Founders Devil Dancer Has Arrived!

June 3, 2013Leave a comment

New to Eastern Iowa shelves is Founders Devil Dancer. Just the lastest great beer from Founders (www.foundersbrewing.com) to hit our shelves. Grab a 4 pack and enjoy! Here’s more about the beer:

Ratebeer: 99/100

Beeradvocate: 89/100

From the brewery: Founders most complex, most innovative, most feared and yet most revered ale produced. Massive in complexity the huge malt character balances the insane amount of alpha’s used to create this monster. More IBU’s than any brewery has documented, more than you would believe and dry-hopped for twenty-six days straight with a combination of 10 hop varieties. Dangerously drinkable and deliciously evil. We dare you to dance with the Devil. 112 IBUs

iabeerbaron’s 10 Beers for Summer

May 29, 20133 Comments

The weather is getting warmer, the grass has just been mowed, and there are various meats sizzling on the grill. You’re conflicted as you reach into your beer fridge and try to decide what beer to go with. Do you go with a lighter pils, a higher ABV IPA, or a dark, thick, stout? The answer? All three are perfect for summer weather! Now I know that most people like to have sessionable beers for summer, but don’t think that a stout doesn’t go down smooth and refreshing on a nice summer evening, or that a big IPA can’t be enjoyed on your deck as you watch your kids play. I could go the route of listing a bunch of sessionable beers but let’s make it fun throw everyone in the pool. All styles are fair game this time of year, and here is my breakdown of what to enjoy this summer. (All available in Eastern Iowa). Sidenote: I know that I most likely left out some beers unintentionally so feel free to add your favorites.

10. Madhouse Hopburst
Brewery: Madhouse Brewing
City: Newton, IA
Style: American IPA
ABV: 7.2%
Website: www.madhousebeer.com
A wonderful American IPA brewed right here, in the great state of Iowa. A great balance of malt and hops make this an easy pick for a very enjoyable summer beer. Enjoy this beer with a bratwurst loaded with sauerkraut, spicy mustard, and onions or a thick ribeye cooked medium rare. Perfect!

9. Millstream Big Honey Hefeweisen
Brewery: Millstream Brewing
City: Amana, IA
Style: Weizen Bock
ABV: 9.2%
Website: www.millstreambrewing.com

Another Iowa brewed beer making the list and this is a big boy! A huge aroma and flavor of bananas, rounded out by cloves and tons of honey make this a fantastic beer for a crisp fall day/evening, but also makes for the perfect ending to a warm summer day as well. Enjoy this beer with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream to end the evening.

8. Bells Oberon
Brewery: Bells Brewery
City: Kalamazoo, MI
Style: Wheat Ale
ABV: 5.8%
Website: www.bellsbeer.com
Moving onto a more “sessionable” and distinct beer for the summer. Bells Oberon ale is usually on everyones’ summer list when it’s time to talk summer beers, and rightfully so. Citrus and spice flavor make this a very refreshing summer beer pick. Pair this with some grilled fish and a tomato avocado salad and all will be well with your day.

7. Lost Coast Tangerine Wheat
Brewery: Lost Coast Brewery
City: Eureka, CA
Style: Fruit Beer
ABV: 5%
Website: www.lostcoast.com

Summer can’t be complete without a trip out west to California. A staple in my fridge throughout the summer months is Lost Coast’s Tangerine Wheat. Not only do I enjoy one or two of these but it is the perfect beer to have on hand for the BMC drinkers to enjoy as well. It seems that most BMC loyalists will always welcome a fruit beer, not sure why, but anyway, this brew has a low ABV and a refreshing tangerine presence. Tough to pair fruit beers but a light salad with a tangerine wheat vinaigrette would do nicely or some shrimp tacos with spicy salsa.

