Mark and Shaun's Beer Blog

Valentine's Day Double IPA Event at Jerry's Sandwiches

2012-02-07T16:47:00.000-08:00

As I post here, Jerry's Sandwiches, an unusual Chicago spot located in Wicker Park, is having a Valentine's Day - or, perhaps, Valentine's Night - event called Double IPA's for Single People. More information is included behind the link to Chicago Foodies, but Jerry's is letting it all hang out, imperial IPA-style, with some absolute gems on tap. Most of the top IPA's you can get in Chicago will be featured. Actually being single is optional for admittance.

Lagunitas Imperial Red Ale: Is It Really You?

2012-02-01T20:11:00.000-08:00

It was November 2008. We were at the Village Tap in Roscoe Village watching the Bears blow coverages to ex-Bear receivers and get pummeled by the Vikings. Easing our pain was my buddy's having purchased a pitcher of Lagunitas Imperial Red Ale. For the first and only time, I was trying Laggie Red on tap, never having previously seen it on a Chicago tap. Somebody pinch me. We were getting it on tap via pitcher. I believe that to be a pitcher of 8% beer. Shaun would say, "Are you kidding me!!!"

But if I had only known at the time that this would be my last ever Laggie Red. In the prior years Red had become a given. Bottles of it were a Chicago summer tradition easily taken for granted. Lush Wine and Spirits routinely stocked it cold. Then, just like that it disappeared into the ether. That is, until now.

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Half Acre Brewing Night at Northdown Cafe and Taproom - January 31st

2012-01-30T21:55:00.000-08:00

Always an inviting spot for a beer event, Norhtdown Cafe and Taproom is having Half Acre Brewery Night Tuesday, January 31st, at 6:00pm.

Half Acre is helping lead the local Chicago brewing charge. Their beers are loaded with personality, and even if they have yet to mind-erase me with an outright stunner, almost all of their beers are memorable with distinct and unforgettable tastes and aromas. As they keep pushing the boundaries it's only a matter of time before they stumble upon greatness.

Three Floyds Cimmerian Sabertooth Berzerker

2012-01-29T09:03:00.000-08:00

Why that name, I have no clue. That's Three Floyds for you. And thanks to Northdown Cafe, which continues to deliver the freshest selection of unusual, unique, rare, and interesting craft brews in town, I got to try some "CSB", a pub-only imperial IPA from Three Floyds. Northdown tapped their small barrel of this last night which I'm sure will be gone in a few hours.
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Ale Asylum Ballistic IPA Review

2012-01-28T19:58:00.000-08:00

I got some new glassware from Victory in the mail recently and thought I'd use it to try out the latest IPA to cross my path, Madison, WI's, Ballistic IPA. I've never heard of Ale Asylum but the word on the street is that they're putting a lot of product in Madison tap rooms these days. Ballistic has been reviewed at Beer Advocate over 60 times, and that is since 2009. It's been out there for a while. I received a sixer of it from a friend of mine and used my new Victory Hop Devil English style pint for evaluating it. I love the way the top of the glass sharply curves out. It has the coolest Hop Devil logo on it with the word "Victory" in gold block lettering. The Hopdevil himself is pictured, and the word "Hopdevil" appears in red. This glass is going to present many a beer nicely for me. Anyway, on with the review.

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Alpha Beer Event at Local 22

2012-01-28T16:47:00.000-08:00

The latest beer event in my uber-exciting life was last week when I attended the Alpha Beer VII event at Local 22 Bar on Hubbard Street. Yes, that’s 22 E. Hubbard. Cool name. Chicago website thelocaltourist.com has put on a series of these beer tastings designed to educate someone not terribly familiar with microbrews about the styles and flavors of craft beer. For the event they assembled 26 beers organized alphabetically by either the brewery's or beer's name. They deserve a hat tip for filling the Q and X slots. Chef Jill Houk, noted as a home brewer, was the master of ceremonies and broadcasted information about each round of beers. Here are my thoughts about the event, organized by the beers I tried, ranked worst to first:

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Firestone Walker Double Jack Review

2012-01-24T20:02:00.000-08:00

"Just about a year ago, I set out on the road", starts the Credence Clearwater Revival song, "Lodi", a song about a musician lamenting a small town one-night gig that quickly traps him in a "Groundhog Day" nightmare. In that vein, it was just about a year ago that I wrote a less than flattering post about Firestone Walker's Double Jack Imperial IPA, which I had sampled at the Map Room. It left me greatly underwhelmed. Fast forward to January 2012 and times have changed, or perhaps tastes. I now lament that misguided post.

