Chic, IL Beer: The Thread

Maybe it was someone else at the Ludi-christmas Celebration.

Either way, based on what you have told me I feel Galvin's holds some secrets that must be unearthed. We must investigate this further.

 

Anyone remember a bar in the city called the Great American Beer Palace, or something similar? They had a 6-beer tasting menu (light to dark) that resulted in a Viking hat:

[image=http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f62/Le_Penguin/Wagner.jpg]

I don't recall any other specifics since it was a place we usually stopped after everyone was already tanked.

BTW, goat. Tell Tate that he can get Lucid from http://morrellwine.com/ if he can't find it anywhere in the city. Shipping is fast and the bottles are packed in very safe containers.

-Le Penguin
"George, not the livestock!"

 

Is it Palmer Place?

My relatives who live in the south suburbs have been raving about the beer selection at that place for a while now.

 

When you go, give me a ring. And make sure you save your appetite for their AWESOME burgers with homemade potato chips.

 

I don't know any "Tate". lulz

Lurker,
I know it was in the city on the northside but if I'm out south burbs way *nudge Fett402 nudge* that place sounds pretty sweet.

 

I have no idea where that place is...I'll have to look into that....plus just give me a day man! That's all you need to do!

 

This is a great thread. Good work Goat! I've been wanting to log all the new beers & wines we've been trying, but I'm too lazy to write it down. I usually reserve Saturdays for booze & junk food, but since Kerry is making Chili, we cracked open a Baltika 6 [image=http://www.ratebeer.com/beerimages/6110.jpg] to throw in the mix. It's a Russian Porter. It reminds me of the Czech and Bosnian beers I used to pick up at Archer Liquors (on Archer near Bobacks) that are like drinking alcohol flavored tar...but IT'LL GET'YA DRUNK!! Reel Drunk...those Eastern Bloc boys like to get their drink on. This porter comes in at 7% Alc\Vol. which isn't horrible, it's smooth and not uber-tarry.

Bosh
"Budem Zdorovy!!"

 

[image=http://www.ratebeer.com/beerimages/full_size/13593.jpg]

I picked up a 6-pack of Frugal Joe's Ordinary Beer. Surprisingly flavorful for five bucks.

 

[image=http://www.southerntierbrewing.com/images/beer_content/beer_11_content.jpg]

Man was that delicious! Very hoppy and VERY strong. 11% ABV.

 

Tried to make a black & tan last night with [image=http://www.bostongeek.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/10/dscf2472.JPG] and [image=http://static.flickr.com/73/163883417_38d21ed3e0.jpg]. I figured it wouldn't work as the Sam Smith is about the equiv of Guinness Extra, but I knew it wouldn't ruin the taste either way. I was right, I ended up with murk. No worries though, both tasted decent by themselves. The India Ale is one of the better of its kind. I actually prefer Young's Oatmeal Stout to Samuel Smith's (now that I've tried both).

Speaking of Black n' Tans (and Half-n-Halfs), I'm guessing it's no argument around here that Guinness & Bass is preferred to Guinness & Harps. Not that both aren't highly drinkable, but the Bass is just a much more natural and smooth combination IMNSHO.

If you Wiki Black & Tan you'll see that someone posted a huge list of supposed Black & Tan (half-n-half) combos...but I have to call BS on most of them, as I'm sure it's just people trying to come up with clever names for what would end up being a glass of ruined and probably foul-tasting beer. Some of them look like they might be tasty if they actually worked.

 

A great b&t mix is also Blue Moon + Guinness. Very tasty.

 

This Saturday's experiments:

[image=http://www.chicagoist.com/attachments/chicagoist_chuck/2007_02_botw7.jpg]
A good strong stout, not as creamy as most, but good n' tarry if you like that sort of thing.

Ommegang Abbey Ale (no picture available [stupid flash site!]). A 9 dollar bottle of beer, and my wife found it for 4 bucks, so what the hay. Starts off great, very organic....but then it tastes like you've been sucking on penneys for the next 10 minutes. You like hops? Then this is your brew. I will say this, it has the most interesting head I've experienced since Hazmatt went out west.

If the Westfall tavern served a microbrew, it'd be [image=http://www.courierpostonline.com/blogs/uploaded_images/Scarecrow-786049.jpg]. Definitely my favorite of the week. A smooth tasty pale ale from the makers of Hobgoblin. I generally don't trust beers with gimmicky labels...but this one pays off. Interesting that it has a USDA-Organic stamp. Worth the extra investment for a good bottle of beer.