6. Saison Dupont Farmhouse Ale
Brewery: Brasserie Dupont
City: Tourpes-Leuze, Belgium
Style Farmhouse/Saison
ABV: 6.5%
Website: brasserie-dupont.com/
I have really taking a liking to saison styles in the last 6-7 months and it’s all thanks to this beer. Saison Dupont has everything you need in a saison: barnyard qualities, grassiness, banana, black pepper spice, and citrus. Amazing beer for a summer day. This beer would go perfect with a herb seasoned beer can chicken stuffed with lemons and onions!

5. Founders All Day IPA
Brewery: Founders Brewing
City: Grand Rapids, MI
Style: IPA
ABV: 4.7%
Website: www.foundersbrewing.com

Association sessionable to IPA isn’t usually ones’ first thought. But Founders Brewing has created a beer that will appease both hopheads and also people who want to sit around at a camp out and drink a six-pack or two of really good beer. Take it on a picnic with a bucket of fried chicken and coleslaw!

4. Summit Oatmeal Stout
Brewery: Summit Brewing
City: St. Paul, MN
Style: Sweet Stout
ABV: 4.7%
Website: www. summitbrewing.com

A popular summer destination for my family is supper at The General Store Pub in Stone City, IA. Why? Good bar food, a great locale, and Summit Brewing Oatmeal Stout on tap! A wonderfully, creamy stout, easy to drink and hard to put down your glass. Goes well with some fried foods or just on its own.

3. Boulevard Tank 7 Farmhouse Ale
Brewery: Boulevard Brewing
City: Kansas City, MO
Style: Farmhouse
ABV: 8.5%
Website: www.boulevard.com

A beer that is moving up my “favorites” list is Boulevard’s Tank 7 Farmhouse Ale. Boulevard hits an absolute home run with this brew, and coming in a 8.5%, a bomber of this, an all-beef hot dog with sauerkraut, jalapeños spicy, mustard, dill pickle relish, and an L.A. Dodger game will do just fine.

2. Green Flash Imperial IPA
Brewery: Green Flash Brewery
City: San Diego, CA
Style: Imperial IPA
ABV: 9.4%
Website: www.greenflashbrew.com

Man do I love this beer. The description of this beer says, “It’s all about the hops!” and there’s no doubt about it. An in-your-face Double IPA with amazing citrus flavor that is slightly balance by malts. My favorite Green Flash beer so far. Smokey, sticky, mouth-watering BBQ ribs and a bomber of this Imperial IPA make for quite an evening.

1. Toppling Goliath pseudoSue
Brewery: Toppling Goliath Brewery
City: Decorah, IA
Style: American Pale Ale
ABV: 5.8%
Website: www.tgbrews.com

Described as an American Pale Ale this beer has more hop presence than some IPAs on the market. If you are craft beer lover from Iowa I’m guessing you’ve had this beer, if not, you must try! All craft beer lovers for that matter! Toppling Goliath is starting to put their name on the craft beer map nationally and this is one of the beers responsible for that. Hard to come by in bottles for the time being but hopefully soon they will be cranking them out quick enough to meet or come close to the demand. Second to none and goes great with some spicy chicken wings, a medium cooked hamburger with grilled mushrooms and swish or just enjoy this work of art by itself.

**Once again, a fun list to come up with, a fun list to drink, but I know I left some beers out. Feel free to add comments and let me know what your favorite beers of summer are. Cheers! **

iabeerbaron's 10 Beers for Summer

May 29, 20133 Comments

7. Lost Coast Tangerine Wheat
Brewery: Lost Coast Brewery
City: Eureka, CA
Style: Fruit Beer
ABV: 5%
Website: www.lostcoast.com

5. Founders All Day IPA
Brewery: Founders Brewing
City: Grand Rapids, MI
Style: IPA
ABV: 4.7%
Website: www.foundersbrewing.com

4. Summit Oatmeal Stout
Brewery: Summit Brewing
City: St. Paul, MN
Style: Sweet Stout
ABV: 4.7%
Website: www. summitbrewing.com

3. Boulevard Tank 7 Farmhouse Ale
Brewery: Boulevard Brewing
City: Kansas City, MO
Style: Farmhouse
ABV: 8.5%
Website: www.boulevard.com

