Category: Beer

Beer Review #88: Stone Ruination 10th Anniversary IPA

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Wow! The words used by my brother, my brother-in-law, and myself as we sampled this fantastic beer from Stone Brewing. (http://www.stonebrewing.com/) If you are hophead and are looking for something to slap you in face, then this is a must try beer. Here is a commercial description from Stone:
“And as Stone Ruination IPA turns 10, we thought we’d make ourselves a nice little birthday present to celebrate. But what kind of selfish jerks would we be if we didn’t share?! Behold, the Stone Ruination Tenth Anniversary IPA. (Clever name, eh? That’s why us folks in the Marketing Dept. get the big bucks!) It’s an amped-up version of Stone Ruination IPA, with a bit more malt to bring the abv up from 7.7% to 10.8%, and a very heavy dose of hops. “Classic” Ruination uses 2.5 pounds of hops per barrel–which is more than double the amount we use in any other of our core beers–but for Stone Ruination Tenth Anniversary IPA, we went double again, using an impressive 5 pounds of hops per barrel, including about a pound each of Citra and Centennial in the dry hop. (Hell. Yes.)

Suggested Pairings, provided by “Dr.” Bill Sysak 
Appetizers: Kimchee, ceviche, bacon-wrapped jalapeños (or habaneros)
Entrées: Salt and pepper shrimp, jambalaya, roasted pork chops with apple sauce, pineapple curry 
Desserts: Apple pie with caramel sauce, toffee bars, spiced carrot cake 
Cheeses: Aged Cheddar, Parmigiano-Reggiano, Roquefort, Mimolette 
Cigars: Ashton Classic Majesty, Litto Gomez Diez, Don Pepin Garcia Blue Label Invictos Corojo Robusto”

Nice orange/copper pour with a medium sized white head. The aroma definitely has the smell of hash, mixed with pine and citrus with a bit sweet malt. Nice amount of bitterness, resin, citrus, and HUGE hop flavor. This is one of those beers that you will never forget when you tried and I was glad to share it with my brother and brother-in-law.

I’m not sure if there is any more of this stuff on the shelves, I know it won’t be available in Iowa since we won’t have Stone until October 1st, but for those with Stone on their shelves, if you see this one, it is a definite must try beer!

REVIEW

STYLE: Imperial India Pale Ale (Double IPA)

ABV: 10.8%

PURCHASED AT: Got it from a buddy.

Pour: Copper orange pour with a medium sized white head.

Aroma: Weed, pine, citrus hops.

Taste: Perfectly balanced! Huge amount of hops, resin, citrus, and pine flavor balanced by the malt.

Overall: A

My Recommendation: Buy it if it’s fresh. This is definitely one to try.

Beer Trip: Kansas City/Lee’s Summit, MO

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My wife and I recently returned from a trip to Kansas City, MO area where we stayed with some friends down there who I will refer to as Big Nuts and Moonbeam. While the trip wasn’t set out to be all about beer, but more of a nice, much-needed break, it turned out be a fantastic beer and food experience!

*Friday – The Flying Saucer – Kansas City MO http://www.beerknurd.com/stores/kansascity/

*Saturday – Pork N Pit (during Iowa football game) Sat. Night – Stuey McBrews http://www.stueymcbrews.com/

FRIDAY
When we arrived and Big Nuts and Moonbeam knew the perfect place to take us. The Flying Saucer is a place I’ve read about a few times in various beer magazines and websites and sounded like the perfect place for the weekend to begin….. and it did not disappoint. We started the evening with a few appetizers; the Rocket Tots, which are tater tots with peppers in them served with a side of chipotle sour cream. Sounds basic, but it was awesome! Along with that we had two giant soft pretzels served with a cheese sauce on the side. These weren’t your everyday pretzels, giant, soft, and chewy, a fantastic companion to a nice cold beer. One thing that the Flying Saucer does well is rotate seasonals into their massive beer lineup. I was excited to see Southern Tier Pumpking on tap and started off with that. Great pairing with the pretzel and tots.
Main course: I actually ordered the “Hungry Farmer” which was essentially a charcuterie plate. I went with the peppered salami, prosciutto, and a cheddar with chives in it. This was served with crackers and a mini loaf of fresh-baked french bread. I paired this with Lagunitas IPA and I honestly think I reached a moment of zen! The peppered salami was something I would go back to again; my wife got the Sheboygan side by side; which is two beer brats with kraut and spicy mustard. Great stuff! Would really love to see a german-inspired menu hit the CR/IC spot sometime.

