178. RAM Restaurant & Brewery Indianapolis – ’71 Pale Ale Draft
We were on our way back from Louisville, Kentucky and decided to stop in Indianapolis for dinner. I was pushing to stop at a brewpub, and my coworker chose RAM Restaurant & Brewery. I was somewhat familiar with the brewpub chain since we stopped there a few months ago and I had their Buttface Amber Ale and their Big Red IPA at their Chicago location. The ’71 Pale Ale was cloudy and was deep amber in color, the head was...
177. Bluegrass Brewing Company – BBC APA Draft
This was my second last minute trip for work in the last two weeks, however, the one last week gave me a chance to go to the Great American Beer Festival. This week we found ourselves in Louisville, Kentucky for work, and just down the street from Bluegrass Brewing Company. So, we just had to stop in for a bite to eat and a beer. I felt like something a little hoppy, so I went with the APA, which I thought stood for American Pale...
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...
156. Mt. Hood Brewing – Cascadian Pale Ale
It’s my last morning in Portland before I head home, so I took the opportunity to walk around downtown a bit. Henry’s 12 Street Tavern had been recommended to me, since they have over 100 beers on tap. Named after Henry Weinhard, it’s the original Blitz-Weinhard Brewery, which brewed beer on the site for over 140 years. The Weinhard Brewery smokestack, an iconic element preserved in the development of...
154. Bridgeport Brewing – Blue Heron Pale Ale
I was having a great time at the Oregon Brewers Festival, but most of the beers were starting to run dry, and of those available, I had tried most. So I decided to save my last token as a souvenir and grab some dinner as well as another couple beers at one of Portland’s many breweries. When I went to the Brewers dinner, I got a chance to meet Bridgeport’s brewmaster, Karl Ockert, and, Jamie Emmerson, executive brewmaster...
142. Widmer Brothers – Drifter Pale Ale Draft
As I mentioned in my last post, I took the Widmer Brothers brewery tour with a friend/coworker (seen here), and had a few samples before the tour began. The next on the list was the Drifter Pale Ale, which our guide told us was a bit of a West Coast pale ale – which used a lot of Summit hops and had a bit of citrus zest in it to give it a bit of a citrusy twist. It was clear and had a bit of a coppery/amber color to it. There...
131. Rogue Ales – Chatoe Rogue First Growth OREgasmic Ale
I was only going to stay at the Rogue hospitality suite at the Oregon Brewers Festival for a short time, but there were a couple of things that convinced me to stay for a little while longer. First, Brett Joyce, the president of Rogue Ales stopped in, followed by Patrick Rue and brother Chris from The Bruery (I had their 7 Grain Saison at the fest). Second, I was having a nice conversation with brewers from Eugene City Brewery and...
110. Pelican Brewery – The Guillotine Strong Ale Draft
I wanted to try as many local and interesting brews as I could while I was at the Oregon Brewers’ Festival Brewmasters’ Dinner – and after being less than pleased with my previous choice of the Spruce Budd beer from Fort George Brewery – I thought I’d ask my Cuisinternship Brewmaster mentor, Jamie Emmerson, what he might suggest. He mentioned that Pelican Brewery had a reputation locally for brewing very...
97. Goose Island – Matilda Draft
I’m in the Chicago airport before heading to my Cuisinternship and thought I’d grab a beer at the Fox sports bar and grill in terminal 3 at O’Hare (where I had the Molson Canadian). To my surprise, it had been converted to a Goose Island bar/restaurant. So, I thought I’d enjoy one more taste of home before catching my flight west. The menu says Matilda is a Belgian style Pale Ale fermented with wild yeast for a...
84. Avery Brewing – Karma Ale
It was a gorgeous Saturday afternoon on a holiday weekend. My parents came to town and were keeping an eye on the kids, so I relaxed and had a nice brew with lunch. I wasn’t sure exactly what kind of beer the Avery Brewing Karma Ale was, so I looked it up on Beer Advocate – which said that it is a Belgian Pale Ale. I hadn’t heard of the style, but was guessing that it would be a nice light beer for this night...
71. Boulevard Brewing – Pale Ale Draft
We were are Lil Rizzo’s down at the Lake of the Ozarks for my grandma’s 80th birthday party. My first beer was an Anchor Steam, and for my second beer, I went with the Boulevard Pale Ale. I figured we were close enough to the Kansas City brewery that it had a good possibility that it would be fresh and hoppy. When it arrived, it had a nice amber color and was very clear. It had a thin creamy head, but there did appear...
67. Broadway Brewery – American Pale Ale Draft
As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, I’m in my old college town of Columbia, Missouri for a fraternity alumni golf tournament. Our foursome actually tied for first place (supposedly, but I played with 3 lawyers, so if you don’t believe our score, try suing us). After a looong day on the golf course, drinking a lot of Bud Light and some O’Fallon Wheach (both to be reviewed later), we headed out for the...