2. Green Flash Imperial IPA
Brewery: Green Flash Brewery
City: San Diego, CA
Style: Imperial IPA
ABV: 9.4%
Website: www.greenflashbrew.com

1. Toppling Goliath pseudoSue
Brewery: Toppling Goliath Brewery
City: Decorah, IA
Style: American Pale Ale
ABV: 5.8%
Website: www.tgbrews.com

**Once again, a fun list to come up with, a fun list to drink, but I know I left some beers out. Feel free to add comments and let me know what your favorite beers of summer are. Cheers! **

Beer Review #104: Founders All Day IPA

May 23, 2013May 23, 2013Leave a comment

As the summer months approach and temperatures heat up, that means more time for outdoor activities. I’m a huge IPA fan but sitting outside on a hot summer day and drinking IPAs all day long would lead to a good amount of drunkenness. Thankfully, Founders Brewing (www.foundersbrewing.com) has saved the day! A few months back Iowans have been able to get their hands on one of their newer releases, a sessionable IPA named All Day IPA. For those unsure of what a sessionable beer is, they are essentially a low ABV beer that you can enjoy in multitudes.

Founders really hits a home run with this beer. From the labeling on the bottle of a family car looking to go on a camping trip, to the great use of the hops, and finally the ability to make this IPA sessionable makes this a wonderful beer perfect for summer and will be even better when it gets released in cans just in time for college football tailgating season.The days of drinking any BMC (bud, miller, coors) products during the summer just because of their low ABV are gone. Welcome to the new revolution of beer drinking! From the brewery:

The beer you’ve been waiting for. Keeps your taste satisfied while keeping your senses sharp. An all-day IPA naturally brewed with a complex array of malts, grains and hops. Balanced for optimal aromatic and a clean finish. The perfect reward for an honest day’s work and the ultimate companion to celebrate life’s simple pleasures.

I have had both Founders All Day IPA and Lagunitas Daytime, and I much prefer the Founders product. If you are going into this looking for the next blow your mind, in your face, biter hop dominance, then you are looking in the wrong spot. This beer gives you the wonderful citra hop flavor, but it doesn’t have the bitterness of some/most IPAs. It is smooth and creamy and all-around delicious. So grab a sixer, get the grill or smoker fired up, throw your favorite food on the grill, pull up a lawn chair, and enjoy as many as you’d like!

REVIEW

Style: IPA

ABV: 4.7%

Purchased at: John’s Grocery, Iowa City, IA

Pour: Dark gold pour with a medium-sized white head.

Aroma: Pine, citrus hops aroma dominate along with some dankness on the nose.

Flavor: Citrus hops dominate the flavor, maybe a tad of floral taste as well. The bitterness is missing but doesn’t take away from the brew.

Ratebeer.com rating: 96/100

Beeradvocate.com rating: 87/100

Overall: A-

My recommendation: A go to beer for the summer for sure. A great concept, and they come through by providing a very tasty sessionable beer.

New Craft Beer Magazine for IPAD Review

May 20, 2013Leave a comment

A new craft beer magazine, appropriately titled Craft Beer Magazine, has been launched as an app for IPAD users! It is completely free to download and anyone who downloads it will be a one month free subscription. I was able to get a first hand look of the new magazine and I was pretty impressed with the content.

The magazine’s opening pages give you a brief tutorial on how to navigate through using your IPAD. It then delves into a brief history of craft beer in America which gave some great insight on how and when the craft beer boom started. I really enjoyed the visuals involved after reading through the article and thought it was perfect way to wrap up a great piece of writing.

Articles varied throughout, picking up stories from other countries, recipes, new innovations in craft beer (peel top cans from Madtree Brewing), and beer reviews. (A nice write-up on Rhizing Bines).

