330. Urban Chestnut – STLIPA (St. Louis India Pale Ale)
As I mentioned in my last post, I’m in St. Louis doing a “mini-micro tour” (hitting 3-4 microbreweries) with my friend Joe. After lunch, our first stop was Urban Chestnut brewing for a couple beers. They have a very cool set up in an old carriage garage, and both the brewery and bar are new and modern. Joe and I sat at the corner of the bar and had samples of several different beers. They are very, very generous...
314. Brasserie D’Achouffe – Houblon Chouffe Dobbelen IPA Tripel Draft
After having the Lazy Magnolia Southern Pecan Nut Brown, I was feeling like something hoppy to finish off the night. The bartender again let me try several samples to see if there was anything I might like (although I didn’t mentioned that I’d tried about half of the ones he was giving me before). I’d remembered have a couple Belgian IPAs, and really enjoyed Flying Dog’s Raging Bitch, so the bartender...
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...
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...
262. Green Flash Brewing – Le Freak Ale
I announce each of my posts on Twitter (@1KBeers), and recently got a suggestion via Twitter from @Lauren_BILLYves – who as it turns out, is Lauren Hinkley, the daughter of Green Flash Brewing founders Mike and Lisa Hinkley. Obviously, she suggested I try a brew from Green Flash Brewing, and specifically, Le Freak. The bottle says, “Extreme ale converging San Diego-style imperial pale ale and Belgian-style...
260. Avery – duganA IPA Draft
I’m at Fat Jack’s tonight for our monthly ABNormal Homebrewers meeting. While we’re discussing English Pale Ales at the meeting tonight, I thought I’d kick it off with something fairly flavorful and big. I’ve liked almost everything I’ve had from Avery so I took a low risk and went for this one. Numbers: 8.5% ABV, 93 IBUs, 1.076 O.G., Hops – Chinook, Centennial and Columbus, Malts –...
206. Founders Brewing – Devil Dancer Triple IPA
Well, I spent most of the day running from the car dealership to the credit union, but we finally closed on the minivan we were considering… just in time to pack it up and head to my old stomping grounds at the University of Missouri-Columbia for Homecoming. We took the kids around to look at the house decorations and got back to the hotel late. I was hoping to find a new type of seasonal beer in Columbia, but with all the...
143. Widmer Brothers – Timbrrr Imperial IPA
Kurt & Rob Widmer, Me, Jamie Emmerson & Irene Firmat I was looking for something to do on Saturday morning before the Oregon Brewers Festival and the smoker at Full Sail Riverplace. When I attended the Brewmasters’ dinner, I got a chance to meet Kurt and Rob Widmer (the Widmer Brothers), and they recommended I stop by to take their brewery tour. Reservations were required, so I called and was able to get myself and my...
132. Beer Valley Brewing – Leafer Madness Imperial Pale Ale
I had a good time hanging out in the Rogue Ales hospitality suite, but decided to head back over to the Oregon Brewers Festival for the rest of the evening. So far, it’s been a good day for trying to stick with Oregon beers – including the all-Oregon OREgasmic from Rogue – along with super hoppy beers. Just like the Alpha Centauri Binary IPA I had right before going to the Rogue room, this beer also registered 100...
129. Hop Valley Brewing – Alpha Centauri Binary IPA Draft
As you can tell by the big grin on my face on the right (which never went away the entire time I was in Oregon), I was having a great time making the rounds at the Oregon Brewers Festival. As you can tell by the other picture on the right, I still had to make it through a lot more beers at the festival. There were almost 80 different beers there under two enormous tents. I had never heard of Hop Valley Brewing, but simply by the...
125. Terminal Gravity Brewing – Single Hop Double IPA Draft
It was time to try another Oregon beer, and nearby was Terminal Gravity Brewing of Enterprise, OR. In addition, I also like trying single hop beers, just to help me isolate and understand what different types of hops taste like in the finished beer. There’s also the fact that I really like double IPA’s, so this had a lot going for it. Besides, I think this one was listed as the second hoppiest beer at the festival...
111. Bridgeport Brewing – Hop Czar Imperial IPA Draft
Although I was not very impressed with Pelican Brewery’s Guillotine Strong Ale, I thought I’d check back in with Jamie to see if he had enjoyed anything he had tried. He was drinking Bridgeport’s Hop Czar Imperial IPA and said it was pretty good, so I thought I would give it a try. It was the only beer at the Brewmasters’ Dinner which was being served from a firkin with some recently added fresh dry hops. I...