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Brooklyn Brewing Sorachi Ace Review

2012-01-23T17:41:00.000-08:00

Summer has its dog days, but I don't know what you call winter's worst. It's been brutal here lately with strong winds, bone crushing cold, and a snowstorm last Friday that came upon us so quickly it paralyzed traffic for hours. It took me two hours to get home 9 miles on Friday. It was a good thing the weekend came around on time to erase some of the blahs. Brooklyn Sorachi Ace pitched in as well. This bottle, a 750 ML, was a Christmas or birthday gift (I'm never sure anymore) from a pal here who's crazy about all things Brooklyn Brewing. He once sent me a photo he took of Garrett Oliver. Well, he loves Sorachi Ace and I can see why.

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Founders Brewing Double Trouble Review

2012-01-20T18:55:00.000-08:00

I was watching this McDonald's commercial the other day. They love to make ads with the following theme. A really wussy acting guy is too scared to match wits with his girlfriend or some love interest. Said wuss-boy pumps himself up with inner dialogue by reminding himself that he's really smart because he bought items off of Mickey D's Dollar Menu (ignoring the fact that McDonald's isn't even food and is shaving off his life years in thicker swaths than an illegal West Virginia stip mining outfit). Anyway, that's the theme. The particular ad I saw had this guy trying to impress a French girl with, perhaps, his knowledge of art - I didn't hear the artist's name that was stated. After wreaking his brain with inner dialogue he spits out that the artist has a certain je ne sais quoi. Of course, this invited more trouble for him in the form of his French tart inquiring whether he spoke French. Fat chance.

As for myself, while irked for the aforestated reasons, I siezed upon je ne sais quoi. It means an X factor. An undefinable, perhaps indescribable intangible factor. What else has it? What brewery has it? What beer? Why, Founders, of course, has it. Their Double Trouble Imperial IPA embodies it.
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This Saturday 1-21-12 Uber's Remodel party - You should go

2012-01-19T12:59:00.000-08:00

If you are a beer fan in Seattle you know Uber is one of the best places to have an amazing beer. They are going under the Knife on Sunday Jan 21st for a remodel and are having a blowout party on Saturday to celebrate and clean out the closet. You should go...

Details from their website:

Avery Muscat d’ Amour and Récolte Sauvage Barrel-Aged Wild Ales debut in February | Beernews.org

2012-01-19T12:54:00.000-08:00

New News on Avery brought to us by the folks at beernews.org! Wild ale aged in Cabernet barrels. Yum!

Avery Muscat d’ Amour and Récolte Sauvage Barrel-Aged Wild Ales debut in February | Beernews.org

Lincoln Square Beer Festival January 28th

2012-01-12T22:01:00.000-08:00

Here's a treat for beer fans in Chicago. It's a beer fest. In two weeks, Chicago's Lincoln Square neighborhood is having a beer fest featuring beers from several local breweries. All of the information about it is included in the link after the jump below.

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Local Option Dampf Loc Review

2012-01-10T17:57:00.000-08:00

It was time to go slumming with the commoners. California common ales, that is. And let me add that California commons are hardly low class. Over at Chicago Foodies, I give Local Option pub's Dampf Loc the once over twice (you'll know what I mean if you are an X fan) and express my lament that there are not nearly enough other beers like it.

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Thank You, Lagunitas

2012-01-07T22:22:00.000-08:00

Welcome to 2012 folks, a very late welcome on our part. I've been massively under the weather hence the paucity of posting. We appreciate your visits to the site and your re-posting and re-tweeting of our Shakespearean posts here. Okay, so we're not making anyone forget Macbeth here but we are truly grateful for your readership which is climbing to new and startling heights each month, shattering our expectations.

And we're not afraid to admit when we get it wrong, either. Earlier we printed a "fact" from a source that Lagunitas Brewing was discontinuing its Brown Shugga in favor of the Lagunitas Sucks Holiday Ale. We received a clarifying response from Lagunitas itself; you may have seen it in the comments section of the above-linked post. If not, here it is:

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Visit to Russian River Brewing - The "fight or flight" Flight

2011-12-30T21:14:00.000-08:00

Jen and I went down to visit her family in the Bay Area over the Christmas holiday and scheduled a trip to Santa Rosa to visit Russian River Brewing's brew pub. You've heard me rave about their sours and their famous IPA's that both Mark and I love. Check out what happens when you ask for a flight at their brewpub.The walkthrough after the break.

Three Floyds Broo Doo Harvest Ale Review

2011-12-30T13:10:00.000-08:00

I love that scene in Casino in which De Niro is doing the voice over and describing his semi-partner in crime, Tommy's, rules of engagement. Of Tommy he says something like, if you bring a knife to the fight, he brings a gun, and the fight won't be over until one of you two is dead. I think an IPA fight between you and Three Floyds would similarly end in a fatality. Police chalk would be on the sidewalk. Consider their one-upmanship ability with IPA's. First they come at you with Blackheart. Then they hit you with Arctic Panzer Wolf. As if that's not enough, they'll cream you with Dreadnaught. And just when you think they've exhausted their arsenal, they'll uncock the Broo Doo. These guys are truly IPA assassins.

