I had a friend pass this like onto me and it made me sick to my stomach http://aleheads.com/2011/04/27/hoegaarden-0-0-the-legacy-killer/ . This is exactly why I did not like the AB InBev buyout of Goose Island! So now Hoegaarden is a joke, can Goose Island be far behind? I hope the former owners of Goose Island enjoy their riches while a formerly great brewery will be destroyed!
So remember one thing just say NO! No to anything that comes out of the AB InBev stable including Stella Artois, Becks, Leffe, Goose Island, Widmer, Red Hook and anything from AB.
Friday, April 29, 2011
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Heather Ale and the Peoria International Beerfest
Tonight I am back home, Yeah!! Decided to give my Heather Ale a quality check before taking it Saturday to the Peoria International Beerfest http://www.peoriajaycees.org/events/international-beer-fest/ . It is a festival that is organized by the Peoria Jaycees and features beer from home brewers as well as professional brewers. In years past MUGZ along with other homebrew clubs from Western Illinois and Eastern Iowa have brought imaginative beers to this event to show what can be done with beer. So this year I went way out there and made a Heather Ale. It is a Scottish 70 with 4 ounces of heather tips added to it. Thankfully the beer is nice and clean and has an interesting taste from the heather, best I can describe it is floral, piney, spicy and a bit antiseptic. It makes my mouth tingle and I like that! So the beer passes muster for the weekend.
More about the fest it is Saturday April 30th from 1-9 PM but I'm sure we will be out of beer before 6 PM. It is a fund raiser for the Peoria Jaycees, so the profits go to a good place. Tickets are on sale now $12 in advance and $15 at the door. So if you are not doing anything better and are in the mood for a road trip drive on down to Peoria for an afternoon of beer tasting. Needless to say if you do drive down make sure to have someone sober enough to drive afterward, because the drive from Peoria is a tad bit long.
Hope to see you there!
QC Beerguy
More about the fest it is Saturday April 30th from 1-9 PM but I'm sure we will be out of beer before 6 PM. It is a fund raiser for the Peoria Jaycees, so the profits go to a good place. Tickets are on sale now $12 in advance and $15 at the door. So if you are not doing anything better and are in the mood for a road trip drive on down to Peoria for an afternoon of beer tasting. Needless to say if you do drive down make sure to have someone sober enough to drive afterward, because the drive from Peoria is a tad bit long.
Hope to see you there!
QC Beerguy
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Bodega and some good beers but nothing new
I am back in La Crosse tonight so I went to the best beer bar in the town Bodega Brewpub http://www.bodegabrewpublax.com/. It was Tuesday night and I was greeted by the familiar face of John, the bar manager, and after a quick look at the taps I ordered a Palo Santo Marron http://www.dogfish.com/brews-spirits/the-brews/year-round-brews/palo-santo-marron.htm . This is a complex beer that happens to be a high ABV as well. As an aside I remember a couple years ago when Sam Calagione was pouring Palo Santo "illegally" at Great Taste of the Midwest. I say "illegally" because Sam and Dogfish head are not from the Midwest. It is an awesome beer!
I followed it up with Lagunitas Wilco Tango Foxtrot http://www.lagunitas.com/beers/index.html a excellent
American Strong Ale. It is brown in color with a strong malty backbone and just enough hops to be assertive. This a wonderful beer, as most anything that Lagunitas makes. Boy I wish Lagunitas was a local brewery for me in the QC.
Well tonight was a quite but enjoyable night for me. Also Bodega does a 2 for Tuesday night, two sandwiches for the price of one. It is an awesome deal, but does not do me much good. If you are in La Crosse at any time this is a must stop, If you do not go here you do not love beer.
QC Beerguy
I followed it up with Lagunitas Wilco Tango Foxtrot http://www.lagunitas.com/beers/index.html a excellent
American Strong Ale. It is brown in color with a strong malty backbone and just enough hops to be assertive. This a wonderful beer, as most anything that Lagunitas makes. Boy I wish Lagunitas was a local brewery for me in the QC.
Well tonight was a quite but enjoyable night for me. Also Bodega does a 2 for Tuesday night, two sandwiches for the price of one. It is an awesome deal, but does not do me much good. If you are in La Crosse at any time this is a must stop, If you do not go here you do not love beer.
QC Beerguy
Whistle Binkies / a couple new beers
Last night I stayed over in Rochester, MN so I went to my usual place Whistle Binkie's http://www.whistlebinkiespub.com/index.shtml a really good beer bar here in Rochester. Each night they have a special for that night on Monday night's they have Mystery Beer Night. This is when they put the names of their bottled beers in a hat and you choose a name. Once you made your choice you have an option to take the beer or order something else at full price. The mystery beers are only $2 a beer, so it is fun to see what you get and it is not a large investment if you chose a beer you are unfamiliar with.
My first try I had pulled out Fat Tire, so I took my option and chose another beer, since I dislike Fat Tire. I ordered a Gold Sovereign Ale from Summit Brewing http://www.summitbrewing.com/brews/gold-sovereign-ale . I was quite happy with the choice it was a very easy drinking English style Pale Ale. One surprising thing to me was that it was made with 100 % organic malt. I my past experiences I have not enjoyed organic beers, to me they just do not have the same taste and body as non-organic beers.
So after I finished my first beer I tried my luck again with a mystery beer and this time pull out a beer more to my liking, Woody Creek Belgian White from Flying Dog Brewery http://flyingdogales.com/beers/ . This is a good American version of a Belgian Wit, clean and refreshing. Also the orange and coriander come through in the aroma and taste. This is several steps above Blue Moon, but it is not as good as the true Belgian Wits that I have had. So I was pleased with the beer and if this was a choice I would definitely chose it over Blue Moon and no I did not have an orange slice with it. There was no need to garnish the beer with an orange slice.
QC Beerguy
My first try I had pulled out Fat Tire, so I took my option and chose another beer, since I dislike Fat Tire. I ordered a Gold Sovereign Ale from Summit Brewing http://www.summitbrewing.com/brews/gold-sovereign-ale . I was quite happy with the choice it was a very easy drinking English style Pale Ale. One surprising thing to me was that it was made with 100 % organic malt. I my past experiences I have not enjoyed organic beers, to me they just do not have the same taste and body as non-organic beers.
So after I finished my first beer I tried my luck again with a mystery beer and this time pull out a beer more to my liking, Woody Creek Belgian White from Flying Dog Brewery http://flyingdogales.com/beers/ . This is a good American version of a Belgian Wit, clean and refreshing. Also the orange and coriander come through in the aroma and taste. This is several steps above Blue Moon, but it is not as good as the true Belgian Wits that I have had. So I was pleased with the beer and if this was a choice I would definitely chose it over Blue Moon and no I did not have an orange slice with it. There was no need to garnish the beer with an orange slice.
QC Beerguy
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Great River Special Tapping / Front Street
Saturday my wife and I and along with a few friends went down to Great River Brewery http://greatriverbrewery.com/ for their special tapping of their Saison Farmhouse Ale. As usual they had a golden keg tapped at 1PM and had their festivities until 6PM on Saturday. Besides their special tapping they offered a ham for some sandwiches. They do a great job previewing each seasonal beer they make.
The Saison is a light drinking beer, that is true to the BJCP style guidelines. There is a noticeable fruitiness with noticeable peppery spiciness. It is amber colored with a slight haze to the beer. I am not a big lover of Saisons but this beer is within the style and would be acceptable to your typical Saison Drinker.
We walked a block down to the temporary flood wall to look at how much area was under the flood surge of the Mississippi River. Normally it is a little over two block walk to the river. After we did our sightseeing we went to Front Street Brewery http://frontstreetbrew.com/ for a few beers, lunch and a planning meeting for the ladies' Big Brew Day brewing session.
Front Street was a lane of road away from being in the Mississippi, which would of not been the first time the river had invaded the brewery. This time thankfully the temporary flood wall was holding. We all ordered a beer, unfortunately they were out of their most consistent beer the Raging River Pale Ale, what a shame it would of went nicely with what was happening with the flooding.
Some of us went with samplers and some ordered the Brewmasters' Special an ESB. The beer does meet the broad definition of an ESB, but is not a very good example of one. It was as cloudy as a hefewiezen normally is and with that much suspended yeast it did affect the overall flavor. Hopefully the beer will clarify as it sits in the serving tank.
As I have said before we try to give every chance to Front Street but they seemingly leave us wanting more each time we go there. I hope they will figure it out some time soon. On the positive side they have updated their menu and have included some really good new items to their classics.
QC Beerguy
The Saison is a light drinking beer, that is true to the BJCP style guidelines. There is a noticeable fruitiness with noticeable peppery spiciness. It is amber colored with a slight haze to the beer. I am not a big lover of Saisons but this beer is within the style and would be acceptable to your typical Saison Drinker.