SATURDAY
Iowa football game day. Nervous early and the game didn’t help, Hawks didn’t seem to play that great but to help matters we ordered some BBQ from a local joint in Lee’s Summit. The Pork N Pit, according to Big Nuts, has been around for a couple of years and seems to have a good following. I ordered something a bit different from my usual pulled pork sandwich. I ordered, for the first time in my life, the burnt ends and the smoked beef sausage. Besides marrying my wife this is the greatest decision I’ve ever made! Burnt ends are so amazing, words cannot describe, and I won’t try..you just need to order them sometime. If you don’t like them at the place you order them, then the place is shit hole and you need to find another. The smoked beef sausage was also amazing; juicy, smokey, and the perfect amount of fattiness to go along with a Boulevard Bob’s 47 Octoberfest brew. Their fries are also great; perfect amount of salt, excellent stuff. And I have to mention the smokey baked beans; they add pulled pork into the mix…wonderful! So, drinking during the game and eating copious amounts of bbq would make you lay down and take a nap, nope!! Let’s head out for some wings and tacos…onto Stuey McBrews!!  http://www.stueymcbrews.com/

I will say, walking into the place it looks like a college bar/pool hall. The atmosphere is not something I would correlate with a place that has amazing food, but this was some of, if not the best bar food I’ve ever had. The menu is huge, with wings, tacos, sandwiches aplenty. It took me a while to decide what we wanted since the menu has over 30 different styles of winds, 20 some different tacos, it was overwhelming. We decided to get 10 of the Bar-a-cha-cha wings, which are hot thai honey and BBQ wings. Big Nuts and Moonbeam ordered the award-winning Adobe, and they get them charred and double dipped! Awesome stuff! We also had the Jalapenoroll, which was egg roll stuffed with cream cheese, sour cream, pepper jack, and parmesan, and some bacon and fresh ranch dipping sauce; tremendous! The beer selection was small but still had the local go-to which is Boulevard and I was very happy to see Deschutes Mirror Pond Pale Ale and Deschutes Black Butte Porter on tap. We also decided to order “The Real McCoi Spicy Fish Tacos” which were a fish taco topped with asian slaw and asian vegetables. Think, stir fry mixed with a taco. Great stuff! Add a game of darts to the mix and it was the perfect evening! 

Beer Trip: Kansas City/Lee's Summit, MO

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My wife and I recently returned from a trip to Kansas City, MO area where we stayed with some friends down there who I will refer to as Big Nuts and Moonbeam. While the trip wasn’t set out to be all about beer, but more of a nice, much-needed break, it turned out be a fantastic beer and food experience!

*Friday – The Flying Saucer – Kansas City MO http://www.beerknurd.com/stores/kansascity/

*Saturday – Pork N Pit (during Iowa football game) Sat. Night – Stuey McBrews http://www.stueymcbrews.com/

FRIDAY
When we arrived and Big Nuts and Moonbeam knew the perfect place to take us. The Flying Saucer is a place I’ve read about a few times in various beer magazines and websites and sounded like the perfect place for the weekend to begin….. and it did not disappoint. We started the evening with a few appetizers; the Rocket Tots, which are tater tots with peppers in them served with a side of chipotle sour cream. Sounds basic, but it was awesome! Along with that we had two giant soft pretzels served with a cheese sauce on the side. These weren’t your everyday pretzels, giant, soft, and chewy, a fantastic companion to a nice cold beer. One thing that the Flying Saucer does well is rotate seasonals into their massive beer lineup. I was excited to see Southern Tier Pumpking on tap and started off with that. Great pairing with the pretzel and tots.
Main course: I actually ordered the “Hungry Farmer” which was essentially a charcuterie plate. I went with the peppered salami, prosciutto, and a cheddar with chives in it. This was served with crackers and a mini loaf of fresh-baked french bread. I paired this with Lagunitas IPA and I honestly think I reached a moment of zen! The peppered salami was something I would go back to again; my wife got the Sheboygan side by side; which is two beer brats with kraut and spicy mustard. Great stuff! Would really love to see a german-inspired menu hit the CR/IC spot sometime.

