the oatmeal adds, it mellows out the beer and gives it almost a lighter quality.

I won’t consider it one of my favorites, but would certainly get it again if I was in the mood. One frosty mug up!

Cheers.

I know, I know, its probably not fair that the only people who can try these beers either live in my area or know someone who does, but nobody said life was fair.

My family and I made a trip to the local zoo and took a side visit to stop in and make some Surly purchases. Included with those was a growler (half gallon jug) of Furious and Bender. Since I’ve already written about Furious I thought I could let everyone know what I think about Bender!

Pouring it out reveals a nice dark chocolate color and malty head with a cool hint of hop tucked under the other aromas. The first taste jumps out with malt and then smooths into the significant hop presence. If I had to classify this I’d call it a dark IPA… or a hoppy Porter? Who knows, its good.

I’m not ready to stand in line for the limited releases on select Saturdays,  but I didn’t mind paying $11 for my growlers either. Its no Furious, but Bender sits highly in my list of beers to keep around.

Cheers!

By the bye, it doesn’t really taste as great after drinking a pint or two of Furious then going back to the Bender… But that is to be expected!

It is with much anticipation that I write this review. The way I’ve been reviewing beers is having the thing in front of me and opening it, pouring it, first sip and all that and immediately writing my impression of the beer so that it certainly is fresh in my mind as I write.

I’ve written before about how much I like this breweries beers, and have yet to be truly disappointed in its offerings.  I am also a bit apprehensive with this one, since I am notedly a huge hop fan and don’t want to be led astray. I’m sure it won’t be a Furious, but I’m hoping for something that will make me stand up and say “WHOOOO”.

Is that asking too much? We’ll see.

Sprecher Double India Pale Ale comes in the nice 16 ounce bottle. Opening it has a nice hoppy smell coming from the bottle, and it pours a deep golden, somewhere between 12 and 14 on the SRM scale. there is a faint head that drops quickly. There is more malt presence in the smell than I’d prefer, but we’ll see how it flies.

Ooh, that is nice. Very well balanced not as punchy in the back of the mouth as I hoped, but there is definitely  a hop presence along with the heavy bitterness I expected. The beer actually hides the 8.4%ABV very well in its balance, I’m impressed. There is still the lingering sweetness that I’m not as fond of in the finish, but overall a decent beer. I’ll hoist one mug up for this one too. I won’t buy another sample pack just for this beer, but I won’t turn it down if offered, either. Actually, thats not a very good descriptor for me, is it? I won’t turn down most beers offered to me. So, this beer doesn’t make me stand up and say WOOOO but I did nod my head in appreciation.

Cheers!

By the Bye, I can’t find the actual beer on their site. I did find a bunch of others that look very interesting, though. If someone in marketing and packaging reads this, I would be HUGELY interested in purchasing a sample pack with more of the Premium Reserve and Limited Release in! Of course, maybe not a lot of other people would. I’m not saying… I’m just saying. (A tag line the local radio guys used to use all the time in Duluth, I thought it was hilarious. Had to be there probably, but what can I say, this IPA is 8.4%)