We walked a block down to the temporary flood wall to look at how much area was under the flood surge of the Mississippi River. Normally it is a little over two block walk to the river. After we did our sightseeing we went to Front Street Brewery http://frontstreetbrew.com/ for a few beers, lunch and a planning meeting for the ladies' Big Brew Day brewing session.
Front Street was a lane of road away from being in the Mississippi, which would of not been the first time the river had invaded the brewery. This time thankfully the temporary flood wall was holding. We all ordered a beer, unfortunately they were out of their most consistent beer the Raging River Pale Ale, what a shame it would of went nicely with what was happening with the flooding.
Some of us went with samplers and some ordered the Brewmasters' Special an ESB. The beer does meet the broad definition of an ESB, but is not a very good example of one. It was as cloudy as a hefewiezen normally is and with that much suspended yeast it did affect the overall flavor. Hopefully the beer will clarify as it sits in the serving tank.
As I have said before we try to give every chance to Front Street but they seemingly leave us wanting more each time we go there. I hope they will figure it out some time soon. On the positive side they have updated their menu and have included some really good new items to their classics.
QC Beerguy
Friday, April 22, 2011
Great River Special Tapping
Just want to invite anyone and everyone to come down to Great River Brewery http://greatriverbrewery.com/ , tomorrow afternoon for the tapping of their latest creation Saison Farmhouse Ale. The golden keg will be tapped at 1PM and the festivities will be from 2-6PM. They are always happy to have their friends and customers come down and join them on their special tappings. I know my wife and I are planning on attending. So see you there!
QC Beerguy
QC Beerguy
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Cascadian Dark Ale / Black IPA
As I am sitting here drinking a bottle of Rodney Kibzey's Longshot winning Black IPA, I can not help but think about the beer "style" it is. Yes I do not believe that CDA/ BIPA is a beer style! It is a fad and to me a bad fad at that! Just because someone can brew a beer and other people copy it does not make it a style or good. This beer will soon enough be relegated to the trash heap it belongs in.
Yes I am on the muscle tonight. I have tried multiple CDA/ BIPAs and really have not found one I like. The closest is 1T's BIPA, it is probably the best balanced of the many I have had. Most of these beers are not balanced, they are either very roasty or very hoppy. The one I am currently drinking is towards the hoppy side. Also there is just too much bitterness in this beer between the roast and the hops, making it nearly undrinkable in an quantity over a 12 ounce bottle.
As most you may know the roots of CDA/ BIPA can be traced back to the East Coast instead of the West Coast, it is said that the first CDA/ BIPA was brewed by Greg Noonan in Vermont in the late 1990s. It really started to become popular in the Pacific Northwest in the early 2000s when such beers as Rouge's Skull Splitter and Phillips Brewing's Black Toque were being made. As it became more and more popular in the Cascadian Region a common name was arrived at Cascadian Dark Ale. Around the same time in the rest of the United States it became known as a Black IPA, either name is considered correct.
So, what is this beer that you rant about, you may be asking. By a proposed set of guidelines from Brew Your Own Magazine http://www.byo.com/stories/beer-styles/article/indices/11-beer-styles/2072-birth-of-a-new-style-cascadian-dark-ale it is as follows. Color- 30+ SRM, OG 1.060 - 1.080, FG 1.010 - 1.016, 50-90 IBUs, and ABV 6.0 - 8.5%. Northwest hops predominate so piney, citrus hop notes are picked up. Also the dark malts add dark roast and chocolate notes. So it is a hoppy, dark, roasty beer that mixes some attributes of an IPA with a stout. It is a hybrid of styles, not a style unto its self.
When this beer is entered into a BJCP sanctioned event it goes into Category 23 Specialty Beers. The last time I judged Category 23 at a contest, of the 11 beers we judged 7 were CDA/ BIPAs. Needless to say we were both tired of this beer "style" by the time we were done judging the flight.
There will continue to be some consideration of making this beer a "style" unto its self when the next time the BJCP Style Guidelines are revised in the future. I am split as to whether or not to give CDA/ BIPA deserves it own sub category. On one hand if it is given its own sub category it will no longer be in Category 23, so next time I would judge Specialty Beers there would be none of them to judge. On the other hand as I have stated before this beer is just a fad that will die out and why have more empty categories to judge? Isn't it bad enough that the California Common has its own sub category? When was the last time you have seen a Cali Common in a contest? I have not seen one in years. Why just add more minutia to the judging process?
So to get back to the beer I am drinking right now, I'm glad I did not have to pay for this bottle. Otherwise I would of felt cheated by this beer because I do not find it overly enjoyable or even remotely well balanced. If you enjoy a CDA/ BIPA do not let my rant stop you from your enjoyment, but I do not plan on trying many more CDA/ BIPAs in the future.
QC Beerguy
Yes I am on the muscle tonight. I have tried multiple CDA/ BIPAs and really have not found one I like. The closest is 1T's BIPA, it is probably the best balanced of the many I have had. Most of these beers are not balanced, they are either very roasty or very hoppy. The one I am currently drinking is towards the hoppy side. Also there is just too much bitterness in this beer between the roast and the hops, making it nearly undrinkable in an quantity over a 12 ounce bottle.
As most you may know the roots of CDA/ BIPA can be traced back to the East Coast instead of the West Coast, it is said that the first CDA/ BIPA was brewed by Greg Noonan in Vermont in the late 1990s. It really started to become popular in the Pacific Northwest in the early 2000s when such beers as Rouge's Skull Splitter and Phillips Brewing's Black Toque were being made. As it became more and more popular in the Cascadian Region a common name was arrived at Cascadian Dark Ale. Around the same time in the rest of the United States it became known as a Black IPA, either name is considered correct.
So, what is this beer that you rant about, you may be asking. By a proposed set of guidelines from Brew Your Own Magazine http://www.byo.com/stories/beer-styles/article/indices/11-beer-styles/2072-birth-of-a-new-style-cascadian-dark-ale it is as follows. Color- 30+ SRM, OG 1.060 - 1.080, FG 1.010 - 1.016, 50-90 IBUs, and ABV 6.0 - 8.5%. Northwest hops predominate so piney, citrus hop notes are picked up. Also the dark malts add dark roast and chocolate notes. So it is a hoppy, dark, roasty beer that mixes some attributes of an IPA with a stout. It is a hybrid of styles, not a style unto its self.
When this beer is entered into a BJCP sanctioned event it goes into Category 23 Specialty Beers. The last time I judged Category 23 at a contest, of the 11 beers we judged 7 were CDA/ BIPAs. Needless to say we were both tired of this beer "style" by the time we were done judging the flight.
There will continue to be some consideration of making this beer a "style" unto its self when the next time the BJCP Style Guidelines are revised in the future. I am split as to whether or not to give CDA/ BIPA deserves it own sub category. On one hand if it is given its own sub category it will no longer be in Category 23, so next time I would judge Specialty Beers there would be none of them to judge. On the other hand as I have stated before this beer is just a fad that will die out and why have more empty categories to judge? Isn't it bad enough that the California Common has its own sub category? When was the last time you have seen a Cali Common in a contest? I have not seen one in years. Why just add more minutia to the judging process?
So to get back to the beer I am drinking right now, I'm glad I did not have to pay for this bottle. Otherwise I would of felt cheated by this beer because I do not find it overly enjoyable or even remotely well balanced. If you enjoy a CDA/ BIPA do not let my rant stop you from your enjoyment, but I do not plan on trying many more CDA/ BIPAs in the future.
QC Beerguy
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Civilazation or Better know as Cedar Rapids
Tonight I am lucky to find myself in Cedar Rapids, better know as CR to those that know. So in CR there are two brewpubs kind of, Third Base Brewery, local and brewed on site and Granite City Brewing Company, chain and donewith brewus interuptus. So I hope you understand when I say two kind of! Granite City is across the parking lot from my hotel so it is easy to go to, but tonight I went to the true brewpub in CR Third Base http://www.3rdbasebrewery.com/ !
I really do like this place and wish I was overnight in CR more often so I could go here more. I have had a couple occasion to met and talk with the brewer and he really does love his craft which shows in the beers he brews. I had seven beers in the sampler tonight and there was not a bad beer in the lot, there were some that I did not like but they were well made.
So when you pull up to 3rd Base the first thing that strikes you is it is in a strip mall and the second thing is where the hell do I park? So once you walk inside everything is changed. It is wood, wood and more wood inside and every where you look is a tv. Each booth has it's own flat screen tv as well as the bigger ones on the walls. I am comfortable here, so needless to say just about anyone is welcome to this brewpub.
There food menu ranges from apps, to salads, to entrees, to sandwiches, needless to say there is something for everyone. I had a grilled tenderloin sandwich with fries, note to self need to get more healthy on the food. If you can't find something to eat your not trying.
