Yes I missed the opening of Against the Grain, because I was out of
town. I did have a chance to get there the past weekend to enjoy their
beer selection with my wife. All I can say is that we enjoyed ourselves
and they do have beers on tap that you cannot normally find in the QC.
They are proud of this and are trying to be different. I have been there
a couple times since and feel very comfortable here. Rich and Neil make
for a good bartending team.
When we left Against the Grain we went down to Blue Cat for dinner.
Our friends and I ordered their latest beer Phil, labeled as an American Pale
Ale. I did not fully understand the beer and guessing the beers I had
before affected my perception, so that means a retake on Phil with a clean palate.
I look forward to a retry.
QC Beerguy
Monday, July 23, 2012
Sunday, July 8, 2012
Against the Grain Preview
This coming Tuesday, July 10th Against the Grain Brewery and Ale House will
be opening their doors for business. At first they will only have guest
beers since they are having their brew system built and it will be about
another 6 weeks before it is at Against the Grain. Here is a preview of
the beers they will have on tap: Smuttynose Old Brown, New Holland Black
Tulip, Leine's Big Eddy IPA, Founder Devil Dancer, Stone's Sublimely Self
Righteous Ale, Capital's Hop Cream, North Coast Old Rasputin, Southern
Hemisphere 2 x Stout, Bear Republic Hop Rod Rye and Pabst Blue Ribbon.
They also will have numerous beers in bottles and cans, like the taps will be
beers that you can not normally find. They are looking to be an Ale House
know for having beers that you can not normally find here in the Quad
Cities.
The bar area features a really cool hand built "L" shaped bar that will seat around 15-20 people and also a few tables and chairs for people to sit and enjoy their beers. As well they will have a game room area that will feature a couple of pool tables, dart boards and a few video games. Both areas will have beside tables and chairs, conversation bars where you can hang out with your friends and solve the world's problems.
So remeber to make it to Against the Grain Tuesday PM after work and check out the place and check out the hard work Rich, Steph, Neil, the contractors and some helpful volunteers put in to make sure that Against the Grain opened. Against the Grain is located at 1340 31st St Rock Island, IL, on top of the hill in Rock Island near Augustana College. They plan to open at 4pm, so an after work stop would be doable.
Hope everyone enjoys the opening and I wish them well on the opening. Unfortunately for me I will be out of town, so my first time there will be next weekend.
QC Beerguy
The bar area features a really cool hand built "L" shaped bar that will seat around 15-20 people and also a few tables and chairs for people to sit and enjoy their beers. As well they will have a game room area that will feature a couple of pool tables, dart boards and a few video games. Both areas will have beside tables and chairs, conversation bars where you can hang out with your friends and solve the world's problems.
So remeber to make it to Against the Grain Tuesday PM after work and check out the place and check out the hard work Rich, Steph, Neil, the contractors and some helpful volunteers put in to make sure that Against the Grain opened. Against the Grain is located at 1340 31st St Rock Island, IL, on top of the hill in Rock Island near Augustana College. They plan to open at 4pm, so an after work stop would be doable.
Hope everyone enjoys the opening and I wish them well on the opening. Unfortunately for me I will be out of town, so my first time there will be next weekend.
QC Beerguy
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
Against the Grain Change
Just wanted to get the word out that the owners of Against the Grain had to make a change on their opening. Instead of July 6th they will be opening on July 10th, due to unforeseen delays on preparation. So no beer will be flowing Friday night. Hope no one shows up expecting them to be open.
QC Beerguy
QC Beerguy
Monday, July 2, 2012
Against the Grain Opening
For those of you in the QC Area and may be unaware, Against the Grain
Brewery and Ale House will be opening this coming Friday night, July 6th.
Doors open at 4pm. Just a reminder they will be an Ale House first, since
their brewing equipment and licensing of the brewery portion are still not
completed. Hopefully they will have both completed sometime this summer.
So come on over to Against the Grain Friday night; they are located at 1340
31st St Rock Island, IL. I know my wife and I plan on attending the
opening, so I will see many of you there.
