Tag: iabeerbaron

Des Moines Friends, this is happening! Surly @ El Bait Shop!

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surlySaw the following information on Surly’s facebook page! Hopefully a sign of things to come! Looks like a must-attend event if you are in the Des Moines area. Hopefully I can make it!

We’re road tripping to Iowa and we’re bringing beer! On April 3rd, 4-8 pm, we’ll be hanging out and pouring beers at el Bait Shop in Des Moines. We’ll be bringing: Furious, Hell, Cynic, Bender, Cacao Bender, Smoke, Blakkr, Mild, Darkness & Pentagram. BUT we’re NOT distributing broadly to Iowa (yet), just sharing beers for the night with our neighbors to the south. We’ll add more details and a FB event soon.

More Distro news! Southern Tier Anyone??

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southern tierThe hits just keep coming for Eastern Iowa! Coming off of news and rumors that Oskar Blues and Left Hand Brewing will soon be adding their beers to our shelves, I just received word from a very reliable source that Southern Tier Brewing will be entering our market in July. Here’s the link to the beer lineup from Southern Tier: http://www.stbcbeer.com/our-beers/ 

Here’s more about the brewery itself: https://www.stbcbeer.com/about-southern-tier-brewing-company/southern-tier-brewery/

Peace Tree Brewing Release Updates

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no coastFollowing information comes from http://www.beerpulse.com:

The first new beer to make it to 6-pack form will be our No Coast IPA!

No Coast is the American counterpart to our Hop Wrangler 3 Belgo-style IPA. A variety of pale malts are used to give this beer a nice golden color and let the Amarillo, Citra and Simcoe hops shine through with big piney and citrus notes. It clocks in around 100 IBUs.

No Coast has been brewed and will be making its first appearance in bottles later this month.

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The next seasonal brew to appear in 22oz bombers will be Indecision Dark IPA!

Our beer naming sessions find us scouring the dark recesses of our minds for the one perfect title. After a year’s worth of planning and hundreds of possible names for our Dark IPA, we had yet to reach a consensus. What’s in a name? More importantly, “what’s in the beer?” The answer to that is complex dark malts and an abundance of hops. It’s a bold brew with deep flavor and character. We’ll let it speak for itself.

Indecision is 8% ABV and over 100 IBUs.

Indecision has also been brewed and should be making its way into bottles in the near future, as well!

 

 

Oskar Blues Heading to Iowa?

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oskar bluesJust received the following picture from a friend on twitter. If you read carefully the bottom of the first paragraph that is posted you will see the following, “Oskar Blues will also add distribution in Missouri, West Virginia and IOWA in 2014.”

oskar

Some great news here if it holds up, let’s hope it does, especially since we got the big N-O from Odell for distribution. Here is a quick list of beers available from Oskar Blues:

YEAR ROUND BREW
*Dales Pale Ale
*Mama’s Little Yella Pils
*Old Chub – Scottish Strong Ale
*Deviant Dales –  IPA
*G’Night – imperial red
*Gubna- Imperial IPA
*Ten Fidy – Imperial Stout

Beer Review #115: Boulder Beer Shake Chocolate Porter

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shakeWhat makes being beer drinker great is getting to try all the fantastic styles that are out there. I’ve spent a lot of my beer drinking time (and money) going after some of the big barrel-aged beers, imperials, and doubles that sometimes it feels great to just sit back and revisit some of the styles that have been around for while. With the eruption of craft beer on the market I love when breweries revisit and tweek or shake-up (no pun intended) classical styles. Boulder Brewing (www.boulderbeer.com) has done just that by taking what was their original porter and putting a little spin on it.

