223. Sierra Nevada – Torpedo Extra IPA
Things have been tremendously crazy lately. As I mentioned in my review of Schlafly Winter ESB, my mom had emergency heart surgery and has been in the hospital. Due to some blood clots, she went back in. Upon being released, my grandmother stopped by to visit her and was killed in a car accident while leaving my parents house. It’s been a difficult time, so tonight, I wanted to just sit back, relax a bit in front of the...
222. Full Sail – IPA – India Pale Ale
It’s Thanksgiving evening and we’re about to start on our second helping of turkey and stuffing. We’ve already talked about the things we’re thankful for this year – family, kids, and more. Since we’ve moved onto the second helping, here’s my second helping of what I’m thankful for this year – my Travel Oregon Brewmaster Cuisinternship at Full Sail Brewing in Hood River, Oregon. ...
221. Boddingtons – Boddingtons Pub Ale
My brother-in-law and his family are visiting for Thanksgiving week. He asked me if I knew why Boddington’s had such a different type of head than other beers. I explained that it was “carbonated” with nitrogen, while normal beers are carbonated with carbon dioxide. My wife, influenced by her brother, decided to by some and bring it over. So, I thought this would be a good opportunity to knock this beer off of...
220. Dogfish Head – Midas Touch Golden Elixir Draft
We had our ABNormal Brewers meeting tonight at Fat Jack’s, and as I was coming in, I noticed they had Dogfish Head’s Midas Touch on draft… so I gave it a try. It was a nice lead in to an interesting club meeting. We had guests there from Prairie Fruits Farms who helped us try different beer and cheese pairings. I got to try several cheeses – goat and sheep – that I probably never would have. We also...
219. St. Louis Brewery / Schlafly – Winter ESB Draft
My mom had emergency heart surgery on Thursday, so we rushed to St. Louis to be with her and my dad. It was extremely scary, but the doctors say she’s doing pretty good after the surgery. It was very unexpected and caught my entire family by surprise. We’re praying for her and hope she recovers quickly. After spending the weekend at the hospital with my stomach a bit tied up in a knot, we decided to stop at...
218. Two Brothers – Heavy Handed IPA Draft
As I mentioned in my previous post, we’re out with a coworker who is in town for the week. We went out to Medici in Normal to grab a couple of beers and catch up. I was looking for something to add to this list and my coworker said she was looking for something “hardy.” So, I recommended New Holland’s Charkoota Rye Smoked Dopplebock, which I had there just last week. All agreed that it was like a BBQ rack...
217. Flying Dog – Raging Bitch Belgian IPA Draft
A coworker who works remotely – Bettywriter – was in town for the week, so several of us decided to go out to happy hour and catch up. We stopped at Medici in Uptown Normal, a place I’ve mentioned before that has some pretty good beers on tap. I arrived before anyone else, I didn’t have to be shy when I announced proudly to the bartender that I’d like a Raging Bitch. It was a hazy orange-golden color...
Oktoberfest Challenge – Completed
Well, the Oktoberfest Challenge is complete, and it’s been a great month. There were only 2 days during the month when I didn’t have an Oktoberfest or Pumpkin beer (or even a beer that day). I know this sounds a bit cheesy, but I actually learned a lot during this month-long challenge. First, I gained much more respect for folks like Dave Selden of the 999 beers blog and Beer Drinker Rob of the Daily Beer Review. It...
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