I know what I want for Christmas next year!! I’m going to come up with a list of reasons why this would be a great purchase and then present them to my wife, might even throw in a nice little power point presentation; no way she could say no.
Great article from fellow Beer Bloggers over at Booze Dancing. Check it out!
I’ve reviewed Lincoln Cafe a few times and continually tell anyone I meet that it is a must try destination. Now, the owners have taken their little wine bar and have put an authentic pizza oven in there and are now dishing out the best pizza in the area. The great thing is, it only takes about 3-5 minutes for them to finish your pizza depending on how busy the place is. 
I’ve been there twice, (hint: get there when the doors open at 5) and was lucky enough to find a seat right away. The seating capacity is limited and the place fills up fast, even during the week. My wife and I actually took our two young kids and had no issues whatsoever. The pizza is fantastic; crispy crust, fresh sauce, and the best ingredients. The beer selection is not bad either, usually some Bells beers are offered or some very good imports. If you get the Mount Vernon area this is a must try destination!
There menu changes weekly, I believe, and they do have some different sounding pizzas but each one sounds absolutely wonderful. Give it a try and let me know what you think!
RATING: A
Say what you want about Sam Adams being so popular and producing so much beer that they can no longer be considered a craft brewery; I could care less. The only thing I care about is that they continue to make really tasty brews that are readily available in my area. One of their newest forays goes into the White IPA style. White ales were partly responsible for me getting into the adventure of trying different styles of beer. 10 years ago I was an avid drinker of Blue Moon but as years went by and I tried more styles I wasn’t really blown away by white ales any more. In fact, the only one I like to have on occasion is Hooegaarden. But anytime you involve adding more hops to something I’m all for taste testing.
The best way to describe this beer would be; take a Blue Moon or another relatively sweet wheat beer and mix that with your favorite pale ale and the end result is Sam Adams Whitewater IPA.
Commercial Description:
“Sam Adams Whitewater IPA. A wheat ale brewed with apricots & spices.
This hazy brew combines the crisp character of a white ale with the intense pine and citrus flavors of an India Pale Ale. We took the unique combination to a new level with the sublet addition of apricots, which provide a slight sweetness to balance the bitterness of the hops.”
REVIEW
STYLE: India Pale Ale
ABV: 5.8%
Purchased at: Hy-Vee
Pour: Golden amber pour with medium white head.
Aroma: Hops, wheat, and sweet fruit, oranges.
Taste: Mildly hoppy with the sweetness of a white ale.
Overall: B-
Recommendation: A great beer for people making the transition into Hopland. Not overally sweet and nice and refreshing.
New beers we will be seeing in Eastern Iowa on our shelves this week are:
*Big Sky Heavy Horse – Scotch Ale- brewery description:
“A full bodied, full flavored ale. Deep garnet red with a dense, creamy head of tan. Stone Thrower is fermented at a lower temperature and the brewing water is softened to be closer to that found in Scotland. Malts: Pale, Crystal Chocolate, Roast. Hops: Hallertau Tradition, East Kent Goldings.”
*Samuel Adams Longshot Series 2012
Brewery Description:
–A Dark Night in Munich – “a perfect combination of deep roasted malt character with a smooth, creamy finish. To develop his recipe and the rich color of the beer, Corey used a “staining” process in which he powdered the roasted malts and added them early on in the brewing process. The rich Munich malt sweetness comes through in the aroma of this traditional Bavarian wheat beer and the light caramel notes round out the brew.”
–Five Crown Imperial Stout – “a malt-forward Russian Imperial Stout style beer that combines the rich malt character with roasted barley and chocolate notes to balance the bitter hops undertones. Harnessing more than 20 years of homebrewing experience, Joe’s full bodied stout has a sweet aroma with fruit esters. This warming winter brew finishes with a malty complexity that lingers on the palate.”
–Derf’s Secret Alt – “Fred’s take on the traditional Düsseldorf Altbier style. It has a robust, full-bodied and well-hopped taste, with a surprising balance between bitterness and nutty-malty sweetness. Fred’s brew is packed with strong notes of chocolate and roasted malt and has the flavor complexity of an ale, with the hop makeup and creamy head of a pils.”