QC Beerguy
QC Beerguy
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Trends in Beer
Today as I was driving down the road I began to think about beer in general
and quickly progressed onto beer fads or beer trends. Regardless of
calling it a trend or fad, what I was thinking about was how quickly beer
styles come into favor and then disappear. At first I was thinking of the
current beer trends within the last 10-20 years and mainly dealing with
brewpubs, micro and craft breweries. I then realized that beers trends,
in the United States, can go back to the at least the mid 1800s. At that
time there was an influx of German immigrants to the United States and with
them they brought their beer. For the most part that beer was a Pilsner
style beer. As the German immigrants became brewers at first on a local
scale, then a regional scale and then a national scale, they kept tweaking
their beer to appeal to the widest audience. As they did that they also
realized they could use cheaper ingredients to make the now mass appealing
American Lager. From that start the major breweries of Miller, Schlitz,
Coors and Anheuser Busch grew and eventually dominated beer brewing into the
20th century. So a beer trend built several empires in beer.
Now, to my original thoughts.
Today and over the last 20 years craft and micro breweries have been through phases of the "hot" beer trends. When craft beer was beginning to grow in the 1980s and 1990s it seemed like every brewery had core or flagship beers in their portfolio. Those core beers usually were a blonde or American wheat, a pale ale, an amber or brown ale and a stout. These were the beer that everyone brewed and were complemented by a hefeweizen, a fruit beer or even a lager or two. It seemed like every brewery had these and sometimes it was hard to separate beer from one brewery to beer from another brewery. Then an earth shaking beer began to hit the market and spread across the United States…Sierra Nevada's Pale Ale. This was a unique hoppy and malty beer.
With the advent of Sierra Nevada a trend of hoppy west coast beers began. Eventually it evolved into the trend of the West Coast Style IPA. For hopheads like me, this is a heaven sent beer. Every brewery then began to make this style of beer and it became an addition to every breweries core beers.
Beer trends can come and go as well. Some beers have had popularity in earlier times and then fall out of favor. If they fall out of favor long enough these beers disappear and sometimes are resurrected centuries later. A couple of examples of this are Porters, Belgian Wits and a German Gose. As craft brewers search for new flavors they sometimes revive a beer style. Sometimes these revived beers become the latest beer trend.
Also beer trends can be a new "style" of beer as well. Like the Black IPA, Bourbon Barrel Stouts and Belgian IPAs. These beer trends have yet to be officially recognized by the BJCP at styles, but many craft brewers contest have these beers broke out into their own "style" category. If these beers have the staying power they may become their own beer style category. Only time will tell.
Beer trends usually come from the need to experiment and add new tastes and aromas to beer. This is usually done for a couple of reasons. One to just prove that an unusual taste or aroma fits into a beer and people will drink it. A second reason is that the brewer is just trying to outdo his/her contemporary brewers, in other words just to prove that they can brew something no one else can.
As long as there are craft brewers there will always be beer trends. Some beers will take off others will fall by the wayside. So as you travel around keep on the lookout for the next beer trend. Most of all do not worry about if a beer you like is a trend or not; if you like it keep drinking.
QC Beerguy
Now, to my original thoughts.
Today and over the last 20 years craft and micro breweries have been through phases of the "hot" beer trends. When craft beer was beginning to grow in the 1980s and 1990s it seemed like every brewery had core or flagship beers in their portfolio. Those core beers usually were a blonde or American wheat, a pale ale, an amber or brown ale and a stout. These were the beer that everyone brewed and were complemented by a hefeweizen, a fruit beer or even a lager or two. It seemed like every brewery had these and sometimes it was hard to separate beer from one brewery to beer from another brewery. Then an earth shaking beer began to hit the market and spread across the United States…Sierra Nevada's Pale Ale. This was a unique hoppy and malty beer.
With the advent of Sierra Nevada a trend of hoppy west coast beers began. Eventually it evolved into the trend of the West Coast Style IPA. For hopheads like me, this is a heaven sent beer. Every brewery then began to make this style of beer and it became an addition to every breweries core beers.
Beer trends can come and go as well. Some beers have had popularity in earlier times and then fall out of favor. If they fall out of favor long enough these beers disappear and sometimes are resurrected centuries later. A couple of examples of this are Porters, Belgian Wits and a German Gose. As craft brewers search for new flavors they sometimes revive a beer style. Sometimes these revived beers become the latest beer trend.
Also beer trends can be a new "style" of beer as well. Like the Black IPA, Bourbon Barrel Stouts and Belgian IPAs. These beer trends have yet to be officially recognized by the BJCP at styles, but many craft brewers contest have these beers broke out into their own "style" category. If these beers have the staying power they may become their own beer style category. Only time will tell.
Beer trends usually come from the need to experiment and add new tastes and aromas to beer. This is usually done for a couple of reasons. One to just prove that an unusual taste or aroma fits into a beer and people will drink it. A second reason is that the brewer is just trying to outdo his/her contemporary brewers, in other words just to prove that they can brew something no one else can.
