SLACKERS!!

Are you freaking kidding me! Look I know we have alot going on in our lives, babies, moving, Conference in Las Vegas, etc etc. But the fact that we as the beer geeks have not posted anything in the past months is in all ways unacceptable! In the world of beer there has been just as much going on as in our lives and we owe it to everyone to at least try! right? So here will be my attempt to do better and we will start with one of the best beers I've ever had. To the left you will see one of them many new brewery's we have access to now right here in Springfield. They are a major pleaser with everything I have tried from them being really good or just downright amazing! They do hops well and they kick the living shit out of some stouts and porters. The breakfast stout pictured received one of my highest reviews ever 4.8 out of 5 and they have one that is suppose to be better which I still cannot wrap my head around that thought!

We may have talked about this one in the past, I had it about a year ago on tap in Las Vegas and it was wonderful. Now though we have access to Big Sky brewery in town, most every Brown derby carries it and the lineup is really good. They are headlined by their Moose Drool brown and IPA. The brown I would recommend to anyone from a 1st time craft drinker to the seasoned beer geek, the IPA is pretty strong so might wanna start somewhere a little lighter if you are just getting into IPA's.

I'm gonna leave this one as a hint for my counterpart to get his ass in gear and start posting too, as I am positive he has alot to say about this!

Summer Summmer Summmer Time!

Ok this is something me and Nate both have to put a major focus on. Whats is the best time of year to sit outside and have a few beers with some friends? Summer time! This unfortunately for me and Nate is our least favorite time for seasonal beers, and its really hard considering we just came out of our favorites, fall for me and winter for him, but there is damn good news!

We will start with Boulevard and if you need to ask why read some of the other blogs we posted and I'm sure it will become clear! Not necessarily their seasonal lineup we will look at but rather a new year round offering they have. Single Wide IPA great brew nice bitter hops and very refreshing. A good IPA for you guys out there looking to jump into this style, its strong but not a real "big" IPA think its something that you could settle into very easily and be a great gateway into this amazing style.This one will be a constant in the fridge this summer.

Next up Sierra Nevada and man did they ever hit a home run with their new year round. Torpedo Extra IPA. Now for people looking to jump into the style I would warn you a little harder on this one. Fresh very citrusy hops are all over this beer, has a great bitter hop bite to it and is a little less forgiving than the Boulevard. While this would be a staple in me and Nate's fridge at this time and all thru the summer the unfortunate end to that is no one can find it anywhere! They sold out and according to our sources will not be catching up till the fall. But it is year round so we will try and get thru it.

Lastly I'll hit you with the seasonal of the season! Bells Oberon, there really is not enough you can say about this beer. It's hard to really turn someones head for a summer seasonal because you are going for a nice crisp clean beer, something very refreshing and don't wanna make it to heavy with a boatload of different flavors. Bells, as they have a habit of doing, made an incredible summer with Oberon, its all the things listed about but does have a great amount of flavor, while I have not had it this year when I was at Nate's the other day he had picked up his 1st six of it so I'll leave it to him for now to tell you how it is this year. And for the finale it comes in a mini keg!!!

Nates Chime in: Oberon this year is really quite a special addition to the summer seasonal rotation. Smells of rich wheat malt and a bouquet of spices and grassy hops. This beer touts a refreshing array of citrus and coriander with a moderate hop bite in the end and a smooth and easy drinkable finish. There is hardly any summer seasonal that can take the Oberon down. Drinkable, refreshing, and FLAVOR!

Saturday, February 14, 2009

Heading Down a new Boulevard

So I know you might be thinking "These guys talk a lot about Boulevard Brewing". I'll tell you why. Boulevard is semi-local to us in springfield and they have been really making waves in the brewing world lately. If you reference our previous post "Smokestack Series you can find out about the other members but this is about the Limited Release Smokestack Offerings. In the past months, Three World class Beers have been released by Boulevard and all of them have been met with high expectations. The offerings include a Saison-Brett, a Bourbon Barrel Quadrupel (a Barrel aged version of their Sixth Glass), and a new Imperial Stout. These beers are available at area Brown Derby stores in limited quantities, in fact the BBQ is already gone from store shelves. You will not be dissapointed.

Bourbon Barrel Quadrupel: 11.8% ABV
Bottle 3104 of 10630

poured a tobacco brown with a thick cloudiness. a thick head dissapates quickly.
smells like the Sixth Glass with a hint of bourbon and dark Cherry, a definite Woody nose.
Tastes incredibly complex. Sixth Glass, plus a extra sweetness. A definite Sour Mash Whiskey flavor with a strong Figgy undertone. Greatly similar to the original Sixth Glass but distinctively better.
mouth is thick and smooth, medium carbonation. Truly a great variation of the quadrupel. Boulevard impresses me again

Saison-Brett: 8.5% ABV
Bottle 10923 of 11950

poures a pale yellow, cloudy with a thick and very active head. lacing it thick and patchy. floating Brett yeast gathers in the bottom of the glass.
smells floral, grassy hops and a peppery nose with a hint of cloves and the bret yeast. wow this smells good.
taste is an explosion of complex flavor, the yeast is overpowering the spiciness, strong reminicense or pepper and clove. a grassy hop is present in the finish
mouth is clean and crisp, carbonation is medium/heavy and drinks easy. I drank a glass with a bowl of venison chili and it paired amazingly well. definitely worth whatever price you have to pay for it.