*Shipyard Smashed Blueberry– brewery description:
“Smashed Blueberry is the newest beer in Shipyard Brewing Company’s Pugsley’s Signature Series line. This beer is a hybrid between a Porter and a Scotch Ale and has a rich mouth feel and a body of complex intensity. Upfront, there are distinct flavors of coffee and chocolate beautifully accentuated by the aroma of fresh blueberries. The finish features a delicate balance of sweet fruit and dry hops. This beer pairs well with glazed duck, ribs, barbeque, chocolate, and blueberry deserts. To fully experience all the flavors, Smashed Blueberry is best drunk at 55 degrees Fahrenheit. More about the beer: Malt: Pale, Crystal, Chocolate, Roasted Barley, Light Munich, Torrified Wheat Hops: Summit, Tettnang, Cascade Yeast: Top-Fermenting English Color: Dark Brown OG: 1.087 ABV: 9.0% Availability: 22oz Bottles, Kegs”
*Breckenridge Cans- Breckenridge brewery has now released 3 of their beers in 6 pack cans. The three available 
are:
-Summerbright
-Amber Ale
-Lucky U IPA
Check these brews out and let me know your thoughts.
There aren’t too many beers you remember having for the first time in your life; you drink many, you like many, you tolerate many, you despise many, and there are very few that can actually bring a tear of joy to your eyes. Behold! Three Floyds Zombie Dust!! This was my first beer purchase from ebay and I was very hesitant to do so. Not only are you worried about the condition of the item but the shipping of beer is unbelievably expensive. When I received them I immediately put them in the fridge. 4 hours later the first bottle was cracked and poured.
I’ll be honest, I had huge expectations for this beer because anything you get from Three Floyds (http://www.3floyds.com/) is insanely good; usually above and beyond any other brewery. Too toot their horn even more, I would say to anyone starting a brewery, find out what Three Floyds did and use that as your blueprint to success.
Anyway…… the beer was everything I hoped for. Resinous hops, citrus, (they used the citra hop), and just enough malt to balance it out. Unfortunately, Three Floyds is very hard to get in Eastern Iowa. You either have to drive to Chicago or Madison to pick it up and even those markets have a hard time keeping it on the shelves. However, if you can get some, it’s worth the trip to either destination. You owe it to yourself as a prominent beer drinker to do. After writing this, I am desperately yearning for more and I can’t….. Madison is only three hours away though.
Commercial Description:
“This intensely hopped and gushing undead pale ale will be ones only respite after the zombie apocalypse. Created with our marvelous friends in the comic industry.”
This is the best pale ale I’ve ever had.
REVIEW
STYLE: American Pale Ale
ABV: 6.2%
Purchased at: http://www.ebay.com
Pour: Dark yellow to gold with a medium sized white head.
Aroma: Citrus hops with a little breadiness.
Taste: Unbelievably good, citrusy hops, maybe some tropical fruit and a little malt.
Overall: A
Recommendation: If you ever come across this beer buy everything they have on the shelves and stocked in back, it’s that damn good.
With spring being here it is time for some very good beers to start becoming available. Here’s quick look at my favorite spring seasonal beers. Hopefully you can find these on your shelves somewhere and give them a try.
#1 Dogfish Head Apriohop 
Dogfish Head Brewery
Even though this beer is not available in Iowa, come spring, and actually all throughout the year I find myself craving this fantastic beer. Dogfish is always trying new and exciting things with their beers, there are big time hits and sometimes there are misses. With this beer though, I think they hit it right on top of the head. The perfect balance of an IPA with just a tad bit of apricot added makes this the perfect spring brew.
#2 Samuel Adams Noble Pils
Boston Beer Company
I know this available year round but up until this year it was only available from March-June. Talk about a fantastic lawn-mowing beer, this is yet. It is hard to find a great pilsner that impresses me, but this one sure does and it is very sessionable. Great brew, glad it is now available all year as it will now be in my fridge all year.
#3 New Belgium Dig
New Belgium Brewery
Their latest releases replaces Mighty Arrow, which I was really fond of. But after trying Dig, I can rest easy as this is a suitable replacement. A very tasty pale ale with the perfect blend of malts to balance out the bitterness of the hops. Good stuff from New Belgium.
#4 Ale Asylum Bedlam! 
Ale Asylum; Madison, WI
This a Belgian style IPA so it won’t be as hop forward as some of your west coast IPA’s are. But Ale Asylum does a great job adding the malts to balance out the hops. This beer is a sweeter IPA, think of an orange marmalade type flavor and that is what I get from Bedlam!
#5 Three Floyds Rabid Rabbit
Three Floyds Brewing
I had my first bottle of this beer last week and was blown away by it. A fantastically refreshing farmhouse style ale that would go perfect on a mild spring day. Malty and spicy, it goes down easy, but be careful, 7.4% ABV can sneak up to you.
