Tag: Winestyles

Winestyles Iowa River Landing Hosting Brrr Fest Blowout Sale and Madhouse Tap Takeover Jan. 26th!

Leave a comment

winestylesBrrr Fest weekend gets even better as the Iowa River Landing Winestyles location is hosting a Madhouse Brewing tap takeover Friday the 25th and Saturday the 26th during Brrr Fest weekend! Here are the deets courtesy of Winestyles Facebook page:

To help celebrate the BrrrFest Awesomeness, we will be having a 2 dayMadhouse Brewing Company Tap Takeover & BrrrFest blowout sale, Friday and Saturday:

10% off all Beer Sales (15% off for Beer Club members)

25% off a large selection of Beers!!

$2 off all Draws

Madhouse Tap Takeover Featuring:

Freedom Toast
New Release: Gin barrel-aged sour with juniper berries (yet to be named)
New Release: New England IPA (yet to be named)
Honey Pilsner
Hopburst IPA
Monk Town

We will also have some very special beer surprises available for purchase.

madhouse

Drink This: Crooked Stave L’Brett d’or

Leave a comment

l'brett d'or.jpgThank the Beer Gods for Abu Nawas! They are responsible for getting Iowans a chance to try Crooked Stave whose beers always challenge and satisfy the palate.  Crooked Stave specializes in barrel aged sours, wild ales, and saisons. When there’s a Crooked Stave delivery day, I’m usually in line to pick up a few bottles and I just so happened to be at Winestyles at the Iowa River Landing in Coralville doing a little beer shopping when I came upon their L’Brett d’or. Dry hopped sour aged in oak barrels? Yes please! Here’s more on this beer:

A dry hopped surreal golden sour ale aged in oak barrels that comes in at 7% ABV.

There have been a few variants released of L’Brett d’Or, none I’ve seen in Eastern Iowa but this dry hopped is excellent in many ways.

#1: This is the perfect gateway beer for those who are not 100% into sours/wild ales yet. It’s not too tart, don’t get me wrong, tartness is there, but an acidic vinegar bomb it is not. It’s sweet enough for fruit fans to get on board with and the Brett is very present but doesn’t dominate the flavor.
#2: For Brett fans, once you open up that bottle and get the aroma of Brett and oak you will be ready to dig into this beer. The sweetness of peaches and apricots mesh perfectly the with oak and you get a little bit of an herbal taste that I’m guessing comes from the hops.

#3: The complexity of flavors: As this beer warms a bit it brings out the peaches and apricots as I said above but there is some green apple and faint balsamic vinegar.

Would I buy again? Absolutely! I was happy to share this with some people but regret that I didn’t buy another bottle to selfishly drink by myself. I really want more of this and it would pair perfectly with a warm Iowa 4th of July weekend.

I’m not sure if Winestyles still has it in stock but check out Benz in CR as well, they carry quite a few Crooked Stave beers. If you find some, let me know where it’s at because I need more! If you are not satisfied with it and purchased multiples, get a hold of me and I’ll buy the rest from you. Get out there and Drink This!

Dr. Bill Sysak hosting a Live Stone Brewing Webcast at Winestyles

Leave a comment

Really respect Dr. Bill and always love his food and beer pairings. Check this event out! Details are below:

stone

SPECIAL EVENT

Tuesday, October 13th
6:00pm CST / 7:00pm EST

>> RSVP at your local WineStyles <<

Join us for a LIVE virtual beer tasting event with Stone Brewing’s craft beer guru, “Dr.” Bill Sysak.  In real-time, taste 6 Stone craft beers along side “Dr.” Bill and ask him your questions online.  Seating is limited – call your local WineStyles to RSVP.