SATURDAY
Iowa football game day. Nervous early and the game didn’t help, Hawks didn’t seem to play that great but to help matters we ordered some BBQ from a local joint in Lee’s Summit. The Pork N Pit, according to Big Nuts, has been around for a couple of years and seems to have a good following. I ordered something a bit different from my usual pulled pork sandwich. I ordered, for the first time in my life, the burnt ends and the smoked beef sausage. Besides marrying my wife this is the greatest decision I’ve ever made! Burnt ends are so amazing, words cannot describe, and I won’t try..you just need to order them sometime. If you don’t like them at the place you order them, then the place is shit hole and you need to find another. The smoked beef sausage was also amazing; juicy, smokey, and the perfect amount of fattiness to go along with a Boulevard Bob’s 47 Octoberfest brew. Their fries are also great; perfect amount of salt, excellent stuff. And I have to mention the smokey baked beans; they add pulled pork into the mix…wonderful! So, drinking during the game and eating copious amounts of bbq would make you lay down and take a nap, nope!! Let’s head out for some wings and tacos…onto Stuey McBrews!!  http://www.stueymcbrews.com/

I will say, walking into the place it looks like a college bar/pool hall. The atmosphere is not something I would correlate with a place that has amazing food, but this was some of, if not the best bar food I’ve ever had. The menu is huge, with wings, tacos, sandwiches aplenty. It took me a while to decide what we wanted since the menu has over 30 different styles of winds, 20 some different tacos, it was overwhelming. We decided to get 10 of the Bar-a-cha-cha wings, which are hot thai honey and BBQ wings. Big Nuts and Moonbeam ordered the award-winning Adobe, and they get them charred and double dipped! Awesome stuff! We also had the Jalapenoroll, which was egg roll stuffed with cream cheese, sour cream, pepper jack, and parmesan, and some bacon and fresh ranch dipping sauce; tremendous! The beer selection was small but still had the local go-to which is Boulevard and I was very happy to see Deschutes Mirror Pond Pale Ale and Deschutes Black Butte Porter on tap. We also decided to order “The Real McCoi Spicy Fish Tacos” which were a fish taco topped with asian slaw and asian vegetables. Think, stir fry mixed with a taco. Great stuff! Add a game of darts to the mix and it was the perfect evening! 

Distribution News and New to Shelves: Stone, Deschutes, Founders

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Starting with distribution news; Stone will be on our shelves in Eastern Iowa on October 1st, keep checking back for updates on possible tasting locations and keg tapping parties for them. I’m guessing Reds Alehouse will have something as well as John’s Grocery. Also confirmed that Deschutes has signed on for Eastern Iowa, just not sure with which distributor yet. More to come on them and hopefully as the year winds down we will have more breweries stocking our shelves.

New to shelves this week: Very excited to say that Founders Breakfast Stout is now on the shelves at John’s Grocery and is ready for you to pick up and enjoy this fantastic brew!!

