54. Avery Brewing – Redpoint Ale
I really like Avery’s big beers, so I was excited when I found a few of their beers in the “mix a six” area of my local liquor store. The label says, “Redpoint Ale. Ahhh, Success! It’s taken a lot of time and effort to create this unique, rich red ale with a distinct hop bouquet. Enjoy our achievement in celebration of your own accomplishments. Cheers!” It had a decent head when I poured it,...
53. O’Fallon Brewery – Hemp Hop Rye Amber Ale
It’s Friday afternoon, and I wanted to go for something fun to kick the weekend off. So, when I reached into the beer fridge. I grabbed an O’Fallon Hemp Hop Rye Amber Ale. On the label, it says that it is a ,”Malt Beverage Brewed With Hemp Seeds.” when I poured into the glass, it had a fairly small head, which disappeared quickly, and not much of a head stuck around at all. It was pretty cloudy and had a dark...
52. New Glarus Brewing – Road Slush Stout
I got an email today that I was being followed on Twitter by New Glarus Brewery, so I thought I’d grab another one of their beers out of the beer fridge. I’ve only got a few left to choose from, so I grabbed the Road Slush Stout, even though it’s almost Memorial Day. It says it’s brewed with fresh oatmeal and includes chocolate and victory malts. When I poured it, it was black with some ruby colors coming...
51. Brouwerij Huyghe – Delirium Tremens Draft
I had a steering meeting tonight for our homebrew club – the ABNormal Brewers – at Medici in Normal. We hold our meetings there because they usually have a decent list of beers on tap. Tonight they had a few beers I thought would be interesting, and I settled on the Delirium Tremens, since I haven’t seen it on tap very often. It was served in a goblet (wine glass), and was very clear. It had a bright yellow color,...
50. Founders Brewing – Red’s Rye P. A.
I spent my early evening at work, working outside this evening, so when I finally got home I wanted to go for a nice refreshing IPA. In the beer fridge I had quite a selection of Founders beers to select from and reached for the Reds Rye P. A. Ale. The label says that it’s “hopped up and brewed with rye,” it’s got 6.6% ABV and 70 IBU’s. It poured a dark amber, and reddish color, and had a decent head,...
49. New Glarus Brewing – Golden Ale
It’s Sunday afternoon, I just finished mowing and trimming the yard and had a turkey sandwich for lunch. I looked into the beer fridge for something appropriate and passed on all the stouts and double IPAs. I found a New Glarus Golden Ale which sounded pretty good. The 500ml bottle has all of the details on the label and it says it was brewed on 3-23-09 and bottled on 6-18-09. Additionally, it says it was a 160 BBL batch, an OG...
48. Stone / Firestone Walker / 21st Amendment – El Camino (Un) Real Black Ale
I was really looking forward to this one, as I have heard so much about all of the great breweries that collaborated on this beer. However, I was a bit nervous, since my friend from New York who sent me this (and several others) seemed most eager about getting my feedback on this one. Then, I read the label, which says, “Ale brewed with fennel seed, chia seed & pink peppercorns – with mission figs added.” the...
47. Founders Brewing – Breakfast Stout
When I got home from work today, I discovered that the radiator on my car was leaking very severely gushing fluid onto the garage floor. So tonight I went to the beer fridge in need of something big and strong. Fortunately, I had a Founders Breakfast Stout in there. It’s a label says that it is 8.3% alcohol by volume and that it is a double chocolate coffee oatmeal stout, thus, the name, Breakfast Stout. When I poured it, it...
46. Breckenridge Brewery – 471 Small Batch Double IPA
After the experience I had yesterday with the Dogfish Head 90 Minute Imperial IPA, I got nervous, so tonight, I decided to have the Breckenridge Brewery 471 Small Batch Double IPA that I had in the beer fridge. This bottle had a born on date of February 2009 so it was even older than the one I had yesterday. This bottle says, “It all comes down to this. We love making beer. And while our mainline beers keep us very busy, there...
45. Dogfish Head – 90 Minute Imperial IPA
I got back from my son’s preschool graduation tonight and felt like grabbing something both refreshing and strong, and much to my delight, I found a Dogfish Head 90 Minute Imperial IPA in the back of the beer fridge. The bottle says, “what you have here is an Imperial India pale ale featuring a single, constant 90 minute hop addition. It’s balanced by a ridiculous amount of English two row barley. Then we dry hop in...
44. Rogue Ales Brewery – American Amber Ale
After drinking an O’Fallon Cherry Chocolate beer, I felt like having something a little more traditional this evening. A few weeks ago, I had a taste for an amber ale, so I decided to try the Rogue American Amber Ale. I had debated between the growlers they sell at the liquor store and the 6-pack. Ultimately, I went with the 6-pack because it was both cheaper, and didn’t make me feel obligated to drink it all in a day...
43. O’Fallon Brewery – Cherry Chocolate Beer
Tonight when I got home from work, I thought I would reach into the beer fridge and find the most unique thing I could. The decision was pretty clear when I stumbled across an O’Fallon Cherry Chocolate beer in the back of my fridge. I picked this one up around Christmas time when I was brewing a chocolate covered cherry imperial stout. The bottle says that it is a malt beverage with natural flavors. It had a nice creamy head,...
