Denver Beer Trip: Day 2!

June 6, 20112 Comments

Day 2 in Denver started out with a trip to the mountains. My first time going up in the mountains and it was a great sight! Awesome scenery and really cool towns a long the way. We stopped in Frisco, CO which is not to far from Breckenridge. We had breakfast at the Butterhorn Bakery (www.butterhornbakery.com) which might be the best breakfast I’ve ever had. Two poached eggs in a croissant with avocado, ham, and a roasted red pepper sauce. Great meal! We then decided to stop in for a quick beer at Back Country Brewery (www.backcountrybrewery.com). We arrived a little before opening but the bartender was cool enough to let us in for a quick pint. I went with their IPA which was pretty good and refreshing.
After we picked up our buddy from the airport we relaxed a bit and then it was off to Falling Rock Tap House! This place is well-known for their huge tap selection, but I was really impressed with their homemade food. I loved their hand-battered homemade mushrooms and the club sandwich I ordered was great. Oh, yeah, their beer selection is second to none as the hardest part of ordering there is trying to narrow your choices. After Falling Rock we hit a couple of bars by the stadium and then called it a night. Great time on day 2!

Next Up: Coors Field, Great Divide Brewery, Rock Bottom Brewery!

Denver Beer Trip: Day 1

June 1, 2011Leave a comment

Group of friends and I arrive in Denver around 7 mountain time after a long 11 hour drive from Iowa. After checking in and getting settled a bit, we decided that the first place to visit was going to be Rialto. Rialto is a restaurant/bar that is inside the downtown Courtyard. We stayed there last year and we all thought it was a wonderful place. We also didn’t want to hit up any new places because we were still waiting on a buddy to fly in from Kansas City.
*Rialto was an excellent choice since we just wanted to relax and enjoy a bit to eat and a good brew. (http://www.rialtocafe.com/). Decided on the calamari for a quick snack and it was excellent. Washed it down with a Left Hand Milk Stout and the night started out great. The highlight of the night was my brother-in-law’s order of seared tuna. Great stuff! Finished off the night with a 5 Barrel Pale Ale from Odell Brewing company. Wow! Fantastic beer, refreshing and crisp! The only negative of this evening we didn’t learn until later the Rialto has two happy hours! After 9:30 they have 1/2 price all beers and $3 appetizers. I really could have done some damage if I would have known that.
*Second and last stop for me on this evening was hitting up the Sports Column. The Sports Column could be referred to as an Iowa bar I guess, with Iowa flags and memorabilia hanging up. $3 draws of Oskar Blue’s Dale’s Pale Ale also makes it great. Watched a little baseball, enjoyed a few brews and the finish to night #1 was satisfying.

NEXT UP! DAY 2: Falling Rock Tap House, a visit to Frisco, CO.

Beer Video #5: Great Divide Brewery

May 22, 20111 Comment

Heading to Denver this Friday and a place where I will be spending a good amount of time will be Great Divide Brewery. This place is ideal, nothing too fancy, knowledgable bartenders, great beer, and even better, you can actually drink in the brewery itself. Here’s an inside look at Great Divide:

Beer Review #57: MGD 64

May 9, 2011Leave a comment

Similar to my review of Bud Light Lime will be Miller Genuine Draft 64. I know the market is pretty hot for these low calorie beers for people watching their weight and that is ok. I just think that instead of eating that cheesecake or having another order of fries you should order a fantastic tasting beer instead of something that is bland, skunking, and watered down.
Nothing left to say about this beer, thinking this might be the last of these beers I will review.
REVIEW
Pour: Golden pour, minimal head.
Aroma: Corn and skunk.
Taste: Watered down and somewhat skunky.
Overall: F
Eastern Iowa Residents: Available everywhere, but don’t waste your money.

Beer Review #56: Bell’s Oberon Ale

May 1, 2011February 14, 20131 Comment

Bells Brewery (www.bellsbrewery.com) makes some of my favorite beer, and with summer coming around the corner (hopefully) their seasonal has been released. Bell’s Oberon is a highly drinkable wheat beer that packs a nice fruity wheat taste with a little malt and makes for a thirst-quenching summer ale.
Went out with my family last night to Red’s Ale House (www.redsalehousenl.com) in North Liberty, IA and had they had Oberon on tap. I will say that besides a fantastic beer selection, Reds always has the best Bell’s beers there. The Oberon was refreshing, paired well with our meal, and the best part was that we were there for 2 for 1 happy hour. It’s hard to beat $5.00 for 2 pints of really well made craft beer.
If you are new to the craft beer scene or do not enjoy the “dark” or hoppy beers, this would be something good for you to start out on. If you consider yourself a beer aficionado this is a terrific wheat beer for a hot summer day.

REVIEW
Pour: Cloudy gold pour, really nice white head, tons of lacing.
Aroma: Smell of citrus, wheat, some maltiness.
Taste: Citrus, wheat, and some sweetness, but not excessive.
Overall: C
Eastern Iowa Residents: Summer seasonal for Bells. Drink what you can of their products, always top-notch. This pairs well with a nice fresh thin crust pizza! Great stuff!

