\n\t
973. Rockwell Beer Co. – Foeder Bock Doppelbock
Nov05

973. Rockwell Beer Co. – Foeder Bock Doppelbock

Several weeks ago, I went down to St. Louis to visit my dad, and help my cousin move into his dorm at Washington University. We then picked up Pappy’s BBQ for lunch and stopped by Rockwell for a beer, and to see my fraternity brother who is the brewmaster there. I got a chance to catch up with him for a bit and he grabbed a few beers for me to bring home. As the weather here cools down, I thought this would be a great fall beer to...

Read More
818. Upland Brewing – Oktoberfest Bavarian Style Lager
Oct06

818. Upland Brewing – Oktoberfest Bavarian Style Lager

I was supposed to play golf with my father-in-law today, but the rain prevented that. And, my son was sick again today, so I had to stay home with him for a bit. After a nice lunch with my wife, I came home and decided to crack open a beer while working on some things around the house. Since it’s Oktoberfest, I decided to have this one. It was given to me by my friend Kevin who brought me several beers from Indianapolis....

Read More
806. Rhinegeist Brewery – Franz Oktoberfest
Feb21

806. Rhinegeist Brewery – Franz Oktoberfest

It’s Saturday night and my wife went out with her friends and I’ve got the kiddos. In addition, I started a new diet, which only lets me have beer one day a week. So after having a Hop Slam and a Pay it Forward Cocoa Porter, I had this beer. It’s one of the beers my sister brought me from her trip to Cincinnati. The can says, “an untraditional Oktoberfest bier, with rich and nutty Munich and Vienna malts...

Read More
749. SanTan Brewing – Oktoberfest
Nov28

749. SanTan Brewing – Oktoberfest

It’s the day after Thanksgiving, and we had a wonderful time yesterday with the family here at our house. I had plenty of my homebrew on tap, as well as lots of food. Today, I had to work from home, because with my new job I still don’t have a lot of vacation saved up. So, after getting plenty of work done, I decided to crack open this canned craft beer. SanTan Brewing sent me this beer a couple of months ago to try, and I...

Read More
734. Solemn Oath Brewing – Oktöberface
Sep22

734. Solemn Oath Brewing – Oktöberface

As you could see in my last couple of posts, I’m in Chicago for work, and thanks to @SubBeerBia I got some some recommendations for places to hit in the Chicago suburbs, including Lunar Brewing and Beer House Chicago. I already stopped at Lunar Brewing and had their Moondance IPA and Hopping Cow Cream Ale. So, the next stop was Beer House Chicago where I ordered a burger from Tom & Eddie’s next door and sat at the bar....

Read More
670. Penn Brewery – Märzen
Feb04

670. Penn Brewery – Märzen

I’m home from work a bit early and the snow is just starting to fall. Everyone’s in a bit of a panic, since we’re supposed to get between 8-10 inches of snow tonight. After throwing some salt on the driveway, I reached in the beer fridge and grabbed this beer. My dad and sister gave me this beer, along with many others, when they stopped at the brewery for lunch when they were in Pittsburgh. The bottle says,...

Read More
608. Hövels Hausbrauerei – Hövels Original
Sep24

608. Hövels Hausbrauerei – Hövels Original

I’m on vacation this week at Disney in Florida, and today, my family and I are visiting EPCOT. We had a nice day walking around the world showcase, and we stopped at the German pavilion for a Altenmünster Oktoberfest bier earlier in the day. I thought it would be fun to come back and have dinner here at the Biergarten Restaurant since it’s actually Oktoberfest right now in Munich. So, when our waitress asked, I ordered a...

Read More
607. Allgäuer Brauhaus – Altenmünster Oktoberfest
Sep24

607. Allgäuer Brauhaus – Altenmünster Oktoberfest

My family and I are on vacation at Disney, and today we’re visiting EPCOT. I’ve been looking forward to getting around the world showcase to visit the German Pavilion, since we’re here during Oktoberfest. While my son did the “Agent P adventure game,” I decided to grab an Oktoberfest bier from the stand out front with two beautiful, young German women serving beer, and take in the sights and smells (the...

Read More
597. Spoetzl Brewery – Shiner Kosmos Reserve
Aug29

597. Spoetzl Brewery – Shiner Kosmos Reserve

It’s Thursday night and we’re back from baseball practice. I was looking for a lighter, but still flavorful, beer as a refreshing relaxer. I find that Spoetzl’s Shiner beers usually fit that category, so I thought I’d give this one a try. I believe I got this beer from my friend Betty, as part of a mixed six-pack of Shiner beers when she moved from Austin last year. Location: Poured into a Stella Artois chalice...

Read More
A Recount Confirms a Mistake!!!
Nov09

A Recount Confirms a Mistake!!!