So onto the beers! They do a sampler of their beers, each in about a 5 oz. glass and it was of all seven of their beers currently on tap. They have five year round beers and two seasonal taps. First up Golden Hawk Wheat as the name says it is a golden American wheat beer, it is true to style and I am not a fan of the style enough said. Next up is the Bees Knees Honey Ale, a top seller, again it is what the name says a sweet ale with lots of honey character and not in my wheelhouse, but thankful that a lot of people do like it so it pays for the other beers. Onto Red Rocket Amber Ale, it has nice piney hop notes in aroma and taste backed with nice toasty malt notes a easy drinker. Now the Flying Aces Pale Ale, it is a medium gold beer with lots of citrus notes in aroma and taste finishing clean and crisp a really nice pale ale. Black Cobra Oatmeal Stout is the last year round beer. It is black in color with coffee, chocolate and roast notes in aroma and flavor, also very noticeable is the roundness and slickness coming form the use of oatmeal in the beer.
As I said they have two seasonal taps first up is the Session 70, a Scottish 70 checking in at 3.6% ABV. It is truly a session beer, as it warms the malt aroma becomes more prominent and has low carbonation, my only detraction is I wish it had a little more body to it. The second seasonal was Tilted Kilt, they call it an Irish Red. To me it had a nice malty sweet nose and caramel, toffee flavors. Plus a slight smokey quality.
This is a worthy place to visit. As I was finishing out I had a chance to talk a bit with the bartender and he agreed with me on the beers, his least favorites as well were the wheat and the honey ale.
If you find yourself in CR make a trip to 3rd Base and you will not be sorry.
QC Beerguy
PS. To my Kind friends happy 4 20!
I really do like this place and wish I was overnight in CR more often so I could go here more. I have had a couple occasion to met and talk with the brewer and he really does love his craft which shows in the beers he brews. I had seven beers in the sampler tonight and there was not a bad beer in the lot, there were some that I did not like but they were well made.
So when you pull up to 3rd Base the first thing that strikes you is it is in a strip mall and the second thing is where the hell do I park? So once you walk inside everything is changed. It is wood, wood and more wood inside and every where you look is a tv. Each booth has it's own flat screen tv as well as the bigger ones on the walls. I am comfortable here, so needless to say just about anyone is welcome to this brewpub.
There food menu ranges from apps, to salads, to entrees, to sandwiches, needless to say there is something for everyone. I had a grilled tenderloin sandwich with fries, note to self need to get more healthy on the food. If you can't find something to eat your not trying.
So onto the beers! They do a sampler of their beers, each in about a 5 oz. glass and it was of all seven of their beers currently on tap. They have five year round beers and two seasonal taps. First up Golden Hawk Wheat as the name says it is a golden American wheat beer, it is true to style and I am not a fan of the style enough said. Next up is the Bees Knees Honey Ale, a top seller, again it is what the name says a sweet ale with lots of honey character and not in my wheelhouse, but thankful that a lot of people do like it so it pays for the other beers. Onto Red Rocket Amber Ale, it has nice piney hop notes in aroma and taste backed with nice toasty malt notes a easy drinker. Now the Flying Aces Pale Ale, it is a medium gold beer with lots of citrus notes in aroma and taste finishing clean and crisp a really nice pale ale. Black Cobra Oatmeal Stout is the last year round beer. It is black in color with coffee, chocolate and roast notes in aroma and flavor, also very noticeable is the roundness and slickness coming form the use of oatmeal in the beer.
As I said they have two seasonal taps first up is the Session 70, a Scottish 70 checking in at 3.6% ABV. It is truly a session beer, as it warms the malt aroma becomes more prominent and has low carbonation, my only detraction is I wish it had a little more body to it. The second seasonal was Tilted Kilt, they call it an Irish Red. To me it had a nice malty sweet nose and caramel, toffee flavors. Plus a slight smokey quality.
This is a worthy place to visit. As I was finishing out I had a chance to talk a bit with the bartender and he agreed with me on the beers, his least favorites as well were the wheat and the honey ale.
If you find yourself in CR make a trip to 3rd Base and you will not be sorry.
QC Beerguy
PS. To my Kind friends happy 4 20!
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Ft. Dodge, IA- Olde Boston's Resaurant & Pub
Well I find myself in exotic Ft. Dodge, IA looking for a good beer bar with good food. Through my search I found a place that looked somewhat promising, Olde Boston's Restaurant & Pub ttp://www.oldebostons.com/index.html . From examining the website I decided that they had a good food menu and what they call a "Great Selection of Beer", which turned out to be just about anything that AB Inbev sells. It makes perfect sense why they have a picture of their Bud Rep on the Beer Menu page, because that is almost everything they sell. Sorry carrying the full line of AB Inbev beers is not a great selection of beers.
I walked in to the place and it looks cool enough a redone first floor of an old building, so lots of brick, wood and lights. I go sit down at the bar and I am greeted promptly by the bar keep and asked what I wanted. I look up and the taps are as follows Shock Top, Goose Seasonal, Honker's Ale, Bud Light and Shock Top Raspberry. I ordered the Goose Seasonal and then decide on my meal for the evening. I decide on the pork tenderloin with a side of mac and cheese. The food was quite good!
After I ordered my food I start exploring their bottle selection and find Stella, Warstiener, Sam Adams and Blue Moon to name the highlights. Almost all of the beers they offered were AB Inbev, so I was not pleased with their " Great Selection of Beers". To me a great selection of beers does not mean carrying the whole beer catalog of one company.
So if you find yourself in Ft. Dodge, IA and are looking for a "Great Selection of Beers" this is not the place! They have a very interesting menu, but the beer selection is lacking. Needles to say if I find myself overnight in Ft. Dodge again I will have to explore elsewhere to find good beer. If you want good food come here, but avoid the beer.
QC Beerguy
I walked in to the place and it looks cool enough a redone first floor of an old building, so lots of brick, wood and lights. I go sit down at the bar and I am greeted promptly by the bar keep and asked what I wanted. I look up and the taps are as follows Shock Top, Goose Seasonal, Honker's Ale, Bud Light and Shock Top Raspberry. I ordered the Goose Seasonal and then decide on my meal for the evening. I decide on the pork tenderloin with a side of mac and cheese. The food was quite good!
After I ordered my food I start exploring their bottle selection and find Stella, Warstiener, Sam Adams and Blue Moon to name the highlights. Almost all of the beers they offered were AB Inbev, so I was not pleased with their " Great Selection of Beers". To me a great selection of beers does not mean carrying the whole beer catalog of one company.
So if you find yourself in Ft. Dodge, IA and are looking for a "Great Selection of Beers" this is not the place! They have a very interesting menu, but the beer selection is lacking. Needles to say if I find myself overnight in Ft. Dodge again I will have to explore elsewhere to find good beer. If you want good food come here, but avoid the beer.
QC Beerguy
Monday, April 18, 2011
Raccoon River Brewing Company- Des Moines
I am back in Des Moines again tonight and decided to go the the third brewpub in Des Moines tonight. Even though the place was a ghost town, maybe 20 people total besides myself while I was there, it is still a great pain to find parking near Raccoon River http://www.raccoonbrew.com/. Walking in the brewpub is very impressive, just to your left as you walk in is the brewhouse. Also there is an upstairs billiard and game room. To your right is the bar and when I walked in there was one other person at the bar.
After I sat down I ordered a sampler, it includes 7 of their beers. Tallgrass Light, a light refreshing beer that was one of there better beers. Vanilla Cream Ale, the vanilla overwhelms everything else, if you like vanilla this is your beer. Lakeside (?) Wheat an American wheat that was very grainy and slightly harsh not a favorite. 10th St. Cherry Wheat, their wheat with I'm guessing cherry juice added, sweet red and very cherry, almost a cherry cough drop without the menthol. Homestead Red, sweet malty with some hops, but just missing something in my opinion. Bandit IPA, very hoppy aroma and taste with a decent malt backbone, mainly piny hops but maybe some simcoe in it is as well slightly catty. Their last beer was Stonecutter Stout, black dark roast and coffee flavors as well as some chocolate and coffee, roast flavors. Some sweetness and slickness coming from oats?
Their menu has a good selection to chose from, but as usual I went with a burger. I ordered a raccoon burger, a burger with smoked Gouda and fried onions on it, quite tasty. Raccoon River seems to be more concentrated on food that beer. Overall I would rate this third out of the three brewpubs in Des Moines. I really prefer Court Avenue and Rock Bottom to Raccoon River, they both seem to make better quality of beer. Raccoon is far from a horrible brewpub, but the other two are just better beer wise. Do not be afraid to give them a try.