D'

 

All the Wychwood stuff is awesome. I haven't had a bad brew from them yet. My personal preference is the Hobgoblin. Try it. I guarantee success.

Tonight was a mix of Centennial IPA and Dirty Bastard from Founders. Both are excellent but the Dirty Bastard was wearing on me tonight. The IPA was as epic as ever.

The Merlin's Ale I mentioned earlier was pretty tasty but I'd only recommend it if it is on special. There are many better beers out there. As for buying on the label, this is a win.

 

Victory Brewing's HopDevil! Pure deliciousness in a bottle. It is a fantastic IPA and highly recommended. I LOVE IPAs!

 

My fiancee is in Wisconsin at the moment, but she said she's bringing back a Scottish beer from her friend's house called "Skull Splitter". The name alone has me sold. I'll have a review tomorrow.

 

So I had dinner at Duke of Perth up in Lincoln Park on Friday.

I usually get

Bellhaven's Twisted Thistle IPA - highly recommend if you like ipa's

but they were out

so instead I got

Fuller's London Pride - a reddish ale - not bad

and

Young's Double Chocolate Stout - surprisingly good - light and very chocolately - should be a desert beer

 

[image=http://www.ratebeer.com/beerimages/31832.jpg]

{Gubernija Grande 95 Extra Lager} A .99 cent imported pint with 9.5% alchamohol in it tastes as good as you'd expect. If I were you, I honestly wouldn't pay more than .93 or .94 cents for it. It does have two good uses: thinning paint and making cat pictures with captions funnier. But even after 5 of these Achewood remains <LOL.


[image=http://www.ratebeer.com/beerimages/8048.jpg]
{Bear Republic Hop Rod Rye Ale} Goat, I think I've found your beer. This thing gets high-high ratings all over the place, so I thought I'd check it out. In one word HELLZYEAH!! Starts awesome, ends awesome (and the middle aint so bad either). Pours a pretty redish color. It tastes like one of those 8-12 dollar Malty/Hoppy IPA's for less than half the price. You want to wait a couple minutes and let the head drop, then it really is like drinking rye bread.
Note, the picture I posted says "Seasonal" whereas my bottle says "Specialty", so I'm guessing that the seasonal micro did so well that they expanded it to yearly availability...so hopefully it'll keeps its character throughout.

D'

 

Chill or not chill?

I'm starting to think that a lot of the (German especially) imports are tasting better without chilling them American style. Though it's hard to ween oneself from drinking cold beer after (how many?) years. Thoughts?

Too bad Bob can't comment, since he spent a semester in Germany...not drinking beer.

[image=http://www.independencebrewing.com/images/Jasperilla2.gif]
An Austin, Tx. micro-brew. Starts great, but ends nasty, unless you like a cheap-hoppy (copper) taste that lasts for 3 minutes into the next sip.

[image=http://www.bostongeek.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/03/dscf1951.JPG] Julius Ecter Jefe-Weiss Premium. If you like Hefe Weiss, then it'll go over pretty well. I'm not a huge fan of the genre myself, but it's not totally offensive.

[image=http://www.liquidsolutions.biz/product/images/Belhaven-scottish.gif]
Belhaven Scottish Ale: OK, I'm gonna call it...this has possibly entered my top-5 favorite beers of all-time EVAR. Granted, I'll have to try it in different traditional testing settings (with a meal, at the pub, poured down Salma Hayek's leg into my mouf. etc.) before I can call it, but HOLY SCHNIKE'S is this beer evar good. Great flavor and body from beginning till end. NUTTY...roasted nutty even! Go out and grab one now! If you dig it as much as I do...then you'll prolly like the same beers that I do, and hate the beers I hate. I have no idea why I haven't tried this one before.

D'

 

Total fail Peng. Total fail.

Anyways.

Bosh I wrote that last and the previous one you recommended (specifically to me) down. they are tops on my list.

Tonight's list drinking list:

DogFishHead 60 Min IPA
Delicicous hoppy goodness. This could be a session beer for me. I could drink this at long long length. It is a nice hoppy flavor throughout and those of you keeping on this thread know, I LOVE hops. Love love LOVE them.

New Holland's DRAGON'S MILK
In caps because that is a f-----ng metal name. There is some sort of bourbon of scotch at the end of this one because damn is it interesting. Lots of malty goodness followed by a kick in the ass by some bourbon or some liquor. Great stuff. Would drink again. I hope their Night Tripper stout is as good.

