672. Kona Brewing – Big Wave Golden Ale
We picked up Buffalo Wild Wings dinner and I sat down with this beer to watch the Olympics opening ceremonies. This beer was given to me by my wife as part of a mixed 6-pack she bought me for my birthday. Since my birthday was back in September, I figured I’d better have this lighter beer soon. Location: Poured into a chalice glass at my home in Bloomington, IL. Numbers: 4.4% ABV, 21 IBUs, 10.3° Plato OG, ~110 Calories...
555. Green Flash Brewing – West Coast IPA
Tonight is my monthly homebrewers club meeting, and I had a half hour or so to grab some dinner beforehand. Regular readers will see that I love Flinger’s Pizza Pub for their pizza and craft beers on tap, and conveniently, it’s right down the street from Fat Jack’s, our meeting place. Since I was on my own, I had their tomato basil rolls – which were excellent – and this beer. Location: On tap and served...
553. Lagunitas Brewing – A Little Sumpin’ Sumpin’ Ale
After the happy hour at Station 220 ended, where I had the Boulder Freshtracks and a bottle of Old Rasputin, I still had a little bit of time. So, I ran by Medici in Normal to grab a beer during “Wednesday Warriors” (where if you have a beer on 10 Wednesdays during the year you get a t-shirt and discounts). Now the first beer I ordered ran out (just the luck I was having if you read my last post), and they had a bunch of...
551. Boulder Beer Co. – Freshtracks Wet-Hopped Singletrack
Tonight I’m at a happy hour for a couple of co-workers who are moving on to other positions within the company. We’re at Station 220 in Bloomington, IL., and I was a bit surprised to see they had 6 different craft beers on tap. I hadn’t heard of this one before, but I like Boulder’s Singletrack Copper Ale (I can’t believe I haven’t reviewed that one yet), so I thought I’d give this wet hopped...
542. Epic Ales – Simple Ale
When I was in Seattle for work a few months ago, I stopped at the Malt and Vine to pick up some beers I couldn’t get here in Illinois. Along with several beers from Russian River, I got several local beers (of places I didn’t visit, which is amazing, because I stopped at 12 breweries during my visit). This one appealed to me because of the simple label and Epic name. The bottle says, “Using only water, Washington...
472. Mac & Jack’s Brewing – African Amber
I’m at a conference this week in Seattle on the Microsoft campus. At the end of the day, the conference hosted a networking event at the Spitfire Grill there on campus. I grabbed a beer while the presidential debate was on TV. I saw this on tap and hadn’t heard of the brewery before, so I thought I’d give it a try. Turns out the Brewery was right there in Redmond, WA. Location: On tap and served in a pint glass at...
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....
439. Half Acre Beer Company – Daisy Cutter Pale Ale
As you could tell by my last few posts, I’m in Columbia, MO for a golf tournament. We’re out on the course and I’ve already had a Two Brothers Outlaw IPA my friend Joe brought back from a recent trip to Chicago. He also brought back this one from Half Acre Beer Co. It was hard to review it on the course, so Joe shared another can with me to take a little more time review later in the evening. Location: Enjoyed in...
435. St. Louis Brewery / Schlafly – Yakima Wheat Ale
After a quick stop at a new beer bar in Columbia, MO named 44 Stone, and enjoying Schlafly’s Black IPA and Avery’s Hog Heaven, my friend Joe and I checked into the hotel. We met up with the guys we’d be playing golf with the next day at Booche’s in downtown Columbia. It’s a pool hall with some of the best little hamburgers anywhere. Joe and I each ordered several burgers as well as a pitcher of this...
426. Destihl Restaurant & Brew Works – Downstate Pale Ale
As I mentioned in my last post, my friend Joe is passing through town, on his way home to St. Louis from Chicago. He wanted to meet at Destihl to try a few of their beers, and have some dinner. I started out with their St. Dekkera Reserve Bela Imperial Pilsner, so I was looking for something a bit lighter and drinkable than the sour I’d just had. This beer fit the bill and I thought it would be a nice pairing for my bison...
421. Piece Brewery & Pizzeria – Worryin’ Ale
We’re up in Chicago today for my sister’s football game (she plays for the St. Louis Slam women’s tackle football team), as she’s playing the Chicago team. We headed up this morning and took the kids to Shedd Aquarium. It was a great morning and I planned ahead to have lunch here at Piece on our way up to the game in Evanston. I’d heard many good things from guys in my homebrew club about both the beer...
420. SweetWater Brewing – 420 Extra Pale Ale
I noticed I was approaching beer #420, and having enjoyed this beer before I started my journey, thought it would be fun to review this beer as #420. Unfortunately, however, SweetWater is not yet distributed in Illinois. So, on a whim, I thought I’d email them to see if I could get a sample. Thank you so much to SweetWater for finding a way to get me the beer to review as #420! Location: Poured into a Sam Adams perfect pint...