QC Beerguy
After I sat down I ordered a sampler, it includes 7 of their beers. Tallgrass Light, a light refreshing beer that was one of there better beers. Vanilla Cream Ale, the vanilla overwhelms everything else, if you like vanilla this is your beer. Lakeside (?) Wheat an American wheat that was very grainy and slightly harsh not a favorite. 10th St. Cherry Wheat, their wheat with I'm guessing cherry juice added, sweet red and very cherry, almost a cherry cough drop without the menthol. Homestead Red, sweet malty with some hops, but just missing something in my opinion. Bandit IPA, very hoppy aroma and taste with a decent malt backbone, mainly piny hops but maybe some simcoe in it is as well slightly catty. Their last beer was Stonecutter Stout, black dark roast and coffee flavors as well as some chocolate and coffee, roast flavors. Some sweetness and slickness coming from oats?
Their menu has a good selection to chose from, but as usual I went with a burger. I ordered a raccoon burger, a burger with smoked Gouda and fried onions on it, quite tasty. Raccoon River seems to be more concentrated on food that beer. Overall I would rate this third out of the three brewpubs in Des Moines. I really prefer Court Avenue and Rock Bottom to Raccoon River, they both seem to make better quality of beer. Raccoon is far from a horrible brewpub, but the other two are just better beer wise. Do not be afraid to give them a try.
QC Beerguy
Sunday, April 17, 2011
A Good Weekend
My wife and I had a good fun weekend with some friends. On Friday night we went to a wine tasting put on by Hy-Vee in Davenport. The wine tasting had over 100 wines, a few beers and even some premium liquors. We met some of our friends at the event and enjoyed the tasting and socializing with our friends. We purchased 5 bottles of wine for ourselves. The proceeds went to our favorite charity the American Red Cross of the Quad Cities.
During the day Saturday my wife decided to invite the same friends we went to the wine tasting with to come over for a beer tasting. So the six of us gathered at our house and had a great night of conversation and tasting. We all supplied some beer to share with everyone else. The night started off with some lighter craft brew but we worked our way up to some more complex beers. Some of the highlights included 4 Scottish themed beers that included beers made with gooseberries, heather, elderberry and a scotch pine. Also we had a couple good smoked beers a Dopplebock and a Imperial Stout. Plus I found a new chocolate beer for my wife, she loves light beers with chocolate in them, from Boulevard Brewing http://www.boulevard.com/BoulevardBeers/chocolate-ale.
The biggest disappointment of the night was a Dogfish 120 from 2009. I remembered when I purchased the bottles and drank one right away I thought it was overly sweet. So I brought a bottle out for everyone to have a sample of last night. The beer was even sweeter than what I remembered, it is now more of a barelywine than an Imperial IPA. Yes I expected some of the hops to drop out but not this much, there were none to be found. Now I have one more Dogfish 120 from that year to drink somewhere in the future.
Well I will be on the road again with stops in Des Moines, Ft. Dodge and Cedar Rapids. If anyone knows of a place in Ft. Dodge that serves good beer and good food let me know.
QC Beerguy
During the day Saturday my wife decided to invite the same friends we went to the wine tasting with to come over for a beer tasting. So the six of us gathered at our house and had a great night of conversation and tasting. We all supplied some beer to share with everyone else. The night started off with some lighter craft brew but we worked our way up to some more complex beers. Some of the highlights included 4 Scottish themed beers that included beers made with gooseberries, heather, elderberry and a scotch pine. Also we had a couple good smoked beers a Dopplebock and a Imperial Stout. Plus I found a new chocolate beer for my wife, she loves light beers with chocolate in them, from Boulevard Brewing http://www.boulevard.com/BoulevardBeers/chocolate-ale.
The biggest disappointment of the night was a Dogfish 120 from 2009. I remembered when I purchased the bottles and drank one right away I thought it was overly sweet. So I brought a bottle out for everyone to have a sample of last night. The beer was even sweeter than what I remembered, it is now more of a barelywine than an Imperial IPA. Yes I expected some of the hops to drop out but not this much, there were none to be found. Now I have one more Dogfish 120 from that year to drink somewhere in the future.
Well I will be on the road again with stops in Des Moines, Ft. Dodge and Cedar Rapids. If anyone knows of a place in Ft. Dodge that serves good beer and good food let me know.
QC Beerguy
Thursday, April 14, 2011
NHC Day 3: Heading Home
So after a good night's sleep we awoke talked with our friends and got ready to head back home. So instead of heading straight home we went over to a brewpub in McGregor, IA called Old Man River Brewery http://www.oldmanriverbrewery.com/ . McGregor is across the Mississippi River from Prairie Du Chein, WI in north east IA.
We arrived in McGregor and quickly found the brewery. McGregor's downtown is a really cool looking with all of the old brick buildings. Overall the town looks like it stays alive with tourist activities. In some places the town goes right into the bluffs along the river.
The building that houses the brewery is very imposing and cool. Once inside the coolness continues, it is a refurbished building with lots of exposed brick and wood. The bar is a big "U" shaped bar that is the main attraction of the brewery. As well they have a deck that in warm weather you can enjoy your meal outside.
We went and sat at the bar as usual and ordered a sampler for each of us, since the sample size was about 3 oz. each. The sampler included 5 beers and their root beer. The first beer was Gold Coin Helles, a clean crisp golden beer that would be a great lawnmower beer, this was a favorite. Second beer was Penny Whistle Wheat, very clovey and wheaty, but little banana and only slightly hazy not a favorite. Next beer was Jacknife GPA (German Pale Ale), the smell of American hops hits the nose and the body was a bit thin, as the beer warms a metallic taste develops again not a favorite. Next up Wooden Nickel Scottish ( Peated Lager) an odd combination of a beer smoky with Pils malt flavor coming through and otherwise not much else I'll pass on this one as well. Last beer Slingshot Dunkel smooth caramel flavor with Munich malt and noble hops nice and drinkable, this is another favorite of mine. Lastly the Root beer we all agreed it was quite tasty.
We all ordered a sandwich and another beer to wash down the meal. We all were quite pleased with Old Man River Brewery and would come again to enjoy it. Old Man does distribute their beer outside the brewery you may know it as Einfach which has been on tap in several places in the QC area. They are now rebranding the beer as Back Pocket, same beer but different name.
One last thing if you are not doing anything tomorrow night there is a wine tasting at the Northgate Hy-Vee (East Kimberly) with proceeds going to American Red Cross. The cost is $15 and lasts from 6:00- 8:30PM. For more information call 563-359-9323. Remember the Red Cross helps fire and flood victims which can be your family and friends. So come out and enjoy 100+ wines tomorrow night. Hope to see you there!
QC Beerguy
We arrived in McGregor and quickly found the brewery. McGregor's downtown is a really cool looking with all of the old brick buildings. Overall the town looks like it stays alive with tourist activities. In some places the town goes right into the bluffs along the river.
The building that houses the brewery is very imposing and cool. Once inside the coolness continues, it is a refurbished building with lots of exposed brick and wood. The bar is a big "U" shaped bar that is the main attraction of the brewery. As well they have a deck that in warm weather you can enjoy your meal outside.
We went and sat at the bar as usual and ordered a sampler for each of us, since the sample size was about 3 oz. each. The sampler included 5 beers and their root beer. The first beer was Gold Coin Helles, a clean crisp golden beer that would be a great lawnmower beer, this was a favorite. Second beer was Penny Whistle Wheat, very clovey and wheaty, but little banana and only slightly hazy not a favorite. Next beer was Jacknife GPA (German Pale Ale), the smell of American hops hits the nose and the body was a bit thin, as the beer warms a metallic taste develops again not a favorite. Next up Wooden Nickel Scottish ( Peated Lager) an odd combination of a beer smoky with Pils malt flavor coming through and otherwise not much else I'll pass on this one as well. Last beer Slingshot Dunkel smooth caramel flavor with Munich malt and noble hops nice and drinkable, this is another favorite of mine. Lastly the Root beer we all agreed it was quite tasty.
We all ordered a sandwich and another beer to wash down the meal. We all were quite pleased with Old Man River Brewery and would come again to enjoy it. Old Man does distribute their beer outside the brewery you may know it as Einfach which has been on tap in several places in the QC area. They are now rebranding the beer as Back Pocket, same beer but different name.
One last thing if you are not doing anything tomorrow night there is a wine tasting at the Northgate Hy-Vee (East Kimberly) with proceeds going to American Red Cross. The cost is $15 and lasts from 6:00- 8:30PM. For more information call 563-359-9323. Remember the Red Cross helps fire and flood victims which can be your family and friends. So come out and enjoy 100+ wines tomorrow night. Hope to see you there!
QC Beerguy
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Am I a Regular?
Many of us have wondered this at a bar that we frequent. When we find a bar we feel comfortable at, when am I considered a regular? Is it when I find myself going back to the same place? Is it when I am recognized by the bar staff? Is it when the bar staff knows my name? Is it when I make friends with some of the people at the bar? Is it when the bar staff knows my drink? Or just when is it? I am very interested in comments from everyone on this, because I feel there is no correct answer.