Beer Review #56: Bell's Oberon Ale

May 1, 20111 Comment

Beer Vacation #1: Chicago, IL

April 25, 2011Leave a comment

My wife’s family celebrated Easter vacation by getting a few rooms in Schaumburg, IL, about a 20 minute drive from downtown Chicago and I wasn’t thinking I would get a chance to enjoy some really fine beers but thankfully I have a great wife who lets me do things like that. We started our day, Saturday, at the Children’s Museum at Navy Pier, which was great for the kids. My wife’s brothers then thought it would be a good idea to hit up a Cub game, since they are all Cub fans, and they were playing my favorite team the Dodgers. So the beer journey got kicked off at the perfect venue, a ball game at a historic stadium. We enjoyed a few old styles and my brother-in-law thought it would be great if we could stay downtown to explore some bars. So we stayed behind while everyone headed back to Schaumburg. We left the game early and the first place we went to was….
**Goose Island Wrigleyville** It was the closest bar there and I had to get over the fact that they just sold out InBev, but I put that behind me and actually thought the place was really good. We bellied up to the bar and I had their Green Line Pale Ale which is only served on tap there, and the proceeds from the brew go to some good cause or another. The beer itself was very good and smooth, and I think there would be a market for that brew if they ever decide to expand on it. My brother-in-law, let’s call him Balls, brother-in-law takes too long to type, so Balls had a Blueberry Ale which was pretty refreshing. Not overly sweet and pretty drinkable. We then headed off to…..
**Merkles** Being born and raised in Iowa it was great to find an Iowa Hawkeye bar in downtown Chicago with the TigerHawk proudly being displayed. This bar was more my style, somewhat rugged looking. The beer selection was fantastic, upon entering the bar was a display of the daily specials which showed Dogfish Head Aprihop as the draw which got me giddy and made me realize this could be the place I spend the rest of the evening. Balls and I both had an Aprihop to start which is a great, refreshing Spring beer. I noticed they had a beer that many people talk about, 3 Floyds Gumballhead. I was very excited to try this and was even happier I did. I don’t get to excited about wheat beers much anymore, but this beer made me a believer that wheat beers can still be amazingly tasty. We finished with a few more beers and the rest of the night is pretty much a blur except for the $80 cab ride back to Schaumburg.
I know I’m just skimming the surface of the places to drink in Chicago; let me know if there are some must visits around that area!

Beer Review #54: Dogfish Head Theobroma

April 11, 2011Leave a comment

One of the hottest breweries in America is Dogfish Head. This brewery has become so sought after that they have had to pull out of many states because of increased demand and they can’t pump out enough of their wonderful beer. I had the opportunity to purchase some of their product while I was in Madison, WI; since then, they have had to pull out of that state also, which really really sucks because they don’t distribute to Iowa or Wisconsin.
Like most of their beers, it has a really nice back story that is too long for me to type out, so check out their site (www.dogfish.com) to get more info. The beer is very unique; it is brewed with cocoa powder, honey, chilies, and annatto (a fragrant tree seed). The flavor is somewhat sweet with a little bit of the cocoa and chilie coming through but not as much as I thought it would or as much as I wanted it to. It is very refreshing and very drinkable, at 9% abv you have to careful though.
Recommendation: With the demand so high, I highly recommend that any time you get a chance to try anything made by Dogfish you have to go for it, no matter the price or the style. Everything you will try from them will be unique and 9 times out of 10 will be very good.
REVIEW
Pour: Orange pour with a medium white head.
Aroma: Aroma was somewhat floral, a little chocolate smell, and a little sweet fruit smell.
Taste: Lots of tastes going on with this beer. You get the sweetness of the honey, a little bit of chocolate and then at the end minimal heat from the chilie.
Overall: B-
Eastern Iowa Residents:You have to get on ebay or drive to a state that distributes their brew. Check out this link to find the nearest place that distributes Dogfish (http://www.dogfish.com/brews-spirits/fish-finder.htm). The next time you go out of state for a vacation, hit up a liquor store and see if they have dogfish.

Beer Review #53: Blue Moon Rising Moon Spring Ale

April 4, 20111 Comment

Decided to give this beer another try and I remembered why I hadn’t bough it in a while. The original BLue Moon beer was somewhat responsible for getting me into the craft beer scene. I still can do the occasional Blue Moon, but some of their other seasonal selections just don’t do the job. Rising Moon Spring Ale is wheat beer brewed with lime to give you that spring feeling. The label makes it seem like a promising beer, but I didn’t get much from the limes or even the wheat, just a really metallic flavor and some over the top sweetness from the malts
If you are starting up in the craft beer drinking scene this might not be too bad for you too drink, if you are a seasoned veteran than you must stay away from this brew.
REVIEW
Pour: Amber pour with a nice white head.
Aroma: Malty and sweet aroma.
Taste: Flavor is metallic, plastic, and overlly sweet.
Overall: D
Eastern Iowa Residents:Available only during spring just about everywhere.

Beer Review #52: O'Fallon Hemp Hop Rye

March 28, 2011Leave a comment

A friend of mine had recently brough over a six pack of O’Fallon Hemp Hop Rye (www.ofallonbrewery.com) to my house to taste. I was a little skeptical since I had never really heard of this brew before. The description of this beer says they use hemp seed to give the beer a nutty flavor and along with the rye there are many different flavors going on. Did I love this beer? No. I did however, find it drinkable, but I found myself wanting something a little more. Maybe it was more nuttiness or maltiness, not sure, I think I will have to try this one more time to find out.

If you do decide to try this beer let me know your thoughts.
REVIEW
Pour: Amber pour with a nice white head.
Aroma: Malty and sweet aroma.
Taste: Flavor is sweet and malty, with a little nuttiness at the end.
Overall: B
Eastern Iowa Residents:Friend got it at his local Hy-Vee.