A favorite brewery of mine is Ale Asylum in Madison, WI. Very hoppy and fantastic beers and really cool brewery with a limited but very good menu ranks Ale Asylum near the top of my list. Ambergeddon is a hoppy beer with a nice amount of malt flavor. Madison, WI is only a 2-3 hour drive for Eastern Iowaners, so make the trip to Ale Asylum (www.aleasylum.com). On the drive up, stop in Potosi, Mount Horeb, and New Glarus, for some great beer.
REVIEW
Pour: Amber colored pour with nice white head.
Aroma: Smell of hops and malts.
Taste: Initial flavor of hops and the malts come in next. Good stuff!
Overall: Another strong beer from Ale Asylum. Like I said above, Wisconsin is making some awesome beers, make the trip up there and drink some really good stuff.
RATING: C+

Eastern Iowa residents: This beer is available at all Hy-Vee Wine and Spirits, John’s Grocery, Benz Beverage Depot, and probably most liquor stores. Give it try!

A beer that impresses me every time I have it for its creaminess and smoothness. Young’s Double Chocolate Stout (http://www.youngs-chocolate-stout.com/) is one of the finer stouts out there. An English brewed beer Young’s combines milk chocolate with dark chocolate for this wonderfully smooth stout. I try to keep this beer in my fridge as much as possible but for a 4-pack of their cans the cost is anywhere between $8-$10. But, sometimes to drink good beer you have to ignore the price. 
REVIEW
Pour:Dark cloudy brown with a thick tan head.
Aroma: Smell of chocolate and maybe a little coffee.
Taste: Wonderfully chocolate flavor with a little coffee in there as well. Creaminess is very similar to Guinness if you have had that.
Overall: A terrific beer. If you are into stouts this is something for you. If you are new to trying the “darker” beers you might want to start with this one because of its creaminess and smoothness.
RATING: A

Eastern Iowa residents: This beer is available at all Hy-Vee Wine and Spirits, John’s Grocery, Benz Beverage Depot, and probably most liquor stores. Give it try!

A beer that impresses me every time I have it for its creaminess and smoothness. Young’s Double Chocolate Stout (http://www.youngs-chocolate-stout.com/) is one of the finer stouts out there. An English brewed beer Young’s combines milk chocolate with dark chocolate for this wonderfully smooth stout. I try to keep this beer in my fridge as much as possible but for a 4-pack of their cans the cost is anywhere between $8-$10. But, sometimes to drink good beer you have to ignore the price. 
REVIEW
Pour:Dark cloudy brown with a thick tan head.
Aroma: Smell of chocolate and maybe a little coffee.
Taste: Wonderfully chocolate flavor with a little coffee in there as well. Creaminess is very similar to Guinness if you have had that.
Overall: A terrific beer. If you are into stouts this is something for you. If you are new to trying the “darker” beers you might want to start with this one because of its creaminess and smoothness.
RATING: A

Eastern Iowa residents: This beer is available at all Hy-Vee Wine and Spirits, John’s Grocery, Benz Beverage Depot, and probably most liquor stores. Give it try!

I don’t think I have to go into the background of Budweiser too much. A nationally known symbol and icon that people are drinking quite a bit of yet today. It has been brewed and sold since 1876 by Anheuser-Busch in St. Louis, MO. An american tradition although Anheuser is no longer American owned.
REVIEW
Pour:Pale yellow pour with small white head.
Aroma: Grainy aroma.
Taste: Flavor is lacking, grainy, but that’s about it.
Overall: Nothing much going on with this beer. A cool label and marketing campaign but there is no flavor for this beer. I’ve said this before, don’t waste the money on beer like this, instead support local (Millstream) or craft beer that is out there today.
RATING: D-

Eastern Iowa residents: This beer is available everywhere. The Bud marketing machine makes sure you see this beer in the center of the shelves. Avoid it, buy something good.

Just bought a six pack of Anchor Steam beer, haven’t had it in quite a while. Anchor brewing (http://www.anchorbrewing.com/) is located in San Francisco and was one of the first microbreweries to get the craft beer revolution started. Iowa residents will probably recognize the man behind Anchor, Fritz Maytag. Maytag is from the same family that produces the nationally known Maytag Blue Cheese located in Newton, Iowa. He moved to San Fran and bought Anchor and turned it into what it is today. Some Iowa roots located on the west coast.
REVIEW
Pour:Deep amber pour with a thick creamy head.
Aroma: Malts, yeast, and floral hops.
Taste: Flavor of malts, caramel, and citrus hops.
Overall: A very enjoyable beer to sit and enjoy. A little bit of bitterness that rounds out the sweet flavors of the malts. A good session beer.
RATING: C

Eastern Iowa residents: I’ve seen this beer throughout Eastern Iowa. Hy-Vee, good liquor stores, and sometimes even small town grocers have had this in their selection. Give it a shot.

A beer I drank for a long time but haven’t much of late since I’ve been focusing on drinking micro/craft beer was Amstel Light. Amstel Light (http://amstellight.com/) is a light beer with only 3.5 a.b.v. It is brewed in the Netherlands and has that somewhat distinct skunk flavor that Heineken has but not to that extent. A little skunkiness but also somewhat refreshing.
REVIEW
Pour:Lighter gold with solid white head.
Aroma: Skunkiness smell.
Taste: Crisp clean flavor with not much finish.
Overall: If you are one of those people who only drink light beers, then I would recommend this. If you are more adventureous, there is much more offered out there than this.
RATING: D

Eastern Iowa residents: This beer is available pretty much anywhere. Don’t buy this, spend your money on a Millstream product and support the local brewer.

   The next beer I am reviewing is another brown ale. Samuel Adams Brown Ale(http://www.samueladams.com/) is brewed by the Boston Beer Company. Maybe the poster child of craft beer, Samuel Adams is now world renown for their beer. Brown Ales usually give you malty, caramel flavor, with a nutty finish. Onto my review!
Pour:Lighter brown pour with a small tan/off-white head.
Aroma: Smell of toasted nuts, malts, and caramel.
Taste: Flavor of nuts and caramel with a little bit of  in the end. A good brown ale! My only problem with this beer is that I have become a drinker of Rogue’s Hazelnut Brown Nectar, but this brown comes in second.
Overall: C

Eastern Iowa residents: I have seen this beer in all Hy-Vees, liquor stores, and sometimes in smaller grocery stores. You should have no problem tracking this one down.