A Stout Weekend

On a recent trip to visit me here in Saint Louis, one of my best friends (AB... pictured to the right) from Madison, Wisconsin met a lovely young lady and they struck up a romance. Subsequent to that original meeting, they have been commuting back and forth to visit one another giving me an opportunity to see my best friend with greater frequency than any time I can remember outside of our college years! Since STL is a vacation destination for him, we took one of his recent trips here as a time for some serious RandR. 

First up... Fountain on Locust. This is a retro styled soda fountain style restaurant that prides itself on its retro cocktails (think Old-Fashioneds / Gimlets / Grasshoppers) diner style food and they claim to have the "Americas Best Restroom" (I dropped a deuce there once... it wasn't THAT great. Since this place is famous for its cocktails, I felt like I would be remiss if I did not have at least one cocktail. I KNOW it's against the spirit of this blog, but I drank a Grasshopper. For those readers not familiar with a Grasshopper, it is a classic after dinner drink consisting of ice cream, and green creme de menthe. This one was came complete with whipped cream and chocolate sauce. It was fucking good! Minty as shit and smooth like butter. Like I said, I KNOW this is supposed to be a beer blog, but every now and then its nice to try something different!

After Fountain, we headed down to the Schlafly Taproom in downtown STL. I have been here far too many times and have drank pretty much every beer style they have in the house. However, I know that AB likes the Stouts, so I decided to try one of their special brews, the Schlafly Reserve Imperial Stout. This is a beer aged in Bourbon barrels that is incredibly aromatic and highly potent. Served in a Brandy snifter to highlight some of the oak-y and malty aromas that this 10.5% ABV beer is not only delicious but also easy to drink! This beer goes down smooth and delivers on the promise on the label that the "Bourbon Barrel" aging process posits. A real treat and most definitely a "special occasion beer" for those of you with a palate for stiff stouts!

We finished off the night with a Sam Smith Oatmeal Stout. This beer should really need no introduction and the fact that I am reviewing it is almost a joke. This beer is the shit. It is consistently ranked as one of the best beers in the world from one of the best breweries in the world. I will not even subject it to a review. Just fucking buy it! Seriously, do yourself a favor, even if you don't like stouts. Buy this beer and drink it. If you don't like it, I will buy the beer back from you because it is THAT good!
 

Till next time, and as always, if you would like to follow me on this Drinking Adventure just click on the link on the right where you can subscribe to my feeds. you can also follow me on twitter at @williepawn or friend me on Facebook. You can also email me here. 

Typical Minnesota Evening

When I think of what a "normal" night in Minnesota might consist of, I think about getting drunk. Being a native of the (previously) great state of Wisconsin, I can appreciate the idea of how most evenings should be spent in the company of good friends, appreciating cocktails or beers until the alcohol wins and you must pass out before the sun rises. Perhaps my perspective is slightly skewed to highlight the drinking... but this is a drinking blog after all! There are few things in life as important to me as my friends. Although I have spent very little time with them, Abby's friends from college (Kyle and Erika), who currently live in Minneapolis are considered to be great friends. These are people I would go out of my way to see and to spend time with. They were part of my wedding and we always make an effort to spend time with them when we can. Seeing as how I spent the last weekend attending a conference in downtown Minneapolis I wanted to take this time to see them again!

My week in Minneapolis was very busy talking Science with other like minded "nerds" and discussing the intricacies of neurobiology and the complexities of behavioral neuroscience. Honestly, all I wanted to do was go hang out with my friends Kyle and Erika and drink some Surly! Fortunately for me, I was able to break free for the chaos of the conference for one night to grab dinner with them and pound a beer or 6! 

Since I was without a car, Kyle and Erika picked me up at my hotel and we headed to the Nordeast section of Minneapolis. Although I did not get conformation of this, I believe the term "Nordeast" to be some sort of Norwegean or Dutch version of the word "North East". We ate burgers on the patio of a bar called "Bulldog NE" and drank some brews! My first beer of the evening was Surly Brewing Company's Furious. Furious is an American style Pale Ale that is dark in color and loaded to the brim with hops. I love this beer. It always reminds me of being in Minneapolis and how much fun I have there. Since its only available in the MSP area I "HAD" to consume at least 2 of them!

