918. Monday Night Brewing – Cinnamon Cocoa Drafty Kilt Scotch Ale
Every year for the last several years, my wife and I have hosted a Halloween party. My wife is huge into decorating for the party, so preparation has been going on the last several weeks. After working all evening on getting things ready, I decided to pause and have this beer. It was a beer my friend Joe gave me when we met up several months ago. He lives in Atlanta, so whenever we meet up, he brings me some new beers from down south....
907. Sierra Nevada/Mikkeller – Thai Style Iced Tea Ale
It’s been a pretty great Saturday so far. This morning my son had a baseball game, and then we came home and watched some of the World Cup. We’re getting ready to head out to the movies to see Jurassic World, but before we left, I thought I’d try to squeeze in a beer. I’ve been trying to finish up the Sierra Nevada Beer Camp Across the World Series, since I still have a few left. Since it sounded like this one...
639. St. Louis Brewery / Schlafly – Schlafly Christmas Ale
We are in St. Louis this weekend for the holidays, and today, we’re at a party at my aunt and uncle’s house to meet my cousin Steve’s baby daughter Harper. If you’ve followed my blog for a while, you know I visited Steve last fall and he took me to a number of breweries around Seattle. He and I share an appreciation for good beer, and so my aunt bought some local craft beers for us “beer snobs.”...
625. New Belgium Brewing – Pumpkick Ale
It’s Monday night, and the trash is out, the kids are in bed, and it’s time to sit down and enjoy a beer while I watch some TV. Since it’s that time of year, I found this pumpkin beer out of the grocery store and thought I’d give it a try, since you know I enjoy the occasional pumpkin beer. I think New Belgium makes some pretty good stuff, and this one has pumpkin as well as some cranberry in it, which I...
528. Samuel Adams – Merry Mischief Gingerbread Stout
I’ve been home all day today with the kids, and it’s been great having the day off work. In fact, at lunch, I had 8-Bit Pale Ale from Tallgrass. Tonight, I saw this beer in the fridge, which was part of a special holiday 4 pack of Sam Adams beers at Sam’s Club. Since I knew it had spices in it, I knew I couldn’t let it sit in the fridge until next Christmas, so I thought I’d have it tonight. Location:...
526. Stone Brewing – 12.12.12 Vertical Epic Ale
I’ve been doing pretty good lately, doing several beer views this month. So tonight, I went out to the beer fridge and brought in a few more beers to try. The evening was getting late, So I only got a chance to try this one, and I figured if I was only going to have one tonight, I had better make it epic. :) The bottle says, ” This years Stone vertical epic ale is the very last one. Yep, this is it. The final chapter. Or...
515. SanTan Brewing Co – Rail Slide Imperial Spiced Ale
This beer was sent to me a month or so ago by SanTan Brewing, along with some stickers and other swag. I always appreciate being sent beers to review. This one seems to be a seasonal offering – a winter warmer. The can says, “Rail Slide is brewed with Winter spices that add an edge to this smooth seasonal ale. SanTan celebrates the pioneering punk spirit of the American craft brewer with this delicious brew.”...
443. Lazy Magnolia – Indian Summer Spiced Ale
My family and I left for vacation today to spend a week on Madeira Beach, Florida. We’ve driven about 10 hours today and arrived at my friend Joe’s place in Atlanta. We’re crashing here for the night before finishing our trip tomorrow. Joe knew that there was nothing I wanted more after the long drive than a good beer. He offered a bunch of different beers, and I decided to go with this one before going to bed....
413. Urban Chestnut Brewing – Old Tjikko
We’ve decided to hang out at Urban Chestnut Brewing Company for a while on my mini-microbrewery tour of St. Louis. We’ve visited a couple places in the last couple days, and my friend Joe and I are making our way through the extensive beer menu here at UCBC. After getting a sample, I decided to go ahead and get this beer, which is bittered spruce tips. Accroding to the brewery, it “is an aggressively...
404. Perennial Artisan Ales – Abraxas
After having the Vermilion, my friend Joe demanded we get a bottle of the Abraxas. He’s had it before and raved about it. It’s an “Imperial Stout aged on Mexican cocoa nibs, ancho chiles, vanilla beans, and cinnamon,” so as you can tell, it’s supposed to have a rich, complex flavor. Location: Poured from a 750ml bottle into a goblet glass, at Perennial Artisan Ales in St. Louis, MO. Numbers: 10% ABV, ~...
381. Boston Beer Co. / Sam Adams – Winter Lager
We were at TGIFriday’s for dinner and I wanted a beer. The selection of craft beers wasn’t exactly great, so I thought I’d take my chances with the Sam Adams seasonal. Location: Enjoyed a pint glass, at Fat Jack’s in Bloomington, IL. Numbers: 5.6% ABV, 25 SRM, 14.3° Plato OG, 22 IBUs, 193 Calories Ingredients: Malt: Two-row Harrington, Metcalf, and Copeland pale malts, Caramel 60, malted wheat, Weyermann...
243. Breckenridge Brewery – Christmas Ale
We at my parents tonight to celebrate the holidays, and unfortunately, we’ve got two sick kids. We have a family tradition of getting together with my mom’s side of the family tonight, but had to miss it. So we’re sitting here snuggling with them on the couch watching Christmas movies/cartoons. So, I thought I’d bring one of the couple Christmas brews I brought along to make the holidays a little more...
241. Anchor Brewing – 2010 Our Special Ale
I had to stop by Friar Tuck, my local liquor store, for a gift card, and as you might expect, I couldn’t walk out without some beer. I kept it somewhat reasonable, sticking with some holiday beers and a bottle of Infinium. This was one of the seasonal holiday beers I picked up, although I had to buy a whole 6 pack. I’m hoping to trade a few bottles for a few different beers. This bottle says, “This is the...
235. Moylan’s – White Christmas Spiced Winter Lager Draft
After a great Christmas party with the ABNormal brewers on Saturday night, we’re back at it again tonight at our monthly meeting at Fat Jack’s in downtown Bloomington. They usually have some decent beers on tap, so it’s a chance to add another one to the list. In the spirit of the season, and our meeting (seasonal beers), I decided to try the Moylan’s White Christmas lager. It was light orange in the color...
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...
191. Shipyard Brewing – Smashed Pumpkin Ale
While I was picking up pumpkin beers at the liquor store, this one stood out because of the 9% ABV. I thought I’d give it a shot after reading the label… “Smashed Pumpkin is a big bodied beer with a light coppery orange color and pleasing aroma of pumpkin and nutmeg. The OG and final ABV provide the structure and body. Pale ale, wheat and Munich malts combined with the natural tannin in pumpkin and the delicate...
124. Upright Brewing – Reggae Junkie Gruit Draft
After yesterday, I wanted to make sure I tried beers from Oregon Breweries today (despite starting off with the Alaskan Barleywine). I had heard of Upright Brewing on an episode of Basic Brewing Video a few months ago, and, similar to the Midwest’s Jolly Pumpkin, they did mostly farmhouse style beers. I had also never tried a Gruit – a beer brewed with herbs instead of hops. Given that combination, it was one of my...
48. Stone / Firestone Walker / 21st Amendment – El Camino (Un) Real Black Ale
I was really looking forward to this one, as I have heard so much about all of the great breweries that collaborated on this beer. However, I was a bit nervous, since my friend from New York who sent me this (and several others) seemed most eager about getting my feedback on this one. Then, I read the label, which says, “Ale brewed with fennel seed, chia seed & pink peppercorns – with mission figs added.” the...
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