“Dr.” Bill  Biography

Dr-Bill-Bio-BubbleBill Sysak, or as he’s more often referred to, “Dr. Bill,” is the Craft Beer Ambassador for Stone Brewing Co. “Dr.” Bill is a Certified Cicerone® and has proven expertise in selecting, acquiring and serving craft beers. He received his nickname through his work as a medic in the military Army National Guard, and the moniker has stuck with him throughout his career in the craft beer industry. At Stone, he’s responsible for setting the beverage standard and ensuring the beverage philosophy is followed at all Stone Brewing Co. venues. “Dr.” Bill is widely considered one of the foremost experts in24carrotgolden_Bottle_Thumbthe field of pairing beer with food. He suggests the beer, wine and food pairings for the menus at our restaurants, and also coordinates and hosts many Stone Brewing World Bistro & Gardens events including: Beer & Cigar Dinners, Master Pairing events, Sour Fest, Oakquinox, Stone Pour it Black, and Rare Beer Breakfast. Sysak has been featured in such publications as New York Times, Draftmagazine, Imbibe, Los Angeles Times, and Food & Wine.

He is on the San Diego State University “Business of Craft Beer” Advisory Board and is the instructor for the “Exploring Craft Beer” course.

“Dr.” Bill can also be found on the popular Internet podcasts, “New Brew Thursday” where he does a “Master Pairings” segment each week and “Expert Drinking,” where he educates his fans on the best of craft beers, cigars, fine wines, and spirits.  Learn more about “Dr.” Bill on Stone’s Blog here.

STONE BREWS TASTED:

  • Stone 24 Carrot Golden Ale
  • Stone Go To IPA
  • Stone Pale Ale
  • Stone Ruination Double IPA
  • Stone Coffee Milk Stout
  • Stone Smoked Porter

Stone-beers-tasted

LIMITED SEATING
Contact your participating local WineStyles to RSVP!

Restaurant Review: 30hop; Coralville, IA

1 Comment

30hopThe trend of some excellent craft beers and tasty food continues to strike in Eastern Iowa, this time in the Iowa River Landing area in Coralville. A location that already hosts Backpocket Brewing the newly opened Winestyles continues its impressive dedication to craft beer and food with 30hop. More from their website:

Trendy and yet a comfortable, urban-industrial, dining and drinking establishment will feature the area’s first rooftop patio. The contemporary menu will focus on simple, fresh, delicious offerings and will include 60 beers on tap on the main level and 30 beers on the rooftop. Through constant focus on superior service, exquisite food, and craft beers, guests will be eager to make 30hop a new hangout. Welcome to the newest addition to Iowa River Landing, Coralville’s gateway to the corridor.

photo 2 (13)As you approach it’s hard to ignore the rooftop seating and the view that you will experience when you get up there. But once you get in it’s hard to ignore the view of the 60 beers on tap! A fantastic looking chalkboard with ever-rotating lines of deliciousness greets you as you enter. I think I was too busy focusing on the board of beer as the hostess was trying to ask how many in my party, but eventually she got through to my beer-numbed mind and we took a spot near the back wall with the sweet looking giant American flag. photo 1 (13)

The beer menu was up-to-date and I noticed Toppling Goliath pseudosue, which I photo 3 (11)hear is good:), so I order a glass of greatness as my wife and I pondered our food move. So many things that looked intriguing and unique but I usually test a place by their wings. It might be a bit cliche but damn, I love wings. These were called Firecracker wings and they had an asian flare to them. Soy, sesame, cilantro with a cool blue cheese dipping sauce and fried crisp to perfection was the perfect starter and went well with my Sue.

photo 4 (6)And then it was on to the beast. Now, it wasn’t a huge burger size wise, but it was huge in flavor. The 50/50 burger at 30hop is 50% beef and 50% bacon and is mouth watering delicious. My wife and I agreed we would share it, (I could eat 2 by myself and then die a happy heart-attack death) and after our first few bites she made me promise I wouldn’t order it again because…..IT WAS SO FREAKING AWESOME! I loved this burger! A bit messy, but you really can’t go wrong with that mix of ingredients. Burger went terrific with a Deschutes Black Butte Porter and the trip overall was great. Was happy to meet a few beer lovers there as well!

After leaving I took a trip to Winstyles and picked up a few bottles of brew. (Evil Twin BA Imperial Biscotti Break!) This area really has it all, great food, shopping, and not too far from University of Iowa athletics. We will be back (and have been!).