My next beer was Rush River Brewing Company's Unforgiven. After drinking a Furious, the Unforgiven tasted like a more watery amber ale. They claim this beer to be a session beer and comes in at a meager 5.5% ABV but was over powered by the Surly. I feel bad that I can't give this beer a raving review seeing as how I typically love Wisconsin beers. Maybe next time I am in the area, I will give their beers another try!

After dinner we hit up a MSP landmark. Nye's Polka Bar is a dark throwback to the 1970's. Stiff drinks, cheap beer, classic 70's style vinyl booths and of course some crazy old guy on an organ playing classic rock and oldies in a karaoke style. By this time, we had gained one to our group, one of E and K's friends from the NE neighborhood, Alison, joined us in singing classic Bob Seager songs and drinking more beers! Since there were NO craft beers in this joint, I went with the closest thing I could find: Leinenkugels Honey Weiss. The beer was served in large (probably 24 oz) glasses that were frosty cold and served with a slice of lemon. I rarely drink this beer, but it used to be one of my favorite brews when I first started drinking. Pounding 2 of these while singing songs and hanging out with good friends really reminded me of my "good old days" and made the experience of Nye's all that more enjoyable.

It was a great night with great friends and I hope they were not too hung over for work the next day! I hope too much time doesn't pass before I get to see them again!

Anyway, that's enough mushy-ness for one post. Stay tuned, as I am brewing a batch of homebrew this weekend and will be again blogging the recipe and keeping my readers posted on the status of the beer!

Till next time, and as always, if you would like to follow me on this Drinking Adventure just click on the link on the right where you can subscribe to my feeds. you can also follow me on twitter at @williepawn or friend me on Facebook. You can also email me here. 

Battle of the Scotch Ales

Beer people are great! They are always willing to share stories of great beers and some are even kind enough to share cherished beer with friends and fellow beer people. In a recent blog entry, I spoke with Keeley McGrew of HandleBar fame about what beer she would drink if it were the last beer she could ever have. Her answer, for those who may have missed that blog entry, was Three Floyd's Robert the Bruce. In her kindness, she even shared one of her precious RtB's for me to review (big thanks Keeley and Paul!). This is a Scottish Style Ale with a malty body and very sweet notes of caramel and roasted grain. This is a malt lovers beer! Right out of the gate, as soon as I poured this beer from the bottle, I was blown away by the rich, dark color and the scent of sweet, sweet caramel. The beer poured thick and rich with a beautifully foamy head that begged to be drank. It coated the tongue in a smooth layer of malty, tasty goodness that lingered and made you anticipate the next sip. Coming in at a hefty 7.0 ABV this is a very drinkable beer that packs a punch! When I was finished with this beer, I was very sad. Sad because there is no place in St Louis for me to get this beer again. I believe Chicago to be the closest place where this beer can be purchased, so if any of my loyal readers are heading that way and would like to bring back a case of this beer for me, I would not only pay you for it, but be indebted to you for some time to come!

My foray into Scottish Style Ales continued next with Schafly's Scotch Ale. Coming in at a meager 6.2 ABV, this beer seemed almost "watery" compared to the RtB. Schlafly's version was significantly lighter in color and lacked the sweetness that I experienced in the RtB. I would say, this is not a "Bad" beer, but when you put it up against such an amazing beer in RtB, its hard to say anything spectacular about Schlafly's attempt at a Scottish Style Ale.

My last beer of the evening, a generous gift from friend and reader of the blog, Mr AB, was Ale Asylum Brewery's Sticky McDoogle. Coming in at a "not to shabby" 7.2%ABV, It is my opinion that this beer is closer in nearly all aspects to the RtB than it is to Schlafly's attempt at a Scottish Ale. It still lacks the color and the caramel-y finish that I loved so much about RtB but remains a well balanced and wonderfully complex beer. For me, the determining difference between this and RtB is the lighter color and the grainy, 2 row barley finish. This beer is smooth and finishes great!