**I know I’m missing some beers but please feel free to add to this list or let me know your thoughts on the ones that I have posted.**
After great news last week about Stone eventually making its way into Eastern Iowa this summer, I’m still awaiting confirmation on a few more breweries to join the list. Hoping to release that information within the month so stay tuned. On to the shelves!
This week we have another new release from New Belgium. Shift is part of New Belgium’s Explore Series (www.newbelgium.com) and is a pale lager that is arriving at the perfect time; summer! Light and refreshing and only 5% abv, this is an easy drinker. Better yet, it comes in cans to make it more accessible and handy for outside beer drinking. From the brewer:
“New Belgium employee-owners work in shifts to brew to life world-class beers. Those efforts are rewarded daily with a shared end-of-shift beer. We’re passing that welcomed occasion onto consumers in this lightly-hopped Shift Pale Lager. From work to play, from bottle to can, from bold and heavy to refreshing and sessionable; Shift salutes the shift in occasion, package and beer. So, go ahead and get your Shift beer, you’ve earned it!”
The next beer to hit the shelves is from Big Sky Brewing (www.bigskybrew.com). It is their barleywine release called Olde Bluehair. You will find it in 750 ml bottles and watch out; it’s carrying a 8.75% abv with it. From the brewer:
“Imagine a tango: a man and a woman dancing, their eyes locked upon one another, then take your first taste of Olde Bluehair, Big Sky Brewing Company’s Barley Wine. A taste of apricots, honey flavors, a sliver of vanilla, and a hint of caramel, round out the Barley Wine. Like so many things in life, Olde Bluehair just gets better with age.
Aged for a minimum of 3 months in American Oak Bourbon Barrels.”
If you try any of these I would love to hear your feedback!
I’ll start with distribution news. My source has told me that we can mark it down that Stone will start showing up on our shelves in Eastern Iowa come June or July. No date has been confirmed but those are the months they are looking at. Not sure what beers from Stone we will see right away but any of them is great for us.
Nothing new this week really on the shelves but next week expect a major impact from Sierra Nevada as we will see Sierra Nevada Pale Ale cans showing up on our shelves and possibly Torpedo. That one I cannot confirm but Pale Ale will definitely be there. Should make tailgating even more fun this fall. 
But the best news for next week is the arrival of Sierra Nevada Hoptimum. I just had a bottle last weekend and all I can say is, “WOW!!” An intense, in your face, kick in guts, double IPA. If you are a hophead, this is the beer for you. Here’s the description from the brewer’s site.
“A group of hop-heads and publicans challenged our Beer Camp brewers to push the extremes of whole-cone hop brewing. The result is this: a 100 IBU, whole-cone hurricane of flavor. Simply put- Hoptimum: the biggest whole-cone IPA we have ever produced. Aggressively hopped, dry-hopped and torpedoed with our exclusive new hop varieties for ultra-intense flavors and aromas.
Hops, hops and more hops are the stars of this big, whole-cone Imperial IPA. Resinous ‘new-school’ and exclusive hop varieties carry the bold and aromatic nose. The flavor follows the aroma with layers of aggressive hoppiness, featuring notes of grapefruit rind, rose, lilac, cedar and tropical fruit – all culminating in a dry and lasting finish.”
Search these out and let me know your thoughts!
What: Toppling Goliath Tap Takeover
Where: Joe’s Place; Iowa City, IA
When: Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Just found this on TG’s website.
“That’s right! We’re bringing in some of our best beers for a TG tap takeover at Joe’s Place in Iowa City! You bring your great palate and your party shoes, we’ll bring the beer (including a few that you can’t find anywhere else in Iowa City!)
You don’t want to miss this!! See you there!”
If you get a chance to sample some TG’s brews, you must, especially if Golden Nugget is making an appearance.
No word on what they are bringing, if you hear of anything please let me know! 
What: Toppling Goliath Tap Takeover
Where: Joe’s Place; Iowa City, IA
When: Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Just found this on TG’s website.
“That’s right! We’re bringing in some of our best beers for a TG tap takeover at Joe’s Place in Iowa City! You bring your great palate and your party shoes, we’ll bring the beer (including a few that you can’t find anywhere else in Iowa City!)
You don’t want to miss this!! See you there!”
If you get a chance to sample some TG’s brews, you must, especially if Golden Nugget is making an appearance.
No word on what they are bringing, if you hear of anything please let me know!