Beer Review #87: Sierra Nevada Torpedo Extra IPA

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With the ever popular culture of craft beer continuing its fantastic uprising, there comes the Beer pros, snobs, critics, that love to throw bigger craft breweries under the bus. Reading blogs, forums, and magazines has become a chore for me lately. Reading about these “critics” bitching about Samuel Adams and Sierra Nevada and the amount of barrels they produce instead of giving them credit and praising them for helping create the landscape of the craft beer revolution has become quite tiresome. Sam Adams and Sierra Nevada may make a shitload of beer and have huge distribution, but they make a shitload of great beer and we deserve to drink it and now I’m cussing in my post and my wife is going to give me the red ass. Damn!
Okay…enough of ranting..Let’s review some brew.
Sierra Nevada is widely available just about everywhere now. In fact, Torpedo has landed in my tiny grocery store in Mount Vernon, IA to my pleasant surprise. A brewery I will always gravitate towards for an everyday brew, a weekend drink, or especially, their limited releases they are a constant in my fridge. Here’s the commercial description:
“Torpedo is an assertive American IPA deep reddish-gold in color, with a smooth and bready malt presence and over-the-top hop aromas. The beer has a solid bitterness and a massive hop flavor, yet remains easy drinking with a pleasant dry finish.”

This is a wonderfully balanced IPA. Piney hop flavor with sweetness of the malts to mellow it out works perfect. This is now available in 4 pack tall boy cans! Too dangerous for an Iowa Hawkeye tailgate? Maybe….but the Baron plans to give it a shot anyway.

REVIEW

STYLE: India Pale Ale (IPA)

ABV: 7.2%

PURCHASED AT: Gary’s; Mount Vernon, IA

Pour: Dark amber pour with a huge, fluffy, white head.

Aroma: Floral, pine, citrus, especially grapefruit.

Taste: Perfectly balanced! Huge amount of hops, resin, citrus, and pine flavor balanced by the sweet bready malts.

Overall: A-

My Recommendation: Buy it. Buy it now. Keep buying it and keep drinking it. An awesome beer, hop heads and IPA fans will love it!

Breweries on the Horizon: Coming Soon…….

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Wow, looking at the Iowa Craft Beer tent website setup for the Iowa state fair, there are quite a few new breweries that are looking to make their way into Iowa in the coming year. Below is a list and links to their websites or facebook accounts. This is a wonderful thing!

*C.I.B. Brewery; Carson, Iowa: http://www.cibbrewery.com/

*Confluence Brewing Co.; Des Moines, IA: http://www.confluencebrewing.com/

*Exile Brewing Co.; Des Moines, IA: http://exilebrewing.com/

*Heartbreak Brewing Co. Des Moines, IA: http://www.heartbreakbrew.com/

*Mason City Brewing Co. Mason City, IA: http://www.masoncitybrewing.com/

*New American Brewing Co.; Ankeny, IA: http://www.newamericanbeer.com/

*Number 7 Brewing Co.; Ankeny, IA: http://www.number7brewing.com/Beer.htm

*Slew City Brewing Co.; Cedar Rapids, IA: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Slew-City-Brewing-Company/248911668522012

*Van Houzen Brewing Co.; Newton, IA: http://vhbrewing.com/

Wow!!! Things are looking promising. If you get a chance to hit up the state fair and get to try any of these breweries please drop me a line and let me know your thoughts!

Beer Review #86: Stone Levitation Ale

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As mad as I am at this particular brewery for getting Eastern Iowa’s hopes up that they might be hitting our shelves and then bailing on us……they make some great brew. Stone’s Levitation ale (www.stonebrew.com) is an amber ale that combines roasty malts and hoppy flavor to make a fantastic beer. Here’s the description from the brewery:
“This deep amber ale has rich & roasty malt flavors, a big hoppy character, citrus overtones (courtesy of the hops and our special brewers yeast) and modest alcohol.”

Stone has a very impressive lineup of beers and they aren’t afraid to play around with their ingredients; but for this one, they just made an excellent amber ale. Nothing crazy added to it; just a damn fine beer. If available in Iowa, it would be mainstay in my fridge. The good news is that we can still drive over to East Dubuque, IL and hit up Family Beer and Liquor and bring home a six pack or two. Who knows, with craft beer absolutely crazy right now, Stone might see a market here a start supplying us with their great beer. I sure hope so.

REVIEW

STYLE: Amber Ale

ABV: 4.4%

PURCHASED AT: Family Beer and Liquor; East Dubuque, IL

Pour: Amber color pour with an off-white head.

