413. Urban Chestnut Brewing – Old Tjikko
We’ve decided to hang out at Urban Chestnut Brewing Company for a while on my mini-microbrewery tour of St. Louis. We’ve visited a couple places in the last couple days, and my friend Joe and I are making our way through the extensive beer menu here at UCBC. After getting a sample, I decided to go ahead and get this beer, which is bittered spruce tips. Accroding to the brewery, it “is an aggressively...
412. Urban Chestnut Brewing Company – Wolpertinger
After a few beers at 4 Hands Brewing, and a couple more at the International Tap House (ITAP) in Soulard, Joe and I continued our St. Louis microbrewery tour by heading to Urban Chestnut Brewing Company. I finally got a chance to try this new brewery last summer and really enjoyed it. One of their signature beers I tried last time is their Winged Nut, which is made with milled chestnuts. This beer is what they refer to as their...
404. Perennial Artisan Ales – Abraxas
After having the Vermilion, my friend Joe demanded we get a bottle of the Abraxas. He’s had it before and raved about it. It’s an “Imperial Stout aged on Mexican cocoa nibs, ancho chiles, vanilla beans, and cinnamon,” so as you can tell, it’s supposed to have a rich, complex flavor. Location: Poured from a 750ml bottle into a goblet glass, at Perennial Artisan Ales in St. Louis, MO. Numbers: 10% ABV, ~...
375. Flat Branch Pub & Brewing – Green Chili Beer
We’re in Columbia, Missouri today for homecoming at my alma mater, the University of Missouri. You might remember we were here a year ago for Homecoming as well, when I reviewed their Cherry Brown Ale and Hudson’s E.S.B. This beer has been a long-time favorite of my friend @jkaiseresq, so I thought I’d give it a try. Location: Enjoyed an imperial pint at Flat Branch Pub & Brewing in Columbia, MO. Ingredients: A...
329. Urban Chestnut – Winged Nut
After having an awesome lunch at The Shaved Duck, my friend Joe took me to the first stop of our “mini-micro” tour of St. Louis – Urban Chestnut. It’s a microbrewery that opened in January near the St. Louis University campus. Founders Florian Kuplent and David Wolfe started it after leaving Anheuser-Busch when it was bought out by InBev. I’ve heard good things about them and was really looking forward...
250. Anchor Brewing – 1999 Our Special Christmas Ale
We’re having our ABNormal Brewers steering meeting tonight at Fat Jack’s, and Fred, our former president, brought this bottle to share. He said he found it at a liquor store up near Chicago, and they had several 6 packs of every year of Anchor’s Christmas Ale since 1999. I’ve already rated Anchor’s 2010 Christmas Ale. It was a deep, dark brown color, and had very little head on it. In fact, it...
246. Sierra Nevada – 2010 Celebration Fresh Hop Ale
I spent most of the day cleaning up and setting up my kids new Christmas presents, so I was ready for a good beer. This one came highly recommended, so I picked up one in a mix-a-six. The bottle says, “Celebration ale is a special ale for the holidays. Featuring the first hops of the growing season, this pioneering IPA is full of complex flavors and aromas from the generous use of whole cone American hops. 6.8% ABV” It...
245. Brauerei Schloss Eggenberg – 2009 Samichlaus Classic Bier
I mentioned a few weeks back that the presentation at our local homebrew club meeting was holiday beers. This beer was one of the samples, and I knew I had to pic up a bottle. As I learned that the Beer Hunter, Michael Jackson, had written about this beer – the strongest lager in the world, at 14% ABV, it is aged for a year from St. Nicholas day. The bottle reaffirms hist story, saying, “Bottled only once a year on...
243. Breckenridge Brewery – Christmas Ale
We at my parents tonight to celebrate the holidays, and unfortunately, we’ve got two sick kids. We have a family tradition of getting together with my mom’s side of the family tonight, but had to miss it. So we’re sitting here snuggling with them on the couch watching Christmas movies/cartoons. So, I thought I’d bring one of the couple Christmas brews I brought along to make the holidays a little more...
241. Anchor Brewing – 2010 Our Special Ale
I had to stop by Friar Tuck, my local liquor store, for a gift card, and as you might expect, I couldn’t walk out without some beer. I kept it somewhat reasonable, sticking with some holiday beers and a bottle of Infinium. This was one of the seasonal holiday beers I picked up, although I had to buy a whole 6 pack. I’m hoping to trade a few bottles for a few different beers. This bottle says, “This is the...
130. Rogue Ales – Morimoto Soba Ale
While at the Oregon Brewers Festival for my Brewmaster Cuisinternship, I was told about the Rogue Ales hospitality suite in the hotel across the street from the festival. They mentioned that if we wanted to get out of the heat, we could stop by there for a break. After a fun few hours at the festival, I headed over to check it out. Aside from all the Rogue swag (see the Rogue condoms, tattoos, etc. behind my cup), they had all...
124. Upright Brewing – Reggae Junkie Gruit Draft
After yesterday, I wanted to make sure I tried beers from Oregon Breweries today (despite starting off with the Alaskan Barleywine). I had heard of Upright Brewing on an episode of Basic Brewing Video a few months ago, and, similar to the Midwest’s Jolly Pumpkin, they did mostly farmhouse style beers. I had also never tried a Gruit – a beer brewed with herbs instead of hops. Given that combination, it was one of my...
