Forbes Magazine Names JBC Roasters out of Madison one of 12 best in nation!

December 27, 2018December 27, 2018Leave a comment

How does this pertain to the Iowa beer scene? Well, JBC are the coffee roasters that Big Grove uses for their Coffee Richard the Whale brew. Here’s a link to the article or it is quoted below. Awesome achievement!

Forbes ranks Madison coffee roaster as one of 12 best in the nation

By Jeff Dahdah Wisconsin 4:18 PM ET Dec. 25, 2018

Forbes has ranked Madison-based JBC Coffee Roasters as one of the 12 best coffee roasters in the U.S.

“The pioneering Johnson family continues to set the coffee bar high in Madison, Wisconsin, always nailing the roast,” the article says about JBC.

Michael Johnson, part owner of JBC, said he was honored to be listed as one of the nation’s best.

“It just really feels good to be recognized for all the hard work that team has put forth in carrying out high grade and try to evaluate the coffee service around Wisconsin.” Johnson said.

The exposure has been good for business. Johnson said there’s been a steady stream of new people coming in to try the coffee.

With just five people working to perfectly pick, roast and brew the coffee, the company said it means a lot to them that people notice the care they put into the drink.

“We’re always trying to up our game to the next level and it feels great to be recognized,” said Danny Fallon, JBC’s brand ambassador.

JBC has been recognized in the past as one of the best small coffee makers in the nation by CNN’s Fortune Magazine. It’s also a two-time Good Food Award Winner.

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Big Grove Brewery releasing “A Real Nice Surprise” New England Style Double IPA Dec. 22nd!

December 20, 2018December 20, 2018Leave a comment

Big Grove brewery will be releasing a new New England style IPA to the mix on December 22nd as “A Real Nice Surprise” will be a brewery only release! Doors open at 10:00 a.m!

Drink This! Big Grove Color TV Double IPA

November 4, 2018November 4, 2018Leave a comment

color tv

Stout weather is surely upon us but IPA season never ends. Here in Eastern Iowa we sure have been spoiled with a bunch of releases from our local breweries as they continue to provide us with delicious beer.

Yesterday, Big Grove Brewery released a new double IPA called Color TV. Here are the specs on this beer:
7.8% ABV
-Double dry hopped with galaxy hops

I definitely dig me some galaxy hops and this beer was packed full of. Terrific aroma of citrus fruit and the the first sip is instant orange and mandarin flavor. My untappd Rated R description was that his beer is like a bunch of oranges banged it out with your favorite IPA on a bed of clouds. The thing with me and hazy IPAs are sometimes the flavor doesn’t flow from first sip to last drink, Color TV however, does just that. I could have sat at BG in Solon all day yesterday and sipped on this beer. Following Easy Eddy, Big Ed, and with Richard the Whale release on the horizon, it’s hard not to get stoked for anything Big Grove pushes out.

Eastern Iowa beer lovers rejoice, our local breweries continue to roll and quench our thirst with some of the best beers around and hopefully I’ll see some of you at the Richard the Whale release on December 1st! Drink This! while you can!

Need Pizza Hosting Big Grove Brewery Luckiest Man Ales for ALS tonight! 10/11

October 11, 2018October 11, 2018Leave a comment

A great cause going on tonight at Need Pizza if you are in the Cedar Rapids area as Big Grove brewery will have their “Luckiest Man” pale ale being tapped tonight. Every year this gets tapped by Big Grove every pint that gets sold benefits ALS research. Speaking of the beer, this years release is tasting fantastic! Grab a pizza, have a couple of pints and help out a great cause!

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Saturday Morning Glory @ Big Grove’s Richard the Whale Release

December 3, 2017December 4, 2017Leave a comment

big grove First of all, my brother in law thought “Saturday Morning Glory” would be the perfect name for a tailgating beer, so any brewers that want to jump on to that go for it!

Big Grove’s Richard the Whale bottle release was the perfect way to start off your Saturday morning if you’re a beer lover. For this release, if you bought a ticket you received 2 bottles of Richard the Whale, 1 bottle of Richard Coffee, 1 Richard glass, and also the opportunity to drink many fantastic beers on tap. Even if you didn’t get a ticket, the beers on tap were still an option.

So, to start off the morning I went with some Coffee Richard on tap, waiting patiently until that 10:00 tapping of Jean Luc Richard. What seemed like a simple bottle release was just a bit more at Big Grove. Along with all the tremendous beer on tap, the real treat was to be able to shoot the shit with the guys and girls who bring us this terrific beer. The opportunity to talk with the folks responsible for putting on an event, knowing there hasn’t been much sleep and some long ass days and they greet, smile and talk to everyone they can; so thanks to Chad, Danny, Rabbit, Doug, Matt, and Chef Smart..a terrific event and I’m looking forward to the next!

