Cityview Brewfest Des Moines, IA; July 14th 2012

July 9, 20125 Comments

This weekend Cityview Brewfest will be located at Principal Park in downtown Des Moines. There will be 450 beers and admission $28 at the door and includes unlimited samples. This years list of beers will come from the following breweries:
*Anchor Brewing; San Francisco, CA
*August Schell
*Backpocket Brewing; Coralville, IA
*Bells Brewing
*Big Sky Brewing
*Boston Brewing Co.
*Boulevard Brewing
*Breckenridge Brewing
*Buffalo Bills Brewing
*Brau Brothers
*Capital Brewing
*Chameleon Brewing
*Widmer Brothers
*Redhook Brewing
*Fort Collins Brewing
*Toppling Goliath; Decorah, IA
*Granite City
*Great River Brewing
*Lakefront Brewing
*Lost Coast Brewing
*Madhouse Brewing; Newton, IA
*Sierra Nevada and many more…

Check out the video below or follow the link for more information. http://brewfestdsm.com/

Beer Review #84: Hinterland Luna Coffee Stout

June 27, 20121 Comment

Man, I love stouts. The more the merrier for me, and even on a hot day I have no problem pulling a stout beer out of the fridge, pouring that bad boy, letting it sit for about 5 minutes, and taking it outside and enjoying it on the deck. Some stout lately seem to be more on the porter side of things lately, which is fine, but when I want a stout, I want a thick, creamy, easy drinking brew with hints of chocolate, coffee, and bit of smokiness. So, what does Hinterland give me?

A relatively new brewery to Eastern Iowa shelves is Hinterland Brewery. Located in Green Bay, WI this newcomer can found in just about every liquor store now in Eastern Iowa. Year round offerings from this brewery include their pale ale, amber ale, IPA, and the beer I’m going to review today; their Luna Stout.

From the brewery: ( http://www.hinterlandbeer.com/)
” Luna Coffee Stout pours pitch black with hues deep mahogany. The two finger, fluffy, tan head recedes slowly leaving a nice, full lace for a very impressive look. With a solid, yet not overpowering aroma of coffee, you can still smell a hint of chocolate. The bold, rich taste of creamy coffee doesn’t overwhelm the rest of the flavors leaving a hint of chocolate to finish. On a cold winter night, you couldn’t ask for a better cold beer to warm you up.”

This was a pretty in your face coffee stout. Coffee dominates the senses as you can smell it right when you crack open the bottle. (Side note: Had this on nitro tap at The Old Fashioned in Madison, WI. Great stuff!) The pour is pitch black with the aroma of the coffee blasting through. Flavor is the same; dominate coffee with a hint of bitter dark chocolate. Let’s check my list for the perfect stout:

Thickness: Check
Creaminess: I would say right in the middle. Not as creamy as I like, but right between a porter and a stout.
Chocolate/Coffee/Smoke: Double Check on the coffee
Easy drinking: Check

All in all, a really great brew that satisfies what most stout fans are looking for. Not a fan of coffee? Then this probably not the brew for you, luckily I’m addicted to coffee so this is right up my alley.

REVIEW

STYLE: Coffee Stout

ABV: 4.8%

Purchased at: Hy-Vee

Pour: Black pour, thick tan head.
Aroma: Coffee dominates.
Taste: Luna coffee is the star of this brew.
Overall: B

My recommendations: If you like coffee, this is your stout. Also, this beer comes in 16 oz four packs. So, not your typical sized bottles; lots of beer in one bottle.

Distribution News: Lagunitas, Green Flash, Stone not coming??

June 20, 20124 Comments

Some good news and bad news this week regarding distribution. I guess it is not necessarily bad news, but according to my source the whole Stone Brewing to Iowa thing isn’t looking good right now. Speaking with distributors and beer vendors, Stone has not/is not getting back to them regarding their products hitting shelves in Eastern Iowa, so a bit of a snag there. Not sure what the delay is, but it doesn’t look like that will be happening this summer.

Onto the good news. My source says that Lagunitas AND Green Flash are 1-2 months away from hitting shelves in Eastern Iowa. Fantastic news! If you haven’t had the chance to try the beers from these breweries you should, they are a real treat. Check out the brews from Lagunitas here: (http://www.lagunitas.com/beers/index.html) Really like their IPA and Little Sumpin’ Sumpin’.
Here is a list of Green Flash brews: (http://www.lagunitas.com/beers/index.html) Their Palate Wrecker and West Coast IPA are some of the best IPAs I’ve ever had.