Aroma: Roasted malt, nuts, and nice hoppy citrus.

Taste: Much the same as the aroma, maybe some toffee?

Overall: B

My Recommendation: Like I said above, you can still go to Illinois or Wisconsin to pick it up. Their products are worth the drive alone.

Distribution News: Lagunitas, Stone, Dogfish, Founders

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With no reason given Stone and Lagunitas WILL NOT be coming to Eastern Iowa anytime soon. Any talks about getting their products into this area have broken off and I’m not sure when they are going to resume. While talking about these two breweries my source brought up Dogfish maybe returning to the state, if we are lucky, late next year. This is pretty good news since the demand for that brewery is so high and at one point it looked impossible that they would even be thinking of returning to the state in the next five years. So hopefully we will see that happen next year. If you haven’t been able to get your hands on any Green Flash products you need to hit up John’s Grocery. They are doing some 2 for specials right now with Green Flash. Their beer is great!

Good news: In the next few weeks look for Founders’ Breakfast Stout to be gracing our shelves. It is a fall seasonal and should be out soon. It probably won’t last long on the shelves as this is a pretty in-demand product.

Brews and Food #2: Jalapeno Popper Mac and Cheese with Rogue Hazelnut Brown Ale

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Had a recipe for mac and cheese that I wanted to try out. A little different as it’s jalapeno popper mac and cheese and wasn’t sure what beer to pair with it so I did a little research. I read that brown ales, marzens, and English pales work exceptionally well with mac and cheese, but since mine had a little heat in it I went with the maltiness of a brown and used up my last Rogue Hazelnut brown nectar (www.rogue.com). I thought I used quite a bit of jalapeno for this dish and the maltiness of a brown ale was to tame the heat, and maybe it did a bit too much as there wasn’t as much heat as I was hoping for.

The cheese sauce was very creamy which also works in favor in using a robust beer such as a brown ale to cut through that sauce a bit. I used a ton of monterey jack cheese and mixing it with the pepper mixture really brought out the nuttiness of the rogue brown ale. I think the nuttiness would have stood out more if I would have used a sharp cheddar or gruyere, but I didn’t, so piss off.

Overall a very good and hearty dish. Very filling. The rogue brown works well and is now available in six packs around Eastern Iowa. Let me know if you give it a shot. Here’s the recipe: http://tvfoodanddrink.com/2012/02/superbowl-sunday-mac-and-cheese/

Brews and Food: BBQ Baby Back Ribs and Racer 5 IPA

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All right; gonna try something a bit new on the website just so stuff doesn’t get stale. Trying to think of things that I could add to the blog to go along with my passion of beer and here we have it. Now, the recipes that appear and the pictures that appear on here are all taken by me at the time of consumption.

The first pairing I tried out tonight was slow cooked baby back ribs and a Racer 5 IPA. I chose an IPA because I thought it would bring out the little spice that was in the ribs, and it did! Also, a hot day is perfect for an IPA. For my ribs, I’m not a fall of the bone kind of guy and I don’t liked them slopped in sauce either. I like to pick mine up by the bone and chew it off; still tender mind you, but not a mess. I found a recipe in the folder my wife and I keep recipes in, which is just ridiculously big, for Apple-Glazed BBQ Baby Back Ribs. The apple glaze kind of threw me off, but I’m an amateur at cooking ribs so I thought I would give it a shot. Nothing to lose.

Glad I tried it! The glaze was simple. You start by making a simple dry rub, and then a wet marinade. You rub the ribs with the dry rub, cook for 2 1/2 hours, dump the marinade on them, cook for another hour, remove, slather with sauce and then cook 15 minutes. Simple, but you have to have patience so they come out tender. A wonderful meal that I will definitely make again and the beer worked really well with the smokiness and spice of the ribs. Want the recipe? Send $5 to… kidding… here ya go! http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/apple-glazed-barbecued-baby-back-ribs  you try it please let me know how it turns out.

SIDE NOTE: I also a side dish of sliced baby mushrooms, onions, and garlic. Great stuff!