Imperial Stout: 11% ABV
Bottle 7778 of 11960

-Poured into a Smokestack Chalice. Pours a Deep opaque black, Thick rocky two finger head that settles like sand. As close to a nitro-tap settling as I've ever seen in a bottle. head leaves a nice patchy lacing.
-Smell is rich malt, some rye and oat malt. a brown sugary nose is relenquished by a alcohol twinge in the nose. A very distinct yeast profile is so incredibly enticing. Absolutely amazingly complex.
-Suprisingly I taste hops first, but is quickly overpowerd by rich but subtle malts. I sense some fig and vine fruit in the aftertaste. Incredibly complex with a bitter-sweet overall complexity. Approach is bitter but finishes sweet and smooth. Not as creamy as some other RISs but I don't think RIS is in a league all it's own.
-Mouth is rich and viscous, this one really sticks with you while you attempt to finish off the bottle. For future reference I might want to split one, but this bottle is all mine. MuaHA HA HA!

Sunday, December 28, 2008

Beer Porn!

No not really porn, but Beer Porn. the kind of pictures that get beer geeks excited. Each one of these brews represents a number of bottles of the same type that are either what we call "special finds" or Geographically distributed to other regions besides Missouri. The list includes, Goose Island (Chicago) special reserve "bourbon County stout", Sierra Nevada (Chino Calif.)Stout, Dogfish Head (Delaware)90 Minute IPA, Westvleteren 12 (Belgium, "no1 beer in the world" - Beer Advocate), Boulevard's (Kansas City) Bourbon Barrel aged Quadrupel, Karmeleit Tripel (Belgium, Thanks TAMMIE&DANNY!), Ayinger (germany) Celebrator Doppelbock, Brasserie d'Achouffe (Belgium) Houblon Tripel Belgian IPA, Flying Dog GONZO! Imperial Porter, Anchor (california) "Our Special Ale 2008", Stone (california) Ruination Double IPA, Samuel Smith (England, Brewed for her Majesty's Special Forces) Imperial Stout. This is about half of our stash because I'm sure Kevin has quite a few that he's proud of as well.

Thursday, December 11, 2008

Winter

Busy time of the year, and we have not had alot of chance to get some reviews going. But let it not be lost how good of a season this is for fantastic craft brews. Winter seasonal, the spices flow and the time of year to get those winter warmers, these beers are actually designed to give you that nice warming sensation going down and that wonderful warm behind the ears feeling.

There are many different great beers out right now headlined by, Odell Isolation, Great divide Hibernation, Sierra Nevada Celebration, Boulevard Nutcracker and Avery Old Jubilation and many many more. One note if you get the sierra Nevada Celebration be warned this is not a winter warmer, while it is their winter seasonal many people go in with the thought that all winter beers are warmers and thats not true, Celebration is in fact an IPA (and a damn good one at that) so get out there and try some great winter beers, hopefully me and Nate will be able to get a review session out soon, and when things die down a bit we will be back blogging here more often.

One more thing I have for everyone before I go and that is some great news! Boulevard just announced 2 new beers! One year round the Single wide IPA and a new seasonal Maibock, which we are not sure what time of year it may be, but both me and Nate agree we hope they do not replace the Zon. It is awsome to see Boulevard doing new beers both in their standard line and their Smokestack (Which they just released a new Bourbon barrel Quad) and we hope to see as many new brews as they choose to put out. Here is the link for those who wanna know more http://boulevard.com/beer.htm

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Going Green

Friday, October 17, 2008

Good times! Great brews!

So our evening turn out to be a raging success. 1st and foremost thank you so much to boulevard for allowing us to be one of the tasters for the absolutely amazing "big stout" test run it was really good and we both appreciate the chance to try it and give feedback.

Also during this evening we tried the hop rod rye from bear republic, this beer is on the top 100 at beeradvocate.com and with real good reason, hop heads rejoice that this is available in springfield cause man is it good, not for the feight of heart but if your looking for a challenge or think your ready to step up to the next level give this one a shot. At only 4.99 a 750 its priced right and in a killer brew.

One more for you, we also got a London porter from arcadia ales, my girlfriend andie spent the evening with the beer geeks and wanted this one, and it was very good as well, very rich and creamy this was a pretty big porter, very thick and rich in flavor, lots of malt and a nice but not to overbearing coffee flavor in the finish. So there ya have it folks one very successful beer geek evening, hope you have a chance to try some of these as they are well worth the shot. Cheers!