566. Great Dane Pub & Brewing – Crop Circle Wheat
My family and I are headed from Central Illinois to Rochester, MN and Mayo Clinic for my mitral valve repair heart surgery. Around lunchtime we hit Madison, Wisconsin and decided to stop for lunch. Thanks to a recommendation from my friend Fred, we decided to stop at Great Dane Pub & Brewing and enjoy a sampler. With all sorts of tests tomorrow, I have to limit my beer/alcohol intake, so my wife and I split this. I started to do a...
Halfway There Party!
I’m only one beer away from the halfway mark to 1000 beers! It’s taken me a little over 2.5 years to get this far, but I’m hoping it won’t take me as long to finish. I’ve found the reviews take quite a bit of time, and when I go on a trip – like I did to Seattle last month – I tend to rack up a lot of new beers, with not much time to do the reviews. I’m hoping to get a little better...
478. Black Raven Brewing – Totem Pale Northwest Ale
I’ve you’ve read my last few posts, you’d see that I’ve been in Seattle and Redmond, Washington the last few days at a conference on the Microsoft campus. When I sent a note out to my Twitter followers, Facebook friends and posted on my Google+ page, this brewery seemed to be one of the most recommended breweries in the Seattle area. So, when the conference finished up, I first stopped at the Cork & Vine...
474. Hale’s Ales – Cream HSB Hales Special Bitter
I’m in Seattle for work this week and stopped at this brewery on my way back to the hotel for the evening. They offered some small sample glasses, and I already had their Red Menace Big Amber. While having my first beer, I read a few reviews on beers from this brewery, and it sounded like the Cream beers they offered on nitro draft were their best. So, for my next one, I went with this one. Location: On tap and served in a...
464. Fremont Brewing – Interurban IPA
I’m getting ready for a business trip out to Seattle, and I’ve been trying to have a few of the beers my cousin sent me a few weeks ago from Seattle. I’m hoping that it’ll help me determine a few breweries I must stop at while I’m there. In doing a little prep work for my trip, it looks like this brewery has a great “urban beer garden,” so I’m hoping this beer will be the motivation I...
447. Cigar City Brewing – Maduro Brown Ale
As I’ve mentioned in my last few posts, I’m at Madeira Beach in Florida on my family vacation. Today we went to John’s Pass, a touristy area with lots of souvenir stores, ice cream spots, restaurants, and tours. We walked along the boardwalk and stopped into The Hut Bar and Grille to rest and grab a bite to eat and drink. Location: On tap and served in a plastic cup at The Hut Bar & Grille at John’s Pass...
422. Piece Brewery & Pizzeria – Golden Arm
As I mentioned in my last post, I’m in Chicago today to watch my sister play football. She plays professional women’s tackle football for the St. Louis Slam. We headed up early and took the kids to Shedd Aquarium. Before going to the game, we stopped at Piece for a pizza and a few beers. I already had their Worryin’ Ale, and my wife let me enjoy about half of her beer when she ordered this one. Location: Served...
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...
418. The Lost Abbey – Devotion Ale
We had a homebrew club meeting tonight just up the street at Fat Jack’s. A few of us headed down to Flingers because they have half price craft beers on Monday nights. They have several craft brews on tap, but this was one of the only ones that wasn’t on my list yet. Location: Enjoyed in a pint glass at Flinger’s Pizza Pub in downtown Bloomington, Illinois. Numbers: 6.25% ABV, 1.050 OG, 1.005 TG, ~ 188 Calories...
403. Perennial Artisan Ales – Vermilion
As I mentioned, I’m in St. Louis for another mini-micro tour with my friend Joe (meaning we hit a bunch of St. Louis’ microbreweries over a weekend, which there have been several new ones in the last year or so. I got in late, but we had dinner and I had an Oatmeal Brown from 4 Hands. Now we’re on to Perennial Artisan Ales. I stopped here very briefly over the holidays and picked up a few beers to go, including...
378. St. Louis Brewery / Schlafly – Oatmeal Stout
It’s the day after Thanksgiving and we headed to St. Louis to spend some time with my dad and sister. We decided to head over to my cousin’s new house to see it along with their adorable daughter. They offered me a beer while we were hanging out, and took this beer. I checked my list and saw I hadn’t had it yet, so I thought I’d write a quick review. Location: Enjoyed a bottle, at my cousin’s house in...
293. Stone Brewing – Double Bastard Ale Draft
After everything that has been going on, I really needed a night out. Fortunately, I found out that a local distributor had picked up Stone Brewing and we would now be able to get it in our area. A local bar, Fat Jack’s, was having a “tap takeover” (like they did with Goose Island a couple months ago) with several Stone beers. I had several of their beers when a friend from San Diego shipped me a few last year,...