So many great conversations with the fellas from 7G, who are great beer conversationalists all the time, so cheers to Collin, Clint and Garrett from 7G! Also, Bob and Dave from Need and as always, the guy who should be in the Dos Equis most interesting man in the world commercials, Jeremy from Club 76.

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Richard and the variants tasted amazing, although I didn’t eat the buffet I’m kind of kicking myself as it looked terrific. Bellied up at the bar with a some great stouts I was offered a glass of Big Grove’s Easy Eddy from Mr. Swift. He told me they switched the yeast strain and what he poured came back as a hazy, juicy, hop bomb. It was delicious! Easy Eddy is tasting great right now folks! They also had a double dry hopped IPA on tap that was very tasty.

Overall, the new space in Iowa City was perfect for hosting this event and the folks who run the show really knocked it out of the park. Beer, food, conversation, (not to mention the sweet ass swag BG has going right now), all made for a fantastic event. When Big Grove has their next release, there’s no question I’ll be there and there’s no question they will try to top how great Saturday’s Richard release was! Check out those sweet as Richard labels as well! Cheers BG!

Big Grove Hopocalypse Returns this Friday 8/25! Thunderdome Unfiltered DIPA 1st of 6 releases!

August 23, 2017August 23, 20171 Comment

If you’re ready for the Hopocalypse you need to get to Big Grove brewpub this Friday, August 25th in Solon! They will be releasing 6 different beers with this series; one every 2 weeks. The first of the releases is called Thunderdome. Here’s the info on this one:

Thunderdome is an unfiltered double ipa with flaked wheat, flaked oats, and red wheat in the grist. Mosaic, Citra, and El Dorado are the featured hops. It’s very fruit forward with light bitterness.

The schedule following Thunderdome consists of:

9/8: Fury Road (English style DIPA)
9/22: War Rig (Black DIPA)
10/6: V8 Interceptor (Midwest DIPA)
10/20: Wasteland (New Zealand DIPA)
11/3: Tomorrow-Morrow Land (Futuristic DIPA)

Pretty terrific sounding lineup! Hope to see you at Big Grove!

3 Iowa Beers to Drink Now!

January 27, 2017January 27, 2017Leave a comment

beerbaron I couldn’t do just 1 Drink This! edition this time around as the state of Iowa is sending out so much great beer I had to do three! As we approach the 2017 Coralville Brrr Fest and with the program released this past week anticipation is mounting for ticket holders to get a taste of Iowa’s finest breweries and beers. Within the last 5 days I’ve had the opportunity to try 3 amazing beers from 3 amazing Iowa breweries. So here are three beers the you have to DRINK NOW!

**Big Grove Brewery – Buster Triple IPA** – Buster released this past Tuesday and I knew for sure I had to hit Big Grove and try this baby fresh. Mosaic hops shine with flavors of juicy fruit gum, tropical fruits, and some grassiness. A wonderful dank ass triple IPA. There is one thing that can be bad about this brew…it’s scary drinkable. An 11.4% ABV triple IPA can definitely put you on your ass if you don’t pay attention! This might arguably be the best or one of the best double/triple IPAs in the state. Follow this link to see my post on where it will be available and they also just hit the Cellar Peanut Pub in Pella with a hell of a lineup! So good, can’t wait for another glass! Cheers Big Grove!

**Lion Bridge Brewery – GAZPROM 2017** – I’ve been waiting for this release since last year. Lion Bridge takes the shitty, dark, long ass month of January and makes pretty damn enjoyable with their Barrel-Aged January releases. A new release, every week, for the month of January and all barrel-aged beers. I’ve loved the Winter Warmer and the Royal Wee but the big dog for me is GAZPROM!. The sweetness from the syrup is the perfect balance to booziness from the barrels. I say this a lot but this is a top-tier beer for me….maybe top 10? Top 5? Either way, I can’t wait to have more of this and thank you Quinton and Alec and Lion Bridge for making January tolerable!

**Madhouse Brewery – VIP Barrel Aged Vanilla Porter** – was happy my Mt. Vernon Road Hy-Vee had a few bottles of this, wasn’t sure if we would see it all. I had been hearing good things coming from the fine beer folks in Des Moines and was hoping to land one of these. I’ve been hit and miss with vanilla added to my beers. Sometimes I dig it when it’s not over they type vanilla extract and with Madhouse VIP I’m really digging it. The slight sweetness from the vanilla pairs with the barrel and just a faint hint of cigar smoke on the aftertaste. Viscous, tasty, and warming. An excellent companion to a chilly January evening.

There you go Iowa. Three newer beers for you to try. Hopefully all 3 make it somewhere close to your area and you get a taste, and hopefully you enjoyed them as much as I did/do! Cheers!