I will post more when I hear more! Cheers!

New to Shelves: Mendocino, Stillwater, Evil Twin

June 20, 2012Leave a comment

Some new beers should be hitting shelves this week at your liquor store (John’s Grocery). This week there will be brews in from Mendocino Brewing, Stillwater, and Evil Twin, which has been on shelves for a few weeks now.

MENDOCINO – Mendocino brewery is located in Mendocino, CA and has a huge lineup of beers. From their website:
“We take great pride in being pioneers in the American Craft Brewing Renaissance and even greater pride in our range of ales that beer lovers all over the country have made Legends. We hope that the pages on this site will let you know some more about how we started and about our passion for brewing the best.”

I believe their Eye of the Hawk has been on shelves in Eastern Iowa before. They have a different collection of beers, led by their Red Tail Ale which is an old world amber. To check out their complete lineup of beers go to (http://www.mendobrew.com/home.html).

Next up is Stillwater Premium. Description from Beer Advocate: “A Post Prohibition’ style ale brewed with Pilsner malt, corn, and rice. Hopped at 2lbs per BBL with Cluster, Northern Brewer, and Saaz and fermented with a farmhouse ale yeast and 2 strains of brettanomyces to weigh in at 4.5% ABV.”

Evil Twin has a bunch of beers available at John’s Grocery. Here is the complete list from the grocers’ website:
(http://www.johnsgrocery.com/Departments/Beer/browse.cfm?action=browse&method=prodname&arg=E)
More info about Evil Twin from Beer Advocate: “A phantom brewery run by Jeppe Jarnit-Bjergsø, brother of Mikkel Borg Bergsø of Mikkeller fame. Beers are brewed at / by another brewery.”

Drop me a line if you get to try any of these brews and let me know what you think!

Beer Review #83: Leinenkugels Honey Weiss

June 14, 2012June 14, 20122 Comments

I will start off this review and say that nothing that Leinenkugels makes has impressed me except for their Big Eddy series. Not that their stuff is not drinkable I just find it to either be watered down or artificial in taste. Since I just came back from the great north, I thought I would review a Wisconsin product, Leinenkugels’ Honey Weiss. (www.leinie.com)
Brewer’s description: “Honey Weiss has a taste that’s light, crisp and slightly sweet.”

Man, I’m just not getting this one. People must buy it because it is an easy beer to drink. I get no honey flavor, it can hardly be described as a Weiss beer, minimal American wheat flavor. Watered-down brew to me. I think this could be a brew they could back and tweak the recipe on and make it much better than it currently is; I think they should do that with many of their products.

On a positive note, if you are looking for a light, refreshing, easy drinking brew, this would be one for you to go with. An inexpensive beer, that is widely available, however, I will be looking elsewhere.

REVIEW

STYLE: Wheat Ale

ABV: 4.92%

Purchased at: Anywhere

Pour: Light gold pour, small white head.
Aroma: Mild wheat aroma, a little citrus.
Taste: Little wheat and citrus.
Overall: D

My recommendations: There are too many great craft brews that have surpassed Leinenkugels wheat beer or even fruit beer. I would avoid this beer and ask your beer monger, or me, what to go for.

New to Shelves this Week: Sierra Nevada Southern Hemisphere

June 6, 2012June 6, 2012Leave a comment

Sierra Nevada gives us another opportunity to try a wonderful brew. This week their Southern Hemisphere hits the shelves around Eastern Iowa. Southern Hemisphere is a fresh hop IPA which means the hops that were used in this beer where used rather quickly after they were harvested. Expect flavor of wood, floral hops with a nice bready malt finish. Here is the description from the brewer:
“This ale marks our journey to the only place on the planet where fresh hops are harvested in our spring, the Southern Hemisphere. Our task was daunting-we needed to get the hops picked, dried, flown halfway across the world and into our brew kettle in a little over a week’s time. The result is a North-by-South fusion of fresh New Zealand hops blended with the finest North American malts. Its robust hop character presents an intriguing floral-citrus aroma leading to layers of fresh-hop spiciness. Enjoy!”

What's the Best Beer Brewed in Iowa? Vote Here!

June 3, 20123 Comments

Over at Bracketeers there is any online poll trying to find what the best beer brewed in Iowa is. I think I I know where my vote is going; how about you? Check it out here! http://public.bracketeers.com/matchup.php?id=1435

Lots of tough First round matchups. I’m thinking Toppling Goliath Golden Nugget wins it all, but Millstream and Peace Tree might surprise.

