Intelligent!

This is the Three Floyds Hell's Black Intelligenser stout. This is smooth. And I don't even like coffee. Go out and get one. Pronto.

Smooth malt and gentle coffee taste. Lingers on your palette without crushing it and is a nice 6%.

Summit oatmeal stout

What a difference between an imperial stout and a session stout. This starts like the Dark Horse but finishes smoother without the alcohol burn and has a nice malty finish. Very good. This is the second Summit that I really liked.

Oatmeal stout

Dark horse one oatmeal stout. I've had it in the bottle, but it's much smoother on tap. Yummy. Stoutfest begins. And I have a punch card. Fun times!

Arctic Panzer Wolf

This is a Three Floyds imperial wet-hopped IPA. I was not expecting to like it. It smelled super hoppy. Then I tasted it. It is hoppy and has a bitter finish, but it's not nearly as overpowering as I expected. I found this to be a very good imperial IPA. Amazing. Get one if you can. As for me, I'll be at the brewery this weekend, maybe I can get a growler. Or two.

Pere Jacques

I'm not a huge fan of Goose Island, but this was pretty good. It's a Belgian style ale, but not too sweet. I would like to taste it on draft because I think the Bottle might be a little muted.

Another imperial Sam

This is an imperial Sam Adams stout. Usually imperial stouts are too strong for me, but this was nice and didn't taste too alcohol-y. Nice malt taste. I think I like the imperial white better, but this was good.

3 Floyds harvest ale

On my way from the damen blue line stop to piece, I stopped in to a small wine shop. At the back of the store, there are two coolers of beer. The selection is moderately good, but there is not a lot there that you can't get at Whole Foods. I picked up two bombers and this was one. I got the last Three Floyds Broo Doo - their harvest ale. This is wet hopped and super hoppy. Pretty good. Great label.

Imperial white

This is a Sam Adams imperial white. I've never seen any Sam Adams imperials. This was actually pretty good. I was surprised. If all you know is Sam Adams lager, I suggest you try one of their more limited batch releases.

Wingwalker

This is an amber ale from a small brewery in Rochester, NY. It tastes very different from an amber lager. The label says it is a marzen style brewed with lots of malt, but it isn't overly malty, definitely amber-y.

Wild onion brown ale!

Not too sweet, sorta hoppy. A hint of sour thrown in for good measure. Oh, yeah, and it's on the cask. Yummy.

Sam!

Ok, Sam is the dog in the picture and he belongs to a good friend of mine. He gave me this Yuengling Light on my last trip to Philadelphia. Yuengling is the oldest continuing operating brewery in the US. Their lager is fairly standard across PA and it's not bad. The Light version isn't much different from the full calorie lager.

That's more like it

I liked this new glarus porter. Again, this is from the unplugged collection and I think it's an experiment worth repeating. I liked the malty flavor and crisp finish.

Aptly named

This is a beer from the new glarus unplugged series, which means that the brewmaster goes off on a frolic of his own. The reddish brown color is an indication that it defies description. It was complex and I had a hard time sorting out the flavor profile. I could cheat and tell you what it said on the bottle, but then you could also look on line and read about it. I'm glad I tried it but don't think I'd have another.

Wurtzburger

Although I tried this beer, it was not mine. I'm pretty sure it was a Weiss beer, but don't really remember. I was overwhelmed by the size of the mug. What is it with Germans and giant glasses?

Erdinger

This Weiss beer was very sweet. I prefer to drink my beer sans fruit, but this benefitted from the lemon. I like the unfiltered Weiss, but I think I must be out of my Weiss beer phase because I found myself wishing for a nice pilsner after finishing this.

Finally, a beer named after me

This is a Tyranena Bitter Woman. As the name suggests, it is an IPA. It has a nice copper color and a big hoppy taste. And yeah, it's bitter. But so am I.

Dogfish Head Pangaea

Another wacky offering from the Delaware brewery. I recently have grown to like candied ginger, so I thought I'd give this a shot. I stole a small sample from a friend of a friend of a friend, like a half Bacon. One good thing about Dogfish Head, truth in advertising. I could definitely taste the Ginger. I'm glad I had a sample, but don't think I could have put down any more.

Also, I made a sad discovery last night while praising the 120-Minute IPA - I could no longer find it on the Dogfish Head web site. I guess they don't make it any more? That would be very sad. Let me know if you've seen one recently.

Lagunitas Censored

I expected to like this less hoppy more coppery beer from Lagunitas. Maybe I was cranky by the time I tried it or maybe it just let me down. The only impression it left was that I like a Little Sumpin Sumpin much better.