I come to this thought because of my travels and the places I frequent on my travels. Since I travel the same route every two weeks I find myself in the same place to eat frequently and I found myself as a regular at these places. Each place is different as well.
At several places I am known to the bar staff by appearance, but not by name. One particular bar I am known by name as well as by appearance. Other places it depends on who is working as to if I am recognized or not. So at those times am I a regular?
And when I am home in the QC I frequent the same places because I feel comfortable there. My first place was Bent River and even though they have change over the staff many times since I first went there it is still home. I may not know all of the staff's name, but at least I do know many of the people that frequent Bent. As well I do know some of the owners. So I do consider myself a regular there.
I feel the same way at Great River. This is a place I frequent and feel comfortable at. I do know some of the bar staff's names but I don't think they really know mine, but they know me by face and allow me some latitude as a regular. Needless to say I enjoy places I feel comfortable at.
As I said earlier I am very interested in other peoples opinions on this subject, so please contact me with your thoughts. If possible leave me a comment on my blog, or by posting on facebook, or by emailing me at agger503@gmail.com . There is no right or wrong answer to this question, so do not be afraid to answer.
Have a great night!
QC Beerguy
I come to this thought because of my travels and the places I frequent on my travels. Since I travel the same route every two weeks I find myself in the same place to eat frequently and I found myself as a regular at these places. Each place is different as well.
At several places I am known to the bar staff by appearance, but not by name. One particular bar I am known by name as well as by appearance. Other places it depends on who is working as to if I am recognized or not. So at those times am I a regular?
And when I am home in the QC I frequent the same places because I feel comfortable there. My first place was Bent River and even though they have change over the staff many times since I first went there it is still home. I may not know all of the staff's name, but at least I do know many of the people that frequent Bent. As well I do know some of the owners. So I do consider myself a regular there.
I feel the same way at Great River. This is a place I frequent and feel comfortable at. I do know some of the bar staff's names but I don't think they really know mine, but they know me by face and allow me some latitude as a regular. Needless to say I enjoy places I feel comfortable at.
As I said earlier I am very interested in other peoples opinions on this subject, so please contact me with your thoughts. If possible leave me a comment on my blog, or by posting on facebook, or by emailing me at agger503@gmail.com . There is no right or wrong answer to this question, so do not be afraid to answer.
Have a great night!
QC Beerguy
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Sorry
Some idiot left his notes sitting at home while he is on the road! So he is clueless to write day 3 of NHC. I hope that I will have a totally new post tomorrow in regards to "Am I a Regular?"
Have a good night!
QC Beerguy
Have a good night!
QC Beerguy
Monday, April 11, 2011
NHC Day 2
So if your read Day 1 about our trip up to Madison, WI you know what is going on. If not just go back to yesterday's posting and read up. Our judging day started with us showing up about 8 AM to get checked in. Myself and our male friend were judging while my wife and our female friend were stewarding. Also from MUGZ we had two other gentleman come up to judge the day of judging.
I will explain a bit about judging at the first round of NHC. It is a fun day as well as a long and grueling day. I know some may say tasting 30+ beers in a day is not grueling, but it is far from as easy as you may imagine. Also the job of a steward is even harder on a person and at times the stewards do not receive enough credit.
So as I said we arrive about 8 AM to check in and then we milled around until about 8:45 AM to allow the stewards to prepare the tables with everything we needed to properly judge beer. This includes pencils, erasers, staplers, cups, bread, score sheets and a few other things I am forgetting right now. We are told to find our assigned table and our assigned partner to get ready for our first round of judging. In all we judged three sessions on Saturday.
So once we are seated the competition director laid out the ground rules and then the stewards brought around the calibration beer. The purpose of the calibration beer is to warm up the senses and see where you are in relation to your partner. The calibration beer is only done first thing in the morning and at more and more competitions it is not done at all.
Once we have that done the stewards brought us our first beer, at a competition this size the stewards bring us our next beer when we are done judging the previous beer. In the morning I judged stouts, we had 8 judging pairs for stout. In total there were 80 stouts in this competition with 20 of them being RIS ( Russian Imperial Stouts). My judging partner and I judged a total of 11 stouts. Since there were 80 total beers judged by 8 judging pairs that meant that there would be a mini- BOS to chose the top 3 beers for the style. So we passed on two beers into the mini-BOS, and in the mini-BOS the three ranking judges of the group chose from 16 beers for the top 3 beers.
The top three beers from each category go onto the 2nd round of NHC which is held in conjunction with the National Homebrewers Conference. This year it will be held in San Diego, CA. Oh what a wonderful place that would be to go to, but alas it just is not feasible this year. At the second round it is decided the top 3 beers in each style from across the US and Canada. So it is quite an honor to place in each region let alone the top 3 overall.
Besides beer the mead and cider categories are contested during this competition as well. For those that do not know what a mead is it is a fermented alcoholic beverage made from honey. A hard cider is a fermented beverage made from apple, with a category made with pears called perrys. The ciders and perrys are judged together.
Once we finished with the the first session we were able to have lunch. Also during the lunch break the stewards cleaned up after the first session and made the tables ready for session two. Session two I judged Belgian Strong Ales, this time my judging partner and I judged 10 beers. There were 5 judging pairs so around 50 ales to judge. I was involved in judging mini-BOS which we were quickly able to decide on the top three beers that will continue on to the second round.
So once the second session was finished the stewards quickly turned around the table for the third session of the day. For the third session I judged Smoked and Wood- Aged beers. This is a hard category to judge since the base beer style can be any style the brewer wants and the amount of smoke and wood aging varies as well. I think overall there were about 32 beers in the category and we judged 11 in total. This session I did not get to judge the mini-BOS, but my judging partner did and the three beers we passed on to the mini-BOS wound up going 1 2 3. With the winner being a porter which was dry hopped with smoked, cooked bacon and no it was not as bad as you imagine.
The event was held at Vintage Brewing Company http://vintagebrewingcompany.com/ . I want to thank the people at Vintage for hosting us as well as the hosting committee which was made up by members of MHTG http://www.mhtg.org/. Once the judging of session three was over the organizers made a few more announcements and then did a drawing for the some swag. During the drawing I had one of Vintage's beers Better Off Red, they describe it as a hopped up American Red Ale. It was quite good and would have another any time. After a dinner break on our own they provided a bus to go around the town to various establishments.
We went back to Sprecher's for dinner and had another great meal accompanied by the same delicious beers we had the night before. Unfortunately for me I did not feel overly well so I passed on going out that night for a bus ride to some of Madison's fine drinking establishments. Well guess they will be there the next time we are in town.
Tomorrow day three which is the ride and a stop or two along the way back to the QC.
QC Beerguy
I will explain a bit about judging at the first round of NHC. It is a fun day as well as a long and grueling day. I know some may say tasting 30+ beers in a day is not grueling, but it is far from as easy as you may imagine. Also the job of a steward is even harder on a person and at times the stewards do not receive enough credit.
So as I said we arrive about 8 AM to check in and then we milled around until about 8:45 AM to allow the stewards to prepare the tables with everything we needed to properly judge beer. This includes pencils, erasers, staplers, cups, bread, score sheets and a few other things I am forgetting right now. We are told to find our assigned table and our assigned partner to get ready for our first round of judging. In all we judged three sessions on Saturday.
So once we are seated the competition director laid out the ground rules and then the stewards brought around the calibration beer. The purpose of the calibration beer is to warm up the senses and see where you are in relation to your partner. The calibration beer is only done first thing in the morning and at more and more competitions it is not done at all.
Once we have that done the stewards brought us our first beer, at a competition this size the stewards bring us our next beer when we are done judging the previous beer. In the morning I judged stouts, we had 8 judging pairs for stout. In total there were 80 stouts in this competition with 20 of them being RIS ( Russian Imperial Stouts). My judging partner and I judged a total of 11 stouts. Since there were 80 total beers judged by 8 judging pairs that meant that there would be a mini- BOS to chose the top 3 beers for the style. So we passed on two beers into the mini-BOS, and in the mini-BOS the three ranking judges of the group chose from 16 beers for the top 3 beers.
The top three beers from each category go onto the 2nd round of NHC which is held in conjunction with the National Homebrewers Conference. This year it will be held in San Diego, CA. Oh what a wonderful place that would be to go to, but alas it just is not feasible this year. At the second round it is decided the top 3 beers in each style from across the US and Canada. So it is quite an honor to place in each region let alone the top 3 overall.
Besides beer the mead and cider categories are contested during this competition as well. For those that do not know what a mead is it is a fermented alcoholic beverage made from honey. A hard cider is a fermented beverage made from apple, with a category made with pears called perrys. The ciders and perrys are judged together.