 

No, my stout-swillin' friend...

Great success!!
[image=http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l202/JurgensGurken/DCP_2045.jpg]



I tried a handful of different beers over there. Most of them tasted something like this. With a few rare exceptions, beer just ain't my thing; tho I'll keep trying from time to time. You never know.

One type that I do like is only sorta beer-ish. It's called "berliner weisse", and it has an almost naturally sour flavor. Here's a pretty good description from Beer Advocate:

"Berliner Weisse is a top-fermented, bottle conditioned wheat beer made with both traditional warm-fermenting yeasts and lactobacillus culture. They have a rapidly vanishing head and a clear, pale golden straw-coloured appearance. The taste is refreshing, tart, sour and acidic, with a lemony-citric fruit sharpness and almost no hop bitterness."

What makes it not-quite-full-on-beer is that Berliners tend to drink it with one of two syrups (green accents the sour flavor, red adds a bit of sweetness), making berliner weisse sorta the German equivalent of a Mickey's wide mouth or maybe Mad Dog, only a lot better. At least a few places in Chicago (like Resi's on Irving/Damen) still serve it. Syrup is optional; I recommend the green if you want to try it while preserving at least some of the beer flavor.

-Le Penguin
"I hate you, Badrinath!"

 

Hey Bob, what shade of lipstick is that you're you wearing in that picture?


[image=http://bp1.blogger.com/_VsOOFXOWIvk/RZmgvupYFMI/AAAAAAAAADA/pmYfsgiBwog/s1600-h/avery_the_reverend.jpg]
Don't let the cool label fool you. Don't let the fact that Avery usually makes good booze..."The Reverend" tastes like it was squeezed out of a septic tank.

D'

 

[image=http://208.116.9.205/10/graphics/pics/10599/1.jpg]

Benderbrau: Cold-fusion Steam Beer

D'
"What's the point of living if i can't say ass? Hey! I didn't blow up! Assassassassass!"

 

LeChouffe Double IPA Tripel. A-FREAKING-MAZING. Spicy, hoppy and de-lish-ous!!!! I cannot recommend this beer highly enough. It has earned a spot on my top 10 all time beers. GNOME POWAH!!!!

 

St. Bernardus Prior 8 - Very nice. A little spicy and a little sweet. I hear the Abt 12 is to die for though. Soon...

Sierra Nevada Harvest Ale 2007 Edition - This was very highly rated at beeradvocate.com as one of the best holiday ales. I found it pretty samey to be honest. It tasted like a slightly spicy Sierra Nevada. Not that that makes it bad mind you. It does however not make it anything special.

 

Man, Belhaven can do no wrong!! If you don't have the two Belhaven's rated below at the next Beer Club, then you shouldn't have it at Mark's house, but on the Chicago Force Failboat.

This week I tried the Belhaven: Twisted Thistle IPA. More my speed in the Hoppy department...maybe not enough for the Goat pallet though:
[image=http://www.tasteto.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/10/twistedthistle.jpg]
Very notable citrus flavors and moderately hoppy (coppery).


Next, despite the fact that I hate golf, I tried the Belhaven: St. Andrews Ale:
[image=http://www.thebeerclub.com.sg/images/St-Andrews.gif]
Another home run (sorry I refuse to use golf metaphors). Malty & smooth, but weaker than the Thistle and the standard Scottish. If you like bitter, then you wont dig on it.

Though not new to me, I had a Fuller's ESB
[image=http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y74/knutalbert/juli2005034.jpg]
...which I of course first had several years ago because as soon as I saw the initials E.S.B. I knew that whatever was in the bottle could not possibly fail. Fuller's is probably considered the "standard" in ESB's. Not too bitter....not to sweet. Toasted-nuts....and who doesn't like their nuts toasted?

Another beer I've had before as have most beer drinkers who were at a Chinese restaurant that serves....TsingTao. Yes, it's as S#1++y as a beer can possibly be, but I was having Chinese so I figures what the hay....
[image=http://preetamrai.com/weblog/images/tsingtao.jpg]
Take the worst thing about any Budweiser product and multiply it by 10X....in one words...it's RICETACULAR!! Smells like pee. If this was anyone's first beer, then they would probably end up like LePeng (I mean the beer hating, not the child-molesting part).

D'
"If it's nay Scottish, it's CRAP!!"