This was a great experience doing 3 beers of similar styles for comparison. I think I will try this more often! I want to again thank some of the people involved with bringing me beer: Keeley, Paul and AB, you are wonderful people and I thank you for sharing your beer with me!

Till next time, and as always, if you would like to follow me on this Drinking Adventure just click on the link on the right where you can subscribe to my feeds. you can also follow me on twitter at @williepawn or friend me on Facebook. You can also email me here.  

Pitchers of Summit

One of many pitchers of Summit

I am spending the next 3 days in Minneapolis attending a conference where I will again talk about my laboratory work (day job). I always relish these opportunities because that means I will be able to drink beer that I normally can't get in Saint Louis.

Yesterday, after the conference had concluded for the day, my boss dragged me out to drink with him. We ended up at the hotel bar at the Hyatt and I was a little disappointed with the beer selection. In typical "sports bar" fashion, the bar carried your standard, Miller/Bud products with almost a complete lack of anything resembling a craft beer. I say, an "almost" complete lack of craft beer, because they did have the Summit Extra Pale Ale on tap and fortunately, this is the beer that my boss ordered! Don't get me wrong, since he was paying, I would have drank pretty much anything!

The Summit EPA is a refreshing, light in color pale ale that with a malty pale finish and just enough hops to be noticed. This beer was a "craft beer" before most people even knew what a craft beer was. It was originally brewed in 1986 and has recently been awarded the following awards:

• Gold, 2010 World Beer Cup®, Classic English-Style Pale Ale
• Silver, 2010 Great American Beer Festival®, Classic English-Style Pale Ale

My boss and I knocked back pitcher after pitcher until we called it a night. I easily polished off at least a pitcher or two myself and was feeling pretty drunk after all was said and done. Although I typically like to try many different styles of beer when I'm out drinking, the fact remains that free beer is always the best tasting beer. and even though the EPA is not the best Pale Ale that I have ever had, I feel good knowing that I drank some local flavor and it didn't cost me a dime!

As always, if you would like to follow me on this Drinking Adventure just click on the link on the right where you can subscribe to my feeds. you can also follow me on twitter at @williepawn or friend me on Facebook. You can also email me here.  

Graduation Party!

As loyal readers of my blog will know, my wife recently defended her PhD and graduated from graduate school. Last night, to celebrate this accomplishment and to also wish her well on her summer adventure as she travels to Woods Hole MA. for "Science Camp", we hosted a little get together with some of our closest friends in St Louis to eat some burgers and drink some beers! I would like to thank all those in attendance for helping make this a special occasion, specifically Justin and Griffin from the hit podcast My Brother My Brother and Me for their message to our party!

I wanted to blog about last night, even though I didn't dip into any really great beers, just to commemerate the evening and solidify it in the annals for the blogosphere. Also, I have been feeling slightly guilty about not writing (read: drinking) as much as I know I am capable of! Being in the last 4 months of my PhD and having to move across country may not have been the smartest time for me to start a blog where I drink copious amounts of alcohol to entertain relatively few readers! Oh well.

So, last night I had a wonderful conversation with my friend Dan P. about my current favorite IPA and I figured, since I had not blogged about this topic, nor had I consumed any reviewable beers last night that I would take this opportunity to blog about this! As I have made clear to all my readers, I am a "hop head". I love IPA's and for me to declare one absolute favorite is a pretty bold statement. I would love to hear from my readers how they feel my IPA choices rank with their favorites.

Top 5
5) Schlafly APA
4) Great Divide, Titan IPA
3) Bear Republic, Racer IPA
2) O'Fallon, 5 Day IPA
1) Ska, Modus Hoperandi

All of these beers with the exception of the Bear Republic have been reviewed previously by me, however, I will make an effort to get this beer reviewed ASAP!


As always, if you would like to follow me on this Drinking Adventure just click on the link on the right where you can subscribe to my feeds. you can also follow me on twitter at @williepawn or friend me on Facebook. You can also email me here.