What also makes this a great and unique app is the interaction you can have with video, polls, and links throughout the magazine, making it perfect for the tech savvy craft beer lover. So if you are interested in some craft beer related readings check out Craft Beer Magazine on iTunes here: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/craft-beer-magazine/id643848007

New to Eastern Iowa Shelves: Summit, Goose Island, Tallgrass

May 15, 2013May 22, 20132 Comments

Some new brews will be hitting Eastern Iowa shelves or already available now. Summit has a new beer in their Union Series called Meridian Session ale, Goose Island has their 25th anniversary ale, and Tallgrass now has an IPA called Ethos. Here’s a little more info for each of these beers:

*Summit Union Series #1: Meridian Session Ale – Belgian Ale – 4.5% – Summit kicks off the new limited-release Union Series with Meridian Session Ale. Inspired by Belgian Enkel (single) style ales. Drinkable yet distinctive. Simple in design yet complex in character. Brewed with a single malt, Concerto Pale, that’s a rising star in the UK and a new hop variety called Meridian that was actually discovered by accident in Oregon (more on that story below). Of course, we called it Meridian Session Ale for a reason. So don’t let the whole single-minded thing keep you from ordering another round.

*Goose Island 25th Anniversary -ESB – 6.1% – Brewed as a collaboration between Goose Island Brewmaster Brett Porter, Senior Brewer Keith Gabbett, Pub Brewmaster Nick Barron and Alumni Brewmaster Greg Hall. Deep mahogany color, rich fruit aroma with notes of lilac, big malt body with touches of roast and a dry, crisp finish.

*Tallgrass Ethos – 6.8% – IPA – This beer was known as Area 51 IPA during development. Ethos is our new West Coast style IPA…double dry-hopped using 6 different hop varietals. Juicy, citrusy, dank.

20 of the Most Coveted Craft Beer Releases in America? Agree/Disagree?

May 14, 2013May 14, 2013Leave a comment

20 of the most coveted craft beer releases in America (via Matador Network)

HE WAS COMING for me. “Want the last pour of Isabelle Proximus?” It may seem odd that a person I’d officially met only hours ago was offering me a glass of this highly coveted beer, but our online trading and posting history had forged a strong bond. Besides, it was Dark Lord Day — the beer…

Continue reading →

Beer Review #103: Founders Breakfast Stout

May 13, 20131 Comment

There might not be a more proper beer for breakfast than Founders Breakfast Stout. I know that it is the time of year when people stop thinking about stouts and start heading into the lighter, more refreshing realm of the craft beer world. STOP! Don’t put away the stouts yet! This style of beer still holds a place among beers to drink during the spring and summer months.

I also realize that Breakfast Stout from Founders (www.foundersbrewing.com) shelf time has come and gone, and is now being replaced by All Day IPA (a great beer!) but I’ve been able to find a few four packs left and in my opinion this beer is tasting as good if not better than when it was initially released this year.

The first thing that grabs your attention with this brew is the fantastic artwork on the bottle label. A baby eating oatmeal for breakfast…easily one of the best labels and one of the reasons I first tried this beer years ago. The 2nd thing is the obviously the smell and taste. The aroma of coffee, chocolate, and roasted malt justify you cracking one of these bad boys open on Saturday morning and sit back and read your morning paper. The flavor is the same; the coffee and chocolate star but do not overpower with wonderful stout. Here’s more from the brewery:

You’ve got to love coffee to truly appreciate this phenomenal brew. Brewed with an abundance of flaked oats, bitter and sweetened imported chocolates, Sumatra and Kona coffee. We’re actually not sure if this is some type of coffee cake or a beer. Either way you can drink this ale with a fork. Breakfast Stout has an intense fresh roasted coffee nose toped with a cinnamon colored frothy head that seems to never fade and makes you wish breakfast could last forever.

I still believe you can find some four packs on shelves. This is an instance of beer where shelf life can help bring out the flavor; don’t shy away from buying it! Grab a few 4 packs and enjoy this terrific brew. Opening one these on a starry summer evening is the perfect ending to a summer night!

REVIEW

Style: Imperial Stout

ABV: 8.3%

Purchased at: Brother’s Market; Lisbon, IA

Pour: Thick brown/black pour with a brown head.

Aroma: Wonderful aroma of rich coffee and chocolate with roasted malts.