Once we finished with the the first session we were able to have lunch. Also during the lunch break the stewards cleaned up after the first session and made the tables ready for session two. Session two I judged Belgian Strong Ales, this time my judging partner and I judged 10 beers. There were 5 judging pairs so around 50 ales to judge. I was involved in judging mini-BOS which we were quickly able to decide on the top three beers that will continue on to the second round.
So once the second session was finished the stewards quickly turned around the table for the third session of the day. For the third session I judged Smoked and Wood- Aged beers. This is a hard category to judge since the base beer style can be any style the brewer wants and the amount of smoke and wood aging varies as well. I think overall there were about 32 beers in the category and we judged 11 in total. This session I did not get to judge the mini-BOS, but my judging partner did and the three beers we passed on to the mini-BOS wound up going 1 2 3. With the winner being a porter which was dry hopped with smoked, cooked bacon and no it was not as bad as you imagine.
The event was held at Vintage Brewing Company http://vintagebrewingcompany.com/ . I want to thank the people at Vintage for hosting us as well as the hosting committee which was made up by members of MHTG http://www.mhtg.org/. Once the judging of session three was over the organizers made a few more announcements and then did a drawing for the some swag. During the drawing I had one of Vintage's beers Better Off Red, they describe it as a hopped up American Red Ale. It was quite good and would have another any time. After a dinner break on our own they provided a bus to go around the town to various establishments.
We went back to Sprecher's for dinner and had another great meal accompanied by the same delicious beers we had the night before. Unfortunately for me I did not feel overly well so I passed on going out that night for a bus ride to some of Madison's fine drinking establishments. Well guess they will be there the next time we are in town.
Tomorrow day three which is the ride and a stop or two along the way back to the QC.
QC Beerguy
Sunday, April 10, 2011
On the Road to Madison
Friday my wife and I and a couple of our friends made our way up to Madison for the first round judging for NHC. It was a very enjoyable day. We made several stops along the way.
Our first stop was a Galena Brewing Company http://www.galenabrewery.com/ which it turned out was quite an enjoyable stop. They open at 11 AM and we were the first people in at about 11:20, so we had a choice of where we wanted to sit. We went up and sat at the bar and ordered the sampler of their beers one set for my wife and me and one for our friends. The bartender was more than courteous but the person that bowled us over was the brewer he was very enthusiastic to talk with us, especially once he found out we were homebrewers. He filled us in about their events that they have at the brewery and he asked what we thought of his beer. We all agreed that the beers were clean and well made. Then he asked for our favorite and least favorite beers, my favorite was the stout and least favorite was the chasion, a cherry saison. Which turns out was the brewers favorite currently.
They have 7 beers on tap: Farmer's Cream Ale, Fever River Ale (a hefeweizen) which was one of my favorites, Miner's Treasure (a amber ale), Annabelle's IPA, Uly's Dark (oatmeal stout) both my wife and I liked, surprising since my wife usually does not like stouts, Rye-Rish Red Ale (rye red ale) a seasonal, another one I liked, and Chaison ( cherry sasion) another seasonal.
An interesting fact about the brewery is it is in a former mortuary, so 2T this is a must stop for you. If you find yourself in Galena this is a very worthy stop. What I suggest for those men that have the opportunity to go "shopping" in Galena with thier significant others is to go to lunch at Galena Brewing and then let your significant other go shopping while you rest at the brewery. Oh no, I just let out my secret plan to my wife for Galena.
Next stop Brewery Creek Brewpub in Mineral Point, WI. It is in the first floor of a guest house that goes by the same name Brewery Creek Inn http://www.brewerycreek.com/ . We arrived around 2pm to a mostly empty brewpub, I think one other person sitting at the bar. Again we sat at the bar and began to look at their beer offerings. They had 4 beers total if you count the shandy as a beer. Also they served Golden Ale, Farmhouse Ale and a Scottish Porter. They do not have a sampler platter but will gladly let you try samples to find a beer. My wife chose the Farmhouse and I went with the Porter. Both are drinkable beers, nothing special but nothing horrible either. Before we left my wife and our female friend went upstairs and looked at a room. My wife has decided we will have to stay at the Inn sometime, which I do not object to since the area around Mineral Point has some interesting places to visit.
Overall this is not somewhere I would go to just for the beer, but I can see staying here and then going downstairs to the brewpub for a beer or two and dinner. The bar has a great homey feel to it. It fits probably 30 -40 people total and would be a great place to relax after a long days adventure.
So we left Mineral Point for Madison our destination city. Before going to the hotel we made a couple of stops. First up Ale Asylum http://aleasylum.com/! The brewery is in a light industrial area which I am sure is because of lower overhead costs for the building. Inside they have made the most of what they have with a bar for 12 or so people and tables for probably another 50-60 people. They do have a pool table in the back and have several windows so a person can look at the brewery equipment. They serve a limited menu of pizza and sandwiches, because the main event is the beer! From what I recall the brewer that used to brew at Angelic Brewing, which is now closed, was one of the people that started Ale Asylum.
All totaled they had 10 beers on tap and they do offer a sampler of their beer so my wife and I had a sampler as well as our friends had a sampler. Their samplers were plenty large for two people to split, since they were at least 5 oz. per sample. The beers they had on tap are as follows: Hopalicious Pale Ale, a favorite, Ambergeddon Amber Ale, Happy Ending Belgian Ale, Diablo Belgian Dubbel, Contorter Porter, another favorite, Gold Digger Blonde Ale, liked that one as well, Big Slick Oatmeal Stout, yep another good one, Madtown Nut Brown, Ballistic IPA, yes liked this as well, and Sticky Mc Doogle Scotch Ale. They only beers I suggest to skip are the two Belgian beers neither seem to be to style we all agreed.
If you find yourself in Madison (Madtown) this is a must visit! They make some great beer and know how to properly serve it. We left after the sampler and went to our next stop Brassire V http://www.brasseriev.com/ , a cool Belgian influenced pub. They serve upwards to a couple hundred beers, mainly of some European origin, and have an interesting menu. We arrived and found out that Brassire V is some what limited on space, having table seating for maybe 40 people and seating at the bar for 10+. We wound up just ordering a beer and decided to head off to somewhere else to eat. So wife chose Atomium Grand Cru, which the description said it is made from six different grains, and I chose Troubadour Magma, a Tripel IPA and our friends went with a Nogne Two Captains Double IPA and a Harviestoun Old Engine Oil . This is a cool little place to have beer and a meal. I just suggest avoiding Friday or Saturday night from 6-8 pm if you plan on eating.
We ended up eating at Sprecher's Restaurant and Pub http://www.sprecherspub.com/ they serve beers from the award winning Sprecher's Brewery in Milwaukee. For those that remember this used to be a Houlihan's Restaurant out on the west side of Madtown. They have an extensive menu from burgers and sandwiches to steaks and pizza. They have 14 beers on tap and I must admit that I did not bother to take in my note taking equipment so my memory is not so good on all of the beers. They do samplers in a couple of ways by theme or you can get them in a quantity of 3 or 6, so we ordered 2 sets of 6 between the four of us. The beers I recall are Black Bavarian, a favorite, Amber Ale, IPA squared, Piper's Scotch Ale, Generation Porter and a Belgian Wit which we all agreed upon that it was not so good.
This is a nice place to get some quality beer and some good food to eat. It helped that it was just across the street from our hotel. So thus ends our first day of three in our adventure to judge the 1st Round of NHC. I will cover days 2 and 3 later.
QC Beerguy
Our first stop was a Galena Brewing Company http://www.galenabrewery.com/ which it turned out was quite an enjoyable stop. They open at 11 AM and we were the first people in at about 11:20, so we had a choice of where we wanted to sit. We went up and sat at the bar and ordered the sampler of their beers one set for my wife and me and one for our friends. The bartender was more than courteous but the person that bowled us over was the brewer he was very enthusiastic to talk with us, especially once he found out we were homebrewers. He filled us in about their events that they have at the brewery and he asked what we thought of his beer. We all agreed that the beers were clean and well made. Then he asked for our favorite and least favorite beers, my favorite was the stout and least favorite was the chasion, a cherry saison. Which turns out was the brewers favorite currently.
They have 7 beers on tap: Farmer's Cream Ale, Fever River Ale (a hefeweizen) which was one of my favorites, Miner's Treasure (a amber ale), Annabelle's IPA, Uly's Dark (oatmeal stout) both my wife and I liked, surprising since my wife usually does not like stouts, Rye-Rish Red Ale (rye red ale) a seasonal, another one I liked, and Chaison ( cherry sasion) another seasonal.