Smuttynose

I find Smuttynose to be sort of hit and miss - hit with the label and miss with the beer. Ok, that's a little harsh. I do like some Smuttynose beers. This was not one of them. I can't quite put my finger on it, maybe it was a funny bitter taste? Or maybe I've just had IPAs that I like better. I always want to like it more than I actually do, so maybe I put too much pressure on Smuttynose to perform. I won't count them out yet.

Shiner Cheer

Don't mess with Texas. I tried this at a friend's house, a Texan friend, of course. I've had a few different Shiners there so why not give this a try. Interesting. From the colorful label to the peaches and pecans. I swear I tasted some evergreen, but who knows. Not a bad Shiner. I think that's almost an oxymoron.

Lake louie surprise!

A friend brought this back from Wisconsin for me as a thank you for watching his dog. He had never tried it but heard it was good. This is a scotch ale - that is not overpowering, sort of like a Robert the Bruce for beginners. It has a nice malty flavor, but isn't overly strong. It finishes a little crisper than most scotch ales, which might be due to the atypical abv, slightly lower than normal for a scotch ale. I was pleasantly surprised. Plus the label is cute.

Cologne flashback

When I was in Cologne this summer, I tried a lot of Kolsch. But I didn't try this one. I met a couple in the Gaffel kolsch house one night and they told me this was their favorite kolsch. I found some in my local store and picked it up. Not a fan. The Gaffel kolsch is still my favorite.

Harvest, take 2

This is a better picture of the Sierra Nevada Harvest. A nice head and deep copper color. Yum.

Harvest time!

I never liked Sierra Nevada much. That's all changing. As I have made my way into pale ales, my appreciation for Sierra Nevada has increased. I find myself choosing the Pale Ale as a good standby beer lately. This Harvest, however, I really liked. I learned about the wet hops and all that stuff, but I don't remember much about it. What I do remember is that it was smooth and not super hoppy just to be hoppy. There are still some bottles out there and, despite the price tag, I'd pick one up if you see it.

Who can resist a name like this?

True confession - this is one of those ales I bought just for the label. After all, who can resist a beer named Blond Bitch? I found the label to be better than the beer, which was sort of non-descript. It's a fruity blond that finished with a little bitter kick. I probably wouldn't have another one. Unless they had a new label.

Hop Czar

This was a gift from some friends who came to visit. The timing was perfect because I have been trying to expand my beer palette. Also, I generally like Bridgeport ever since I toured the brewery in 2007. I found this imperial IPA to be pretty tasty and not too overpowering, despite the higher abv. I liked this better than some of the other imperial IPAs (and ultra-hoppy IPAs) that I've tried lately. Give it a shot and let me know what you think.

Maudite

I must confess that I failed to take notes on the Maudite. I think it was on a list of the top ten tripels in an article in the NYT and I had only been able to find five of them. I was trying to save the five so I could have a taste test when I got all ten together, but one night I ran out of beer and had to break into the reserve. I knew this would be easy to replace, so I opened it. Here is what I remember - I generally like Unibroue and this was no exception. I think it's lighter than La Fin du Monde and a little more fruity. I guess it's time to replace it and taste it again.

Cup 'o Kyndnes

As you can see, this is getting a "thumbs up!" a limited batch release from Ommegang, it is a Scotch Ale. Sometimes I find Scotch Ales to be overpowering, but this was smooth and crisp. It had a nice foamy head and rich malty taste. Definitely a thumbs up!

If you believe they put a man on the moon

Another new beer from New Glarus. I'm pretty much a fan of New Glarus and always willing to try their beer. The moon man is billed as a north coast pale ale, but it doesn't quite taste like a typical pale ale to me. I think it could be a little more hoppy, but maybe that's me. Overall, I like it and I've had more since, but it's not my favorite New Glarus, nor is it my favorite pale ale.

A tall glass

This is a not so great picture of a great pilsner - the Trumer Pilsner. It's crisp, refreshing and nicely balanced. Sometimes I think German beer can taste a little, well, skunky. The Trumer rises above. Maybe because the glass is so tall.

Just plain bad

I see these Schlitz signs all around Chicago so I decided it was time to try one. Bad idea. I don't know if I can accurately describe this beer: cold (good), skunky (bad), a little malty (good), carbonated (good), and weirdly tangy (not good). What was I thinking?

Better pictures of the butternuts

Packaging sells

Imagine you're in upstate ny at a giant chain grocery store looking for beer. The selection is good, but you want something you can't get at home in Illinois. On the shelf you see this 12-pack of cans from Butternuts Beer and Ale. The cans have funny pictures and wacky names: Porkslap Pale Ale, Heinnieweisse Weissbier, Snapperhead IPA, Moo Thunder Stout. The pictures are even better. We didn't know if the beer would be good, but we really didn't care; the price was right and the pictures were fun.