As I approach the halfway mark on my journey to 1000 beers, I started to reflect upon all the beers I’ve had.  I went back through and read many of my reviews, proud of the fact that I think I’ve gotten better over the last couple years.  Early on, I marked whether a particular beer I had was a draft beer, feeling that perhaps it was important to note this, as it seemed to have a good amount of impact on things like head...

Read More
491. Pennsylvania Brewing Co – Oktoberfest Lager
Oct22

491. Pennsylvania Brewing Co – Oktoberfest Lager

As I’ve mentioned in my last few reviews of Penn beers (Penn Weizen and Penn Overlook IPA), my dad and sister brought several beers back for me from a recent trip to Pittsburgh. Since there’s only a few days left in the month of October, I thought I’d better have the Oktoberfest beer they brought me. Location: Poured into a large tulip shaped pint glass from the bottle at my home in Bloomington, IL. Numbers: 5.5%...

Read More
Best Beers for Fall
Oct03

Best Beers for Fall

Summer is coming to an end – school has started, football season is about to begin, and the shelves at the local store are starting to fill with pumpkin and Oktoberfest beers.  It’s a time when our tastes start moving from light, crisp, refreshing beers to those with a bit more maltiness and warming alcohol content. For me, I’m not sure there’s anything better than sitting outside on a cool fall evening,...

Read More
Best Oktoberfest Beers
Sep22

Best Oktoberfest Beers

I don’t usually do this, but last October I tried an Oktoberfest challenge.  I tried a different Oktoberfest or Pumpkin beer every day in October.  I learned a lot, and I’ve decided this year, to help you, by posting my favorite Oktoberfest beers. Oktoberfest is a 2-3 week festival held annually in Germany, running from late September to the first weekend in October.  It’s an important part...

Read More
Hacker-Pschorr Bräu – Hacker-Pschorr Oktoberfest Marzen Draft
Sep14

Hacker-Pschorr Bräu – Hacker-Pschorr Oktoberfest Marzen Draft

This beer is #196 (Hacker-Pschorr Oktoberfest) on my list, but I took the opportunity to try this beer on tap today.  My birthday was yesterday, and I thoroughly enjoyed the Goose Island Bourbon County Stout.  My dad came to town today and we went out again to celebrate.  We went to Bayern Stube, a German restaurant in Gibson City, IL.  It’s a really interesting place, and since Oktoberfest is about to kick off, I wanted to...

Read More
365. Left Hand Brewing – Oktoberfest Marzen Lager
Aug29

365. Left Hand Brewing – Oktoberfest Marzen Lager

I’m in Boulder, Colorado for a couple of days for work, and I’m hoping to make the most of it by trying a few new brews.  My hotel was on the north side of Boulder and I was excited to see that Upslope Brewing was right around the corner.  I walked down to the brewery, but unfortunately, it wasn’t open.  So I walked down the street and found this little pizza place that had a few local brews available....

Read More
Thank You Capital Brewery
Feb18

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...

Read More
259. ABInBev – Michelob Marzen Oktoberfest Style Beer
Jan09

259. ABInBev – Michelob Marzen Oktoberfest Style Beer

Over the Thanksgiving holiday, I brought my sister almost a case of homebrews for her and her friends to try.  So, when we came in over Christmas, she brought me a few Michelob beers from a sample she had, which I hadn’t had yet as part of my 1000 beer challenge. The label says, “March Beers, or ‘Marzenbiers,’ were originally brewed at the end of the Bavarian brewing season and stored in caves through the warm...

Read More
Oktoberfest Challenge – Completed
Nov01

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...

Read More
216. Shmaltz Brewing – Coney Island Freaktoberfest
Oct31

216. Shmaltz Brewing – Coney Island Freaktoberfest

I had two days left for my Oktoberfest Challenge and only one beer left, so I decided to hold onto this one and enjoy it on Halloween.  It’s been a fun Halloween evening – my son is dressed as Indiana Jones and my daughter dressed as a princess.  I took them out trick-or-treating while my wife stayed home handing out candy.  I enjoyed one of my Russian Imperial Pumpkin beers in a coffee mug while taking the kids around,...

Read More
214. Brauerei Beck & Co – Beck’s Oktoberfest
Oct28

214. Brauerei Beck & Co – Beck’s Oktoberfest

I’m down to the last couple of beers in the beer fridge for my Oktoberfest Challenge, and I think I still need one or two more.  I remember covering Oktoberfest beers during one of our ABNormal Brewers club meetings last year, and remember being somewhat surprised at how much I liked Beck’s Oktoberfest in comparison to the others we tried. So now in the spirit of reviewing it, I thought I’d give it another go around....

Read More