Iowa Beer News #2: Iowa Craft Beer Festival

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Just received this email from Iowa Brewer’s Guild regarding the Iowa Craft Beer Festival.

“Celebrate American Craft Beer Week (May 16-22) at the first annual Iowa Craft Brew Festivalorganized by all your favorite local Iowa breweries, on Saturday, May 21 in downtown Des Moines.

Sample craft brews by more than 20 Iowa breweries and 80+ beers, along with a host of regional and national microbrews, live music, and food. Attendees will enjoy unlimited beer samplings along 10th Street between Walnut and Mulberry from 3-7pm. Advance tickets are available via Midwestix for $15 and day of tickets will sell for $20. The event will feature performances by Jefferson County Green Band and Seedlings. Guests can look forward to a wide variety of creative brews, including a number of collaborative beers aged in Templeton Rye barrels.

As the Iowa Craft Brew Festival winds down, guests are encouraged to stay for the official after party, Suds in the Street, hosted by Raccoon River Brewing Company. Favorite local bands The Workshy and Brother Trucker will entertain guests from 7:30-11pm. Daytime attendees receive free admission with their wristband. Tickets to the after party are also available at the gate for $5/guest. Concession stands featuring craft beer and grilled favorites will be provided.

Both events will take place rain or shine. If inclement weather occurs, the Iowa Craft Brew Festival will move to the Grand Ballroom of the Hotel Fort Des Moines. The Suds in the Street after party will move into Raccoon River Brewing Company.

The Iowa Craft Beer Festival is organized by the Iowa Brewers Guild, a non-profit with the purpose to showcase and improve the quality of beer brewed in Iowa, foster communication between the state’s brewers, advocate for the promotion of the local brewing community, and lobby for progressive changes in Iowa laws to benefit the craft brewing industry in the state.

Iowa Craft Brew Festival and Suds in the Street
Saturday, May 21
3-7pm Tasting
7:30-11pm After Party
10th Street between Walnut and Mulberry, downtown Des Moines
Tasting and After Party Tickets: $15 advance via Midwestix or $20 at the door
After Party Only Tickets: $5 at the door only
Spread the word! Invite your friends to the official Facebook event.

Live Music
3:00-4:15pm – Seedlings
4:45-7:00pm – Jefferson County Green Band
8:00pm-9:15pm – The Workshy
9:45pm-11:00pm – Brother Trucker

Maybe I will see you there!! Should be a great time!

Beer Vacation #1: Chicago, IL

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My wife’s family celebrated Easter vacation by getting a few rooms in Schaumburg, IL, about a 20 minute drive from downtown Chicago and I wasn’t thinking I would get a chance to enjoy some really fine beers but thankfully I have a great wife who lets me do things like that. We started our day, Saturday, at the Children’s Museum at Navy Pier, which was great for the kids. My wife’s brothers then thought it would be a good idea to hit up a Cub game, since they are all Cub fans, and they were playing my favorite team the Dodgers. So the beer journey got kicked off at the perfect venue, a ball game at a historic stadium. We enjoyed a few old styles and my brother-in-law thought it would be great if we could stay downtown to explore some bars. So we stayed behind while everyone headed back to Schaumburg. We left the game early and the first place we went to was….
**Goose Island Wrigleyville** It was the closest bar there and I had to get over the fact that they just sold out InBev, but I put that behind me and actually thought the place was really good. We bellied up to the bar and I had their Green Line Pale Ale which is only served on tap there, and the proceeds from the brew go to some good cause or another. The beer itself was very good and smooth, and I think there would be a market for that brew if they ever decide to expand on it. My brother-in-law, let’s call him Balls, brother-in-law takes too long to type, so Balls had a Blueberry Ale which was pretty refreshing. Not overly sweet and pretty drinkable. We then headed off to…..
**Merkles** Being born and raised in Iowa it was great to find an Iowa Hawkeye bar in downtown Chicago with the TigerHawk proudly being displayed. This bar was more my style, somewhat rugged looking. The beer selection was fantastic, upon entering the bar was a display of the daily specials which showed Dogfish Head Aprihop as the draw which got me giddy and made me realize this could be the place I spend the rest of the evening. Balls and I both had an Aprihop to start which is a great, refreshing Spring beer. I noticed they had a beer that many people talk about, 3 Floyds Gumballhead. I was very excited to try this and was even happier I did. I don’t get to excited about wheat beers much anymore, but this beer made me a believer that wheat beers can still be amazingly tasty. We finished with a few more beers and the rest of the night is pretty much a blur except for the $80 cab ride back to Schaumburg.
I know I’m just skimming the surface of the places to drink in Chicago; let me know if there are some must visits around that area!

Beer Review #55: New Belgium Blue Paddle Pilsner

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New Belgium brewing has helped make the craft beer scene come alive in Iowa and the country with their popular Fat Tire Amber Ale. But they do make some other pretty good beers too. With summer coming around the corner (hopefully), a good pilsner goes great while grilling, cutting the grass, watching baseball, and all of the other summer activities most people do. New Belgium’s Blue Paddle Pilsner is the perfect accompaniment to these activities. It is a good transition beer from your Bud, Coors, Miller, into the foray of craft beer. 
New Belgium (www.newbelgium.com) uses noble hops for this Czech style pilsner. This is not a beer that is meant to be over the  top in flavor and knock you out with its greatness. It is meant for a nice crisp refreshing beer and it does a pretty good job at doing that.  
REVIEW
 Pour: Golden yellow pour with a medium-sized white head.
Aroma: Smell of malts, bread like smell, and a little bit of hops.
Taste: Bready, grassy, and little bitterness from the hops. Refreshing.
Overall: C-
Eastern Iowa Residents:Summer seasonal for New Belgium, should start seeing it more and more on the shelves in your local Eastern Iowa liquor store.

