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...
225. Mikkeller – Centennial Single Hop IPA Draft
As I mentioned in my last post, I’m at Fat Jack’s in downtown Bloomington for our ABNormal homebrew club steering meeting. It’s the first meeting of our new board, and I’m still VP. The nice thing about meeting at Fat Jack’s is the opportunity to try a few new beers. They usually have a decent selection, even if it is getting tougher to find beers I haven’t tried yet. The nice thing about the...
223. Sierra Nevada – Torpedo Extra IPA
Things have been tremendously crazy lately. As I mentioned in my review of Schlafly Winter ESB, my mom had emergency heart surgery and has been in the hospital. Due to some blood clots, she went back in. Upon being released, my grandmother stopped by to visit her and was killed in a car accident while leaving my parents house. It’s been a difficult time, so tonight, I wanted to just sit back, relax a bit in front of the...
222. Full Sail – IPA – India Pale Ale
It’s Thanksgiving evening and we’re about to start on our second helping of turkey and stuffing. We’ve already talked about the things we’re thankful for this year – family, kids, and more. Since we’ve moved onto the second helping, here’s my second helping of what I’m thankful for this year – my Travel Oregon Brewmaster Cuisinternship at Full Sail Brewing in Hood River, Oregon. ...
218. Two Brothers – Heavy Handed IPA Draft
As I mentioned in my previous post, we’re out with a coworker who is in town for the week. We went out to Medici in Normal to grab a couple of beers and catch up. I was looking for something to add to this list and my coworker said she was looking for something “hardy.” So, I recommended New Holland’s Charkoota Rye Smoked Dopplebock, which I had there just last week. All agreed that it was like a BBQ rack...
217. Flying Dog – Raging Bitch Belgian IPA Draft
A coworker who works remotely – Bettywriter – was in town for the week, so several of us decided to go out to happy hour and catch up. We stopped at Medici in Uptown Normal, a place I’ve mentioned before that has some pretty good beers on tap. I arrived before anyone else, I didn’t have to be shy when I announced proudly to the bartender that I’d like a Raging Bitch. It was a hazy orange-golden color...
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...
176. Wynkoop Brewing – Mile HI.P.A. IPA Draft
I met up with my friend from the homebrew club at Great Divide, and we knew we needed to grab a bite to eat to get something in our stomachs before heading over to the Great American Beer Festival. Although I had already been to Wynkoop a couple of days ago, it seemed to be the best place to grab a bite between Great Divide and the convention center. It was also a chance to try another one of their beers, and since I was in the mile...
173. Great Divide Brewing – Rumble Oak-Aged IPA
We finished up with work, and I’ve extended my work trip in Denver for one extra day so that I can attend the Great American Beer Festival. As a beer lover, this is an event I’ve always wanted to attend, but never thought I would actually be able to. The timing of this trip worked out perfectly. However, since GABF didn’t start until the evening, I had to find something to do with myself for the afternoon. I saw...
172. Odell Brewing – IPA Draft
We had a very long day today in Colorado – going from Denver, up to Boulder and the 4 Mile Canyon wildfire, then up to Greely, over to Loveland, and then near the Denver airport for the evening. After a day like that, I was ready to have a big bison burger at Ted’s Montana Grill and put down some good beers. Since I had a chance to try Odell’s St. Lupulin Extra Pale Ale, which was very nice, I thought I’d...
169. Odell Brewing – St. Lupulin Extra Pale Ale
A friend from my homebrew club – the ABNormal Brewers – mentioned that he had met someone from Odell Brewing and was a big fan of their beers. And, since we don’t get them in central Illinois yet, I thought I’d give their seasonal – St. Lupulin Extra Pale Ale – a try. It helps that I suspect by the name that it’s going to have a nice hop flavor to it. The bottle says, “A mystical...
167. Wynkoop Brewing – Fresh Hopped Cask IPA
I enjoyed having the B3K Schwartzbier with my bison burger, but now it was time for dessert. While my co-worker decided to get a scoop of ice cream, I went for the cask – which just happened to have a fresh hopped IPA with just-picked hops. I was clear and had a yellowish/orange color with a very thick soapy, bright white head on it. There was a nice hop aroma which was mostly floral and a little bit piney. It had a...