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Port Brewing Santa's Little Helper: Review

2011-12-29T09:48:00.000-08:00

In contrast to recent write-up subjects, namely, Sierra Nevada's Celebration Ale and Lagunitas Sucks Holiday Ale, Port's Santa's Little Helper is much closer to what you expect out of a Christmas beer: it's dark. It's got a modestly sized mocha colored head. It's also rich and more malt dominated than hops dominated. But it's not just a heavy malt affair dressed up in nutmeg, ginger, orange peel, pumpkin spice, and whatever Christmas baking ingredients were lying around the brewery.

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Apostel Brau Pale Ale Review

2011-12-28T19:01:00.000-08:00

Did I ever get a real treat today. Chicago's incredible beer house, Local Option, put up an uber-rare German beer treat today, Apostel Brau's pale ale. The brewer claims to be continuing a brewing tradition dating back to 1713. As expected, they appear to be well versed in making traditional Bavarian styles of beer such as pilsners. This one's a pale ale but is not really a nod to our side of the pond. They put their own unique stamp on it.

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Lagunitas Sucks Being Re-Released As Leftovers

2011-12-28T18:25:00.000-08:00

Good news, beer lovers. The hard to obtain and quickly stocked out Lagunitas Sucks Holiday Ale is being re-released as Lagunitas Holiday Leftovers Ale. Despite rumors out there that the re-release has a different aftertaste, my sources tell me that it is the same beer as before. The new logo has a Santa cookie with several bites taken out of it as opposed to the original logo which had what looked like a plastered Santa plastered on the bottle.

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Brooklyn Brewing Shackmeister Ale At New York's Shake Shack

2011-12-24T07:18:00.000-08:00

I just returned from the beloved city of New York after visiting family for a few days of pre-Christmas merriment. I love New York and always will for more reasons than I can discuss. Given The City's vast expanse, its replete with overlooked greatness. If you go to New York, you'll find amazing restaurants representing every style of cuisine. And if money's not a big issue during your stay, you'd be a fool to waste it making fast food a part of any meal. An exception to this suggested moratorium is the Shake Shack.

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Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale

2011-12-23T22:37:00.000-08:00

One beer that I haven't talked about in enough detail in the past that made my very football oriented Christmas list of beers is Sierra's Celebration Ale. It dares to be different. Celebration is indeed designed by Sierra to be a holiday ale; it's released every November/December. Setting it apart from the Christmas beer masses is its profile that contrasts sharply with other holiday brews out there.

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Elysian Cyclops Barleywine '03/'04 vertical

2011-12-18T21:58:00.000-08:00

I love a good barleywine and prefer them a bit on the Hoppy side. Hair of the Dog Doggie Claws and Three Floyd's Behemoth are two of my favorites. Right now Elysian Brewing on Capitol Hill has both their '03 and '04 Cyclops barleywine on tap. You should go get some

I had an opportunity Saturday night to try them side by side. I enjoy good barleywines but sometimes they are a bit sweet for my taste. Either way I had to try what a 7 and 8 year old Brewer's reserve barleywine tastes like. It was a special treat I couldn't pass up. Check out my preference after the break.

More of my Christmas Favorites

2011-12-18T21:31:00.000-08:00

Wow I don't know how I could have forgotten a few of these excellent Holiday Ales.

Trader Joe's Vintage Ale:

Okay this is where you look at me sideways and say, Trader Joe's private label beer? Really? Really. This private label beer is made by Unibroue out of Quebec and their Belgian style strong ales are exceptional. It has a dark ruby/brown color, a typical belgian yeast nose with carmel and dried fruit. The beer is malty with lots of dried fruit and spices. It has some nice hop pineyness that offsets the sweetness and makes for a nice balanced spiced beer. Yumm. And it's $4.99 for a 22oz!

Maritime Pacific Jolly Roger:

This beer will mess you up. Like privateers that used to fly this flag it will sail up while you're not looking and unload all it's cannons on you. This is one strong drinkable Christmas beer. It's their Christmas strong ale. This is an 8% beer but it's creaminess make it very drinkable. You can find pitchers of this at some of our favorite local establishments. It is dangerous but excellent session beer for the winter months.

Shaun's Favorite Christmas Ales

2011-12-17T21:08:00.000-08:00

It's Christmas time! And that means Christmas Ales, Holiday Ales, Winter Ales and Lagers. I've put together a list of a few of my favorites. One thing that surprises me is the relative affordability of Christmas Ales. I don't know if it's just that brewers are in the giving spirit but a few of my favorites are a relative steal!

What I like in a Christmas beer after the break

Uinta Dubhe Imperial Black IPA

2011-12-17T01:23:00.000-08:00

Uinta marks the first and only brewery I know of from Utah and they have not exactly left me pining for more. Get it? Pining? You'd get it if you had tried the Dubhe Imperial Black IPA like I did. It's a beer with a massive amount of pine in it, as though they brewed it with pine bark along with hops and malt.

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