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Post by Crowfan on Feb 15, 2014 12:02:35 GMT -5
They must pull it off the shelves. I've been to pretty much every liquor store around here.
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Post by nondescript spice on Feb 15, 2014 12:21:23 GMT -5
what about grocery stores? you can't even buy beer at the liquor stores here.
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Post by Crowfan on Feb 15, 2014 16:00:07 GMT -5
Jewel is out. I don't know of other grocery stores. I heard Walmart sells beer now....maybe I will check them. I have one Winter Lager left in the fridge. Saving it for that special occasion.
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Post by Crowfan on Feb 22, 2014 20:04:46 GMT -5
Crafted my own six pack today. Bought six different beers to give them a try.
Old Scratch. An amber lager from the Flying Dog Brewery. Here is the story that goes with the beer: "Tom Walker and his wife loved money more than life, so they surrendered their souls to Old Scratch. And when her liver and lung were found lying on the forest floor, Tom forever feared a certain knocking at the door. Knock...Knock....Knock...." Very good full flavor with a very nice taste. 5.5% alcohol by volume. Very good.
Trout Slayer Wheat Ale from Big Sky Brewing Co. They also do Moose Drool. This is a nice flavor beer...you don't taste wheat or anything. Nice flavor, smells good, good taste. 5%alcohol by volume and will also be something that I would buy again.
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Post by Crowfan on Feb 26, 2014 17:09:13 GMT -5
I'm planning on going to a craft beer tasting at my local Binnys Beverage Depot. It's this coming Friday night. Looking forward to it. If it's anything like taking a brewery tour, it should be a good time. Hopefully, the brands being tasted will be for sale as well.
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Post by Crowfan on Feb 28, 2014 21:44:47 GMT -5
Oh my. Craft beer tasting was awesome!! It was eight local breweries from Chicago or the suburbs. First up was Spiteful Brewing Co. out of Chicago. I tried the Fat Badger, which has a smooth flavor, and very good taste. I bought a big bottle to take home. Also from Spiteful, I tried Burning Bridges, which I also liked but not as well as the Fat Badger.
The next craft beers were from Pipeworks Brewery. Tried Blood Of The Unicorn, cause let's face it, it's really hard to beat that name. Full body flavor, good smell to it, smooth going down.
Pipeworks Simco. Just an okay flavor. Not bad, but nothing to write home about.
Ten Ninety. Also out of Chicago. These beers were all fantastic. First one is the Imperial Witbier. Will be for sale in a few weeks. Great flavor, very smooth and high alcohol content. In fact, all the Ten Ninety brews are at least 10% alcohol.
After the Witbier, the next was the Jaggery Tripel. Fine taste, good smell, also very smooth going down.
Ended with the Imperial Porter, which had a kick with cayanne pepper in it. A bit more filling as it's a porter, but very good flavor and full body. 11% alcohol.
Next up was Une Annee. Brand new brewery, just opened within the last six months. From them I tried
Life Beyond Death...can't beat the name. Had a nice flavor, but a bit hoppy. If you don't like hops, avoid it.
Next, they had a beer called Trippel, which was just okay. The New Belgium Brewing Co's Trippel is much better.
Finally, tried a brew called Sanguinaire. French style beer had a good flavor to it. Sanquinaire apparently means "drinking blood" or something like that.
Brickstone Brewery from Bourbonais, IL. This is where the Bears have their training camp, and in fact the brewery is right down the street from where the Bears do their thing. They had two beers to taste
APA. Full body flavor, and good taste. Liked this one.
Belgo APA. More hoppy but still a pretty good flavor.
Next was Lake Effect Brewery from Chicago. Only tried one, which was called Cruisin For A Brewsin. Decent flavor, good smell, pretty good taste.
Next was Only Child Brewery from Northbrook IL. They only had two brews for tasting, and of those one was a winter brew, and I've had enough winter so didn't try it.
Mama Knows Best was the one I tried. Good flavor, smelled good, nice taste to it.
Last one was Local Option from Chicago. Tried two of their beers.
First one was Dampf Loc, a Bavarian style beer that had a smooth flavor, good taste and smelled good also. Brewed in the tradition of Bavarian brewing. Very good.
Blood Of The Kings. Nice ale, a little heavier than the Dampf Loc. Amber color, and full body flavor.
All in all, I think it was a successful taste....can't wait to do it again. Apparently Binnys will do four or five of these a year. It was very well attended and most of the brews we sampled were for sale, or will be for sale in the next couple weeks. I would recommend going to a tasting....I had a blast.
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Post by nondescript spice on Feb 28, 2014 22:37:00 GMT -5
how can you sample so many different brands and not have the taste of the last beer affect the taste of the new beer? i would think after so many they would all start tasting alike.
awesome, though - i wish there was something like that around here. i'm sure there's a soup bean and cornbread tasting around here somewhere, unfortunately.
oh yeah - i got some of the SA cold snap tonight. haven't tried it yet, though.
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Post by Crowfan on Mar 1, 2014 5:57:06 GMT -5
how can you sample so many different brands and not have the taste of the last beer affect the taste of the new beer? i would think after so many they would all start tasting alike. Run to the bathroom and drink water. Or just wait for a bit before moving on to the next station. The samples weren't very big, not even 12 oz, but there were a lot of people and I think they wanted to make sure that they had enough for all. Or, perhaps, it's just my alcoholic gene.
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Post by Phantom Engineer on Mar 1, 2014 12:40:13 GMT -5
It helps to eat a saltine cracker or something like that between tastings to neutralize the palate. That's neutralize, not neuter. But after a bunch of tastings your ability to properly judge the flavors may become compromised.
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Post by nondescript spice on Mar 1, 2014 12:46:05 GMT -5
when i was a kid, i went to a really fancypants restaurant with my parents. when the waiter put little cups of sorbet in front of us before the main course, i thought - i can really get behind this - pre-dessert before dinner. i exploded, "ice cream!" and embarrassed my mom and effectively ruined the family.
but i wouldn't recommend sorbet between beer samples. did they have food there, CF?
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Post by Phantom Engineer on Mar 1, 2014 12:53:38 GMT -5
i exploded, "ice cream!" and embarrassed my mom and effectively ruined the family. Yeah, it's a real family buzzkill when kids say precociously cute things. Damn their adorableness!
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Post by nondescript spice on Mar 1, 2014 13:15:38 GMT -5
i guess it was when the old man next to us dropped his monocle in his champagne and his top hat went all askew that we were asked to leave. i say!
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Post by spackle on Mar 1, 2014 13:31:03 GMT -5
Buck up, old sod.
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Post by nondescript spice on Mar 1, 2014 20:20:45 GMT -5
here! here! well said, old man!
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Post by Crowfan on Mar 1, 2014 20:36:29 GMT -5
when i was a kid, i went to a really fancypants restaurant with my parents. when the waiter put little cups of sorbet in front of us before the main course, i thought - i can really get behind this - pre-dessert before dinner. i exploded, "ice cream!" and embarrassed my mom and effectively ruined the family. but i wouldn't recommend sorbet between beer samples. did they have food there, CF? They did have food there, but I wasn't sure if it was free so didn't partake. It was wings and stuff like that.
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