280. Destihl Restaurant & Brew Works – Bamberg Rauchbier Draft
I wasn’t really planning on having a fourth beer this evening, but it’s my wife’s birthday, and she wanted to have another. So, how could I say no. After the Torrent Black IPA, I thought I’d try another beer from the Brewmaster’s Selections. I really, really enjoyed the Brauerei Heller Bamberg – Hecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier Marzen I had during my Oktoberfest Challenge, so I thought I’d give...
279. Destihl Restaurant & Brew Works – Torrent Black IPA Draft
As I mentioned in my last couple posts, it’s my wife’s birthday and we’re out on the town. After a nice dinner at Kobe Steakhouse and swalling a Tsingtao and Asahi Super Dry, we headed over to Destihl for a beer or two and enjoy the evening before having to pick up the kids. Ever since I had Deschutes’ Hop in the Dark Cascadian Dark ale and the Walnut Brewery 1123 IPA during my trip out to the Great American...
278. Asahi Breweries – Asahi Super Dry
As I mentioned in my last post, we’re out to dinner at Kobe in Bloomington, IL for my wife’s birthday. Before dinner, I started with a Tsingtao, and wasn’t thrilled with it. So for my next drink, I went for the Asahi. We continued to watch the show and I had this beer with my dinner. Numbers: 5% ABV Appearance & Aroma: It was very clear and was golden-yellow in color. The head was bright white with some big...
277. Tsingtao Brewery – Tsingtao
Today is my wife’s birthday, and to celebrate, we went out to Kobe Steakhouse here in town for dinner and a “show.” It’s usually fairly entertaining, although they’ve got the same gimmicks at all of these types of places. Since we were celebrating, it was a chance to have a beer, and a unique one that I could add to the list. Numbers: 4.8% ABV Appearance & Aroma: It was in the bottle here, but I...
276. Ballast Point – Sculpin IPA India Pale Ale Draft
Tonight I’m at Fat Jack’s for our monthly steering meeting for the ABNormal Brewers. I like that they usually have some different beers on tap, and tonight was no exception. I felt like something hoppy, so I decided to go for one of the only IPAs on the list. Numbers: 7% ABV, 70 IBUs Appearance & Aroma: It was slightly hazy and golden-straw colored. It had a very thick, creamy, bright-white head on it, which left...
275. Destihl Restaurant & Brew Works – Hoperation Overload Double IPA
I had a late afternoon doctor’s appointment and had to run some errands. While running errands, I had remembered my friend Fred, the assistant brewmaster at Destihl, saying how much he liked this beer. So, I decided to stop by. Unexpectedly, I ran into Fred and his wife Heather, along with 4-5 other members of our homebrew club, the ABNormal Brewers. Fred was there to unclog the lines which had filled with hop sediment, and...
Thank You Capital Brewery
If you’re a regular reader of this blog, you’ll remember my Oktoberfest Challenge back in October, where I had a seasonal Oktoberfest or pumpkin beer every day during the month. I never thought it would be so hard to find so many seasonal beers. On one trip to the local liquor store, I found a beer from Capital Brewing simply labled “Fest Seasonal beer.” I naturally assumed it was their Oktoberfest. When I...
274. Goose Island – Pepe Nero Draft
As I mentioned in my last post, I was at Fat Jack’s in downtown Bloomington, IL for a Goose Island “mini invasion” where they had taken over 12 taps there. I met up with my friend Fred, who had just finished teaching a homebrewing class at the community college. He was in a good mood, so he bought me this round. Since he was buying I told him to pick what I should have (and I knew I could count on him to pick...
273. Goose Island – Aviator Doppelbock Draft
After going to uptown and Maggie Miley’s for a happy hour for a co-worker, I headed downtown to Fat Jack’s for a Goose Island “mini invasion.” They had taken over 12 of the taps there with different Goose Island beers. Unfortunately, by the time I got there, they were out of their imperial IPA. There didn’t seem to be much for my hop craving, so I decided to try this one. Numbers: 7.6% ABV Appearance...
272. Warsteiner Brauerei – Warsteiner Premium Dunkel Draft
Tonight I’m at Maggie Miley’s in Normal, IL for a happy hour for a coworker (@ChristyBerka) who is moving on to bigger and better things. So, as you can see by my photo, we went out to raise a glass to her. This bar always seems to have Warsteiner on tap, and they always serve it in a huge glass, so I went for the Dunkel. Numbers: 4.9% ABV Appearance & Aroma: As you can see, it had a nice sized, creamy, lightly...
271. Arcadia Brewing – Cereal Killer Barley Wine Draft
As I mentioned in my last post, I was out at Medici in Uptown Normal for a couple of beers. We were catching up on things and making plans for our trip to SXSW next month. After starting with a very good Smuttynose Big A IPA, I decided to go with something a bit maltier. They had this beer on tap, so I thought I’d give it a try. Numbers: 10% ABV Appearance & Aroma: It was deep black, and there was almost no head to it. ...
270. Smuttynose – Big A IPA Draft
My friend, BettyWriter is in town, so we went out for a couple drinks to catch up and put together a game plan for our trip to SXSW next month. We caught up at Medici in “Uptown” Normal, because they usually have a pretty good beer selection. I have heard a lot about Smuttynose, and it seems like they’ve been everywhere lately, so I thought I’d give them a chance. The Big A IPA appears to be a big American...
269. Tommyknocker Brewery – Imperial Nut Brown Ale
I was at the liquor store several months back and found this one. I remember their Nut Brown Ale being pretty good when we stopped by the brewery several years back. So, when I saw an imperial version, and when I read that it was, “Brewed with pure maple syrup,” I knew I had to give it a try. I have no idea how old it was when I bought it, but it’s been in the beer fridge for about a year, so even from the outside...
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