An interesting fact about the brewery is it is in a former mortuary, so 2T this is a must stop for you. If you find yourself in Galena this is a very worthy stop. What I suggest for those men that have the opportunity to go "shopping" in Galena with thier significant others is to go to lunch at Galena Brewing and then let your significant other go shopping while you rest at the brewery. Oh no, I just let out my secret plan to my wife for Galena.
Next stop Brewery Creek Brewpub in Mineral Point, WI. It is in the first floor of a guest house that goes by the same name Brewery Creek Inn http://www.brewerycreek.com/ . We arrived around 2pm to a mostly empty brewpub, I think one other person sitting at the bar. Again we sat at the bar and began to look at their beer offerings. They had 4 beers total if you count the shandy as a beer. Also they served Golden Ale, Farmhouse Ale and a Scottish Porter. They do not have a sampler platter but will gladly let you try samples to find a beer. My wife chose the Farmhouse and I went with the Porter. Both are drinkable beers, nothing special but nothing horrible either. Before we left my wife and our female friend went upstairs and looked at a room. My wife has decided we will have to stay at the Inn sometime, which I do not object to since the area around Mineral Point has some interesting places to visit.
Overall this is not somewhere I would go to just for the beer, but I can see staying here and then going downstairs to the brewpub for a beer or two and dinner. The bar has a great homey feel to it. It fits probably 30 -40 people total and would be a great place to relax after a long days adventure.
So we left Mineral Point for Madison our destination city. Before going to the hotel we made a couple of stops. First up Ale Asylum http://aleasylum.com/! The brewery is in a light industrial area which I am sure is because of lower overhead costs for the building. Inside they have made the most of what they have with a bar for 12 or so people and tables for probably another 50-60 people. They do have a pool table in the back and have several windows so a person can look at the brewery equipment. They serve a limited menu of pizza and sandwiches, because the main event is the beer! From what I recall the brewer that used to brew at Angelic Brewing, which is now closed, was one of the people that started Ale Asylum.
All totaled they had 10 beers on tap and they do offer a sampler of their beer so my wife and I had a sampler as well as our friends had a sampler. Their samplers were plenty large for two people to split, since they were at least 5 oz. per sample. The beers they had on tap are as follows: Hopalicious Pale Ale, a favorite, Ambergeddon Amber Ale, Happy Ending Belgian Ale, Diablo Belgian Dubbel, Contorter Porter, another favorite, Gold Digger Blonde Ale, liked that one as well, Big Slick Oatmeal Stout, yep another good one, Madtown Nut Brown, Ballistic IPA, yes liked this as well, and Sticky Mc Doogle Scotch Ale. They only beers I suggest to skip are the two Belgian beers neither seem to be to style we all agreed.
If you find yourself in Madison (Madtown) this is a must visit! They make some great beer and know how to properly serve it. We left after the sampler and went to our next stop Brassire V http://www.brasseriev.com/ , a cool Belgian influenced pub. They serve upwards to a couple hundred beers, mainly of some European origin, and have an interesting menu. We arrived and found out that Brassire V is some what limited on space, having table seating for maybe 40 people and seating at the bar for 10+. We wound up just ordering a beer and decided to head off to somewhere else to eat. So wife chose Atomium Grand Cru, which the description said it is made from six different grains, and I chose Troubadour Magma, a Tripel IPA and our friends went with a Nogne Two Captains Double IPA and a Harviestoun Old Engine Oil . This is a cool little place to have beer and a meal. I just suggest avoiding Friday or Saturday night from 6-8 pm if you plan on eating.
We ended up eating at Sprecher's Restaurant and Pub http://www.sprecherspub.com/ they serve beers from the award winning Sprecher's Brewery in Milwaukee. For those that remember this used to be a Houlihan's Restaurant out on the west side of Madtown. They have an extensive menu from burgers and sandwiches to steaks and pizza. They have 14 beers on tap and I must admit that I did not bother to take in my note taking equipment so my memory is not so good on all of the beers. They do samplers in a couple of ways by theme or you can get them in a quantity of 3 or 6, so we ordered 2 sets of 6 between the four of us. The beers I recall are Black Bavarian, a favorite, Amber Ale, IPA squared, Piper's Scotch Ale, Generation Porter and a Belgian Wit which we all agreed upon that it was not so good.
This is a nice place to get some quality beer and some good food to eat. It helped that it was just across the street from our hotel. So thus ends our first day of three in our adventure to judge the 1st Round of NHC. I will cover days 2 and 3 later.
QC Beerguy
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Happy National Beer Day
Last night my wife and I celebrated the release of Stone Brewing's Beer into Illinois, a wonderful pre-event to National Beer Day. We went first to Bent River Brewing, because we saw on facebook that they had both Arrogant Bastard and Stone Pale Ale on tap. It was their special guest taps for the night. Your choice was a pint of either one for $3 or you could have a pint of either beer and keep the commemorative pint for $6.50. My first beer was of course Arrogant Bastard, I know some may say that is fitting, and my wife surprised me by ordering the Pale Ale, she hates hoppy beers. As we were enjoying our beers we eventually were waited on to order some food. That is one definite thing that Bent needs to work on is the table service, plan to have more people on staff for special nights like last night.
I was very pleased that my wife drank her whole pint of Pale Ale and enjoyed the beer. Once our food arrived I order the Pale Ale. The food and beer we both quite enjoyable. So when we finished our food and beers we paid and headed for stop #2, onto RIBCO for their Stone Release Party.
We arrived just a few minutes before 8pm when the Stone draft beer was scheduled to go on sale. We made our way into the bar and saw some friendly faces that we spent the rest of our time talking with. They had 3 Stone Brewing beers on tap: Cali- Belgique, Arrogant Bastard and Smoked Porter with vanilla beans. First up for me was the Porter, the vanilla came through but no real noticeable smoke. I greatly enjoyed the beer though!
My wife went with a bottle of Levitation Ale, this one she said was way to hoppy, hoppier than the Pale Ale, but she did manage to drink it. Way to go Sweetie! Beside Levitation Ale in bottles they had Pale Ale, IPA, Ruination, Sublimely Self Righteous (in 22 oz. bottles) and Oaked Arrogant Bastard. All the bottles were available for purchase before 8PM.
We both decide to have a second beer and I ordered, anybody? anybody? Yes! Arrogant Bastard! and my sweetie order the Vanilla Porter. Again a bit of a surprise since she does not like very many dark beers as well. All in all we had an enjoyable evening on our adventure of welcoming Stone Brewing's Beer to Illinois. It is so awesome that we can now have Stone Beer just by driving a few miles across the Mississippi River to a bar in Illinois and more importantly purchase for home use at liquor stores.
Now onto today's event National Beer Day. First of all we need to work on the name and make it more exciting. Any suggestions? The main point to today is it is the anniversary of the repeal of the scourge of mankind know as Prohibition. It was on April 7, 1933 that the Cullen- Harrison Act went into effect, which was signed by FDR in March of the same year. So go out and have a beer to celebrate this great anniversary.
QC Beerguy
I was very pleased that my wife drank her whole pint of Pale Ale and enjoyed the beer. Once our food arrived I order the Pale Ale. The food and beer we both quite enjoyable. So when we finished our food and beers we paid and headed for stop #2, onto RIBCO for their Stone Release Party.
We arrived just a few minutes before 8pm when the Stone draft beer was scheduled to go on sale. We made our way into the bar and saw some friendly faces that we spent the rest of our time talking with. They had 3 Stone Brewing beers on tap: Cali- Belgique, Arrogant Bastard and Smoked Porter with vanilla beans. First up for me was the Porter, the vanilla came through but no real noticeable smoke. I greatly enjoyed the beer though!
My wife went with a bottle of Levitation Ale, this one she said was way to hoppy, hoppier than the Pale Ale, but she did manage to drink it. Way to go Sweetie! Beside Levitation Ale in bottles they had Pale Ale, IPA, Ruination, Sublimely Self Righteous (in 22 oz. bottles) and Oaked Arrogant Bastard. All the bottles were available for purchase before 8PM.
We both decide to have a second beer and I ordered, anybody? anybody? Yes! Arrogant Bastard! and my sweetie order the Vanilla Porter. Again a bit of a surprise since she does not like very many dark beers as well. All in all we had an enjoyable evening on our adventure of welcoming Stone Brewing's Beer to Illinois. It is so awesome that we can now have Stone Beer just by driving a few miles across the Mississippi River to a bar in Illinois and more importantly purchase for home use at liquor stores.
Now onto today's event National Beer Day. First of all we need to work on the name and make it more exciting. Any suggestions? The main point to today is it is the anniversary of the repeal of the scourge of mankind know as Prohibition. It was on April 7, 1933 that the Cullen- Harrison Act went into effect, which was signed by FDR in March of the same year. So go out and have a beer to celebrate this great anniversary.
QC Beerguy
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Stone Release in Illinois
Had a great night of Stone beer on Release night in Illinois. More later.