As long as there are craft brewers there will always be beer trends. Some beers will take off others will fall by the wayside. So as you travel around keep on the lookout for the next beer trend. Most of all do not worry about if a beer you like is a trend or not; if you like it keep drinking.
QC Beerguy
Monday, June 25, 2012
QC Tasting rooms
As I have previously noted both Bent River and Front Street have their
tasting rooms open and over the weekend my wife and I had a chance to visit
both of them. Saturday morning we went to the downtown Davenport Farmer's
Market and after walking around a while we made our way to Front Street's
tasting room. It is in the Freight House building and looks like your
average tasting room. The main feature is the brewing equipment along the
back wall behind the bar, there is lots of room between the bar and brewery so
neither will conflict with the other. The room itself has well placed
tables and chairs as well as the bar stools at the bar. The other main
attraction will be the view of the Mississippi River. This is a great place to
sit and enjoy a beer or two.
The beer has made a marked improvement over that previously made at the original location in the cellar. The Raging River Pale Ale is now a very enjoyable beer and easy to drink. The Hefe is improved as well. Their brewmaster's special was a vanilla porter, which I enjoyed very much. They are still feeling out their hours, but the info I have received is that they will open at 9AM on Farmer's Market Saturday. Otherwise they are looking at being open at 4 PM on other days. Go check this place out and enjoy the view.
Saturday afternoon my wife and I and another couple met up at Bent River's tasting room in Rock Island. The tasting room looks and feels much different than the original location of Bent River. They did a great job of turning an old car wash into a production facility and tasting room. They also have tables and chairs outside so you can enjoy the beer and smell the ribs cooking across the street at Jim's Rib Haven. The interior of the tasting room is dark, but still comforting in a way. Currently they are still assembling the brewery and plan to have it completed by the end of next week. We received a brief walk through and learned that they have a four barrel system, which will supply both Bent locations, their keg accounts and in the future their bottled beer. I am looking forward to the continued evolution of Bent River's production facility and tasting room.
After a couple of beers at Bent we went up the hill in Rock Island to take a look at Against the Grain's location. We easily found it and just walked around looking inside to get a feel of the place. This also got us thinking more about when they will open. Well we found out Sunday, when Rich made an announcement at the MUGZ meeting. He told the group that their scheduled opening day will be Friday July 6th at 4pm, so needless to say we will be there for the opening. At first Rich and Neil will only be able to sell guest beers, since they do not have their brew system yet. They have made a decision to go with a larger system, so they have ordered a 2 barrel system that they will receive hopefully in 6-8 weeks. Also hopefully they will have all of the paperwork completed so they can start brewing right away.
That is the latest I have on the new tasting rooms here in the QC.
QC Beerguy
The beer has made a marked improvement over that previously made at the original location in the cellar. The Raging River Pale Ale is now a very enjoyable beer and easy to drink. The Hefe is improved as well. Their brewmaster's special was a vanilla porter, which I enjoyed very much. They are still feeling out their hours, but the info I have received is that they will open at 9AM on Farmer's Market Saturday. Otherwise they are looking at being open at 4 PM on other days. Go check this place out and enjoy the view.
Saturday afternoon my wife and I and another couple met up at Bent River's tasting room in Rock Island. The tasting room looks and feels much different than the original location of Bent River. They did a great job of turning an old car wash into a production facility and tasting room. They also have tables and chairs outside so you can enjoy the beer and smell the ribs cooking across the street at Jim's Rib Haven. The interior of the tasting room is dark, but still comforting in a way. Currently they are still assembling the brewery and plan to have it completed by the end of next week. We received a brief walk through and learned that they have a four barrel system, which will supply both Bent locations, their keg accounts and in the future their bottled beer. I am looking forward to the continued evolution of Bent River's production facility and tasting room.
After a couple of beers at Bent we went up the hill in Rock Island to take a look at Against the Grain's location. We easily found it and just walked around looking inside to get a feel of the place. This also got us thinking more about when they will open. Well we found out Sunday, when Rich made an announcement at the MUGZ meeting. He told the group that their scheduled opening day will be Friday July 6th at 4pm, so needless to say we will be there for the opening. At first Rich and Neil will only be able to sell guest beers, since they do not have their brew system yet. They have made a decision to go with a larger system, so they have ordered a 2 barrel system that they will receive hopefully in 6-8 weeks. Also hopefully they will have all of the paperwork completed so they can start brewing right away.
That is the latest I have on the new tasting rooms here in the QC.
QC Beerguy
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