What’s the Best Beer Brewed in Iowa? Vote Here!

June 3, 2012June 3, 20123 Comments

Lots of tough First round matchups. I’m thinking Toppling Goliath Golden Nugget wins it all, but Millstream and Peace Tree might surprise.

Iowa Brewery News: Milllstream Releases

June 1, 2012Leave a comment

Millstream Brewing out of Amana www.millstreambrewing.com has a couple of beers about to hit the shelves. Both are re-releases, although one was only on tap at the brewery a few years ago. The first one is their Hefe”r”weissen. Here’s Millstreams’ description of this brew:
“Our Summer Seasonal beer is about to be released in just a few short days. June 6th we will be bottling this anticipated brew! Our German-styled Hefeweissen is quite sweet and fruity, with a full body and light in color. Other flavors that can be savored are banana and cloves. Hefeweizens are very lightly hopped so they have very little bitterness and harshness. German wheat beer brewers do not add coriander or other botanicals and spices to their beer as Belgian brewers do. This is the main difference between a Hefeweissen and a Belgian Wit Style Beer.
“Hefe” means yeast, “Weizen” means wheat. Hefeweizen is a top fermented, unfiltered, bottle conditioned wheat beer with a noticeable yeast sediment and a cloudy appearance. It is left unfiltered for extra flavor and aroma.”

Their other beer about to be released is part of their Brewmasters’ Extreme Series, it is Raspberry Trippel. From the brewery:
“For those of you anticipating our next high gravity beer, it’s about to be released. On June 6th we will be bottling our Raspberry Tripel. This brew was first brewed and only available on tap at the brewery in 2010. It was brought back into production at the request of our customers at Millstream. This beer is brewed with real raspberries and has a big nose of fresh raspberry notes. It is very smooth with a mellow raspberry and whole grain flavor that has a subtle tartness in the end. This unfiltered Belgian Tripel has a light yellow/pinkish color and carries the alcoholic warmth of a well done high gravity beer. “

Beer and Baseball: Match Made in Heaven

May 30, 2012May 30, 2012Leave a comment

My family and I are heading to Los Angeles in July to catch a Dodger game or two. It’s going to be a pretty special event as my son has never been to a Dodger game and he is really caught up in baseball right now, and my parents, who have been Dodger fans forever, are also coming along. It should be great, but to make it even better would be to have some great craft beer to drink at the ball game.
I understand that nostalgia plays a big role in baseball. So when you go to Wrigley, slamming back a few Old Style’s is the way to go. But, on this trip to LA, I’m looking for more. So, I’ve done some research, and with some help from a few other websites and blogs have found that craft beer is booming at MLB parks; and below is a list of beers available at some of them. One thing to keep in mind, no matter what. Is that the prices are suck terribly.

LOS ANGELES DODGERS
I’ll start with my team. Well…. I wished I wouldn’t have researched it. It looks like the only options that I’ve seen are Firestone Walker and Sam Adams. The Firestone Walker will cost around $13. Not sure the wallet will be able to handle too many of those. Damn!!!!!!!

Philladephia Phillies
Might have to go to a Phillies game just to drink their beer. Awesome selection! Dogfish Head, Troegs, Victory, Sierra Nevada, and many others! Maybe the best park to drink craft at.

Getting closer to Iowa.

Chicago White Sox
Not a whole lot, but still some solid choices. You could have Bell’s Oberon and many of the Leinenkugel’s products are available as well.

Chicago Cubs
Old Style. The last time I was there I believe I had something from Goose Island as well? Can’t remember what? Anyone wanna fill this one in?

Kansas City Royals
Boulevard products and New Belgium as well. While watching the Royals on TV I noticed their postgame is sponsored by Boulevard. Love that they keep the big 3 out of that.

Minnesota Twins
Maybe the midwest winner here. Surly has exclusive rights to sell Bandwagon at Target Field and other Surly products as well as Summit and Grain Belt. Worth the trip to watch the pathetic Twins this year.

St. Louis Cardinals
Pretty nice selection. Boulevard, O’Fallon, Schlafly, and New Belgium.

Want more fields? Check out http://worstbeerblogever.com/2012/05/major-league-baseball-craft-beer-guide-a-look-at-all-30-stadiums/ for more. Lots of great options!

Another link to check out: http://thefullpint.com/beer-news/craft-beer-pairs-well-with-baseball/

Let me know if I missed anything!

Sources: http://worstbeerblogever.com/2012/05/major-league-baseball-craft-beer-guide-a-look-at-all-30-stadiums/