690. Avery Brewing – The Czar Imperial Stout 2009
Our Saturday afternoon and evening has been full of packing and watching basketball. It was time to just take a break and enjoy a beer and the end of the exciting Wisconsin-Oregon game. I bought this beer at the local liquor store several years back, and it sat in the bottom of the beer fridge for the last four or five years. Now that the beer fridge is emptied out, the last one out is the first one on top, and I decided it was...
524. New Belgium Brewing – Snow Day Winter Ale
My wife was out shopping, and came home with a six pack of this. I haven’t had it yet, so I thought I’d give it a try. The bottle says, “With 3 feet of powder closing the roads, a brewery is not a bad place to get snowed in. Given the unanticipated hall pass of a snow day, our brewers decided to experiment. Hmm… what about this dark caramel roasted midnight wheat braced with a serious load of Styrian Goldings,...
513. Oskar Blues Brewery – Deviant Dale’s India Pale Ale
I’ve been going into the beer fridge the last few days, and trying to pull out older beers. I picked up a four pack of these cans during my vacation in Florida, the first week in August. It was a great beer, and I especially enjoyed having this big beer in cans, so I could enjoy it on the beach. I was saving this one for a more formal review, and tonight is the night. Location: Poured into a Sam Adams perfect pint glass from the...
459. Oskar Blues – Gubna Imperial IPA
A few weeks ago, I was on vacation in Florida, and on the way down, we stopped at my friend Joe’s house in Atlanta. He picked up a bunch of beers for me that I couldn’t get at home in Illinois, and made sure they were in cans so I could enjoy them on the beach. I had heard a lot about this beer, and was really looking forward to trying it. I had an extremely long day at work today and so I was looking for a big beer to...
434. Avery Brewing – Hog Heaven
After starting with Schlafly’s Black IPA, I was ready to get the weekend started. The new beer bar in Columbia, MO – 44 Stone – also had this nice craft beer on draft. Knowing I had a long night ahead of me (and an early morning to get up and play golf), I oped for the 4oz glass of this big beer. According to the brewery, “this dangerously drinkable garnet beauty is a hop lover’s delight. The intense dry-hop...
366. Twisted Pine – Hoppy Boy
I’m in Boulder, Colorado for work and wanted to try to hit a few breweries while here. After an unsuccessful stop at Upslope Brewing, we headed out for dinner. Before heading to our dinner location, I asked the group if we could stop at Twisted Pine Brewing for a couple of beers, since I haven’t been able to have any of their beers. According to them, “Hoppy Boy India Pale Ale is the flagship beer of Twisted Pine....
339. New Belgium – Ranger IPA
I’m out with my family for dinner tonight and was ready for a big beer. Fortunately, they had this freshly tapped beer to satisfy my craving for something hoppy. Location: On tap at Joe’s Station House Pizza Pub in Normal, IL. Numbers: 6.5% ABV, 70 IBUs, 14.6 OG, 2 TG, 185 Calories Ingredients: Hops: Chinook, Simcoe, Cascade; Malts: Pale, C-120. Appearance & Aroma: The beer had a Soapy head on it which left some very...
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 –...
251. New Belgium – Skinny Dip
It’s the last day of work for the week, and my boss was out. So the supervisor covering for him swung by to let me know we could go home early, but that if I wanted to go, several people were headed over to Legends for a quick beer. How could I turn that down. Since I still had to head home to watch the kids, I was looking for something a little light, but still flavorful. Since I’m pretty familiar with New...
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...
226. Flying Dog – Snake Dog IPA India Pale Ale Draft
I stopped at Medici in Normal to grab a beer and get my final punch on my Wednesday Warriors card. On Wednesday, they have $3 pints, and after 10 Wednesday visits you become a warrior. That means you get a t-shirt – although I didn’t get one because they had run out of XLs – your beer is served in a mug, and you get invited to their end of the year party. Besides getting the final punch on my ticket, it’s...
199. Left Hand Brewing – 400 Pound Monkey English IPA
We’re on our way to the Oktoberfest celebration in Hermann, MO, and I’ve already had a Schlafly Oktoberfest to satisfy my daily requirement as part of my Oktoberfest Challenge. While my intention was to dig into my freshly home brewed pumpkin beer, my friend also had this Left Hand 400lb Monkey in his cooler and offered it to me. Since I haven’t had it before, and I do appreciate ESB’s and English IPA’s I...