QC Beerguy
QC Beerguy
Monday, April 4, 2011
The Lure of "Free Money"
Tonight I am in Des Moines again and I went to Rock Bottom Brewery. I went mainly due to the fact I had $5 on my Mug Club card. That equals an extra beer with dinner tonight. As well they honor the AHA card discount. So this evening I wound up with just over $6 in "free money". Not that I am a cheap ass, but the opportunity to get more for less was too much to pass up.
As far as beer quality Rock Bottom in Des Moines serves beer that is of high quality. Tonight I enjoyed their Dopplebock, Fire Chief Ale and 4x Quad. Each beer had somewhat of a significance with me tonight. First the Dopplebock due to the season and also the blogger in Iowa that is only drinking Dopplebocks for Lent, like the monks did in times past. The Fire Chief was chosen because I am a sucker for a fundraiser! On every Fire Chief they sell they donate a quarter to fireman related charities. Lastly the 4x Quad was just because, it is a big beer that the Brewer Eric has been producing since the state of Iowa join the civilized world and allowed beer above 5% ABV.
Sometimes it is just a good evening when a person can eat and have a few beers with some "free money" that someone is giving them. Also now I am only 10 more visits from receiving my own Rock Bottom grilling set. So needless to say these freebies are anything but free, thankfully I am on business in Des Moines and can expense my dinner.
I am just saying be careful with the chance to use your free money when you go into a place to eat. It may not be every thing you bargained for.
QC Beerguy
As far as beer quality Rock Bottom in Des Moines serves beer that is of high quality. Tonight I enjoyed their Dopplebock, Fire Chief Ale and 4x Quad. Each beer had somewhat of a significance with me tonight. First the Dopplebock due to the season and also the blogger in Iowa that is only drinking Dopplebocks for Lent, like the monks did in times past. The Fire Chief was chosen because I am a sucker for a fundraiser! On every Fire Chief they sell they donate a quarter to fireman related charities. Lastly the 4x Quad was just because, it is a big beer that the Brewer Eric has been producing since the state of Iowa join the civilized world and allowed beer above 5% ABV.
Sometimes it is just a good evening when a person can eat and have a few beers with some "free money" that someone is giving them. Also now I am only 10 more visits from receiving my own Rock Bottom grilling set. So needless to say these freebies are anything but free, thankfully I am on business in Des Moines and can expense my dinner.
I am just saying be careful with the chance to use your free money when you go into a place to eat. It may not be every thing you bargained for.
QC Beerguy
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Big Brew Day Planning Day
At the last MUGZ meeting it was announced that our friends at Great River Brewing were offering up a special opportunity to brew on their brewhouse the day of Big Brew Day http://www.homebrewersassociation.org/pages/events/national-homebrew-day. For those that may not know what Big Brew Day is I will explain. It is the first Saturday of May and is when homebrewers get together to brew beer at a common site. The past couple years we have been allowed to brew at Great River. So needless to say when the announcement was made there was quite a bit of excited interest. There were six lucky member names that were drawn to brew. We are being lead by Rich Nunez, a former brewer at Bent River, so he completes the seven headed Hydra of brewers.
Today we meet together to lay the ground work of the beer. We have chosen a style of beer that we are looking at and now are in the process of figuring out a recipe to accomplish of end choice. At this time I am not going to spill the beans on the style, you will need to be there on the day we brew to find out our choice. We all agreed on the beer and I think have some wonderful plans for our beer.
I look forward to the chance to brew on a real commercial system and learn some of the techniques it takes to brew on a 10 barrel system. This will be a fun long day with some hard work needed to be done to accomplish our end result.
Needless to say if you are interested in seeing what homebrewing is like and the multiple type of systems are used to make beer come on down. We will at Great River on May 7th starting around 10AM to brew. It is a great day to learn about homebrewing! Also if you do homebrew and want to join us please let Jim Smith know at jimsmith@seminarystreet.com to reserve a space.
Hope to see you there.
QC Beerguy
Today we meet together to lay the ground work of the beer. We have chosen a style of beer that we are looking at and now are in the process of figuring out a recipe to accomplish of end choice. At this time I am not going to spill the beans on the style, you will need to be there on the day we brew to find out our choice. We all agreed on the beer and I think have some wonderful plans for our beer.
I look forward to the chance to brew on a real commercial system and learn some of the techniques it takes to brew on a 10 barrel system. This will be a fun long day with some hard work needed to be done to accomplish our end result.
Needless to say if you are interested in seeing what homebrewing is like and the multiple type of systems are used to make beer come on down. We will at Great River on May 7th starting around 10AM to brew. It is a great day to learn about homebrewing! Also if you do homebrew and want to join us please let Jim Smith know at jimsmith@seminarystreet.com to reserve a space.
Hope to see you there.
QC Beerguy
Saturday, April 2, 2011
Big Beer Killed "Brew Masters" on Discovery
http://www.boston.com/ae/specials/culturedesk/2011/03/anthony_bourdain_discovery_kil.html this link attributes tweets to Anthony Bourbain forcing Discovery Channel to kill " Brew Masters". If this is how it happened this is very sad, but not surprising. Remember big beer just bought Goose Island, so just say "No" to AB and Goose Island!
Friday, April 1, 2011
The Landing
Last night I accompanied my wife to The Landing for a guest bartender night to raise money for the Quad City Chapter of the American Red Cross. Before last night I did not know the place existed. It is tied to the Bass Street Chop house and is a couple of doors down from the restaurant, so you have to walk outside in between the two. Yes I agree not good planning. We walked into the bar and I liked what I saw. It is an upscale bar that is serving a clientele that is out for a special evening. It is clean, with lots of wood and mirrors. They had many top shelf liquors proudly on display.
My wife and I went in and tried to find out what beers they had. Since these were guest bartenders they were unsure what they had. My wife quickly spotted Stella on tap, so that was her choice. I had to go down and see what they had for tap beers. I saw a couple interesting tap handles Founder's Centennial IPA and Two Brothers Domaine Dupage. I asked for the Founder's, after a couple of minutes I was informed by the bartender that the bar manager said that was not being poured tonight. OK why would you leave a tap handle out on display if that beer was not being poured that night? Big major strike, I was less than pleased. So they pointed me to the bottles they had on display in the fridge and saw a few interesting beers in there as well. They had Mad Hatter, Shipwrecked IPA, and Two Brother's Cane and Abel to name a few. So I first went with the Mad Hatter and then both my wife and I followed our first beers with Domine Dupage. Also I had a Cane and Abel. So they do have good beer.
If you are looking for an upscale bar to start your night out, I would suggest giving The Landing a try. Hopefully they do a better job staying current on what they actually have on tap or what they are willing to serve their customers. One other aside they do not have any local beer, so that would be the second improvement they need to make. So if anyone from the local breweries is reading this go get them! Every bar in town needs at least one good local beer!
Again another mention of what the Red Cross does for the community. With in the last week they have helped the victims of at least 3 fires to the tune of over $20,000 for the 3 fires. Unfortunately 2 of the fires were in apartments, so many people were displace in each fire. Just a reminder if you can spare a few $ or the price of a beer this weekend. please consider on donating to the Quad City chapter of the American Red Cross. Hopefully they won't be helping you out when the next fire in the community hits.
QC Beerguy
My wife and I went in and tried to find out what beers they had. Since these were guest bartenders they were unsure what they had. My wife quickly spotted Stella on tap, so that was her choice. I had to go down and see what they had for tap beers. I saw a couple interesting tap handles Founder's Centennial IPA and Two Brothers Domaine Dupage. I asked for the Founder's, after a couple of minutes I was informed by the bartender that the bar manager said that was not being poured tonight. OK why would you leave a tap handle out on display if that beer was not being poured that night? Big major strike, I was less than pleased. So they pointed me to the bottles they had on display in the fridge and saw a few interesting beers in there as well. They had Mad Hatter, Shipwrecked IPA, and Two Brother's Cane and Abel to name a few. So I first went with the Mad Hatter and then both my wife and I followed our first beers with Domine Dupage. Also I had a Cane and Abel. So they do have good beer.
If you are looking for an upscale bar to start your night out, I would suggest giving The Landing a try. Hopefully they do a better job staying current on what they actually have on tap or what they are willing to serve their customers. One other aside they do not have any local beer, so that would be the second improvement they need to make. So if anyone from the local breweries is reading this go get them! Every bar in town needs at least one good local beer!
Again another mention of what the Red Cross does for the community. With in the last week they have helped the victims of at least 3 fires to the tune of over $20,000 for the 3 fires. Unfortunately 2 of the fires were in apartments, so many people were displace in each fire. Just a reminder if you can spare a few $ or the price of a beer this weekend. please consider on donating to the Quad City chapter of the American Red Cross. Hopefully they won't be helping you out when the next fire in the community hits.
QC Beerguy
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