Last night my wife and I finally got to go to Red’s Alehouse in North Liberty, IA. We had heard nothing but great things about this place, from the food to the beer selection, so we were excited to finally try it. We started out with a seared tuna appetizer, which was very good. I ordered the Alehouse Burger, which might be one of the best hamburgers I’ve ever eaten. My wife ordered BBQ Chicken flatbread, which was wonderful. To make it better, we got there for happy hour and had 2 for 1 beers. I had a local pale ale from Iowa and wife had Moose Drool Brown Ale. Very cold beer, very good food, the selection of beer rotates and is very deep. I highly recommend this place to anyone in the Eastern Iowa area, it gives you a reason to go to North Liberty and a restaurant that isn’t a chain. Great stuff!!
GRADE: A
Category: Reviews
Restaurant Review #5: Red’s Alehouse; North Liberty, IA
Last night my wife and I finally got to go to Red’s Alehouse in North Liberty, IA. We had heard nothing but great things about this place, from the food to the beer selection, so we were excited to finally try it. We started out with a seared tuna appetizer, which was very good. I ordered the Alehouse Burger, which might be one of the best hamburgers I’ve ever eaten. My wife ordered BBQ Chicken flatbread, which was wonderful. To make it better, we got there for happy hour and had 2 for 1 beers. I had a local pale ale from Iowa and wife had Moose Drool Brown Ale. Very cold beer, very good food, the selection of beer rotates and is very deep. I highly recommend this place to anyone in the Eastern Iowa area, it gives you a reason to go to North Liberty and a restaurant that isn’t a chain. Great stuff!!
GRADE: A
Beer Review #25: Buffalo Bill's Pumpkin Ale
Never thought I would like a pumpkin spiced beer, but I’ve tried two so far this year and have really enjoyed both of them. A friend of mine recommended trying a pumpkin ale and Buffalo Bill’s Pumpkin Ale (www.buffalobillsbrewery.com) was the first one I saw at the store. The beer itself is an amber ale which I am fond of and the added pumpkin, nutmeg, cinnamon, and cloves made this beer a great session beer in my opinion. A beer to sip on a fall day watching a football game, it doesn’t get much better. Might not be a beer you can drink a lot of, but for just sitting down and enjoying the drink it is excellent.
REVIEW
POUR: Amber color pour with a small white head. Nice lacing on the glass.
AROMA: Smell of cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg. Smells like fall should smell.
TASTE: Pumpkin pie sticks out but is not overwhelming. Very smooth.
OVERALL: B
Very happy I tried this and I recently bought a six pack of O’Fallon’s Pumpkin Ale to compare. Fall is a great time to be a fan of beer!
EASTERN IOWA RESIDENTS: Bills is available at John’s Grocery in IC and Family Beer and Liquor in East Dubuque, IL. Haven’t seen it at Hy-Vee, let me know if you find it anywhere else.
Beer Review #25: Buffalo Bill’s Pumpkin Ale
Never thought I would like a pumpkin spiced beer, but I’ve tried two so far this year and have really enjoyed both of them. A friend of mine recommended trying a pumpkin ale and Buffalo Bill’s Pumpkin Ale (www.buffalobillsbrewery.com) was the first one I saw at the store. The beer itself is an amber ale which I am fond of and the added pumpkin, nutmeg, cinnamon, and cloves made this beer a great session beer in my opinion. A beer to sip on a fall day watching a football game, it doesn’t get much better. Might not be a beer you can drink a lot of, but for just sitting down and enjoying the drink it is excellent.
REVIEW
POUR: Amber color pour with a small white head. Nice lacing on the glass.
AROMA: Smell of cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg. Smells like fall should smell.
TASTE: Pumpkin pie sticks out but is not overwhelming. Very smooth.
OVERALL: B
Very happy I tried this and I recently bought a six pack of O’Fallon’s Pumpkin Ale to compare. Fall is a great time to be a fan of beer!
EASTERN IOWA RESIDENTS: Bills is available at John’s Grocery in IC and Family Beer and Liquor in East Dubuque, IL. Haven’t seen it at Hy-Vee, let me know if you find it anywhere else.
Beer Review #24: Ommegang Witte
A beer that gets great accolades just about everywhere is Brewery Ommegang’s Witte (www.ommegang.com). I’ve read about very often in All About Beer Magazine (which I highly recommend to anyone) and finally saw it on the shelves at a Hy-Vee liquor store in Marion, IA. It comes in a four pack and it is pricey at $9.99 a four pack, but I had to try it. Let’s just say that I was overwhelmed at how disappointed I was with this beer. All the accolades, reviews, etc. I think got my hopes up. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a very drinkable white ale but I was expecting a lot more flavor. Give it a try a let me know what you think of it.
