Beer Thread
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bdutts
- Houston, Texas
I hit Pollyanna while I was in Chicago over Christmas. My cousin took me there to have some beers but to show me something he had done. He's pretty tight with the owner of the place and told him that one of our old relatives (my great, great grandfather) was a brewmaster in Germany before he emigrated to LaSalle, IL, where he was also a brewer. We have a picture of him with two of his partners. The owner of Pollyanna got that picture, framed it up really nicely and put a plaque under it. It's over the first table against the wall just past the bar by the water cooler.
I also have that picture framed and I have a copy of Wilhelm's (that his name. I also have his name although it's not the German version) leaving papers when he left Germany for good to come to America.
One of my cousin's (the brother of the cousin who took me to Pollyanna) is a professional brewer and me and three or four other cousins are homebrewers. I guess it was always in our blood.
I also have that picture framed and I have a copy of Wilhelm's (that his name. I also have his name although it's not the German version) leaving papers when he left Germany for good to come to America.
One of my cousin's (the brother of the cousin who took me to Pollyanna) is a professional brewer and me and three or four other cousins are homebrewers. I guess it was always in our blood.
Soxfreak64
- Bloomington
Anybody had something from Metropolitan Brewing in Chicago yet? They do takes on traditional German styles, and IMO do a good job. Try Magnetron.
First time jumping in this thread, so I'll throw out my favorite [bigger] local breweries from each state I've lived in.
1) Wisconsin: Point Brewery; recommended: Known for their Point Special Lager, but I always go with Drop Dead Blonde (blonde ale).
2) Arkansas: Lost Forty ; recommended: Red IPA
3) Virginia: Devil's Backbone; recommended: Catty Wampus (Belgian inspired IPA).
1) Wisconsin: Point Brewery; recommended: Known for their Point Special Lager, but I always go with Drop Dead Blonde (blonde ale).
2) Arkansas: Lost Forty ; recommended: Red IPA
3) Virginia: Devil's Backbone; recommended: Catty Wampus (Belgian inspired IPA).
Deleted member 3875
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Had an excellent English style Brown Ale "Blizzard of 78" at Wormtown Brewery in Worcester, MA last night. Fun tasting room atmosphere.
Deleted member 3875
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Another hidden gem I recently visited was Jack's Abbey Craft Lagers in Framingham, MA. They have a German Beer Hall atmosphere with excellent grub. Their Smoke and Dagger black lager and Lashes Red IPL were my favs of the sampler. Well known in the Boston area but had not heard of it until talking to the locals.
icengineer
- Southern Illinois
bdutts
- Houston, Texas
This vid is a shot at AB InBev (Clydesdale Horse and waves). Three years ago, someone from AB InBev paid off a judge at a beer competition to change their vote from BrewDog to some other brand (don't know what the brand was). Check their site, they do a lot of stuff like this. They brewed a beer called Hello My Name is Vladimir which was in protest of Putin's take on gay/lesbian community and they donated all profits to gay and lesbian charities in the UK. They are from Aberdeen, where I live. Well, they are from the shire; their brewery and HQ is in Ellon. But they have two bars here in Aberdeen and many more in the UK and other parts of Europe and the world. They fight against big brewery takeovers (AB InBev) and will not serve any of their beers in their bars. Ditto for SB Miller Coors.
Their beer is excellent. They brew American style beers - hop forward on many of them - as a protest to the bland mass produced lagers and English IPAs that are served in "traditional: pubs here in the UK.
I am a proud shareholder which gets me discounts in all their bars and mail orders. Will definitely miss them when I move back to the US later this year.
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bdutts
- Houston, Texas
For all you homebrewers out there, here are all of BrewDog's recipes, available for download. 5 gallon batches. Enjoy!
https://www.brewdog.com/lowdown/blog/diy-dog
https://www.brewdog.com/lowdown/blog/diy-dog
Any breweries I can go to while in Chicago in a few weeks?
Not sure if there's a tour/visit or not, but I'll shamelessly plug a family friend's brewery: South Loop Brewing Company.
They've made a positive inroads with some popular places in the area, from what I understand. Here's a listing.
http://www.southloopbrewing.com/thebeer/
KBLEE
- Montgomery, IL
Illinell
'03 IMPE All Star
- Bridgeport, Chicago
I'm echoing the below but like:
- Piece Pizza in Bucktown: Pizza and beer are amazing
- Revolution Brewing: Just Northwest of Piece, a great bar, brewery, and restauarant
- 3 Floyds: It's actually in Indiana and a bit of a drive. But again both food and beer are amazing.
Rogue Dead Guy, get it now if you can. Damn good beer
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Buck Turgidson
- Massachusetts
So, a few friends and I did a "Beer Brackets" - 4 beers each in 4 'regions', where the regions were types of beer (IPA, Lager/Pilsner, Dark, and Pale Ales). You match them up on the weekends of the tourney. First weekend is a lot of beer (16 beers in 8 match-ups), which is a good problem to have
Stone Go To IPA met Rogue Dead Guy in the final...and it was a tie.
Also, for IPA fans try Founders Mosaic Promise
bdutts
- Houston, Texas
The only thing that would make it more awesome would be to do it blind. I think people, myself included, tend to get tied up with who brewed the beer and will vote it possibly higher than it should have.
One person should do the match up but the tasters should do it blind.
Buck Turgidson
- Massachusetts
That's how I did the first round - blind tasting. Most of the beers you could tell which was which, but it was still a good way to do it
bdutts
- Houston, Texas
Awesome! EDIT: untapped did a bracket as well. The brewery that had the most check ins moved forward. I think Founders ended up winning.
bdutts
- Houston, Texas
Anyone out there own one of these: http://synek.beer/
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