This chocolate porter can play into any part of your day. A nice breakfast brew with your coffee and pancakes, a nice midday brew with a bowl of soup, a nice supper of a ribeye and potatoes, or even better, perfect with that brownie and vanilla ice cream. A dark black pour with chocolate and caramel sweetness, this brew incorporates chocolate wheat into the mix. If you’ve had Young’s Double Chocolate Stout or Sam Smiths Organic Chocolate Stout then you will really enjoy this brew. Here’s more from the brewery:

 Our twist on the traditional american porter, Shake chocolate porter is black in color with rich, dark chocolate aromatics and flavors and subtle coffee-like notes. This unique brew blends five different grains, including Chocolate Wheat, that along with cacao nibs create a devilishly delicious chocolate finish with a velvety mouth feel.

 When you open up a rich, chocolatey brew like this you usually aren’t able to have 2-3, but with this one, you can easily put down a few and feel pretty good about yourself. No forced drinking with this one. I’m not too familiar with Boulders’ offerings but I know they really connect with this brew.

REVIEW

STYLE: Porter

ABV: 5.9%

PURCHASED AT: Johncy’s, North Liberty, IA

POUR: Deep black pour with a medium tan head.

AROMA: Chocolate and coffee dominate.

TASTE: Chocolate really shines through from the cocoa nibs.

Ratebeer.com rating: 97

Beeradvocate rating: 88

Overall: B

My recommendation: Really great for a dessert beer, but also works well on its own.

Cold Beer and Hot Dogs

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blackstoneThere has to be something to get everyone through this awful winter we are having. Whether it’s looking forward to March Madness, cutting the grass, baseball season, or anything to get outside for a while and enjoy some rays, most of us are getting burnt out on these temps. Luckily, Blackstone restaurant in Iowa City comes up with a nice little concept that got me to think spring and also let me enjoy some new terrific Iowa brewed beers.

photo (5)A good hot dog to pair with a terrific beer or two is tough to beat. Blackstone put a couple gourmet hot dogs on their menu this past Thursday night to go along with some Iowa brewed beer and they hit a home run with it. The majority of the excitement was centered around Toppling Goliath releasing their King Sue. For those who don’t know King Sue is double citra IPA.

I decided to go with the “Hop Dog”, which was an all-beef dog, photo (6)caramelized onions, cheddar cheese, hop mustard, and house made pickled jalapeños and wasn’t disappointed. Terrific dog, and the recommended beer pairing was King Sue, times two of those for me and we are having a great evening.

photo (7) Kids were enjoying their meals, wife enjoying hers, King Sue was flowing great but I really had my eye on the Confluence Milk Man stout which was on nitro. Decided to go with it, and was glad I did. This is one of the best stouts I’ve had in a while and nitro makes it all the better.

I love these events, food and beer pairings, thinking outside the box a bit and Blackstone does a great job of this. This was a busy beer week in corridor, the Big Grove/Confluence collab was released, Reds Alehouse getting Central Waters, and this event at Blackstone. With two kids I have to pick and choose, although I wish I would have made it to all three.

 

These events are a welcome site and it’s exciting seeing people gather for good food and craft beer!

Central Waters is coming!!

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indexReds Alehouse will be having a Central Waters brewing tap takeover Wednesday night and after visiting I saw a list of 5 brews that will be offered that night. One of them was their bourbon barrel-aged stout and their Peruvian Morning was another. Really looking forward to this event and hope to see a few beer lovers there. Also received this from Oakland Road Hy-Vee in Cedar Rapids:

Welcome to Iowa, Central Waters Brewing Co. !

 Here are their year round 6 pack offerings

·      Glacial IPA

·      Mudpuppy Porter

·      Solitude Stout

·      Hop Rise

·      Slainte Scotch (Rotating Seasonal)

 And here are a few of their Barrel aged limited release beers

·      Bourbon aged Barleywine

·      Bourbon aged Stout

·      Peruvian Morning

 

We will be having a kickoff event Tuesday, February 25th from 4-5:30!  A brewery representative will be here tasting out these great beers!  Stop in and try these amazing beers!

Zipline Brewing Company Coming to Iowa

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ziplineI got the following message from reader Tom about Zipline Brewing company hitting Eastern Iowa Shelves.

