Beer Baron

We stopped in for one beer after a long day at a conference. On the left is an Oliver's burial at sea. It had an amazing butterscotch smell and a thick head. It's a Pretty good mild ale but I could not taste the butterscotch. On the right is a 21st Amendment saison. It had a really strong aroma of rosemary, which also came through in the taste. It was a nice light saison for a warm night.

Dog Zilla!

Just picked this up for a night cap at the hotel. It's billed as a black IPA, but in truth it's a little more like a brown IPA. Despite the slightly misleading name, it's a pretty good IPA. Plenty of hops on the nose with a little maltiness for balance. I get a slight abv burn on the aftertaste, but the label doesn't say what the abv is, so I'm not sure if that is really just a reaction with the 8 mint m&ms i just had. Regardless, you have to love the label!

Chicago sampler

Had some friends in town and tried some new Chicago brews. Our unanimous favorite was the Pipeworks End of Days. It's a milk stout brewed with cacao nibs and some chili peppers. It started creamy and chocolatey then finished hot! I don't think I could drink two in one night, but splitting a bomber was great. I think the second place finisher was the Two Brothers Dog Days Dortmunder. It's a nice lager but we disagreed on whether it was crisp enough. The Metropolitan beers didn't leave much of an impression, which is an improvement because I remember them previously leaving a bad impression. The Chi Town has a nice label. 'nuff said. Trying some more tonight!

Goose island - cocoa leche

Listed as an American milk stout with a coal black color and chocolate malt aroma. True on all accounts. It's smooth with a nice chocolate overtone. Didn't pour with a big head or rich lace, but tasted very good.

Goose island

24th anniversary cask conditioned pale ale. Smooth and balanced, not too hoppy, not too malty. Crisp finish. Nice reddish brown color. Slight citrus taste in the middle. Very enjoyable.

Pipeworks

This is a beer from one of the new Chicago breweries. The label was too cool to pass up. It's tough to see the full label, but it's a ninja warrior on one side and a unicorn on the other. I'm not sure of the significance of the imagery, but it's basically an IPA. I thought it was a nice balance of ninja and unicorn. Poured with a nice head and a coppery color. I thought it was a nice balance of hops and maltiness. I will definitely try another beer from Pipeworks.

Catching up is haaaard to do

This is an IPA from six point (of Brooklyn) called Bengali Tiger. I've seen this a couple times and been sucked in by the stylish label. Thought it was about time I gave it a shot.

It's 6.4 abv and 62 IBUs. Pours with a pretty tall head but not very thick. The can claims that it is very well balanced, but I feel like the Ibus are amped up so it still resembles an IPA even though it has a solid malty taste. I also have the double IPA to try.

P.S. the small fish in the background is not required.

Preview

This looked way too interesting to pass up. I will try to work it into the weekend lineup.

Stillwater Saison

This was a very nice change from the heavier Girl and the Goatee and rich food. The Saison was much lighter in taste and color. It had a nice hint of citrus and coriander. It went down smoothly and was a refreshing palette cleansing ale. I wonder how it would taste when not matched up with some heavy dishes. I bet it does just fine.

The Girl and the Goatee

I had this at the Girl and the Goat. First, a tangent - the food was amazing. We tried about 10 small plates and enjoyed them all. My favorites were the pig face, goat cheese tortellini and green beans with cashews. Now, on to the beer. This is brewed for the restaurant but I'm not sure who makes it. It was medium-bodied and not as dark as it appears in this photo. It tasted a little bit like a Belgian trippel, but was described as a Belgian strong ale. It was a nice pairing with some of the heavier dishes.

Second Shoreline sampler

These four were specially selected (l to r): Sesh wheat, Sum Nug, Euphonic lager and Worker bee stout. All of these were good, but my favorite was the euphonic lager. It is malty but balanced, almost like a hybrid ale / lager. I liked it so much, I got another pint and a growler to go! The Sesh wheat was ok and the Sum Nug was an interesting IPA made with Summit and Nugget hops. The worker bee was a nice stout with a sweet locally sourced honey. Here are my rankings: 1 - euphonic; 2 - oatmeal stout; and 3 - blueberry ale. As I said, worth the trip. Work up a thirst hiking the dunes, quench your thirst at the bar and then go buy some crazy stuff at the outlets. Or just eat and drink.

Shoreline beer list

Here is the beer list for Shoreline. The first time there, I feared that a small brewery that did so many styles could not possibly do any of them well. I was wrong. It probably isn't the first time. Definitely won't be the last.

Shoreline sampler

This is a sampler from Shoreline brewing in Michigan City, MI. It's about 60 miles from Chicago, but worth the trip. The owner is a really nice guy from Chicago. The food is ok and the beer is at least as good, if not better, than Goose Island. Also, you can drink a few beers then walk over to the outlet mall for some shopping!

The beer list shows the name and description of the beers in the sampler - blue print, pictured from left to right. Our favorites were on the ends: on the left is the blueberry beer and on the right is the oatmeal stout. The blueberry was nice - subtle and crisp, not too sweet. The oatmeal stout was smooth and full-bodied. The other ales were ok, but they are flanked by two really good beers.

Happy birthday beer

This is a Gold Smoke from Goose Island. It's described as a smoked helles with a crisp pilsner maltiness. I thought it had a light and crisp taste, but didn't get any smoke. Of course, this is coming from the Scotch drinker who likes whisky as smoky and peaty as they come. Everybody else who tried it tasted the smoke. I thought it wasn't bad, but wasn't what I was expecting.

Double Daisy Cutter

I had one of these last year, but not on draft, and I'm pretty sure I wrote about it then. I'm not a big Half Acre fan, but I'll have a Daisy Cutter if it's the best option, which it often is in Chicago.

The Double Daisy Cutter, now that's another story. I really like this one. The ibus are bumped up from the garden variety daisy, but not so much that it hurts. It goes down smoothly and has a nice balance to it. One more and I would have better tasting notes. Unfortunately, we kicked the keg.

We're all a 'lil strange

As the Piece menu says, this one's a little strange. It describes it as a strong Belgian, but I thought it tasted a bit more like an imperial IPA. I had one, but then switched over to Worryin' Ale, my preferred Piece session ale.

Pikeland Pils

This is a Slyfox Pikeland Pils that I brought back from PA for a friend. He wanted a 12-pack, but PA only sells beer by the case, so I bought a case. He took his 12 and I kept 12. I tried one in a frosted glass and was not convinced it was anything special. I didn't get around to blogging about it until now, which is probably a good thing because my opinion has changed.

This is a nice pilsner, not too overbearing on the lager flavor as some German pilsners tend to be. It has a crisp finish and a slight citrus hint. This is an enjoyable pilsner, especially for a hot summer day.