So last night I said I had my eye on a new place in Lincoln and I am delivering. I went to Yia Yia's Pizza and Beer https://www.facebook.com/yiayias tonight after reading some really good reviews on the place. I can say that for the most part the good reviews are true. They sell pizza by the slice or by the whole pie and you can name your toppings. This is a thin crust New York style pizza, that people come in for by the slice. When ordering you go to the cash register and order, then in a few minutes you pick up your slice in the delivery area. Also each slice comes with a hunk of bread. The pizza is really good and has some odd ingredients available including almonds and walnuts. I can attest that they both belong on a pizza.
The main reason I went was the promise of a good beer bar with probably the biggest selection of beer in Nebraska. I do not know if that is true but they do have a big beer selection. On tap they have about 10 beers and at least a couple of hundred bottles, including Great River Brewery beer from Davenport, IA. Nice to see some thing local 6 plus hours away from home.
I sat at the bar as usual and was quickly waited upon for my order for beer. Also the bartenders serve as the order takers as well so if you sit at the bar be prepared to wait sometimes for service, it all depends on how many people are ordering pizza. My first choice was a tap of Boulevard Collaboration No.2 White IPA http://www.boulevard.com/BoulevardBeers/collaboration-2/, a collaboration beer brewed between Boulevard and Deuschutes. As the name says it is a white IPA, it is a Belgian Wit hopped liked an IPA. I know its sounds like a train wreck, but it is really very good. It is pale gold with a white head. Aroma is citrus hops, orange zest, and malt. Taste is everything I said above as well as a nice grainy wheat to the beer. This is a nice beer that I was intrigued by but did not know if I would like it. Grade "B+", worth hunting for and buying.
My second beer I ordered was Nebraska Brewing's Summertime Rye http://www.nebraskabrewingco.com/main.asp. I really like the beers I have had from Nebraska Brewing Company and Summertime Rye is very good. The bad thing was I had about the last 6 ounces of the beer, I ran the keg dry. It is a yellow beer with a firm white head. Aroma was spicy and had grainy, bready notes. Taste was clean, crisp, peppery and offset with the use of Citra hops. This would be a really good lawnmower beer. Grade "A-", find it and drink it!
Since I did not have a full pint I ordered a third beer Thunderhead Brewing's Chocolate Orange Porter http://www.thunderheadbrewing.com/. Yes you read that correctly a chocolate orange porter, another beer that does not sound like it would work but it does work very well. Think of those chocolate orange things that are wrapped in foil to look like an orange, I am sure that this beer is like that thing. It is an almost black beer and is it or is it just my imagination an orange tint to the beer, probably my imagination. It has a tan head that is gone in a blink, so look quick. The nose is roast, chocolate and of course orange. Flavor is all of those three ingredients as well. The chocolate is like a semi-sweet chocolate. As the beer warms the chocolate becomes stronger and the orange mellows. I can not believe that I am saying this but this beer works. Grade "B", a very good novelty beer that probably I would not want to sit down and drink a bunch of.
Tomorrow night Spencer, IA. I believe I will do what I was requested to do and find a dive bar and see what "craft" beer they have and go from there.
QC Beerguy
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