563. Illinois Brewing Co. – Big Beaver Brown Ale
As I mentioned in my last post, when I reviewed Illinois Brewing Co.’ s Big John Barley Wine, I’m at Illinois Brewing Co. today brewing a batch on their system for our homebrew club’s barrel project. We finally finished up our brew, and while the snow is really coming down outside, we sat at the bar and enjoyed a beer inside. Behind the barleywine, this was the next most interesting for me on their house tap list....
562. Illinois Brewing Co. – Big John Barley Wine
Today I’m at Illinois Brewing Company here in Bloomington, IL. They let our homebrew club come in and brew a beer on their system for our club’s barrel project. I actually put together our Russian Imperial Stout recipe to brew on their system, so we can age it in a Buffalo Trace bourbon barrel. We had a great time brewing, despite a few hiccups, and went upstairs for a bit during the boil to grab a beer. Since it’s...
561. Odell Brewing Co – Myrcenary Double India Pale Ale
I was out in Colorado for work about a year and a half ago and picked up a four pack of this beer at the local liquor store. I enjoyed the other three while I was there, and brought this one back in my luggage to review when I got home. Apparently, it got lost in the back of the beer fridge, and I noticed it just recently. One reader – Larry, whose beer journey can be found here – recommended it as one of his favorites, so...
560. Samuel Adams – Third Voyage Double IPA
My homebrew club acquired a few bourbon barrels, and our group is brewing an Imperial Stout to put in the barrel. We’re brewing tomorrow at Illinois Brewing Company (IBC), here in Bloomington, IL. We have the grain, about 250lbs of it, but found out IBC only has a small corona mill. Therefore, my friend Fred and I started milling the grain this afternoon at his house. While we were milling the grain, Fred offered me this beer...
559. Finch’s Beer Co. – Fascist Pig
Well, it’s been an interesting day with several good things happening. Today, I found out I got a promotion, and then got a phone call from Mayo Clinic. I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned it, but I need heart surgery for a mitral valve repair. My surgery date was supposed to be May 16, but today I got a call asking if I could come in next Friday (yes, in one week). To celebrate both of these, my family and I went out for...
558. Bell’s Brewery – Lager of the Lakes
My wife and son are out tonight, and I’m relaxing at home with my daughter. She’s playing in the basement, so I thought I’d take the chance to do another review. I can’t remember if I picked up this beer on a trip to the brewery in Kalamazoo, Michigan last year, or if I got it in a mixed six pack at the local liquor store. Either way, the bottle has a batch number of 10204 on it. The label says, ” As...
557. NW Peaks Brewery – Triumph Ale Imperial IPA
I picked up this beer a few months ago when I was in Seattle for work. My cousin really wanted me to try this brewery and we got there at the last second (they were actually closing), but we talked with the assistant brewer for a bit and he let us stick around and have a beer. At the time, I had the NW Peaks Redoubt Red and it was pretty good. I wanted to try more, and since I was flying out the next day, my only option was to buy...
556. North Coast Brewing – Pranqster Belgian Style Golden Ale
After stopping at Flinger’s Pizza Pub for a Green Flash West Coast IPA and a couple of pizza rolls, I headed to our homebrew club meeting at Fat Jack’s. I looked to see what was on the menu I hadn’t had yet, and this one caught my eye. I’d seen it at the liquor store, and heard good things about it, so I thought I’d give it a try since it was on draft. Location: On tap and served in a curved glass at Fat Jack’s in...
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...
554. Spoetzl Brewery – Shiner Hefeweizen
Today is the first day of SXSW, and although I’ve been there before, I’m not able to go this year. However, I’m missing being there a ton and am taking advantage of their live streams of some of the keynote speakers. In order to truly make it a “SXSW experience at home” I wanted to crack open a Shiner while watching. Fortunately, my good friend @BettyWriter sent me a mixed 6 pack of Shiner beers right...
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...
552. North Coast Brewing – Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout
I’ve been having a great time hanging out with co-workers at a happy hour for a few of them who are moving on to bigger and better things. After having the Boulder Freshtracks, I thought I’d try something different. I ordered a beer, and the tap blew. The only only remaining one that looked good was the Schlafly Pale Ale. Guess what? That one blew too. To avoid further issues with the taps, I ordered this bottle, which...