Bonus! The beer was overall pretty good. The stout was exceptional.

The case contains this explanation of their beer: "on this converted dairy farm nestled in the idyllic Butternut Valley of Upstate NY we have created a beer drinker's utopia. Here the ingredients are simple and natural. The brewer's art is practiced with reverence and creativity. And craft beer becomes more drinkable and easier to enjoy. Why? Because we are smarter, better looking Brewmasters." I could not have said it better.

Porkslap!

This pale ale is pretty good. But the can is hysterical so it deserved its own blog entry.

Sonny Listman, the boxer

This is Makers Mark, ginger ale, and rose with lemon juice. Somehow I think I was responsible for the entire group getting these shots. Mine might be different, but I have a heavy makers taste. Not bad.

Pinot noir

This tasted very good. Then we tried it with a slice of orange and the acid in the wine exploded in our mouth. :( wow. I liked it by itself. It is smooth. The oak casks mellow the acid. Very nice.

Chardonnay!

This is zolo Chardonnay from the Andes in Argentina. The grapes are 100% organic because there are no bugs that live there and the grapes are not sprayed with any insecticides. The water is all from snow melt. This tastes a little dry and not too sweet. I enjoyed this wine.

Beer school with wine?

This is cava - as I understand it, it's a Spanish sparkling wine like champagne. The bubbles are tiny and rising fast! I've been told that the smaller the bubbles and the faster they rise, the better the champagne. I'm getting ready to ask the question ...

Lager

Stiegel lager. I like this lager. It's a little sweet and doesn't taste like a German pilsner masquerading as a lager. A good choice.

Don't let the glass (or the name) fool you

This is a Sprecher Hefe Weiss, which is brewed in Wisconsin. I try not to put lemon in my beer these days, but this was a fairly malty unfiltered Hefe Weiss, so I squeezed in the lemon. Ah, better. But I sort of wish it was an Erdinger.

Hoppy

Maybe it's just me, but this whole concept of wet hops seems new or at least relatively new. This is a beer by Great Divide that is brewed with wet hops. Although I liked this, I did not like it as much as the other harvest ales I've tried recently which were also brewed with "wet hops." I felt like this was a little too bitter - just for the sake of being bitter.

I <3 blackberries

Last year I was in Seattle during their blackberry season and there were large fresh free wild blackberries all over the place. Yummy! When I was a kid, we had fresh blackberries in our yard and I loved them. So, naturally, I was interested in this blackberry witbier. I would have enjoyed just a little more taste of the blackberries, but I liked this a lot more than their cherry wheat, which I think is too sweet.

Mmmm... Malty

This DeKonick said it was "malty." I wasn't sure whether or not to believe the hype so I tasted my friend's beer. Yup, it was malty, which I like, but not too malty. I would describe it as a cross between a trippel and a brown ale, with a little bit of hops. Overall, I liked this more than I remember liking my last DeKonick trippel.

New Holland

Hopavour! Hop on board this mildly bitter ipa that has a crisp finish. Nice.

Seasonal beer from Abita

This is a pecan harvest ale from Abita. It has a sweet aroma and a slightly hoppy finish. I like Abita and this is no exception.

Sierra Nevada Chico Single Estate

This is a limited edition wet hopped ipa with hints of pine, burnt sugar grapefruit and lemon.

Ah ... Piece at last.

Left to right - the baron Von awesome (wheat), worryin' ale (English session ale), and Roland the headless assistant brewer (oatmeal stout). All are good, but I'm particularly enjoying the oatmeal stout tonight. Fall is here.

SOS

Save our Shore. This is a pilsner by Abita that also benefits the gulf coast region. I liked the way it started, but it finished a little odd, not quite as crisp as I expected. I can't quite explain it, but it finished a little tangy. However, others loved it, so check it out.

Flemish sour ale

About three years ago I discovered Flemish sour ales. And I liked them. This is a limited edition sour ale by Ommegang. I really like this ale. If you can find it, try it!

Wi / il / Wi / il / Wi / il

So, we set off for a fun day of apple picking in rural Wisconsin just across the border. Unfortunately, I was in charge of the directions and I was under the weather. We missed the turn and ended up in Wisconsin. We turned around and went back into IL, found the right turn and headed west for ten miles before heading into Wisconsin. No more apples, but we went into the pumpkin patch and picked pumpkins. Then we went to a liquor store and tried to buy new glarus. No luck. He directed us south a few miles. Unbeknownst to us, we ended up back in IL. No new glarus. Back a few miles into WI for a case. Finally. I got one bock. It is nice and malty. Finished pretty crisply. Not a lot of aftertaste. But a little short on flavor for a new glarus. Overall, ok. But I expected more.