Category Archives: 365 Beers

Beer 53: A Horizontal Tasting!

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My friend Mike and I had ourselves a little vertical tasting … we decided to sample several different (very good) Stouts.  There were four in this tasting:

1) Mike’s Chocolate Imperial Stout (beer 53).

2) Boulevard’s Dark Truth

3) Founder’s Breakfast Stout

4) Bell’s Expedition Stout

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Whoa … all four of these were exceptional beers!  I liked Mike’s homebrew the best … my next favorite was probably the Founder’s, but it was hard to compare.  Although they were all Stouts, they all had different characteristics that made them unique.  Well worth a purchase and a sample (if you can get them in your area!)

Beer Mentor

Beer 52: Perennial Artisan / 4Hands Marathon

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Today Mike and I hit two local breweries making excellent beers!

First on the list was Perennial Artisan Ales.  This place (as I’ve mentioned before) is awesome!  You never know what will show up on tap!  So, we ordered a sample of all 8 (two samplers actually).  The beers on tap this night were: 1) Coffee Abraxas, 2) Abraxas (Mexican Chocolate Stout), 3) Seventeen (Mint Chocolate Stout), 4) Fantastic Voyage (Coconut Milk Stout) [Beer 52], 5) Fete de Noel (Belgian Strong w/ Rosemary, Orange Peel, and Raisins), 6) Hereafter (Witbier (I think) with Sage and Pear), 7 Aria (Belgian Pale Ale with Brett Yeast), and 7) the Saison de Lis.   Wow!  These beers were awesome and they kicked our butts!  Oh, one of the owners/brewers was there and gave us a quick tour.  Score!  The beer was so good we forgot to pay our tab.  lol.  Gave me an excuse to go back and drink some more …

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WP_20131127_023 Here was a look at their current stock and beers.  Small volume through the brewery but they are expanding.  They have good demand.

WP_20131127_022 This set of barrels are from the Side Project work … you gotta get your hands on some of these beers.  Most Excellent.

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From Perennial we went to 4Hands for their twice monthly (on the 2nd and 4th Wednesdays) “Beer Swap meet.”

I really enjoy everything about 4 Hands.  Of course, we got the complete sampler here too … The folks are awesome, beers are good, and you can sample so many different beers … all so good!  Come on over and enjoy with them.

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Beer Mentor

Beer 50: Tank 7 Farmhouse Ale

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I thought it appropriate for Beer #50 to be a Missouri beer (since that’s where I live).  I went for the Boulevard Brewing Tank 7.

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So good!  This Farmhouse-style Ale really hit the spot.  And there was more than enough to share!  This saison was so nice and spiced very well.  I have a soft spot for these french/belgian-style wheat beers … they are starting to rival my German wheats for my affection.  I will just have to keep sampling both to see who eventually wins that fight.  Oh well.  Too bad for me.  haha.

Beer Mentor

 

Beer 49: Yin AND Yang (Not Together)

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Shared today’s beer with my friend Mike.  He’s probably more of a beer geek than me if you can picture that!  We reached deep into my beer fridge (well … the one on the right … haha) and pulled out an Evil Twin set of beers:  the Yin and the Yang.

The Yin is an Imperial Stout.  The Yang is a Double IPA.

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Both of these beers are very good.  Apparently, they are intended to be mixed like a black and tan.  You can buy the mixed version at the store.  We, on the other hand, decided to drink them separately.  Yummy.  They were quite good.  I drank the stout first and then the IPA.  Definitely worth picking up at your local specialty beer outlet!

Beer Mentor

 

Beer 47: Imperial Russian Stout

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Tonight’s beer is a repeat brewery: emelisse.  The beer?  Their Imperial Russian Stout.

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Quite good actually.  Although I can’t tell the difference from a Russian Imperial Stout.  haha.  That’s a little humor for you folks.  I will buy this one again — I want to do a vertical tasting with a couple of other Imperial Russian Imperial Stouts.  B-)

Enjoy! Beer Mentor

Beer 46: 5 Lizard (Latin-style Witbier)

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I went over to some beer geek friend’s house today (yes, you Tom and Greg!).  lol.  We were drinking what was left in their keg, but they also brought out the two bottles shown in this picture:

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These are latin-style beers brewed by 5 Rabbit Cerveceria.  I thought they were very good.  My beer for tonight is the 5 Lizard … a witbier brewed with Passion Fruit.  I will continue to look for these Illinois beers … and am glad I’ve got new beer geek friends to share with!

Enjoy! Beer Mentor

Beer 45: En el Bosque

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I went to Randalls and picked out a bunch of new beers for me.  I thought, since I’m trying 365, I ought to have completely new ones.  I already had one of these Nomada beers (the Royal Porter a couple of days ago).  This one is called: En el Bosque. 

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This was an excellent beer–I believe it is an Amber Ale.  En el Bosque means “In the Forest.”  This was a collaboration beer between Nomada (Spanish Gypsy Brewers) and Omnipollo (Swedish Gypsy Brewers).

I’m enjoying the different gypsy beers I’ve sampled.  Gotta keep ’em coming!

Beer Mentor

Beer 44: Blanche de Chambly

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Twelve days behind.  Darn.  I keep thinking I will stay caught up and then … I don’t.  Haha.  I need a ghost blogger.  Someone to write all this stuff for me (oh, and do the research as well).  Oh well … time to catch up a little.

Today’s beer was a nice Canadian one: Unibroue Blanche de Chambly.   This is a very nice Witbier … according to the brewery, it is North America’s first abbey beer.  Cool.  One other interesting tidbit for you … Unibroue is actually owned by the Japanese (Sapporo International).

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I savored this nice beer at Tripel.  Where else?  haha.

Enjoy!

Beer Mentor