Beer News #1: Top 50 Craft Breweries of 2010

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New list compiled by the Brewers Association of the Top 50 Craft Breweries of 2010 has been released. Thanks to www.beernews.org  for the list. I thought Dogfish Head would be higher on the list. No surprise at #1, but #3 wast Spoetzel, they make Shiner Bock, and I do think that is a decent beer but I was pretty surprised to see that brewery ahead of others on that list. Let me know your thoughts. Did your brewery get on the list? It would be nice to see an Iowa Brewery on there someday. CHeck out the link below.

http://beernews.org/2011/04/brewers-association-reveals-2010-top-50-breweries/#more-18881

Beer Review #54: Dogfish Head Theobroma

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One of the hottest breweries in America is Dogfish Head. This brewery has become so sought after that they have had to pull out of many states because of increased demand and they can’t pump out enough of their wonderful beer. I had the opportunity to purchase some of their product while I was in Madison, WI; since then, they have had to pull out of that state also, which really really sucks because they don’t distribute to Iowa or Wisconsin.
Like most of their beers, it has a really nice back story that is too long for me to type out, so check out their site (www.dogfish.com) to get more info. The beer is very unique; it is brewed with cocoa powder, honey, chilies, and annatto (a fragrant tree seed). The flavor is somewhat sweet with a little bit of the cocoa and chilie coming through but not as much as I thought it would or as much as I wanted it to. It is very refreshing and very drinkable, at 9% abv you have to careful though.
Recommendation: With the demand so high, I highly recommend that any time you get a chance to try anything made by Dogfish you have to go for it, no matter the price or the style. Everything you will try from them will be unique and 9 times out of 10 will be very good.
REVIEW
 Pour: Orange pour with a medium white head.
Aroma: Aroma was somewhat floral, a little chocolate smell, and a little sweet fruit smell.
Taste: Lots of tastes going on with this beer. You get the sweetness of the honey, a little bit of chocolate and then at the end minimal heat from the chilie.
Overall: B-
Eastern Iowa Residents:You have to get on ebay or drive to a state that distributes their brew. Check out this link to find the nearest place that distributes Dogfish (http://www.dogfish.com/brews-spirits/fish-finder.htm). The next time you go out of state for a vacation, hit up a liquor store and see if they have dogfish.

Iowa Beer: Upcoming Events

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Here is a list of upcoming beer events in Eastern Iowa. If I missed any please contact me so I can correct it.

Millstream always has something fun going on year-round. Here’s what is coming up in the next three months.

Maifest in Amana- Tons of activities going on and the best part is Amana brats with Millstream beer. More info go to www.millstream.com

June 4: BrewBQ and Blues – enjoy listening to some good blues, enjoying great BBQ, and terrific beer from Millstream in their outdoor biergarten.

June 25- Beer and Brat Festival- Come to Millstream brewing for beer, brats, music, and games!

July 10- 11th Annual Tour de Brew – 38 mile bike ride that starts and ends at Millstream brewery. Food, live music, door prizes and beer.

Beer Review #53: Blue Moon Rising Moon Spring Ale

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Decided to give this beer another try and I remembered why I hadn’t bough it in a while. The original BLue Moon beer was somewhat responsible for getting me into the craft beer scene. I still can do the occasional Blue Moon, but some of their other seasonal selections just don’t do the job. Rising Moon Spring Ale is wheat beer brewed with lime to give you that spring feeling. The label makes it seem like a promising beer, but I didn’t get much from the limes or even the wheat, just a really metallic flavor and some over the top sweetness from the malts
If you are starting up in the craft beer drinking scene this might not be too bad for you too drink, if you are a seasoned veteran than you must stay away from this brew.
REVIEW
 Pour: Amber pour with a nice white head.
Aroma: Malty and sweet aroma.
Taste: Flavor is metallic, plastic, and overlly sweet.
Overall: D
Eastern Iowa Residents:Available only during spring just about everywhere.

Beer Review #52: O'Fallon Hemp Hop Rye

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A friend of mine had recently brough over a six pack of O’Fallon Hemp Hop Rye (www.ofallonbrewery.com) to my house to taste. I was a little skeptical since I had never really heard of this brew before. The description of this beer says they use hemp seed to give the beer a nutty flavor and along with the rye there are many different flavors going on. Did I love this beer? No. I did however, find it drinkable, but I found myself wanting something a little more. Maybe it was more nuttiness or maltiness, not sure, I think I will have to try this one more time to find out.

If you do decide to try this beer let me know your thoughts.
REVIEW
 Pour: Amber pour with a nice white head.
Aroma: Malty and sweet aroma.
Taste: Flavor is sweet and malty, with a little nuttiness at the end.
Overall: B
Eastern Iowa Residents:Friend got it at his local Hy-Vee.