Big Grove Brewery Presents: “Stout with a Bang”, Friday Dec. 30th @ 11 a.m.

December 28, 2016December 28, 2016Leave a comment

Big Grove Brewery will be bringing out the heavy hitters this Friday, December 30th as they present “Stout with a Bang”. A tap takeover consisting of stouts only..and some great stouts at that. Tapping begins at 11 a.m. on Friday morning. Here’s the beer list for this event:

-Richard the Whale 2015
-Richard the Whale Coffee 2016 following the 2015 Richard
-Pralines & Richard
-2016 Calf-feinated Zadar! Nitro Milk Stout with JBC coffee
-Prairie Bomb!
-Jolly Pumpkin Madrugada Obscura
-Goose Island Bourbon County 2016
-Clown Shoes Hammer of the Beast
-Sierra Nevada Narwhal 2016

I’ll be there right around 11 so hopefully I see a few folks there! Also, don’t forget the Triad is on tap as well! Cheers!

More on the Big Grove Brewery Expansion

May 9, 2016May 9, 2016Leave a comment

The news is spreading quickly that Big Grove is expanding to a production facility in Iowa City. Excellent news for all of us and even better news for the community as not only are we getting more beer but more jobs as well. Also, Big Grove going green? It sure sounds like it! I was able to talk with Chad Young, sales/marketing manager of Big Grove, and he gave me a bit more insight as to what to expect from the brewery:

Baron: How many jobs will this open up?

CY: A lot of details are still being placed this next week or 2. Right now an estimated 70 jobs.

BARON: Will you be canning/bottling or both?

CY:The concept right now is eventually a canning line but growth of the brewery will be slow and steady and continue to focus on draft only for the first year or two.

Honestly very vague on a timeline with a project like this. The 1st part is to make sure the beer is as great as what is being brewed in Solon. Everyone is absolutely behind continuing the high standard on quality first. Once we get that dialed in, then we will bring on the next phase of production.

BARON: What type of brewing line will the brewery house?

CY:Installing a “Meura Mash Filter”, which is an incredible piece of brewery technology. Super efficient with raw materials with very high extract yields, while using less water and energy. This will be one of the greenest brewing production facilities not just in iowa, but in the region.

BARON: What will become of the Solon location brewery?

CY: Specialties and barrel aging will continue at the Solon location

Top 15 Iowa Beers for 2014: Part 1

December 29, 2014Leave a comment

So many great things have happened in Eastern Iowa this past year. The number of nationally renowned breweries that have hit our shelves has made our choices as consumers a bit more difficult but also more fun. But for me, the biggest events of the last 12-18 months has been the opening of some new breweries in the Eastern Iowa area. Big Grove in Solon is a little more than a year old, Lion Bridge is still in infancy age but making headlines with their fantastic beers, Millstream hitting a homerun with their raspberry latte stout, Backpocket pushing out new beers at a high rate, and Kalona really making its mark with their impressive lineup. Some breweries in Des Moines I didn’t get to spend much time at, so if you didn’t make the list, chances are I didn’t get out to try your brews. A New Year’s Resolution I need to make is to visit every Iowa brewery, but with 3 kids it can be a bit of a chore.

Onto the first part of my list:

*Lion Bridge Coffee Compensation* – a variant from their gold medal winning Workman’s Compensation, this brew is made with Ethiopian Banko Beans and is the perfect breakfast beer if there ever was one. So good, and now available in growler fills.

*Madhouse Brewing V.I.P. Double Porter* – I really enjoyed last year’s version but this years has a bit more tasty barrel on it that I really enjoyed. Luckily I stocked up a snagged 5 bottles for myself. Comes in at 10.5% so pace yourself, a good one to share, but I’ll take the bottle myself.

*West O Beer Coco Stout* – with all things imperial and barrel-aged it’s nice to have just a fantastic stout to drink during these winter months. I was lucky enough to try this while it was on tap at Lion Bridge and I’m glad I did. Chocolate and coffee in the forefront of this Great American Beer Festival gold medal winner!

*Big Grove Que Onda Roja* – in the world of sours Big Grove is starting to make their mark. One of the more complex beers I’ve had this year and I the first time I tried it I was pretty confused. Did I love it? Dislike it? Well, after a few more tastings, this beer is becoming more and more sour and more and more likable. Awesome brew that’s getting better!

*Great River Imperial Gingerbread Stout* – this was a happy accident finding this on tap. Shopping with my wife when we decided some coffee was in order. Went to Brewvana in the New-Bo district and was surprised to see this on tap. This is what Xmas should taste like! Not overally spiced, just the perfect amount of clove and spice. Tasty brew!

**Okay, part 1 is done. Part 2 coming soon. I hope to hear from some of you on your lists. I have 10 to go and it’s going to be difficult! **