I know, I know, I’ve already review Lincoln Cafe a couple of times but each time it has been a different meal and also my wife and I will not be having any romantic evenings out at nice restaurants anytime soon because Baron Baby #2 has arrived. 
Throwing ideas around for lunch today and in Mount Vernon, we are pretty limited unless we wanted to travel to CR or IC; which we occasionally do. Today however, we wanted to stay close and get some take out food which usually limits us to Hardees, Casey’s Pizza, Subway (I despise Subway and think it is evil), or a local bar. We often forget we have a gem of a restaurant in town that is Lincoln Cafe.
Today I ordered their special: Homemade bratwurst with their house made mustard and homemade potato salad. All of this was great. The brats were not too greasy and had the right amount of fat to give you the juicy wonderfulness that brats give you. The potato salad was very good and refreshing. Their soup special was a watermelon gazpacho. I’ve never ordered a gazpacho before just because cold soup really doesn’t appeal to me. This soup today will always make me rethink my choices. This soups was great! The best way to put it is a cold watermelon broth, with cucumbers, onions, spices, and herbs. Amazing! Refreshing, light, and the perfect thing (besides beer) to cool you off on a hot, muggy Iowa summer day. If you ever get to Mount Vernon, and you love food, make sure to check out Lincoln Cafe. (www.foodisimportant.com)

This past Friday night my wife and I had the pleasure of going out to eat with my parents and my sister and her husband. We had been talking up Reds’ Alehouse for a long time and since they live in Indiana, they had yet to try it. When we got there I noticed they didn’t have Bells Two Hearted Ale on tap, which is my go to beer. Usually when a place doesn’t have your go to, you are disappointed, but at a place like Reds where the kegs are ever-changing, it’s kind of nice because you get to try something new. Here’s the first beer I had:

**Rogue Ales Chatoe Rogue OREgasmic Ale**
An American pale ale and you know if Rogue makes it, it will be pretty good. The best part of this whole thing is that at Reds from 3-6 EVERYDAY it is happy hour! Two for ones baby!! A nice smooth pale ale that has the spicy fruit aroma and smell. Excellent beer for a summer day!

My dad decided to go with Rogue also, but he went a different direction with the style.
**Rogue Dad’s Little Helper Black IPA**
A somewhat new trend is taking the wonderfully bitterness and citrus flavor of IPAs and adding the nice roasted flavor of stouts, porters, and black lagers. When you drink this beer you get the hop flavor and bitterness right away and it finishes with the nice roasted maltiness.

We threw in a couple of standards (Moose Drool Brown Ale) and then we decided to try the flight. A flight of beers is something a bar/brewery puts together to let you try the different styles without having to order a pint of beer. We get smaller amounts to try. Reds’ flight on that Friday consisted of these four beers:
*Dieu De Ciel Peche Mortel which is an imperial stout that www.ratebeer.com gave 100/100. Its ABV is 9.5%
*Mikkeller Beer Geek Breakfast which is a stout with 7.5% ABV.
*Mikkeller USalive Belgian Wild Ale which has the hoppy aroma mixed with nice maltiness. Its ABV is 9.4%
*Mikkeller Big Worst which is an American Barley wine and its ABV is…….ready for this??……………18.5%

I’m not going to lie to you, the Big Worst scared the shit out of me, but since I was sharing it was worth trying. This flight of beers was amazing, I really enjoyed the Peche Mortel and the Beer Geek Breakfast stout, the USalive was a different style than I had ever had but would like to try more of that style. The Big Worst, although the 18.5% ABV was frightening to see, what is even more worrisome is the fact that the alcohol does not dominate this beer at all. You get a nice sweet beer with some hop bitterness and it is relatively smooth. A fantastic flight!!! If you want a beer experience in Eastern Iowa, Reds is your ticket. Check out their site www.redsalehousenl.com for constantly changing beer menu.

I talked about beer most of this review, but their food can’t go unnoticed. My wife always orders their seared tuna appetizer, which is always great. I had their Alehouse burger which I have yet to have a better burger in the area than this one. And the best was my mom’s order of Black and Tan onion rings. The best onion rings I have ever had! Thanks again to Reds and their knowledgeable wait staff and servers!

This past Friday night my wife and I had the pleasure of going out to eat with my parents and my sister and her husband. We had been talking up Reds’ Alehouse for a long time and since they live in Indiana, they had yet to try it. When we got there I noticed they didn’t have Bells Two Hearted Ale on tap, which is my go to beer. Usually when a place doesn’t have your go to, you are disappointed, but at a place like Reds where the kegs are ever-changing, it’s kind of nice because you get to try something new. Here’s the first beer I had:

**Rogue Ales Chatoe Rogue OREgasmic Ale**
An American pale ale and you know if Rogue makes it, it will be pretty good. The best part of this whole thing is that at Reds from 3-6 EVERYDAY it is happy hour! Two for ones baby!! A nice smooth pale ale that has the spicy fruit aroma and smell. Excellent beer for a summer day!

My dad decided to go with Rogue also, but he went a different direction with the style.
**Rogue Dad’s Little Helper Black IPA**
A somewhat new trend is taking the wonderfully bitterness and citrus flavor of IPAs and adding the nice roasted flavor of stouts, porters, and black lagers. When you drink this beer you get the hop flavor and bitterness right away and it finishes with the nice roasted maltiness.

We threw in a couple of standards (Moose Drool Brown Ale) and then we decided to try the flight. A flight of beers is something a bar/brewery puts together to let you try the different styles without having to order a pint of beer. We get smaller amounts to try. Reds’ flight on that Friday consisted of these four beers:
*Dieu De Ciel Peche Mortel which is an imperial stout that www.ratebeer.com gave 100/100. Its ABV is 9.5%
*Mikkeller Beer Geek Breakfast which is a stout with 7.5% ABV.
*Mikkeller USalive Belgian Wild Ale which has the hoppy aroma mixed with nice maltiness. Its ABV is 9.4%
*Mikkeller Big Worst which is an American Barley wine and its ABV is…….ready for this??……………18.5%

I’m not going to lie to you, the Big Worst scared the shit out of me, but since I was sharing it was worth trying. This flight of beers was amazing, I really enjoyed the Peche Mortel and the Beer Geek Breakfast stout, the USalive was a different style than I had ever had but would like to try more of that style. The Big Worst, although the 18.5% ABV was frightening to see, what is even more worrisome is the fact that the alcohol does not dominate this beer at all. You get a nice sweet beer with some hop bitterness and it is relatively smooth. A fantastic flight!!! If you want a beer experience in Eastern Iowa, Reds is your ticket. Check out their site www.redsalehousenl.com for constantly changing beer menu.

I talked about beer most of this review, but their food can’t go unnoticed. My wife always orders their seared tuna appetizer, which is always great. I had their Alehouse burger which I have yet to have a better burger in the area than this one. And the best was my mom’s order of Black and Tan onion rings. The best onion rings I have ever had! Thanks again to Reds and their knowledgeable wait staff and servers!