ZIPLINE BREWING CO/JOHNSON BROTHERS OF IOWA
ANNOUNCE NEW DISTRIBUTION PARTNERSHIP
Lincoln, NE — Thursday, February 20, 2014 — Zipline Brewing Company is pleased to announce the launch of Iowa distribution in partnership with Johnson Brothers of Iowa, Inc. Distribution commences in March throughout Johnson Brothers’ Iowa territory, including Des Moines, Iowa City and Council Bluffs. The partnership follows the dynamic growth of Zipline from a small startup in 2012 to its present capacity of over 3,000 barrels annually, pacing since July 2013 as Nebraska’s third largest production brewery. This marks the first time Zipline products will be sold outside of Nebraska.
“We are excited to bring what we consider an outstanding ‘local’ brewery across the River into Iowa,” says Lyle Stutzman, President Johnson Brothers of Iowa. The events kickoff with tap takeovers in two of the country’s premier beer bars: Reds Alehouse in North Liberty on March 5, and El Bait Shop in Des Moines on March 6.
Head Brewer and Chief of Operations Marcus Powers, who will attend both events and others as part of the launch, relishes the opportunity: “We already feel a solid connection to Iowa beer consumers given our close proximity and their appreciation for local craft. And, we couldn’t find better partners in Johnson Brothers. We’re committed to making some of the best beer in America and can’t wait to share it with our neighbors.”
Questions? Contact Marcus Powers at Zipline Brewing Company: 402 450 9804

Comfort in a Great Liquor Store

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johncysI’ve been meaning to write this for a while as I feel it is important to show my gratitude to the great people that run our wonderful liquor stores in Eastern Iowa. We have quite a few to choose from actually. Whether you choose something local, a Hy-Vee, Johncy’s Liquor, Johns Grocery, Family Beer and Liquor, or Benz, we have a pretty great selection of places we can go to get the latest and greatest craft beer.

I was a frequent flyer at the Oakland Road Hy-Vee, who, in my opinion has a huge selection of beer to choose from and you can also get added to the beer club. I believe it is buy so many different beers and get a gift card of sorts, which is a pretty sweet deal, I believe the gift card is somewhere between $50-$100.

As far as customer service goes, Johncy’s Liquor store in North Liberty seems to take the cake for me. So polite, helpful, and accommodating, Johncy is running a class establishment. Willing to have conversations, help you out with a selection, or anything else, I drive the few extra miles from Mount Vernon because I know I’m going to walk out of Johncy’s with what I wanted. (And probably $50-$100 worth of beer).

Another one I have to mention because I practically lived there for a while is the famous John’s Grocery. Terrific selection, especially on the imports, they sell single bottles so you don’t have to throw $10 on something you’re unsure of. I always called them on Wednesday’s just to chat beer with their beerman at the time, Joe Hotek, who is now working for Tallgrass. Joe knew EVERYTHING and ANYTHING about beer and to make it better is just a super nice guy. I go there yet, since my wife is now working in the Iowa City area, and this is another place that it’s hard to leave without dropping a Benjamin.

The other place is one that is closer to where my parents and other family members live. Family Beer and Liquor in East Dubuque, IL has a huge selection of beer and has stuff we just can’t get our hands on in Iowa. I reached out to them during the Bourbon County release and they were gracious enough to hold a nice allotment for me. If you call or contact them they will do whatever they can to help, great beer people! You can also buy singles there and you are guaranteed to drop some dough, as they have a great selection. If you’re lucky enough to find limited releases from Firestone Walker, Lost Abbey, and Dogfish, amongst a ton of others.

The amount of phone calls they receive when a new brew or a beer that is released occasionally come out has to drive them nuts, but they all handled out well, and they can also blame Toppling Goliath for that. (#beerjoke).

So, thanks to all of these terrific beer shops for keeping this beer consumer happy, entertained, and satisfied. Cheers!