Flavor: Definitely a full-bodied stout. A ton of coffee and chocolate flavor with the roasted malt rounding it out nicely.

Ratebeer.com rating: 100/100

Beeradvocate.com rating: 100/100

Overall: A+

My recommendation: A go to seasonal for sure. Like I said above, you still could possibly find some on the shelves and it’s the perfect time to stock on a few four packs. A must try brew.

Beer Review #102 Hoppin' Frog Turbo Shandy

April 29, 2013Leave a comment

Finally! This past week in Eastern Iowa we were finally able to enjoy some nice spring weather. Temps hitting the high 60’s and low 70’s makes one think that the summer months and finally approaching (although snow is in the forecast for Wednesday. What the hell?). With the warmer months coming our taste for beer usually starts going for the lighter more thirst quenching styles. Many shelves have the summer beers stocked. We are burdened with the excess of Coronas, sugared up wine coolers, Shocktop’s nastiness, and the usual light fare of shit given to us by the “big 3”. The question remains, what is out there for a craft beer lover that would fall under a “summer beer” category?

A style with a lot of buzz lately has been a shandy or radler style of beer. These “styles” are usually just a lager mixed with citrus juice/soda and makes for a great refreshing beer. Leinenkugel’s is pushing their summer shandy hard, in fact, I believe I saw it on the shelves in late February, but the pledge taste it gives off makes it only a one and done. Mike’s Hard Lemonade is very successful with their products and have recently entered the world shandies.

Usually a shandy has a relatively low ABV. So if you are wanting to mix the “hardness” of a Mike’s Hard Lemonade with the drinkability of a shandy, look no further than Hoppin’ Frog’s Turbo Shandy (www.hoppinfrog.com). At 7% it easily hits the hardness that you want, but the tartness hides it deceivingly making for a very refreshing, drinkable summer brew. From the brewery:

The release of our Turbo Shandy Citrus Ale is around mid June. Born from European tradition, our Shandy is a refreshing combination of lemon and light malt flavors. Unlike traditional shandys, Turbo Shandy, revs it up a couple of notches with a high-test, full flavored approach as only Hoppin’ Frog can do.

The citrus flavor dominates the beer. I actually forgot I was drinking a beer and thought I was sipping on a glass of Squirt soda for a while. While, this a style for me is hard to down more than one, it was very tasty, but I can see that this isn’t the type of beer for the craft beer snob, but for someone who just wants to chill on the patio, let the rays soak in, and enjoy a crisp, citrusy brew.

REVIEW

Style: Fruit beer, shandy

ABV: 7%

Purchased at: Woodman’s Market; Madison, WI.

Pour: Blonde pour with a medium white head.

Aroma: Lemon fruit scent, maybe some yeast notes as well.

Flavor: The sweet lemonade is there. I described it as very close to drinking a Squirt soda.

Ratebeer.com rating: 39/100

Beeradvocate.com rating: 79/100

Overall: C+

My recommendation: A hot day, this works well. The only drawback for me, not enough beer flavor and too sweet. A good 22 oz bottle to share with somebody.

Beer Review #102 Hoppin’ Frog Turbo Shandy

April 29, 2013Leave a comment

The release of our Turbo Shandy Citrus Ale is around mid June. Born from European tradition, our Shandy is a refreshing combination of lemon and light malt flavors. Unlike traditional shandys, Turbo Shandy, revs it up a couple of notches with a high-test, full flavored approach as only Hoppin’ Frog can do.

REVIEW

Style: Fruit beer, shandy

ABV: 7%

Purchased at: Woodman’s Market; Madison, WI.

Pour: Blonde pour with a medium white head.

Aroma: Lemon fruit scent, maybe some yeast notes as well.

Flavor: The sweet lemonade is there. I described it as very close to drinking a Squirt soda.

Ratebeer.com rating: 39/100

Beeradvocate.com rating: 79/100

Overall: C+

My recommendation: A hot day, this works well. The only drawback for me, not enough beer flavor and too sweet. A good 22 oz bottle to share with somebody.