REVIEW
POUR: Hazy yellow orange color with a big white head.
AROMA: Smell of citrus and orange peel and corriander.
TASTE: Flavor was there for me, I got minimal orange peel/corriander flavor but not much else.
OVERALL: C
Once again, was hoping for more, didn’t get it here.
EASTERN IOWA RESIDENTS: Now available at Hy-Vee in Cedar Rapids area, if you try it let me know what you think.
Restaurant Review #4: Old Chicago; Coralville, IA
Old Chicago (www.oldchicago.com) in Coralville, IA is not your typical chain restaurant. Although there are many different locations for Old Chicago’s they make themselves different by offering 110 different beers; many on draft and quite a few more in the bottle. Their food also is not typical of chains, as it is very good. Our usual outing to Old Chicago would include either their nachos, wings, or artichoke dip. I’m a big fan of their buffalo chicken hoagie, and their pizza is way above average.
My knock on this restaurant is that they didn’t have many (2) Iowa brewed beers available. In this day I was hoping for many more, and was hoping they would market the Iowa and or midwestern brewed selection. Also, the price of the beer is not very cheap. They sometimes run specials but that is usually for the mass produced swill and not any of the craft/micro. Despite that, it is a fun atmosphere, we take our 4 year old there and he enjoys himself. Check it out the next time you are in the Iowa City/Coralville area and join the Beer Tour as well.
Beer Review #23: Breckinridge Vanilla Porter
Breckinridge Vanilla Porter (www.breckbrew.com) has the perfect chocolate flavor you get out of most porters along with a very good coffee flavor, however, the vanilla makes this one a litte too sweet for my liking. Don’t get me wrong, this a very drinkable porter and some people will love the extra sweetness the vanilla provides, but it is just not for me.
RATING
Pour: Black pour with a nice thick brown head.
Aroma: Vanilla, chocolate, and coffee come through.
Taste: Very sweet from the vanilla, with coffee and chocolate also in there.
Overall: C-
I can see how people would like this but as I stated above, it is just not for me. Give it a try though and let me know what you think.
Eastern Iowa: This beer is on hand year round at my local grocery store and I’ve seen it at John’s Grocery and Hy-Vee stores also.
Beer Review #22: Becks
A beer that is very similar to Heineken, with the “skunky” type of flavor is Becks. A classic German lager, Becks (www.becksbeer.com) might be a little bit sweeter but tastes pretty close to Heineken. With so many terrific beers out there today it is hard to believe that people would drop $8-$10 for a six pack of this.
RATING
Pour: Light yellow pour with no head.
Aroma: Grassy aroma, that popular “skunky” smell
Taste: Somewhat skunky, but drinkable. A little sweet at the end.
Overall: D
Eastern Iowa: This beer is available at most liquor/grocery stores in Eastern Iowa but……Save your money! Unless there is a drastic price reduction don’t drop the cash on this stuff and go for some Boulevard Wheat, Sam Adams, or Goose Island Honker’s Ale.
Beer Review #21: Rolling Rock Extra Pale Ale
Another watered down beer offered by Anheuser Busch is Rolling Rock. A heavily carbonated, extra pale ale that has a little more flavor than the popular american beers such as Coors, Miller, and Busch, but not a whole lot more. I personally would rather enjoy a Grain Belt or a PBR if drinking American Lager. A positive is that it is easy to find and very affordable.
RATING
Pour: Light yellow pour with no head.
Aroma: Soapy, corn smell.
Taste: Somewhat soapy, not overly pleasant.
Overall: D-
Eastern Iowa: This beer is available at almost anyplace that sells beer and it is cheap.
Beer Review #20: Blue Moon Belgian White
A transition beer for many people, including myself, into the world of micro beer. Although Blue Moon(www.bluemoon.com) is now owned by Coors a few years back it helped me acquire a taste for better beer. This beer is present almost everywhere now as it has a huge following. A perfect beer for those on the fence to committing to drinking mass produced beers (Bud, Coors, Miller). Serve with a slice of orange and enjoy.
RATING
Pour: A hazy orange pour with a thick white head.
Aroma: Smell of corriander, orange, citrus, and wheat.
Taste: Orange peel and corriander flavor with a little bit of wheat.
Overall: A very solid 3.7/5 B-
Eastern Iowa: This beer is available almost everywhere now.
